Oliver exited the river and looked around the river banks to familiarize himself in this unfamiliar surroundings where he was stranded.
He longed to get back to his home.
Oliver was fascinated when he looked around the grasslands surrounding the Gold Stone Village which showed the prosperity of the village and was happy the village had much fertile land and Agriculture was the main occupation of this Village members. As a fellow farmer, he knew that the land was blessed by the Gods since water was required in abundance to make the village this prosperous.
He thought back to the time where he would have to fetch water from the riverbanks near his village every day for 3-4 times which was a couple of miles for every fetch which usually broke his bones(Very tired) by the time he finished watering his small field which was his source of food and revenue.
His main crops were Wheat and Barley which usually take up to 8 to 9 months cultivation time and his reward would set him up for the coming year so that it became a cycle and he will sell the excess crops at a fixed price at the village market in exchange for regular vegetables and medicinal herbs.
Oliver slowly walked on the muddy path which became like that after countless trips to the river banks by the villagers to fetch water for their household chores and other such activities.
Oliver saw a dozen of small children around 5-10 year old who were immersing themselves with the activities done by their parents which were either mending to the crops or the children helping their parents with their cooking and some children were practicing their swordsmanship by swinging their sword until they felt very tired and took a couple of minuted rest and again started their repetitive swinging process which scared Oliver as he knew that he could never match their determination and their strength to do such a tedious tasks unlike his farming which was hard but not up to this level.
As soon as he started walking near their path the villagers and the children cautiously moved away from him giving him the way to move towards the Apothecary hut.
He had many questions regarding this place and wanted to know more about this place in case he got stuck here till god knows when and to find a way back to Britain.
Oliver was hesitating whether to knock on the door when suddenly the door opened and the Old man Edmund came out of the hut.
"Now you look good, unlike the condition you were brought in," said Edmund
"Thanks for your care Mr Edmund, "said Oliver
"No need for thanks and call me Edmund, calling me Mister make me sound Old," said Edmund.
But you are already so Old, thought Oliver in his mind.
"Come let us take a walk and I will introduce you to some folks in this village"
"Sure, Let's go" muttered Oliver.
It was a relatively small village compared to his old hometown. The houses here were scattered throughout the village randomly and there was a large patch of land surrounding the houses which they had planted small flower plants such as daisies, roses and other such flowers and small herbal plants which emitted sweet fragrance and small vegetables like tomatoes, carrot, potatoes and other such unrecognizable vegetables were planted in their front patch of land. There were guard Dogs roaming around the village and carefully chasing away birds and playing with small children from their respective household which was a warm scene in itself.
"We are here," said the Old man Edmund to Oliver while pointing towards a small hut made up of clay and stones unlike the cement houses in Britain.
Edmund knocked the door and the door opened revealing a Young Maiden in her Teens (Authors Thought: 15 years) and she was a Charming young lady with her eyes as Cool as the Blue Ocean and her smile lighting up the whole room in the small house. She wore a White linen shirt and Black training pants as if she was a foot soldier in an Army. She had a Real Sword with Sheathe tied around her waist which looked worn out suggesting it was an old and much-utilized sword and not for show.
"Welcome Mr. Edmund, Come inside, My Parents are expecting you" said the Beautiful Girl towards Edmund while smiling brightly and she turned around and looked at Oliver and said "you too, come inside" and left the house while a big Shepard Dog came out of the House and followed her as they set outside the house to who knows where.
"Elise !, that small woman, ignoring the guests and escaping to the woods to play knights and Mage with her companion Oscar, we have spoiled her too much" came a voice from the house and other one said "Come on, let her be" smiled another person.
There were two of them, One male and One female, presumably the father and daughter of the girl who left the house.
"Welcome Edmund, we have prepared some food, lets talk while having some meal, I am Drake while this is my wife Gloria and the girl who left the house is our daughter Elise," said Drake as he welcomed them both inside his house.
Their house looked homely as a Hall was in the middle of the house which had a Fireplace in a corner while a sofa was placed around the fireplace and the room had a cosy and warm atmosphere compared to the cold climate outside. A mattress was placed in the middle of the house and a Dining table was situated at the corner of the hall which had all the dishes placed on the table looking ready to be served. A Pleasant Aroma arose from the food which filled the whole hut.
grrrhhh came a sound from Oliver's stomach which indicated he was very hungry as he did not know when he had last had a meal and he looked embarrassed.
"Looks like everyone is hungry, come on let's eat!" laughed Drake upon noticing Oliver's embarrassment.
The table had many kinds of food such as baked potatoes, salted meat and wild fruits which were picked up from the forest. All of them started to eat the food served by Gloria.
"So Oliver, If you don't mind me asking, how did you end in such a bad state and was gasping and coughing for blood at the border of the Gold Village's Forest? Did you get attacked by the bandits?" asked Drake while stuffing himself peace of Boar's meat.
Oliver blanked as he did not know how to respond. That he was kidnapped by someone name Eternal Immortal Emperor and was injected with god knows what type of chemicals and he did not where he was or how he got to this crazy place which he never heard of!
Oliver smiled wryly as he said"I am from a place name Britain and did not know how I got here", "but I was kidnapped by someone named Eternal someone" cautiously answered Oliver while noticing their expressions.
"I am not sure about the name Eternal, but maybe you were kidnapped by the Blood Sucking Bandits to be sold as a slave and you escaped while getting yourself injured to this extent" answered Drake as he already thought the best case scenario.
"Honey!, Let him explain" kindly interrupted Gloria.
"yes yes honey" Drake backed off quickly.
"Yes it is exactly as how Drake mentioned, I wanted a change of scenario, so I travelled by a wagon and came outside to explore while I was kidnapped and knocked out. I was bound loosely so I escaped from their grasp and made my way to the forest while receiving some damage," answered Oliver carefully.
"Oh, it seems you are very brave" smiled Gloria which gave Oliver the shivers as she looked kind of dangerous.
Drake became silent and continued eating his food without interrupting.
Old man Edmund interrupted "He just came out of the coma, so let just find him some work so that he can like without depending on others."
"Yes that's right since Oliver is very brave, how about accompanying Drake in hunting near the edge of the forest for wild animals for food and leather!" smiled warmly as Gloria said.
Both Edmund and Drake shivered as they heard her voice while Oliver was covered in Cold Sweat.
"Then that's settled, I will bring him to the village armoury and equip him with sword and armour to fend off against, " said Drake while finishing his meals.
All of them ate their full and left the house while they tucked their tails and ran off from the house.
"hoho! looks like your wife is still lovely as ever.!" smiled Edmund.
Drake stumbled as they thought 'this is being Lovely, damn I was misled when I married her' as he thought back to the time where he was the knight who chased after his love while she, the maiden longed for his return, during their youthful romance.
"Yes, she is very kind and warm," said Drake.
They quickly arrived at the village armoury and drake selected a small sword and leather armour for Oliver by checking the size of Oliver. Oliver was in a daze while receiving the Sword and Leather Armor.
Oliver thought, "I am a Hunter" as he sighed thinking about how his life changed from the direction he wanted and he had to adapt quickly to the surroundings to survive.