Noticing his presence due to the sound made by the branches he stepped on, the Ghoul that was trying to bite the man turns its head to the side and instantly changed target. Having an instinct similar to a tiger, it prefers to attack prey from behind.
With the man facing forward and a tree behind him, it's hard for the Ghoul to get him.
Mathias who is facing away from the Ghoul has become the perfect new target for the Ghoul as it sprinted on all four before lunging while spreading its bloodied claws, its movement was quite fast as it reaches Mathias in a couple of seconds.
Sensing the ominous feeling from his back, Mathias turned around and was greeted by the Ghoul.
Instinctively Mathias raises both of his arms to defend himself against the Ghoul, he was not adept at using any weapon so his mind doesn't reach the fact that he can use the short sword in his hand to defend against the Ghoul.
But when the weight of the Ghoul presses on him, Mathias tries to push it away in reflex.
Quite unexpectedly the Ghoul got flung to the side before crashing onto a tree, it growled while its claws left a mark on the tree trunk as it slides down while still fixating its eyes on Mathias who seems to be surprised by what he just did.
Ghouls come in different variations, the one in front of him right now is the weakest one.
Even though this Ghoul is the weakest one amongst its race, it still has two or three times the power of an adult human. Mathias knows that exactly as he saw three people fend off one Ghoul back in his home world.
Knowing that, Mathias looks at both of his hands in surprise, 'H-How did I manage to do that?'
Realistically speaking if a Ghoul leaped onto a person then the momentum would make both of them fall down to the ground. But instead of that happening, Mathias managed to push the Ghoul away which should be impossible with his strength.
Having no patience, the Ghoul leaped at Mathias once again.
Mathias grabbed both of the Ghoul's arms with his small and frail hands, the Ghoul is towering over him but he manage to actually stop its momentum. Even though he managed to stop the Ghoul, it still tries to bite him like an animal which makes Mathia pale in fear.
Despite being able to do the impossible, the Ghoul frantically struggles and pushes forward.
With its long claws that at that is equal in length to Mathias's whole hand, the Ghoul manages to reach Mathias's shoulder and scratch him right there. It made him groan in pain, and this caused chaos in his mind as his strength is slipping away.
Because of that, he started to step back out of fear as the Ghoul becomes even more active.
'I-I don't want to die! I can't die! Someone, help!', Mathias exclaimed in his head.
Just as he thought of that a painful growl escape the Ghoul's mouth as a steely object penetrates its neck, blood splattered onto Mathias's face as he saw a sword stab the Ghoul's neck. Under his gaze, the sword twisted before slashing to the side.
Swish!
Mathias saw the sword slicing the Ghoul's neck as its body fell to the ground.
A thudding noise was made as the head of the Ghoul landed on the ground before rolling a couple of steps away, and the man's tired face can be seen standing behind the Ghoul with the bloodied sword in his hand.
For a couple of seconds, both of them just stand and look at each other.
Panting heavily and covered with sweat all over his body, the man groaned in pain as he lost his sense of balance. But before he fall to the ground, Mathias caught him and helped him sit down gently and leaned on a tree.
Upon helping the man, his eyes then darted to the wounded leg that is still bleeding.
Without saying anything Mathias takes the man's bag that he already put on the side before taking a piece of shirt, he then ripped the shirt quickly before he started wrapping the cut wound on his leg with it and tied it tightly.
Feeling the sharp sting, the man hisses as his body becomes tense.
But Mathias didn't take long to handle the cut wound as he did it in just a few seconds. Since he was never the one fighting, he needs to take care of his sister when she got wounded from fighting. Most of the injuries she sustained when fighting against a Supernatural are cut wounds, so he has become quite good at handling this kind of wound.
"Thank you for saving me, young man...", the man said with a light smile.
Mathias didn't reply as he felt undeserving of the man's thanks, he was about to leave the man to his death earlier. It was only due to his stepping on a tree branch which manage to alert the Ghoul that he fought against the Ghoul.
Using the remaining torn shirt, Mathias wrapped it around his shoulder that got scratched.
While he was doing that and then wiping the blood splattered on his face, the man gazes at him curiously before he asks, "Young man... If you don't mind me asking, are you perhaps also hurt?"
"Hmm...? Of course, I'm hurt. I got scratched by that Ghoul", Mathias replied in confusion.
Since he was clearly bleeding from his shoulder because of that Ghoul's claws reaching him earlier, Mathias was confused as to why the man needed to ask something that is already evident like this.
But the man chuckled lightly upon hearing this, "You're not from the Black Ardent Mages, are you?"
Upon hearing this Mathias becomes even more confused as he looks at the man with a frown, but then he finds the man pointing at his black robe. Just then he realized that the man mistook him for one of the people from this Black Ardent Mages.
"I was with them to do a ritual. I survived, but many of them died", Mathias replied truthfully.
Although the man already knows that Mathias is definitely not from the Black Ardent Mages, he was not expecting this kind of answer. It was clearly written all over his surprised expression, "R-Really? What happened to them?"
"I don't know, I just woke up and saw everyone is dead..."
Shaking his head as he didn't know why he would tell the man that, Mathias stands back up before he bowed slightly, "I suggest you keep moving, there are more Ghouls nearby. I will take my leave, I need to get somewhere", he said, intending to leave.
But the man struggled to stand up, using the sword as a cane before he called out to Mathias.
After managing to stand up he then called out to Mathias, "Wait!"
"I really need to get going, Sir", Mathias replied turning half of his body around, he wanted to quickly reach the small town where he would probably spend the night there. It's night and the Supernatural creatures are active during the night.
It would be wise for him and his life to resume his journey tomorrow morning.
Without even minding Mathias's remarks, the man then asks, "What's your name, young man?"
"Mathias...", Mathias replied without much thought.
Upon hearing this the man nodded his head, "Okay, Mathias. My name is Alvin, nice to meet you. You seem to be in a rush, if I may know where are you going? I've never seen your face around here, you must be a foreigner. I can help you if that's the case"
Different from what Alvin thought, the reason he was in a hurry was because of the Ghouls.
Although this new frail body of his has a surprising amount of strength to be able to match with a Ghoul like that, he was not going to be fine if the rest of the Ghouls finds their way here or sensed that one of them got killed.
But now that Alvin seems like he's from around here, Mathias wanted to stick with him.
"I heard that there's a small town nearby, I'm planning to spend the night there. It's not safe to be traveling in the night like this, tomorrow morning would be a better idea", Mathias said, he was hoping Alvin to come from the small town.
Since he doesn't have any money with him right now, he can't afford any living space.
Just as he had expected, Alvin's expression lit up as he instantly replied, "Well, if that's the case then why not come back with me? I live there and I haven't got a chance to repay you for saving me earlier"
"On top of that, it'll be good if I can get a hand in this condition", Alvin added.
Mathias looks at Alvin that can barely walk with the sword as a cane before he smiled wryly, 'Since he can help me for the night, I'll help him. I just hope that the Ghouls are not going to find us again...'
With that, the two of them started their way to the small town.
As they are walking slowly through the empty forest that is only filled with trees and the sounds of insects, Alvin chuckled when he realized that Mathias kept glancing to the side and back every minute paranoidly.
It's clear to him that he's really fearful of the Ghouls that they met earlier.
"Don't worry about the Ghouls, they are slow eaters and really like to savor their meals. We don't need to worry about them, they'll probably finish eating by tomorrow night", Alvin said, trying to comfort Mathias's anxious mind.
Upon hearing this, Mathias can only sigh, "I know, I just can't help it..."
Silence covers the both of them once again, but then Mathias asked curiously, "I'm curious about something, how can you know almost instantly that I'm not one of the Black Ardent Mages despite wearing their robe?"
"Quite easy actually, there are two things", Alvin said nonchalantly.
Raising two fingers, he then continues, "First, you don't use any spell or technique that utilizes mana while fighting. Second, you're having trouble fighting the Ghoul from earlier. Each member of the Black Ardent Mages can take down a simple Ghoul without the usage of mana easily"
"You really are a foreigner, aren't you?", Alvin added in realization.
Anyone that lives in this Kingdom must know of the Black Ardent Mages, there is simply nobody that doesn't know about them, it'll probably be possible if that person lives under a rock for all his life to not know the Black Ardent Mages.
Upon hearing this, Mathias can't help but frown, 'Wait a minute...'
'If the Black Ardent Mages should be well-known by the people, how come the previous Mathias doesn't know anything about it? Don't tell me...'
Glancing at Alvin, Mathias then asked, "What is the Kingdom we're in right now?"
"This is the Silerin Kingdom and this forest is located on the south side of the Kingdom", Alvin replied which instantly confirms Mathias's thought, turns out he was not in the Aveorean Kingdom where his previous self and his sister lives.
Realizing that he's in a different Kingdom, he feels his body suddenly becomes heavy.
Although he was scared to ask this, he decided that this is the perfect time to ask this question, "From here to the Aveorean Kingdom, how long will it take? I'm heading there to meet with my sister"
"Avorean Kingdom...?", Alvin mutters and paused for a second.
Slowly the tension started rising as Mathias waited for Alvin to continue, he was hoping that the Avorean Kingdom would not be too far. But from the looks of it, it seems that is nothing but hopeful thinking.
Out of nowhere, Alvin burst out laughing which caught Mathias in confusion.
"Ssstt! You will attract other creatures if you're being that loud!", Mathias warned while looking around once again, he was even gripping the short sword in his hand tightly, fearing that the Ghouls would hear that laugh.
Wiping the tears, Alvin chuckled, "No need to worry, young man. It's not that far"
"The Avorean Kingdom is the neighboring Kingdom of the Silerin Kingdom, you could reach there in a couple of days by horse or a week by wagon. I'll help you to travel there, don't worry!", Alvin added with a smile.
But as he said that, Alvin turns his head forward before his smile grows wider.
"Would you look at that, we're here already..."