*Chirp chirp*

The sun had started to rise up into the sky as birds chirped on top of trees. Yawning lazily, I opened my sleepy eyes. Like many others, I hated the morning. However, unlike them, I didn’t dislike it because of having to force myself to wake up from bed to go to school or work. I hated the morning because I always woke up to find myself alone in this world.

*sigh*

“I should get going now.”

I shoved a few pieces of bread in my mouth, grabbed a small bag and started making my way towards a lake outside the village. The remaining bread, a half-empty bottle of water and some other things were in the bag which I always carried around with me.

After reaching the lake I placed my clothes on a rock and dove into the lake.

“Brrr…… it’s freezing cold as usual.”

I still remembered the first time I had to take a wash in the lake. It was winter when the old man disappeared. In the past, he would always provide me with warm water to take a wash. He never told me where he got it from and would always avoid the question every time I asked him about it. I even suspected him of being a mage, but because of how careful the old fox was, I was never able to confirm my suspicions.

I finished cleaning myself and left the lake while shivering and dried myself using a cloth I had kept in my bag. After dressing up, I started to make my way to the forest. The forest and lake were on complete opposite sides of the village, so I had to make a full journey across the village.

As I walked across the village, I could see some people preparing for the day. Even some of the children had woken up and were playing with each other.

“Such carefree lives” I said as I bitterly smiled to myself.

~10 hours later~

After searching the forest for a long time, I had only managed to find 27 pieces of firewood. It was almost the end of the day and I was nowhere near the daily goal of 50 pieces of firewood.

“This is bad. It seems like I’ll have to use some of the money I saved up if I want to eat tonight. Let’s search for a little while longer.”

I kept advancing deeper and deeper into the forest as I looked for firewood.

“Hmm… what are these?”

I stop in front of some imprints on the snow.

“Footprints… But why are they so large? Do any animals here have such large feet? Maybe a bear. No, even a bear’s footprint is smaller than that.”

I had come across some animal tracks. They were bigger than normal so I couldn’t really identify what the animal was.

“I should be more careful so I don’t run into any dangerous animals in the forest” I muttered as I continued on my search for firewood.

I had never gone too deep into the forest in fear of losing my way. But today I had kept walking and before I knew it, I’d penetrated into the depths of the woods.

“It’s already quite late. If I don’t start returning now, I won’t make it back to the village before the shops close down. Besides, who knows what sort of dangerous animals come out at night searching for food?” I said as an image of the footprints I saw earlier flashed through my mind.

I made up my mind to give up on finding any more firewood and began to leave.

*rustle*

Just as I was about to turn around, I saw something flash past me from the corner of my eyes and heard a small sound. I turned my head towards the source of the sound and saw nothing other than a few bushes covered in snow.

“It came from behind the bushes…”

My curiosity getting the better of me, I slowly approach the bushes and peer over them.

“A rabbit!!!” I whispered to myself under my breath.

There was a small rabbit hopping around on the snow a little distance away from the bushes. Its fur was pure white in color and blended very well with the snow around it.

Rabbits were rare creatures in this area and it was very hard to come across one. I had heard that rabbit meat was treated as a delicacy. Of course, I had no intention of eating the rabbit. If I sold it, it would definitely fetch me over a silver coin. A single silver coin was worth 100 copper coins. I’d have to be a moron to eat it? I didn’t even have the skills required to cook the rabbit and would probably just end up ruining it.

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“It’s getting very late now, but… ”

I pondered over the risks of staying in the forest at night and finally came to the conclusion that it was worth missing one day’s worth of meals if I could capture the rabbit.

“That’s IF I can catch it. Otherwise, all my efforts would have been for naught.”

I calmed myself down and patiently waited until the rabbit came closer to me. As time went on, the rabbit moved around the area and finally came near the bush I was hiding behind. I slowed down my breathing in fear of the rabbit noticing my presence.

NOW!!!!!!

I pounced on the rabbit as fast as I could, but…

“Tch… missed” I mumbled as I hurriedly started to chase after the fleeing rabbit.

It had managed to slip away through the gaps in my fingers at the last moment. It was running away quite fast and the snow acted as a perfect cover for it. I had almost lost it many times because of that. Fortunately, walking around the forest for many hours every day had built up my stamina, so I was able to keep chasing the rabbit for a long time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*huff huff*

My breathing started to get disoriented and my vision was getting slightly hazy due to exhaustion. I had no idea how long I had been chasing the rabbit. At one point I threw all other thoughts to the wind and put all my effort into catching up with it. Yet, no matter how much I chased the rabbit, I could never catch up to it. But it never went out of sight either. It almost felt as if the rabbit was leading me somewhere.

*fwip*

As I was running, my foot slipped on a rock and I fell headfirst onto the snow, rolling along the slope I had been running down. Due to having been running for so long, I was exhausted and didn’t even have any strength in my arms to grab onto anything. I continued to roll for so long that I thought it would never end but suddenly…

*SPLASH!!!!!!!!!!!......*

I felt my entire body get lighter as I lost my ability to breathe. It seemed like a lake had become the final stop in my rolling tour. The momentum I had when I arrived at the lake was so great that I sunk pretty deep into the water. Regaining control of my body, I started to swim back to the top of the lake. It was difficult to do because my whole body was feeling numb thanks to all the running and rolling.

“I need to quickly get to the top. Otherwise, the water will freeze m--… ”

My train of thought suddenly froze as I noticed something. The water was… warm. This new discovery shocked me.

“It feels very comfortable.”

It felt as if my numb muscles were regaining their strength. I made one final kick with my newfound strength and made it to the surface of the lake.

*splash!*

*huff huff*

I took in quick breaths of air as I wiped the drenched hair away from my eyes and took a look at where I was.

*gasp*

My eyes widened as my entire body paralyzed from shock. I almost even forgot to breathe.

“So beautiful…”

The moonlight escaping through the trees showered itself onto the lake surface. The sight before me was truly a feast for the eyes. There was no snow anywhere near the lake and the trees were all full of leaves, fruits, and flowers. A very tranquil and harmonious feeling was present within this region which made anyone in it feel very comfortable and relaxed.

It was as if the area surrounding the lake belonged to a world of its own. The sharp contrast between the shimmering lake and the frozen world outside was truly picturesque. It was truly a breathtaking scene. One which I had never even imagined could exist.

I slowly made my way out of the lake as I took in the world around me. Exiting the lake I realized that my body was no longer soaked. It was as if the water had completely slipped off my body and clothes and returned to the lake.

“To think such a place existed so deep in the forest.”

“But I still don’t understand. How can two completely different environments co-exist together like this?”

“Could a mage have once lived here? That should be the only possible explanation. Even so, to be able to manipulate the environment to such great lengths… he must have been very strong.”

Even though mages were capable of moving the natural energy around them in order to cast spells, to bend the rules of the world around them and impose their own rules over an area would require a person to reach such a high level of understanding towards the natural elements that most people would consider them gods.

“Could it have been an elf?!!!”

That would make more sense. After all, elves were a race very close to nature and have even been discussed to be the most powerful race in existence. Not only are all of them gifted enviable talent in magic since birth, but they also have a very long life span. Any elf could live a minimum of 400 years without being affected by any outside factors. For a human to surpass elves in magic would be near impossible. Of course, near impossible doesn’t mean it had never been done before.

According to what the old man told me, there used to be a time period long ago where the title of being the strongest race had belonged to the humans. This was when the Ancient Royal family had been at the helm of the human race. They had acted as the sword and shield of the human race and were respected by everyone, irrespective of race. The founder of the Ancient Royal family was said to have been the strongest existence in his time period.

I walked around the lake as I looked at all the flora and fauna around me.

*grrraaa*

As a fragrant scent entered my nose, my empty stomach started to grumble in protest to not being fed. The smell alone was making my mouth water so I plucked a random fruit which I assumed was edible and took a bite from it.

“----!!!!!!!!!!!”

A sudden gush of flavor rushed into my mouth. Unfamiliar tastes that I had never known of started invading my mind.

“So good.”

To me, whose whole taste palate had consisted of nothing more than water, dry bread and a few other things, the incredible flavor of the fruit was so overwhelming that my mind blanked out.

As I looked at the moon which hung high up in the sky, I realized that it was already nearing midnight and I had no way of returning to the village.

“Do I even… want to go back to the village? This place is much more comfortable, has food, water and for some reason… It feels like home to me.”

Due to the extremely pleasant and comfortable environment combined with my own exhaustion, I slowly fell asleep on a patch of grass underneath a tree without even realizing it.

*sigh*

“It is still too early for you, young one…”