Two days later, Ezhno had woken up a little earlier than usual. He headed over to the stable and quickly finished up his work so that he could get to town early. After finishing up his work, Ezhno ran home and quickly cleaned himself up. He strapped a burlap sack to his back, then made sure he had all of his money and affairs in order. Ezhno placed his coin bag in the pocket he had sewn on the inside of his shirt. He prepared a small sack of provisions and a lunch to snack on along the way, and proceeded to gates of the village.

After leaving the village, he proceeded to the road and started his run towards the town of White Rock. The road was wide enough to fit 2 carriages side by side. The village did not have many people coming and going. They mainly exported the wood from the forest. When enough of the jeweled sage bush and various other plants and herbs were accumulated, they would have armed guards secure the payload towards White Rock. This was a large amount of the income for the villagers. Even though wood was steady income, it just could not be compared to the profits made when they sent off the plants and herbs to town. Wood took a long time to prepare so that it could be sold to the markets. Even though wood is abundant, it still was not easy to just go and cut.

The rebirth tree, as everyone called it, was oddly peculiar, and had regenerative properties. Once the tree was cut, it would quickly start to rot and decompose. One of these 200 foot tall trees would take nearly 5 days before it rotted into dust. The peculiar part of the tree was not just the decomposing, but also what it did in that five day time frame. Around where the base was cut, the stump would decompose and a new tree sprout would take its place.

There were special techniques that the founders discovered that could salvage this wood to make it useful. First the tree needed to be cut down as fast as possible. Then you would have to shave off about half a foot around the log. This was the part that took the longest. Each day this part of the tree was not shaved off it would lower the quality of the wood. Most of the trees harvested would be wasted after the 3rd day. After this point, it was not worth salvaging and was mainly left there to rot away or given to the villagers, who came and gathered the wood that could not be sold would be used as fire wood for there homes.

This tree made up the majority of the trees that grew in the Grand Sea Forest. Due to its properties, most people called it a "trash wood" because only the 1st day wood was sought after and valued highly. Wood of the best quality was few and far between. It was hard to harvest the wood on the first day unless they had a team willing to do so. It was hard work and the money made from the 2nd and 3rd days harvest made more. It was the quantity versus quality aspect and it was not worth doing unless there was a high coin value customer who made a request for it.

This is why those villages around the Grand Sea Forest had the means to thrive and make a living off of it. It was a dying craft since collecting plants and hunting beasts were more lucrative than the hard work needed to harvest the wood from the rebirth tree.

Mainly those who did not have the courage or strength to run around the forest would do this labor. There have been many rumors that people of rich families sent people to the village in hopes of unlocking the secrets of the tree, but all end up in failure. To be able to obtain the life vitality, the tree would be the stuff of legends.

While on the start of his trek to White Rock, Ezhno once again starts going over the things he needed for his day to day living.

One would normally barter with the others in the village for this, but everyone in the village despised him. They would either refuse to give him any sort of service or they would charge him such a ridiculous price that he could not afford it. Even after he told them it was unfair, they still did not care. The normal response he received was, "Either you buy it for what I set the price at or leave. Be glad I would even attempt to sell anything to you. If the news spread out I would be shunned by the whole village and be no different from you."

After the incident with Master Redfield, Ezhno had a whole new outlook on life. He could not look at anyone in the village the same again. He was an innocent youth, he worked diligently and was kind and he helped others. Even with his kind intentions, they either ridiculed him or took advantage of him. Every time he thought of that village, he would rather see it burn to the ground. He then would say to himself, "Fuck everyone there, it is just a resting place for me now. As soon as I get my revenge on that asshole I call Master, I will burn that place to the ground and show you what real disdain is like." He took a big long snort and spat to the ground. Thinking of all this gave Ezhno a sudden swelling of rage. It was looming over him and he felt power busting forth in his body and started running a lot faster, more like a sprint.

After only 10 minutes of "rage running" he finally got to his half way point resting stop. He was surprised at how much faster he was today. He was also surprised to see that he was not as winded as he thought he would be. He said to himself, "I'm already half way there and it feels like I barely left the village. Today, if I really wanted to, I could probably run all the way to White Rock without stopping."

He found his favorite tree, that he normally sat next to but decided against it for today. Ezhno thought to himself, "I have more than the usual amount on me today. Maybe I should venture in the woods a little to find a better spot to enjoy, away from the prying eyes of those passing by, who may see me as a free lunch. The woods here are known to be safe and do not harbor any wild beast, so I should be safe." Ezhno walked for about 1/8 of a mile inwards, As he slowly made his way though the woods, "Hmm, feels like I have been going down hill the whole time." he says to himself.

As the woods finally felt like they were leveling off, he noticed ahead of him a small clearing, he walked closer and closer, as he broke though the tree line, what welcomed him was a small clearing with a small hill in the middle, on top of the hill grew a large tree that was dancing in the gentle breeze. While staring at this scene, only one word came to mind, "Beautiful". He slowly made his way towards the tree. As he reached the top, he placed his hand on the tree truck to feel its smooth, yet slightly rough texture. While his hand was still touching the tree, he started to circle the tree. It took him nearly 10 seconds to walk around the magnificent tree. As he stood there, the sour taste that was left over from the thoughts earlier faded away as he took in the view.

Ezhno decided that from this day forward, he would make this his special rest stop on future trips to White Rock.

He finally sat down and pulled a piece of hard tact from his sack and a gourd filled with water. He sat there taking in the scenery while munching on his lunch. He took in a nice deep breath of fresh air. He then thought to himself, "It is a wonderful feeling to be able to take in a deep breath and not have the smell of horse manure stinging my nostrils all the time."

After finishing his dismal meal, he capped his gourd off and placed it back in his sack, he laid down with his hands behind his head to enjoy the scenery a little more. As much as he would love to go straight to town, sitting here and enjoying his lunch while taking in the world's scenery was one of the things he enjoyed the most. There was no one to look down on him, there was no one there to ridicule him, no loud sounds of busy people talking and walking about. There was nothing but the gentle breeze kissing his skin gently. He listened to the wonderful music nature was orchestrating for him as he sat there enjoying his surroundings. After about 10 minutes, he rolled over on his belly with closed eyes, sighed and said to himself, "As much as I would like to spend the rest of my day here and also take a nap, I have too much I need to do at White Rock." After procrastinating for another minute, he opened his eyes, only to notice a small crevice opening about 5 inches long. As he stared at the opening, a gust of wind rushed though the area and the leaves and the branches swayed about.

A ray of sunlight hit the crevice. His eyes opened wide, and he said to himself, "I can't believe what I am seeing! This is a Jeweled Sage Berry Plant!" With its bright vibrant green colored leaves, the delicious berries that hung down and looked like sweet jeweled hard candies, he could never mistake this plant.

Ezhno had a grin from ear to ear. If he sold this in town, he would have more money to buy a few extra things or maybe even splurge on some delectable confectioneries. Ezhno then soured his complexion when he remembered the event that happened the last time he owned a piece of candy. He gave off another long sigh and went to go fetch the plant out of the hole. He proceeded to dump the small sack of provisions out into the larger sack and placed the Jeweled Sage in it.

Before closing the sack he had a thought, he plucked one of the berries off the plant and placed it in the ground back in the crevice. He pulled his gourd out, filled his mouth with a little water and sprayed the inside of the crevice. Then told himself, "Hopefully this will regrow. This can be something I can sell from time to time to help me down the road."

After he finished putting everything away, he started his walk back to the road. When he got to the tree line, he turned around to look at the wonderful spot he discovered today. With a little sadness in his eyes, he says to himself, "I would have loved to have shown this to Odilia, but sadly that day may never come."

Then another thought came to mind and he started laughing and tearing up while holding his stomach. After 20 seconds he finally calmed down and wiped a few tears from his face and said, "Well Odilia, I guess today, between you and I, I technically became the Hero of Forest Shadow Village." He giggled from time to time on his way back to the road.

He crossed over the drainage ditch and continued on his trek towards White Rock.