"So, what would be my task if I chose a protagonist?"
"Host should kill the villain, indirectly."
"And how's that even possible?"
"At least, no bloods would be spilled on Host hands"
Rei scratched his head.
"Sure, I'll try that one."
The pixie then flied away from Rei's shoulder and gone further into the long path with no end ahead of him.
"Follow me."
++++
Seeing the enormous hand approaching, Rei could only pray in his heart. He shut his eyes tight, waiting for the hand to smash him into unrecognized mess of blood and meat. However, after awaiting one.. two minutes, he didn't feel anything.
Rei opened one of his eyes only to find him standing in an empty white space. The fluffy white cloud was too close that it feels like he could reached it. The land was, wait, he was standing on a deep blue sea! The ripple of waters reflected his reflection. Not the warlock. Only Rei, a freshman student.
"How could you manage to die just in a short time after entering the new reality?" A voice suddenly heard in front of him. Rei recognized the sound. Quickly he lifted his head and saw a young man standing before him. He was no older than 17 years in age.
"Alden? How?" Rei looked surprised.
"You should not be in here." Alden approached him.
Alden looked translucent in his long sleeves white t-shirt and white pants.
"I want to stay in here." Rei tried to reach him, but his hands went through his body.
"No, this is not your place." Alden's gaze filled with regrets.
"But I need you to be with me. It just.. different without you." Rei clenched his fists.
"Remember, I'll always be here, watching you." Alden smiled his usual one. It pulled on his heart string.
"Now, go!"
The sea below Rei's feet suddenly melted. With no solid steps, Rei fell into the deep blue ocean. When Rei looked up, he saw Alden mouthing something.
Then, everything turned black.
Rei could hear a far away sound that kept on bugging him. He was annoyed. Then, he felt a sting on his hand. Startled, Rei opened his eyes. In front of his face, he found a big wolf with white as snow fur licking his hands. A small wound was marked there.
Rei racked his brain. Why he ended up in here?
He looked around. The surrounding was covered with lush trees. It means that he was still in the forest. But how he escaped his death was a mystery.
The white wolf nudging Rei's chin with its head. Rei chuckled. He then patted the wolf's back.
"Are you the one who save me?" The wolf stared into Rei's eyes. Its light blue eyes were clear under the sun light.
"Thank you." Rei patted its back some more, then stood up. He looked around. Rei could no more see the ruined castle. It means that they were quite far away from that place.
Rei knocked on the System.
<Hey, System! Where are we?>
No answered.
<System?>
'What happened now? What am I supposed to do?'
He felt the nudging on his long sleeves. Rei looked down. The white wolf looked like wanting him to follow it.
"Where do you want to take me?" Rei let the wolf pulled his hand. Seeing that Rei was walking behind, it released the bite and led the way.
They walked passed many similar looking trees. Rei was sure he would be lost if he has to walk by himself. After 15 minutes walking, they found a small river flowed from the far end of the clearing. The wolf started drinking from it. Rei looked hesitant.
Sure, he was thirsty. But, how could he drink something directly from the river? What if he got stomach ache, and in a middle of nowhere to add.
However, his thirst won somehow, that he squatted and scoped a mouthful of water. The water was clear and cold on his palm. He doubtfully put it in his mouth and give a taste.
Out of his expectation, the water was really refreshing. He then scoped another one until he felt satisfied. He glanced at the wolf which stared at him.
"Yeah, the water was good. Should we bring some?"
He was a warlock. So, of course he could do magic, somehow? He tried to create a water bottle in his mind and transform it into a physical form. His forehead frown in concentration.
Plop.
He heard something fell onto the ground. Rei opened his eyes to find a water bottle made of animal skin lying near his feet.
He smirked at the wolf.
"See, I'm the strongest sorcerer in this land. This thing is nothing for me!" He said proudly.
"Am I just seeing you rolled your eyes?" Rei raised his brow. The wolf turned his head and started walked away. Rei that just finished filling his water bottle followed the wolf's led.
"Where are we going, anyway?" The wolf didn't answer.
"Right. There's not a chance I'll meet a talking wolf. Not even in a magical reality like this one."
They kept on walking for another 20 minutes.
"Wait, isn't a warlock has a flying broom or something? What differed me with you all creatures if I should walked to reach my destination, too?"
Rei tried digging in his memory to find something that could be used to transport him. But somehow, he could not find anything.
"Really? They also walk?" Rei kept on complaining along the way.
"Where's the System, anyway? Why he suddenly left me?"
"I've blocked him." A low voice suddenly heard. Rei halted and stared in surprise.
"You really can talk?"
****