Under the blazing sun of the summer noon, two young-looking men walked side by side.

They both had sweat dripping down their faces, but in comparison, the left one was in a much worse shape.

"Are you sure this is the right way?", the left one asked, skeptical about the second one's spatial awareness, while clearly exhausted from their journey.

They had traveled this path for hours, and are yet to make any progress whatsoever.

It even looked like they were constantly visiting the same trees they passed by hours ago.

Hearing his companion's inquiry, the right one stopped in his tracks, before doing a 360° turn in place, blocking the sun with his hand to see better, while trying to find any distinguishable landmarks.

From all sides, trees expanded as far as the eye could see, with only a dirt road leading to and from their location, going in a straight line.

The trees were densely packed, but for one reason or another, the path was fully exposed to the scorching sun. As if the trees had a direct order to not obscure the view of the sky above the road.

They would have traveled under the cover of tree crowns, had it not been for the densely packed vegetation such as thorny bushes and similar flora, making movement through the forest a lot more tasking than it is worth the trouble.

Once the right one's inquiring rotation stopped, he placed his knuckles to his chin, as if resting his head while deeply thinking about something.

The first one, squinting his dark green eyes while looking at the other's stature, had a bad premonition from his companion's display, yet a faint smile never once left his face, finding the situation a little amusing.

But just as he was about to comment, the right one cut him off, " This forest truly is a maze, and rather deserving of its name. The Great Sanctuary Forest, the only place on the continent that can hide hundreds of tribes from the rest of the world."

The first one's look changed when the tribes were mentioned, but his smile disappeared for only a moment, before saying, "Yes, well, that didn't stop you from finding me, did it?  Mr. Cloud?"

The second one, or rather, Cloud turned towards the first one, lifting his eyebrow, before waving his hand, saying, "Why the sudden formality? I'm not even 300 years old, addressing me with mister makes me feel old, what would you feel if I suddenly started calling you Mr. Seph? And what use are titles and honorifics amongst friends?"

Cloud tried looking offended while lecturing Seph, but his obvious overacting made it clear that he was only playing around.

Having traveled with Cloud for a few days now, Seph grew somewhat accustomed to Cloud's behavior.

In reality, both Cloud and Seph looked like they were in their early 20s. Seph because he really was only 19 years old. While Cloud was, in fact, 274 years old.

The immense age gap, yet without any age difference seen on them comes from the difference in their races.

Cloud is actually a demon, as would be apparent by the black antlers protruding from his head, and a boney tail that gently swayed behind him.

But, that is not to say that he is some kind of a monster. I mean, sure, he loves to massacre foes like any other demon, but that is because demons are a race that is often used in wars as contracted summons or mercenaries.

In other words, demons in this world were not directly associated with being inherently evil, but there were some stereotypes as there are some with any race.

Besides his demonic characteristics of the antler-looking horns and a boney tail, Cloud had striking violet eyes, and short black hair, which faded to the sides.

Cloud's body looked agile, filled with compact muscles, not making him look bulky but rather disciplined and refined. On his back was mounted a cloth-covered pole-like object, standing at a similar length to Cloud's 180 centimeters in height.

A black tattoo-looking symbol was visible on the back of his pale right hand. It stood out since Cloud's skin was a healthy-looking pale, like a clear white jade.

He wore a modified, white, hooded cloak, underneath which were plain leather adventurer-styled clothes.

For demons who have a life expectancy of around 1200 years, Cloud's age put him in his early to mid-twenties by human standards, which was reflected by his youthful, and rather handsome, appearance.

Compared to him, Seph's physique didn't stand out as much, having less defined musculature, making him lean towards a more slender and scholarly build.

Seph, although only 19, was also from one of the long-living races. Namely, he was a druid.

Druids are one of the tribal races that live within the Great Sanctuary Forest but are rarely seen outside of it.

They are known for their connection with nature, as they are said to be descendants of the mystical Dryads.

Seph's hair looked messy, reaching below his waist, and was a very dark green color. In a darker environment, it would have been easily mistaken for being black.

His skin was an unhealthy pale as if it had not seen any daylight for an extended period of time. His arms and legs were covered in bandages, and he wore plain peasant-looking clothes.

Seph, although not looking very fresh, still radiated with a certain kind of attraction, even having a sprinkle of femininity due to his slender figure, long hair, and pale skin.

Oh, and when saying that he is from a long-living race, It means to say that his lifespan should be anywhere between 300 to 1000 years, depending on how much Dryadic bloodline he inherited.

But, back to the point.

Seph followed Cloud, who was supposed to get them out of the forest, and although they have reached the outskirts of what was considered the real forest, they are failing to find a right way out towards the open plains.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

"This is the 3rd time that I have seen that exact tree arrangement... We are going in circles, aren't we?", Seph asked while smirking to the side, already expecting the answer.

Hearing that, Cloud once again stopped, before spinning again, looking for possible markings to orientate himself.

Seph just looked from the side as the lost demon spun, and the demon's bony tail following behind him, in his spinning motion.

"This guy has such a poor sense of direction...", Seph thought to himself before taking a couple of steps to the nearest tree, placing his hand on it before closing his eyes.

Seph knew that he was no better than Cloud, in fact, he was much worse when it came to anything life and experience related, but they were currently inside the forest. And the forest is where druids hold an advantage when it comes to finding their way.

Cloud only stopped spinning after he noticed that Seph was touching a tree, and tried to approach him in a wobbly motion, as he spun more than he should have, but got a hold of his footing after just a few steps.

He stood behind Seph, looking on curiously.

Meanwhile, with his eyes closed and an arm placed on the tree's bark, Seph gently inhaled and exhaled, trying to feel out the tree's breathing pattern to match it with his own.

After a minute has passed with nothing going on, Cloud started getting bored, so he decided to go and do something to relieve his boredom. And what better way than finding something to kill time.

Cloud, although a little trigger happy, and carefree, still knew better than to disturb someone when they are obviously concentrating. As such, he distanced himself from Seph, before finding a boulder at the side of the road.

The boulder was big enough that 2 people had to hug it and could barely touch hands while doing so. Seeing that the boulder was not a graspable size, he put each hand on the opposite side of it, before trying to exert force on it.

Meanwhile...

Seph calmly used his Dryadic ancestry to try and communicate with the nearby trees.

Being able to sense and limitedly communicate with flora is one of the druidic racial abilities. It is something every druid is born with.

After 15 minutes of probing and attempting communication, Seph learned that the density of the forest becomes scarcer the further left one goes. With that, he deduced that that is the way they will need to go to leave the forest.

With his objective complete, Seph swiped off the sweat that drenched his forehead, formed from both the intense concentration and the intense summer heat, before taking a step back from the crowded tree line.

Seph thus turned around to notify Cloud that they should head directly to their left, off the dirt road, but once he looked behind, the smile that he usually wore froze in place, the side of his lip twitching slightly, "What in the..."

Behind Seph was a small pile of green monster corpses made from stacked goblin remains, or rather, what remained of those remains.

Beside the pile stood Cloud, holding a big half of a boulder on his back, with his cloth-covered weapon held by the cloth in his mouth.

At the moment, Cloud was doing squats, while holding the big half of the previously mentioned boulder.

His body was even more drenched than Seph's, while muscles all over his body quivered from the sheer force that they were exerting to keep the boulder from crushing him.

The weight of the boulder was not something he couldn't lift with some effort, as his body was abnormally strong, being powerful even among demons, but the strain the muscles would suffer from continued stress would quickly build-up, making the task harder with each lift.

It didn't take long after that moment that Cloud reached his limit, before noticing Seph's stare, looking between himself and the green pile, he could guess what Seph wanted to ask and thus said, "I got bored waiting, so I wanted to look if there was something I can use to kill the time. I found this nice boulder, but it was too uncomfortable to properly grasp, so I sliced it in half."

"When I did so, I heard some racket in the bushes a bit further ahead. When I investigated, I found a small group of goblins snickering menacingly. Among them was also a shaman-looking fellow, he probably set up a formation to make us go in circles on a seemingly straight road to tire us out before striking. That also pretty much explains why it looked to us like we were heading west, as we should have, yet never reached the forest's border. "

"When the goblins noticed me finding them, I was still holding the boulder, but I didn't want to place it down, as it would be a bother to try and get a good hold of it again, so I kicked up my weapon and held it in my mouth, before beating the living hell out of them."

"Then I asked the last one alive, the shaman looking one, about the directions, and he kindly said to go to the right, off the road. But! Since I know that he knows that he is most likely not getting out of this alive, I am at least 90% sure that he is lying to trip us up as his final little act of revenge, so we should probably head opposite of that, to the left, as it is the farthest point away from where he wanted us to go."

Finishing his narration, Cloud showed the boulder off his back, before stretching his back.

Not hearing a response from Seph, Cloud looked at him, asking curiously, "And, what did you find out?"

Listening to this point, Seph felt like his luck finally turned for the better. He didn't even want to think what would have happened had Cloud not found and rescued him. Would he have died alone in the darkness, having no one to miss him? Noone to even recognize the fact that he was ever alive?

Seph felt nothing lesser than gratitude towards Cloud and hoped that they could be friends for a long time to come, as Seph only ever had a single friend, and he doesn't even know if she is still alive.

Seph did a once-over at Cloud, admiring how strong and independent he is. Although, his methods were pretty... Unique?

Regardless, Seph himself was still young and has yet to learn and grow stronger. Then he could even return to his unwelcoming home and take revenge on his hateful tribesmen for the way they have treated him all his life.

Thinking about revenge, Seph's smile slowly disappeared, revealing a blank face that hid an oozing killing intent.

Cloud noticed that Seph's mind wandered into a dark place and subtly coughed.

Hearing Cloud beside him, Seph snapped out of it, before answering, "I learned the same thing, we need to go there, to our left to leave the forest...".

Hearing a confirmation of his deduction, Cloud proudly lifted his head, "Well, I am ready to leave this place and finally head back, as long as you are done being kinky with that tree.", Said Cloud with a wink, clearly insinuating that Seph was doing something pervy.

Seeing the unconcealed provocation in Cloud's voice, Seph retorted with a smile, "Say what you want, but remember. I never once pointed out the kinks you could be indulging in with that tail of yours.", Seph said, not caring about Cloud's childish teasing...

Instead, he showed that he was a better man, by childishly teasing him back...

Cloud's step faltered for a moment before he started chuckling to himself.

Seph didn't find this weird, but if anyone who heard rumors about Cloud saw the scene that played out here, they would have the blood in their veins frozen from fear.

You see, Cloud is a bit infamous among the mercenary circles.

He is said to be very open with everyone and likes to joke and mess around, but those that had seen him on the battlefield regretted being close to him, out of fear that any of their jokes or retorts would flip his murderous switch, and place themselves on his chopping block.

Of course, those that know him better know that he is a genuine person, and wouldn't be so petty as to turn on his allies over a joke.

But still, many didn't know him, and as such many bad rumors quickly spread around, born out of fear and their prejudice about demons.

This in turn made it hard for Cloud to join mercenary groups to do jobs, which is one of the reasons why he decided to start a guild with two of his friends.

On that note, Cloud actually came to rescue and recruit Seph due to a recommendation given by one of his friend's acquaintances.

He wasn't told the full story, but he could guess a lot by the state in which he found Seph in. Regardless of it all, he took a liking to this eccentric druid, maybe even making a new lifelong friend.

After being retorted by Seph, Cloud felt a feeling of fresh air wash over him, thinking about how good it feels that his friend doesn't treat him differently for being a demon.

With nothing else holding them back, the duo headed on their way, leaving the forest, seeing fewer and fewer trees in their surroundings.

Although it took them a while to break through some of the denser vegetation, an open space finally appeared in front of them.

Seeing the outside of the forest, Cloud briefly recollected the month-long expedition it took him to find Seph. Thankfully they didn't encounter any serious problems or retaliation from the Seph's tribe, allowing them to make a run for it without conflict.

The moment they walked into the opening, Cloud stretched his arms wide, before keeping his pace with a satisfied smile. 

On the other hand, Seph's signature smile slowly curved downwards, before it displayed discomfort.

After taking a few steps ahead and noticing that there is no more movement behind him, Cloud turned around, only to see that Seph was gone.

At first, Cloud started panicking.

Since leaving home, Cloud roamed the Serlovyan Continent, sometimes traveling with random groups of mercenaries. And during these travels, he had a bad streak of having his companions disappearing or outright dying.

This is also one of the facts that fed into his infamy and all the bad rumors.

Thinking of this fact, Cloud quickly surveyed the area to see if any accident happened to Seph, before noticing Seph's silhouette behind a nearby tree.

?

Cloud didn't know what to make of Seph's behavior, before trying to probe the situation, "Are you being freaky with a tree again?"

In response, a pebble was thrown and flew over his shoulder.

Seeing that Seph was not amused by his teasing, he got a bit worried, with his worry deepening as he got closer and saw a sick expression on Seph's already pale face.

This, once again, sent Cloud into a state of panic, "Is he dying?! Was he poisoned? Maybe something venomous bit him without him noticing? Did he get sick? ...", all kinds of ideas popping into his head.

He didn't know Seph for long, just a few days in fact, but he liked the kid. He saw potential in him, and with his attitude being the way it is after living through what he did, it simply showed that there wouldn't be many obstacles on his road to becoming powerful.

Yet now, he looked like he had seen a ghost, ready to cross to the other side.

Fortunately, before Cloud started pulling on his horns out of desperation, Seph comforted with a forced smile, "I'm fine... I-i never saw such a vast open space before, it made me a little nauseated."

Hearing Seph's reply, Cloud settled down his nerves, looking solemnly into the thick forest they just left. And thinking of the place he found Seph in.

Although discomfort in open spaces was not something commonly seen, it does sometimes happen, and for it to happen to Seth was completely understandable to Cloud.

After all, Seph lived through hell...