The Human Giant

The Sect that ruled over the region that New Swampscott City lived in was the Charred Sect. As the weakest sect of the top 10, The Charred Sect should have been worried that they could be attacked by The Lost Lake Sect, the third strongest.

However, simply due to the Charred Sword Mountain Range blocking the routes other than a few passages it was nearly impossible for them to get attacked.

"Yoze, we really should get going soon or we won't make it through before nightfall and have to stay the night in the Charred Sword Mountains," Jewel said kindly reminding Yoze of their current goals.

"Of course, let's get going. We can talk more about the martial arts world while we are moving." Snapping out of his thoughts, Yoze looked up at the sky that had the sun at its highest point. With their current speed, it was unlikely they were going to make it through but it was safer to stay for only one night than a few nights.

Resuming their journey, the group of four arrived closer to the pitch-black mountains that seemed to have had the surface burned clean. There were little signs of wildlife and plant life in the mountains.

"How big must a forest fire be to completely charred the land like this?"

Looking at the land that looked completely charred and destroyed, Yoze felt like he understood why people said that only a battle between the legendary Immortals and demons could cause this result. Only a forest fire of epic portions or a natural disaster could cause such destruction of life.

"The scenery gets better once we reach the passageway we are going to start seeing the life that these mountains provide for." Jewel smiled seeing the shocked look on Yoze's face.

Yoze nodded his head expecting to see trees that were charred and animal carcasses but when they arrived they saw a prosperous rainforest full of giant trees, flowers, bushes, and insects between a gap between two mountains.

The stark contrast between the charred-to-dead earth and the life-giving forest was striking and it was clear that the rainforest was only as wide as a mile before one met the dead lands again.

"Beautiful isn't it? I never get tired of crossing these passages. Too bad many people aren't willing to cross the border." Jewel sighed as she looked at the beautiful sight before her eyes.

"It's the combination of the natural beauty of mother earth and the persistence of life. Is this really the type of place that is said to hide demons? It's more like the paradise that Immortals live in."

"Nice speech as expected from a scholar."

"Thanks."

Entering the forest pathway, Yoze and Jewel admired the forest life as they traveled across chatting about the varieties of life. When suddenly they heard the sound of thunder in the distance.

"We need to find shelter before the rain arrives. Can you go ahead and look for a cave or some cover to act as our shelter for the night? You will probably find one faster without the carriage acting as a burden." Lifting her hand to touch the little drizzle, Jewel looked at Yoze before if he could scout ahead to find a spot they could take cover from the rain.

Agreeing with her thought process, Yoze went ahead of the group to look for some potential shelters. As he searched around, Yoze smelled a refreshing smell similar to watermelon coming to his right.

Attracted by the smell, Yoze changed his direction to follow the trail of the scent coming to find a cave. With a glance at the cave's entrance, Yoze saw that it was big enough to fit the carriage and deep enough that they didn't have to worry about the wind blowing the rain right to them.

"This cave looks pretty good as a potential shelter. I'll go back first to bring everyone here to get their input." Not being a cave expert, Yoze felt that it was better to get Jewel's advice on the matter before exploring the cave deeper.

He didn't want to waste his time exploring and cleaning up the cave only to find out that it wasn't a good enough shelter to shield them from the cold rain.

Returning to where he left the group behind, Yoze returned to see that they hadn't moved at all and that Leah was tied to the carriage while getting petted by Jewel. Ignoring Leah's pleading eyes, Yoze told Jewel that he found a cave that looked like it could work as their shelter and wanted to get her input.

"That was quicker than I thought but that is to be expected when you have the help of a first-rate martial artist."

After explaining the situation, Yoze acted as the guide to the cave he found. When Jewel saw the cave she looked like she had already decided that this was a good shelter for the night.

"This is a good cave but we need to check it for any kinds of dangers that could be possible. Are you able to do that boss?" Still playing with her joke of calling her boss as if she was his lackey, Jewel proposed that she follow Yoze deep into the cave to find out if there were any dangers.

Not having any particular reason to refuse her request, Yoze and Jewel ended up leaving Leah and Yoze's father behind at the cave entrance while they did cave exploring. As they walked deeper into the cave, the refreshing smell of watermelon or freshly cut lawns grew stronger making Yoze want to take a deep breath to get more of the scent into his nostrils.

Just as Yoze was enjoying the pleasant smell, he heard the sound of hundreds of squeaks coming from the interior of the cave. These squeaks were rapidly approaching them causing Yoze to get into a fighting stance to block whatever was coming out from going past him to reach his father.