Chapter 21: Finding the Perfect Spot
"Here we are, Zeroa Mansion. Going straight this road will take you to a dead-end which marks the entrance of the forest. Seventy-five bronze coins. I can't go farther than here since ahead, beasts might show up, and I'm not a magician."
"Thank you, sir." Josh handed the driver eight silver coins. He then got five bronze coins as a change.
...
Josh got out of the cab, then looked around. At his right stood a majestic mansion. Its gate is the same size as that of his academy, and the area it covered seemed to be the whole street as his gaze can't even get to the corner of its peach color walls.
He walked towards the end of the road. Since there's no car or taxi passing through it, he just casually walked in the middle of the road.
"Haaaaa"
He shook his backpack, and after getting a feel of his items, he let go of sigh from nerves and a slight tinge of fear.
...
The left side of the road is filled with huge trees, but the ornamental kind, especially African Tulip trees. The red roses of the tree make the ambiance relaxing and peaceful helping Josh release some of his loneliness on traveling alone.
Occasionally, he will see rabbits, deer, and squirrels walking slowly on the peaceful road. Josh even relaxed further as he thought that beast attacks might be just rare occasions.
After walking for more, he finally saw the corner of the mansion. Incidentally, the end of the road is also only meters away from the corner of the mansion.
...
The end of the road. On its right side stands signage,
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Unguarded Forest
Enter at your own risk
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Josh felt an ominous feeling from it but still gathered his courage to enter.
The first step he took out of the road felt like signing a death sentence to a grim reaper. He might have not noticed it, but the uncle selling the Takoyaki clearly said it is safe 'in the periphery of the forest,' not in the forest itself. But, Josh has already taken the step and was not in the right mind to think of those matters.
...
"Whoaaa" What greeted him is the abundance of trees that seemed to be fighting on whose rose is better. There are colors of red, green, orange, blue, and yellow scatter just the entrance of the forest. Not far away from where he is, he saw a pecking bird busy building its house. There are also squirrels collecting nuts scattered in the grasses. Rabbits can also be seen jumping in groups.
After relaxing with the ambiance of the forest, he started walking.
'Right! The ropes!' Josh stopped and opened his backpack. In it, he retrieved mini ropes with the color of bright yellow.
'Let's see… Hmmm… This branch should be alright.' Josh then tied one piece of the ropes.
'Even if it gets dark, I should be able to find my way back.' With newfound confidence in the unknown, Josh got more hyped in adventuring the forest to find his own safe space.
'Okay! Right is always right, so let's go right!'
...
After walking for a while, Josh found himself a space between four trees, not too wide but also not too narrow.
"This place is good! It should be fine here."
Josh then put down his backpack, and also removed his top shirt.
'With this, I can easily observe my mark.'
Josh bare chest is exposed. In it, two small nipples with light brown color laid. A mark is on top of his left one and is just below his collar bones. It resembles a small snake with a grey color.
His skin is healthy white with a little tan. His body is lean. Not too much muscle nor too much fat. His six-pack abs are there but not too bulgy. The sides of his stomach are perfectly fit and have hints of muscles. He also has flat muscles in the area below his navel. His back has a perfect ridge in between two slightly muscular continents.
"I really need to eat much more now that everything is free. No more construction works and late-night package assorting. I got too much time in my hands now. And maybe exercise a little?" Josh muttered to himself while looking at his body while lightly patting the mark on his chest.
But then, Josh clenched his two fists and breath in full, inhaling deeply and exhaling as much as he can. After a while, he opened his eyes, narrowed them, and said,
"Let's start."