60: The Glade

After learning a lot of things from his mother, the first thing his mother told him to do was to find a source of water.

Finding a source of water was not difficult for Silver since he already knew where he could get one in a rather safe place.

The Outskirts.

Usually, most Spartans got their source of water in The Greenbelt since The Greenbelt had a waterfall in its region. However, Silver knew where he could get water in The Outskirts.

Most don't know, but Silver knew The Outskirts quite well. Due to his adventurous nature, he usually came to The Outskirts quite often, and he knew some of the ins and outs of The Outskirts.

There was a day he accidentally stumbled on small lake in a secluded corner of The Outskirts, and that was where he planned on going for his source of water.

As Silver walked around The Outskirts with a spear in his hands, his eyes constantly scanned his vicinity for any sign of danger. Although he was in the safest zone of the forest, anything could happen that lead to his death.

As he kept on walking, the birds in the air chirped merrily from their perches, and Silver could see small and harmless animals scurring through bushes, squirrels darting up tree trunks, rabbits nibbling on clovers, and some occasional foxes darting around with either an unlucky rabbit or any other unlucky animal in its jaws.

As Silver obsrved all of these with a vigilant expression, his eyes caught sight of a cluster of plants on the ground. His eyes brightened.

"Gourds."

Silver quickly approached the plants, finding numerous gourds before him.

"Some are damaged. But I see three gourds that are still okay."

Silver moved closer to the gourds, but just as he did, he heard the sound of a branch snap. His eyes widened and he quickly turned to the source with his spear in a defensive position.

To his right was an elk with large antlers. The elk's gaze was on him and then it glanced at the gourds on the floor.

When Silver saw this, he raised his brows.

'It wants the gourds?'

Just as Silver had this thought, the elk made a threatening sound along with a threatening gaze. When Silver saw this, he chuckled.

"Thanks for becoming my food."

Without waiting for a response, he threw his spear at the elk.

Woosh

The elk was clearly not expecting this. Before it could respond to Silver's sudden attack, the spear pierced through the neck of the elk, killing it instantly.

Silver calmly walked to the elk, and with a light smile, he removed the spear from the elk.

"At least I won't have to worry about food for a few days."

Silver crouched and placed his spear on the ground. He grabbed one of the good gourds, and then he brought out his short sword.

He peeled the skin and flesh of the gourd, and after choosing not to waste it, he ate the peeled fruit. After peeling the three gourds, only the hard shell of the gourds were left.

A satisfied expression appeared on his face when he saw the perfectly peeled skin of the gourds. He looked around and when he saw multiple large leaves some meters away from him, he went to cut some.

He used the leaves to plug the mouth of the gourds, and then he grabbed a vine of the gourds. After testing the strength of the vine, he tied the three gourds around his waist.

"This is not really comfortable. Carrying the gourds when fighting would affect my combat abilities."

Silver looked at the elk which now had a puddle of blood beneath it.

"Not only that, I have to be careful when carrying this to the hideout I have in mind. It's blood can attract dangerous animals and even a Feral Beast if I'm unlucky."

Silver rubbed his chin with a pondering, and then he remembered one of his mother's teachings.

"Guess I'll need to find a Fragrant Lily."

The main thing his mother taught him before his rite of passages was basically about plants and how to use the forest plants to his advantage.

One of the plants she made sure to drill into his head was the Fragrant Lily.

The Fragrant Lily was a lily that produced a smell that was perceived as pleasant and wonderful by most humans, but was disliked by most beasts.

His mother told him that if he ever wanted to mask his scent from beasts, one of the plants he could use was the Fragrant Lily. However, the Fragrant Lily was not so common in Thería and it barely worked on powerful beasts.

Most would never know where to find a Fragrant Lily, but Silver knew where to find one. In fact, it was at the location of his destination.

"I guess I'll need to get some fragrant lilies first, and then I'll come back for my food."

Silver gave the elk's corpse one last glance, and then he started running to his destination. His speed was not too fast since he didn't want to be caught in an ambush.

As he ran, the gourds by his waist made clanging noises which caused Silver to be able a little bit tense. But fortunately, he was able to reach his destination without any mishaps.

"I'll have to store my gourds in a safe place. I can't be carrying them around."

Silver looked around with a vigilant expression, and when he saw no beast, he relaxed his tensed muscles slightly.

He looked around once again, and the location was just as he remembered.

In front of him was a thick curtain of ivy and creeping vines. He pushed through it, and after a lil bit of cussing, he finally got through the cluster and was introduced an entirely new world.

The glade in front of him was a place that could only be described in one word- Magical.

Sunlight streamed down from above through a break in the canopy, bathing the area in a warm, golden glow. The forest floor was a soft, lush carpet of grass and several delicate wildflowers. In the center of the glade was a small, crystal-clear pond, its surface reflecting the sky above like a mirror.

Surrounding the pond were ancient oak trees and birch trees, forming a protective ring around the pond. Their branches reached high into the sky, creating a natural canopy that shielded the glade from prying eyes in the sky.