Begining of the journey part 2

You don't need to check with me before you yell. We'll see who gets into

trouble once you do," Kyle replied pleasantly, making the man bite his lip. In the

face of such a big fish, the man felt conflicted.

"...If you're done here, I'll be going now." With a frosty nod at the frustrated expression on the man, Kyle left, concealing himself within the crowds of people

and heading towards the exit of the capital.

He didn't notice the small figure observing him from afar at all.

Two days had passed since Kyle left the capital of Citadel.

He continued his beeline towards the west, aiming for the faraway lands of

the Dulcan region. By making full use of his essence to enhance his physical

abilities and body, he had almost reached the country that neighbored Erugenia

and is situated at its southern borders— the Kingdom of Avalon .

Still, his near-supernatural speed would have attracted unwanted attention if

he used the roads, so he moved through the mountain forests instead. Because

of that decision, his route was made needlessly tougher: there was a higher

chance of encounters with monsters and other dangerous beasts, resulting in

fatigue accumulating in his physical body. However, while Erugenia was wider

horizontally, Avalon was wider vertically — this meant that it wouldn't take Kyle as much time to cross the country horizontally.

West of the Kingdom of Avalon was the Wilderness — a wide area of land that

existed outside of human control. There were no roads nor maps drawn of it,

and the terrain itself was rugged, so Kyle foresaw a drop in his movement speed

when he reached that point. And while the Dulcan region was just beyond the

Wilderness, it was said that following the trackless paths on foot could take

years. The beasts and monsters that could be encountered in the area were far

more ferocious than those found within the Strahl region, making the journey

itself life-threatening.

Despite this, Kyle chose to head towards Dulcan anyway — he wanted to see

the ancestral hometown that his mother spoke of in his childhood, build graves

for his parents, and organize the complicated feelings stowed away in his heart.

Setting all of that aside for now, though... At the moment, the time had just

ticked into the afternoon hours. Kyle would soon be crossing the border into the

Kingdom of Avalon.

"I should check the roads just once. There may be a city nearby where I can make a pit stop.

"

Once Kyle came to that decision, he approached a towering tree nearby and

scaled its tall trunk in the blink of an eye. From the top, he looked around at his

surroundings and calculated his position using the sun. He directed his gaze

towards the direction he needed to go towards, and spotted puffs of smoke

rising into the air in the distance. It was probably being produced by a human

settlement; the amount of smoke heavily suggested that it was a city.

With his destination decided, Kyle climbed down from the tree. Once he was

safely on his feet, he took a guess at the location of the road towards the city

and ran towards it. While he did come across a number of goblins and orcs

along the way, he left them in the dust of his overwhelming speed. It would be

a waste of time and energy to stop and fight each and every one of them, like

some kind of righteous fool, so the most he did was intercept a pack of nimble

wolves that surrounded him as he passed by, as a warning to them.

Kyle skillfully evaded the dense overgrowth as he ran with light-footed steps.

About ten minutes of running later, he spotted a road weaving through the

forest. He slowed down, stepping firmly on the ground to kill his momentum

and onto the road with a hop. The road was about ten meters wide, which was

enough for a horse-drawn carriage to easily pass through. Once he confirmed

that there was no one else nearby, he set off at a speed that wouldn't cause

suspicion if he was spotted.

Roughly twenty to thirty minutes later, he arrived at his destination city.

The road into the city was occupied with visiting carriages and travelers on

foot. Kyle followed them from behind at a distance. The lands near the city were

scattered with wheat fields, vegetable farms, vineyards, pastures, and cattle

barns; Kyle could spot farmers working here and there. Then, after following the

road for a while, the walls surrounding the city came into view.

The city still appeared to be under development, as there seemed to be

sections of the wall that were still being constructed. Kyle could see several

figures energetically working away.

He was actually rather low on food stock at the moment. That was why he absolutely had to restock

on supplies for his journey here in the Kingdom of Avalon before he ventured

into the Wilderness.But right now, Kyle was drawn towards the food stalls more than anything

else. There were probably plenty of delicious restaurants inside the city walls,but he wasn't interested in going out of his way to find them.

I can buy something at a stall while I gather what ever information I can.

Lured by the mouth-watering smells, Kyle let his feet carry him forward. He

came to a stop in front of a stall selling grilled beef skewers. There were no

other customers at the moment, so he stepped forward.

"Sir? Please give me three skewers."

"Sounds good. That'll be six small coppers."

Kyle put in his order with a friendly smile, to which the owner replied in a

cheerful voice.

"Here's they are."

"Righto. Here's your goods. Eat up."

After exchanging the currency, Kyle took the food in his hands. The beef

skewer was seasoned simply with just salt, but it was freshly grilled, and it let

off a hunger-enticing scent. Perfect for filling a hungry stomach. The meat itself

wasn't high quality, and it was rather tough to chew on, but Kyle polished off the

skewers in an instant.

"Hehe. You sure eat well, boy," the owner said happily as he rubbed his nose.

"That's because you cooked it well, sir. By the way, could you tell me a little

bit about this country? I've actually come here from the countryside of a much

smaller nation," Kyle asked in a polite but friendly tone.

"Sure thing. You must be a rookie adventurer. Am I right, boy? Most rookie

adventurers your age get jaded early on, but from what I can see, you don't

appear too haughty, so you're doing well. If you wanna use this city as your

base, I'll welcome you here."

"Thanks." Kyle wasn't exactly an adventurer, but he didn't feel the need to

correct the man either, so he let the comment slide.