The forest of shadows, one of the most feared forests withing the few superpowers in the world. It's huge, almost gigantic, and because of it almost no-one is able to move safely in the forest. The tree's are big, reaching the height from 50 meters up to 70 meters. The deeper you move to the forest, the thicker it gets. There are only 3 open areas in the forest, each of them is hard to find. The first is the wellspring. It's the most beautiful and the safest are of the forest. Non of the beasts ever visits it and it's constantly being watched over by the sages of the spring who never wish any harm but easily remove the threats. Second is the Marsh of Samurai's. It's an ancient battlefield where once met the armies of darkness and samurai's. None of the samurai's survived, but the legend tells that too few darkness allies survived to continue the invasion to the human world. The last open area is Desir, hidden very well in the center of the forest. If you manage to find it, you may consider yourself one of the few lucky who survive the journey.

Enemies in the area:
All kind of beasts you can imagine - Encounter rate 90%
Phoenix Dragons - Phoenix Dragons are extremely rare dragons and the main reason of dragoons living in the forest. - Encounter rate 5%

Neutral NPC's in the area.

Okido level ninjas - Encounter rate 4% ( In times of war, the encounter rate is as high as 75%)
Ninjas - Encounter rate 10% ( In times of war, the encounter rate is as high as 90%)
Soldiers of Desir - Encounter rate 40% ( In times of war, the encounter rate is 60%)

Boss monster:

Phoenix Dragon Lord - Possible to encounter only during events. Phoenix Dragon Lord is extremely capable and powerful dragon and facing him alone would be almost certain death.

Walking slowly in the shadows, Ryoko was getting closer and closer to Desir. He was a bit exhausted from the previous hunt, of course Behemoth was no easy enemy and the journey from there to here had been also long. He felt how exhaustion and pain started filling his body and that's why he sat down. He gave a glance to the nearest tree and slowly unseated his sword.

'' Why are you hiding?'' Ryoko asked with warning voice. And the next moment he had flashed behind. Three shuriken's had made their way towards his previous location.

'' Three high level ninja's eh ... Seems as the bounty on my head has even more increased.'' Ryoko muttered and used flash-step to get behind his enemy. But the one he targeted was way too fast. A single cut and Ryoko was lying down on the grass, blood spilling out from his young wound.

'' Shi ... You are no ordinary ninja's ... Did my brother hire you?'' Ryoko told with his shaking voice. The pain, it was getting worse and worse. A ninja with golden blond hair smiled to him.

'' Your brother was against this mission. That's why we left him behind.'' The man told and threw a shuriken. Barely Ryoko was able to flash behind a small sized ninja. And fortunately this one was slower than the blond man. His bastards sword was able to pierce trough the flesh of the man and kill him at an instant. Another flash-step and Ryoko had moved to a safer location. The remaining two ninjas in front of him started laughing.

'' Slaughtering the weak and fragile first and than escaping eh ... I never hoped that the legendary Kuroshiro is that weak ... just like his brother Rashen.'' The blond haired man continued and made a step. His blade, it clashed against Ryoko's and pressured Ryoko hard enough to send him flying trough the air away more than 10 meters.

'' Comeone ... is it all you can do?'' He shouted. Ryoko started laughing.

'' Paralyze .. '' Ryoko whispered and saw as the second man, one with dark black hair and at medium height froze.

'' Now we are equal!'' Ryoko told and charged at his newly found enemy.

To be continued ....
''

The blades moved at high speed and in a mere eye blink new attack had been released. The blade swung at extremely high speed from ground towards the chest of Ryoko. A flash step and Ryoko had avoided his enemy's attack and countered it with a powerful slash. A sound of clashing swords and Ryoko was once again smashed trough the air back more than 3 meters. A smile covered his face.

'' You are good ... better than I hoped! But now it's the end ... the angel of life and ...'' Ryoko's sentence was interrupted by the sound of dimensional teleport. His enemy was gone and only a dead body together with a paralyzed enemy were left behind. Ryoko made a step towards the paralyzed man and raised his sword.

'' It was a pleasure to meet you!'' Screams filled the air and Ryoko wiped away blood from his face.

'' Good bye!'' He told and left in an instant.

Ryoko was running trough the forest of Shadows, but this time, he was heading towards north where the great mountains of the forest were located. For hours, he had been running until he suddenly stopped. His blade was unseated and ready to counter an attack. But fortunately, the man in front of him was no enemy.

'' Hello master Ryoko!'' The man whose face was hidden by a hood.

'' Hello my friend!'' Ryoko told and seated his sword.

'' Why are you that far away from the city?'' The man asked. His voice was quiet and soft.

'' I'm heading to north, to the lands of snow. I got a mission there.'' Ryoko told and vanished.

'' He hasn't changed at all ...'' The man muttered and also vanished. A second later he appeared next to flash-stepping Ryoko.

'' May I accompany you on the journey?'' The unknown man asked from Ryoko. Ryoko nodded.

'' But only until I have crossed the mountains. Then you have to return to your patrol area Dorga!'' Ryoko told with straight and loud voice.

'' Hey Ryoko!'' It was the voice of the previously met Dorga. A smile formed to the face of Ryoko.

'' Mission accomplished!'' He said and continued moving towards his home.

'' Nice to hear!'' Said Dorga and vanished.