While exploring the woods, which crept and terrified Renir with crawling vines, dark shadows, soil hidden under leaves and grass foliages, and the discomforting, foreboding atmosphere, he was also thinking about the flowing river.
When he was on top of the cliff, he saw the interconnected rivers over the landscape.
That would definitely be the source of water.
He also noticed something strange, Renir had not seen a trace of a living creature.
When he heard subtle splashes of water, he turned to follow his sense of hearing to see another blue fruit hanging from a tree.
The blue fruit was glowing without reflecting the moonlight on its own.
It was eye-catching and mystical, but, Renir was ignoring it.
For all the time he was exploring the woods, that was the only fruit ripened from the unusual trees of the lands he saw.
But he hadn't explored the woodland extensively. If he goes further he may find fruits or animals he is familiar with.
Renir decided to ignore it for now, and to avoid fear radiating from the auguries of the shadows, was immersed in thoughts of survival and connecting the dots from all he learned.
This land of trials was called Gantlet, at least that was what he remembered from the stone tablet.
As he stepped on a bed of rocks, Renir finally reached the riverside.
Excited by the sight of freshwater, he jumped next to it to see if there was another unusuality to the water.
Fortunately, nothing unusual by sight.
As Renir reached out to take a handful of water, he noticed pearls encircling his wrist like a bracelet.
He was filled with surprise that he had not noticed something so visible.
Apparently, even after noticing it, there was still no sensation either of the smooth texture or its light tightness.
Renir observed it while keeping attentive to his surroundings.
He tried to touch it and realized it was immaterial.
"Woah", Renir's eyes glittered.
The incorporeal pearls were encircling his wrist slowly as if some force was holding it in its position.
As if it were micro planets slowly revolving around his wrist, aligned to each other.
Renir was amazed. This was his first positive response to a strange phenomenon.
"If this continued, I wouldn't be surprised if there's magic and dragons flying around.", he laughed awkwardly. He didn't know what to feel about what he said.
He looked at the pearls immersed before popping out of his fascination when the sound of water splash interrupted.
Anxiousness about the scarcity of time made Renir bring his thoughts focused back to his intention.
With bits of hesitation, he took a handful of water with both hands and drank from it.
Courage did not play a big role in his actions.
If he doesn't drink the river water then he wasn't sure if he will be able to find another source of water soon before he'll die of thirst.
And actually, his great thirst was already altering his reasoning.
A mouthful of cold water easily passed through his dried throat as he gulped it down.
"U-haa~~!", Renir expressed great satisfaction after his thirst was quenched by the river water.
"Its coldness was exactly for an incredible drink for thirst!"
Renir stood up after being fully satisfied with the enjoyment of fresh cold water.
He looked at the moon above.
That moon was more glamorous than he had ever seen it. Maybe because he was in a completely different world. A thought which he couldn't shrug off as a wild imagination.
But besides the glamour of the moon, Renir was slowly seeing the celestial being as a bad auspice, foretelling danger.
He couldn't measure the time he took the walk but surely, he walked more than an hour.
After all that time Renir took, the moon will barely reach its third quarter into the horizon which it will lurk.
It was neither fast nor slow for him.
Now that he found the river, he will just follow its trail until he is nearest to the mountain.
Renir felt he was lucky because his shelter was easily spotted as it is just under the foot of the nearest mountain.
Not even an idiot will lose their way to find the cave.
While on his way, Renir picked up white rocks on the riverside to use it as a trace from the river to the cave so that it will save time for him to find the river again.
Renir was slightly amazed by his ideas. Even though he doesn't have the slightest clue if that ideas were normal or not.
If this was before he saw the stone tablet, is he capable of this?
It was now faster to get back since he walked a straight path alongside the river and found out it was relatively close to the cave.
Renir was still in a crisis of not discovering any source of food.
Then, at that exact moment, he found another blue fruit hanging from an arm-reach branch.
The blue fruit was mysterious and seemed inedible, but with no choices left, Renir took the risk and touched it;
Then he plucked it when nothing unusual occurred.
After observing the fruit without thinking of testing it, he took off his long-sleeved uniform and tied it around his torso like a short sling bag. It left him with his white shirt on top.
Using the buttons, he modified it close to a bag, an alternative of a smaller storage. There he placed all the blue fruits he encountered until he reached the cave.
He then truly realized how closed it was when he only plucked three blue fruits in total.
"Should I be happy that the river was close by or not?", Renir exhaustingly mumbled, "Because I wasted so much time to find it..."
But thinking about it, the farther he walked, the more precise the information he earned.
For example, if he took a small area to explore and there were no animals living there for an unknown reason. And he went back concluding there's no other living creature. But farther more, there was then he would be at a disadvantage.
"But there really is no sight of animals..."
Renir truly felt the surrealism of this place, no, this world.
He glanced back at the moon. Just a little more and the celestial being will touch the horizon.
Renir felt his feet cold so he tried not to think about it much. Worrying too much does no good after all.
So he went back into the cave.
His thirst was quenched now so the only problem was his grumbling stomach.
Renir sat cross-legged and in front of him laid the three fruits on top of his long-sleeved uniform.
One of his feet was fidgeting, tapping onto the ground, due to his indecisiveness.
"Maybe... there are still other fruits out there?"
Anybody would hesitate to taste this mysterious glowing fruits. What if it's poisonous? There are no hospitals and medicine there, he would surely die before he found the challenge that awaits him.
But still.... there was no other choice?
Grrrr~!* his stomach grumbled once more.
Due to his frustration, he walked out of the cave to see the moon was already drowning amidst the sea of trees.
That was the last push.
Renir perspired, his body became warmer and his hunger drastically became severe.
Renir wandered as he unhesitatingly took a bite of one of the blue fruits.
This hunger... is also unusual.
Chump*
The night became darker since the starless sky gave no light besides the moon.
Outside the cave was a complete darkness.
But Renir would only found this later, for he was filled with enigmatic feeling coursing throughout his body!
He only knew one thing about it; it wasn't bad. His hunger was satiated almost immediately along with the enigmatic feeling.
Not only that, but Renir was feeling robust, light, and energetic. He was fully awake.
He became a little fidgety, obviously not adept at this vigorous feeling. Limbs that were exhausted became fresh and relaxed.
Renir stared at the blue fruit with disbelief. With just one bite, he was rejuvenated.
His eyes shone as he saw the hope of survival.
Hurriedly, he kept the blue fruit, wishing it will not rot and covered it with his long-sleeved.
Thanks to the subtle illumination coming from the stairs and to Renir's slightly adjusted to the dark eyes, he was able to see quite well.
When Renir noticed a small gap between the stone tablet and the cave's wall, he decided to keep the blue fruits there.
But when he touched the stone tablet, the blue fruit, the symbols engraved and Renir's eyes glowed blue.
'Another enlightenment?!', Renir expressed shock in his thoughts before words entered his mind.
[
After years of experimentation and breeding plantation;
Their efforts never bore the fruit of their dreams. Dreams to end the war.
King Shaylet, one of the few Mage Kings- filled with power and life within them- wanted to use the fruit in his vision to strengthen his army, and win the war for his kingdom to enter peace.
Yet, the fruit did not ripen.
King Shaylet's kingdom lost and the land became their graves.
The corpse of King Shaylet was buried under the farm of their dreams.
And finally;
The blue fruit ripened.
It was called Chylet's Fruit, and other names were called to it such as its most common name, "Chylefruit"
Chylefruit can increase the spirit of the consumer and thus, contributing greatly to the health of the body.
But be warned that a weaker spirit may not handle too many Chylefruits.
]
"...."
The words that entered his mind were confusing and unexplainable.
As if he was in a fantasy.
Renir's voice crackled as his throat shuddered, "Mage king?... Spirit?.."
He was full of shock and amazement to the world he was brought into.
"I really am in another world...", be mumbled while his eyes turned to see light, not from the torches but outside.
The moonlight appeared.