Chapter 19

"For a moment I thought I wouldn't get out of there alive!" Manuele said frankly, sighing with relief and chuckling.

The group was walking away from the village and heading toward the forest named by the boy earlier in the tavern.

"They wanted to kill you?" Lucia asked with a frown, not understanding what was so funny.

"Well, not really. That scary man had intimated to me to get out of there and all of us to go back. It was the tavernkeeper, Ms. Eve, who let me explain. When I told her we were Adventurers she immediately let you in. I don't know, it's like I saw a change in her eyes."

"What do you mean?" Sofia asked, curious.

Manuele took a few seconds to think about what to say. Or rather, how to say it. "...It was as if he had found hope again."

"Ms. Eve, why did you trust those strangers?" Karl asked the tavernkeeper, still puzzled that the woman had told strangers about their plight.

"You have never been outside this village, you cannot understand. I've visited many places in my life and I happened to hear rumors about these Adventurers." Ms. Eve explained.

"These Adventurers? They seem too young for them to have done anything in these years besides learning to walk!" Puffed the man.

"Don't talk to me like that. I know very well that they couldn't be the same Adventurers I've heard about, but all the rumors say the same thing: they always come in their time of need. If those guys are really Adventurers, then ... we all still have some hope of salvation."

"Ms. Eve, let me go and help them!" The woman turned toward the boy who had spoken. It was Fried.

"And how are you going to help them, boy? Surely, by not being in the way." She said impassively. Some of the men in the tavern laughed, causing the poor boy to look down, but one glance from the woman silenced them. She then turned again to Fried and continued. "You will stay here like the rest of us."

"What? but I know that forest well. I go there... I used to go there every day! Besides, I know the exact spot where the mist appeared. No one is better suited to go with them than me!"

"You may be right, but you won't go there. When I took over as Village Chief a year ago, I made a solemn promise. I would protect all the people of Veridale, and so I will."

"If we continue to hide for fear of what may happen, you will not be able to protect anyone, because..." The words stuck in his mouth for a single moment, unable to utter them. Perhaps not to displease the woman, perhaps because he didn't really want to believe it either.

"Because what? Come on, boy, speak." The woman challenged him to continue that sentence. Fried's eyes focused on her again and the uncertainty in his gaze disappeared, giving way to anger. His mouth resumed moving.

"Because we will all be dead!" He exclaimed. After that, she ran out of the tavern, with Ms. Eve standing still and looking at the spot where the boy had stood before.

"What are you doing standing still! Somebody stop that idiot brat!" Ordered Karl to the men in the tavern.

"Stop. Let him go." The village chief immediately intervened.

"But ... that way he will meet his death."

Ms. Eve did not utter another word. Her gaze was cold, but inside she was afraid of what might happen.

"Wait!" Shouted a voice and the group of Adventurers turned toward it. They saw a boy running toward them.

"Is that the boy from the tavern or am I mistaken?" Mumbled Sofia to Samuele. He nodded to her. Inside he wondered what the boy wanted.

As soon as Fried reached them, he leaned his arms on his knees, fatigued by the rush he had just made.

"What's going on? Is there any other detail you want to tell us?" Lucia asked him, waiting for the boy to recover.

"No, but I want to go with you. As I said, I was there when that mist appeared. I can guide you there. Please, Adventurers, let me help you!"

Lucia thought about it for a few seconds and realized that she had no reason to refuse help, on the contrary.

"All right." The boy's eyes lit up with joy. "This will save us time and effort, also because from here I don't seem to see any mist in the forest." Lucia said, receiving a nod of the head from Fried.

"It is so, indeed. Already since this morning that mist was gone... I know the best route to get there. Please follow me."

Without wasting any time, Fried led the group through the forest.

Several hours passed and the path was winding and difficult to follow, but the boy seemed to know every inch of the place.

"You always pass through this area, um..." Sofia spoke, trying to break the silence that had lasted too long.

"My name is Fried. Sorry, I hadn't introduced myself yet."

"Actually, we haven't introduced ourselves either. My name is Lucia."

After everyone made their introduction, Samuele asked the same question as a few moments earlier of his companion.

"What do you come to this forest for, if we may ask?"

"Well ... I love to be in contact with nature. And this forest ... it is alive. Everything within it is alive. The leaves, the grasses, every single plant and animal. I can feel their vitality."

"Can you feel all this?" Sofia asked in an amazed tone, receiving a nod from the boy.

"Can you use magic?" Lucia asked.

"No." He said with a confused expression. "Why do you ask?"

"Even among us Adventurers, those who specialize in magic can feel the same things you feel."

Fried turned his head toward her so quickly he could almost break his neck.

"Really?! You can feel them?"

Lucia shook her head. "Not me, I'm just a hand-to-hand fighter. I have no magic in me. Samuele does, though." Upon hearing his name, Samuele looked at them.

"Do you feel this vitality you speak of?" The leader asked him.

Samuele closed his eyes and tried to listen all around him. Several seconds passed before he gave an answer.

"I can feel something if I concentrate hard enough. If you can hear it so well even without engaging, then I think your senses are much more developed than mine, Fried."

"Incredible!" Sofia exclaimed, stupefied. Samuele turned to her with an intrigued look.

"You don't feel it? You use healing magic, but still magic it is."

Sofia closed her eyes tightly as if to concentrate and a few moments later shook her head.

"No, I don't feel anything."

"Precisely because they make use of a special kind of magic, healers cannot feel anything. Wizards, on the other hand, are able to make use of any kind of magic, among all of them elemental magic. That is the reason why you can feel it and Sofia can't." Lucia explained.

The girl turned to Fried with an admiring look. "That means you are special. We are lucky to have you as our guide."

Fried turned again toward the interior of the forest. "... I am honored."

Samuele thought he saw his ears turn red. He gave a small smile and a thought crossed his mind, "He is still a boy." They might have been in a different world from their own, but a boy in his teens will always behave the same way.

After a few minutes, Fried stopped in his tracks and spoke. "We have arrived. Beyond that big rock, there is the spot where the mist had spread." With his gaze he pointed to the spot in front of them.

Samuele and the rest of the Adventurers advanced past that rock and saw something all too familiar to them.

"A cave..." Samuele thought aloud, disappointed to have to go in there again this time.

"I hadn't missed exploring a dark and gloomy cave at all." Sofia sighed, putting her hands on her hips.

Lucia observed the inside of that cavern for a few seconds, wondering internally what monsters they would find in there. Then she turned to Fried who was standing at her side.

"Thank you for your help, Fried. Without you it would have taken us much longer. You can go back to the village and be safe."

"What? No! I'm staying with you." He exclaimed with a determined look.

Lucia, like every other Adventurer who heard him, was surprised. "This cave is dangerous. We cannot guarantee your safety." She warned him, uttering each word slowly.

"That's okay. If we inhabitants are not the first to risk our lives to save the village, how can we expect others to help us?"

After a few seconds for the group to remain silent, stunned by Fried's words, everyone smiled at him. In particular, Lucia and Samuele had a look of absolute respect for him.

"...I understand." Lucia nodded to him. "Then we are honored to have you with us. Stay by our side and be careful."

"All right."

END OF CHAPTER.

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In the end it always comes back to the beginning, yeah. Well, we can say that at least they got a small taste of what it would be like to find themselves in an open world. I'm such a bastard, I know.

If you liked the chapter, you already know what you have to do, I won't tell you again... leaveacommentareviewandapowerstone!!... Sorry, it was stronger than me.

As usual, see you tomorrow, same time. Bye!