Chapter 29

The next morning, the group, along with Idan and Arabel, left the camp and headed for the exit from the forest.

This was the first night for Idan and Arabel when they were able to get a good night's sleep and rest. The most amazing thing happened to their bodies: after awakening, their recovery speed increased significantly. All the cuts and injuries received earlier had almost completely disappeared after a night's rest.

This came as a real surprise to Arabel: not even the scars from the cuts remained on her body. This discovery was of great importance not only for her, but for all women. She was afraid that as she got injured, her body would be covered with scars.

After a rest, a good night's sleep and a hearty breakfast, the couple's mood finally improved. They followed Eulalia's group with great enthusiasm.

The only thing that marred their joy was the silence of the System. Even after the night, the System did not make itself felt.

The first hours of the journey passed calmly, and the group confidently moved forward. According to Ella, after lunch they were supposed to reach the border of the middle and outer parts of the forest, and by evening they would reach its edge.

Nemo was silent all this time, leading the group. Idan and Arabel were curious about their savior, and they asked Ella what he looked like under the mask. However, all they got in response was silence. Ella herself didn't know what Nemo looked like, and was intrigued by it. She turned to Eulalia for help, who said that Nemo was her youngest.

All Eulalia could answer was that Nemo is not an elf and wears a mask not because of shyness, but because of an injury that disfigured part of his face. Unlike normal wounds, his injury was magical in nature, which prevented his body from fully recovering. Due to the same injury, he was still unable to speak.

He was her junior, as they both studied under the same mentor.

After a while, the group finally encountered the forest dwellers. Among them were both familiar monsters such as the Mirage Rabbit and the Spiked Wolf, as well as strange creatures that Idan and Arabel could not recognize and relate to animals from their world.

As expected, the local monsters enjoyed playing with their prey. This is what the inhabitants of the forest of Doppelgangers were famous for. Many of those who ventured to explore the forest fell from their clutches, suffering terrible torments.

However, over time, strange things began to happen. As they moved through the forest, they encountered monsters more and more often. Usually, Eulalia and Nemo dealt with them, but sometimes Ella and Radik got involved.

Idan and Arabel initially only watched what was happening, but soon, when the number of monsters increased significantly, they decided to join their comrades in order to at least slightly weaken their onslaught. They had already gained some experience in battles, so it wasn't difficult for them to distract the monsters.

"Something's wrong!" said Eulalia when the last monster fell. Everyone agreed with her. They have been in the forest for several days now and have not encountered such strong resistance until today. It seemed that the monsters were purposefully attacking them, and not just because they encountered them by accident.

It wasn't until late afternoon that they were able to reach the border of the middle part of the forest with the outside, and only then did they finally realize the situation they were in. Although all the monsters that periodically attacked them were not strong, the group spent some time destroying them. And if this continues, they won't have time to leave the forest before the Limbo «reset».

Realizing this, the group decided to abandon the rest and continue the journey at night, so as not to miss the opportunity to get to the city.

No one objected, and everyone readily embarked on the night journey.

Idan and Arabel were in awe of their teamwork and strength. They were especially impressed by the leadership qualities of Eulalia and Nemo, who silently and effectively fought most of the monsters alone.

Another feature that caught the couple's attention was that Nemo was proficient with both the sword and magic. From what they had learned about Nemo, it followed that he could not speak, but at the same time skillfully used magic. While Eulalia and the rest of the band members always said the words when they used magic.

"He's using silent magic!" said Ella in response to Arabel's question about Nemo's magic.

According to her, only a few people can use magic without words. Only those with outstanding talent in this field can do this. Even Eulalia is not able to create all her magic without words. Only those spells that she has mastered perfectly are available to her silently. However, the quality of her silent magic is significantly inferior to what she does with words.

All night, with small breaks, they moved away from the forest, encountering waves of monsters. The situation was becoming more and more absurd. Idan and Arabel, as strangers in this group, began to pray that this situation was not their fault.

The Group has never expressed suspicion or guilt about them. They were silent because there was no evidence or background for this.

By morning, the number of monsters had decreased slightly, and the group approached the exit from the forest. Everyone was exhausted and soaked in the blood of monsters.

By sacrificing their night's rest, they were finally able to make up for lost time.

The group was inspired and, after taking a little breath and quenching their thirst, decided to leave the forest. However, the doppelgangers of each of them suddenly appeared on their way.

Even Eulalia was shocked by this phenomenon. So far, there have been no recorded cases of doppelgangers appearing in the outer part of the forest. They usually live in its middle and central part. Their appearance on the outer border indicated that something had really changed, and this forced the usual foundations of the forbidden zone to depart from their rules.

Eulalia could only explain this by the presence of the couple they had picked up in the forest. She had no other options. Before they appeared, everything went on as usual.

It seemed that the forest itself did not want them to leave it. Eulalia wondered what exactly was special about them, that even the forbidden zone itself didn't want to let them go.

Of course, no one could answer her question. From the look on the couple's face, Eulalia could tell that the couple themselves did not know the answer to this question.

Eulalia gritted her teeth and stepped forward, and the others followed her, ready to face their doppelgangers.

They saw no other way but to fight and break through them.