What have we here?

Daede was making decent progress on his travel.

"Wonder what we have here?" Daede muttered as he spotted some smoke.

Below him a few hundred miles away was some organized settlement. He couldn't make out too much but knew it was a settlement. Sadly, he couldn't pinpoint what type of creatures were housed within this settlement.

"Should I drop in from the sky?" He questioned himself.

He spent a few minutes gliding towards it as he started thinking about his next step.

As much as he loves adventure, Daede isn't entirely stupid and the massive upgrade in mind power allowed a lot more speculation to take place within his mind, allowing for more deductions to take place as to what outcomes he can expect.

"Let's land a little further away, and stake out this place... better be safe just in case," Daede muttered again.

He was allowing himself a few moments to enjoy the view while remembering key points he would like to explore, especially the mountain with the large structure nearby. He finally just stopped his glider from existing.

With such a move, there was nothing stopping good old gravity from taking over his body. With but a thought, Daede started dropping from the sky.

He was a few dozen miles away from the small settlement he discovered on some mountainside. There were still quite a few trees and enough cover for him to not be immediately spotted although, if anybody was paying enough attention, would potentially notice a shiny rock fall from the sky.

"Meh, if this were like novels, shiny rock isn't evil. Especially such a beautiful teal-coloured rock." Daede mumbled in self-reassurance.

As he started gaining speed, he shot into the trees below while keeping in mind the direction to take.

...

Within a nearby settlement, a few odd-sized children were running around. The settlement looked like a mix of medieval and modern architecture. One couldn't ascertain the exact type of society these people lived in.

The adults were large, very large. All were on average two meters tall and the females themselves were very close although simply thinner and leaner than their male counterparts.

They looked fairly human if a human were to spot these individuals but the key point being the azure hair and the shiny emerald green eyes. Quite an odd sight for those unused to it. However, they were going about their life.

Some were moving items around, others were within their houses and some were practicing odd movements in a square surrounded by many others. Two-story buildings abound and a few three-story buildings were built within the core part of the settlement.

Among the children running around, a certain boy with shiny azure hair and that was skinny and shorter than the rest of the young was sitting in a corner near a building watching the other kids play.

As he was sitting there just watching the others play, he was suddenly whacked by a rock that was slung his way.

This sent him reeling in pain and anger as this wasn't the first time that this sort of thing happened to him. He was generally outcasted for his shorter stature and poorer complexion. It was a sad sight but the boy was used to it.

"Oh little feet, sorry sorry, the rock slipped and headed your way. You okay?" A fairly larger boy was approaching the frail azure-haired boy who had been hit by the rock.

Seeing the large boy approach, the skinny one couldn't help but get up and start running away.

From experience, the boy knew once he got closer, things just got worse for him. Bullying was something he was quite used to but nonetheless, if he could avoid a beating, he would avoid it.

The large boy saw this and started laughing.

"Little feet! Why would you run away from your big brother? Come back, I just wanted to apologize! Hahaha." The larger boy started laughing while mocking from nearby.

"Tsk, pathetic little thing, can't even stand up for himself." Another boy nearby noticed the whole scene and just ignored the two. From the way, those around barely cared, one could sense that the society here had its own norms and values. Caring for the weak, wasn't a generally accepted rule within any natural environment.

As the skinny boy ran away, he ran to the borders of the settlement and went out to a nearby hill. Tired from all his running and seeing as nobody followed him. The skinny boy just fell flat on the side of the hill while taking deep breaths while staring at the sky.

"... Mommy, I miss you..." The boy mumbled before tears started flowing down his sides. The boy barely noticed them as though this misery was something he was used to.

As the young, frail boy was having his emotional moment, a certain shiny rock started falling from the sky. The boy wiping the tears away wanted to scream at the sky for how things were.

"WHY!?" He yelled as he looked into the sky.

And in that very moment, he noticed a small glimmer shooting through the sky. Heading very closeby to where the boy was.

"W-what? What is that?" The boy questioned as he momentarily forgot his own suffering.

Noticing the glimmer fall, the boy was confused as he stared at it falling. Things have been known to fall from the sky, there are many many dangerous things around in this world and every child that grew up with him was taught the different dangers of this world.

However, seeing this glimmer falling, the boy couldn't help but notice where it was falling to.

"The Lake!? That's not a really dangerous area... should I go see what it is?" The boy mumbled as he was deciding whether to go check out this shiny glimmer falling through the sky.

"Maybe it's a star?" The boy thought in wonder and seeing the star falling towards the lake, the boy's curiosity couldn't help but take over his rational thinking. Especially with him being emotional just earlier, he wasn't 100% clear-headed, to say the least.

Looking behind him at the settlement where his bullies and his feelings of weakness stemmed from and at the shiny glimmering star falling. The boy couldn't help but want to reach out to the unknown.

He wasn't sure why but he felt a pull from within him to reach for this falling star. Who knows, maybe it was a treasure.

Making up his mind, the boy suddenly slapped his face and decided to see what it was.

The day was barely passed morning, he figured he has enough time before the beasts of the night come out. Making sure to pay attention to his surroundings to avoid danger, the boy set off.

"Falling stars are rare and even more so, precious, I might be able to sell it off and live a little better if nothing else! Yeah!" The boy motivated himself as he started trekking towards the lake where he sees the falling star shooting to.