Dawn had broken. Leaves flowing with the current of the wind. A few days have passed. Kash had already woken up and is currently preparing his hunting tools. Rei on the other hand went to The Capital of The Kingdom of Sanctus because one of the subordinates of the 7 Hagios Ecclesia needs his help. Right now, Kash is alone in the Wooden Cottage. Wearing Rei's old mercenary clothes, a robe, and a small pouch, Kash set out to the wild to hunt.
As Kash is walking down the clean path heading toward the river, he admires the beauty of the forest he is in as if it's his first time seeing it again.
After crossing the river where he had bathed, Kash put on his hood and swiftly climbed a tall tree. After reaching the peak, he takes a moment and looks at both of the kingdoms in the distance.
"Though not much grand and luxurious as their names are, they're quite large than what I'd thought." Kash chuckled
"Besides that, it appears that they are building an altar of sorts. But then again, too many assumptions can cause misunderstandings" Kash said as he slides down the tree.
Continuing on the Journey hunting. He notices that the surrounding areas of the forest appear to be getting dimmer than usual. Nonetheless, Kash proceeded even deeper into the forest.
"Oh, a Wild Boar!" Kash excitingly said as he spots a boar in the nearby bushes. Kash promptly took out his daggers aimed at the boar's abdomen. Trying to get a better look, Kash swiftly climbed up a tree without noise while locking his aim down on the boar. A branch snapped. It startled the boar. Kash immediately threw his daggers at the boar piercing its skull and heart. An instant kill.
"Looks like we'll be eating Boar Steak at noon and night!" Kash happily said while dismantling the boar. While trying to remove and clean the boar's insides, Kash felt a spherical object somewhere below the stomach of the boar. Not knowing what it is since he hasn't felt this in any animals he had dismantled, Kash took it out revealing a dull red-colored sphere the size of a table tennis ball.
"What's this...?" Kash said. "It's a ball of some sort. It's not heavy nor does it reeks of smell that much. I'll go ask Rei about this after he comes home" Kash puts it in his small pouch beside the water bottle. Kash then makes a makeshift backpack with logs and rope carrying the meat and leather. "Time to bring this back home," Kash said.
...
Upon reaching home, Kash notices that Rei isn't back yet. "He should be home by now, I wonder where he went.." Kash said. He put his makeshift backpack down beside the wooden cottage and went inside. Upon entering inside, he notices that all of the furniture or the items randomly disappeared without a trace.
"What the hell?" Kash uttered. He checks the drawers to see if there are still some items left. All are gone, and there is a note taped above the drawer.
"This wasn't here before," Kash said.
He then took the note and read it. It says,
"Hello, Kash. If you find this letter, then that means it's time for you to go. It appears that both kingdoms are now on the brink of war. I'd advise you to leave immediately. Hide all of your belongings underground and make sure to cover them neatly. As for the furniture and the items at the house, they're stored in my dimension pocket so don't worry about it. If you go 40 miles to the west you'll reach a small town occupied by The Kingdom of Sanctus. If they stopped you, show them this letter. Oh, and be careful. Scouts of the Kingdom of Phantasma have quadrupled recently, they're now bringing class 3 archers into the scouting team. Be nimble and make no trace. Please stay alive. From, Rei"
"...Goddamnit" Kash muttered. With no other options, Kash then took some of the meat and buried the makeshift backpack alongside the leather between the trees, and moved on west. Now knowing that there is someone behind him watching.
...
6 Miles into the run. Kash is currently camping behind a tree a few meters from the dirt road cooking the boar meat that he had brought with him. While eating, he suddenly heard someone talking. Without hesitation, Kash immediately puts out the fire and lies prone behind the tall grass calmly breathing.
"Hey, this job is kind of boring honestly." A Dissatisfied Scout said.
"Come on, cut some slack will ya? The boss tells us that the guy who hid that lousy backpack is here somewhere" Another scout said.
"Ehh, do you trust the boss that much? I heard that she mercilessly killed her lov-"
"Will you just shut up?" the other scout said with a pissed-off face.
"Yeah, Yeah. Whatever." Both of the scouts left. Noticing the opportunity, Kash made a fast dash heading west.
9 Miles into the run and night is approaching. Kash stopped and camped a bit further away from the road, unlike last time. Kash then dug a hole enough to comfortably fit 1 person then ate and slept using the small pouch as a pillow.
...
"You should eat more greens y'know! Hm? What? You're already eating healthily? How nice. Make sure to eat your veggies! We'll go to the arcade if you finished all of your veggies!"
...
"...Mom" Kash quietly said while sleeping. However, a loud bang was heard from a distance which prompted Kash to wake up immediately. It was barely dawn at that time. But, Kash immediately drank some water and ran again.
12 Miles into the run and noon is approaching and Kash hasn't eaten anything yet. So, he settled down beside some rocks and cook the remaining boar meat that he had left. After eating, he heard that there is running water nearby so he went there with his nearly emptied water bottle from his pouch. As soon as he reaches the river, he heard some commotion nearby and sat down and wait.
"But sir isn't this violating the treaty?" One man said.
"Nonsense Lieutenant! That measly Sanctus Kingdom hasn't caught up to what we're doing. No need to be afraid" Another man said as he pat the back of another man.
"Now! Let's shall feast tonight! My men had prepared some fine grape wine for us to commemorate our union" The man happily said as he turns back to his men.
Seeing this as a sign, Kash immediately went to the river and dunked his water bottle. As soon as he does that, a lurking rabbit got startled and ran frantically in the opposite direction and accidentally activated a bear trap killing it and causing a loud clang which alerted the other people.
"Oh Fuck." Kash said.
Suddenly, a volley of arrows was above Kash. Without a second to spare, he immediately ran and climbed a tree to hide. The Arrows kept pouring and pouring until they stopped. With a breath of relief, Kash looked in the direction where the arrows were fired at. To Kash's surprise, something is glowing in the distance. A faint yellow light seemingly kept growing bigger and bigger. Those lights multiplied and multiplied until the faint light became a ball of fire.
"Probably best to get out of here now," Kash said. He immediately stands up and ran without a second thought fearing for his life.
"Release!!" A man shouted. Then, a volley of fireballs came hurdling toward where Kash has been, setting the nearby trees on fire. Fearing for his life, Kash jumped from tree to tree at a swift speed knowing that if he gets hit, it's over.
"Those fireballs are as big as a boulder. Rei, you said there were only class 3 knights why are their mages now?!" Kash cursed while running.
In the meantime, Rei sneezed while reading a book about cooking. "Damn, who cursed me?"
...
18 Miles into the run. Kash is panting and sweating like crazy. The clothes his wearing are being hanged by a tree branch near the campfire to dry them off.
"This body is *huff* quite weak *huff* at stamina *huff* *huff*," Kash said as he frantically pant. Kash then drank the full water bottle in one sip.
"Phew! That was refreshing!" Kash said in relief. "well, it's getting a bit late and I'm hella tired" Kash said as he is putting back on the clothes that he had dried earlier.
He then dug a hole enough to comfortably fit 1 person inside. Kash then put out the campfire and went to sleep.
...
Dawn came. It's quieter than ever. It's almost as if time had stopped. Kash woke up and went out to investigate to see what was going on. He then went and look around to see that everything had indeed stopped. Leaves are in the middle of waving, birds flapping their wings in mid-air while not moving, and the clouds are not moving.
"What the hell is goin-" Kash turned his head left and suddenly a dagger was faced towards his eye.
"Don't move."