Chapter 2 - Unknown Lands

In the middle of a lush forest lays a man. He laid there peacefully, ignorant of the things that has happened nearby.

"Nolan! Why are there monsters here?!"

An angry yell resounded deeper in the forest.

"I don't know! They weren't there before! Fuck!"

Another angry yell answered the other.

Their voices were gradually drawing near to the laying man. A fearful howl then echoed throughout the forest, causing the birds nesting on the tree tops to flee in fear.

"Are we close...?" A woman's exhausted shout escaped her mouth, asking her two companions.

"Close?! Are you fucking dumb?! We're lost, you bitch!" A man answered, his voice carrying a hostile intent.

The woman regretted going with them. She was tempted. Tempted by the rewards the request had. It was a simple request, but the reward was enough to feed her for months. She did thought that it was suspicious, but greed was terrifying and it clouded her judgement.

"How are we lost?! Didn't you leave tracks behind?!" The other man asked in frustration.

"The tracks were wiped clean! Someone tracked us and I never noticed them!"

"Why would someone try to kill you, guys? Unless..." The woman spoke, unconsciously. Her regret was immediate.

Both men looked at her, their face hidden under a hood, but their smile was clear. The woman felt a tingling on her skin as she saw the men's smile. She knew what they were planning. So she ran to the side, away from the men.

"Fuck! Catch her!" One of them yelled and tried.

The other one stopped him and shook his head.

"Let her run. Let's hide our scent so that it'll chase her."

He nodded and they both took a bottle inside ther robe, pouring it all over them. Nothing seemed to happen, but their scent slowly faded. They crept their way onto a patch of leaves and hid under it. The potion only hid their scent, not make them invisible.

On the distance, the woman was now leaning on a tree, panting. She has been running for the last minute and exhaustion caught up to her. She saw a clearing in front of her and decided that it would be best to go there.

If she had no other choice, then she wouldn't just stand up and let it take her life. She would drag that thing down with her.

With a determined look on her face, she ran towards the clearing. Her blonde hair fluttering through the air and her blue eyes widened in shock as she saw a hooded figure laying motionless in the middle.

One thought crossed her mind, but she shook her head. She wouldn't sacrifice an innocent unconscious person for her safety. She couldn't. So she approached and crouched down in front of the figure and rummaged through his belongings.

She was shocked at first when she unhooded the person and saw his white hair, but that shock only remained for a split second. She couldn't allow herself to be distracted.

Finally, she found something that she could use. It was a potion bottle that rested inside a potion bandolier, but it lookee dangerous. It looked like the red liquid inside was boiling and she shook the bottle. The boiling only intensified.

It was her first time seeing a bizarre potion like this and she had many questions. She tried to wake the man up, but to no avail. The man wouldn't wake up no matter what she did.

Minutes passed and finally, she heard a growl coming from the forest. She found three other bottlee during that time and all three looked dangerous, so she decided to 'borrow' it. She stared at where the growl came from with the man behind her and saw a pair of glowing blue eyes.

She decided to wait. She knew the monster was fast, but she was confident of her reaction speed. She held a potion with blue liquid on her right and that red, fiery potion on her left. She had hope. Hope that these potions were enough to take that monster out and hope that the other monster would flee in fear.

Time passed and she finally saw the pair of blue eyes move. It emerged from the bushes and from it revealed a huge gray wolf. It was at least five times bigger than a normal wolf, but other than its size, nothing seemed to stood out.

The huge wolf eyed its prey and circling around her. Its eyes landed on the man behind her and its cautious eyes turned to greedy. It pounced towards the woman and the woman threw the fiery potion on the wolf.

The wolf dodged to the side and it smiled smugly as it waited for the sound of a glass being broken. The potion hit the ground and it broke, but as soon as it broke, a fiery explosion came after it. The wolf, who was directly beside it, howled in agony and it dashed its way towards the woman, its eyes full of hatred.

The woman was surprised by the explosion and she was almost concussed by it. She barely stood up as she saw the wolf head straight for her. She attempted to throw the blue potion, but her arm was stopped.

Confused, she looked behind her and saw the man who was just laying there standing behind her, grabbing her arm.

"Let go! Or else we'll die!" She screamed at him.

"No, look. It's already dead." The white haired man answered her.

She changed her gaze to the front and she confirmed the man's words. The wolf was nowhere to be seen, but a pile of ash laid where the wolf once was. A gust of wind blew, carrying the ashes to wherever the wind travelled.

She was still dazed and confused at what just happened, but right when she tried to ask the man, a growl came from behind her. She told the man to let go, but the man shook his head.

"That's even more dangerous than the Dragon's Breath Potion. We're inside its blast radius, so better use this one."

He handed the woman a green, bubbling potion. She stared weirdly at him, but did what he said. It was his stuff, so he had more knowledge about what it does.

She grabbed the potion and at the same time, a green eyed gray wolf emerged from the trees. This time, it was even bigger. Almost twice as big as the previous one.

She threw it with all her strength and the potion smashed on the wolf's head. It had no time to react as the woman's throw was fast and precise. The man behind her smiled in intrigue.

Another howl of agony echoed and they saw the wolf slowly corroding in front of them. The woman let out a yelp of fear and she hid behind the white haired man.

"W-w-what kind of potion was that?!"

"Hydra's Venom. Made from a part of a hydra's scale and a drop of its venom with some miscellaneous ingredients for control." He knowledgeably explained.

"H-hydra? You killed a hydra?" She slowly backed away from him, not from fear, but from the weird aura leaking out from him.

"Well yes, but actually no. It was already dying and I don't really fancy myself as an honor thief."

"Now tell me, beaut— woman..."

"Aurelia Ludenveil."

"Tell me, Miss Ludenveil. Where are we and why is an elf disguising herself as a human?"

As soon as his last wores were said, Aurelia backed away from the man in an instant. She stared at him with anxiety and asked something in a trembling voice.

"W-who sent you?! Was it that bastard Pol?!"

The man regretted revealing her secret and sighed.

"I don't even know who that is. Forget i asked."

"You expect me to believe that?!"

"Then you should explain why you stole those potions from me."

"I-i... It's called borrowing! I'll... pay you for it. Anyway, how did you know I'm an elf?"

She stuttered from the man's words and he found it cute. She looked like a sad kitten that was scolded by her owner.

"I'm a mage." He simply answered.

"I don't believe you. You're not giving off a magical aura."

"I'm hiding it. I'll show you a spell if you want."

"Liar." She scowled.

What she hated the most were liars and he knew that the man was lying. Whether the tale behind the potions were true or not, she had no reason to believe that he was a mage. Elves like her were sensitive to magic and she felt no magic coming from him.

He saw the man open his palm and... nothing happened. The man looked confused and tried to cast his spell again with a focused stare, but nothing happened again. He tried to cast another spell, but to no avail. His calm face now showed a sign of distress and he began to panic.

Aurelia saw the man's change of expression and she found it odd.

"I can't use magic...?" The man asked in defeat.

Aurelia let out a deep sigh as she asked the man a question.

"Are you a Wanderer?"

"A what? What is that?"

"That's what we call people from another world, from a parallel universe, or someone from a different timeline. Are you one?"

"Ha-hA-Ha-haha w-what do you mean? I'm not from a parallel universe! I'm actually a hermit..."

He nervously laughed and immediately gave her a sensible lie. He couldn't allow anyone to find out. Anyone he doesn't trust, at least

"HMMMMMMM."

"Woah, what the hell is that?"

He looked up, trying to find something that would change the current topic, but when he did, he saw something not even his world could've achieve.

It was a massive floating island with water falling down its sides. How and why it floated, he didn't know. What he does know is that he feels a strong magical aura from it.

"You really are a Wanderer, huh? That's Archmage Lazarus' island. People say that he's currently the strongest mage of the kingdom, but I doubt it." Aurelia explained.

He let out a sigh in defeat and offered up a hand. She already found out, so he better start treating her nicely. Else she'll spread word of him and his origin.

"I'm Arthur. Arthur Cairns. Sorry for the late introduction, but ease don't tell anyone about me being a Wanderer."

Aurelia took his hand and shook it with a huge friendly smile on her face. Arthur heaved a sigh of relief at the sight.

"Nice to meet you, Arthur. Don't worry, I won't tell a soul unless you want me to."

Arthur stared at Aurelia's eyes as she stared back at his. He couldn't see a hint of deception on her face and voice. He felt that she was a trustworthy individual.

"Let's do it like this. You won't tell my secret and I won't tell yours. Agreed?"

Aurelia asked, to which Arthur happily agreed. Why she disguised herself as an elf, he could only guess.

It was getting late as the sun has started setting and Aurelia motioned Arthur to follow her. She said that the nearest town was Lodwyck Town and it had a temple which would help Arthur become a mage again. Arthur thanked Aurelia in advance for being kind and she waved a hand in front of him, saying that it was the proper thing to do.

On the way, they both shared information about whatever they knew and Arthur soon found out that the new world he was in was called Ashewyrm. Only a single continent existed in this world, but its size is massive and circled around the world with its many archipelagoes.

'A super continent, huh. That's interesting.' He silently thought.

"So, Arthur. Do you already miss Relmire?"

Arthur's memories about Relmire played in his head as soon as he heard that word. A trickle of tear ran down his cheek and dripped on the ground. He stopped walking and wiped it with his robe and shook his head.

"I don't. I got no one and nothing left over there that holds a position in my heart."

It was a lie. A lie he silently told and convinced himself. He missed his parents and wanted to grow old there, but he was a coward. He couldn't bear to let himself be attached to them again after what they did to him.

"Oh... I'm sorry. Hey, look! You can see Lodwyck Town's bell tower from here!"

She changed the topic to help Arthur forget about his painful memories and it worked, surprisingly. He gave Aurelia a nod of gratitude and inquired about more things.

"Actually, this world has a strength system designed by the gods above. It's a bit complicated, but... I'll try my best to summarize it."

"There are ten ranks in total which corresponds to someone's strength. From lowest to highest, it's rank one to ten. You need to enter and prove yourself in a temple of your choice to receive a god's blessing. There are five temples that are in each cities and big towns. These temples are the Temple of Might, the Temple of Magic, the Temple of Life, the Temple of the Wild, and the Temple of Shadows. With each rank, the gods will give you a class that suits you, but when multiple classes suits you, you will be given a choice. The first five ranks have predetermined classes and above those, the gods will give you a unique class which best describes you. Your personality, strengths, weaknesses, and your morality will be taken into consideration. Any questions?"

"How do people rank up?" Arthur asked.

"The gods decides that. I've experienced it myself. When it's time to rank up, then you'll feel strength surge throughout your body and that's it. Though you need to enter the temple of your choice to officially rank up and receive all the benefits."

"Wait, does that mean that if I'm super good and the God of Magic is evil, then he won't allow me to raise my rank?"

"Actually, the five gods that decides our ranks are the strongest and most respected. Fortunately, they're also neutral and don't play favorites."

They made their to the walls and it was their turn to be inspected. A guard asked them for any identifications and Aurelia gave the guard hers.

"He's my... friend. It's actually his first time going on a journey and he doesn't have any IDs."

The guard nodded to her words and told them to follow the guard behind him and get his one-time ID.

"So you are Sir Arthur Cairns, huh. Weird. First time I heard of that surname."

The guard said, to which Arthur nervously laughed.

(You're not good at lying and hiding your emotions, Arthur.) Aurelia whispered to him and he just silently nodded.

"He's from a family of hermits that saved me back then, Mr. Delene."

"Ohhh, so that's why. I don't understand why people wants to become a hermit. Anyway, here's your one-timr ID. You better return it by the end of the day tomorrow. Else, you'll have to pay for a huge sum."

"Thank you, Mr. Delene."

"Anytime. But if you came here to cause trouble, then I will have to send you to the prison even though I like people like you."

Arthur finished filling out some papers and he left the barracks with a smile on his face.

"Are people that kind?" Arthur asked to Aurelia.

"Not really... Mr. Delene is special. Not in a bad way, but I heard that he has the talent to become a Paladin."

"A Paladin, huh... What rank is that?"

"A rank four class." She answered.

"What rank are you?"

"Rank two. A ranger."