Jack manages to calm down quite quickly once he's outside the cave, attributing it to one of his new perks from his insane physical and mental attributes.
He quickly starts analysing the situation, unsure whether he can go back in just to grab the wolves' bodies or not. He quickly decides against it as he has no idea what that thing was or what it can do.
'I must acquire more information first. Surely someone knows about whatever that was.'
He starts heading back to the village, aiming for the tavern again.
When he gets back, he goes to his room to leave his stuff before going downstairs to help Bob, the innkeeper, prepare for the evening.
As the sun settles, Jack finds that the otherwise empty tavern fills up quite fast, several groups of people enter during the evening, and a few familiar faces also appear.
Elphon is there, chatting up some of the ladies. Sergio comes by and orders a beer.
During the evening, Jack mostly just performs whatever tasks Bob asks him to, while simultaneously trying to converse with the local patrons.
Most of them seem to live nearby, either in the village or just outside, and are some combination of hunterers, gatherers and woodcutters.
Because of the surrounding forest, there aren't any farmers, which Jack sort of expected. They gather most of their food from the surroundings, roots, plants and hunting. Traders also come through now and then, which helps a lot.
Jack tries to simply fit in, mingle. Talk to most people and try to make a good impression. Most are very curious about him and why he's here, and a lot of talk revolves around these bandits, which no one except Jack seems to have seen.
Eventually, he notices an older man, probably in his sixties. He has a grey beard and some form of circular necklace around his neck.
Jack asks the man if he can bring him anything, while he also strikes up a conversation regarding the necklace. The old man seems almost confused by the sudden question, and the conversation halts quickly.
Jack doesn't press the matter further and instead tries to make a joke to diffuse the awkwardness, whereas he continues with what he did before.
During the evening, Jack learns rather quickly that there is a common religion which worships a sun god. Without trying to sound like a complete moron, he eventually gains some insight.
The religion is the most common one around these parts. It resembles most religions he is used to, where there is only one god, a strong focus on community and being kind to one another.
Greenwood is apparently too small to contain a church, but he learns there is a town further west which contains a church, among other things you would expect from a larger settlement.
Later during the evening, Jack also very carefully asks about strange phenomena, ghosts, demons and similar things when most people seem to have had a few drinks.
But the responses he gets are very mixed. Some tell tales of demons hunting children in the night. Someone explains in detail how their mother-in-law is secretly a demon, while most just say that the church has already cleansed the lands from all types of fiends.
It seems like most people still acknowledge that ghosts, monsters and fiends exist in some form. Even though most have never seen one. This makes Jack a bit uneasy.
'So in this magical world, there are apparently ghosts and demons, how lovely. Can't wait to tell them I accidentally must have summoned something like that...' Jack makes some sarcastic mental comments.
As the evening goes on, people start to slowly leave. Most people have to wake up early and only really come to the tavern to hear the latest gossip, talk shit and drink something.
Eventually, the tavern becomes less noisy and only a few are still left drinking or eating something. Jack helps with the cleaning, dishes and other things Bob orders him to do. Eventually, he is relieved from his duties and goes to bed.
'I thought I would be much more tired by now. If I had a normal body, this would have been the perfect time to go to bed.' Jack thinks while lying down on his bed.
'Well, maybe I should make some plans for tomorrow.' He thinks while taking slow, calming breaths.
'I need to pay Elphon back his 15 copper I owe. I should probably try and maintain some type of exercise routine so my body doesn't lose its physical strength, maybe try and find some other way to hunt? I could try to borrow a bow and arrows, but I would eventually have to pay for them.'
'If this really is as much of a fantasy world as it seems, shouldn't there be monsters around that I can hunt? Beasts or something? I seem to be way too powerful for wolves, so maybe something different? I probably have the strength for it.'
He decides that he really wants to try and reach a larger settlement soon, somewhere where actual jobs are waiting for him. Some way to make some real money.
Even if his body feels energetic enough to fight, he still manages to fall asleep pretty fast. Sleeping soundly through the night.
-------------------------------------------
Back at the cave with the dead wolves, a dark, shadowy creature slowly leaves the cave under the cover of night. The bodies of the wolves have been drained completely, leaving only shallow husks and bones behind.
The cave reeks of death, and no animal dares to approach it, not even other predators searching for herbivores to eat.
The shadowy creature traverses slowly, moving carefully but very precisely, somewhat following the trail left behind by Jack as he walked through the forest.
An owl sits in a tree above, keeping watch for any small rodents or other creatures it could snack on.
The shadowy creature notices the owl above, stretches out an arm, and quickly runs up the tree on all fours, leaping towards the owl.
The owl is ready and instantly leaps from the tree, swooping down and trying to escape. But the shadowy creature is simply too fast, leaping from the tree and catching the owl in midair, before crashing down onto the ground and devouring it.
What is left behind is merely a few feathers from the owl and a husk of its body, completely drained.
The shadowy creature then continues through the forest, searching for any living thing to devour.
-------------------------------------------
Jack wakes up early, well rested and ready to make some money.
Firstly, he does a bunch of push-ups, sit-ups, squats and other training exercises in his room. Unsurprisingly, he can do hundreds of them before deciding that it's enough.
He grabs his stuff and a quick breakfast, consisting of bread and soup, before heading out. Bob has leftovers from the night before, which he tells Jack to take.
The plan for today is simple, firstly he wants to talk to Joe again to see if he has some way Jack could make money, secondly he wants to try and gain more information about the town west of here, to see if he could be better off there.
'Alright, find any job to pay back Elphon, then try and leave for a larger place. Sounds good.'
He leaves the tavern, heading towards Joe's house, hoping he hasn't left the village for woodcutting already.
While walking, he notices a couple of people going about their business. Some are preparing to head into the forest either for gathering or chopping wood. While others are out and washing clothes or dishes.
Eventually, he reaches Joe's house and finds him preparing his cart.
"Hey Joe, you going somewhere today?" Jack shouts as he gets closer
"Yes, I'm going over to Rivermouth for the day, the town west of here, to sell off a batch of wooden planks." Joe replies while tightening some straps over the planks in his cart.
"Alright, can I come with? Maybe they have some jobs there for me to do?" Jack asks.
"Sure, but I'm leaving in a few minutes." Joe responds.
"No problem, I'm ready to go" Jack says and waves his shield and warhammer he brought with him.
Joe looks at Jack in the same way he did the first time he saw him. He is about to say something, but stops himself. He seems to hesitate a bit, but eventually tells Jack to hop in, joking that maybe he could protect him if the bandits come back.
Jack notices Joe's hesitation, but doesn't acknowledge it. Instead, he just thanks him and hops onto the cart, taking the seat next to Joe.
They travel for roughly 2 hours and spend most of the time engaged in conversation. Jack learns a lot about the town ahead, as well as some general information about the area and forest.
Greenwood Forest is a large and ancient woodland where there are apparently all sorts of ancient ruins and monsters roaming about, but most of them are being taken care of by the mercenary guild in Rivermouth.
The town Rivermouth is, as the name suggests, placed at the mouth of River Elden, which turns into Lake Varn. The town thrives on fish, trade and mercenary work while most surrounding settlements are either small fishing hamlets along the river, or, like Greenwood Village, a small hunting village.
North of Rivermouth are the Amber Fields, low rolling hills covered in wheat and barley, taken care of by farmers to sustain the town.
Rivermouth itself is a rugged-looking town with wooden palisades and a few watchtowers surrounding it. The town has a strong martial culture due to the surrounding forests being filled with bandits, beasts and monsters.
As they approach town, they enter through a large gate in the wooden palisades, greeted by a few guards as they pass.
Joe quickly brings the cart over to the town square, where he stops in front of a building with a sign saying "Silver Coin Trading House". He asks Jack to watch the carriage for a few minutes while he goes inside.
Jack accepts and stands by the cart, waiting for Joe to come back. While he is waiting, he looks around the square while keeping an eye on the cart.
The square is built around a well, and they also seem to have a small stage. A smithy called Iron Anvil Smithy is placed on the side of the square, directly opposite the trading house.
Upon further inspection, it seems like they have executions on this stage, as they have a chopping block and a basket nearby.
'Holy, I did not expect that, but I guess people really were executed publicly in ancient times?' Jack makes a mental note.
He asks a random person when the last execution was, and gets the response "Just last week, some guy had killed two hunters claiming they were monsters, but most likely he just went crazy".
Jack is a bit surprised, as he is from modern times back on Earth, he definitely did not expect the justice system to be so quick and decisive, especially not executing people publicly.
'But I guess times are different here?' he thinks.
After a few minutes, Joe comes out again with a small pouch filled with coins. He thanks Jack for keeping watch and asks a question.
"I'm going to unload these planks here, then go to the market to buy a few things before heading back. What is your plan?" Joe asks.
Jack spends a few seconds thinking, but then answers.
"I'm going to try and find some work to do, please tell Elphon that I'll pay him back in a few days." Jack answers.
"Alright then, take care!" Joe says and starts working on unloading the cart.
Jack thanks him for the ride and then walks away. After asking around for a bit, he finds himself in front of a large fortified hall made of both stone and timber. It says "Mercenary guild" on a large sign outside it.
'Finally, this place must have some real work I can handle.' Jack thinks before entering.