During a journey, the most essential items are usually water followed by food and camping gear. In Ray's case, he could secure water from the prosperous forest which border he trod. Although he didn't find any raging rivers, the occasional small stream was present. The same went for food. Hunting game wasn't one of Ray's few talents, so he made do with nuts and berries. It was easy to find out which ones are poisonous, by observing different kinds of animals consume them.

It was interesting for him to see, how similar evolution has treated the two different worlds. Squirrels, birds and even boars had been frequent discoveries, their outward appearance not differing too much from what he knew. Of course, Ray wasn't any kind of specialist when it came it came to animal species, so they might just exist on earth without him knowing.

If you discounted all his previous experiences in this new world, one could think he was on a completely normal camping trip on earth.

But with the normalcy of the situation, the usual, seemingly inconsequential, problems came back. His feet hurt. From dusk 'till dawn, he had run around in the forest, and now he was hiking the edgiest mountains he was ever on. The sun was already at its highest point, smothering Ray in its merciless heat. To him, it seemed even more of a hell on earth than the Inferno he had come from.

Trudging along, Ray tried to distract himself from the tribulation he was facing, but the only thing that came into his mind were things he didn't want to remember. In these mountains, he had killed for the first time and lost the only people who connected him to his old life. No matter what he tried to think about, his thoughts, slow as they were, always floated back to his friends. Were they still alive? If yes, how were they doing? He could only imagine the worst. This was a world where the average life wasn't worth much, and the life of a suspected enemy as good as nothing.

'Well...no point thinking about it. Letˋs just march forward.'

Leaking out a huge sigh, Ray stopped brooding. What he couldn't change didn't deserve his attention. He had enough problems on his own.

....

The never changing scenery of the Barren Mountains was slowly making Ray depressed. He was already wandering for several days, but the end was nowhere near in sight. He had considered the possibility of the Elves having lied to him but dismissed the thought in the same heartbeat. A clinically insane prisoner with no prospects of life to speak of, lying to him about something that should be common knowledge. Unlikely. And even though Ray wasn't a human compass, he had confidence in walking in a straight line, not to mention the boundary with the forest he had to orientate himself with.

After walking all this while, a weird vibration made itself more and more noticeable. The arduous journey becoming even more of a hassle. For the first few hours, he dismissed it as his feet slowly giving out, the vibration being merely a symptom of his declining health. The possibility of it being a hallucination also crossed his mind. He had heard of people in the desert seeing strange things after traveling for days. Since his situation wasn't too different, it was a legitimate speculation, right? The reality played out to be different though. Mounting a nearby hill, small black dots, getting ever so slowly bigger, came to his attention. The blinding sun prevented him from making out their shapes, but by the speed they traveled and the estimated technological advancement of this world, it had to be horses.

'F*CK! I hope it's not remnants of that army. Never wanna deal with those morons again.'

Since his first experience with the military of this world wasn't exactly ideal, he didn't want to bet his money on the benevolent keepers of the law coming in his direction. That said, there wasn't much he could do to keep them from spotting him...if they didn't already do so. Quickly sliding down the slope, he ran to the next best crevice and slit inside. Hiding in between cracks or behind hills, whilst waiting for them to pass, seemed to be the only viable choice.

Time passed slowly. With Ray's heavy breathing and thumping heart being the only noise around, he tried to understand the distance between him and the riders through the vibrations in the ground. But whether it was his inability to properly read the fluctuations or them having decided to tread on the spot, the tremor, shaking him up from within, remained the same however much time passed.

After a nerve-wracking unknown amount of time, the heavy thuds of horses kicking up dust made Ray's heart drop into his stomach. Metal clanking and horses neighing were near enough for him to pick up the clue. They had spotted him. Whether they knew his exact location had to remain to be seen, but in the end, it didn't really matter. With potential enemies strolling around, he couldn't just swag out of his hiding spot like nobody's there.

Thinking he should take the initiative, Ray put his hands up, a frantic expression on his face and stormed out of the crevice. Outside were four people, searching the vicinity. Three of them were dressed in a similar fashion as the soldiers Ray had seen before. One, however, was quite obviously different from them. A red cape at his back, so long and big it was bound to become a nuisance in battle, fluttered in the wind. His full metal armor adorned with golden linings reflected the sunlight so perfectly, one would think it was a mirror. To finish the look, a massive feather crown, resembling those of chicken, sprouted out of his helmet. It swayed with every movement he made, making Ray wonder about the neck strength one must possess to wear such an item.

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With Ray's rather showy entrance the four noticed him without any delay, and three of them even drew their weapons. But before any of them could get a word out, Ray fell onto his knees, tears welling up in his eyes.

"O' Gracious Lord, so I can still be saved!"

Surprised by his sudden action, the four stood still, confusion evident on their faces. They looked around, keeping an eye out for any other people who might come darting out of any cracks or niches.

As nothing happened and Ray didn't speak anymore, the man in the pompous armor stood out, his nose high up in the air.

"Peasant, speak! Who are you and where have you come from?!"

'Peasant. Haven't heard that one since Josh greeted me for the first time in college.'

"M'Lord this one is but a humble farmers boy. Those dogs abducted me and the others from the village and wanted to bring us to their filthy lands! Luckily I could flee and meet your esteemed self here."

The man took a closer look at Ray, but with a smile that got broader the more flattery, the latter spoke. Their weapons still out, the other three squinted their eyes at him but didn't speak up. Ray didn't know whether he had angered them with his words or if they had grown suspicious, but his gaze didn't fall off the armored cockerel. Going by their behavior, his words seemed to carry the most weight.

Scratching his stubby beard, 'His Lordship' talked down to Ray.

"That sounds like something those dogs of Arabet would do..."

Making a rather long pause, the nature of his smile changed.

"But do not worry peasant! This mighty Lord Frederic Lockhall, captain of the Knights of his Grace the Duke, shall escort you to the safety of our homeland Resal!"

'Thank god it worked! And I got quite a bit of information too.'

Lowering his face, Ray picked up a small amount of dirt of the ground and threw it lightly against his face. When he looked up again, tears flowed from his eyes

"Thank you! Thank you, your Lordship! I will never forget this favor!" He shouted at the captain.

Lord Lockhall put his hands on his hips, in a similar fashion as someone Ray didnˋt want to remember.

"HAHA! No need for pleasantries, peasant! Helping the weak and lowly is the duty of Knights and Nobles."

As the captain continued to ramble on about the duty and honor of Nobles, one of the soldiers in the back approached him. His weapon sheathed and head lowered, he grumbled in a low voice.

"Captain....what about the mission?"

The Lord's monologue abruptly stopped, and an awkward silence commenced. The soldiers sweated profusely but didn't dare to make another sound. The smug smile wiped from his face, replaced by a heavy frown; the captain slowly turned to the soldier. He stared at him, hand on his sword, eyes on the neck.

"You dare go against my orders?"

"O-Of course not M'Lord! But his Grace's mission..."

At this point, Frederic raised his hand and slapped the soldier across his face.

"Do not speak any further! Be glad I'm in a good mood, or your head would rolling at my feet by now!"

'A slap? How anticlimactic...'

Ray watched the whole play captivated. Going by the conversation he deducted that Frederic wanted to use him to ditch his mission, and although it would leave a bad taste to be used by someone else, the gains overwhelmingly outweighed the losses. With an entourage of soldiers and even a Knights captain, getting into Human territory and more importantly, a safe city should be a walk in the park.

Over the course of his two imprisonments, Ray's clothes had taken quite the hit. A ripped apart shirt, half his pants and shoes broken beyond recognition was all he had left. He looked worse than even the poorest of beggars.

Since he caught such an idiotic Noble, who can save him the trouble of having to explain himself, he definitely wouldn't let him go.

He got up from his kneeling position, and clapped lightly, focusing the attention on himself.

"M'Lord, the day is still young. If we go now, we may reach the city before dark."

What he did and said seemed incredibly inconsiderate given the tense atmosphere, especially since he didn't have any idea if what he said was true, but would anybody expect a 'farmers boy' to take such things into account? And what he lost in social finesse he made up by making a way to step down for the captain and soldier.

Frederic swished his cape and stomped to his horse as loudly as he could, ignoring everyone around him. He had some difficulty getting on the saddle due to his heavy armor and majestic attire but was to busy pouting to think of asking someone for help. The soldiers didn't get involved on their own either, afraid of pulling the ire of their Lord again.

The bloke who got slapped shot Ray a glance of gratitude but was only greeted with an oblivious smile. Not saying anything more, he strode back to his comrades, who one by one started to mount their horses. Ray didn't want to say anything unnecessary either and walked up to one of the soldiers, getting on the back of his horse after some discussion.

The group changed direction and trotted towards Resal. During the whole journey not much was said. His Lordship was demonstrating incredible perseverance in maintaining his foul mood, and with the leader being quiet the subordinates didn't risk anything. Although Ray wanted to get more information out of them, he decided to read the mood and don't start asking stupid questions. He didn't want to lose his free pass for the answer to the mystery of the continental situation.

As time went by, the exhaustion, accumulated over the last few days, finally caught up with Ray. He fell asleep yet before they left the Barren Mountain range, unable to confirm his suspicion about the border between Resal and the Mountains.

Like all the other times he slept in this world, he didn't dream. As soon as he closed his eyes, the world went pitch black. No sound. No vision. No feelings. He was scared the first time it happened, but gradually got used to it. Now it was the only refuge he had from the chaos of life and longed to remain longer each time he slumbered.

A sudden jolt caused Ray to awake. He drowsily stretched his upper body, only to notice the grumpy face of his chauffeur. The soldier didn't seem to like Ray getting sleep while he had to ride without any rest. Replying with a stupid smile, Ray was shocked to notice their current position, as he looked beyond the soldier.

On a vast plain, four horses stood tall. A fresh wind, one he hadnˋt felt in a long time, filled Ray's lungs to the brim. No ash-filled skies nor dust clouds littering the ground. No pained screams nor mad whispers. Only a clear blue sky, an evergreen prairie and the city in the middle of it all.