Thomas stood beside Derek, ready to finally go home. He missed his village and couldn’t imagine what his grandma had been going through after learning of his disappearance. When Derek began walking, he followed.
After a few steps, the man stopped and turned. “Uh… kid… which way to your village?” Thomas did his best not to facepalm.
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “I think that way goes deeper into the forest, though.” He pointed to the side of the clearing with the diseased trees and bushes. “The wolf chased me off the top of a hill, then I walked down this clearing for a long time before finding you.”
“Alright, so up the hill we go,” Derek said.
Up the hill? We can’t climb that hill. It’s more like a cliff. “Are we going to look for a way around or find a spot that isn’t so steep?” Thomas questioned.
Suddenly, the armored man shouted, “Yoink!” and Thomas was in the air.
Derek had slung Thomas over his shoulder and was racing up the cliff-like hill. He can actually climb this thing? The ride up the hill was jarring, to say the least. After being shaken and tossed every which way, Thomas closed his eyes in order to avoid getting sick.
A few seconds later, the movement stopped. Thomas opened his eyes and surveyed his surroundings. He actually made it, he thought before he was unceremoniously tossed to the ground.
“Okay, we’re on the hill. Which way next?” Derek looked around, waiting for Thomas to answer.
“Um… I think we should eventually make it out of the forest if we head away from the hill. I’m not sure how far I ran into the forest, but it couldn’t have been that far.” It was the best idea he could come up with.
“Good enough for me,” Derek said as he started walking forward. Thomas hurried to keep up with the man. “So, what’s the name of this precious village of yours?”
“We don’t really name our villages,” Thomas answered.
“Why not?”
“Well, they’re really small and not recognized by the Kingdom. Really, we just call it ‘the village’ or ‘our village.’ If we need to be exact, we use the village chief’s name. Rayna is the chief of my village right now, so we would just call it ‘Rayna’s Village,’ I guess.” Thomas frowned. “Ten years ago, our chief was Darius, but he died in the forest. The names change, but if you know or knew of any of the previous chiefs, you would be able to find it.”
“Damn… why not just pick a name and stick with it? It would make things much easier in the long run,” Derek criticized.
Thomas shrugged. “Since villages aren’t recognized, they’re not really allowed to have official names. That’s just how it is. The strongest person in the village is the chief, and since they lead and protect it, it ends up named after them until the next chief.” What he was saying was common, so he didn’t have any reason to mock the tradition.
“So, this Rayna, is he strong? What level is he? What class?” Derek asked excitedly.
“Uh… Rayna… she… is very strong. She may even be stronger than you. Last I heard, she had already leveled up to 30. As for her class… I don’t know. It’s rude to ask someone about their class. People like to keep their class a secret, even though it’s likely that they have the same common class as millions of others.” Thomas’s emotions changed when he talked about Rayna. He looked up to the woman.
Derek frowned and looked at him. Thomas shrank back, not knowing what the man was thinking. What did I do? Did I say something wrong?
“Tommy,” Derek finally said, “why would you think that Rayna is stronger than me? You saw that wolf and bear, right?” he asked.
“Well, yeah. But wolves and bears are common. I’m sure Rayna has killed dozens of wolves while guarding our village or out in the forest.” Wolves were a common occurrence around the villages, outside the forest. They were common beasts of low level, usually. If he had access to the Great System, he believed he would have had a chance against the wolf that chased him. Unfortunately, his dream was crushed by Derek’s next question.
“If she’s killed so many level-50 creatures, why is her level only in the 30s? I know gaining experience isn’t the easiest task, but that many beasts of a higher level should net her a lot of levels, right?” the man asked.
“What?” Thomas stopped in his tracks. “What do you mean, level 50? Wolves are always level 10 or 15, at the most.”
“Hmm? Nope, that Forest Wolf was like, level 53, I think. That bear I killed this morning… it was level 48,” Derek said.
“Impossible… that’s impossible. This has never been a high-level forest. Sure, the farther you go into the forest, the higher the level the monsters get, but we aren’t that deep into the forest. Besides, that wolf chased me all the way from the edge of the forest. I’ve never heard of a monster at the edge of the forest being above level 20.” Thomas was frantic.
“I don’t know what to tell you, kid. The bear and wolf were both around level 50. Maybe it has something to do with the disease that’s spreading. The wolf wasn’t diseased, by the way. What if it was near the edge of the forest so it could avoid getting the disease?” Derek said.
“If that’s true, we need to hurry. I have to warn the village chief. If stronger monsters start to appear outside the forest, then the traders and villagers will be in trouble.” Thomas could no longer stand still. He took off ahead of Derek.
“Woah there, kid.” Derek caught Thomas by his collar, halting his movement. “You aren’t going to warn anyone if you run ahead and get yourself killed in the process. Besides, you don’t have the stamina to keep that pace. You’ll exhaust yourself in minutes.”
Thomas tried to calm down and keep pace with Derek.
“Don’t worry. They’ve lasted this long without knowing about it. I’m sure a few more days won’t hurt,” Derek said.
The two began their trek through the forest. Along the way, they passed dying plants and trees, but oddly enough, they never saw any more monsters. It was a silent journey. As they moved closer to the edge of the forest, the forest slowly regained life, all but confirming that whatever was happening to the forest was happening from deep within.
“It’s no wonder that healthy monsters are showing up near the edge of the forest. It’s not nearly as diseased as deeper in,” Derek commented.
Finally, the duo came upon the sound of running water.
“Let’s go!” Derek called out and picked Thomas up.
“Ahh!” Thomas yelled as his feet lost touch with the ground, and he moved through the air. Again, Derek surprised him with the speed at which he moved. Soon, they arrived at a small river.
Derek dropped Thomas. “Stay here,” he commanded and walked to the river.
Thomas watched as Derek moved away. Suddenly, the armor that covered the man’s body disappeared, revealing a black shirt and blue pants underneath. Those clothes soon followed the armor and disappeared, leaving only Derek’s toned back muscles.
However, none of that was what caught the boy’s attention. Instead, he was focused on the scars. There were so many scars. Thomas counted eight just on his back, and they weren’t little. Why does he have scars? It’s so easy for a healer to remove them. If they are healed properly in the first place, wounds shouldn’t even leave scars. Eventually, Thomas chalked it up to another one of the man’s oddities.
As Thomas watched Derek scrub away the grime, he looked down over his own body. Noticing all the dirt and grime he had picked up over the last few days, he walked toward the river to wash as well.
“Stop!” Derek yelled, causing Thomas to halt his steps.
“What?” Thomas asked, wondering what he did wrong.
Derek smiled and lifted a fish out of the water. Thomas squinted to take in the small fish, noticing the razor-sharp teeth snapping open and shut, trying its best to eat Derek’s hand.
“I don’t think you would appreciate the company,” Derek joked.
Thomas scrambled backward, any thoughts of bathing completely gone out of his mind.
“It’s okay.” Derek walked out of the river with a large bucket full of water. “You can use this. It’s not as good as a proper bath, but it’ll have to do. That river is teeming with those fish.”
Thomas thanked Derek and quickly washed himself, feeling better than he had in days afterward. Once he dressed, he was ready to go.
“Huh,” Derek said. “Who would have thought that you actually had blond hair? Really light blond, too.”
For some reason, the man decided against putting his armor back on. Instead, he wore the odd-looking tunic and pants. They were styled in a way that Thomas didn’t recognize.
The two continued their travel through the forest. When night came, Derek set up another camp, and they slept, continuing their trek the next day. At noon on the next day, Thomas finally saw the end of the forest. He was beside himself with joy. I can finally go home!
