"Can you tell me about this place? If possible, tell me how to leave this place the fastest way."
Marcus remained silent after hearing this. His eyes twitched as he couldn't help but ask, "Did you enter this forest not knowing anything about it?"
"Precisely."
Marcus was really confused by this answer. Did this man enter and then get lost? But rather than insulting the man for his carelessness, he decided to speak the truth. Or atleast what he thought would be more believable than saying that he died in another world and woke up here.
"You see, I did not enter this place of my own volition. I was teleported here."
Marcus found his words utter nonsense and regretted not fabricating a more believable story. As Marcus felt he would die of embarrassment, the other party came to his rescue.
"I see. I understand."
What? Did this man believe Marcus' outlandish story?
Even though Marcus was surprised, this clarified one doubt he had for a long time. Were there others with special abilities like his own? Now it seemed he had the answer to this question. There were people with the ability to teleport. But the thought of someone teleporting him to somewhere out of nowhere really terrified him. Maybe he might end up on an island in the middle of some ocean or fall directly into a volcano. Thinking of this, wasn't his situation now oddly familiar? After all, he was in some unknown forest out of nowhere. The only reason his mind had not broken was maybe because he had splendidly adapted to this lifestyle.
Marcus could not help but let out a soft, dry laugh. This person in front of him had rekindled his desire to leave this forest. And he might even help him to do it. The irony was that this person in front of him was the one asking for directions, and now he had to help him leave this place.
Shortly after the conversation started, Marcus' role had transformed from that of the helper to that of the one who needed help. Just as the man in blood-stained armor was about to leave, Marcus spoke to him.
"You see, I too want to leave this place. Why don't we work together? After all, as a team, we have a greater chance of success."
Cedric, who had turned back to leave, halted. As he turned around, he saw Marcus with a wide smile on his face. This made him feel really uncomfortable. The moment Marcus told him that he was teleported to this place, Cedric had already concluded that this person was an exiled criminal.
"I cannot help you. I too was teleported here."
Hearing this, the smile on Marcus' face froze. Did he think wrongly? Did this man take offense to his words earlier? Marcus knew he would not let his future savior leave just like that. He hurriedly tried to salvage the situation.
"Please, you must be joking. How can such a coincidence be possible? You see, I was not lying when I said I was teleported here. Look, I can even control rocks. This would greatly help us in escaping from this place."
With that, Marcus telekinetically picked up a few stones that were scattered on the ground.
This finally was able to incite a reaction from Cedric.
"You are a mage!?" Hearing this, Marcus was relieved. At least he could see that the existence of magic was common knowledge in this world. Marcus felt now his words might be more believable.
Cedric was having complicated emotions regarding this proposal. After all, he knew working with a mage would be the best way to get out of this place. But, on the other hand, this mage might be the most dangerous thing in the forest.
After thinking for a long time, he finally decided to ask the thing he was most nervous about. After a bit of hesitation, he spoke in a low tone.
"Are you an exiled criminal?"
Marcus had his mouth wide open. How did this person come to such a conclusion? Then he made all the gestures possible to refute this claim.
Cedric, too, did not want to test the waters. It would be best if he could maintain a cordial relationship with the young mage. If the other said no, then he had no proof to refute that.
A long silence fell, as neither of the two parties knew what to say to the other to make the environment less awkward.
Marcus decided to finally break the ice.
"Why don't we go to my place to talk? This place has a lot of wild beasts roaming around. It might be dangerous to stay here."
Cedric, even though he had some reluctance at first, agreed reluctantly after a bit more convincing.