After exiting the fog, Dream ran around the fog as fast as he could to get to where the man and foxes would exit the fog.
His backpack bounced up and down against his back and everything inside like his bullets and shovel shook loudy. After getting close to where they would be though, he started slowing down and walking quietly, using the trees as cover.
'I don't see them though. Savant. Give me an overlay of the map you created.'
[Understood. Generating map.]
With those words, Dream saw a map pop up in his vision. This was one of the things Dream was able to find out Savant could do using visualization.
When the map popped up, he could see all the area he had traveled sinc he got here. It created a long line, but he quickly zoomed into where he was at now. When he did, he could see the huge tree dome and the forest around it. He could also see where he was at on the map.
'Alright. I was here. They were here. Savant, plot where they would have exited the fog.'
[Understood.]
The next moment, a dot was created at a certain point on the barrier of fog. That was where they would exit if they headed directly through the fog after jumping the wall.
'Good. Now, assuming they would just travel outward from there, this would be the path.'
Dream drew a line from that dot outward away from the dome. That's where he assumed they would travel if their path was just too and from wherever they lived.
'Alright. Savant, plot out that path in my vision. We're going to follow it.'
[Understood.]
The next moment, Dream could see a line on the ground in his vision. The line was the path, and it appeared a little ways away.
After going over to the line, Dream then followed it away from the fog. Since it had taken him nearly 15 minutes to get here, he decided to run along it. The man was probably far ahead already.
Like that, Dream jogged while following the path. He was hasty, but along the way, he organized his thoughts.
'What should I do if it is a village? How the hell do I introduce myself? Am I supposed to explain my gear? What if they're hostile? And if others have magic, can I fight them? I doubt they can take bullets, but you never know.'
His thoughts ran wildly as he followed the path. His expectation rose, but nervousness and wariness rose along with it.
Soon though, he soon found that he had nothing to worry about. After running along the path for a while, he saw a small hut off in the distance.
Upon spotting this small hut, Dream dropped down, backed away, and found himself a place to observe from afar. He moved to over 300 meters away, so they wouldn't be able to spot him.
Taking out his sniper, Dream put the cabin in his sights. The cabin was a simple wooden one and not too big. It might have a couple of rooms, but it seemed like it was just the man and foxes living there.
Dream didn't approach it though. He planned to observe. He needed to observe the cabin and the man. If he found anything that set off a red flag, then he would think twice about approaching. Or he would do it in a different, more hostile way.
With those plans in mind, Dream circled the cabin while maintaining distance. He got a look at it from all angles, and while there weren't many windows on the cabin, the few he looked through showed either a simple bedroom or a living area. It really did seem like a small, humble cabin in the woods.
After some time though, the man actually came out of the cabin. After walking to an area outside, he raised his hand. Out of nowhere, the bull actually appeared on the floor. It was the same one that the fox had killed.
'Summoning maybe? Or something like a spacial inventory bag? If those even exist.'
Dream speculated as he watched the man. Not long after he dropped the bull on the ground though, a girl came walking out of the cabin.
This girl was beautiful, and Dream's eyes widened as he saw her. She was decently tall, had long pure white hair, a curvy but fit body, and wore some loose-fitting cloth clothes. She wasn't old by any means, and instead looked to be in her 20s.
'Holy crap. She's a 10/10 in my book. How does she have white hair though? Is that even natural?'
Dream's mind got a little imaginative as he watched the girl walk over to the bull. After crouching down next to it, she suddenly created a blade in her hand. The translucent blade seemed to be made of ice, and she quickly cut into the bull with it.
With practiced hands, the girl masterfully skinned the entire bull and sliced up its meat. After a couple of hours, the entire bull had been cut up and all its meat was divided up into piles. Anything that was edible was butchered, and it was clear that this girl had lots of experience with this kind of thing.
'She's perfect.'
Dream got excited as he watched the girl clean the blood off her with some water. Tough girls were always attractive to him. He didn't really like the fragile ones. And this girl definitely knew how to handle herself. He just watched her butcher an entire bull. How many girls could do something like that? He didn't know any.
Either way, he was already interested in this girl. She was gorgeous and could butcher a bull. It's everything a man could ever want.
Suddenly though, another person came out of the cabin. Dream looked over thinking it would be the man, but instead, it was actually another girl.
'There's two of them!'
Dream was surprised as he observed this second girl. She was the opposite of the white haired girl and had black hair. However, other than their different hair colors, almost nothing else was different. They had basically identical faces and features, all the way down to their height and body shape.
'Identical twins? They have opposite hair colors though. Definitely twins at least.'
Dream thought to himself as the two girls grabbed some of the butchered meat and brought it inside. After a couple of trips, all the meat was in the cabin, and the girls never came back out.
Dream set his sniper down for a bit and sat back against the tree he was next to.
'I don't know what their relationship is, but it shouldn't matter. They don't seem like bad people. I don't know what they're doing here, but that's beside the point. I haven't found anything weird. Should I approach them? Maybe I should observe for a bit longer. I wonder how often that man and those foxes go to the tree dome. If they leave again, maybe I can sneak in and look around the house, or try to talk to the girls.'
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
After thinking to himself for a bit, Dream decided to wait it out a bit longer. He had all the time in the world, so spending some to make sure these people were safe was worth it. He could push down his anxiousness and desire for social interaction until then.
.........
That day, Dream just sat around while occasionally watching the cabin.
The three people rarely came outside. They did once though, and it was for training. The man could apparently teach martial arts, and during the afternoon, the two girls had spared against each other for a few hours.
The whole training session was of course spied on by Dream. He watched it all with bulging eyes. It wasn't because of their sexiness though, but because of how they fought.
Both girls were monsters. Their punches and movements were super fast, and Dream could barely keep up. He didn't know that it was possible for people to move that fast, but he saw the inhumane reactions and attacks with his own eyes. Needless to say, he definitely wouldn't win in a close combat fight with them. In neither speed nor strength probably. It really reminded him that this was a different world with a different set of rules.
Other than the training session though, nothing else happened, and the three people spent the rest of the day inside. Soon, night fell, and Dream dug himself a fox hole to sleep in.
The next morning, Dream woke up early and crawled out of the fox hole. When he did, he went back to observing the house. He mainly wanted to see if the people would leave, a reason he woke up earlier than usual.
Sure enough, after an hour or so, the man emerged from the house. Behind him were those same two black and white foxes. And as if it were usual, they started walking off into the direction of the tree dome.
As they walked, Dream sunk back behind the tree. Although he had put himself off to the side, he was still kind of close to the path, so they ended up walking within 80 meters of him before just continuing on their way.
After managing to stay hidden, Dream sighed to himself and watched them walk off into the distance. Once they were out of view, Dream grabbed his rifle and stashed all his other gear inside the fox hole. Then he quickly but quietly made his way over to the cabin.
'Those two foxes left, so that means the two girls are here. I don't want to get violent, so let's just be open about this.'
With those thoughts, Dream walked up to the cabin door and knocked.
"Uhh, hello? Is anyone home."
....
"Hello?"
Confused, Dream called out loudly a few times, but he got no answer.
'Damn. Are they asleep? Maybe. If they are, should I just sneak in? Ahh, screw it. Let's just get a quick peek, see if there's anything weird.'
Deciding to just take things as they come, Dream carefully pushed the door open.
As he entered the cabin, he was met with a nice little living space. Off to the side was also a kitchen and a table. Everything was pretty basic though, and there wasn't hardly any decoration.
Looking around quickly, Dream took extremely careful steps as he inched across the room. He gradually made his way to the hallway that would lead to the rooms in the back.
As he sneaked, he minimized any and all sounds from his movements. He slowed his breathing and heart rate, and even unconsciously pulled in his mana, something that had become reflex from his days in the forest while trying to work his way around boars.
Apparently this time though, he was sneaking so well that the magical system acknowledged his abilities.
Two notifications popped up in his vision, and with them, Dream could feel his mana being utilized in a new way. It naturally covered the surface of his skin and worked to minimize his presence as much as possible.
'...Well that's nice.'
Dream stopped in his tracks for a second and smiled. It was nice to get something like this when he needed it most.
After a bit though, he just kept on walking. Now, his steps were much quieter, and he could hardly hear any sounds coming from him at all. Even the air seemed to smoothly flow past his body.
Eventually, Dream was in the hallway and about to turn a corner. However that's when he heard something, and his heart jumped up into his throat. The sound came from behind him. It was the sound of the cabin door.
Spinning around, Dream reflexively raised his rifle and took aim. Behind him was the man, and standing behind him were the two foxes that were looking at Dream curiously.
Dream and the man stared off for a bit and sized each other up. The man looked middle-aged and had a bit of scraggly stubble on his face. His hair was shaggy and unkempt and his muscles bulged a bit from underneath his clothes. It was a bit intimidating, but Dream himself wasn't anything to scoff at either.
The man had narrowed eyes as he looked at Dream, and Dream just kept the gun aimed at the man. Eventually, the man spoke up.
"Who are you?"
When the man spoke, a bit of black smoke streamed out from his body. Dream didn't know what it was, but he assumed it was some kind of magic, and the man was likely preparing to attack.
Dream spoke seriously and didn't make any sudden moves for fear of a fight erupting.
"My name is Dream."
"And who are you, Dream? Why are you here?"
"I'm just someone who's lost. I've been searching for people, and you guys were the first I found."
"Is that right? Then explain to me what you were doing stalking the cabin."
"...I didn't know who you guys were, so I watched you for a bit to make sure there was nothing out of the ordinary."
Dream's eyes went a bit wide hearing how the man knew he was there. He had never been that close at any point in time, so he was really interested in how he saw him.
The man's hostility only increased though, obviously not liking the answers he was hearing.
"You stalk us, and then come here when we leave. Tell me who sent you, and maybe you'll live."
With those words, Dream suddenly felt an intense pressure descend upon him. It was unlike anything he had ever experienced. His vision started to haze over, his muscles felt incredibly weak, and it took everything he had to keep from falling to the floor.
"Dad, stop."
"Why?"
"He's not lying."
"..."
Suddenly, the white-furred fox walked up and spoke. Hearing her, the man's eyes narrowed further and released whatever pressure was binding Dream.
"Huuhh!"
Dream took in a sharp breath as he fell to one knee. His senses slowly returned to normal, and although his body gained back its strength, there was a lingering fear left over.
'That's a terrifying power.'
Dream thought in his mind. That man could immobilize him with a thought. It was insane to think something like that was possible.
While he was catching his breath, the white fox walked over to him. After looking at him for a second, the fox suddenly vanished into a puff of smoke. The next moment, a beautiful girl appeared.
"You..."
Dream's jaw dropped as he looked at the girl. She was that white haired beauty he saw butcher that bull. She was a fox? How the hell was she a fox?
"How... The fox... But you..."
"I am the fox, yes."
The girl smiled as Dream babbled like an idiot. He couldn't wrap his mind around the concept of that girl being the fox.
As Dream and the girl stared at each other though, the man got impatient.
"Alright, answer my questions. That girl can tell if you're lying, so don't think about playing any tricks."
"...Ok."
Dream nodded dumbly as he continued to stare incredulously at the girl.
"Where do you come from?"
"...I don't think you'd believe me if I told you."
Dream spoke honestly. He was from another world. Would this person even believe another world existed?
The man just scoffed though.
"Please. I know about all nations of the world. So? Are you from the United Empire?"
"...No."
"..."
The man looked over to the girl. Seeing as how she didn't have any reaction and just kept staring at Dream, he took that as a sign of him telling the truth.
"So, if you're not from there, then what about the human Empires? The Mountain?"
"No."
"Spire?"
"No?"
"Are you from a smaller kingdom?"
"No."
"A town?"
"No."
"...I don't believe you. Tell me where you're from."
The man's hostility grew further hearing Dream's answers, but the girl spoke up again, forcefully dousing it.
"He's not lying dad."
"That guy is your dad?"
"Yea. Did you think he was someone else?"
"No. Well, I don't know. I wasn't sure."
"Hehehe."
The girl giggled at Dream's slightly flustered answer. He wasn't sure if the man was her husband or father or brother or friend. Although hearing how he was their dad definitely relieved him a bit.
"Hey, I'm trying to ask questions."
"How about I ask. So Dream, where are you from?"
"..."
Dream hesitated as she looked at him curiously. He was wondering whether or not to answer truthfully. He didn't want to earn the man's ire. On the other hand though, he had nothing to lose from telling them. They didn't seem like bad people, nothing gave off any red flags, and he was technically supposed to be dead anyway. He kind of just felt like doing whatever he wanted. What were they going to do, dissect him?
After weighing the pros, cons, and how much of a rat's ass he gave, he finally decided to wing it.
"Alright, here's the truth. I come from a different world. Not a different land, kingdom, or Empire, but a different world entirely. Please don't attempt to dissect my brain, otherwise I'm gonna have to fire."