Azaan stood at the edge of the forest staring at the vast grassland that spread as far as he could see. He could see some trees at the other end of the town but asides from them there was only grass as far as he could see.

His focus shifted to the gate of the town as he saw a big carriage come out of the trees, heading towards the town. As he got a clear view, he could see even from this far that the carriage was floating. At its front, he saw something wearing clothes glowing with blue light.

As the carriage arrived at the town gate, it waited there for a moment and then entered the town. The figures patrolling up on the wall also returned to their positions after the carriage was in.

Seeing as he would not be able to enter form here also, he slowly went back into the forest. The atmosphere inside the forest was very comfortable unlike the cold on the Earth. He moved slowly, his destination the exit point of the river from the town. To avoid being lost, he had been moving near the edge where the walls were somewhat visible. After a while, he stood there wondering how he could get in from there.

He observed the area, sometimes moving to and fro from the town to get a gust of the geography. There were some small boulders that were present here and there on the river bank that he thought he could use to hide as he went into the river. He could not swim but he was thinking about crawling in the water, the river was deep enough for it.

The problem though was the guards patrolling the wall, he did not think they would miss him during the light so he was considering waiting till the dark. The cover of night would allow him to successfully follow through with his plan.

Leaving the town behind, he went downstream trying to find an area that was hidden where he could rest and after so much movement he could feel his stomach starting to protest for food. He rolled his tongue, noticing how much dry it was. He also remembered that he still had not cleaned himself of the vomit. His stomach rumbled again, preparing to deport stuff again.

He ran to the edge and after seeing no one there he quickly ran towards the river and gurgled. Afterward, he checked and cleaned any area he found any vomit. He ran to the forest afterward as he felt the suns roast him and resumed his search.

He found a secure location near the river. There was a bolder there, surrounded by the trees and a patch of grass around it that made it comfortable to sit. The light was a bit more strong there as the foliage was a bit loose around the bolder. This made it even more of a comfortable place.

He sat against the grey-colored boulder with moss and veins creeping along with it, eyes closed as he felt the light upon his skin and the sound of the river in his ears. The atmosphere was serene, calming and suddenly this atmosphere was ruined by a great roar.

Growl

His stomach finally had it and started roaring in protest. Waving a white flag, he took out the ration crate from the inventory. There was a big label written upon it.

Enhanced nutrition package.

Can be used by Level 1 and 2 personnel.

Taking off the lid he saw seven smaller packets that were inside it and grabbed one of them. The grey rectangular pack had a clear divide along its center. He checked the other ones and all of them were similar. Shaking the packet produced a liquid sound at one end and a solid sound at the other end.

Opening the packet on both ends, there were there more on both sides. One side had three small bottles with blue liquid inside them while the other one had three chunks of white substance.

He bit into it.

“Wow.”

He uttered unconsciously. He could not describe the taste as it alluded to him but it was still somehow very delicious. He took another bite, this time forcing himself to be slow while chewing, trying to taste the ingredients that were in it. It ended it vain though as he could not distinguish other than the fact that it was delicious. After taking the third bite, he suddenly felt full. It was as if he had filled his stomach to brim, so much so that eating any more would cause him to vomit.

Regretfully putting them back in the packet he turned his attention to the blue stuff. Taking off the cap he took a sip, very slowly. He wanted to enjoy whatever treat was hidden in this bottle. As the liquid touched his tongue, he became disappointed, it tasted like apple juice. Granted that it was the best apple juice that he drank but he had been hoping for it to be like the white substance. Disappointed, he took another sip. His eyes widened.

“Orage juice?”

It tasted the same as orange juice. He quickly took another sip, this time it tasted like grape juice. Again, his stomach felt full. He tried to sip but felt extreme repulsion from doing so.

Shaking his head, he returned these bottles to the packet and place them back into the crate and crate back to the inventory.

Now that he was full, he took the sword, the bow, and the quiver and placed them beside him.

This place was extremely comfortable, soft like a cushion. The place rejuvenated him, leaching off any and all tensions from his mind and body. As he looked around, free of useless thoughts, he saw the beauty that he had been ignoring. The beautiful sky, bluer than blue. Trees and grass, seemingly glowing green. The air was crisp and fresh. Everything seemed to possess a beauty that was greater compared to anything that he had seen on earth, whether it be in cities of villages.

He sat there, watching the twin shadows stretch longer. The anxiety to do something productive, that wanted to overcome him was squashed and he just sat there. After a while, he nodded off.

The shadows stretched longer and as they started moving over him he woke up. He felt unnaturally energetic, his mind clear. It was why he was able to hear small rustlings that were all around him. The forest was clear of anything alive so he quickly thought of the goblins. He sat there, not moving. Their ears were as sharp as they were long, he did not want to alert them by causing any disturbance.

Slowly, he unsheathed the sword and slowly placed the sheath beside him. No one came where he was, a fact he was thankful for. This sword did not have any poison coated on it and without it, he was without the confidence to kill anything.

He looked at the sky, it was showing the signs of the evening. Looking at all the shadows, he decided to start his plan. He very slowly made his way towards the river, avoiding rustling any bushing or stepping on any twigs. The sound of the river masked what little that he was producing, providing him with some semblance of safety.

As he was moving along the river, he suddenly squatted behind a tree which allowed him to hide from three goblins, the bigger ones, as they looked around. All of them had faces that were twisted. One seemed it would rip his much with its smile, another had tears flowing through its eye while the last one had a grin. All of them had these expressions plastered upon their faces. He held his breath and thank God when they left quickly.

He waited there for a while and then started moving upstream, towards the town. While doing so, he sometimes saw goblins traveling all of them were of bigger variety.

Again he squatted behind a tree. Again he saw their faces that were twisted. The most talking that he had observed them do was a grunt, nothing else. Again they moved on and again he waited there.

The shadows had stretched even longer by this point, engulfing the forest into even greater darkness. Now, even the last denizens of the forest, the bugs had quietened down. The only sound was of the river or the rustling of the trees and bushes. As the winds picked up ever so slowly, the atmosphere got even spookier.

Azaan shivered and started to move a bit faster unconsciously. He felt relaxed when he saw the town. He looked towards the river. Darkness had descended upon it making it look as black as tar. Checking his equipment, he slowly crawled out of the forest on all fours towards the river. The darkness along with the occasional bolder allowed him to reach into the river.

The water was cold, he noted as he started to move towards the center of the river till he was submerged into it. He occasionally lifted his head to get air but otherwise crawled along the river bed. The bow on his back made it difficult to navigate through the rocks that were present in the river.

He avoided the little light that still shined upon the river and made his way towards the town. He took a deep breath once he was close to the wall, the guards away from this area. Seeing this he brought his head back and started the crawl again.

The stones were very slippery, making the crawl even more difficult as he had to take on the river itself also. Still, he pressed forwards as fast as he could.

-----

As Azaan moved into the town, multiple groups of big goblins emerged from the forest. One of them signaled to the ones patrolling on the top of the town and slowly started entering the town. The guards on the wall, after receiving the signals slowly inched closer towards the opening while maintaining their distances. In the dark, it looked as if nothing had happened.

-----

Azaan got out of the river completely drenched. His eyes stinging and his ears were full of water. The suns had set even further now causing the area to be completely engulfed in darkness. The darkness made his objective even more eye-catching.

As he looked up, he saw a tower glowing with soft, blue light. The light did not light up the surroundings, instead, it seemed to highlight the darkness, making it seem even darker.

He moved through the buildings. All of them were either square or rectangle and non was connected to another building. All of them had space between one another. His mullings were interrupted as he came upon a big road.

It was filled with letters. He looked and looked at them, unable to make any reasoning. They were completely nonsensical. Asides from that, they were also glowing with a blue light. The same as the towers. He was not constant like the towers, it lit up and then dimmed down as though a beating heart. Suddenly hearing a grunt he slowly backed down and hid behind a building.

As he was hiding, he looked around and noticed all of the buildings had the same height. He backtracked a bit and all of them were the same. He also noted the carving on the buildings and the alleyway, same as those on the road. They felt dead though, unlike those that were on the big road.

After waiting for a while, he strode back towards the road and waited a bit more as he saw the back of the goblin group disappear in the darkness. Looking towards both sides, he quickly crossed the road and ran into the alleyways.

He kept moving while observing all the paths and buildings along the way. All of them were filled with letters. While doing this, he crossed another main road. This one was also filled with the same letters and was glowing just like the previous one.