Zer slowly opened his eyes. He tried to sit up and found that his hands were bound by a rope. Not only his hands but also his whole body was bound by ropes with a tree. He was in the middle of a forest. And most importantly he was not alone. A man with a heavy build was sitting not too far away from where Zer was. But He hadn't noticed till now that Zer had woken up.
' What the hell. How is it possible that I suddenly find myself in this suspiciously strange forest? Is he a kidnapper? But what could he gain by kidnapping me or is this some kind of illegal human trafficking case.'
There were many questions in Zer's mind but he tried to focus on the current condition at hand. The situation was not in a single area in his favor. He was unable to even move an inch, so escaping was out of option. Even if he somehow got free of those ropes, In an unknown terrain, it is impossible to move at night excluding the fact that there can be multiple people with guys sitting in front of Zer. The best thing to do in this case is to observe his surroundings and wait for the opportunity. He slowly turned his head in the direction of the unknown man. He was cutting an animal likely to be some kind of Boar with a dagger. The scene was primal and very intimidating to Zer who had grown up inside a city and eaten package meat all his life. The picture of a man cutting a large animal with a dagger in front of the burning firewood in the middle of a forest was very very out of contextual knowledge for him. But in this desperate moment, he tried to calm his nerves and not judge hastily.
Likely a boar was to be roasted on fire to feed the man's stomach. Now he looked closely, he noticed that the man was wearing very shabby types of clothing.
Zer was feeling strange. And he knew the reason why. This place, The man, the atmosphere... everything around him was unnatural and strange. This was too uncommon. Then The man stopped cutting the boar and stood up. Zer hadn't noticed the sword that was not visible behind the figure of the man. And the first thing the man did was pull the claymore-type sword from the ground and then the man slowly turned toward Zer and walked forward towards him.
Zer forgot to even breathe. Sweat trickled down his forehead. The man stood in front of him and put the sword's tip on his throat. Zer tried to back away but being bound he was unable to react to the situation. He was helpless as a pig waiting to be slaughtered. But rational thinking returned soon and he understood one simple fact that the man was not going to kill him. If the man truly wanted to kill him, He could have done it more easily when he was unconscious. But he didn't, so the current way of doing things was just to threaten or intimidate him or something else. He mustered up the courage and asked, "Who are you?"
...….
"Who are you ?"
It was a question that Victor did not expect from this unknown boy. The whole existence of the boy was unnatural. But he was sure that this black-haired boy was an anomaly. Blood magic was not something that could summon a human and from the looks of it, the boy in front of him was totally human. Although Victor was not a person who could use the mystic powers, years of training had given him the ability to differentiate between mundane humans and other creatures. The boy in front of him did not have an ounce of mystic power. So how did he come here?
The previous attempts of him failing in blood magic had a major reason and Victor knew that reason. In legends, there was a war between realms where the realm of chaos was sealed and as a result, any connection between that realm was lost. But legends still were legends. The legitimacy of these tales was nonexistent. So with a sliver of hope, Victor tried but ultimately failed miserably many times.
"My identity is not important. It is not my life which is at stake. So answer my questions truthfully.", Victor said.
The boy nodded his head.
"What is your name ?"
"Zer…. Zer Lakslart. Why have you kidnapped m.."
"Don't say anything that isn't asked. Understand. Tell me where are you from?", Victor was trying to judge if the boy was dangerous or not. If he turns out to be dangerous, He has to end the matter here. Victor did not want anyone to get hurt because of the result of his work.
"I am from Seras.", The boy answered without delay. It was clear that the boy was telling the truth. But Victor did not know Any place with the name Seras. Sensing that the black-haired boy was also confused and to just make the matter clear, he said, " You don't know? What about 'U.S.F'??
Where the hell are we?"
Victor had already somewhat grasped the events. As the Realm of chaos was sealed, this boy was summoned as a result of his ritual failing. But From where, Victor had no idea. But Victor's last hope of curing his daughter's curse was also buried with this realization. The realm of chaos was truly sealed and this boy was here as the proof. He had killed a man even though he was a bandit and also endangered others through his dangerous rituals. What if some other hidden entity was summoned as a result instead of this boy. And also he had no idea of how to send this boy back. What has he done?
He moved his sword back from the boy's throat and sat down. The previously threatening look disappeared from his face as there was no need for that anymore. He said slowly "Boy, this is the northern hill of WhiteWind. You are very far from your home."