Chapter 706: The Swamp (1/2)

”Tch. Annoying pest...”

Inside a dark and murky environment, a woman clicked her tongue in annoyance. Her silhouette is hidden by the darkness but a vague outline of her can be identified. She was short and hunched-back. She was also releasing an ominous vibe, the type that can easily frighten the kids and adults alike.

As she moved around, sloshing sounds could be heard, making for a strangely hair-raising vibe. It was as if she was walking through squishy mud or some sort of a paste. It sounded gross and it also doesn't help the area where she was in is covered in a thick foul stench as well.

She seems to be doing something in there but the darkness surrounding her was so thick that it's hard to make out just what she's doing. Well, judging from the occasional squeaks of what sounded like insects, squirrels and other type of small animals, it doesn't seem to be interesting at all.

Just now, a trail of black smoke arrived and fused with the darkness surrounding her. The woman froze for a moment, then she released another groan of annoyance.

”Missed it again, damn.”

She sounded upset but also helpless. That's when she made a movement which was followed by the darkness. It seems to be being siphoned inside her body. Slowly but surely, the silhouette of the woman came to light, and her appearance was frankly unexpected.

The woman looked emaciated. She was wearing extremely dirty clothing and was holding a wooden cane that has seen better days that's for sure. The woman was old and wrinkled too, the kind that's just a step away from dying.

Despite this appearance of hers, there's something strange with this old woman. Something about her feels...wrong, frightening too.

The woman stared at a blank space for a moment before tapping her cane on the ground. All of a sudden, dozen of black vines filled with thorns and covered by a film of goo appeared and wrapped around her body.

The vines lifted her and began transporting her to somewhere else. This movement is followed by that some gross sound that occurred before.

The old woman that's being carried by the vines doesn't seem to mind this at all. She surveyed her surroundings despite having her eyes closed as if she could see something but in the end, she didn't. She's just patrolling this dull and murky swamp that's been like this since she knew it.

This old woman was the Eldest Sister - the first Hag of the Southern Continent so to speak, and this swamp is the core of this massive wilderness that spans all over the continent.

The last trail of the tracking hex she released just returned and it brought back nothing which was slightly disappointing. Despite her mood though, she retained her motherly expression as she travelled using the vines. She can't let this failure affect her that much.

Eventually, the vines carried the Eldest Sister towards a certain place in the swamp. A massive tree with numerous thick roots that are buried underground, its branches covered the entirety of the swamp causing the desolate dimness of this place.

Upon her arrival at the massive tree, the vines retreated and one of the thick roots of the massive tree rose up to claim her. Just like before, the hag didn't look fazed, she allowed the roots to bind her body as it carried her closer to the trunk of the massive tree,

Upon reaching a certain distance away from the trunk, the root placed her down and retreated. The hag landed softly on one of the roots and began scaling the rest of the way towards the main trunk of this massive tree.

This massive tree is a marvel unique to this land, it is hard to investigate how old this tree is by now but knowing that it managed to grow up this big and could even manipulate it's body to do certain things, there's no doubt that this tree is far from normal.

The Hag eventually closed the remaining distance between her and main trunk. Once she's there, she stood in front of it, looking at the swirling patterns around it has. At core of the main trunk, someone or something's there.

It looked like a young woman, wrapped around thick black vines which seems to be imprisoning her and preventing her from moving even a single inch. She didn't seem to be in pain, in fact she doesn't look alive at all. She was there, looking as if she's fallen into a deep slumber. Her skin appeared to blend in with the tree as well, looking like bark and all. This trapped woman looked like a fair maiden, her eyes were covered by what looked like hardened wax, her mouth was slightly parted but she's unconscious or rather, entirely frozen, embedded on the body of the great tree.

The old man stared at the embedded woman with that motherly look on her face. Her ears twitched for a moment, noticing movement from above. Despite this she didn't look up because she knows what's up there.