A place filled with much greenery and wildlife. Trees towered all around me, different species of animals took residence here.
The Dunkel forest. It was a forest that was vast in land mass, spreading towards the area of the knolls and bordering the outskirts of the Iyun dukedom.
How I got here? I have no idea. One thing I do know was that I just took around the city for a bit, in search of nothing. I kept walking, thinking of it as a therapeutic method of calming myself.
I didn't realize how far I walked till I saw trees and bushes all around me.
*****
The Knolls hardly used the Dunkel forest for infiltration. The reason was because of the wild beasts and their territories. The second thing that couldn't be dominated even by the knolls, were the forest regions.
There are many ancient beasts that have been around way longer than humans, having more knowledge of mana and it's applications.
However, the usage of mana between beasts and humans are totally dissimilar. A beast is capable of using mana without a core, but a human needs one. Even though beasts have single affinities which are related to what humans possess, they do not use it the way humanity does.
A bear having the earth element could control their terrain and use it to form structures such as caves to facilitate their living conditions. They also had strong bodies that aided them in taking attacks without any damage. An average bear slap could fracture the skull of a syne one mage.
Other animals also had their affinities, strengths and weaknesses. Overall, the forest was considered their domain, the deeper you go, the stronger the animals residing within.
These conditions didn't prevent the humans from going into the forest. It did the opposite instead. There were many reasons why they would flock to the forest. Be it for things like plants for herbs, or animals for their hides, pelts and meat. Some even look for the young ones as pets. There are many resources in the forest but there are also limitations that every mage whether strong or weak take note of in order to not overstep their bounds. One of which is to not go farther than you are able to, lest you risk encountering animals that were stronger and getting killed in return.
Oscar had walked for a while, taking a considerably long time wandering around the forest.
He was lost in thought, then it dawned on him as he looked around and noticed his surroundings.
'How the hell did I end up in a forest?' he thought.
"I should go back."
Oscar turned around, seeking to retrace his steps. He walked back.
"There's so many trees here, the place looks dark even at noon."
He had been trying to find a way out of the forest for over an hour but he didn't even know how he got in.
"Am I going around in circles? This should be the second time I am seeing this tree."
Oscar facepalmed as he thought to himself.
'I'm lost...'
"growl!" His stomach cut him off with a grumble.
"...and hungry."
"Well, I should use this time to explore and see if I could find something edible to eat, like a fruit."
Oscar had knowledge on edible and poisonous plants in theory because of his knowledge on biology, bordering on the basics of plant and animal science.
He found some ripe fruits he could eat and plucked them.
"Good thing there are a lot of fruits around here. Why has no one come to this area though?"
Looking around he asked himself.
"Am I not in the safe zone?" He developed an eerie feeling, right after.
Eating to his fill, he decided to look for a place that could guarantee him a little bit of safety. As the place he was at the moment was an open area.
Oscar had tried exploring and sometimes, searching for a way out to no avail. But this time the sun was already starting to set.
"The forest is getting darker, I need to find a place to stay and wait for them to find me. I lost my way, a while back."
"Would a cave be better? No, that's a sure way to meet monsters. Tree? Ugh...Why did I have to walk this far? Next time I would take some camping equipment along."
"Who am I kidding, there's not going to be a next time."
Sighing, Oscar looked up and saw a huge tree with wide and diverse branches, it looked a bit easy to climb too.
"The height advantage could help me hear and spot dangers, while the leaves could help me with camouflage, aiding me in avoiding detection."
Oscar made an attempt to climb the tree, he succeeded on the second try and went to the part of the tree where some branches converged and assumed an almost horizontal position.
"Hoh..." He yawned, tear gathering at the side of his eyes from the action accompanied by fatigue.
"I'm so tired, I think this is where I'm going to sleep."
Oscar had never slept outside before, but the tiredness and mental stress from everything that recently happened made him enter a light state of sleep.
The forest wasn't quiet at night, as it still has nocturnal creatures of different forms. This made Oscar go in and out of the state of slumber. Causing him to become wearier, after some time he fell asleep completely. Ignoring the surroundings he fell prey to sleep due to exhaustion.
The next morning Oscar found himself in a net. It had properties of malleable metal. He wanted to struggle and use some magic but thinking it was a bad idea, he stopped.
"Hey guys, the kid's awake!" Oscar heard the voice of a young man behind him.
"Ah! Took him long enough."
Turning his head around, he noticed the presence of four people. Two women and two men.
The young man who called their attention to Oscar was a man who looked to be in his twenties, he had short black hair and a face that looked like a horse. Having a long face with a prominent chin accompanied by a large set of teeth.
The older man in the group seemed to be in his thirties. Possessing a burly build with large hands, round eyes and bushy eyebrows. He also had short hair which was cut uneven, like a child used scissors to play with it.
The two ladies present in the group were not fairies either. The younger one, a woman in her thirties, had a slender frame with big lips and black eyes.
The older woman, was the tallest in the group, possessing a robust frame with an evidently large posterior. She gave off an aura of strength and madness.
'What's with this ragtag group of weirdos.' Oscar thought, as he assessed the situation.
"Who are you guys?"
"I think we should be asking the questions here brat." The bulky man answered.
"Conn, undo the trap." The older woman whose name was Rina commanded.
"Yes Boss." The horse-faced man replied. He then went on to undo the trap wrapping Oscar in place.
With the exception of their boss, they were all non-mages. They did not see Oscar as a threat or thought he could run away because he also seemed to be a non-mage, he didn't possess the distinct qualities of a mage, this was confirmed by their leader when they encountered him.
Oscar almost fell face first to the ground, he propped himsel up and tried to stand. But he was kicked down by Conn.
"Who said you could stand up?" Conn questioned with a scowl on his face. Rina gestured to Conn, who then took some ropes and bound Oscar's hands with it.
"You can stand now."
Oscar slowly stood up, feigning weakness.
"How did a non-mage like you end up deep in the forest?" The huge guy, Doron asked as observed Oscar's state.
"Take a look at his attire, he should be one of those foolish nobles that ran away from home for one stupid reason or the other." The younger woman Shareen, answered Doron.
Oscar shook his head, regretting his actions of the previous day.
***
"Hey move faster." Oscar was kicked forward.
"Conn be careful with the merchandise?"
"Oh! Sorry boss."
"Merchandise??" Oscar spoke in befuddlement.
"It not a surprise if you don't know who we are. What we do is not of common knowledge after all." Shareen spoke.
"What you do..." Oscar spoke, as his thoughts were running on what tasks they performed that involved him.
"You are kidnappers?"
"You are close. However, there is no need to contact your family because we don't need a ransom."
"Are you slavers? But I'm human?"
"Wrong again."
"Once we drop you off and get our pay, you won't have to have to worry about your family again." Rina said.
"Either you die or you die. Hahaha!" Conn said, laughing.
"What?" Oscar was currently confused.
"Let me explain in brief words."
"Merchandise, you."
"Destination, knoll territory."
"I don't understand." Oscar cut in.
"Kid, we are Scavengers."