Wood groaned.
A deep, complaining sound, still stiff from frost that had no business being there.
Ice breathed as it clung to the broken frame, cooling the air in slow, shallow exhalations. Sap remained silent—sealed, hardened, doing its job.
Morning light spilled through the damage he had missed, slicing the room into uneven gold and shadow.
Arion stood in the middle of it, staring.
Seriously, why does it take either my body or property damage just to have a conversation with a girl?
He paused.
What the hell happened to "hello"?
"And here I thought my world was crazy…"
He exhaled, dragged the crude chair around with his foot, and dropped into it. His gaze fell to the journal still lying where it had landed.
He picked it up, brushed the dust from the cover, and held it there longer than necessary.
The weight wasn't physical.
It was obligation.
He thought back to yesterday's eventful encounter with Auriel. What she had said lingered, echoing in his mind.
"You should still find his family."
"He was likely a Freeblade. The Guild will know his kin."
"For the Fathers and… Mothers sake."
He bent over, folding the journal slightly, bringing it to his forehead.
He sat there elbows on his knees, breathing—the choice given to him weighed on his mind.
"Damnit."
With his Grimoire secured and Recall in hand, he set out.
…
Light broke over him as he cleared the tree line.
He stopped on the hilltop, staring out at the darker forest stretching ahead—thicker, older, heavier than the woods he was used to.
Just… don't even say anything.
A peaceful trek through the forest. That's all it is.
He tried, hard, to keep his thoughts in a positive loop. A safe space.
Desperately fighting to avoid a potential idea or thought that would sporadically spawn itself into existence
…
—— ❖ —— —— ❖ —— —— ❖ ——
A darker canopy loomed above him. Light struggled, barely penetrating the layers of leaves.
A dimness swallowed him, Redox Spark was a temptation that gnawed at the back of his mind, but the thought of a forest fire was also there, trying to smother the idea entirely.
A real conundrum.
It was eerily quiet here, less sounds than his usual forest. The lack of insects and birds put him on edge.
Of course he wasn't without caution. He'd activated Resonant Scanner as soon as he had entered the tree line, periodically pulsing.
Only his footsteps and the tapping of Recall dared to make noise. Until a very small shuffle stopped him.
Small.
Close.
The blurred echo of noise flashed in his mind.
Small mammal? Beast? Predator?
Whatever it was, it waited for him.
He stood there, waiting…
Then movement burst out of the foliage at his three o'clock.
It was small but nimble, brave and smart.
Or a dumb and hungry creature.
Hard to tell.
Arion kicked the bottom fitting of Recall, sending it whipping upward. The end cracked against the creature mid leap and sent it tumbling.
It rolled, hissed and turned to flee—
THUMP.
Recall struck the ground.
Frost splintered outward and devoured the creature before it could vanish into the dark.
"Can't have you calling your friends now, can I?"
He gave the frozen shape a light tap as he walked past, a faint cry trapped inside the ice.
He grinned, brimming with confidence.
"Look out world," he muttered. "There's a new guy in town."
…
He soon reached half way through his hike. He stepped towards a large groove, lower sunken terrain.
The air was thicker, older here.
What he could only assume was the forest's heart.
Strange plants and flowers flourished here. Smaller, singular trees bearing some type of fruit that glowed faintly under the dim light. Tiny insects elegantly drifted through the air, leaving glittering trials in their path.
Aside from them, it was empty. No echoes of movement. Everything felt held in place.
"Five-star vacation spot," he muttered. "Why couldn't he have built his outpost here?"
He continued through the lush natural garden and noticed a massive moss-covered mound around the bend of a few trees.
A landmark for the halfway point, good.
There wasn't much to it, just big.
With his bearings re-established, he turned to finish the remaining trek—
KRUCK-GRRK.
Heavy motion.
Behind him.
Arion froze.
"Don't. look. Just don't loo-"
KRUKK.
He glanced.
Terror gripped him.
The mound had moved.
Now, only a few steps away from him. A large eye opened, underneath rock and moss, glaring back.
Seconds went by.
Then the forest exploded.
Arion sprinted like a maniac, feet carelessly brushing passed roots and pot holes.
His speed hitting max, prompted by the ground thundering as something massive charged behind him, trees snapping aside like grass.
"Shit-shit-shit! What happened to my peaceful trek!?"
He burst through a small clearing, vaulted a gap he'd badly misjudged, hit the ground rolling, grabbed Recall.
"I'm just the new guy with a stick and fancy spells! What the hell am I supposed to do against that?!"
The treeline detonated into splinters.
A mass of rock and earth formed into beast, bursted through, moss and vines covered its body. Its bulk swallowed the light as it thundered toward him.
He was already moving, twisting mid-stride. His hand glided atop the grass; Vitalis surged—as soon as there was contact, frost came into existence.
A sheet of ice formed where he had once stood.
He kept running and did not stop, even when a massive heavy load smashed into the ground, Ice fracturing.
Without friction, weight is its own worst enemy.
He ran on, toward his destination, never looking back as the forest shook with struggling booms that slowly faded into the distance.
—— ❖ —— —— ❖ —— —— ❖ ——
Arion emerged onto firmer ground wheezing, Recall serving as a makeshift walking staff. Sweat beaded down his forehead, darkening the humid earth beneath him.
He brushed past thinning foliage as the forest gave way, the edge of civilisation finally in sight.
He inhaled deeply.
Connections. Relations. Judgement.
Betrayal.
Regret.
Everything his past self had learned to fear.
But he was already here.
No point in stopping now.
As he came closer to the tree's end, before he had a glimpse of his destination, he heard noise, loud and chaotic.
They seem to be a rowdy bunch…
He saw flickers of fire and flame.
Torches?
Hearths?
But the strangest thing was that he could see them as bright as the sun, except it was day.
But as he moved closer, his eyes adjusted to the strange effect of darkness. The dimness of the forest got darker the more he left it.
"That's…odd? I should be close to the clearing where the smoke signal was."
He stepped towards the clearing, and as he did, he saw what had awaited him.
Fires lined the border, unorganised tents sprawled through the clearing, crudely built wooden huts stood, cages made of scrap numbered in the dozens.
Men wearing different outfits and armour, unaligned, were seen moving about, downing beverages, gorging on food and meat. Savageness and brutishness in nature.
"You've got to be shitting me…"
The scene unraveled in front of him, like in any show he had watched.
"Seriously?" He said, tone unimpressed.
The hell is this goddamn Town!?
He sighed, annoyed as his venture was deemed fruitless with the least useful conclusion possible.
Bandits.
Who also, did not seem too helpful.
Then—just as suddenly as they had appeared—the camp vanished, swallowed behind a wall of shadow.
"God dammit! Are you telling me I have to explore this whole bloody area until I find this stupid town!" He groaned, rubbing his face with both hands.
Because he had been distracted, his surroundings had become all but mute.
He missed the rustle of the leaves. Movement close by.
But, what he did hear, was the creepy voice that followed:
"Dinner~"
—— ❖ —— —— ❖ —— —— ❖ ——