The wind was blowing straight against Azreth’s face. Flying a few thousand metres up in the air can be bit of a suffocating experience for starters.

“I’m going to get this crazy old man for this.”

“What were you saying there?”

“Oh nothing but how you are the best teacher in the world. So, where are we going anyways?”

Sarcasm clearly apparent in the tone of Azreth, clearly he was not impressed by the headmaster’s actions. He was expecting at least a discussion towards their next destination.

“Brat, the place where we are going to next is going to be your new home.”

Azreth felt a bit uneasy at the words of the headmaster. Currently they were extremely far from the confines of the academy. He was not sure how this was supposed to help him in his training or otherwise.

After a while we started gliding down towards the vast forest. The sounds of howling emanating throughout the forest, the loud chirping of various birds and the wind whistling through the trees prove to be a nerve wracking experience.

“This will be your new home for the next two years. I will come and find you after two years if that is I can find you. I have just one piece of advice for you ‘survive’”

“What…no, you can’t do this to me. You can’t leave me here for the next two years! Take me back you senile old man.”

“Brat! Who are calling senile! Do I look old to you?!”

Azreth was getting nervous at the disposition of the headmaster. He does not think he will survive two days let alone two years in this hostile environment.

“I think this will be a perfect test for your acumen. This will help you instil some respect for your seniors.”

Azreth thinks this old man has really gone crazy, still going on with his seniority complex with my life on the line.

“How do you think I will survive here? There are many beasts in this forest equivalent to the strength of a Mortal Realm cultivator; some even may be at the Lord Realm level!”

“Oh, you are right about that though. Anyways, this not my problem now but it is yours. Also don’t go roaming in deep places as there are some rumoured King Realm beasts.”

“…” Azreth was speechless.

“I will be leaving now, see you after two years. Though don’t die on me please. It will be a hassle to explain your death to your parents.”

The headmaster says that with a sneer on his face. Azreth’s not sure what this crazy old man’s intentions are but things are not looking too great for him.

The howling noises were increasing in intensity and Azreth was starting to get worried. The difficulties of surviving in a forest are innumerable. One wrong step can lead to death or a fatal injury which is death anyways in this place.

The headmaster gives out a bitter laugh. He lifts off the ground and then flies away from this place. Azreth was absolutely fuming at this senile old man. He wows to himself that if he survives this place the old man is going to definitely pay for his actions today.

Azreth realises that the first step should be his immediate survival. He must find a place to rest peacefully in this part of the world. Well peacefully is a relative observation and will definitely be subject to change during his time here.

The number of supplies Azreth has on him was also quite limited as he was not prepared for this outcome. His father had given him a storage ring, which he was pretty sure, would have cost an arm and a leg for his father.

All he had were a few basics like some techniques given to him by his mother and about ten gold coins which were useless in this part of the world. What he did have in abundance were clothes. His mother had made it absolutely certain that he would never run out of clothes. Which was good, but in his current situation he thought otherwise.

He wished he had a small shield to defend himself and a knife of a short sword to protect himself. Azreth also starts cursing the old man on why he did not leave any kind of weapon with him.

His instincts tell him to find shelter in the first place. As there might be many dangerous beasts much more powerful than him lurking around in this part of the woods. He also realises that he does not have a map or a layout of the area around him.

His options start to look bleak as he wonders whether he will survive the night. He hopes the old man chokes to death on his food.

The sun was soon about to set and finding some sort of shelter was paramount as he could not survive in the dark on his own. There are many reasons why humans so desperately are afraid of the dark primarily the innate disability towards their lackadaisical self-awareness and the inability to trust their instincts due to the primal sense of fear overtaking their tiny sense of self-satisfaction.

Azreth thinks about love, familial love to be precise. This is the first time in his life that he is truly alone. The despair of loneliness starts to seep within him as he thinks about his past with his family. In a truest sense humans or any of the other races are social creatures. Extended periods of loneliness are troublesome for the psyche to say the least.

Azreth felt a shiver run down his spine as thoughts started to spin around in his head. He was not sure what was happening to him. His inability to sort his thoughts was disrupting his decision making process.

He falls down on his knees clutching his head with a trembling expression on his face. Surrounded by what seemed like whispers emanating from the trees. The sounds or the lack of it was deafening. The inability to differentiate sounds and a lack there of was causing havoc inside the head of Azreth.

Slowly a glimmer of black smoke started to form around Azreth’s body. It acted as a defense-mechanism towards any outside threats.

His senses started to return to normal activity, not sure what just happened he knows that he needs to get out of the open.

He starts to run in a random direction looking for a water source. This was because of the presence of caves near water sources. A cave was his best option of surviving in the wilderness.

After running for who knows how long, he found no evidence of any water sources nearby. He was growing tired and was also starting to feel hungry.

After some more running and still no luck in finding a water source, Azreth grew exhausted. He started panting and bleak thoughts started to fill his mind.

Suddenly, he saw an extremely large clearing within the forest. It looked like a wide, dense and scarce plane without a speck of grass.

The only thing standing in the middle of the clearing was a giant tree about ten metres long and five metres wide. This tree had an ancient feeling to it and it also had a powerful aura.

Azreth looking at his options which were none at the moment decided his best bet was to take rest under the tree as there was no beast roaming anywhere near it.

He slowly starts walking towards the tree due to exhaustion from all the running.

He arrives near the tree and then proceeds to touch the bark for a feel. There was a firm yet a soft feel for the bark. It did not feel like he was touching wood but it felt something along the lines of tough leather.

Other than the unusual feel and sensing no other type of danger emanating from it, he slumps his back across the tree in sheer exhaustion.

Reminiscing about the day gone by and how quickly his life had turned upside down, he thinks about the unknown expert the previous night at the cottage and the irrational behaviour today by the crazy old man or the headmaster. He tried to connect the dots towards the two events but he was just too tired to think about it.

His throat was extremely perched due to lack of hydration which in turn caused his senses to become dull. Hunger was something he decided not to think about as the more he thought about it the more hunger he felt, he ignored the vicious growling of his stomach.

Slowly he drifted into the realm of dreams. He was standing in a wide space completely filled with white light. It was not over bearing in any sense of the word, it was just gentle. Then there was a sudden cataclysm of sorts. The world became upside down or it felt like that anyway.

There was a sudden explosion of yellow lights masking a charade of emptiness in the surroundings. The yellow lights settled on what looked like a doorway leading out of this place. This place for what it was, emoted the sense of nothingness.

The doorway seemed like an escape from the reality of nothingness.