Sky stood in the open field with the familiar forest behind him. He took a deep breath of the fresh air and closed his eyes. It felt good to be out in the open again. He opened his eyes and looked around. There was nothing but grass as far as the eye could see. No trees, no animals, no people. It was eerily quiet. Before he began his adventure into this new world, he turned back one last time to see the Wrecker still standing there, watching him leave. And then he left the forest behind and began his journey.
He had no idea where he was going. Still, he needed to uncover the mystery of Avis and the system's disappearance. He didn't know how long he had been walking, but the sun was getting lower, and tiredness was becoming an issue. He needed to rest soon, so he looked around for a place to set up camp and saw a small hill off in the distance.
'This should do.', he thought.
He began walking towards the hill, but he was stopped by a sudden noise. It sounded like... voices? He strained his ears and listened carefully. The voices were coming from the other side of the hill.
'Someone else is here!', he thought with excitement.
"Johny! Did you find the firewood?" A curious young woman asked with excitement.
"What do you think?" A voice, presumably Johnathan's, proudly responded back.
"Yes! You're the best!" The woman exclaimed as she ran off towards the campsite.
The young woman in her early twenties had long, curly brown hair that reached down to her waist, wearing a white sundress with a blue jacket over it.
"Wait for me, Rebecca!" Johnathan called out as he ran after her with an armful of firewood.
Jonathan was a young guard, still wearing his uniform on his day off. He has short, cropped brown hair, hazel eyes, and a well-built figure perfectly representing a young guardsman. He always had a smile on his face, even when he was on duty.
They had known each other since childhood and had been dating for over a year. Tonight was their anniversary, and they had planned to celebrate it by camping out under the stars.
"Thank you for doing this, Johnathan. I know it's not really your thing," Rebecca said as she began setting up the campsite.
"Anything for you, my love," he replied as he helped her.
Sky smiled to himself as he watched the two of them from afar. It was good to know that there were still good people in this world. He was about to make his presence known when he heard a rustling in the bushes behind him. He turned around, but there was nothing there.
'I must be imagining things.', he thought as he turned back to the campsite. There was no one there... the flames from their fire burnt out, and their belongings were gone. It was as if they had never been there. Then, suddenly, a hand grabbed hold of his neck and choked him.
"Who are you?" The voice demanded. "What are you doing here?"
Sky gasped for air as he tried to break free from the grip, but it was no use. He was slowly losing consciousness. The last thing he saw before everything went black was the face of his attacker. It was a young man, Johnathan.
"What are you going to do with him?!" Rebecca asked furiously.
"I don't know. We can't just let him go; he could tell someone about us," Johnathan replied.
"What are we going to do with him then?!" She asked.
"We'll have to kill him," Jonathan said coldly.
Rebecca's eyes narrowed, and nodded in agreement as she pulled out a knife from her jacket. Jonathan released his grip on Sky and fell to the ground with a thud. Rebecca knelt down next to him and slit his throat.
"We have to leave," she said as she stood up and began packing their stuff in a magical bracelet, a luxury item in the capital.
"I know," Johnathan said as he looked down at the young man they had just killed. The young man had strange glowing tattoos on both his arms, one arm with green swirls and the other with black. The young man wore clothing that would suit a beggar, with a shirt that could only be called rags and filthy trousers that barely stayed on his slim hips. His tangled grey hair and lifeless blue eyes shone in the midnight moon, captivating anyone who gazed upon him.
"We have to leave now," Rebecca said as she tugged on Johnathan's arm.
He nodded and followed her onto the Rivien, a travelling beast companion with a long wing span that could take them back to the city. As they left, they didn't notice the young man's eyes flicker open for a moment before closing again. His title 'Blessing of the Forest' was doing its job and increasing his healing factor.
❖
When Sky awoke to the sounds of a rattling wagon making its way down the narrow path. He sat up, disoriented, and threw up the little fluids he had in his stomach from the night before. His head was pounding, and his throat felt like it was on fire. He looked around to find himself in the wagon with bound wrists and ankles. The strange thing was the binding. It felt like rope, looked like rope, but with Sky's eyes, he could clearly see a thick purple ether line looping around his wrists and ankles. The wagon was closed off with thin bars around the opening, and Sky was lying on his side, so he couldn't see much.
"Hello?" Sky called with a hoarse voice, "Is anyone there?"
"Shut up!" A gruff voice called from the driver's seat.
"Avis?" Sky asked, still disoriented from awakening.
The man raised his hand in the view from the narrow bars showing the outside world. The man's hand turned a light purple, and Sky followed the etherline from the man's hand to his wrist and ankles. The bindings suddenly tightened painfully, and Sky cried out.
"I said shut it!" The man called again.
Sky wriggled silently as he felt the bindings tighten even further to the point his feet and hands were turning purple. He could feel every bump as the wagon jolted forward, but he knew that if he made any noise, it would only make the situation worse. Finally, after what felt like hours, the wagon came to a stop, and Sky heard voices outside.
"Only one today?" A well-mannered voice asked.
"Yes," the gruff wagon driver responded.
"What's wrong with him?" The first voice asked.
"I don't know; I was told to bring anyone I find who doesn't look like they're from the nobility or of the higher races." The gruff man said.
"Well, let's take a look then." The first voice said as the wagon shifted. As the man approached, the bindings tightened even more painfully around Sky's wrists and ankles.
Sky heard footsteps coming closer to the wagon, and the door opened. Bright light streamed in, temporarily blinding Sky. The silhouette of a man standing in the doorway with a hand on the hilt of his sword came into focus.
"What's your name, boy?" The man asked.
"S-Sky." He rasped out, his throat still burning.
"Hmm," the man mused as he looked Sky over. "You don't look like you're from the nobility."
"I'm not," Sky said, his voice a little stronger.
"Where are you from then?" The man asked.
"I don't know."
The man's eyebrows furrowed as he looked at Sky sceptically. "You don't know where you're from?"
Sky remained silent. Although desperate to find out where he was or what was going on, things weren't looking good for him, and he knew it would be best to keep his mouth shut.
"Well, I suppose it doesn't matter," the man said after a few minutes of silence. "You're coming with me."