By sunset, the hunting expedition had arrived at the forest perimeters, near the base of the western Dragontooth Mountains. William could see their high peaks far away into the distance and as the flat land gave way to hills and then the rising mountains themselves, so did the forest rise with them, it was quite the scene to experience.
"Damn, the more I see of this land's beauty, the more excited I get about what the rest of this world has in store for me." William couldn't help but think.
As they traveled to their destination, William saw countless villages populating the plains as fields stretched around them for great distances.
Even as they neared the forest, the villages merely transitioned from largely being inhabited by farmers, to being settled by families of hunters and woodcutters, who had the forest to thank for their livelihood.
Soon, the group got to work setting up camp for this hunting trip, they chose a location near a stream to ensure a water source, as well as keeping themselves no farther than half a day from the nearest village.
This was mainly for two reasons, the first was for safety in case there was an emergency and they needed help or refuge, the second was so that they can call upon the help of hunters for the hunt. After all who knows better the forests around here, than the very hunters that make their living from them.
William of course was not required to do much, other than watch the servants and the guards do all the heavy lifting. From setting up the tents to making campfires, as well as setting up watches for the night.
As nobles, lord Ulric, as well as William, were not required to partake in such activities, otherwise what was the point of the manpower they brought with them in the first place.
It did not take them long before a nice camp was established; the lord as well as William both had a spacious tent for them to call home for the duration of this trip.
It was not much, everyone had to sleep on the floor, there were no bathrooms, no showers… pretty much nothing but the basics of necessities, but it was still the best that could be offered considering this world's technological achievements.
As he toured the place and stretched his legs a bit, which had gone sore from riding the entire day and while dinner was being prepared by the servants they had brought with them.
William could not help but think, "This trip is going to be rough on poor William's body".
The very next day William was woken up shortly after sunrise by his father, "wake up young man, we have quite the day ahead of us."
William groaned as he opened his eyes, he felt like a piñata that had incessantly been beaten up all night, by a group of pissed-off kids that just had a shitty birthday party.
His body hurt like hell and he felt quite tired as he had a hard time going to sleep last night. "Everyone is gangster when going on a camping trip, until they experience what it's like to sleep on the ground, with nothing by a blanket between it and your back. Touché ground, touché, you win this round."
He groaned as he got up from his "bed" and slowly made his way outside to wash up while smelling the fresh air in the morning.
The moment he exited the tent he sneezed. "Damn it's chilly in here; I guess our proximity to the mountains is to blame."
After William washed up, he as well his father ate breakfast and readied themselves for their first excursion into the forest.
Lord Ulric called for William as well as the head of the guards for this expedition into their tent.
As soon as everyone was present he got right to the point. "Nile, take a few guards with you and make your way to the nearest village near the forest, hire a few experienced hunters that know their way around these woods, tell them that they will be rewarded handsomely for their services."
"As you command my lord, it will be their honor to serve you lordship." Neil saluted before he left.
Lord Uric turned around to address William after he was done with his guard.
"Neil should be back by the evening, so we will have to postpone any serious excursion deep into the forest until he came back with our hunters. In the meanwhile why don't you go ahead and explore the periphery of the forest a bit."
"Really, how about we go together, will you not be bored waiting here all day?" William questioned.
"My boy, though I usually have little time for pleasures such as these, I do make sure to go on a hunting trip once or twice a year, so a day will not test my patience much. You, on the other hand, I have seen how you have been looking at the forest ever since we arrived, you looked like a child who couldn't wait anymore to go and pounce on their new toys".
Lord Ulric replied as he laughed a bit.
"I guess you indeed changed a bit, where is the boy who would rarely leave the castle district?" the marquess smiled even more and continued.
"It doesn't really matter, this is good; curiosity is an essential trait in any being, only by bravely exploring the unknown will you learn new and exciting things. Of course, this should all be done within reason, so go ahead, take a few guards with you and go explore."
" it's strange, even in our own territory, in the middle of the city, you make a big fuss about me making my way to the districts without many guards by my side, yet hear in the middle In nowhere you allow me to go explore unknown forests just by myself and a couple of guards?" William couldn't help but ask his father.
The marquess smiled once more at William's questioning.
"My boy, do you truly think of me as an irresponsible father? First of all, though I like to change locations from time to time, as to get some excitement from the element of the unknown into these old bones of mine, this forest has been explored quite a bit by those who settled near it, as well as myself through the years. There are only games to hunt here as well as the occasional bear or wolf, thought to meet those you need to go deep into the forest. "
He paused a bit before continuing.
"As for the light escort, have you never heard the phrase 'men can be more dangerous than beasts?' not to mention that you will follow my words and only stick to the periphery and not go deeper, right William?"
The marquess finished his words with a bit more serious tone as if to emphasize to William that it was no laughing matter when it comes to how deep he was allowed to go into the forest.
William nodded without delay and answered, "of course I do not wish to throw my life in vain, I swear on all the wealth of house Blackwell that I shall follow your instruction father."
Lord Ulric couldn't help but laugh heartily at William's response. "When was our family's wealth yours to swear upon? Fine, fine you can go now, take some rations with you and don't dally for too long."
William happily exited the tent and picked a couple of guards, after taking their horses as well as their rations, they made their way into the forest ahead.
"Adventure, here I come" William exclaimed happily as he looked forward to this excursion of his, feeling like an explorer making his way into the jungles of the Amazon.