The cloudy sky had disappeared, and as if winter wasn't about to arrive, the scorching afternoon sun rose gloriously, bathing the treetops in the forest below.
"Ah..." Arthur sighed as he wiped the sweat from his brow and used a long sword to cut through the many vines and make his way through the dark forest where most of the sunlight didn't reach him, illuminated only by a few faint rays of light that found their way through the sea of green.
He wore the same leather armor that most of Dunul's guards wore, it was brown, simple, and had the village emblem engraved on its chest.
Another 14 people accompanied him as they struggled along a path that looked as if it hadn't been used for months; among them were the 4 recruits he had met in Dunul's barracks, 5 of the village's oldest hunters, another 4 more experienced guards, and Lugh, who was leading the group.
"Don't you like the warm weather?" Robert asked, walking a little behind Arthur.
"Not much..." Arthur replied as he crouched down to pass under a large fallen tree trunk on the path, his eyes running over the mushrooms of various sizes and colors that radiated a light filled with mana.
A magical and strange sight.
"Don't worry," Robert smiled as he also passed under the trunk, "soon winter will come once and for all and there will be knee-deep snow and hellish cold."
Hearing this, Arthur shivered. Knee-deep snow and hellish cold... it brought back terrible memories of not being able to pay the heating bills, or of the building's heating breaking down completely during the harsh winters in his homeland.
Ignoring these memories, he turned his head and took a quick look over his shoulder, studying Robert's figure for a single second before turning his head forward again.
Robert didn't even notice what Arthur had done and his eyes were fixed on Arthur's back, glowing with admiration, a feeling Arthur understood well but often tried to ignore.
At that moment, Lugh stopped and held up his hand, signaling for everyone else to stop. Just ahead, the forest seemed to climb a steep hill and end in a clearing.
"Is it here?" Lugh looked in the direction of one of the hunters.
"Yeah, they were up there before they got split up, or so the boy said." The hunter replied, pointing to the glade.
"Right," Lugh said and turned to the many warriors behind him, "Keep your weapons in your hands, Alex said there was no danger, but I don't trust his words."
Hearing this, Arthur drew his weapon and slowly began to climb the steep hill, using his free hand to support himself on the many tree roots that protruded into the ground as he climbed.
His balance was good, but he could easily calculate a hundred to two hundred meters of ascent just by looking at the steepness of the hill, a drop he didn't want to face.
It was a slow trip, and it took about three minutes before the group finally broke through the dense forest and found themselves in a clearing on top of a hill that seemed to rise for a few more meters to its top, where a single tree with red berries and green leaves stood.
'The view is worth the journey...' Arthur thought as his gaze swept over the green, flowery grass of the ground his feet were standing on, before flowing to what was surely the most breathtaking landscape he had ever seen in this world:
Eight great mountains rose majestically for thousands of miles on the horizon, their icy, snow-covered peaks breaking through the clouds and their central regions shrouded in thick mist.
"These are the Eight Great Peaks of the Northeast..." Robert commented as he watched Arthur's eyes sweep over the mountains. "It is said that a mighty race, white as ice, lives above the misty regions... many adventurers from our village have tried to cross the mist, but none have returned..." A tone of sorrow appeared in his voice as he mentioned his part, a tone that did not escape Arthur's attentive ears.
"Were any of them known to you?" Arthur asked as he turned to Robert.
"Yes, my father." Robert said with melancholy in his voice.
"Ah... my condolences" For a brief second, Arthur even regretted asking.
"It's okay, my mother was very sick, and he heard rumors about some stupid artifact that cured everything right after the mist..." As they talked, the group finally reached the top of the hill and found themselves under the large tree, looking out at a stunning view.
The forest seemed to stretch for several miles to the west before ending in a deep, mountainous valley that marked the slopes of the eight great peaks to the northeast.
"One day, I hope to be strong enough to break through the fog on my own and find my father." Robert clenched his fists as he stood beside Arthur, watching the beautiful landscape on the horizon.
"One day, you will be. I'm sure the Light of Aelius will bless you with the strength you need." Lugh put his hands on Robert's shoulders.
"But for now, we have more urgent matters to resolve." Lugh's eyes fell on a small group of warriors led by a level 52 woman with short white hair and an aged appearance.
His gaze flickered and the grip on his sword tightened, but he relaxed when he noticed a strangely familiar emblem on the woman's armor - a fire eagle - an emblem common to the noble families of the southern region of the Albrid Empire, an emblem he also wore, but with a few minor changes.
However, the same could not be said for the warriors who were native to Dunul and had not yet converted to the Church of Aelius.
"You are on the borders of Dunul! Identify yourselves immediately!" One of the warriors in Arthur's group, a black-bearded, curly-haired man of level 35, shouted as he pointed his sword at the approaching group, his voice hoarse and deep.
"Let me handle this," Lugh growled with a little anger in his voice as he grabbed the man's blade and forced him to lower it.
The woman looked in Lugh's direction, noticing that he wore an emblem similar to her own, and smiled. "My name is Eri and I command a group of warriors in the service of Baron Julius from the village of Maelis, an Albrid colony a few kilometers north of here!"
"I am Lugh, Captain of the Dunul Guard and servant of Baron Greg." Lugh didn't recognize Eri's name, but he recognized her master, Julius.
"Ah... I heard about your Lord and what happened to him... my condolences." Eri spoke and her group moved forward until they came face to face with Lugh's group.
"It doesn't matter anymore..." Lugh shook his head and looked deeply into the woman's eyes. "What matters to me is what you're doing here."
Hearing this, Eri hesitated for a few seconds and seemed to think deeply about her words before answering. "We are looking for one of our lord's sons. Everything indicates that he was kidnapped and taken to a goblin camp in this region, we were traveling towards the camp to find out..."
Arthur watched the conversation with interest, keeping his guard up, his eyes moving between Lugh and the woman as their conversation flowed.
He already had a much better idea of what this world was and how it worked, but he still liked to listen and absorb as much information as possible from the natives.
Unfortunately, the calm in his eyes as he absorbed as much information as he could didn't last long, and suddenly, dozens of piercing whistles broke through the air heading toward them.
"Enemy attack!!!" Lugh's thunderous voice reached Arthur's ears as he swung his sword in the air, and two tinkling sounds rang out as he parried two arrows, one of which was aimed at Robert's chest.
"Thank you!" Robert thanked him, gripping his sword tightly and standing on full alert.
"Concentrate on the fight!" Arthur shouted, gazing anxiously into the forest as he waited for their enemies to come to them.