"Wha—What happened?" Xenia asked as she sat up, groaning and rubbing her head lightly.

"That thing... that tortoise, he controlled these vines, and the vines shot up and stabbed you in your forehead, and then I tried... I tried to save you, and it turned to Diamond, an—" Light rambled on, unsure of what he was speaking of.

"Did you learn the Dao." Jacob cut him off, looking at Xenia with a serious expression.

"Because if you didn’t, I’m not sure you’ll be able to withstand any of that again." He concluded.

"Yes I think I was able to learn it." She said, her voice still a little shaky.

"Since it’s the Dao of origin, Fire..." She said, raising her hand up and opening her palm, a small ball of fire forming above it.

"... Water." The ball of fire instantly turned into a ball of water.

"... Space." A small orb of space, similar to a dome, engulfed the ball of water. Creating a globe like appearance.

"... Lightning." The orb began to emit static electricity, blue flickers of light simultaneously striking against the ball of water, causing it to flow turbulently.

"It is the Dao that these elements originate from." She concluded, then retracted her hand, causing the element formation to dissipate.

The Great Sage smiled, he knew there was no need for Jacob to display his knowledge of the Dao, seeing that the boy had handled the comprehension better than all of his former students.

"Then, my work here is done." Shinzo said, bowing his head.

"Hey there mister! I’m still not done with you! You could’ve killed her you know!" Light argued and walked towards the giant tortoise, waving his finger violently.

"But I didn’t, and she’s better off for it." Shinzo replied calmly.

"B—but... she could’ve... the vines!"

"He’s right, Light, I feel much better now." Xenia said as Jacob pulled her up to her feet.

’After all that, she’s still taking this tortoise’s side and leaning on Jacob.’ Light thought, then he just pouted and walked off.

’Interesting human.’ Shinzo mused, then laughed silently.

"So now that we’re done, how do we leave this forest." Jacob asked.

<Ding!>

<Final objective complete: Train with the Great Sage> 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

<All objectives have been completed>

<Exit the forest to claim your reward>

<You have two days left>

Jacob stared at the translucent blue screen that appeared before him.

"The path is simple, once you have comprehended the Dao, then Shinzo will guide you out of the Forest of the Ten Thousand Beasts." Shinzo spoke.

Jacob, Xenia and Light all looked at him in confusion.

"Wait. Hold on for a second, you mean that this whole time, you were the exit? Whoever can master the Dao of origin gets to leave, so if they don’t master it, then they stay here forever?" Jacob asked in bewilderment.

"Mhmm!" Shinzo responded with his head high.

"You sneaky tortoise." Light said, already storming towards the tortoise again,

"You should be grateful. I’m letting you pass as an extension of Jacob and Xenia here." Shinzo spoke, causing Light so stop dead in his tracks.

"—But if you ever return here, even by accident, then you will take your last breath in this forest." Shinzo concluded, his words sharp and his expression serious.

’Skill issue.’ Jacob mused.

Light’s countenance changed immediately, an action that shocked Jacob.

He got on his knees. "Ohh great tortoise of the forest! I humbly accept your gesture of goodwil, I will leave the forest and never return."

"Good."

The Great Sage looked to his left, a giant ring of gold appeared instantly, its edges glistened under the sunlight, Jacob and Xenia looked ahead, they could see the entrance of the forest.

"I hope we meet again, Shinzo." Xenia said with a smile, a smile that Jacob thought was long forgotten.

"Yes, Xenia, I hope we meet again. Somewhere else." He said with a soft laugh.

Jacob and Light waved as all three of them walked through the portal.

There was a flash of blinding light and all three of them found themselves on green earth. The sun shone brighter than it ever had, the scent of fresh air seeped through their nostrils.

"FREEDOM!! Freedom at long last!" Light screamed, laughing maniacally as he jumped up and down, sniffing the tall grass and rolling in it.

"This dude is crazy." Jacob said to Xenia.

"He’s just happy, I also am happy, I thought you’d be more excited to be back in the real world." She responded.

"I am, I just have this bad feeling."

<Congratulations!>

<You have survived the Forest of Ten Thousand Beasts>

<You have received a reward: Second Life>

Jacob stared at his screen, a confused but intrigued look on his face.

’Second Life?’ He asked in his mind.

<Description: If ever the host dies or is on the verge of death, Second Life will immediately activate granting the host immediate revival. Host also, as an extension of this reward, has gained ’Multiversal Singularity.’ Only one version of the host now exists throughout the multiverse.

’Hm. That’s interesting.’ Jacob mused.

He and Xenia watched on as Light displayed his happiness of being back in the normal world.

"So where to next? Young master Jacob?" Xenia asked, he glanced down at her. A small woman she was compared to him, but she was stronger than he could ever imagine.

"Hm, I haven’t thought about that yet, let’s see what Leon is up to though." He responded, walking off with her.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Light yelled, chasing after them.

"What do you mean where are we going, we’ve done our part, we’ve helped you escape the forest, be on your way now." Jacob snapped at him.

"I thought our party was for life. You’re disappointing me Jacob, you both can’t leave me now, after all we’ve been through." Light said.

"Yes we can and we will."

"Wait wait! Okay listen, I actually have nowhere to go. I ran away from home, I can’t even find my way back, and I don’t know anyone outside the estate, please, let me go with you."

Xenia looked at Light, then at Jacob.

Jacob looked back at her.

"Ugh! Sure you can come along." Jacob agreed.

The young man did a short celebration then followed them.