The man lowered his bow and whistled like bird, his whistle aimed straight at Izzy, she felt a strong wind surround her and force her to her knees.
Izzy knelt down under the pressure [ Danger detected!] the system rang.
Above her was a large blue bird with a long yellow tail, its wings were flapping back and forth creating wind and forcing Izzy to her knees.
"I'm not hostile" Izzy struggled to say. The man approached her.
" You look harmless." he said and Izzy was ready to agree with him when he said " But it's impossible for a lone human to survive in the Night Forest alone. Unless you're part of some big group or a powerful mage".
Izzy looked at the man stiffly, she was not part of a group or a mage, but she needed to convince him and decided to put on her most desperate face.
"Yes, I was part of a group," she said solemnly "but I got separated from them and now I'm here". Izzy made sure to add a little quiver in her lip and looked up at him with sad eyes. The man's expression softened " You got lost? Were you attacked?" he asked this time his tome carried a sense of worry.
Izzy was pleased by his sudden change, "Y-yes , I don't know what happened I just ran and then-" Izzy chocked under the pressure of the bird and the man whistled.
The bird ceased its flapping and flew higher still circling Izzy and the man.
" If you are telling the truth I can lead you out but if you lie to me I will kill you".
The man spoke candidly and by his rough looks and sharp eyes, Izzy didn't doubt that he wouldn't hesitate to end her life.
Izzy nodded and stood up shaking slightly as her muscles were weak from the bird's attack.
" I'm Ruben, by the way," he said looking down at her, Izzy was still without a top and her upper body was exposed Ruben coughed " ah could you please put on some clothes".
Izzy yelped and quickly threw on her top, she sent an awkward half smiled at Ruben. Who didn't seem to be as embarrassed as she was instead he walked over to the stream and filled up a bottle with water and then gestured for Izzy to follow him.
Izzy followed Ruben climbing over rocks and walking for what seemed like hours, she was feeling incredibly exhausted from the lack of food but Ruben seemed to be completely unaffected.
Finally, when Izzy could no longer take it she bent over breathing heavily.
" C-can we please take a break" she pleaded and Ruben stopped.
He looked down at her dishevelled appearance and sighed.
"Okay we shall stay overnight, but I need to make preparations for a protection circle".
Izzy nodded at whatever he said and sat down on the ground trying to catch her breath, she watched Ruben remove some items from his satchel and put down his bow.
He removed three small blue rocks and placed them around the area in a triangle.
Then he stood in the middle and raised his arms up to the sky and began to whistle. The melody began softly at first than rabidly sped up until Izzy heard a strange sound, almost akin to the sounds she had heard in games. The three crystals lit up creating a see-through barrier and Izzy's eyes almost popped out of their sockets.
Her previous exhaustion dissipated as she stared at her surroundings in fascination.
The phone in Izzy's pocket vibrated -[ Protection magic discovered: Basic Level Two]
Ruben was still casting the final part of the spell while Izzy checked her phone and put it on silent.
" System" she whispered, " What kind of magic is this?"
The phone immediately responded.
[ Detected Source: White Magic, conjured through nature and internal energy]
Izzy looked up at Ruben and nodded slowly, even though she knew nothing about this world, Izzy had a grasp on magic due to her gaming and fantasy indulgences.
Basically, she knew that white magic was probably classified as 'good' magic and therefore black magic could be considered as 'bad'.
Ruben turned around and looked at Izzy who's attention seemed to be on her hand. Thinking she must be hurt he walked over, sensing him standing over her Izzy looked up and into his eyes.
His eyes seemed to be shining like glitter but the more she stared the shine in his eyes disappeared and it turned into its normal blue colour.
" What is it?" Ruben asked slightly uncomfortable from her staring.
" Oh nothing"
" Are you hurt?" he asked and Izzy shook her head Ruben looked down and in Izzy's hand, he saw a black thin box.
The box had a black outline and shone brightly with some strange symbols.
Ruben stared at it and Izzy hurriedly hid her phone away, Ruben narrowed his eyes at her action but didn't ask any questions.
He took out more stones to make a fire and Izzy sat by the fire until the night fully covered the sky. She sat quietly watching Ruben take out the food from his pack and more stones.
" What are these stones?" Izzy asked as her curiosity was killing her and she didn't want to take out her phone in case Ruben decided to take it.
"Runestones" Ruben answered, " you've never seen them before?"
Izzy coughed " Ah no, where I'm from we don't have these kinds of things".
Ruben looked at her as if understanding " Then you must be from the Wastelands I take it?"
Izzy nodded " Yes that's it. I grew up very far from here so we don't see these things often".
" So then how did you end up here?" Ruben asked and Izzy looked around nervously.
She had no idea where the Wastelands were or what he was talking about, she avoided his gaze and felt like if she met his eyes she might end up dead.
" I umm-"
Noticing her discomfort Ruben let the subject go and handed her some food.
" It's okay you don't have to tell me" Izzy sighed in relief thinking that she had to come up with another lie to get him to believe her.
During the night Izzy tried to talk to Ruben to learn more from him and he was surprisingly less scary as she continued to converse with him.
" So you're a beast magician?" she asked.
" Yes, I control beasts through my whistling, its also my signature casting method"
" So everyone casts magic differently?"
Ruben took a bite from his bread, " Mostly some people cannot cast verbal magic so they rely on things like instruments and even runes"
"Instruments?" Izzy thought he was talking about utensils.
" Oh like staffs or wands?"
Ruben looked at her and frowned " No, like drums, flutes and harps".
Izzy tilted her head musical instruments, she thought it was strange people used musical instruments to cast magic and not staffs or wands.
" You don't know much, do you?"
Izzy smiled awkwardly feeling like she had given herself away by asking too much.
'Please don't kill me' she thought.
" Yes well I'm not from here"
" As you said" Ruben responded his suspicion rising as he observed Izzy who went back to quietly eating her food.
Izzy and Ruben both slept after they ate with the fire still burning brightly at their sides.
Izzy turned her back to Ruben as she tried to sleep but couldn't, so she waited until she assumed Ruben was asleep and whipped out her phone.
" System how does this world work?" Izzy asked hoping for a clear answer.
[ Information lacking. The system cannot assimilate world information without tangible sources]
Izzy sighed at the uselessness of her phone. "Tangible sources" she muttered and turned over looking at her phone, the battery was on twenty percent and Izzy thought she should switch it off to conserve power.
" System how do I charge you?" Izzy asked she was worried that if her phone died there would be nothing to help her survive in this unknown world.
[ The user may expose the system to solar energy in order to replenish battery power]
Izzy smiled at that response she was hoping the system might say something like that.
She put the phone back in her pocket and laid on her back, closing her eyes.