The atmosphere around the small campfire had gotten awkward, as the woman named Natalie got back up to her feet and stared at Noah with an expression that seemed to be a mix of anger and embarrassment.

"So, you weren't lying about being chased," said Natalie, looking at Noah who had a completely lost expression on his face. "Who were they?" she asked, wondering if the kid had stalled them this entire time so that their numbers would scare away their pursuers.

"Goblin... Archers." he awkwardly spat out, still not understanding what had just transpired. Those archers had been relentlessly chasing him this entire time, and Noah couldn't see a reason for them to suddenly get scared off now. That 'Will' didn't even bother to move, he couldn't understand why they would let such an easy picking off. It couldn't be because they were scared off by their numbers- no.... there had to be something else.

"Still on that same story, eh?" sighed Will. "Well it seems like you've got plenty of problems of your own, so I won't press you for more. Join us by the campfire if you want, or leave- I've lost interest," said Will in a bored tone as if he were stifling a yawn, and took a seat next to the makeshift campfire that seemed to be constructed of dried twigs and dead leaves.

Natalie moved to stand next to Will with her sword at the ready, as he fiddled with his inventory screen.

"Campfire..." Noah muttered out loud, attracting both their attentions. "Wait a minute, that's it!" he lightly exclaimed with joy, as he looked at the campfire with an expression of delight plastered on his face.

"I will answer your question," said Noah as he slowly walked next to the campfire to indicate that he wasn't a threat and then sat down opposite Will while letting his spear rest on the ground next to him.

A blackhole materialized next to Will and out came a piping hot stew, evenly cut chunks of meat interspersed with chunks of potatoes and a few other vegetables in the mix with thyme and parsley as garnish and 3 slices of brown bread on the side. The stew itself seemed thick as opposed to watery, and while it seemed like a simple dish- when the powerful aroma wafted towards Noah, he couldn't help but want to know how it would taste.

"But before that, may I know what that dish is called" asked Noah, and he couldn't help but break into a small grin at how brazen he had become.

While Natalie stared at him with an odd expression on her face, Will looked at him with a gleam in his eyes.

"Irish Stew with a side of soda bread" replied Will, appearing slightly less bored now.

Repeating Will's order, the same dish materialized in front of him and Noah looked at it with curiosity.

"Go on now, we can talk after you eat your fill. Got plenty of time to kill until morning anyway," replied Will in a lackadaisical tone, not at all interested in trying to rush Noah for answers.

"Don't mind if I do then," said Noah, as he scooped a spoon full of sauce, meat, and a small chunk of potato and felt it warm up his insides as he began to chew it. If the risotto he had eaten earlier was comforting, then this dish could only be described as hearty- the gloomy atmosphere of the dark forest seemed to evaporate after a single bite, if only for a few precious moments.

Tearing the oval-shaped slice of bread in half, Noah dipped it into the thick sauce and found himself enjoying the experience even more... a few minutes later he found himself out of bread to dip it in. It was a simple dish, but its taste reminded him of a place he was very, very far away from... home.

A solitary tear trickled down his left eye, and Noah quickly wiped it away. Though both of them had seen it, Noah was grateful for their silence on the matter. Noah kept his bowl down and took a moment to compose himself before speaking.

"I wanted to get an idea of the surroundings, so I decided to climb the nearest tree I could find during the daytime. Unfortunately, I couldn't get high enough to see what lay past the forest, but I did end up making a discovery. There are small wooden crates up there that contain items inside them, but not every tree has them. I only managed to get 2 items after spending most of the day climbing, so it's pretty hit or miss." explained Noah with an earnest voice, not withholding any information from the two.

"You climbed halfway up these trees?" asked Natalie with a shocked expression on her face.

"Quite the daredevil, aren't you?" asked Will, with a chuckle.

"Well, I probably wouldn't be able to do it if I was back on Earth. Putting points into dexterity helps, y'know. But yeah, even then it got pretty intimidating when I got high up" said Noah, withholding the part about an armchair ghost offering his irritating but useful advice on the way up.

"As for what I figured out... well let me start with some evidence," said Noah, as he fiddled with his inventory settings and pulled 2 arrows out of his inventory. Offering it to Will, who accepted it with a curious expression on his face, he continued

"These were the two arrows that landed next to me for poking out of cover when I was trying to test out their accuracy. I retrieved them thinking that they'd be useful if I ever got my hands on a bow, so I guess that ended up working out for me," explained Noah, trying to stay as close to the truth as possible so that he wouldn't end up contradicting himself.

"Now before you ask, I didn't see a single archer during the daytime either. Are they let out at night time only because that's what the tower wants, or is there some other reason behind it? I had assumed it was the former... until I was almost killed by a goblin that was waiting in ambush for me during the night. Goblin's growing smarter at night doesn't make any sense, so there had to be another solution to this puzzle." Noah explained passionately, though he could only hope his hastily created tale would pass their scrutiny.

"And. What is it?" asked Will, staring at Noah with genuine intrigue at this point.

"The final piece of the puzzle was the archers running away from us, despite having a clear shot at least one person. You would've died, by the way." Noah said in a slightly irritated tone at the end, but he begrudgingly understood why the man wouldn't trust him.

"Yet here I am"

"A bright light shined in your face during the day, or a bright light shined at your face in pitch-black darkness- which would hurt your eyes more," asked Noah, turning it into an interactive session.

"The latter"

"And what if you were a nocturnal creature? Even worse, right? Though I doubt this small fire is enough to scare off the close-range fighters- they'll just charge straight at you like they do in the daytime- for ranged fighters aiming from a distance it becomes very difficult to accurately pinpoint their target."