The Smiling Death-Chapter 365: First Step

On the south side of the dark forest, there was a wide clearing between the dense trees.

No trees grew in that place, as if the land itself had been emptied long ago.

Standing there were four figures. No, three standing, and one floating slightly above the ground.

"So this is the place... are you sure?" Amon asked while rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"Of course. How dare you doubt me after everything I have told you till now!" Vetaal hissed at him, clearly offended.

How could Amon say something like that after all the explanations he had given?

"Okay, okay... I will believe you again for this time," Amon said lazily.

"Tch! No need. Now I need to work." Vetaal grumbled.

"How much time will you take to complete it?" Kael, who had accompanied them here, asked.

Scarlett stood quietly to the side, silently observing everything.

"Some hours. Or maybe a whole day. I need to make the perfect pattern. So consider it will take a maximum of four days," Vetaal replied while slowly descending and landing on the ground, standing properly on his feet.

"Okay... that’s not much time," Kael nodded. "Take your time and do it slowly so there won’t be any problem or mistake."

"Yes. I will do it perfectly."

Vetaal then extended his hand toward Amon, opening his palm as if asking him to hand something over.

Amon glanced at the open palm.

Then suddenly,

Slap.

He gave Vetaal a high five.

"Why are you asking for a high five?" Amon asked in confusion.

Here they were about to carve a magical pattern into the ground, and this man was asking for a high five.

"I am asking for a dagger! Give it to me!"

"Oh? Then say that." Amon casually handed him a dagger. "By the way, why do you need it? You could just use a thick wooden stick."

"I’m using the sharp tip of the dagger to draw the pattern first. After that, I will widen the lines with a stick. Each line needs to be carved at least one inch deep into the ground to create a proper magical pattern." Vetaal replied casually.

"Okay... that’s understandable. Start it then." Amon nodded to his words.

Kael stretched his arms lazily. "Well, it seems I don’t have anything to do here. I will go back. What about you two?"

He looked at Amon and Scarlett. "We will stay here," Amon replied. "If Vetaal needs anything, we will bring it."

"Okay. See you later."

With that, Kael turned around and walked away, disappearing between the trees.

Now only three of them remained.

"Alright," Vetaal said seriously. "You two stay away from this clearing. I will start my work."

Amon and Scarlett quietly stepped back.

After moving some distance away, they climbed up a nearby tree and sat on a thick branch side by side.

From there they could clearly see the entire clearing.

Meanwhile, Vetaal began his work. He walked to one corner of the empty land. Holding the dagger firmly, he bent down and pressed its sharp tip into the soil.

Then slowly he began to draw. The dagger scraped across the ground with a faint scratching sound.

Starting from one point, he carefully carved a long curved line. Slowly... patiently...

The line continued. Some minutes passed. Eventually, the curved line connected back to its starting point.

A huge circle appeared on the ground. It was nearly fifteen meters in diameter. And it was almost perfectly round.

Amon raised his eyebrows slightly. "That’s a pretty big circle..."

Scarlett didn’t respond. Her crimson eyes were focused on the clearing.

Vetaal did not stop there. Inside the large circle, he began drawing another one.

Then another circle. Lines started appearing between the circles.

Symbols,runes. Strange geometric shapes.

Triangles, intersections, long straight lines connecting different points. Sometimes Vetaal stopped and stepped back.

He measured distances with his footsteps. Sometimes he erased part of a line with his foot and redrew it again.

Sometimes he crouched down and stared at the pattern for several seconds before continuing.

It had to be perfect. Every line he was doing, every curve on it, every distance. They should be perfect.

From their branch, Amon and Scarlett watched the work silently.

But the more the pattern grew, the harder it became to understand.

"What the hell is that..." Amon muttered. The structure looked extremely complex.

Lines overlapped. Circles connected to those lines and runes.

Symbols formed shapes within shapes. It almost looked like a giant puzzle carved into the earth.

Scarlett tilted her head slightly as she observed it. "I can’t understand anything."

"Me neither." After watching for a long time, Amon finally grew bored.

He stretched his body lazily and shifted slightly on the branch.

In doing so, he moved closer to Scarlett. Their shoulders almost touched.

Scarlett immediately noticed. She turned her head slightly.

"Why are you getting closer?" she asked calmly.

Amon chuckled. "I just wanted to get closer."

Before she could react, he slowly extended his index finger.

Then it poke. He poked her soft cheek.

Scarlett blinked. Her expression didn’t change much. But her eyes narrowed slightly.

"..."

Amon poked again. The soft skin of her cheek sank slightly under his finger.

"Stop that," she said flatly.

But her voice lacked real anger.

Amon grinned widely. "No. I don’t want to."

Poke.

Scarlett sighed softly. Her cheek was warm. His finger kept pressing against her soft skin.

She felt slightly irritated...Yet she didn’t stop him. Instead, she just turned her gaze forward again.

Amon leaned back against the tree trunk comfortably.

Still poking her cheek occasionally. Then he grab the softness between his thumb and curled index finger. Then pulled it slightly, just like how they do with a cute child.

After a moment, Scarlett spoke again. "You are very annoying."

Amon smirked. "You say that, but you didn’t stop me."

Scarlett didn’t reply. A faint breeze passed through the forest. Leaves rustled gently around them.

Below them, Vetaal continued carving lines across the clearing, completely absorbed in his work.

Amon slowly lowered his hand. But instead of moving away. He leaned slightly closer.

Now their shoulders touched again.

Scarlett glanced sideways at him.

"..."

Wondering what next thing he would do.