Chapter 62: Grey Fog [1]
It was a scary and creepy place that sent chills through me, even from up above it. Honestly, I wasn’t really scared of dying, what I was scared of was getting jumpscared by one of those monsters, they looked scary just the way I’d described them when I wrote the book.
But nevertheless, the monster I had to slay was in there, so fuck it, we ball.
"Ezio."
My shadow stirred and Ezio rose from it and stood beside me.
"What?"
I patted his shoulder and said:
"Put me inside your shadow and jump down into the Grey Fog."
Ezio raised an eyebrow. "Why should I do that when you can jump down yourself?"
"Are you stupid? We’re like a thousand meters above the ground, do you think I can survive if I jump down?"
"Then climb down."
I shook my head. "That would take too long. We have about five days left until I can slay the monster I want to kill.
"And plus, who said you have a choice? We made a bet and you lost, remember?"
Ezio frowned and clicked his tongue.
"I can’t wait for this trip to end soon so that I don’t have to obey all your requests anymore."
"You’re complaining too much, you should be grateful that I haven’t even abused it." I smirked.
At my words he rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right. Like you hadn’t made me wash your clothes just days ago."
"Isn’t that what my servant is supposed to do?" I raised an eyebrow while smiling.
"I am your guardian, not your servant!" He snarled.
"Same thing."
Ezio didn’t reply further, and then shadows below me rose, wrapped around me and pulled me into his shadow.
I had expected to feel that stiffness I had felt when we were inside the shadow of one of those adventurers at the beginning of our trip. However, Ezio’s shadow felt more comfortable and my movements were not restricted.
It was as if my body was surrounded by fluffy pillows. It felt like it would be the right place to take a nap.
I watched from Ezio’s shadow as he put his hands inside the pockets of his robes. He turned around, stood at the edge, and let himself fall back, his feet leaving the edge.
Ezio fell down without a single care on his face. His black and silver robes flapped with the wind, alongside his hair, as he fell with speed, in some nonchalant manner.
I couldn’t see the ground because of the fog.
Soon Ezio’s body entered the fog and I couldn’t see anything else but grey.
Ezio’s body came out of the fog and I could finally see the ground.
The ground rushed to meet us but just before Ezio was a few inches from turning into mashed human meat, his body sank into the shadows on the ground.
Then he came out of the shadows and kicked me out of his own.
His shadow spewed me out and I landed hard on my butt.
"Ouch." I hissed in pain.
Ezio’s shadow step was really fascinating, he could jump from any height and still wouldn’t die of fall damage because he could just turn himself incorporeal and sink into the shadows. He was immune to fall damage unless he had no mana.
Such a useful ability, I wonder if I could get something like that as a gift, since our abilities are very similar.
I stood up and cleaned off my butt.
The ground beneath it was nothing but black earth. Behind us was the wall of the mountain, while around us I couldn’t see anything else but the grey fog.
That was one of the reasons the Grey Fog was so dangerous. You could get lost in it if you didn’t know how to navigate it, or didn’t know where to go.
Many adventurers and awakeners got lost in the fog and never found their way back. That’s why adventurers would hire an experienced guide who knew the Grey Fog to guide them, if they didn’t want to get lost.
In my case, I didn’t need a guide because I knew where I had to go from this point, and I had Ezio with me, who most likely knew this place well, or else he wouldn’t have accepted entering the Grey Fog so easily.
"So where exactly is this monster you want to slay? And what is it, even?" Ezio’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts.
"Well, the monster is at the border between Section 2 and Section 3, well, technically at Section 3..."
Ezio just looked at me with eyes full of pity, making me confused as to why he was suddenly looking at me like that. I had expected him to call me a madman for wanting to go to Section 3, not that look.
"Damn, it seems like the awakening has messed with your brain." Ezio shook his head, and for a second I swore I saw a tear coming out of his left eye...
"Huh, what are you talking about?" I asked.
Ezio walked closer to me, patted my shoulder and wiped the tear from his left eye with his other hand.
"It’s okay, I understand it was hard getting bullied by your siblings, but it’s still no reason for you to try and kill yourself." He said.
This guy...
My eyes shone with a dangerous light. "Do you want me to stab you? Get your hand off my shoulder—"
"Psychology says that a hug can help those who are depressed, do you need a hug?" He interrupted.
"Who’s depressed?!"
I mean, I was, but his words didn’t make any sense.
"You, of course! You want to try and kill yourself by going to Section 3, which is full of dangerous things, but as your guardian, I won’t let you."
On the next grave, I’m going to stab this bastard.
"Why would I want to kill myself, when I have this handsome face?"
I looked a thousand ways better than my real self. Even though I felt weird most of the time wearing a face that wasn’t mine, I still appreciated this face, and there was no way I could die yet.
Ezio’s fake pity expression disappeared as fast as a breeze and was replaced by anger.
"Then explain what other reason would make you want to go to Section 3?" He yelled.
"To get stronger, of course." I shrugged, as if it wasn’t already obvious.
"Plus, you’ll protect your name if something goes wrong."
Ezio didn’t reply and kicked a stone on the ground, muttering something about a white-haired monkey, which made me feel offended for some reason.
Ignoring his shenanigans, I walked up to the wall of the mountain and leaned against it with my back.
I recalled the Chapter where it was described where I was supposed to go. I’m supposed to go northeast from here.
"We’re going northeast," I said as I pushed off the wall. "Please make sure to remind me if I ever go in the wrong direction."
Ezio just waved his hand and sank into my shadow.
With that said, I started walking northeast with my guard up for whatever would come out of the fog.