บท 29: Meeting Again

The sun stung his eyes as he was just underground. As he looked around, Arthur saw that he came out beside a stream in the middle of the forest. His stomach hurt because of his hunger and the deep wound.

Every step he walked, he felt like he was being slashed again. He needed to rest and heal for now before returning to the underground tunnels for the queen. He didn't know if he could take her out, but he would if he could. Being entrusted by someone's effort of a hundred years felt burdening, but he could always leave it at that.

After cleaning his wound and body in the stream, Arthur headed aimlessly into the forest. He kept away from the central areas and kept looking for prey to hunt.

However, Arthur was too weak to hunt, and he had to use Strength and Stamina runes to keep himself going. After a while of walking, Arthur reached a grass field where he could see many creatures wondering. As he got closer, he felt a strong sense of déjà vu.

'Aren't those… the same boar-eating monsters I saw after I met Jizo?" They were called the Beras, and Arthur remembers how one tried to attack him after being teleported out of Avarice.

His mind was in chaos as he felt confused by the sense of familiarity he was experiencing. Using his Camouflage skill, he traveled along the forest's periphery and the beginning of the grass field without being seen by the Beras.

Arthur checked each tree until he finally made his conclusion. His body shook as he saw the familiar tree the Beras broke when it attacked him. His world was spinning as he couldn't understand what was going on.

However, he needed further proof. Using his memories, he reentered the forest and traced his steps from what seemed like ages ago, only it was a couple of days at most.

Arthur walked as his sense of déjà vu grew stronger with each moment. After a while of walking, he found himself in front of the familiar cave. It was where he stayed when he was teleported out of Avarice.

However, it was much more desolate now. Plants and skeletons of different animals and monsters filled its inside. He could see bite marks on them like something was chewing on them.

"What… is this? Are the trial grounds the future of the real world? Or is it only this place that has been teleported…"

Arthur's head was dizzy from both shock and blood loss. He staggered and fell on his butt as fever took over him. He was too weak to understand what was going on, and he soon fell into unconsciousness.

***

After an unknown amount of time, Arthur felt a cold sensation envelope his chest and face. Although it had a cooling effect, it also woke him up. As his senses returned, he felt like someone was wiping his face with a wet blanket. As he slowly opened his eyes, Arthur was greeted by a giant tongue coming his way.

"What… UGH!" Arthur struggled as his face was licked by the massive tongue, saliva now covering it. As he snapped his eyes open, all he could see was a giant nose. Arthur's gaze slowly turned upward toward the giant creature in front of him. With eyes almost as big as his head, a giant wolf was looking at him with intelligence.

"AAAAH!" After a moment of dizziness, Arthur screamed as he crawled himself backward until his back was against the cave's wall. However, his scream didn't cause any reaction from the wolf as he looked at him with interest.

As Arthur's breather grew heavier, the adrenaline made him forget his pain as he looked at the giant creature in front of him. The monster's body and black fur now filled the cave. It could barely fit the wolf inside of its space, highlighting how gigantic the wolf was.

The giant wolf looked at Arthur for a second before turning around and darting outside the cave. Arthur breathed in relief as he felt fortunate to be left without being eaten, and he decided to leave as soon as possible.

As he gathered his strength and stood up, Arthur felt his wound didn't hurt that much anymore. He attributed this to the adrenaline and started walking toward the entrance.

A gust of wind blew Arthur's black hair into disarray as his eyes squinted. After the wind passed, he opened them to see the wolf standing outside the cave with a rabbit dangling from the corner of its giant maw. The wolf placed the rabbit on the rocky ground of the mountain, and it took a deep breath.

The next scene amazed Arthur more than made him afraid. The wolf blew its breath on the dead rabbit, and then flames came out of its mouth instead of air. The fire lasted for a while as Arthur heard the sound of sizzling meat, making him gulp.

He was too hungry to be afraid. After a few moments, the wolf stopped breathing flames, and it cooked the rabbit. Although it was on the ground, Arthur had no regard for hygiene at the moment. He also had his water that he could use to clean the dirtied parts.

As he looked at the wolf and back at the rabbit, he saw the wolf looking at him and pointing with its paw toward the rabbit. Arthur was confused, but he understood that it was offering him food.

With hunger overtaking him, Arthur took out his water and cleaned the roasted rabbit before starting to 'wolf' the rabbit down. A familiar scene took place where a wounded man ate while a wolf stared at him.

***

Arthur realized what was happening after he regained his strength by eating. Due to fear and hunger earlier, he couldn't piece the clues together to understand the situation. Now, however, he understood the reality that seemed more like a fantasy.

Although hidden underneath the wolf's silky fur, Arthur could see that it had a scar similar to the one he saw back at that time. If the landscape was the same as the one that he visited before, nothing is denying this could be the same wolf he shared a meal with at that time.

However, this conclusion was even more confusing as Arthur looked at the wolf sleeping in front of him. Its body took most of the cave's space, leaving Arthur only a small space for his sleep. After his realization earlier, Arthur knew the wolf wouldn't hurt him. If it had the intention, it wouldn't feed Arthur as it did.

'Is this the future, or is this a small piece of land taken from the real world?' Arthur wondered, but he had no way of knowing. His wound was half-closed now, with the wolf's saliva acting as some sort of healing ointment. However, he was still too weak to hunt.

For the next few days, all Arthur did was sleep, eat the food the wolf brought, and take care of nature's calls. His body was healing rapidly, and after three days since he met the wolf, his wound was fully healed.

Although there was a massive scar on his front torso now, Arthur had no problem moving around and fighting. This was all due to the healing effects the wolf's saliva had.

Today was the day he was going out of the cave. He needed to check one more thing he thought about before leaving. As he left the cave, the wolf followed after Arthur. The latter kept walking forward as he sensed the wolf behind him.

Arthur stopped and looked at the wolf, who simply looked back. After a brief moment of silence, Arthur finally revealed his thoughts shyly.

"Can you give me a ride?"

***

The skies flashed in front of his eyes so did the forest. The air struck him hard, but he used the protection rune to negate the impact he felt. After he did that, the ride was more exciting than scary.

It lasted for several minutes, and they arrived at their destination. Arthur felt slightly disappointed as he wanted to ride on the wolf's back more, but he had a more serious issue on hand.

With a dilapidated appearance, a sign said that Elise's Eyes Pub was in front of him. He was back in the same place. Furthermore, the pub laid at the edge of the trial ground. What was behind it was merely a dark wall resembling the end of the world.

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MellowGuy

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