Into The Unknown World

Chapter 1. Into the Woods

"Life is such a mystery. One must not be complacent about anything that has not transpired yet. Everything has its purpose and meaning. Life is not set in stone. Life is unpredictable. Join me and let’s unravel my quest to an unfamiliar world of possibilities. Are you all ready?" Said the huge man with the crown of light lavishly showing its elegance to the white-winged girl, patting on her head while she nervously intertwined her hand. "I, I will come wherever you will go, Father!" she said.

Night after night after getting that dream again, he could feel that he can be somebody else. He always thought that this might be because he doesn't feel himself at all. He is indeed an unusual person, inside. He’s always having a dream that somewhere in the middle of the crowd, socializing towards common people. A place where bustling crackles of noises can be heard, dancing lights in the middle of the road can be seen, crowded and throbbing one another.

There is yet another vision of people who are talking towards one another that he can only seem to recall the feeling. A feeling of familiarity yet strangeness strangled altogether. The feeling of something amiss whilst feeling certain happiness washing over him as he wakes up.

In a calm night sky, where you really can almost see the twinkling specks of light overhead. He woke up and thought about the wonderful dream he had. How else would one imagine what it would feel like to get to see the whole place illuminated with floating lanterns and torches out there that don't extinguish? In stark comparison to this region, surrounded by trees and fields just about anywhere. Any night is as dark as a lump of coal. His home is situated in the southern part of the region, where you can see a vast area mostly covered with trees and undergrowth—the Forest of Krane. Mostly, this is where they hunt creatures and gather timber logs to build new dwellings and also for firewood.

Such is the normal life in this town. Where everyone is gathered as a functioning individual to the society. To be of service to someone higher than them.

He was born and raised in the hinterlands with a large family member from which he would only eat fruit and vegetables every day. When they could be fortunate enough to have a predetermined ration allocated to everyone and a successful season of hunting as they will enjoy the meat of the wild creatures in the forest.

Although they are doing their decent means to survive, one every ten people would always let out a discontentment.

“I am not wailing, though. It's just that not everything is fair. I say, yes, these are not the things we would be complaining about as long as we have a roof to sleep under and a lot of food to consume, but this wretched way of life is at its best. How are we categorizing a group of people like this? Why can't we exist separately from an organization or individuals above us?”

He is an unnamed young boy, though he is called by names. He is a fifth son of a serf. Serfs were the lowest of the peasant status and were treated as slaves. Nobles are the lords of the serfs who lived within their appointed territories. In exchange for a place to live, the serfs utilized the land for themselves and their lord. In fact, the serfs are allocated mainly to the farmland to work for the landlord and, of necessity, to cover the rent.

Indeed, obviously. In this little town mostly with serfs, they glorify the Lord. Also, these people have no names except perhaps the Lords' Freemen and a growing number of Knights, but they love to call him Twig. He is given the responsibility to get branches or twigs to be used as firewood when his parents are working in the huge fields of white and golden grain.

They are called the worker and a gatherer of blessings. Blessed by the god harvest.

However, Twig does funny things other than that. He would often wander secretively in the depths of the wood. Built a small tree house to store the vile creatures he has caught thus far and do physical training. Training his body to the point that he can hunt larger creatures.

After all, of course, driven to his determination. He just wants to be a squire, a job where he doesn't honestly believe he is qualified due to him believing the errors in the society as he is not able to purchase his liberty. His friend Morning Dew admired the same thing in terms. Perhaps even more.

But they are just utterly hopeless, a throw rug. In this territory, they are anticipated to wither. He doesn't really get this damn place and he is just disappointed by the things he can't bear. As you can see, he refuses to accept the fact that he hates this mediocre way of life while still living in it. He can't really complain about that, so what can he do? They are the slaves of the Lord. What he ought to do is hope that the good Lord Heinzall Val Badrick is going to stand for them forever.

He is their most forgiving Lord. They say he was a bastard of the lowest noble in the kingdom of Darathos. Son of a concubine, his mother is a lover of a baron. Well, he's the second child, anyway.

As far as the rank and rights and freedoms of the concubine are concerned, they were always inferior to the rights of the wife, and neither she nor her children were inherently entitled to succession. Therefore, this land has only been granted for him to prove himself. The Lord has been around since he was young, and he is very wise in the administrations and preparation of the supply of sustenance. Often this contributes significantly to food commerce in the surrounding lands.

Everyone knows this and everyone is expected to sing praises to the Lord. Where did someone of the lowest rank get to know these pieces of knowledge? They are being sung in public places by the bards to let the people know that a noble is indeed a noble in so many ways.

For Twig, he has such a friend from the great stone house of the Lord. He's a squire, and he's a knight's servant. He travels everywhere across the town with the knight and does what is required of him. Nevertheless, he is also the son of the Knight, representing the knight, the magnanimous warrior class. This guy might be the exception, though. He was told that he was the son of a merchant whose friend was a knight.

A man that of wisdom and might. At least that’s how Twig knows him.

Just then, he happened to know this guy when he was running an errand for the Knight he's serving. He's a very tall person for his age. He met him in the grasslands when Twig randomly picked kindling for the day. 

They have been friends since then, and he has been actively encouraging Twig to stand up and fight in the event that he rarely encounters a wild creature in the wilderness while using his sharp blade given by his father. He also told him not to bother calling him in any kind of honorifics.

He is a special person for Twig and he often sings high praises of him to all of his playmates, he would always say, “See, a friendly and approachable man, and a strange person, too.”

Every time after meals, when he's not around, Twig play with his friend Dew, who's also in charge of bringing kindling. Needless to say, them being the sons and daughters of the serfs are not encouraged to come in and help farm the land. The reason is that the Lord believed that perhaps they should learn and understand the essential knowledge in the morning before they turn fifteenth Luners—It is a system poorly created to monitor the seasons and is only used to count the age of the people—and pick-up branches or twigs to be used as fuelwood in their dwellings. The firewoods used in the Lord's stone house are taken from lumberjacks deep within the forest where children are therefore forbidden. It is to ensure that everyone works successfully under his command.

Then one day everyone heard a rumour that the residents of this town were suspicious about lately. A week ago, a new cave was found in the eastern part of the Krane Forest. It's just a little closer to the town but deeper than the usual area where lumberjacks get their supply. So Twig as capricious as he can be began preparing to better understand this new destination. He promised to be able to hunt and would like to be able to hunt more beasts. After all, there are no wild beasts he has ever seen that are just too troublesome in this area. “Alright, then perhaps I should keep an eye and delve into new creatures. How incredible it is!”

Early in the morning, he went to see his friend Morning Dew to get as much kindling and see for ourselves the new cave that people have been talking about. “I believe my mother calls this the dungeon of monsters. I'd like to try sneaking in that cavern. Come with me, Dew!” Morning Dew really doesn't want to come, but he is going to drag him. He successfully bribed him with a lot of buttered rye bread next season. “Well, I can cook for you. Neat, perfectly edible bread.” He always realized that being unusual, he can also do things easily. He doesn’t know why. Just like the nostalgic sensation of the dream that he had last night. Whatever that explanation is, as long as they can eat good food rather than stale and rough food, Morning Dew and the others will be very thankful.

They saw a lot of strange creatures on their way to this cave. Although he can see that these animals are docile, they still need to be wary of and regularly check the surroundings. That's what Sir Lyol told them when he came to plead with him if he could be a squire like him. He's the squire Twig always referred to, and he's the son of a merchant who was killed on their way off into town.

“Where was that?”

“I forgot what that city called, though. In either case, the creatures should mainly wild ferrals and cannoyt. We should be able to take them down, yes?”

They all are like wild beasts in the wild. The Ferrals are tiny creatures with fuzzy hair, narrow snouts and retractable claws. Although the Cannoyts have a long snout, they have an excellent sense of scent, non-retractable claws, and while they make a sound like howling and whining. They're similar to the Cannes that bark.

His mother always says not to go alone because of rabid Cannoyts. However, with his so-called strong mental fortitude and strength, he is particularly confident. “Sir Lyol helped me in improving my combat skills. He's like twenty-four Luners, and he's presumed to be a respectable squire in his age,” he said.” Morning Dew just nodded and thought they have just shared their thirteenth Luners. Twig might have sensed that he is unusually frightened. “No problem with that, bloke! We can take care of ourselves. We're big guys now! Right?” Encouraging him to go.

“Well, Hmm. Besides that, we're not alone in going through the wood, right? So that's good as an excuse. Ferrals or Cannoyts, if we really can defeat them, then we can offer additional food and fur to our kin.”

“Ah! Aye.”

When they draw closer to the cave in the wilderness, they encountered more and more beasts they have never seen before. He can see a lot of creatures topped with white fur on cannoyt-like animals, but the difference is that it has a pointed muzzle and bushy tail, and it's very cunning. There's even a creature with wings, which looked like a borruca, but on fire. Would you think that a moving object is on fire without burning? That's that beast. ‘They seem so old, though. I wonder if I might have seen them. In my dreams, huh? Well, I doubt that.’ he thought reminiscing his dreams.