Mhm...

Pier groaned as he opened his eyes. Sunlight beamed through the small gaps in the curtains installed inside the carriage.

"Huh?" He rubbed his eyes and peeked through the window.

"Where are we?" He asked himself as he fully removed the curtains and took a full look outside. There were extremely tall trees that reached up to the height of modern-day buildings back in his world.

'It's morning?" Based on what Pier had remembered, he slept at the midpoint of afternoon and evening.

'Did I sleep for more than ten hours?' He was bewildered by how long he slept.

When he got out of the carriage, he stretched a few more times accompanied by a couple of yawns.

"A pleasant morning, young master!" Pier turned his head to look at the voice's source and saw the Crown Prince's attendant, Caspian smiling as if he had an extremely peaceful slumber.

"A, pleasant morning, Sir Caspian. May I ask where we are?" Pier asked and roamed his eyes around the surroundings.

"We're all alone right now, young master."

'Huh?' He turned to look at the attendant and Caspian had a serious face.

"Where are the others?" He asked and Caspian chuckled before taking a step closer. Pier's eyebrows raised as he watches the tanned-skin noble smile creepily.

"I told you, young master, we're all alone right now," Caspian whispered the last part and it made Pier's spine shiver.

'Fucking creepy!' He eyed Caspian suspiciously and clenched his fists.

'I just woke up and this bastard greets me first.' He glared at the attendant and after Caspian took one more step, wind manifested on both of Pier's hands. The surging gusts of wind made his clothes flutter.

Caspian had his eyes open in shock at the sight.

"You can use magic?" He asked, bewildered. Pier did not answer but instead took a step forward.

"I don't like creeps, Sir Caspian. Take one more step towards me and I'll make sure you'll regret it," Pier warned and moved. Caspian did not move forward but instead, it was Pier who was taking steps toward him.

When he was right in front of the Crown Prince's attendant, Pier turned to look up at the tall noble.

"The young master really is full of surprises lately," Caspian said in awe while raking in the image of Pier's pale face.

"Where are the others?" Pier asked

Caspian laughed as he pointed his fingers in a direction of the forest.

"Haha! the young master surely can't take a simple joke. His highness and the others are over there. They have stopped for a moment to let the horses take a break and for us to have breakfast as well." Caspian said in a light-hearted manner.

Pier glared at the attendant once more before making the wind from his hands disappear.

He did not answer but instead started to walk in the direction Caspian has pointed to.

'My magic is not that strong yet but I can at least deal with one person for now.' He thought. He became wary of the Crown Prince's attendant after their encounter.

Even though his trust with the attendant immediately dissipated like a bubble, he still followed Caspian's directions.

'Because I'm too lazy to look for them.' Pier rolled his eyes. At the very least, he can deal with Caspian if he does something funny.

'What a fucking creep.' He swore. It had been a long time since he swore like this with another person except for the Crown Prince.

After walking for a few more seconds, he had finally reached a clearing beside the forest road.

Asher's reddish hair as well as the other knights, clerks, and priests can be seen sitting on logs and merrily eating their breakfast while the meat was being roasted.

Pier started to approach them and one by one people's eyes gathered on him.

"Young Master!" The Crown Prince greeted him and Pier stopped the urge to roll his eyes at the prince in front of many people.

"A pleasant morning, your highness." Asher smiled at Pier's greetings and he accompanied Pier to one of the logs that have been vacated for the prince and the noble to sit.

"Where are we, your highness?" Pier asked once they sat comfortably on the dry log.

"We're currently in the middle of the Sokran Forest, young master. It is the forest we need to go through before we can reach the Yuko Boundary" Asher explained and Pier nodded his head.

He proceeded to grab one of the grilled meats on a finely carved stick.

"Wait, Pier- ah." Asher stopped Pier from grabbing the grilled meat.

"Is something wrong, your highness?" He was really hungry after sleeping for more than half a day and all the exhaustion.

"That's deer meat..."

"And?"

"You don't like eating deer meat...?" Asher said in an unsure tone. Pier scoffed at him lightly and the Crown Prince was slightly amazed to see how Pier was conversing with him as if he were an annoying bug.

"I eat it now, so can I, your highness?" Pier smiled. His smile contained that of annoyance and irritation. Asher coughed and turned to look away because he felt slightly uncomfortable with how Pier was behaving.

"Y-Yes, go ahead and fill your stomach young master. You have been asleep for almost two days, you must have been hungry..." Pier, who was about to bite the still hot deer meat stopped.

"Pardon?"

"Huh?

"Can you say that again, your highness?"

"Say what?"

"The thing you just said earlier"

"Fill your stomach?"

"No, the one after that"

"You have been asleep for almost two days?" Asher was continuously getting more and more surprised with how Pier was talking to him. The young master still addresses him with his title but his tone was really different compared to how he spoke two days ago.

Pier stared at the grilled meat and thought about all the time he slept.

"I slept for more than two days..." He trailed off and continued the thoughts in his mind.

'I missed many breakfasts, lunch, and dinners' He contemplated. He was glad he got to sleep for almost two days but he was disappointed at the fact that he missed many eating times.

He really liked going on camping back in his previous life and the thought of missing the time eating grilled deer meat made Eliam annoyed.

'They could have woken me up, I missed most of the ride and view while I slept.' He 'tsked' and Asher who heard Pier click his tongue watched Pier with astounded eyes.

"Are you feeling well now, young master?" Pier nodded his head, not bothering to answer the Crown Prince as everyone else was busy with their own things to do and had left them alone to eat the grilled meat.

'What happened to him? His personality might have changed in the past weeks and his actions are completely different now.' Asher asked himself as he stared at the young master who had his eyebrows furrowed while eating the grilled meat.

Another thing that surprised Asher was the fact that Pier was eating grilled meat from the forest. He remembered how they once went on a trip when they were kids and Pier did not eat for two days because he kept on crying saying 'You killed that cute deer!'.

Starting from that moment, they would always prepare spare food made by the head chefs for Pier alone when they go on trips, and even now, Asher had ordered the palace chefs to prepare many consumables that do not spoil easily for he was afraid Pier would not eat if deer meat is served to him.

'People can do change but can really people change up to this extent?' It was as if the Pier he knew was no longer existent but the one in front of him right now was definitely a new person.

Focused on his thoughts, the Crown Prince did not notice Pier had already finished the meat he had on his stick and proceeded to grab another one.

"This is well cooked," Pier commented and the knight who heard him smiled at the young master.

"Yes, young master. It is one of the basic knight skills to know how to cook meat from the forest for them to survive especially under circumstances" Pier nodded while he chewed. His cheeks were stuffed full and he looked like a cute squirrel eating nuts.

"I see, I'd be glad to eat more of this from now on." He commented and the knight smiled proudly at Pier's words.

"Of course, young master. We will do our best to serve you." Pier continued to eat until he was full.

---

"I should at least take a walk." Pier sighed, feeling a little bit bloated after eating too much deer meat.

He stood up from the log and proceeded to head in a direction in the forest where there were no other people.

"Young master, where are you going?" Asher who saw Pier stand up from the log he was sitting on approached him. He left the young master to attend to some small matters and at that time Pier was still eating.

"I'm going on a walk, your highness." Pier then proceeded to walk even without waiting for Asher's response.

"Wait, but there will be many bugs in there. We haven't cleared that part of the forest since we're only staying here temporarily." Asher reminded Pier. He also remembered how fearful when it comes to bugs the young Pier in his memories was.

"So?" Asher stopped in his tracks and proceeded to stare at Pier.

"A-Are you not afraid of them anymore?" He asked. Pier shook his head in response.

"Should I be afraid, your highness?"

'You should be, you were always fearful of them!' Asher thought but he stopped himself from saying it on Pier's face.

"Besides, why is his highness continuously talking to me? People would start getting weird ideas, your highness." Pier reprimanded Asher and the Crown Prince stiffened in his position.

It was definitely weird seeing Pier avoid him like the plague and it was as if their positions have been switched entirely.

"I just want to assure you're good, Pier-"

"As you can see, I am alright, your highness. You do not have the need to fret over someone like me and I will ask for your aid when I do need it. Thank you so much for the concern, your highness." Pier then proceeded to walk in the direction he originally wanted to go and left Asher standing there.

Asher's thoughts were so messed up that he did not know what to do with Pier's current actions. Pier took a complete turn in terms of his attitude, behavior, and even his mannerisms of talking with him.

He did not talk to the Crown Prince in a voice full of affection but instead talked like he was conversing with a stranger.

Having his thoughts jumbled, Asher rubbed his temples because he felt like he would get a headache from thinking about Pier too much.

"You." He called a knight who was fixing his personal belongings. The knight immediately straightened his posture and walked with dignity towards the prince.

"I heed your call, your highness!"

"Follow the young master. Protect him if something bad happens." The knight paused for a second as he was surprised by the command the Crown Prince gave.

'Since when did the prince care about the young master's safety?' He thought but still followed Asher's commands.

The knight carefully trudged over the bushes and tall grasses as he followed the direction Asher gave him. He delved in deeper and deeper that he was starting to doubt if he could ever find his way back.

After ten more minutes of walking in the forest, the knight still could not find the young master.

"Where did the young master wander off to? I could not fin-"

Roar!

His body shook at the sound and shivers ran up his spine.

The roar was so loud in his ears that he almost stumbled and fell to his bottom but he stood regardless of the fear he felt.

His surroundings were empty yet the knight felt pairs of eyes stare at the back of his head. He carefully unsheathed his sword and took a fighting stance.

What could be the possibilities of having creatures roaming around the uncleared area of the forest? If he were to estimate it, the probability would be at its highest peak.

The knight carefully observed his surroundings and was ready to lunge at any creature that would appear in his vision.

Roar!

He heard the beast's roar once more but this time, it was louder and footsteps can be heard from the direction from which the sound came.

Soon enough, he spotted brown fur behind the bushes and his instincts went wild.

'A magical beast.' He thought as the bushes rustled and the head of the beast popped up from it.

It was indeed, a magical beast. It was in the form of a bear but due to the condensed rich magic present in the forest, it had grown into an abnormally large size that is twice of the normal brown bears.

The knight's knees weakened at the sight of the humungous thing when he met the beast's eyes. A few more seconds of eye contact passed and the beast violently roared. It shook the surrounding trees and the ground started to vibrate as if an earthquake happened.

The beast immediately rushed to the knight's direction and charged in an unstoppable manner. The knight had seen his life flash right in front of him with how monstrous the beast looked.

Hunting magical beasts would usually take a group of ten knights for them to safely subdue it without causing any harm but with him deep in the forest and no one to aid him, he knew he had already signed his death contract.

"I hope you're safe, young master.' The knight whispered before taking an attacking stance and waiting for the beast to be in his line of reach.

However, when the beast did approach him, he felt his entire body tremble in fear.

No, he wanted to live.

He wanted to continue living but he knew it was his end.

Roar!

The beast stood up in an attacking manner and was ready to slice its claws in the knight's armor.

"I guess I'll die here..." he gave up and watched as the sharp claws of the beast glistened under the faint sunlight that seeped through the tall trees surrounding him.

Whip!

Before the beast could even attack him, the sound of a whip hitting the bear could be heard. The magical beast paused for a second and immediately felt the stinging in its back.

"Woah, if you wanted to kill yourself at least do it when someone is not looking," Pier commented as he proceeded to watch the beast who was also staring at him.

"What are you looking at?" He said and raised his eyebrows. Enraged with the pain it felt, the beast instead charged towards Pier. The knight saw how fast the beast ran with all its might and even though its attention was not directed at him, he still felt fear.

"Young Master!" He was shocked to see Pier show up with an elemental whip but fear overcame him when he saw the bear about to attack the young master.

Roar!

The bear immediately slashed its claws in Pier's direction but Pier dodged by focusing his magic on his feet. It made his steps and movements lighter as wind aided his every turn and step.

The beast lunged again but Pier simply kept dodging. The knight watched in awe at the young master who was battling with a magic beast all alone.

However, after minutes of dodging the beast's attacks, Pier felt his body was starting to get tired. He was consuming his magic very fast because he had his whip constantly hit the beast and he also had his wind magic aid his movements.

'Fuck' he cursed and proceeded to run in the direction of an extremely huge tree.

'Its stamina should be close to half by now considering it needs to move that huge body in a fast-attacking manner.' He thought and continued to dodge while he approached the tree.

Every time Pier dodged the beast's attack, it became more and more enraged as it slashed furiously. Small and medium trees were slashed down one after another after a few strikes and Pier was getting tired more and more.

When he got in front of the tree, he stood still and faced the monstrous beast. The beast immediately charged without hesitation and slashed its claws. One strike would be enough to make Pier's body mangle and he would die instantly.

Slash!

However, before Pier got in contact with the claws approaching him, he reformed his wind whip into a wind orb. He directed his hand slightly to the left and released the wind orb. Once it made contact with the ground, the orb exploded and gusts of wind were released making Pier's light body fly off to the side.

Pier had successfully dodged the bear's attacks and saw his plan had worked. The bear's claws were stuck in the extremely huge tree.

Unlike the other trees that immediately went down after a few slashes from the bear, the tree Pier had chosen stood still against the bear's attack and even managed to get its claws stuck.

The beast struggled to remove its claw and Pier sighed in relief.

"I almost died" He calmed his wildly beating heart and started to approach the beast.

"I only wanted to do some sightseeing and eat fruits while possibly getting poisoned from them but you and that knight over there really made a commotion." He spoke and looked at the knight.

The knight only stood there kneeling on the ground and watching Pier.

"Don't kill yourself, okay?" He said as if he did not just tell the knight to kill himself with no one looking earlier.

"Life is worth living and it would be a waste to end it immediately." He finished his sentence and focused his attention back on the beast. Its paws were bleeding as it continued to remove the stuck claws from the tree.

"As for you, you need to learn not to attack people. Okay?" Pier said as he recalled the dead carcasses of animals and even some human bones as he ventured into the forest.

'The cause was this beast.' He concluded.

With only a little bit of magic remaining, Pier focused himself, and soon a sword made out of fire manifested in his palm.

"Mr. Knight, you better not judge my swordsmanship skills because I did not learn how to wield a sword!" He said as he glanced at the knight for a moment who was still frozen in his spot.

"However, I can stab this to death, right?" He said as he stabbed the beast.

Stab!

The beast roared loudly as the fire sword stabbed the wounds Pier had already created with his wind whip. It further aggravated the wound and the beast thrashed wildly but it still could not get its claws unstuck from the tree.

Stab!

Stab!

Stab!

After a few more stabs with his fire sword, the beast's lifeless body fell to the ground and it made the ground slightly shake.

Exhausted and his magic drained to the minimum, Pier sat down tiredly beside the beast's corpse.

"That was very exhausting." He said and closed his eyes. The beast's blood seeps into his clothes and making Pier look like a mess.

After a few more minutes, the knight regained a little bit of his composure and proceeded to stand up.

"Y-Young Master!" He called out but Pier was already knocked unconscious with exhaust from using his magic almost to its limit.