The Start of A New Journey

The time is midday, the heat of the day is sweltering! The sun rays overhead.

Nigati Forest is a thick tropical forest. The forest is home to many different types of animals and plants, making it a perfect living condition for monsters to live.

Izz and Dahlia walk slowly through the forest. They walk near a small river. The river flows steadily, making a calming sound as the water washes over the rocks and plants in the forest, the air near is humid making the heat of the sun bearable. The atmosphere is peaceful with birds whistling.

Dahlia was struggling to keep her pace as she breathed heavily— they had been walking for a few kilometres. With Izz leading in front of her, she gets closer to the river and barely walks in the river as her foot is completely submerged in the water to cool herself down. She seems to enjoy the silence of the beautiful forest, until…

"...AH!" she fell as trying to get out of the water.

Izz immediately rushed over to her, "Are you okay?"

"...Something in the water…"

A fish had bumped into her which made her panic.

He makes a weird face "...huh, it's just a fish," he giggled, "...See?"

She looked into the water and see a fish swimming away. She looked embarrassed as she realised what it was.

***

Although they had been walking far away from the centre of the kingdom, they were eventually spotted by the soldiers from the Nigati Kingdom. The soldiers quickly closed the distance between them and asked Izz and Dahlia to stop.

"You there, stop right this moment!"

The voice of the soldiers makes Dahlia trembles as she held onto Izz's arm. Izz grabbed Dahlia with his left hand—getting ready to run.

The soldiers sees this action, they started to attack them with wind magic, a less lethal option and safer as they didn't want to burn the forest.

With his fast reaction, he lifted Dahlia off the ground, held her securely in his arms, and her arms wrapped around his neck. She gazed up at him with a mixed feelings of embarrassment and surprise. He reassured her before they leapt away avoiding the confrontation.

One of the soldiers shouted, "Don't let them get away!"

In hurry, all the soldiers started running after the two of them. As they hopped on the thick branches of the trees, suddenly a (high demon) monster appeared right in front of them. It startled the soldiers.

One soldier that seems to lead all the other soldiers shouted, "Stop! Keep your distance! Take your position now!" he commanded.

All the soldiers then line up around the monster before casting a spell.

"Fire-"

Before he can order the other soldiers to fire, Izz had already drawn his katana. With a slice on the throat, the monster was defeated with a swing of his katana.

They were shocked and stunned in fear, including Dahlia.

"What a monster," the soldiers murmured, referring to the strength Izz possesses.

Most of them hesitated before running in the opposite way— they were not willing to pursue them any longer.

"...Oh, I'm not fighting that man."

The leader was in disbelief, but he snapped to his senses before he commanded all of his comrades that stay.

"Fall back!"

"He's no ordinary guy," he thought to himself as he looked back at Izz, who slowly disappeared from his view as they retreated to the kingdom.

The incident was then reported back to their superior.

***

After Izz felt they had successfully evaded the soldiers, he gently placed Dahlia on the ground, but she immediately crumpled to the earth, her face drained of colour and trembling uncontrollably.

"...Are you alright, Dahlia?" he asked, concerned. "You look pale."

Dahlia controlled her breath, "I am fine," she smiled while shaking uncontrollably. "I'm just surprised."

Izz get closer to her and immediately lifted Dahlia's shirt up, looking for any signs of injury on her body.

Dahlia got really flustered as she tries to push him aside.

"...Wha-what are you-" her face turned beet red.

As he checked her bare skin, Dahlia tensed up with embarrassment as his touches tickle her, she felt uncomfortable with the idea of being exposed in front of him.

After examining her, Izz appeared visibly relieved to find nothing but bruises. Izz then gave Dahlia water to calm herself down, she still looked flustered as before. She sips her water with her face still beet red.

"Let's take a break here."

"...Um… yeah," she said awkwardly

"Hm? What the matter?"

"Uh, nothing… It's nothing really," she was still flustered about earlier.

***

They took shelter beneath the shade of a giant tree.

"...Here…" Izz handed a loaf of bread to Dahlia, "I brought it along the way."

"Tha-thanks," she looked pleased as she took a bite.

"...Eat up, we still have a long way to go," he said with a slight smile on his face. She nodded.

When he sat beside her, it made her feel safe, and she blushed as she took a bite of the bread.

***

After a while of them resting beneath the shade of a giant tree…

The silence of the forest is calming, and the two of them sit in a peaceful air, Izz doesn't have a particularly talkative personality, and Dahlia is not the type to talk with a stranger so easily because of her past. Dahlia looked around to see that the forest is thick and they can't see much.

"Izz, how long will it take us to get out of this forest?" she asked curiously—this showed that Dahlia had started to become more comfortable around Izz

Izz looked up, reading the sky, "We are close, it won't take too long."

The skill to read the sky can help to navigate through thick jungles like Nigati Forest. It works by looking at the shape and movement of the cloud, the bigger and slower the cloud means deeper into the forest.

Dahlia stood up and got all excited, "Really? If that's the case, let's go!"

Izz looked happy that Dahlia is happy, "Fine by me. Let's go."

They continue their journey, slowly step by step as they walked closer to the edge of the forest. Dahlia can see a noticeable light source brighter than it is in the forest.

"Look! That's the way out," she said in excitement.

Dahlia rushed over, Izz followed after her, and after a walk that feels like forever, they eventually exited the forest.

They can see the view of grass stretched wide in front of them from the cliff of the forest. The wind blew Dahlia's long hair as she stare at the view in amazement. It was the first time Dahia saw such a view in the last decade— she was stunned by the view.

She pointed at the grass field, "Izz! Look! It's so beautiful!" she excitedly moved closer to the edge of the cliff.

"Don't get too excited, you'll fall off the cliff."

She spun around facing Izz, "I want to go there!"

Dahlia looked beautiful as she smiled at him, with the breeze of the wind blowing the sweat, giving Izz chills throughout his body

***