Mark entered the forest. He cast Fly and moved forward just below the tree line. When he entered the depths of the forest, he saw that it was truly beautiful, unspoiled, and pure. All the colors of the autumn brought forth a cacophony of abundance and decline.

Different animals littered the ground. A herd of deer weaved between the trees. The squirrels busy collecting nuts brought sounds of life in the colorful forest as well as the different sounds of birds. Mark also saw some unknown types of animals and he observed them unnoticed since he was flying silently between the trees. He saw a bear with her cubs following her. He had an urge to steal one of the bear cubs for they were fluffy and cute, and he wanted to keep one as a pet, but he refrained.

There were different kinds of trees and fruits, some known, some unknown and he was not hungry enough to risk his life tasting the unknown fruits of this forest. Mark saw different berries as well as different flowers and some of them were truly astounding in their beauty, like princesses playing hide and seek in the forest.

Mark truly loved autumn, which was why he chose the 11th floor of his dungeon as his home since it was stuck in the perpetual fall season. He loved the coldness of the season but without the truly vicious bite of deep winter. He loved the colors and the calmness it brought to his mind. He loved the feeling of being alone but not truly alone since he was surrounded by life.

He flew deeper into the forest then he started to see some monsters. There was a group of goblins, some large spiders, and some unknown monsters that he didn’t use Identity with because he didn’t want to alert them of his presence.

Mark didn’t want to disturb anyone or anything since he was only there to observe. After several hours of flying through the forest, he went back to the village.

When night came, the inn served him some lamb steak and bread and some ale again which he made himself drink to conform with the others. After dinner, Mark went to the room assigned to him and rested there.

The next day after breakfast, Mark visited the priest in the small chapel located in the village. Father Joseph welcomed him and led him to his tiny office inside the church and there they talked after Mark introduced himself.

“We rarely see visitors from outside here in the village. How can I help you?” The priest asked.

“I have some questions, Father. As you know, I’m from a foreign land and I wanted to learn some of the local cultures to avoid misunderstanding. I also would like to know, what they think of foreigners. I’m glad that the people here in your village are welcoming of strangers, but what about in other places like in the city?”

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“People from the land of Eltmorra like yourself are not rare. In the city, you will see them a lot and most of them are merchants. I’m so happy that you feel welcome here in the village but remember, people here rarely have visitors, and they might actually see you as a curiosity. Especially the young ones who dream of adventure to other places.”

Mark didn’t correct the priest who assumed that he was from that Eltmorra place.

The priest paused to offer Mark something to drink which he accepted.

“You will find some people who may be averse to you but honestly, you are still human and not that much different from other humans from here, especially compared to elves, dwarves, or halflings.” The priest continued.

Mark was surprised to learn that there were other fantasy people here, but he shouldn’t have been since this was a world of fantasy and magic.

“Aside from elves, dwarves, and halflings, what are the other species or races I may encounter?”

“In the cities, you will find diverse groups of species like Drows, orcs, and their half-human counterparts. There’s also the beast kin like werewolves, werecats, and more. You will find countless races in this world so it’s very hard to encounter discrimination. You will only find that behavior in those isolated pockets of communities. Here in our village, although we’re very far from the city, we’re not truly isolated. Sadly, you will also not find any other races here since there’s nothing of note here, no dangerous monsters or dungeons which I’m truly glad because that meant that we could live here in peace.”

The talk paused for a bit and Mark offered some pastries to the priest which the man truly enjoyed. The priest also took wonder at the fact that he had a storage item since only the truly rich had those.

The priest was truly enjoying the chocolate mousse cake that Mark gave and mentioned that he had not tasted such delicacy in his lifetime. After the priest consumed almost all of the whole cake which embarrassed him, they continued talking.

“In the city, you can join the adventurer guild to form a team with other adventurers. After an assessment, they will assign you a rank and you can then join with a group with the same rank. If you really want to learn more about the adventurer guild, you will need to go there to learn it yourself since I only know the general information. There were also other organizations in the cities like the merchant guild, the mage association, and more. According to the rumors, some secret societies had unknown goals.”

Mark asked the priest if he was allowed to drink some liquor and when the priest said that he was, he offered an expensive bottle of wine that he replicated from his inventory. When priest Joseph tasted the wine, Mark saw the man’s face flushed and said that it was the finest wine that he had tasted.

Mark then asked the priest Joseph if he had any spell that would teach him the language permanently, particularly how to read but the priest said that he had none. He then offered to teach Mark, but he declined and mentioned that he would like to go to the city maybe the next day.