《World AdventureGuild Creator》 Chapter 1.1 ¡°Wait what?¡± ¡°Why is there¡­.?¡± As I just opened my eyes what confused me so was the dense forest that inexplicably teleported in front of the building. But as I slowly turned around while muttering it became apparent that my first conjecture was wrong. ¡°(whisper)There is¡­ where is the supermarket?¡± ¡°Ooo!¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t the forest, it was me who teleported.¡± I know, it was a dumb thing to first suspect that an entire forest appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the city, but you can never know. I mean, the situation is strange enough as it is but considering some novels that I read you could call this type of event something like a teleportation. ¡°Hmm, but where is the goddess? Or the circle with weird writings and the mad magician laughing hysterically about his success?¡± While I was asking myself this questions I looked around trying to figure out what type of situation I was currently in. Was I a summoned hero that had to battle some kind of demon lord? Or just some crazy experiment of a mad man. (Apparently either the experiment failed miserably and I was teleported to another location instead of the desired destination, or the selfish goddess didn¡¯t even have the courtesy to show herself after what she did, or neither of the two.) Well there were more scenarios that played out in my mind but the only thing that I¡¯ve got out of them were more questions that no one could answer. So instead of continuing the fruitless debate that was going in my mind I resolved myself to put those questions on hold and focus on the current predicament at hand. (The only thing I have with me are 5 apples, a 2L bottle of mineral water and 1L bottle of orange juice.) ¡°And my trusty swiss knife.¡± Luckily I always kept it on the key chain for opening the occasional beer that I had once in a while. If the situation is what I feared most then the money that I still had on me wouldn¡¯t account for much. ¡°Or maybe¡­?¡± (No, there is no point in thinking about that without knowing the current level of technology in this world, if it is indeed a different world. But at least I should prepare in case luck is on my side, considering that I have nothing else to trade) Thinking such I grabbed the bottle of mineral water from the plastic bag and started slowly pealing of the label. After I did the same with the orange juice I grabbed both labels, folded them once carefully not to create creases on the design and put them in my wallet. As I concluded such, I started to more carefully look around in the hopes that I might find something to help me in my journey. Hopefully it wasn¡¯t a long one because I wasn¡¯t prepared and I didn¡¯t want my adventure to be cut brief if indeed this was a new world to explore. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. From what I could see there wasn¡¯t too much that I could use. South ¨C East from where I stand there was only normal green grass, or so I thought, and as it got closer to the horizon the grass appeared to suddenly become darker, but I couldn¡¯t precisely tell if the color of the grass changed or if it appeared darker because of some shadows. It was hard to tell because the sun just started to rise. North, there was a forest extending as far as the eyes can see, there were no mountains from what I can tell and unfortunately neither a river. If there was a river I might have been able to follow it and by doing so raise my chances of eventually finding a settlement or so I thought. The forest, was the one that greeted me first to let me know that this was either the start of an epic journey or the last days of my life. At least I wasn¡¯t scared of dying, my grandfather took care of that. (There is nothing moving on the plain from what I can tell, nothing moving in the woods either or at least near the edge of the woods. Good, at least I am safe for now, and the day is just starting which is a good sign. I hope I can find someone in at most a week or things will become complicated) (First I need to better secure what I have at hand, I don¡¯t know how much this thin plastic bag would hold if I would ever need to run and I don¡¯t want to leave behind what little I¡¯ve got. Maybe I could find something to twine and make a crude backpack.) With that in mind I started searching but I didn¡¯t walk to far from where I was first transported because I left the plastic bag with the supplies there. I couldn¡¯t take it with me because if I walked into something dangerous I wanted both my hands free so I could defend myself and as I said before if it came down to running the plastic bag wouldn¡¯t last. Half an hour later I managed to scrounge up a few rods and some long leaves that I¡¯ve got from a large plant and a handful of grass that was a bit thicker, darker and a bit stronger. I made some splits with the swiss knife in a few rods and past other roods through them and as such I finished the base for my backpack. Afterwards I covered the inside with leaves and I strapped them as best as I could to the rods with twined grass that I made. It took me almost an hour to finish the improved backpack, but at least it was a bit safer and sturdier. I put the plastic bag in the backpack while I passed my arms through both plastic handles and the twined grass handles to secure as best as I can the backpack and I rose on my feet. ¡°Wonder if I look like a turtle.¡± ---------------------------------------------------- If you see and grammar error or typo post them up. Chapter 1.2 After contemplating a bit my unusual appearance I started to revise my current plan. I didn¡¯t want to waste any precious time so while I was making my improved backpack I thought of what my next step should be. I needed first get my bearings so I needed to make sure that the cardinal points that I use don¡¯t change from one day to another or I might start walking in circles and as such lower my chances of finding civilization. So, right before I started working on my creation I took a rod and pinned it in the ground and drew a line on its shadow. After I roughly counted ten minutes in my head I drew a line on the new shadow. As I finished and rose up with my left foot I stood on the previous line edge and with the right on the current one and such I decided the north. I also knew about how much time has passed since I started working because I further kept the time at 10 minutes interval with this rudimentary shadow clock. Back to the present, the next step I decided upon was to venture for a day in the forest keeping to what I called north with the goal in mind to maybe find some fruits or mushrooms to eat and while I am there get some bark to make my backpack a bit sturdier and if I am lucky to stumble upon a river then that would only be a plus. Naturally I would come back outside before nightfall and camp near the outskirts of the forest, I wasn¡¯t that brave to try my luck at night right from the first day. If I found a river then I would risk and brave the forest by following its course the next day but if I found no trace of one then I wouldn¡¯t waste my time and head east, or more precisely, towards where the sun was rising. It was harder to find food on a plain but at least I wouldn¡¯t have to worry about any predator¡¯s ambush. I could also spot travelers or settlements further away so it could give me a greater chance of survival in the long run. ¡°Finally, the start of my journey.¡± I said with my feet planted firmly on the two dirt lines and facing the north. (One question remains, should I cover more ground by running at a steady pace or play it safe and walk?) Pondering this decision I turned my head to see the sun fully risen on the horizon and a smile creeped on my face. ¡°It seems I¡¯ve got my answer.¡± So I started running towards my destination. What I saw now that I didn¡¯t see before, or better said, that I couldn¡¯t see before was a second blue sun slowly creeping from behind the first one. So I had my answer, this world wasn¡¯t Earth and there is a possibility that maybe there might be magic. At least, who wouldn¡¯t dream of this possibility? Two hours later, or so I thought, I was deep in the forest trying to find anything that would look edible. The only luck I had was a few green looking fruits that I picked up from a bush and a couple of mushrooms that surprisingly grew a few meters off the ground on a bark from a tree. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. The tree had a rough and thick bark that had deep cuts. Somehow either the tree or some insects filled out those cuts with earth and I could even see soil even higher on the tree then were I climbed up to pick the mushrooms from. My curiosity was picked but it was a pity that I didn¡¯t have the time to investigate. I didn¡¯t have luck in finding a tree with the bark thin enough that it could be flexible and twined easily but at least my backpack was holding up great even at the pace I was running so at least I had that while I was making my way deeper inside the forest. ¡°What kind of a tree could that be.¡± Beautiful, was the only word that could describe it. The trunk was not one but two trees that intertwine one and the other. Both appeared to sprout from the same root but both were different, one red and one blue and as you looked further up you could see that from each tree branches of the same color would sprout from time to time forming a corona splendidly colored with blue and red as well as yellow that came from the leaves. The season wasn¡¯t autumn, or at least that I could tell from the other trees that were a vivid green but then again the tree¡¯s leaves didn¡¯t appear to fall or dying which would only imply that it was its natural color. As I said, splendid indeed, a beauty of nature and nothing else. ¡°Wonder if it bears any fruit?¡± (Considering that it¡¯s the only tree of its kind that I have seen for the past hours then maybe it¡¯s rare and its fruits could have value. Or maybe I am just mistaken, but it¡¯s worth the time to look if I could trade it later on.) After a few passes and a bit of climbing I concluded that it was meaningless to search further. From what I could tell either it had no fruits, it wasn¡¯t its season or someone already picked the fruit up. It having no flowers or buds didn¡¯t help either but at least the view from where I am standing was worth the effort. It was hard to tell how much I could see if I climbed the tree but now that I already climbed this far I went as high as I could to take a peak and I wasn¡¯t disappointed. On the horizon I could see something that looked like a small mountain. It was hard to spot even from the top of the tree but that wasn¡¯t the thing that got me the most excited. (Wonder if some of those clearings have settlements or maybe rivers passing through them. It¡¯s worth the trouble to check but I won¡¯t be able to get to all of them before nightfall so I should first check the ones that are closer while keeping to the north. If I do that I can sprint back in a straight line without worrying of getting lost or waste time climbing other trees in order to find the exit and come back tomorrow.) ---------------------------------------------------- If you see and grammar error or typo post them up. Chapter 2.1 *CRASH While I started to climb back down I suddenly heard a noise of something big falling. It was hard to tell what it was so I climbed up again in the hope that I could spot any movement in the forest. (There is nothing that I can¡­) As I was thinking that a tree shook a bit in the distance. It wasn¡¯t that big but it was easy to spot from where I was so I started thinking a bit, what could it be? But before I could get an answer it shook twice more in quick successions. With that it was clear, someone or something was there. (It¡¯s worth the risk to investigate even if it¡¯s just an animal. At least with that kind of information I could more easily figure out what kind of creatures live in this forest.) I got near the place in about 15 minutes, it helped that from time to time I could hear the noise of a tree that shook. After the forest stopped it¡¯s screams of agony I started to hear heavy footsteps once in a while. It is clear that whatever they were they were big and heavy, and I say they because I could distinguish two types sounds. One heavier, it almost sounded like dragging while the other was firmer and more agile but clearly both were nothing that a man was capable of. As I got closer I suddenly thought that the lighter one sounded strangely familiar, something like a horse, or at least that¡¯s what it remained me of. Maybe it was a cavalryman fighting with something and so my hopes grew, at least it gave me something to look forward too. Intrigued as I was I still had to be careful, my life was at stake so I had to take precautions. As such I started circling around to find a good spot from where I could approach. As the sound of the exchanging blows suddenly intensified I finally found what I was looking for. It was a mound that I could use as hiding and a lookout that apparently was very near where the noises were coming. The closer that I¡¯ve got the clearer the sounds were but unfortunately as I climbed up they suddenly died down. At first I thought that a conclusion was reached but I was wrong because as I focused I could hear deep huffs coming from the other side. (They must be tired, which wouldn¡¯t be unusual considering how long the fight lasted. I wonder who or what could they be?) Reaching the top I first saw an old tree snapped in two, clearly it was the first tree that I heard falling. So I traced the tree in the valley below and few meters after it¡¯s trunk ended the head of a man jumped in my eyes. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. (Luck is still on my side.) I thought while I examined the man. He was battered and bruised, exhausted but at least not heavily injured or dead. As excitement took me over, I barely noticed the horse he was riding while I searched for his opponent. I had to find a way to make the man feel indebted or at least gratitude towards me and what better way was there then to ensure his victory while I assists with a form of distraction. (But I have to make sure that I won¡¯t be the one to land the killing blow or else he might bear a grudge considering how long the fight lasted.) Such were my thoughts when I saw the beast. A long, bulky but not very tall creature that had an appearance closely resembling a very furry black bear. Its snout was very small considering its size but the head was big. I couldn¡¯t see exactly how his face looked like because of my position but at least I could tell the creature was sturdy and most likely the thing that resembled its fur was hard to pierce. (Which begs the question, how is he planning on killing the thing) I asked as I looked again to the man that apparently had no weapon on hand. (Did he lose his weapon in the struggle?) I wondered as I looked about for any signs of its presence. But I wasn¡¯t successful, from what I gathered the weapon, if there was indeed one, was buried or it landed somewhere that I couldn¡¯t see from my current location. (Or might it be under the creature?) Such thoughts passed through my head considering the beast didn¡¯t move to much from its position. But I could have just been wrong and the thing could just have been tired or it¡¯s legs could have been injured in the struggle. The weirdest thing was that both faced each other without moving. Both drawing their breath while apparently looking for a way to tackle their opponent or make their next move. If I got any closer most likely I could feel the tension oozing out in the air. ---------------------------------------------------- If you see and grammar error or typo post them up. Chapter 2.2 (Distraction¡­ What can I use as a distraction? A few small branches here and there but no stones from what I can tell and I don¡¯t think those small things would be to helpful. Then my only option is¡­) It didn¡¯t take much from when I first got at the top of the mound and saw the man and the creature till I made my decision on what I should do. And such I hastily placed down my improved backpack and took out the bottle of mineral water that had more than three fourths of its content still left. I was being cautious with the supplies that I had because I didn¡¯t know if and when I would get to restock. I started to cut at the plastic as fast as I could, taking care not to pierce it completely and in a few seconds I finished what I had in mind. As I achieved the first step I started to raise up from where I was standing and while doing so I shook as hard as I could the bottle that was in my hands. In one motion, right after I completely rose on my feet, I took one step forward and used it as a pivot to spin around and right before I completed a full circle I pushed my hands forward and released what I had. I was confident that I could succeed in what I planned because of an old fellows training that popped in my head right as I was going through the motions. *boom *SPLASH The bottle didn¡¯t make that much of a sound when it landed right in front of the furry beast but two of the parts that I weakened with the swiss knife gave out. Part of the water splashed at its feet while another stream of water went towards its face. Startled as the beast was, it tried to dodge while raising its head but it didn¡¯t completely succeed. As all of this took place I looked towards the man to see what he would do, hopping that he knew how to take advantage of the opportunity that I created but I was wrong. He stood still and seeing him do such I thought that he was afraid so I yelled as hard as I could. ¡°GOOOOOooooo!!!¡± Contrary to what I had expected to see the man didn¡¯t turn tail and ran nor was he the first to react. The horse that he was standing on and towards which I didn¡¯t pay much attention before raised itself on its two legs. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Did I startle the horse?¡± While I muttered such words my focus changed to the steed as it rose higher in the air but what I saw instead of a panicked horse and a man that was about to fall from its back was something that at first confused me but quickly filled my adventurous spirit with excitement and hope. (A CENTAUR!!) I yelled in my head. But reality took over when the two raised horse feet of the man feel hard on the beast that surprisingly leaned forward to look at the bottle. Confused and distracted as it was it didn¡¯t even succeed in protecting itself from the two heavy and hard hooves that came from above. Death took the creature over in an instant, only a small shriek could be heard as it passed away. (Wonder if the centaur is very prideful as most novels or myths describe them. Hope he doesn¡¯t discriminate against normal humans or smaller creatures.) Thinking thus I proceeded to make my next move. I had to get close enough that he could see me and won¡¯t suspect I am hiding something while keeping my distance as to not incur his wrath or create some sort of weird misunderstanding. So I moved from where I stood slowly while raising one hand with my palm open in a friendly gesture. Hopefully this gesture didn¡¯t have any negative meaning or my first shoot at civilization would end in failure so I had to make sure that I did all that I could to grasp this chance. As I got closer it became apparent that I underestimated his height a bit. He looked to be more than 3 meters tall and close to 4 meters in length or so I thought. His muscles were developed but not bulky, a far cry of how you would see centaurs portrayed in the myths of the gods or the legends of Hercules. The only think that came to mind was that he was built for speed or he didn¡¯t have any way to develop his muscle further or he just didn¡¯t care. ¡°Hello.¡± I said in a bit cheerful manner. It wasn¡¯t my best introduction but it perfectly suited my current needs. ---------------------------------------------------- If you see and grammar error or typo post them up. Chapter 2.3 After he took one last glance at the creature in front of him he turned to me who stopped and stood still once I realized the danger he might pose. I stopped further away then I first planned and from where I desired but it was necessary, I had to take precautions even at the risk of appearing unfriendly or shady. If he decided to charge I had to have the time to dodge the incoming massive hulk. (Well he is either too guarded against me or he didn¡¯t understand what I am saying.) The centaur didn¡¯t budge a muscle but I noticed weariness and displeasure in his eyes and his posture. It was hard to tell if it was due to the fact that I lent him a hand in finishing the creature or because of how I tried to approach after the battle was over. Maybe he didn¡¯t liked to be helped? (Or maybe he didn¡¯t see any two legged creature that resembled him so much till now?) That was an unfortunate blunder that I stupidly overlook. (What if there were no people that look like me in this world?) Nevertheless the deed was already committed and milk was already spilled so I had to press on in order not to give him any more reason to doubt my character. As such I lowered my hand as I continued. ¡°I am called Ren¡± It sounded stupid but I had to keep the tone as neutral as I could. In case he didn¡¯t understand my language I didn¡¯t want to sound overbearing, demanding or imposing. As I tried to introduce myself he suddenly perked his ears for a bit then started to study me closer. I either made the centaur curious or wearier or such were my thoughts. Either way at least he didn¡¯t show signs of aggression. ¡°Why do you speak that language arn?¡± He suddenly talked in a thicker accent and a bit of a broken intonation. Apparently he wasn¡¯t that comfortable with the language. (Arn? Is he referring to my species? It also looks that he turned a bit aggressive when he mentioned the language. So might it be a taboo language? Or might the language carry sentimental meaning to him?) ¡°It was the only language my father and mother taught me sir.¡± I took the best option that I could think about, faking a bit of naivety and posing as an innocent child that had yet to understand how the world worked which surprisingly worked considering my previous actions. He looked baffled for a bit then he began to ponder while lowering his gaze. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Are they both arns?¡± He questioned as he raised his eyes towards me for a brief moment before his gaze went past me and settled on the top of the mound from which I descended. I looked towards where his gaze settled and thinking that he was weary of some kind of ambush from other people that might have come with me, but are hiding, I turned to explain and dispel such misunderstanding. Before I could say anything I saw concern fill his eyes. Not the concern of a man that was weary of an ambush but that of someone that was in a hurry and wanted to end the conversation quickly, it was clear that he was dealing with a pressing matter. I made up my mind, this wasn¡¯t the time to be overly polite or appear to na?ve. I had to act if I wanted to secure his attention as well as the information that I needed and maybe his trust. ¡°If you are looking for something in this woods I might be of some help.¡± He looked a bit startled but quickly regained his composure. (whisper)¡°I¡­¡± He appeared to be struggling. Maybe his pride didn¡¯t let him ask or get help from others or maybe he didn¡¯t trust me enough to voice his concerns. Either way I had to strike while the iron was hot if I wanted to get anywhere from this point. ¡°If you believe in faith then you must see that I could be of some help if not then think quick and be sure that you won¡¯t regret your decision later on.¡± I put a bit of pressure on the centaur by being more aggressive in my tone but it was better for him to reach his answer earlier rather than later if my suspicion was correct. ¡°Might the thing you are looking for be red, blue ¡­ and yellow¡± It was a gamble but I wondered if it would pay off. Fate was a powerful thing that sometimes would throw in our paths the right people or things that we need to escape a predicament or grow, or so were my teachings. In any case, if he didn¡¯t know what I was talking about then I wouldn¡¯t lose a potential income if I would ever come back to that tree in the hopes of finding something useful. ---------------------------------------------------- If you see and grammar error or typo post them up. Chapter 2.4 But, apparently my concerns were unfounded. My intuition was correct and the coup de grace was struck. He opened his eyes so much that I could swear his eyeballs would fall off at any moment. ¡°Boy, who are you?¡± The centaur almost shouted but his tone dimmed down by the end of his questions. I could see that he knew that I had the information he needed and he didn¡¯t want to make me mad. Most likely he already concluded that I wasn¡¯t a child that could easily be scared so he resorted to his next best option. (Boy? Am I now. Well at least I evolved from a random member of the arn to a more distinct individual) I tried not to smile, or at least struggled not to let it show on my lips. I knew that the situation wasn¡¯t appropriate but it was hard to hide a grin so I faced towards that tree and pointed its location. ¡°Focus on what needs to be done first! We will have time for other discussions later.¡± I said a bit imposing. I knew that he is searching for something particular from that tree and I could tell him that there was nothing else on it besides his leaves and by doing so not waste his time needlessly but sometimes being to perceptive and stating that aloud can lead to bad consequences. If I told him that I searched the tree thoroughly for personal reasons and didn¡¯t find anything then he might not be convinced if he didn¡¯t see it himself and that might come back to bite me later. Worst case, he might even start to suspect that I already took and hidden the thing that he is looking for. Praying that this endeavor won¡¯t have serious repercussions I started to guide the centaur who I didn¡¯t know by name towards his desire and most likely his disappointment. By the time we¡¯ve got there almost 30 minutes had passed, not surprisingly he had a tough time to navigate through the forest. We even had to make detours a few times and that took longer than I expected, or better said, longer then I was comfortable on wasting so many minutes. Time was of the essence and I prolonged this journey by at least an hour which didn¡¯t seat right by me. (Sometimes I hate how it¡¯s so hard to trust one another. If only¡­ *long pause Hopefully this doesn¡¯t cost us anything more than a few minutes and a bit of fatigue) Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. I knew that I started to think that his blight was my own but I didn¡¯t feel I was making a mistake by doing so. The man appeared honest and his feelings of distraught were genuine so if I could, why wouldn¡¯t I act and try to help. If I am lucky enough and the matter is settled favorably then I could even get out of the entire ordeal a friend to help me better understand this world. As I predicted, after a few minutes of thoroughly searching the tree with his eyes the centaur appeared disheartened. Like all the wind was knocked out of him he almost stumbled and fell like man without vigour. ¡°No¡­¡± I barely heard the centaur mutter to himself. He was falling into despair but I wasn¡¯t going to let him do that right now, at least not until I exhausted all my options. Approaching the centaur I slapped my hand on his left shoulder as hard as I could and almost in a commanding tone I yelled. ¡°What is it man? Tell me what problem you have! Or don¡¯t you understand what fate is!? I said I might be able to help.¡± He looked at me and I could tell. He still didn¡¯t trust me, at least not enough that he could confine in me with his problem so I had to gamble again. ¡°Is the one you are trying to protect worthy of your life?¡± I wasn¡¯t certain but there were a few things that would trouble a man so and I picked the one that had the highest chance considering what I could figure about his personality. I was being a bit manipulative with those fancy words but the conclusion to this problem had to move in a direction so it was better if the direction it took was the one I was most comfortable on taking. Fate could show you a sign on the dozen of roads up ahead but it would never take you by the hand and kick you in the ass so you would follow the paths that it marked. The decisions remained with oneself and right now I was forcing mine on the one that stood before me. ¡°My niece¡­¡± I stopped to listen, there was no more reason to insist. ¡°¡­is sick; and dying¡± ---------------------------------------------------- If you see and grammar error or typo post them up.