My Cell Prison - Chapter 45

Chapter 45: Chapter 45 – A Strange Noise in the Darkmoon Forest

Han Dong intently scrutinized this girl who was his fellow freshman.

She had dirty black hair that she had tied up into a bun, a gold nose ring, ivory earrings, a bracelet of colorful stones round her wrist, all wrapped up in woolen cloth.

She looked very much like a young witch doctor from the middle-east, looking far more like an apprentice of Mysticism than Han Dong was, in terms of either her style or her looks.

She was around Nicholas’ age as well, somewhere about 19 years of age.

The girl stared at the iron box that Han Dong was holding in his hands and revealed a look of horror.

“Ah! You’ve already chosen? What to do… I feel like what you’ve chosen is very dangerous. I can see a strange energy that permeates out from your box in every direction. May I have a look?”

“Sure.”

After taking a glimpse of what was inside the box, the girl got frightened to the point that the hairs on her neck were standing.

There was not just a single item contained within the iron box, but a bunch of things that would make anyone uncomfortable… There was a collection of dried skin inside, specifically the layer of skin that covered eyes; eyelids.

And that was precisely why Han Dong had chosen to take out the entire box with him.

The middle-eastern girl was biting on her nails non-stop as she nervously spoke in a voice of fear, “This… This will kill you. Why did you end up choosing such a thing? Monsters that collect oddities like that would often be a lot harder to deal with than most evil creatures, the sort that is even more paranoid than usual. This is all your doing; we had a hard time getting through the Space of Destiny Scenario and could now live a good life in the Knights’ Academy… Just what are we going to do now?”

Han Dong completely ignored her words and the attitude coming from the girl.

Choosing the iron box was a decision that Han Dong had come to after much consideration, so he responded with a look of annoyance, “Hmm? This was my choice, what has it got to do with you? Go into the log cabin and choose your own item. You’ll be fine once you get through the test by yourself, no?”

After being so sternly spoken to by Han Dong, the girl in front of him seemed to realize her own mistake and lowered her head, even giving off the feeling that she was almost on the verge of tears as she said, “Uhmm… Faculty internal tests allow participants to form teams, and doing so would not increase the difficulty. My sense of direction had always been poor since young, and I would often lose myself in the streets of the Holy City, unable to find my way home… I’ve spent several days just finding this place, and I am certain that there’s no way I can walk out of here by myself. Thus… I was hoping…”

Han Dong was not focused on whether this girl had a terrible sense of direction, but that he had not heard anything about teaming up before this encounter.

“Did you just say that forming teams would not increase the difficulty of the test?”

“Yeah! This was the answer I got after I asked the administrator when I first entered school grounds. That is why my original plan was to first reach the log cabin and wait for the other Trainee Knights to arrive before I proceed to make my choice and form up a team to get through the test together… However, I did not expect myself to get lost once again, and that was when I bumped into you here.”

Teaming up would not increase the difficulty.

Without knowing what sort of danger he might face, teaming up with people would also help in lowering the risk that he might face.

Of course… Han Dong also had to consider that the girl could be a form of danger herself.

This test was most definitely being monitored by the relevant instructor from the Department of Mysticism, which meant it was best if he refrained from calling Miss Chenli for help, so as to avoid revealing the existence of his Portable Prison. But he could still use his Ghoul arm.

While the items in the iron box were really unsettling, Han Dong was of the belief that carrying something as horrifying as that should also net him quite a high assessment rating, and that would positively impact his future development and resource allocation.

While there were plenty of questionable points to this girl who suddenly appeared out of nowhere, she had her ‘uses’ as well. If she truly was a fellow Trainee Knight who would be on the same grade as him, sowing a good relationship in advance would be beneficial for him as well.

Han Dong recalled his time at university in his previous life, having no friends despite being an associate professor, merely exchanging a polite greeting every time he bumped into other teachers on campus. It was a really boring existence.

When Han Dong later learned about the spread of his cancer cells, he felt wistful over the fact that he did not manage to finish his research subject… And there was nothing else he felt was worth caring about in terms of the other aspects of his life.

“Fine, we’ll temporarily team up.”

Since he was granted a second chance at living, Han Dong was also slowly trying to change himself as well.

“That’s great!”

Han Dong suggested, “Introduce yourself to me first, especially the ability you’re currently good at. As detailed as possible, if you will.”

Han Dong had teamed up with a Trainee Knight before and the experience of solving a dangerous assignment was immediately put to use here.

This middle-eastern girl stuck her tongue out absentmindedly, “Oh yeah, I have yet to introduce myself. My name’s Pasha Bhatt. I had just cleared a 2-star difficulty Destiny scenario several days ago. Because I had learned witchcraft from my tribe for a period of time before, that is how I ended up choosing the ‘Mysticism’ specialization class. I have yet to learn anything through the system though… So all I know is a bit of ‘Divination’.”

“‘Divination’?”

Han Dong knew what was known as Divination, and it was essentially predicting what would happen in the future using foreign objects (either through specific objects, shells, cards, bamboo sticks, etc)

“If you are versed in ‘Divination’, why would you still be lost?”

Pasha explained, “Because I’m not particularly familiar with it, and that led to messy reading… Especially since my Divination skills had improved after I allocated my Fate points, so I would occasionally have future visions that flash across my mind in advance, which only served to worsen my sense of direction. But don’t worry, I’m still very useful! I can predict potential dangers in advance.”

Han Dong nodded and began introducing himself, “I see… I’m Nicholas Valen. I am somewhat capable when it comes to combat, though I am not really very strong.”

“A Knight that specializes in ‘Mysticism’ would of course be no match to those who chose the ‘Crusader’ specialization class, so having some combat ability is already not bad… What I was most worried about was for the two of us to end up only knowing Divination. What are you strong at? Can you show me?”

As Pasha asked this, she could see some green matter course through the blood vessel in Han Dong’s right arm… *SHING* His ordinary fingernails abruptly grew long, reaching about 30 centimeters in length, curved and sharp.

Just as his arm was about to bulge and expand, Han Dong immediately stopped the next step of the change.

“Wow! You’re a Morphological Plague Scholar?!”

“Huh?” Han Dong was still not too knowledgeable when it came to such specialized terminology.

“Heh, I learned about this from books myself… I heard people who could control ‘plague’ were considered the most dangerous type of combatants found within ‘Mysticism’; while those capable of ‘morphing’ are considered the most powerful attackers within the specialization class. To think you were able to obtain both such properties. That’s amazing!”

“Heh.”

Han Dong had wanted to say that it was just the arm of a Ghoul and not the explanation that she had given, but for it to have been mistaken as an ability within the specialization also saved him the trouble of explaining it himself.

Just like that, the pair teamed up and with Han Dong putting the iron box into his backpack that he carried on his back, they continued their way through the Darkmoon Forest.

The tree branches crunched while crows cawed, or it was the sound of some huge insects wriggling and crawling among the trees.

Han Dong and Parsha were able to get used to all these noises, but there was still a strange sound in the mix that made them both uncomfortable.

As time went by, this sound became clearer and clearer.

*Snip~ Snip~ Snip~*

The sound of snipping metal scissors was getting closer and becoming clearer… As if it was just hiding behind gnarled dead trees that were around them.