Chapter 7

Warm sunlight, soft and golden, filtered through the leaves. It gently touched Zen's face, pulling him awake. He stretched carefully, wincing as his muscles protested.

Every bruise and ache from yesterday's fight with the giant boar reminded him of the struggle. He looked around, blinking in the green light.

Towering trees with strange, smooth bark surrounded him. Colorful birds, unlike any he'd seen on Earth, chirped nearby.

The air smelled fresh, like rain and damp earth. It was beautiful, but completely alien. He wasn't home.

He was perched high in the branches of a massive tree. Iris's advice had kept him safe through the night.

Then, a loud growl came from his stomach. It snapped him out of his thoughts. Hunger gnawed deep inside him, sharp and urgent.

"Agh," Zen groaned, rubbing his belly. "I haven't eaten in two days." He remembered the massive boar he'd killed by the lake. "Hope nothing else found it."

Quickly, carefully, he climbed down the rough bark of the tree trunk. His stiff muscles complained with every movement.

Walking through the quiet forest, the scent of damp moss and decaying leaves filled his nose. Sunlight dappled the forest floor.

He scanned the trees, hoping to see the boar carcass soon. Instead, he spotted something else. A tree unlike the others stood nearby, its branches heavy with bright red fruit.

They looked almost like large, perfect apples.

Curious, Zen picked one. It felt cool and smooth in his hand. "Iris," he asked, holding it up. "Is this edible?"

There was a brief pause as Iris seemed to examine it. "Yes," her calm voice replied inside his mind. "It is safe to eat. Its taste is similar to mangoes."

Zen was surprised. "Mangoes? But it looks like an apple." Still, his stomach rumbled again. He took a small, tentative bite.

Juice burst into his mouth. Sweet and tangy, with a hint of something floral. It was delicious! His eyes widened.

"Wow! A mango-apple?" He devoured the fruit quickly, the sweet juice running down his chin. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "This world really is something else."

He grabbed several more, stuffing them into his pockets for later. The simple act of eating eased the sharp edge of his hunger.

As he continued walking, following the faint path back towards the lake, Zen took in the forest around him.

The trees seemed impossibly tall, their leaves shimmering with vibrant greens and blues in the sunlight. Strange, glowing insects flitted through shafts of light.

The whole place felt thick with life, almost... magical. Peaceful, despite the dangers he knew were out there.

To distract himself from the ache in his legs and the worry about the boar, he asked a question that had been forming in his mind.

"Iris," he began, his voice echoing slightly in the quiet, "what kind of forest is this? Does it have a name? Or a story?"

"This is the Forest of Beginning," Iris replied, her tone soft but clear.

"The Forest of Beginning?" Zen repeated, curious. The name sounded important. "Why is it called that?"

Iris's voice took on a solemn, almost sad note. "Long ago, this place was not a forest. It was a huge city. A metropolis."

Zen blinked, trying to picture it. Trees replaced by buildings?

"Humans, elves with pointed ears, dwarves shorter than men, beastfolk with animal features, even demons... and many other races lived here together," Iris continued. "In harmony. The city was full of tall buildings, reaching towards the sky. At night, countless lights covered the town, shining in many colors – reds, blues, greens, like a living rainbow. So many people lived here. It was a place of great opportunity, full of life."

Zen tried to imagine the noise, the crowds, the colored lights. It sounded amazing. "What happened?" he asked, a knot forming in his stomach. Stories like this rarely had happy endings.

"One day," Iris said, her voice dropping lower, "a small rift appeared in the sky. A rift. And from that rift came a monster. A creature from the void. A Teras."

Zen stopped walking. A sudden chill ran down his spine, despite the warm sun. "A Teras?" he asked, his voice tight. "What... what does that look like?" He pictured giant spiders or lizard-men.

"The Teras have many forms," Iris explained. "But I will tell you about this one. The one that came here." She paused, as if gathering the image. "Its face... it was like a crocodile's. Long snout, sharp teeth. But it had no eyes. No nose. No ears. Just smooth, leathery skin."

Zen felt a prickle of unease. No eyes? How did it see?

"Where hair might be," Iris continued, "were writhing tentacles, thick as pythons, twisting and moving on their own. Its upper body was thin, like a starved human, but its skin was dark and scaled. Its arms ended in long, cruel claws. Its lower body... was not legs. It was made of enormous tentacles, thicker than tree trunks, covered in suckers."

Zen's mouth went dry. He tried to picture this nightmare creature.

"And its size..." Iris paused again. "In human terms... it was as large as a small mountain."

Zen's jaw dropped. "Wait, wait!" he stammered, his mind reeling. "You said the rift was small! How could something the size of a mountain come through a small hole?"

"What we call 'small' and what humans call 'small' are very different," Iris explained patiently. "In the terms of the void, a rift we call 'small'... is indeed about the size of a mountain."

Zen shook his head, trying to grasp the scale. It was impossible. Terrifying. "Okay... okay, enough about size," he managed. "Just... continue. What happened when it came through?"

"The Teras began to push itself out of the rift," Iris continued, her voice heavy with the memory. "The people in the city below... they saw it. Fear froze them. Some tried to run, screaming. Others fell to their knees, praying to gods who did not answer. Many just stood, staring up in shock, unable to move."

Zen could almost hear the screams, see the panic. His throat felt tight.

"When the Teras finally pulled itself completely free and landed in the very center of the city..." Iris paused, the silence thick. "Its weight... it was unimaginable. The impact caused a massive earthquake. Buildings shook like toys. Stone towers crumbled into dust. Fires burst out everywhere. Chaos swallowed the city."

Zen closed his eyes for a second, picturing the destruction. Homes, lives, everything smashed in an instant.

"And then," Iris said, her voice a near-whisper, "the Teras opened its mouth. It let out a roar. Not a sound you hear with your ears, but a wave of force that shook the entire region. People miles away felt it in their bones."

Zen flinched, imagining the sheer power.

"A terrible purple light began to glow deep inside its throat," Iris described. "Brighter and brighter, pulsing with evil energy. Then... it unleashed it. A beam of pure, destructive power. A laser unlike anything known. It cut across the heart of the metropolis. Where the beam touched... stone melted. Metal vaporized. People... vanished. A huge part of the city was simply... erased."

Zen stood completely still. The peaceful forest sounds – the birds, the insects – seemed far away.

His imagination filled with the horror: the screams cut short, the blinding purple light, the smell of ozone and burning stone. The utter destruction.

"How..." he swallowed, his voice rough. "How do you know all this? I thought this world was newly discovered? How can you know its history?"

"It was Miss Erza," Iris answered simply. "She possesses a rare power. The ability to see the echoes of the past. To view the history imprinted on Narza itself. It was through her vision, shared with me, that I learned of these events."

Hearing Erza's name made Zen fall silent. The woman who pulled him from death, who sent him here... she could see the past? Witness such destruction?

It made her seem even more powerful, more mysterious. And more terrifying.

"Do you want me to continue?" Iris asked gently, sensing his turmoil.

Zen opened his eyes. He looked at the ancient trees around him, wondering what ruins lay buried beneath their roots. He nodded slowly, his voice barely a whisper.

"Yeah. Go on." He needed to know what happened next. To the city. To the monster. And how did this forest become the Forest of Beginning?