System Change

Chapter 9: Through the Forest

Thomas stood up beside Derek, ready to finally be able to go home. He missed his village and couldn’t imagine how distraught his grandma would be after learning of his disappearance. Derek began walking and he followed.

Derek stopped. “Uh, kid… Which way to your village?” Derek just realized that he had no clue as to where they were going.

“I don’t know. I think that way goes deeper into the forest though.” Thomas pointed to the side of the clearing with the diseased trees and bushes. “The wolf chased me off of the top of a hill, then I walked down this clearing for a long time before I saw you.” Thomas motioned to the hill side as he spoke.

“Alright, so up the hill we go.” Derek said.

Thomas looked at the hill. It’s more like a cliff, we can’t climb it. “Are we going to look for a way around? Or try to find a spot that isn’t as steep?” Thomas questioned.

Suddenly, Thomas heard Derek shout, “Yoink!” Then he was in the air. He looked down, only to see the ground getting further and further away. He’s actually climbing the hill. This ride was jarring to say the least, finally unable to stand it, Thomas closed his eyes and tried to ignore being tossed around. After a few seconds, the movement stopped. Thomas opened his eyes and looked around. He made it. He thought just before he went freefalling.

Derek dropped Thomas on the ground. “Ok, we’re on the hill. Which way do we go from here?” Derek looked around. Everything in the whole damn forest looks the same. Well, I guess that’s just how forests work.

“I think if we just head away from the hill, we will eventually make it out of the forest. I don’t know how far I ran into the forest, but it can’t be that far.” Thomas gave Derek somewhat of an answer, wondering the same thing himself.

“Sounds good to me. Let’s go.” Derek began walking in the direction opposite the cliff-like hill. “So, what’s the name of this precious village of yours anyway?” Derek asked as Thomas began trudging on behind him.

“Villages don’t really have names around here, unlike cities. We usually just call it ‘the village’ or ‘our village.’ The villages are really small, only a couple hundred people in all. But, if people are looking for it specifically, they tend to identify it by the village chief. Right now, Rayna is the village chief, so it could be called Rayna Village, I guess. A decade ago the chief was Darius, but he died in the forest. The names change, but if you know or knew any of the previous chiefs, you would be able to find it.” Thomas gave a lengthy response.

“Jesus, why not just pick a name and stay with it?” Derek could not help but criticize the way they named their villages.

“Well, we’re not allowed to have an official name, so that’s just how it’s always been. The strongest person in the village is chief, and the village becomes known as theirs. It’s only fair since the chief will be the person protecting the people the most.” Thomas spoke like it was common and there was not anything to talk about.

“So, this Rayna, is he strong? What level is he? What class?” Derek got a little excited about meeting a strong person from this new world.

“Rayna is a she. She is very strong, maybe stronger than you. Last I heard, she had already leveled up to 30. Also, asking about classes is rude. People like to keep their classes secret, even though it's likely that they have the same common class as millions of others.” Thomas corrected Derek. He had an almost reverent look in his eyes when talking about Rayna.

Derek was confused. I literally just killed a level 53 wolf and a level 48 bear, how could this kid think that a person that’s level 30 could possibly be stronger than me. “Tommy, why would you think that this Rayna is stronger than me? You did see the wolf and the bear, right?” Derek asked.

“Well yeah, but wolves and bears are common. I’m sure Rayna killed dozens of wolves while guarding our village before becoming village chief.” Thomas acted like wolves were a common occurrence.

A level 30 being able to kill level 50 creatures? That’s interesting, maybe meeting her will be worth it after all. But how is she only a level 30? Derek pondered, then asked. “If she’s killed so many level 50 creatures, why is she only a level 30? I know that gaining experience is hard, but fighting that many higher leveled creatures should net a lot of levels, right?” He decided to just ask Thomas instead of wasting brain cells thinking about it.

Thomas stopped in his tracks. Hearing the footsteps behind him come to an abrupt halt, Derek turned, only to see Thomas staring at him with his eyes wide. I swear, every time we talk, he stops mid conversation and gives me this same dumbass deer in the headlights look. “What is it this time?”

“Y-you said level 50 creature?” Thomas gulped. “What do you mean level 50? The wolves are always level 10, or level 15 at the most powerful.” Thomas could not believe what he was hearing.

“Hmm? No, that Forest Wolf was like, level 53, I think. And that Dark Bear I killed this morning was level 48.” Derek said nonchalantly.

“That’s impossible! This has never been a high level forest. Sure, the closer you get to the center, the higher the level of the monsters get, but there’s no way we’re that deep into the forest. Besides, the wolf that chased me was near the edge of the forest. I’ve never heard of a creature at the edge of the forest being above level 20.” Thomas frantically explained to Derek, still staring at him like he was a monster.

“Well, I don’t know what to tell you kid. The bear and wolf were both around level 50. Maybe it has something to do with the disease that’s spreading. The wolf wasn’t diseased by the way, maybe it was at the edge of the forest so it could avoid becoming sick.” Derek thought that this was the only rational explanation as to why a creature of that level would be roaming around the outer skirts of the forest.

“If that’s true, then we need to hurry. I have to warn the village chief. If stronger monsters start appearing outside the forest, then the traders will be in danger.” Thomas no longer stood still staring at Derek, now he was running in front unable to stay calm.

“Woah there kid.” Derek caught Thomas by his collar, halting his movement. “We aren’t going to get anywhere if you run ahead and get yourself killed. Besides, you don’t have the Stamina to keep that pace, you’ll be exhausted in minutes. You have to remember that slow and steady is oftentimes faster than sprinting.” Derek reassured Thomas that everything would be OK as long as they made steady progress.

Like this, the two ventured through the forest. They passed dying plants and trees, but weirdly, they never passed any more monsters. It was an oddly silent journey. As they continued, the flora slowly looked as if it was regaining life. Seemingly confirming that whatever was happening to the forest was happening from deep within.

It’s no wonder that healthy monsters would run to the edge of the forest. It’s not nearly as affected as deeper within. Derek was musing to himself when he finally heard what he had been hoping for, the sound of water running, crashing against rocks. He had finally found a river, or stream.

“Let’s go!” Derek shouted at the boy, picked him up and took off towards the sounds of flowing water.

“Ahh!” Thomas’s breath was taken away due to the unexpected loss of ground and change of pace.

Soon, they were at the river. It’s small, but it will do. Derek dropped Thomas. “Stay here.” He commanded as he approached the flowing river.

Thomas watched as Derek moved away from him. Suddenly, the black armor on Derek’s body disappeared, revealing a black shirt and blue pants. Then, those clothes also disappeared, showing Derek’s toned back muscles. But what Thomas was focused on was the scars. Why does he have scars? With a healer, wounds won’t even leave scars, and even after a wound is scarred, a healer can still remove them. Eventually, Thomas chalked it up to another oddity of the man.

Derek hopped into the river and scrubbed the years away. My first bath in I don’t know how long. The refreshed feeling that the cleaning brought Derek was unlike anything he’d felt before.

As Thomas watched Derek bathe, he began to look over himself. He noticed all the dirt and grime he picked up over the last few days. Maybe I should jump in too. Thomas walked toward the river, planning to go in.

Derek noticed Thomas. “Stop!” He yelled, and Thomas stopped, giving him an inquiring gaze. Derek reached down and pulled a fish out of the water. It was only the size of a palm, but had razor-like teeth. “I don’t think you could handle company.” Derek teased.

The boy scampered backwards, away from the water. Derek laughed. “It’s OK.” Derek began walking from the river, on his way, he summoned a large bucket and filled it with water. When he arrived close to Thomas he sat it down and said, “Use this.”

Thomas did a quick wash and they were ready to head out again. Derek smiled at Thomas. “Who knew that you would actually be blonde?” It was the first time Derek had seen Thomas without mud dying his hair. Thomas’s clothing could still use a good wash, but there was nothing they could do about it right now. This time, Derek kept his armor inside his bracelet, opting to wear just his t-shirt and jeans. From what he had gathered, there couldn’t be many creatures in the forest that would be able to harm him, and he did not want to give up his newly found comfort.

The two continued their travel through the forest. At night, they set up camp and slept, then continued the next morning. At midday they finally came to the end of the forest. Thomas was beside himself with joy. I can finally go home!