Edan Forest
The two thousand troops belonging to the Vanster unit had been split into two further groups of a thousand men. In front of one group stood a muscular middle-aged man with a huge beard, and leading the other group was a tall lady clad in silver armour.
"Commander Sheran, the trail of the boy ends here." "We found the horse some distance away; it seems he escaped deep into the forest." The bulky man with a beard reaching his belly reported.
The two-thousand-man commander, Sheran, nodded lightly and gazed at the huge forest that lay in front of his forces.
It was the Edan forest.
The Edan Forest extended hundreds of kilometres to the east of Qin City. They were one of the densest forests in the whole Eldoria kingdom, which made it impossible to fully deploy the forces and take control of the whole forest.
Even though the Edan forest came under the Eldoria kingdom, this borderline forest was mostly treated as a free territory because of the difficulty of establishing a stronghold. Because of this, it sheltered the most bizarre and fearsome tribes and the ruthless criminals who had fled from the kingdom.
But that wasn't all; the other end of the Edan forest connected with the Hale Sea, a territory of the neighbouring kingdom, Mariana.
Edan Forest got his name from a famed army general, Edan Claire, who was also the father of Duke Huan and Lord Baren.
It was said that General Edan had led his forces from Qin City, through the dense forest to the Hale Sea coast, fought the fleet of hundred ships sent by the Mariana kingdom to conquer Qin City, and crushed them thoroughly.
Because of his merits in wars, Edan had been given such a huge and strategic borderline territory to rule and protect from the two neighbouring nations.
Now, his son, Duke Huan, ruled the territory, and Lord Baren was in charge of Qin City.
Sheran studied the dark forest and then said to the bearded man, "The boy is clever; with his situation, Edan Forest is the best place to flee." Even though a peasant like him would die of hunger within a few days and be eaten by some beast, we cannot rely on that. "I need his head to be brought back to Lord Baren."
"Lieutenant is ready to go, commander!" The bearded man lightly saluted, waiting for the order, but Sheran shook his head, saying, "Lieutenant Liam, the forest isn't your strength." Instead, I want you to lead 1,000 men and scout the borders of Celestia's kingdom. "With the assassination attempt on Lord Baren, I believe they are up to something."
Sheran turned his gaze to the Edan forest and said, "As for searching for that boy, I believe Lieutenant Zoe would be better."
"That new huntress..." Lieutenant Liam muttered under his breath, taking a quick glance at the crimson-haired lady standing to his left, and then nodded, "As you wish!"
As Liam took his leave, the crimson-haired lady, Lieutenant Zoe, approached Sheran. "I feel good coming back here!" Zoe commented, her voice heavy, almost manly.
Zoe was a tall woman in her twenties; her eyes were deep brown, and her face was as fierce as a lioness.
Sheran's gaze ran through her hourglass figure, which was hidden beneath the armour, and a tinge of lust flashed across his eyes. He licked his tongue and grinned. "Lieutenant Zoe, you won't try to run back to those criminals in the forest, right?" "You know, I still haven't tasted you yet."
Glimpsing at the naked lust flashing across Sheran's burned face, Zoe snorted in disgust and said, "I wouldn't have left them if I wanted to go back, commander." "As for tasting me, you aren't there yet."
Baren gulped, scratching the scar on his face. He took another glance at her ample breasts and said, "Go on then, bring the boy; you know this forest more than anyone else."
"And what will you do...?" Zoe asked, looking at the huge tent Sheran had set up at the edge of the forest.
"Oh me, haha!" Sheran laughed and suddenly ordered an old man standing beside him, "Bring them out!"
The old man bowed and, after a minute, arrived with two young girls dressed up in tattered clothes. Their gazes were empty, and their hair was unkempt, but the thing that stood out about them was their identical faces.
"Twins…" Zoe muttered.
"Haha, good find, right?" "I bought them from a slave trader, still virgin, ready to be plucked!" Baren said. He was almost trembling with excitement.
He gazed back at the two girls, and they shivered under his gaze.
"The city rules are quite strict; with that 10000-man commander looking over me, I cannot enjoy sexual pleasures, but here, haha, I will train them slowly to serve me, while you guys look for that boy," Baren explained.
"So that's why you were so desperate to hunt that boy; it seems like you just wanted a holiday to fuck women," Zoe said, her gaze turning vigilant.
Baren grinned. "You can join if you want; I will send Liam to hunt that boy."
"In your dreams!" Zoe raised her hand to cut him off. Then, she started walking away, her heavy voice reaching Baren. "Staying with you?" "I fear I might chop off your meat in anger."
"Haha, don't worry; you will crawl up to my bed very soon," Baren laughed back.
****
"Haaf! Haaf!" Mars's chest rose and fell, a sharp pain had started to creep up from his ribs. He had been running for half an hour, and now it seemed he had reached his limit.
"It seems this is far enough for now!" Mars muttered and soon stooped to lean against a huge tree.
Looking up, he saw the enormous trees reaching up to the skies, the branches so thick that they created a blanket over the whole forest. Mars' surroundings were dark and damp.
Mars had never left Qin City and its surroundings in his life, but he had heard about the vast Edan forest, which sheltered many who escaped from the kingdom. Thus, Mars decided to run to this forest after leaving the city.
"I have to adapt as fast as I can." Mars thought about what he should do first, and the most urgent task was to adapt to his environment. Unlike the city, this was a forest, and he would have to learn to hunt, survive, and also escape from Lord Baren and his soldiers.
It would be difficult, but in front of his dream to concur in this realm, this task seems very insignificant.
Mars quietly leaned against the tree. His back was still wounded from the arrows, and even though he had wrapped it up with a cloth, any disturbance made it bleed again.
Rustle! Rustle! Rustle!
Suddenly, he felt a commotion. Turning his head, Mars saw a wild boar a few metres away from him. It seemed to be nibbling on a mushroom and hadn't noticed him.
The boar was huge—a beggar than Mars had ever seen. Two long tusks extended out of its mouth, giving it a fierce look.
Looking at the huge boar, Mars felt a small rumble in his stomach. He was hungry.
Mars gulped. Even though he wanted to taste this beast, Mars knew killing it would be quite difficult for an immature person like him, but still, he decided to try it.
After all, if he wanted to survive, he had to hunt. Mars wasn't sure he would find any fruits here.
With no knowledge of hunting, Mars decided to approach the beast from the rear and cut him with his sword.
What could possibly go wrong?
Mars slowly got up to his feet and said, "I will move slowly to circle behind him and then strike with a swift blow."
Creak!
But just as he had taken a step, the twig beneath his feet cracked, creating a crisp sound that echoed through the silent forest.
Huff!
The wild boar jumped back in surprise and turned to gaze at Mars. Looking at the human, its gaze turned vigilant, and with an angry snort, it charged toward him while raising his long tusks.
"Fuck!" Mars cursed, gazing at the fat beast charging towards him.
With no time to dodge, Mars swiftly moved the shield on his back, placing it in front of the boar, and tightened his legs and torso to brace for the impact.
But when the boar struck, his eyes widened in surprise.
Bang!
The impact was enormous, and Mars found himself being flung into the air.
Crash!
With a heavy thud, his body collided with the tree bark and crashed to the ground.
"Eh!" Mars felt his arms ache due to the impact and his back go numb, but before he could even grunt, he saw the wild beast rushing at him again, ready to pierce his skull with its tusks.