"Hey..."
The soothing voice of an elderly person fell in his ears and Adam jolted up. His eyes narrowed and surveyed the area but couldn't pick up any disturbance in the vicinity.
"Who's there?"
Raising his arms to guard, Adam questioned the hidden party. But there was no response for a while.
"Don't be afraid. I mean you no harm."
The elder's voice resonated in his ears and Adam couldn't help but chuckle. "Don't mean harm? Then why don't you come out?"
The response was a peal of laughter and it indicated that the other party was amused.
"Sorry for the lack of introduction.
My name is Trevor Adam Jonathan. I am the owner of this forest. I died centuries ago and all that is left is a wisp of my soul, that is currently talking to you."
Adam's eyes squinted as the owner of the forest introduced itself as a soul.
No, not again with soul.
The last time he interacted with a soul, his consciousness almost dissipated in the process. The flashback of the events shuddered his limbs as Adam attained a much more vigilant posture.
"What do you want? Want me to leave this forest? Fine, I'll go."
"No no, that's not what I meant, boy." The elder replied at once.
Hearing this, Adam frowned. 'Boy?'
"I noticed that your body is troubled with something peculiar. So I would like to extend my help to solve the problem." The elder voiced his desire to aid him in his problem.
"How can I believe you? What assurance do I have that you'll not attack me?" Adam was reluctant to let go of his guard.
"The fact that you're still alive after barging into my property and slaughtering my pets is enough evidence to confirm that I'm not housing any malicious intent." This time, the elder's voice had a commanding aura. Adam unconsciously gulped down his saliva as if a student standing before the most dreaded teacher in the school.
"...ok."
After a few seconds, Adam found the elder's words sensible. Upon pondering on the latter's words, he has done an unappeasable act. If barging into one's private property wasn't enough, killing other's animals was a crime equally horrendous.
"I'm glad that you agreed. Now, can you travel according to my directions?" The voice had a requesting tone in it which Adam found unable to decline. Thus he nodded his head and took a step forward.
"Don't forget your belongings."
The elder spoke again and Adam quickly turned around to pick up his bundle of beast cores. With embarrassment shadowing his face, Adam darted ahead and disappeared into the darkness.
***
"Prince Victor, prince Salazar, the reinforcements have arrived."
A soldier entered the tent and respectfully bowed before conveying the message.
"Heck, it took almost a week for the reinforcements to arrive." Cursing under his breath, the eldest prince walked with a fuming head while the second prince followed suit.
More than 20,000 royal knights and royal mages were introduced to their eyes as they exited the tent. A troop of 50 mechanical knights and 200 tamed beasts could be seen behind the sea of humans.
Under the illumination of the blazing sun, the knights' armours and the grandiose quantity of the army was a sight to behold.
"Prince Victor, King Namian has sent you a message."
One of the army commanders climbed down from his warhorse and walked to the eldest prince in long strides. He passed over a scroll that was sealed with the king's insignia.
Victor and Salazar traded gazes before unrolling the scroll. After their eyes went through the content, their faces exhibited an unpleasant expression and dark lines appeared on their faces.
After a few moments of pondering, the brother's glanced at each other with a determined frown. They nodded in unison and walked back to their tent after summoning their advisors and strategists.
***
In the meantime, the elders' voice had guided Adam to his destination.
'Elder Trevor, are you sure that this is the right path? I've been running non-stop for almost a day.'
Adam raised his doubt telepathically and the elder's voice reverberated in his head. "It's not that we are going the wrong path, but the entire forest is divided into three sections. The most exterior layer is the outer section. It houses beasts which are mildly aggressive and shy."
Mildly aggressive? Shy? Mild your head!
Adam had witnessed how the lizard threw away and ripped apart the mechanical knights like a paper bot. And you call that mildly aggressive?
And you call the flying beasts which ruthlessly tore apart a living minotaur shy? Old man, you need to calibrate your common sense to the worldly standard!
The elder's voice was casual yet Adam couldn't help but frown at his words. His lips twitched as those words fell in his ears. But he didn't correct the soul's words and concentrated on the commands appearing in his head.
There was a significant shrink in the size of the bundle behind Adam's back. Running for three days straight completely depleted the rampaging energy in his body. But unlike his expectation, there wasn't any numbness or paralysis.
In these three days, Adam and the elder's soul had established a rapport. Trevor took initiative in concisely introducing himself to the former. When the elder revealed that he was the last one in the legacy of Sages, Adam quickly recalled the words he listened to the party of four.
Without concealing anything, Adam began to speak. He unleashed his delight in having someone to communicate with and his words flowed ceaselessly.
In return, the elder's soul rummaged through the myriad of his memories, both hidden and revealed, and unearthed the earthling's name before letting him know.
And when Adam introduced his origin, the elder was thunderstruck.
So there are parallel worlds? Cool!
The elder's curiosity peaked and the one-sided introduction soon transformed into a stable and bust dialogue. The parties traded words limitlessly and they shared their experiences. Most importantly, Adam was the prominent speaker among the two.
His life and the hardships he went through pulled the soul into the realm of silence for almost an hour. Oblivious to this change, Adam was talking on and on.
I should assist him.
A thought emerged in the heart of the soul as the wisp gave his attention to his words. Adam's innocent attitude without veiling even the smallest detail deepened his impression in the sage's mind.
Thus the old man took initiative in clearing Adam's headaches.
"Adam, you are the only person who has ever come in contact with the supreme deities after the formation of the Multiverse. Your existence is special and you must hide this fact from everyone. Once spilt, this information can cause you endless troubles.
And about this world, let me give you a detailed outline.
This planet is extremely vast. My predecessors had unendingly attempted to measure the size of the world, but the result was futile. I was also no exception. Even after compiling the studies and researches spanning hundreds of millennia, I have only gathered decent information regarding this continent's geography."
"Wait a minute, so there are other continents?" Adam interrupted and raised his doubt.
"Of course there are. But I am unaware of the numbers but I can tell you that there is at least one more continent that lies beyond our range of detection. But its presence is so mystifying that none could decipher its characteristics.
Let's leave that matter for another time and concentrate on where we have.
This continent is truly massive. The Prime Celestial Preserve, in which we are, is the central point of the continent. This large expanse of forest filled with my dear savage beasts and contraptions to deter invaders are over several hundreds of miles in radius.
The preserve is divided into three sections named outer, inner and core. Your destination is the core and at its centre is my mansion. We shall reach the place in about...a few days."
A few days?
Adam was starting to assume that this elder sage has a nut loose. Who would have thought that his condition was worse?
Oblivious to his train of thoughts, the elder continued, "The outer section is colossal. It takes about 65% of the entire preserve. There are almost all sorts of beasts roaming here. Right now, we are at the edge of this section.
Can you look ahead and tell me what you are seeing?"
Adam quickly raised his eyes and saw an elephantine mountain range in his sight. For a second, Adam almost fell as his darting pace was disrupted. Coming to a grinding halt, he stared at the massive natural formation.
"Elder, what is that?"
Finding Adam's reaction amusing, the sage replied, "That, my friend, is the guardian of the inner section."