The loud sound of the morning horn bellowed out through the village.

Morgan eagerly woke up.

He was thinking, “Finally, it’s time for my first real hunt.”

Seeing Josh still laying down on the floor, he got up and gave him a friendly kick in the back. Josh just grunted a few words.

“Let me sleep man.”

Morgan just laughed at his response as he opened the door and walked out.

He saw Nestor getting ready in his farming gear and told him good morning.

Nestor responded, “Haha. Aren’t you in great spirits boy.”

“Today’s my first hunt what do you expect.” Cheerfully responded Morgan.

They parted as Morgan continued on his way out the cabin. He was heading directly towards the hunters cabin.

As he walked through town, he looked at the newly formed township. He felt pride as this was his new home. It had changed so much since they first had arrived 7 months ago.

Yes that’s right 7 months.

Throughout the 7 months many things had changed. Firstly, Morgan and the rest had gradually come to understand the language people spoke here. They were made to sit in with the children who were being taught to talk, read and write, by an old village lady. It was slightly embarrassing, being adults learning the same as 3 year olds.

With their new found communication they finally learned of where they were.

This was no longer their world. This place wasn’t Earth, it was instead called Xian. The place they had crashed in was called the forbidden land. Otherwise called the dark forest. It was a stretch of lifeless rotten land separating the monster's territory from the other continents.

Theyhad landed on it’s outskirts where there was still plant life, but was largely avoided by wild animals.

If they had gone deeper they would have been met with doom. Lucky they were to have gone the direction they had, down river and towards the village. The opposite way would have led them to deaths door. It seemed that the creature that had attacked the survivors that night was one of such monsters. It had likely wandered off in search of food when it heard the crash.

Originally, the plan was to send a rescue party to pick up the survivors Morgan and the rest had left behind, but that didn’t go as planned. They returned with food a few days after having arrived at the village, only to find no one. The door on the plane had been broken into and dried blood was clearly visible. If there was anyone left they would be long gone by now.

Morgan was originally distraught by the realization that Cristy was likely dead. It took him a few weeks to finally get over the fact that he would likely never see her again.

However, from his time here, he had learned that death was a common occurrence.

Without a way to return home, they were left nothing other than to join the village.

The village had no name as it was not a recognized settlement by the human kingdom. It was a border territory started by people who could either not afford land, or had troubled pasts. The village leader Igor himself was a disgraced general, having left the battlefield to care for his sick wife. He was charged with treason and incarcerated soon after. During this period his wife had perished.

He had not founded the village, but is the man who made it flourish.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

The village itself was on the eastern outskirts of the kingdom. The reason it was unclaimed even though fertile was the dark forest neighboring it. It was common knowledge that a vile beast or creature would occasionally come out for search of prey.

From what Morgan learned, the human kingdom was the most populous of all the races. That was something that amazed Morgan.

There were more than just humans in the world. Supposedly there were elves, dwarves, beastmen and fairies. He had not met any of the others so did not keep them in mind.

Xian had four major continents. The largest was home to the human, dwarven and elven people. The beastmen had their own in the south, as did the fairies in the west.

The last was the dark continent to the east of the village.

If not for the fact this was their new reality, it would have been impossible for Morgan and the others to accept such a place existing.

The most extraordinary thing they learned, however, was of the existence of magic and the gods.

Magic was not a things of myth here, it was part of life. The village's only doctor was also the only mage, a retired water magus. He was able to make wondrous elixirs and heal the injured. Most amazing was his ability to control the flow of blood, stopping fatal bleeding and saving lives.

The gods however were beings which had transcended power and mortality. Each element of magic was accompanied by a single god.

The gods were beings who had reached beyond the limits of mortality and the peak of their respective elements. They lived in a different dimension, but kept some connection to the world. It was taboo for a god to appear in the mortal realm, but they could let some power through as blessings or artifacts as gifts.

People were allowed to worship the god of their choosing except for one.

Only two gods seemed truly special. The most revered was the goddess of light also called goddess of life. Her actual name was Mania.

The other was the god of darkness. He is universally despised, and often his followers are arrested if not killed in the spot. Rarely is he ever mentioned, and even his name has become long forgotten by the normal people.

It seemed he had led dark armies in massive wars which led to disaster.

Thelargest if which had occurred over 300 years ago, leading to the destruction of the dwarven and elven continent. It is the now called dark continent.

Since then, all of his followers outside of the dark continent had been killed.

The goddess if light was the woman represented in the town center statue. The words on the base read, With her light and grace our victory is true and holy.

Mania was the god who blessed the warriors against the darkness during the last war. Her element directly opposed that of the dark god, so they were natural enemies.

Most gods had churches where their followers worshipped them. The main church of each god was special, with a small gem that was the catalyst for the gods to pass their blessings. This little gem was the prized possession of each church.

The church of light was the largest housing over 60% of the population. They held so much power in fact, that although they held no kingdom their pope was treated like royalty wherever she went, and was a personal advisor to any king or queen.

Morgan almost couldn’t believe that this world had gods that could actually do things. Unlike those which were blindly followed on Earth. Even the church seemed like a good existence, especially after it had given such an immense gift to the village.

The gift was township.

Two months ago representatives of the church had come to the village. Their goal was clear. To assist the development of the village and request the queen to recognize it as a township. In return the church of light would become the official religion of the town and be given plot to build their own church there.

The people eagerly accepted and the rest was history. Trade deals had been made. The construction of the church, town hall, paved roads all came soon after. This little isolated village was on the path to growth and success.

This brings us to where Morgan is now.

As he enters the hunter cabin he hears a conversation between Raac and the archer Isa.

“We already have enough meat Raaaaaaaac. Why do we have to hunt mooore?” Isa was whining.

Raac amusingly responded, “Idiot. Today is the feast for the official recognition of township and for the opening of the church. We must make sure we have more than just enough.”

At this point Morgan walked in.

He said, “What’s up guys ready for the hunt?”

“It’s you who should be answering that question, new boy. Hahaha.” Said Raac as he laughed at Morgan’s childish enthusiasm.

They readied their things and left the village.

Morgan carried a standard bronze sword that was mass produced in the village after the trade routes had started running. He wore clothes made from a cotton like plant, and light leather armor on top.

They soon met up at the river with the other group who had left earlier.

Dick had also joined the hunters and was already there when Morgan’s group arrived. Because of his age and strength they had decided to assign him as a dismantler. He packed a wide variety of tools and knives in his sack slung over his shoulder.

Dick still didn’t like Morgan, but he took no action other than avoiding Morgan whenever possible.

They just greeted each other out of formality.

"Hi"

"Hi"

The group ready for the hunt embarked northward to see if they could find some prey.