Although I am now a prince, but in order to survive...BL

Chapter 28

- Ha... - Jay grabbed his right side, which began to tingle and looked back. The wild boar was still running after him. – Today is definitely not my day. – He said and tried to find a suitable tree to climb. On many of them, dry branches were still visible from below. Jay didn't risk trying his luck and ran to a new section of the forest.- The wild boar at this time almost hit him in the ass. Jay barely dodged, but did not accelerate. There were no more forces for this.He also came to "nature" after a competition for digging up beds with a neighbor. I thought he would rest, find out what kind of seeds they had slipped him. He somehow didn't plan to run anymore today. But who knew that as soon as he went along the familiar path to the cave, a wounded wild boar would jump out halfway.- Hr... - Seeing how the boy in front of him was gradually slowing down, the wild boar with special zeal once again tried to ram his body at full speed.Jay felt the danger with his sixth sense and began to climb the first tree that got in his way. The first branch under him broke, fortunately Jay quickly managed to grab the second. Then the third, the fourth... and so on until I climbed to the very top. It just so happened that the tree was almost all dried up and only the branches were still alive at the top.- It's good that I'm not afraid of heights. But the situation is still dangerous. The tree is eighty percent dead. Three blows of the boar and it will fall. – Sitting on a branch, Jay took a deep breath, not relaxing for a second at the same time. – It is worth starting to look for a new place of rest. – Immediately after these words, he began to look at the nearest trees. Seeing the same degree of damage, he peered into the distance. The further picture upset him.The entire center of the forest turned out to be almost dead. Not a single living tree."Magic?" It must be only she, according to her sister, can leave such an imprint on nature. – Despite the fact that Jay was not strong in magic, he still had some information from his past life, thanks to which he easily found out the reason for the destruction of the forest. That's just it didn't please him at all. After all, judging by the fact that the forest is still alive, the source of the problem was still inside the forest. – Well... I went to grow vegetables. It looks like this case will have to be postponed again. I can't just leave. Then every dog can find my cave. And then there are problems with animals ... - Jay looked down at the boar. – My entire vegetable garden will be destroyed in search of a new place of residence. Yeah... it's definitely not my day. In the showdown with the magicians will have to participate. – Jay shook his head bitterly, accepting his fate and while the boar had not yet felled the tree, he began to look closely at the surface of the earth. He wanted, therefore, the entrance to the dungeon. Because it was there that the magicians sucked the life out of the forest, according to some of his guesses.When the tree began to stagger and tilt to the side, about to fall, Jay noticed a cave in the north. In appearance, it was inconspicuous, it looked like a huge stone, with a difference, except that there was a slight darkening in the center of it. Without a specific goal, it would hardly be possible to notice it. Fortunately, Jay knew what he was looking for, and as soon as the tree approached the ground, he jumped off and ran in the direction of the cave he had noticed earlier. The boar chased after him naturally, but this time the boy was not worried about him at all. And as the facts later proved for good reason, the beast retreated as soon as they were on the territory of the cave. Apparently he sensed danger.It can't be said that Jay didn't envy him to some extent. Hey, he also wanted to leave like this carefree now! But who can guarantee that the animals will not visit him after the deadening of the forest? Wolves are also there, and there are probably poisonous snakes. The boy, although he has never met those in this area, but this is a forest. Why shouldn't they live here? And since Jay was honestly a little afraid of snakes, he resolutely entered the cave.The first thing the boy noticed inside were torches hanging on the wall and steps leading down. Jay thanked the owner of the place for the lighting and slowly began to descend the steps. The second thing that particularly caught his eye was the temperature. It wasn't cold here at all. Rather, the lower you descended, the hotter it became. Jay began to worry a little, did the villains down to the magma dig the ground by any chance? If that's the case... damn! He'll have to go down for a week. And he has no food or water with him. There are only seeds in my pocket."Maybe it was worth going home and getting ready to start? At least take a knife with you. How am I going to fight at all if I run into someone downstairs? But on the other hand... to go to a magician with ordinary weapons? The magicians themselves will laugh at me. So I would have wasted my time. Okay, I'll figure something out along the way." Along the way, Jay considered his strategy. In the end, he did not come up with anything worthwhile and decided to act according to the circumstances. He had no idea at all what might be waiting for him down there. Even in imagination. He had no information, however, as well as experience in such matters."The main thing is not to be afraid, and there... where is such a bright light from?" Jay stopped and tilted his head down.Less than a minute later, he hurried to hide it back. Just in time. At that moment, literally a few millimeters away from him, a sword flew by at high speed. Watching him fall down, Jay felt that breaking into the villains with his bare hands was a mistake. Judging by the sword... the people below are unusual. At least they have a clear hearing. He was at least three floors away from the lower one, and he had already been found. This is not normal! Why didn't he at least bring a stick?"We'll have to get right to the point. They don't even let me admire the surroundings... and this is my first time in the dungeon." Jay grumbled mentally, then continued down. Naturally no longer in silence.- You will answer for your trick later. I could not lose my neck, but become bald. – Jay was quite serious when he said that. After all, if you put your head at a slightly different angle ... so, in fact, you could go bald! And he's only five years old. He hasn't even had a midlife crisis yet. Why does he need a bald head so early? It's probably going to be ugly!Just imagining such a picture, the boy was horrified. Goosebumps were running all over my body. Fortunately, this did not happen to him, otherwise ... it's better to lose your head than to live. The dead, in any case, will not care what kind of body you had. Thick or long, skinny or in strange spots that you already had on your body once. Perhaps it was because of such an episode in his past life that Jay sometimes worried about the flaws in his new body and so actively tried to fix them.- Are you not friends with your head? I tried to chop off your head. I don't need your hair for nothing. – The waiting villain downstairs was so surprised by Jay's complaint that he couldn't stand it and complained in response, too. I completely forgot that he was going to wait for a guest in silence. – Are you an old man there? Bald then already. Why are you putting the blame on me?- You're more of a fool. What old man? By steps, that you can't tell your age? There is a hearing, but the mind .... I think it will be easy.- Come, come here. Now we'll see who will find it easy. – If Jay was previously afraid of meeting with people who destroyed the forest, now he has accelerated his pace with great joy, just to quickly meet one of them and show him "where the crayfish winter".According to the stranger's speech, Jay thought that he was not a very smart person. So, there shouldn't be any special problems. He will save the forest in a maximum of five minutes. Thinking so, the boy did not take into account at all that some people simply do not know how to speak, but at the same time they show themselves perfectly in battle.Having finally gone down, Jay began to briefly inspect the situation, ready to join the battle. But too much of his attention was attracted by a brightly glowing blue stone lying on the tip of a triangle dug into the ground. Noticeable luminous air streams came from above, thanks to which the stone worked as a light bulb. Roughly speaking, the life force of the forest gave its energy in return for light. Although Jay was a witness of this for the first time, it wasn't that at all. He could definitely say for sure that he had already seen this stone somewhere. I just couldn't remember."The Stone of the Seven Charms." he whispered after a while, when the villain attacked him, coming out of the shadows. Before that, imagine, he behaved meanly and hid himself in order to attack unexpectedly later.Jay pulled out one of the swords sticking out of the two unoccupied triangle points and barely parried the blow. Why with difficulty? His opponent's strength was the same... seventy percent as his neighbor's. Although maybe it was because Jay's opponent was a couple of years older than him, so he was considered stronger. He looked about 15-17 years old somewhere. There was no way to accurately determine the possibility. The opponent's long dark hair covered his entire face. How he saw anything at the same time was unclear. After all, he was perfectly oriented."Where did you get the Seven Charms Stone?" – Getting used to holding a sword, Jay spoke to the opponent."That's probably where you got his name from." That I'm not glad that our group was the first to visit there? That's the news. Isn't it? – Even if Jay didn't see someone else's expression, he could easily tell that someone was smiling brazenly right now. But, however, he did not react to this in any way, except for frowning, not understanding what was happening.He saw the name of the stone in the cave, where he ran away from the ghost in a dream (thanks to the light coming from him), and his image was clearly drawn there. There were a lot of things like that there, however... isn't this just a dream inspired by someone? Does this place really exist? In vain, apparently, he refused to visit the leader of the vagabonds so early. In the same cave, if he understood correctly now, there are a lot of magic stones, such as the stone of the seven enchantments. If you sell at least three of them... you can get rich at one time!"Ha ha ha... I'm rich!" I'm rich. My gold! – Thinking about the wealth that awaited him, Jay almost started to go crazy.- Damn it! Are you ill by any chance? Why are you drooling from your mouth. – The boy took the sword in one hand to wipe his wet chin and immediately lost the sword.- And now... head off your shoulders! The teenager took advantage of this moment and swung his sword, aiming directly at Jay's neck.Despite the fact that Jay was distracted during the fight, he remained vigilant and watched the enemy's actions out of the corner of his eye. Naturally, he immediately noticed his intention to kill. Immediately he fell to the ground and, rolling towards another sword, grabbed it and deflected the blow, although it was not so easy to do so. The teenager put all his strength, Jay had to use all his perseverance not to let Tom cut himself down. And then to reflect blows again and again, as the enemy did not want to stop for a second. And all this happened in the same supine position. Because Jay was simply not allowed to get up, which was incredibly annoying for him!It is not known how much time has passed, but in addition to the ringing of swords in contact with each other, someone else's confused tired breathing became audible. The sound came from... no, not from Jay's opponent, but from himself. He was already exhausted, like an old horse that had ridden a mile and barely had time to keep his body intact. Ahem... well, or almost intact. He had wounds in some places on his skin. Yes, he still did not always manage to intercept the opponent's sword in time. Sometimes I missed the first most important second. In the end, lying down to fight, trying hardly not to twist your elbows at the same time (otherwise you won't be able to keep up with the opponent's sword)...Jay had this first experience.- Are you giving up or not? I know that yes... now I'm going to turn you into pieces of meat. – Meanwhile, the teenager feels Jay's condition, did not forget to laugh at him."Who does he take me for? Do I look that weak? Too early to rejoice!" Jay certainly did not like this gesture of a teenager. The values of his power were too painful a topic for him. It seemed that no matter who he met, they were all not his level opponents. Take at least his current neighbor as an example, or this guy.Gritting his teeth, either from anger or from fatigue, Jay threw the sword away and began to roll to the side an insane number of times. One lap. Second. When the blows of the swords began to descend a few meters away from him, Jay quickly stood up and, suppressing dizziness, jumped on the teenager's back and bit into his right shoulder.- Ugh... Now you'll find out which one of us is weak. You'll really find out ... - Spitting blood from his mouth, Jay hit the now weakened opponent's arm and engaged him in battle.Perhaps this could be considered an even more reckless act by Jay today than the decision to help the forest. The level of strength of both of them was not equal. Maybe if Jay had been stupid and hadn't used the bite to his advantage. Every time it was his turn to strike, he purposefully hit the opponent's right shoulder. Oddly enough, he soon began to slow down. Maybe it hurt too early, or the fight with his fists exhausted him more than with swords. Or maybe something else. In any case, it was not so easy for him to dodge the blows. Jay, of course, was also affected by this, but it was somehow forgivable for him. His body was new and he didn't have the agility of the past, much less any knowledge of street fighting. It took him a lot of training to re-develop his instincts: to have time to avoid a blow, to strike quickly, and so on. Even if Jay had a memory of his past life... it didn't mean that muscle memory came with him."You don't give in to me, do you?" – When Jay noticed at some point that the victory was clearly on his side now, he asked. It wasn't that he couldn't believe that he had won in the end, it just seemed to him that there was some kind of trick here.- Do you think you have already won? There was resentment in the teenager's voice, and he tried to rush to his sword.- To hell with your artifact. – Jay hit him in the kneecap.- Observant. – He immediately grabbed his leg and began to rub it.- It was clear from the very beginning. Certainly in appearance. Your sword is different from the others here. – Jay did not hide his "observation", still not saying something. He realized that the enemy's sword was not easy, for another reason. It was about seventy percent similar to the one that the boy wanted to buy in the future. It is quite possible that it was an early work of the same blacksmith."And you didn't run away?" – Somehow they started to have a conversation, completely stopping the fight. Apparently they both needed time to catch their breath.- Am I a coward?! A man must face danger face to face otherwise, what kind of man is he.- Haha... did you learn your father's phrases? Did you run away from home for the first time? – The teenager was amused by the quoted phrase of his father from Jay's mouth.- Yes, what do you understand. There was an uncharacteristic bitterness in the boy's voice. "Even if I had the chance... I would never want to run away. – Jay sighed, and then, without knowing why, he decided to give good advice to a teenager. "Even if you're blind, learn to use your hearing instead of relying on an artifact all the time. You fight with your fists like that."You're really quite observant. You are only the second person who noticed this. – The teenager did not take Jay's advice to heart, but he did not forget to praise him once again for his "sharp eye".He, in turn, kindly accepted the compliment, thinking meanwhile that it was time to end this meeting already. And then inadvertently the magic stone will completely absorb all the power of the forest into itself and then there will be no sense to save it. He had a maximum of three more minutes, judging by the bright illumination of the magic stone, which did not blind his eyes yet."It looks like there's no choice left," Jay looked away from the stone and put his hand under his clothes, looking for something there.- Shall we continue? – The teenager by this time had already quite rested himself and was ready to continue the fight again. Even if it was not held on his favorite swords.- Next time, if you give me the money back. Jay's voice was filled with grief as he thought about what he had to do.- what money? – He did not understand.- Now you will understand. – At last he found what he was looking for and, taking it out, immediately tore it into two parts. The magic scroll flashed with a green light and, turning into ashes, settled to the ground.Immediately after that, the teenager jerked as if he had received an electric shock and fell unconscious.- And I wanted to keep it as a last resort. I gave so much money for its development ... - Jay almost with tears in his eyes stared at the ashes, feeling a heartache. – My gold! He clenched his hands into fists and, not wanting to endure the pain any longer, looked away from the once scroll. His eyes involuntarily immediately stumbled upon the enemy lying on the ground. Hatred flashed across the boy's face. – Damn, do you know how hard it was for me to earn?! No, he must have some money with him. I can't leave like this. – Jay rushed to the teenager and began to search him from top to bottom. – Nothing? Really? Tc, you're a villain. Don't you have your own golden pot? – Finding nothing but emptiness, the boy cursed the teenager and calmed down a little and went for the stone.However, before he took it away, he did not forget to take a sword with him and destroy the triangle inscribed on the ground. And only then with these two things went to the exit. To that damned staircase! Why is there such an emotional review about her now? Yes, because at the moment Jay needed to go up, not down. Usually such actions required strength, and where could the boy have left it after the recent battle? Jay, did you have time to rest? Should the same wounds be healed? No, none of that. But it was impossible to stop. The forest waited.- Couldn't they have made an elevator? How much longer do I have to crawl ... - Jay wiped the sweat from his forehead and, moving to another step, sat down, intending to take a break for a second. – I wonder what kind of step this is already? ahhh... where's my elevator? – Another climb up one step and rest again. And so on in a circle. An endless, seemingly closed circle for Jay.He was talking, thus urging himself on. I stopped to accumulate at least some strength for further movement of the body. I crawled like a caterpillar to get at least a millimeter closer to the cave. It is worth saying that his work was not in vain. When it was almost dark, Jay, all smeared in mud, finally got to the cave and saw the long-forgotten light of the sun, panting like a cornered dog. He should go to bed now and sleep until morning. However, this was not the end. The stone was still in his hand like a hot potato.On the one hand, Jay certainly didn't feel very good about it. What if the henchmen of the boy who remained below show up, and he's lying here with their gift? The matter had to be brought to an end. On the other hand... was it worth it?- Uh... maybe just quietly leave? After all, this is the stone of the seven charms. He can bring quite a lot of gold. – The boy was no longer so happy about his original idea. This whole bucket of gold can disappear overnight (yes, some magic stones were so expensive and quite went for the price of a good house from the market).The temptation was great, but Jay wouldn't be Jay if he couldn't handle it.- Come to your senses! You have no right..." He closed his eyes and, biting his tongue almost to the point of bleeding, felt that the obsession with money was subsiding. However, this hardly brought joy to the boy. Soon his mind began to become possessed again. "It looks like you're not called the stone of the seven charms for nothing. But I'm not that weak! Jay got up and ran forward, ignoring the weakness in his legs.As soon as his body crossed the walls of the cave and he was "free", Jay threw a magic stone to the ground and, grabbing the sword with both hands, directed its tip directly into the center of the stone. There was a crack, and a flash of bright light flashed, throwing the boy aside. More recently, withered trees began to turn green, breathing life. Dry and cracked ground will be covered with green grass. Escaped animals gathered at the edge of the forest return to its center in their homes. It seemed that everything had ended well: both for Les and for Jay. One could continue to thrive, and the other could finally allow himself to catch his breath. But it's not for nothing that they say, trouble does not come alone.Jay was just beginning to rejoice at his success and think about how to celebrate the case, when suddenly two people appeared in front of him and began to beat him cruelly.- How dare you! Years of work! You've ruined everything! – Jay only managed to hear these words before he sank into unconsciousness, without even really looking at the faces of the people who attacked him.