บท 6: Trouble?

The library wasn't that far away form the guild.

What really bugged me out was spending so much time looking at books and trying to learn new things.

The life of a student really bored me even when I was alive.

As I entered library the smell of old books hit me instantly. The smell was somewhat of a mix of coffee and the smell of old wooden furniture.

It was different smell from what I remembered from my time on earth.

Was it a result of how old this place is.

"Can you tell me where I can find books that deal with plants and their diseases as well as what are the optimal conditions for the health of the plants to be at their best." I asked the receptionist.

"You can head to the second floor and go to the room named βοτάνη. There you will be able to find the books you are looking for. If you are a beginner I would suggest 'A study of Plant Ecology' by A. R. Woodhead."

"If you need further assistance feel free to approach me." With that she continued to read the book she was reading earlier.

Once at the second floor I looked for the symbol the receptionist had shown me earlier.

I didn't need to look too much as the room was opposite to the staircase.

Once I entered the room a hologram like plant which was similar to sunflower from plants v/s zombies appeared in front of me.

"How can I help you today?" The plant asked me cheerfully with the voice of child.

"I was looking for a book called 'A study of Plant Ecology' by A. R. Woodhead"

"Ok. Follow me."

The sunflower then floated across some shelf before stopping and turning to look at me.

Was it really a plant. It felt like AI had come to life.

I followed it to the book shelf where it was waiting. After that the plant floated some distance before stopping. There was the book I was looking for.

After thanking the plant I took the book and found a place to sit before beginning to read the book.

The author started by talking about different plants about plants. It felt like the author had assumed the readers were total beginners and such he gave a long introductory chapter on the same.

After that he talked about how different plant cells or tissues work and functions performed by them.

Before I knew it a lot of time had passed and I was feeling hungry.

It was still boring to read a book but I persisted. I kept the book back in the shelf before heading out.

As I was walking towards the home I was thinking about what I actually wanted to achieve once again.

It hadn't even been a week since I came here and I felt like this life was really crappy.

Neiiiiigh

The loud neighing of the horses forced me out of my thoughts.

A small group of soldiers were headed somewhere.

Should I follow them.

I was pretty hungry but it felt like something unique that shouldn't be missed and as such I turned around and started running towards where the soldiers were headed.

Thankfully for me the speed at which the soldiers were moving forward was slow as people were still walking on the streets.

After some time I was able to see the gates of the town and the wall enclosing the town.

It reminded me of a game I used to play in my childhood called 'Age of Empires' with how the soldiers were moving.

As I approached the gate I was able to hear the rattle of chains the gates were moving.

A small opening was present at the side of gate for pedestrians to exit.

I quickly exited to find a vast forest which was visible as far as eyes could see.

The soldiers without stopping headed towards the forest.

It was here that that I felt hesitant. Should I proceed into the forest or should I head back into the town.

If I got lost in the forest I was pretty much a dead man walking but was there anything that was holding me back.

I wanted to see her once again but after remembering the granny's experience I felt the chances of finding her were quite slim.

There was essentially nothing that I wanted to achieve in this life and as such I followed those soldiers into the forest.

After some time of trailing those soldiers into the forest I was only able to hear the sound created by the running horses.

It was like that was the only sound present int the entire forest. It was quite eerie.

And then the next second everything went silent.

It felt like the calm before the storm and after few seconds shouts emerged.

I went closer to place from where the voices were coming to take a closer look at what was happening.

There the soldiers were battling with a monster which appeared to me like some kind of giant with how tall it was.

The monster was twice the size of the soldiers and was even wielding a club. It looked pretty scary and yet the soldiers were battle with the giant not caring about their lives.

One of them got stopped on by the giant turning the solider and his horse into a bloody paste.

But the other soldiers didn't even paid spare a glance at their fallen comrade as they continued to inflict wounds on the giant.

Some of the solider's swords were glowing purple as they slashed at the giant. Whenever those swords sliced the giants some part of the giants skin turned black as if it was rotting.

Were the soldiers blessed by same god. Suddenly my attention was drawn by a solider whose sword became a flaming red just for it to emit actual flames a second later.

The giants attention was also attracted by that flaming sword. But before the giant could even do something about it the man left off of his horse and sliced the giants neck in one fell swoop.

As the solider landed on the ground a fountain of blood erupted from the giants neck as the head fell beside the soldier.

The solider sheathed his sword before heading towards his horse.

As he was about to sit on his horse he suddenly glanced in my direction. Was he able to see me.

But I hadn't even made a motion from the time I had arrived here and observed their fight.

How was he able to see me. Or was I mistaken and there was something else he was looking at.

I couldn't tell but all my doubts were cleared away when the solider made his way towards where I was hiding.

"Come out and state your name before I slash your neck myself." The solider said in a commanding voice.

"With no other present in front of me I made my way towards the solider.

"I am Robert Croft. I arrived recently in Neri or found myself in Neri. I was just curious as to what was transpiring here and followed you. Imran you no harm."

"Do you have any alibi?"

"Yes. You can ask Lily from Guild of Devas about me."

"Bind him in chains and take him with us." He ordered the soldiers as he looked at them.

Was he the group leader.

One of the solider came towards me and made a sign in my directions and suddenly chains appeared out of nowhere constraining me in them.

He then picked me up and put me on his horse like I was a sack of potatoes.

What followed was a long and quite ride back to the town.

"One of you go to the guild and bring Lily with you." The flaming sword guy said as we approached the town square.

Our group without stopping went to the solider's barracks where I was treated like some kind of criminal.

It wasn't a new experience for me but it wasn't a pleasant one as well.

After some time a solider returned with Lily.

After seeing me in company of the solider's she was pretty flabbergasted as we were still new acquaintances.

The flaming sword guy approached her not even letting me explain my part to her.

After both of them had talked things out he released me out of the chains constraining me.

"Next time make sure that you don't spy on soldiers like you did today. As you might find a garland of flowers around your neck instead of those chains."

Without waiting for a response from me the soldier headed inside his garrison.

I looked towards Lily who was rubbing her forehead.

"Tell me what exactly were you thinking following the soldiers like that." She said with an irritated tone.

"I wa-"

"I wasn't expecting a response from you. It was supposed to be a rhetorical question."

"And why did you call for me in the first place. Don't you know anyone else in the entire town."

"I know a grandma with whom I am currently living but I didn't want her to worry so I told them about you as you are the only person I know other than the grandma."

My reason was able to somehow calm her down.

"Don't get tangled up with them another time and go back to your home before the grandma starts to worry about you."

"Thank you for today."

"Yeah yeah. You can save your thanks for tomorrow when it will be time for your training."

With the entire matter behind me I walked towards the grandmas house. My stomach was constantly rumbling while I was walking.

It was good that the streets were empty to save me from the embarrassment.

The grandma wasn't present on the front yard today.

I opened the door to find her asleep on the dining table.

"I am sorry for being so much late today. I promise I will let you know if I will be getting late again." I apologised to her as I nudged her awake.

"Ricky don't ever leave grandma like that ok."

"Ok grandma." That must be her grandson I thought as I watched her departing figure go towards her room.

The grandma's figure felt pretty lonely as she headed towards her room.

After I had satiated my stomach I finally went to my room to sleep but I was unable to sleep. The image of the solider cutting the giant was constantly appearing in my head.

Monster extermination felt like a dream to me. Could I be able to cut through monsters like that.

The thought felt pretty nonsensical to me as my blessing was health manipulation. But if I would be able to cut through monsters like that it would feel pretty good.

With those thought I finally went to sleep.