*Slash*
Before either Arthur or the beast could comprehend what was happening, a slash resounded throughout the forest. Arthur looked towards the source of the sound, seeing a well built middle aged man, probably in his mid 40s with a sword in his hand.
'Thank god, finally a human!' Arthur thought.
A thud brought Arthur back to the situation at hand. He was still in the air suspended from vines controlled by a weird plant beast!
He looked towards it, only to see its body be split in two and fall to the ground with a thud. As Arthur was struggling to comprehend what happened, the man simply walked towards the beast and picked out a green crystal looking thing out of its body and pocketed it.
He then turned towards Arthur, causing Arthur to gulp subconciously. 'Shit, what if he isnt here to help me?'
The man lifted his sword, wanting to slash down onto Arthur. "WAI-" Before Arthur could stop him, the man had already slashed four times.
Arthur quickly inspected his body, expecting it to fall apart like that beast had. However no such thing happened, instead all the vines holding his body fell apart and released him.
'Tsk, I worried for nothing.' Arthur thought, massaging his wrists since the vines had cut into his flesh a bit.
"Who are you?" The man suddenly spoke in a deep and commanding voice, bringing Arthur out of his thoughts again.
"My name is Arthur, I-" Not allowing Arthur to tell his story, the man cut him off.
"Silence. Only answer what I ask. Why are you here?" The man asked. Arthur felt a indescribable pressure from the man. Arthur not wanting to end up like that plant beast quickly understood that he had to be very careful or else he might not survive.
This man might be a bigger danger than the beast! Arthur quickly spoke "I fell from the sky, I didnt come here out of my own will so I have no reason that I could name you." Arthur explained.
The man looked at him suspiciously but didnt seem to think that he was lying, no matter how absurd Arthurs story sounded. He simply looked a bit suprised.
"Which nation do you come from?" The man asked. "Nation? Well I guess from America." Arthur answered.
It was a bit weird to say, since he was clearly in that space of nothingness, he kind of considered answering with that aswell but didnt want the man to think he was crazy or lying.
'America? There is no such nation on this continent. However he doesnt seem to be lying, his Zeal didnt spike up.' The man thought, before considering Arthur an Enigma.
The man suddenly relaxed, the pressure dissapearing into thin air. Allowing Arthur to breathe properly again. "Haha, dont worry! Come with me for now, I'll get you something to eat and you can have some old clothes of mine." The man spoke in a friendly tone.
Even though Arthur was still very suspicious of the man, he didnt have much of a choice. Refusing free food and some clothes wasnt a option. With that he looked down on himself, covering up his private parts remembering that he was still naked.
The man didnt say anything and simply turned around and walked into the forest. Arthur quickly followed behind him.
"So uh, can I ask where we are? Who you are? Where we're going, all of that?" Arthur asked, trying to get any information that he could.
"You can call me Elijah. We are currently in the Cursed Forest Thanatos. I dont know how you survived here till now, even Savants cant easily enter this forest without risking death. Hah, fate must really be on your side. A few seconds late and you wouldve been dead from that Sylvan Shifter afterall. As for where we're going, to my house of course!" Elijah said with a bright smile.
Arthur thought about what Elijah said. 'Cursed Forest Thanatos? I never heard of such a place. Also what are Savants? He must also be referring to that plant tiger thing as Sylvan Shifter. Weird, just what is going on?'
"Hey what exactly-" Arthur tried to ask a question only to be interrupted. "Shhh, we're surrounded." Elijah said in a whisper, drawing his sword and standing infront of Arthur.
"Heh, look what we got here boys! An old man and a kid, atleast one of them will make good merchandise. Capture the boy, I'll take care of the old man." A voice suddenly spoke from the tree crown infront of them. Multiple laughters echoed around Arthur and Elijah.
Arthur was tense, this was not good. They were two people, surrounded by multiple attackers from all sides. They couldnt even see them yet! He had nothing to defend himself, for gods sake he still didnt even have clothes!
Seeing Arthurs tense face, Elijah chuckled. "Haha! Dont worry kid, this isnt much of a threat." Elijah reassured him. Despite that, Arthur was still on high alert. He knew that he was probably just trying to calm him down.
Elijah was understanding, seeing Arthur not believe him wasnt something that suprised him. In a moments notice, lightning began to cackle around Elijahs body, suprising both Arthur and the attackers!
"Careful! He's a Zealot!" The leader warned his subordinates, before jumping in action and lunging at Elijah.
However before anything could happen, Elijah dissapeared, only leaving behind lightning that cackled all around them. Arthur couldnt believe his eyes!
The leader fell down, a stab wound through his heart. Suddenly from every side he heard 'thud' sounds, only to see a person fall down with a single stab wound.
Elijah emerged from the forest, wiping the blood off his blade and sheating it again.
'WHAT?!' Arthur couldnt believe it. However everything was pointing towards it...Elijah had killed them all! He moved so fast that noone could even react!
"What happened?!" Arthur questioned. "I killed them." Elijah said it in a matter of fact tone, as if it was nothing more than stretching to him.
"But...how? How did you move so fast?!" Arthur asked. "Hah, dont worry kiddo I'll teach you all about it. Next time believe me when I say they arent a threat. Afterall, I am the strongest." Elijah said with astounding pride.
They began walking again. As Arthur stepped over the corpses of the attackers, he was suprised at himself for not freaking out. No it was more like their deaths didnt have an effect at all on young boy! Afterall, he himself had already died once. Seeing the death of other people shouldnt affect him that much anymore.
He then began pestering Elijah the entire way home, asking him every question he could think of.
Even though Elijah was happy to answer them at the start, the longer it went on the more annoying it became for him. He truly wondered if this kid had 'fallen from the sky' and hit his head somewhere for not even knowing the most basic of things.
Thankfully for Arthur, this was a very bountiful harvest of information. First off, it was clear this wasnt earth. What he had seen was beyond anything that was possible in his old world. Afterall, if people could just move at the speed of lightning in his world what would be the point of cars?
He had learned that Elijah did that through the help of 'Zeal', a energy within all living things. Arthur simply compared it to mana, chakra, ki or anything similair from other comics and stories he had read.
This was truly fascinating for Arthur! A new world, with all new possibilitys! Just what could he achieve in such a world? He would try his best to reach his limits, live a full and long life!
He asked more questions, about how Zeal worked, how he could do something like that, what other things you could do with zeal etc. However after a while Elijah simply stopped answering him and told him he would explain everything once they arrived home.
Dejected, Arthur stopped asking questions and instead imagined it. Could he shoot fireballs? Could he bring down thunder onto his enemies? Could he shoot lasers from his eyes?
All questions left to be answered!
After hours of walking, Elijah suddenly stopped. Arthur woke up from his daydreamin and looked forward. He couldnt quite describe what he saw!
A truly majestic house, something so great he had never before seen it in his lifes! It was easily the most luxurious home he had ever seen, even compared to kings and the richest people on his former planet.
'Just who is he?' Arthur wondered about Elijahs identity. Before he could dwell on it, Elijah approached the door, knocked and shouted.
"HONEY! I'M HOME!" He shouted with a bright grin on his face. A few seconds later the door opened with incredible force!
A mature looking red headed woman appeared, possessing a beauty that could not be described with words.
"WHAT ARE YOU SCREAMING FOR?!" The woman shouted with all her might, her fist covering itself in red liquid and fully punching Elijah square in the face, causing a massive explosion.
Elijah flew back hundreds of meters. Crashing into every tree and boulder on the way, destroying it in the process.
Arthurs mouth hung wide agape. He couldnt believe what just happened.
As Elijahs flight stopped, Arthur was just about to ask what the hell was going on when lightning cackled and Elijah suddenly appeared next to the woman again with no visible injuries at all.
"Haha! Fiesty as always! Just how I love you." Elijah said, hugging and kissing the woman that just caused a explosion on his face and forced him back hundreds of meters through all the trees, boulders and other things!
Just as quickly as the woman had exploded from rage, she suddenly completely relaxed in his embrace and kissed him back.
While all this was happening, Arthur was still completely perplexed as to what was going on!