Lands of no return:
I stared at the blazing fire burning on top of the brittle sticks that was gathered infront of me.
It was almost at the end of its lifespan considering that the fuel seems to be running out.
I was sitting on the barren ground, my armor still on but my helmet was ripped off giving me the freedom of fresh air hitting my skin.
'Drowning in your own vomit is a bad way to die.'
That would be humiliating if it became a widespread story.
I raised my head and looked at the dwarf who was grilling some meat on the fire.
The fat on the meat melted and dripped onto the fire and the pleasent smell of spices wafted into my nose.
"So, Mr.Elgor you're a veteran right?"
I started the conversation off with a simple greeting and he nodded in agreement.
He did not reply.
"Sorry kid, Elgor is really passionate about cooking."
The tall elf chimed in and went back to what he was doing.
Which was playing with magic.
'Fascinating.'
I stared at the ball of water floating on top of his hand molding and weaving into all sorts of shapes.
Magic was a sensitive subject in the past.
It relied on mana, which originates from mother nature.
It existed even before the the arrival of gods and all that came from them.
It was often confused with witchcraft but a fine line was drawn between them about 500 or something years ago.
'Gods themselves had to solve this confusion.'
They passed their prophecy through their blessed ones which wasn't quite necessary.
'They can't even manage to help their own people so why would they meddle with our affairs now?'
No one questioned it.
The silence in the air continued until the dwarf spoke up.
"It's ready."
He simply informed and handed me a platefull of porridge and the newly cooked meat.
'Quite a bit surprising to know they carry these especial since space is necessary during exploring.'
I recieved it with gratefulness and started to dig in.
"I still can't believe you're hungry after eating all those beasts."
The elf was a bit awestruck due to my appetite I guess.
Speaking of them, I realised that my body was completely healed.
'Perks of being a blessed?'
I still am not sure if I'm a blessed one or a mindless creature who failed their transformation.
But if it works, let it be.
"This uncharted area doesn't seem that dangerous considering we only have moderate amount of beasts and their strengths are peaked at intermediate."
Elgor said as he slurped down on his remaining porridge and wiped his mouth using a piece of cloth.
He long flowing white beard it locks looked quite elegant today.
And his full body black armor including a top helmet with two small horns sticking out looked quite amazing too.
I just stared off into the fog, slowly consuming my food while in thought.
"If I'm right we still haven't explored the centre."
The elf said while packing up.
These guys are quite th fast fast eaters.
The dwarf placed his hands on his hips with a sigh and looked towards me and asked.
"So, son are ya willing to come with us?"
Maybe it was a way for looking out for newbies.
Or his conscience of leaving a youngster alone in these dangerous areas.
I thought for a moment and replied with a smile.
"Sure."
There's a lot of tips I can learn from a veteran.
********
Uncharted area:
I sighed as the wait of baggage on my shoulder caused it to sore.
Although I may look strong for an elf I'm pretty weak compared to other races.
So where should I begin?
My name's Callon and I'm a bastard son of a pretty influential and rich guy from my kingdom.
Heh, my mom was a whore and my dad a Playboy.
I don't really have much memories of them considering all my time spent with her was during her break times.
My dad on the other hand never knew I existed until my mom's death.
How she died you may ask.
Some sort of unknown illness.
I wasn't even spared a glimpse of her due to the brothel's fear of spreading it.
Not even after her death.
I had it pretty rough in my childhood and being an adventurer was my best choice in my life.
'My so called dad would've killed me if I was present in his life any further.'
Being an elf I had recieved a lot of discrimination but the guild opened my eyes to a new world.
A world where rank is determined not by birth nor race but strength.
Pure utter strength to crush anything in your path.
"So Callon, how did you learn magic?"
A certain human asked me as he eyed me with excitement.
I sighed as I focused on the view infront of me.
Three different wandering souls of different sizes guided us.
Elgor was our leader and stood infront while I stood at the very back.
The human was in the middle and a bow too big for his was in his hands as he marched forward.
"From a textbook my mother left me."
I answered his question, he was an amusing lad although I wouldn't get too close to him while he's starving.
Those gruesome sight of those terror camels were still etched into my mind.
He opened his mouth but stopped midway.
He wants my textbook it seems.
"Unfortunately the textbook was long destroyed due to an encounter with a drake so I can't give it you."
As I planned his attention went towards the drake instead of magic.
Although I'm not against teaching him magic, there's a problem.
Magic isn't for everyone.
It is life force produced by mother nature herself and she also has the authority to choose who is worthy enough to wield it.
Not even gods can change that fact.
"Halt!"
Elgor shout made us stop and an unsettling feeling rose in my heart.
"What's the matter?"
I asked with a narrowed gaze.
The human seemed startled too as he took out a bloodied mace.
Some pieces of flesh were still clinging onto the spikes and the smell made me gag.
"It seems they have found something."
He pointed towards the wandering souls.
I looked towards them and saw that they were frozen in their place with their hands pointed towards our right.
'Jackpot.'
This thought resounded over everyone's minds present here.
'A big enough structure can cause a wandering soul to stop and point towards it.'
And these structures sometimes contains treasures.
Which means we have 50/50 chance of eating food tonight.
"So we are not ignoring it are we?"
The human asked which almost made me laugh outloud.
"Nah there's no way we're leaving it here."
"True."
Elgor chimed in too.
Elgor is a money freak and he would do anything for it.
Except some questionable stuff.
And so we changed our path and headed towards our right.
'There is a chance of retirement if we hit big.'
But are we going stop after hitting big?
Hell no!
The barren land with no life may be the success to our life.