Zel was now walking confidently in a large hallway, still analyzing his environment and both hands in the back.

'...fascinating ...' he thought, but there's something strange with those energy particles ...'

He then stopped and struck the ground.

[...] so it was an underground cave with a large corridor [...] but it does not seem natural [...] interesting [...]'

After walking for around 18 minutes with these weird purple floating dots as the only source of light, zel finally saw at the distance another brighter more natural source of light, he quickly deduced it was the exist leading into the outside world...

' ... finally, the exist ! .. time to see what this world has to offer '

• • • • •

In an unknown location. deep into what appeared to be a dense forest, similar to those we are able to find on earth. except for a few exceptions, and one of the more striking exceptions was the presence of what appeared to be giant trees.

what was special about these trees was not only their size but also their leaves, more precisely their colors, with some trees having black-colored leaves and others having purple-colored ones. sometimes a phenomenon would occur between them with some purple leaves bursting and releasing transparent shiny particles thus changing their color into black. Meanwhile, the massive branches of some black leafy trees would suck these transparent particles, causing their leaves to become purple.

this phenomenon truly gave the impression that the forest itself was a single living entity.

to describe the vibes someone would feel if he was to be there using only two words, these words would be mystic and lugubrious.

in one of the large branches of the said trees, 3 people were standing.

" We are approximately 10 kilometers from the starting point..." said an aged man to someone standing confidently in front of him, judging only by the Nobel-like aura surrounding him it was clearly their leader.

"..."

"..."

after some seconds the voice of a young boy broke the silence.

" What are you worried about ?? Let's juuust go there and talk to them already.... " said the young boy with a silvery voice. clear, light, and pleasant to hear, meanwhile laying on his back, with his helmet between his hand.

he seemed to have no more than 14 years old, looking at the sky and chilling like he was on vacation with a bored expression on his face.

being the only one without his helmet on. We could clearly see his facial features. he was a handsome and cute young boy with golden-brown hair, and two beautiful green eyes. he was 5,1 feet (1.55m ) tall .he seemed to be like any normal boy his age

" Stop being childish and put your mask on Alex..." the old man scolded the young boy named Alex.

" Nop, I don't wanaaaa .....I don't like it and it is useless anyway... I can normally breathe, look! " Alex said before inspiring and expiring

" see !.. there is no danger and plus I remind you that you don't have the authority to order me around old bones " the young Alex said now sitting with his legs crossed like he was meditating.

" How did you just call me ??! ...anyway Why the hell did the higher-ups include a brat in such an important mission to begging with ....seriously what are they thinking," the old man said frustrated to not being obeyed by a boy and frustrated by having his authority challenged.

" To protect your old bones ..." Alex said amused with a tempting tone in his voice and a smile on his face that was adding more to his cuteness and handsomeness.

" Wha...??! If your die you will protect no one .....we still don't know if it is 100 % safe to directly interact with the outside environment.....captain Ahab, Please say something to him, he seems to listen only to you "

"...." the confident man who seemed not interested at all in their interactions. ignored both of them.

he was solely focused on one location. using the high ground advantage to observe a group of what seemed 10 humanoid 500 m away from them.

" Hm?!.... Alex,.. did you sens that ! ? " suddenly captain Ahab who was quiet, spook for the first time in a cold dead voice, without turning back or shifting his gaze from that group.

" Sens what !? " it was not Alex who asked but the old man with worry visible in his voice.

" someone.. or something is coming toward us... and it approaching fast adding to that it seems to be strong.....finally some fun !! I was starting to get bored " the young boy Alex said with a smile on his now serious face. His eyes became sharp, shifting from the eyes of boredom into these of a hunter. the atmosphere around him drastically changed, he now was looking like a young lion ready to jump on his prey.

" what ?! ... if ...if what you are saying Is true then THEN WE NEED TO RETREAT NOW !!! " the old man said voicing his worry

" Confrontation at this stage of exploration is a bad idea we still don't have enough data about this world " he added explaining the origin of these said worries

"..... it will start soon. " Ahab said with a confident voice with both his arms crossed. ignoring once again the old man. not wanting to argue he instead simply stayed focused on that group of humanoids.

" it decided !.... I will go help them! maybe they will befriend us after that ...after all, they seem intelligent enough, they even made a camp " Alex said excited, still in his hunter mindset and looking in the same direction as Ahab.

" No." Ahab coldly ordered

" Whaaaaat, but they will diiiiie If I don't help them..." Alex said with his face switched once again into his normal innocent one.

"..... we don't know what they are capable of yet it is an opportunity to learn more about them " Ahab calmly said.

sigh ~ the old man let a sigh of relief after hearing that.

"...."

" Pfffff you're noo fun..." Alex said annoyed with both his hand on the back of his head. Taking his gaze away and looking into the sky.

" professor... use your ability and record all the events that will occur. " Ahab once again coldly ordered but this time he was ordering the old man referring to him as a professor.

" there is a risk for them to spot us we don't have enough data yet to be reckless" the old man expressed his thoughts

"Just do it..... even if they somehow spot us, right now they have a more important thing to worry about," Ahab said with an unchanging tone in his voice.

sigh~

" .....then I am afraid I will need your assistance on that one task Captain Ahab. They are a little too far away from the reach of my ability. " the professor said with a bit of embarrassment. before looking at Alex waiting for him to make a comment.

"..."

but to his surprise, no comments were made. Alex was still too annoyed because of having his 'fun' time denied.

the professor then approached Ahab and placed both of his hands on his back, then after a moment A strange blackish dusty energy started to come out from his hands, that energy then started to head toward his eyes passing through his helmet and ignoring it like it was not there to begging with.

after a moment he abruptly opened both of his eyes, but instead of normal eyes, his were both shining in golden translucent energy, with the same black dusty energy coming from their edges.

" HUMANS !!!!??? No ! they look like humans but they are not, their energy signature is different from us, but at the same time seems the same... I don't know how to describe it as a strange feeling. "

the professor said not being able to restrain that typical excitement any scientist has after making a major discovery.

" their Number? " Ahab asked him

" 13, from what I assume 3 different races... interesting....they seem to be able to communicate between each other. " the professor said his eyes still shining.

" and can you understand their language? "

Ahab asked already knowing the answer to his silly question yet knowing he had to ask it.

" no, unfortunately, I can't, I don't have enough and sufficient data yet to be able to decipher. "

After that Ahab switched his gaze to look deeper into that mystic forest.

" WH- whAT ON THE DAMNED EARTH IS THAT THING !! " said the now terrified professor, who was fighting the urge to take his hands off.

* * * * *

author thoughts: lady's and gentlemen's greetings thank you for reading this chapter hope you enjoyed it and see you next time ah and of course don't forget to comment your thoughts - AgLd

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