Emisarry Of Time And Space-Chapter 191: Forest tiers II

Orion was right.

Something had changed.

It wasn’t subtle anymore. Not like the gradual shift they’d felt when entering the previous tier

of the forest. This change announced itself through resistance—through friction. Through

effort.

The strength of the monsters had increased.

Not dramatically, not explosively, but noticeably. The kind of increase that didn’t overwhelm

you outright but demanded more attention, more coordination, more time. The type that

punished complacency.

The types of monsters had changed too. The creatures they encountered now were larger,

denser, more aggressive. Their movements were less erratic and more purposeful. They

weren’t just reacting to intrusion; they were defending territory.

It was becoming obvious that the Jade Forest wasn’t a single uniform ecosystem.

It was layered.

Tiered.

And they had crossed into another one.

That alone would have been manageable.

What wasn’t, was the frequency.

Within two hours, each of the four teams had stopped at least once.

Not emergencies. Not disasters. But engagements.

And unlike before, these encounters took time.

Real time.

Coordination. Suppression. Cleanup.

Even when handled cleanly, each fight chipped away at momentum. Their pace slowed—not

because they were tired, but because the forest was actively resisting them.

Orion noticed.

He didn’t intervene.

That decision was deliberate.

Whatever appeared, he left it to the teams to handle. Three was sufficient to suppress any

threat they’d encountered so far. That was the point of splitting the way they had. This wasn’t a

solo expedition. This was a unit operation.

And more importantly—this was training.

Real training.

If his system had functioned on experience gain, he might have welcomed the situation. Endless

encounters, escalating difficulty, sustained pressure—it would have been ideal.

But it didn’t.

Killing weak monsters did nothing for him now. No growth. No insight. No spark.

So he let the others work.

They moved.

They fought.

They moved again.

The cycle repeated.

By the time the seventh day came to an end and the teams regrouped for rest, the signs were

visible.

Subtle, but there.

Tight shoulders.

Slower movements.

Less chatter.

No one complained. No one slacked. But they had been moving almost nonstop for seven days

straight, with only brief rest periods and constant environmental pressure.

And today, more than any day before, the rate of encounters had been high.

Stress was building.

It could have been worse.

Much worse.

Orion knew that.

If not for Commander Zion’s week of relentless conditioning—mana-less drills, weapon-less

exercises, enforced discipline—they would be in far worse shape right now. The military rigidity

they’d complained about quietly had paid off.

Still, stress was stress.

Orion observed them quietly as they settled.

Then his gaze landed on Arlen.

He walked over without drawing attention, stopping beside him.

"Any luck with Selene?" Orion asked quietly.

Arlen blinked, clearly not expecting the question. For a moment, his expression

brightened—then sagged.

"No~," he replied, dragging the word out slightly, lips twisting into a faint pout.

Orion snorted softly and patted him on the back.

Arlen’s interest in Selene wasn’t exactly a secret among the boys of A1. Subtle, yes—but

obvious if you paid attention. Orion placing Selene in the scouting group had been partly

tactical, partly... indulgent.

From the look of things, though, it hadn’t helped much.

Selene could be blissfully unaware of certain things. Or perhaps she noticed and simply didn’t

care. Either way, Orion didn’t push it.

At this age, it was likely infatuation more than anything meaningful.

"Hang in there," Orion said calmly.

Arlen sighed but nodded.

They rested.

The night passed quietly.

On the eighth day, they moved again.

And this time—

Nothing.

No monsters.

Not a single encounter in five hours. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

At first, it felt like relief.

Then it became concerning.

They continued moving.

Another hour.

Still nothing.

Another.

By two in the afternoon, Orion’s brow was furrowed.

Something was wrong.

His instincts weren’t screaming—not yet—but they were uncomfortable. Persistent. Like an itch

he couldn’t ignore.

The sudden absence of monsters wasn’t a blessing.

It was a warning.

There were only a few explanations.

Either they had entered a zone that predators avoided—

Or they were approaching a settlement.

The latter was the more likely.

And while that could be good—they needed information—it also came with risk. Life had a way

of gravitating toward conflict, especially in environments like this.

Orion didn’t hesitate.

He Aether Stepped.

Space folded once, clean and silent, and he appeared beside the scouting team.

Erevan turned immediately.

"Sense anything?" Erevan asked.

Orion shook his head.

"No," he replied. "Just a bad feeling."

That was enough.

The mood shifted instantly.

"Selene—" Arlen started.

Orion stopped abruptly.

They turned to him.

And froze.

Orion was smiling.

Not his usual faint, controlled smile.

Not amusement.

Not confidence.

It was wide.

Unsettling.

The kind of smile that didn’t belong on someone who had just admitted something felt wrong.

Orion could sense it; his mana sense was practically blinking from within him. Mana unlike what

he’d seen before. It was wild uncontrollable, untamed.

To him, it was like a large bonfire in the darkest of nights. Something huge was ahead,

something that might actually pose a challenge.

Orion had initially thought that his instincts were warning him as a sort of protective measure,

but he could tell now that he wasn’t concerned; he was excited, he was excited for whatever

this was.

It was obviously not human; humans tend to have very high control over their mana, it was like

a tightly sealed lid within their nexus but for monsters they openly displayed it.

The explosive mana was obviously a matter of pride and a preventive measure both for the

same species and for other species.

It was obvious now, they weren’t nearing a settlement, they were moving closer to a monster.

An exciting one.

The darkness moved again.

Not forward.

Around him.

Orion felt it immediately—not through sight, but through distortion. Space bent subtly,

unevenly, like pressure applied from multiple angles at once. His mana sense flared uselessly

for a fraction of a second, then stabilized as Protocol filtered the noise away.