"It's been three years since then." Nai took one last look at the shelter he had made. He was going to leave this place he worked hard to build, starting in the mud. For entertainment and to find fun. He can muster the courage to go on a journey for it.
"I finally decided to leave this place." Nai sighed; it's going to be a long journey ahead, but he'd already hardened his resolve. Picking up the bags containing all the things he needed.
Nai stepped out of the only open entrance to his territory. Touching the walls along the way, he made sure to remember the walls of his hard work.
This might be the last scene he can take after leaving this place. "I will be going now."
Stepping out of the entrance, he turns around and takes one last look at the pond, garden, shelter, and steele. His eyes linger on it for a moment before shaking his head and turning around.
"Too bad, I don't know what to carve on it any more aside from my name." Without looking back anymore, he started walking towards the east, which he determined after watching where the sun was moving.
This is a good day to set off on a journey. The sun had just risen, the clouds were faintly moving, and the morning breeze was cool. By traveling at this time, he can cover more land by the end of the day.
"With my current physique nurtured by the Moon's Blessing for three years straight. It will be much easier to last for several hours of walking on this journey along with heavy goods." As expected, a strong body can do many things.
Nai felt satisfied with his achievement. Though most of the credits came from the mysterious Moon's Blessing. It doesn't matter, as he won't be able to achieve it without his daily hardwork either.
Just as he traveled a kilometer away from his shelter. He suddenly noticed something on the far horizon. There were dots, like shadows, seemingly moving towards him.
"Those might be big animals, judging by the fact that I can see them even from afar. There's no need to take a detour for now. I can try to check what animal they are too." Nai actually has another thought: that he might find an animal to ride on.
"Preferably, a horse, donkey, or even an elephant will do." Nai continued: "If nothing else changes, he will cross roads with them.
Once he was near enough to see them, he could still decide whether to take a detour if the animals were carnivores.
He didn't want to lose his little life just after walking a few kilometers, after all. That would be too much of a joke.
A while later, an hour and a half passed.
Not far away, the group of ancient people noticed a lone man wearing strange, tattered clothes walking in their direction.
"Hmm?" The man at the back of the old man made a hand signal to stop the march. He stood up and jumped from the water buffalo's back as he took his wooden stone spear from his companions.
"Leader!" Everyone immediately jumped out of their rides and gathered near him, the leader of the group, with various expressions on their faces.
The leader nodded with a serious expression as he said, "Gather around in all directions and keep an eye out if there are any ambushes nearby. We don't know who this man was to be alone in the wild, but it's better to be vigilant. Ready your weapon with you."
"Yes." They nodded solemnly as they immediately exchanged glances before taking up positions. Everyone didn't dare ask any questions at all, as they knew not to waste time on danger that can happen anywhere and anytime in this place.
The leader walked near the old man, who remained sitting on the mount's back like an ascetic monk. "Do you have anything to tell me?" The leader spoke. He was actually just trying and didn't expect to get an answer.
As expected, the old man didn't reply to him. "Well, I already expected that." He said so casually while turning his attention to the man's figure walking towards them.
"I hope it's not that 'kind'." He muttered softly.
"He's not." The leader heard the old man speak. He was about to turn to the side when I asked him how he could say so when the old man had already passed by him.
"Eh, wait. How did you— hey?" The leader was speechless. At least answer me when I ask questions! This old man has a bearing of a ghost, almost giving him a heart attack from appearing in front of him like that.
He felt annoyed, but he forcefully suppressed it. There were still many things he didn't understand about the purpose of this trip.
The old man was also an influential and mysterious person in their village. Even the village chief and the elders respected him. So he can't use any tricks to force him to answer the purpose of this mission.
...
The old man expressionlessly walked forward near the figure of a man walking towards him in his early twenties wearing strange clothing he hadn't seen before.
But he was so sure that this young man was the one he was looking for. Because he had already seen him in his dreams. Even the place was the same, exactly as his dreams portrayed.
A few weeks ago, when he was still at the village. He had a dream, and in that dream, he saw this young man.
The dream was fragmentary, and he only knows the general direction of where to meet him and the scene in which it will happen now and into the future.
Yes, he can see the future. That's the reason he was respected in the village, where even the village chief and the elders treated him like some kind of higher being.
Two months before, he saw the future of the village, where there would be many who got sick and fell to the ground. He knew that a pandemic would spread in their village.
However, he had no solution nor prevention at that time. The village chief and the elders were in panic after hearing that. They trusted him fully because his abilities have saved the village's lives many times.
That was a month later, when he told them about going on a journey to find the cure he saw in his dreams that day. The village chief immediately gathered volunteers to accompany him with the goods he needed.
The sighs of pandemic have already appeared. It cannot be stopped, so they can only urge them to quickly find the cure and return.
The old man sighed in his heart; he almost lost his cool during this three-week, tiring journey. If the young man he saw in his dreams did not appear for a few more days, he might have just given up by then.
Nonetheless, he had appeared. In front of him. There's hope for the village now! His old eyes lit up with joy after thinking about this.
When he was a few meters away from him, he stopped and greeted him with his old voice, "Hello, I am Garut from the Agah Village."
...
"Hello, I am Garut from the Agah Village." The old man in front of him a few meters away suddenly spoke.
Nai was calm, but he was inwardly surprised that he could understand what he was saying despite the difference in there language.
Is it just him, or can the natives also understand what he says? He would have found it out now. "I'm Viridescent Nai; you call me just Nai."
The old man seemed to understand what he had just said as he immediately spoke, "Hello Nai, can I ask where you came from?".
He can really understand me. Nai heaved a sigh of relief in his heart after knowing that he wouldn't need to do those troublesome hand and body gestures he had prepared to communicate with the natives of this place. anymore.
Though he was thinking about that, he was actually vigilant. "Why?"
The old man didn't seem to mind, as he replied. "I came here with my people to exchange for the miraculous water you have. We need it to save our village, which has now fallen ill due to some strange sickness we can't understand and treat."
Nai narrowed his eyes as he felt his heart tighten a bit. The old man was naturally talking about the water in the pond. The problem lay in how he knew it. Did they come here in the past? When he wasn't around this place yet?
Nai doesn't know, so it's better to ask them. "How do you know about that?" As for lying to him that he didn't know about that miraculous water, He was no idiot; for them to know that, that means they must have seen and tested it once.
The old man nodded and didn't hide it from him. "Actually, I can see the future."
It was actually at that time that the leader and the rest of the group arrived with their mounts. Naturally, they heard that. "What?!"
Nai and the rest were shocked by the sudden revelation they had just heard.