Chapter 1-Swallowed

City of Breman library.

A handsome young man was sitting in one of the isolated areas in the library. He was currently reading a book and flipping its pages, so engrossed that he did not even notice that a lot of girls had been walking back and forth behind him for one hour with the excuse of getting a book from a shelf while throwing their glances at him.

His classes in the afternoon had finished at around 2 PM. His university doesn't require them to wear a uniform, so he wore a striped black and white polo shirt, navy blue pants, and sneakers. His short hair was light brown and was the same color as his eyes. His name was Lixon Rayver.

The young man reads a detective novel that made his eyes shined and excited whenever he encountered a good scene. Finally, he reached the last page and lightly raised his brows.

"So there is an additional series of this book. Sigh, I'm not sure when I will be able to read it, I guess I'll have to wait for at least a few months." He thought.

He closed its leaves and looked at his wristwatch. It was already past 05:00 PM. The library will close at 6:00 PM, so he still had a few minutes. He stood from his seat and was about to return the book when a girl approached him.

"Ahm...excuse me, are you done reading that book?" She pointed the book in his hand.

The young woman had short black hair. Her face was pretty, and she was wearing a yellow dress and black doll shoes to pair it. She looked uneasy, but Lixon gently smiled at her and handed the book.

"Here."

The girl was about to open her mouth, but Lixon had already walked past her. She stared at his retreating back while pouting. Then another two young girls appeared beside her. One had a ponytail and wore a simple black shirt and tight pants. The other had long curly hair. She was wearing a red long-sleeved with a checkered design and tucked by below the knee-length jeans skirt.

"That was a good move, Trixie!" The first girl with a ponytail cheered, "But it's a pity that he just left like that. We thought that he would at least ask for your name or even your number."

When Trixie heard those remarks, she sighed. She even mustered all her courage to approach him. She was not used to being rejected, that is why she was also a bit disappointed. However, Trixie was considered popular among her peers and even got many confessions from her classmates. She even joined the popularity contest just to be noticed by him.

Since their first year in high school, she had a crush on Lixon and even studied hard to be in the same university as him. But it seemed that he revolved around his world only. He was popular enough to be dubbed the school's prince. But the young man instantly rejected the idea when the campus offered him to join the popularity contest.

She clenched her fist and opened her mouth, "I will not give up. Not until Lixon rejects me."

The two girls behind her cheered, "That's the spirit!"

"Excuse me, students."

The three students flinched then nervously turned their heads.

The lady librarian greeted them with a frightening smile on her face.

"This is a library and not a cafeteria. Would you mind going out?" She pointed at the exit door.

They all frantically nodded. "Yes, ma'am!"

-----

45 Liason St., Frenchborough, Breman City. Lixon's room.

"...Yes, I'm already thinking of the scenes of the next series. Hmm... I'm planning to write and submit it before the end of the month. Okay. Thanks, editor-in-chief."

Lixon pressed the end call button and placed the phone atop his table. He looked at his wristwatch; it was past seven. He ate his dinner earlier, thinking that he would dive into writing after. There were some crackers and gummy candies on his table and a cup of coffee. He had this habit of having them while doing his studies or while he was writing. It helped him relax and concentrate.

He leaned on his swivel chair while staring at his laptop. He had finished writing the first series of his book [The Legends of Udeville], and now he was thinking of starting the second volume. Being an author sure was hard. He had to think of new ideas of how the story would continue.

"Rather than just imagining things, I think it would be better if I just live with my created characters and places so it would be easy for me to think of how my story will proceed," he thought.

He closed his eyes and felt that he wanted to sleep for a bit. Maybe after he dived into his dream world, he might think of better ideas.

-----

Lixon twitched his ears when he heard the sounds of the running of horses. Then, he slowly opened his eyes and observed that he was inside a dark forest.

'Am I still dreaming?'

He sat up and looked around. He was still wearing the clothes that he had since he went to the library.

The young man was still half-awake when he heard the sound of the running of horses nearing him. Then he saw a group of people who looked like knights.

"Eh? They are wearing the same uniform of the Luton territory army." He observed.

Luton territory, located in the north of the Udeville empire, is where the fifth prince, prince Gavinus Udeville resided. He was of royal blood, which people considered an oddity. He had long red hair. His eyes differ in color, his right eye is green, and his left is purple. He was one of the strongest contenders for the crown. But due to his methods of doing things, the prince was labeled as cunning and vicious.

That's what he remembered from the book that he wrote. Lixon massaged his temple. Is it the result of too much pressure? Why is this story being continued even in his dream?

He was still contemplating when one of the knights, who looked like the leader, pointed his sword at him when they arrived.

"Who are you?" The knight asked.

Lixon raised both of his hands and introduced himself, "My name is Lixon Rayver."

"Who is it, Davis?"

Lixon looked past the knights and noticed a luxurious carriage following them.

"His voice and tone always show indifference as if no one would ever get his attention."

He tilted his head upon remembering that line from his book. Why on earth was this person's tone of voice reminded him of that prince?

"To respond to my lord, this person was seen lurking in the forest." The knight, who was called Davis, answered.

Lixon raised his brows upon hearing this but was instantly puzzled.

Hold on a minute, did that person call him Davis? Davis was the name of the captain of the knights of prince Gavinus. So why are these people reminded him of those characters?

"Who are you?" Davis asked again and placed his sword on his neck, "This is a restricted area; peasant should not be here if you want to look for food."

"Peasant?" Lixon thought before looking at himself. He was astonished when he observed that his earlier clothes changed into the locals of Udeville.

"Answer me!"

There was a severe threat from the tone of the knight. Lixon could feel the cold steel on his skin, but instead of shrinking out of fear, he stared at the knight with calm and gentle eyes before responding, "My apologies, I was lost when I was looking for food earlier. I didn't even know that this was a restricted area. If it would be okay, can you show me where the exit is?"

Davis stared at him intently before placing his sword back in his sheath.

"Find the exit yourself."

"How cold." He silently thought.

"MAN, MOVE!"

They all turned around and left Lixon, who was still sitting on the ground. The latter stood and quietly dusted his clothes while his mind sorted the earlier events into the fastest possible time.

"Traveling inside a restricted area?"

"To counter his enemies, Prince Gavinus made it a habit always to use the Dead Forest whenever he traveled back to his territory. A mysterious jungle where the most potent spirits resided. There were times when a thick fog covered the area. Legend says that a mysterious entity that had lived in the forest for thousands of years was guarding the jungle."

He looked at the people who were walking farther away from him and thought, "This is not a dream."

-----

"Captain, is it okay for us to leave him behind just like that?" The second-in-command knight asked Davis while they continued to walk further.

"Why? Do you want to save him?"

"Of course not!" The knight denied right away, "It's just, it's very unusual for you to leave a suspicious person just like that."

Davis smirked, hearing this sentence, "This is the Dead Forest." He looked at his second in command before continuing, "Do you think an ordinary person and a weakling like him can survive here?"

"Oh..."

"Let the creature of this jungle deal with him. He might not be able to walk out of this place alive. We don't want to waste our time killing some insignificant flies. Got it?"

"Yes, sir."

The fog of the forest started to thicken. The group continued to walk when they heard the man from the earlier called out, "Mr. Knight!"

All of them stopped at once.

"Does he have a death wish?" The other knights murmured.

Davis heard a light giggled inside the carriage.

He turned his head and stared coldly at the young man standing a few meters from them.

"Is this the Dead Forest?" His voice echoed around the area.

"So?"

"Ah, just as I thought."

They saw him nod.

The captain knight waited for the young man to continue while maintaining his cold demeanor. Then, all of them noticed that the thick fog continued to cover them rapidly.

Then Davis saw the young man smile at them before opening his mouth.

"Be careful on your travel then."

"What?"

"Seems like you are guarding a very precious treasure."

After saying these, the fog covered the entirety of the area, and the man could not be seen anymore.