The monsters were probably faster than him, but this forest was a goddamn maze. He had an outside chance of losing them if he ran suddenly enough. It wasn’t a good chance, but hey, it beat trying to fight all of them at once.

Slim odds were better than none.

Adam sprinted through the forest, his breaths ragged and his heart pounding in his chest. The adrenaline coursing through his body pushed him to break his own personal running records. It barely kept him ahead of the monstrous creatures snarling and snapping at his heels, their jagged teeth glinting in the fading moonlight.

Panic surged through his veins as the sounds of the pursuing monsters grew closer. They weren’t losing him, and neither were they growing slower. An equilibrium had been established. It would last up until the point where Adam’s hunger and lack of sleep took their toll.

The thought of that made him run just the slightest bit faster.

Frantic minutes went by. Adam’s feet pounded against the forest floor, adrenaline now mixing with desperation to fuel his escape. He weaved between trees, narrowly avoiding branches and gnarled roots, yet the monsters never lost sight of their prey. I have to do something. Anything. What can–

An insane idea struck him. He had no idea if it would work, but if he didn’t try something crazy he was just going to fucking die. Adam concentrated, focusing on the Stained Ink that encircled his right arm beneath his sleeves. He knew it wouldn’t be enough to fight off that many monsters.

But if he could wrap it around his arm…could he wrap it around other substances too?

The howls of encroaching beasts made his decision for him. Adam glanced up at the forest canopy and the green sky above it, seeking the sturdiest and thickest set of tree branches he could find. The moment he found one, his ink glowed a bright shade of gray and snaked up his arm before shooting itself toward the branch. With a determined scream, Adam grasped the end of the ink as he shot it out. It should be impossible for this to have enough momentum to carry me. But if it can–

The Stained Ink wrapped itself around the tree branch, looping two, three times before Adam felt certain enough to call the ink back. In that same motion, he pulled himself up towards the tree. His feet left the ground more easily than he would’ve anticipated. It wasn’t a graceful flight, with Adam hitting his face on other branches as he went, cutting himself and nearly losing an eye in the process.

But he still landed at the top.

“Holy shit,” he said in amazement, “I can’t believe that…”

Adam froze. From atop that tree, two things demanded his immediate attention.

One, he saw the monsters begin to climb it, their awkwardly-constructed shapes making the movement look closer to a glitch in reality than something he was witnessing with his own eyes.

And two, from that height, above most of the green sky that shaded the sun, he could see a city in the distance. A large, walled city, its stone barriers tall enough to keep the monsters at bay.

Destination found.

Getting there would be another matter entirely.

Before the creatures could reach him, Adam used his Stained Ink to launch himself toward another tree. And then another. And then another. The chase couldn’t have been longer than five minutes, but it felt like an eternity.

Bit by bit, he was losing them. While the monsters were faster than him, it seemed like they weren’t used to the sudden change of direction he’d subjected them to. I just need to keep going and I’m going to be safe. Tree to tree. Swinging like a—

Adam missed the next branch. He instantly tried to grasp another branch, one he knew would – and did – break as soon as his Stained Ink touched it, if only to slow down his fall a little. His only priority after that was to turn around and hug his backpack, collapsing onto his back in order to keep his tablet safe.

He glanced angrily at the tree, as if it had been its fault that he was now laying on the ground covered in dirt, pain, and regret. Why the hell did I miss? I’m sure I got it. I aimed perfectly, shot perfectly, so why did I miss that last–

The tree stood up.

It pulled its roots off the ground, stretching them wide then hunching down like a sumo wrestler, its many gigantic branches inching towards him threateningly. Adam opened his mouth as if to protest when he heard the monsters from before catching up to him. Flanked between the tree and the four-legged creatures, the only thing to do was to shout, “Are you fucking serious?” and keep running.

Adam managed to grasp another tree branch, one that didn’t run away from him, and resumed his desperate escape. It couldn’t last forever. It couldn’t even last another five minutes, at the rate which the monsters and the tree were gaining on him. That fall had knocked the wind out of him, and when the margin of escape was this razor-thin, any small disadvantage could prove fatal.

Panting and cursing under his breath, Adam swung clumsily as the monstrous creatures growled menacingly, closing the gap between them. The sentient tree lumbered after him, its immense branches swiping at Adam as he narrowly evaded its grasp. Once or twice he felt one graze his skin, and it somehow burned, as if he’d been touched by the sun itself.

I—will—never—go—outside—again!

The walled city waited in the distance. It seemed so tantalizingly close, yet so frustratingly far away. Adam couldn't help but feel a rising sense of despair as he struggled to maintain his momentum, the magical ink's power beginning to wane.

When the green sky gave way to sunlight, it was as if the very sun took away the last of his strength. He collapsed to the ground, expecting the monsters to come after him and end his misery.

Only, they didn’t.

Astonishment outweighing his exhaustion, Adam sat up to stare at the edge of the forest. All the monsters stood there, unmoving, as if unable to cross an invisible line.

“What?” Adam cried out, incredulously. He glanced at the creatures, then at the sky above. “The hell is it? You things can’t be under the sun? Are you weird ink vampires or something? Or…are you afraid of the walled city?”

He shook his head, mumbling through ragged breaths. “Know what? I don’t care. Whatever. Not gonna complain. I’ll take it.”

At that realization, the last of his adrenaline deserted his body almost immediately. Pain, exhaustion, and hunger seemed to hit him all at once. Adam stumbled once, then twice, slapping his legs in frustration as he tried ordering them to obey him. At least the city is right there, he mused.

It would still be over an hour of walking to get there, but those tall stone walls looked so mercifully…safe. And the monsters seemed hesitant to follow him out of the forest.

That was good enough for him.

–

Adam continued to walk, hurt and tired, without a single stop. Amidst that exhaustion, his mind felt as empty as a blank canvas. He knew his journey must have taken a while, but when he found himself nearly in front of the walled city, he could not for the life of him remember much of it.

The sight of sanctuary, so close at hand, gave him the final motivation he needed to push forward. This would all be worth it in the end. Finally, after everything he’d been through, he would be safe. Maybe homeless, but not in the middle of a forest where even the trees wanted him dead.

Thunk.

Adam’s head rapped against something solid. He blinked, confused, staring at the nothing in front of him. Cautiously, he reached out his hand.

Oh. He rapped his knuckles on an invisible wall. It was solid, sturdy as stone, and completely unseeable. Can’t get past. Unfortunate.

Through a haze of muted shock, he peered at the city. If not for the monster, he would have happily believed himself to not be too far from home yet. The buildings resembled a poorly built version of Bavarian architecture, as if someone had been given a brief glimpse of an image of what those quasi-medieval houses looked like and tried to build it from memory while lacking the necessary construction materials. Even from a distance, Adam could make out a number of people walking around and going on about their day.

And they seemed like…well, people.

It’s not like Adam had expected them to have horns, tentacles or a second head but – okay, he might have expected them to look a little different from normal everyday people. He’d just nearly been killed by a monster that dove inside his tablet and gave him its powers. If the people here turned out to look weird or…not even human, it wouldn’t have surprised him that much.

Even if it probably should have. That encounter with the monsters must’ve done a number on his sanity.

“Come on, you sure you don’t want to let me in?” Adam asked the invisible wall. Nothing happened. He reached out to touch the solid barrier once again. This time, he tried pushing it, causing visible sparks to fly out of the point of contact. He muttered a curse and studied his hand – it was burnt, like he’d just been exposed to electricity.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Not the worst injury he’d received today, but it was definitely uncomfortable. Between that, his legs feeling like they were on fire, the bruises from his desperate chase, and his hunger…Adam felt just about ready to call it quits. Well, I tried to live. Gave it my best shot. He shrugged. Guess I’ll die.

Adam wasn’t just being fatalistic. He was well aware his legs couldn’t carry him much further, and if he went to sleep here, there was a good chance something would kill him, be it some monsters that dared to leave the forest or a simple lack of food and water. It had been nearly a day since he arrived in this place, and he hadn’t rested for a single moment. A weary, bone-deep exhaustion was starting to overpower him.

And so, he decided to fall asleep anyway. If he woke up feeling refreshed enough to find a way into the city – great. If not, then that was that. As far as Adam was concerned, it wouldn’t be any worse than when he’d lost both that contest and his dreams in one day.

At the very least, the tantalizing opportunity to get some rest would make it worth—

–

“Hey, you!” a new voice said. “Foreigner, what are you doing? Why aren’t you at the gate?”

Adam was torn between relief at hearing another human voice and angry he couldn’t sleep. Sure, maybe this meant he wouldn’t die, but if he was asked directly whether he wanted to live or sleep for twelve hours, he’d have needed a moment before replying.

Still, he sat up and glanced at the newcomers. They were two men walking slowly toward him, approaching from the other side of the invisible wall. They were both wearing rusty steel armor suits and bearing what appeared to be two impractically tall halberds. One was handsome and hadn’t shaved in a day, while the other was taller but considerably less aesthetically blessed. Are those halberds the best weapon for a guard? What if they have to chase after someone quickly? No, that’s not what I should be worrying about. Instead…

If Adam wasn’t going to sit down and die, he might as well do this right. He had to respond to them quickly while somehow sounding natural enough he wouldn’t seem suspicious. Sure, Adam had his Stained Ink, but those two were armored and he was running on fumes. Not to mention they might have magic attacks of their own.

That was a lot of new information…and he still needed to get to the right answer somehow. Just like a multiple choice test where you knew nothing about the actual subject, but can infer the correct choice after reading unrelated questions.

Judging from what they said, there must be a point in this invisible wall where people are supposed to walk through in order to enter the city. Someone probably spotted me from one of the watchtowers and sent them to investigate. Adam studied their faces carefully. Their expressions were stern and demanding—could just be their personalities, or maybe trying to enter the city from the wrong path was downright suspicious. It was hard to tell if he was in trouble.

Time to play dumb.

Better yet, time to play dumb as smartly as he could.

“Ah, sorry about that,” he replied, flashing an apologetic grin and rubbing the back of his head. “I’m a little dizzy – hit my head earlier and walked the wrong way. How would I turn from here to get to the entrance?”

The two men exchanged a look. “Keep walking that way for about fifteen minutes. It’s a sphere-shaped Wall so you should be able to tell where it is without looking. If you must touch it, do it quickly. Make contact for too long and…”

The Tall Man trailed off when he spotted Adam’s burnt hand. “Are you a child?” he asked in disbelief. “Who the hell touches a Wall for that long?”

“Ah…yeah…my bad.” Adam tried to make himself look as scatterbrained and naive as possible. He let out a practiced, nervous laughter – the kind that makes someone appear more embarrassed than actually nervous. What should I do here? It seems like it’s universal knowledge not to touch those invisible walls. Just being dumb might appear suspicious at this point.

The second man, who had been quiet until now, took a step forward. “Where are you from? Who is your Lord?”

Adam made up his mind here. It was a gamble to answer like this, but there was no way he could answer their questions. Only left one choice, really. “Sorry, I…that head wound I mentioned? It…got me pretty bad, you know.” This was going to sound like bullshit and he knew it. “I can’t remember much of anything. Not even my name.”

To his surprise, both men looked at him with sympathy. “Ah, so you met with one of them,” said the first man. “I’m sorry to hear that. Glad you managed to escape, though,”

So coming into contact with the monsters can affect your memory? That was something to keep in mind. Adam made a mental promise to append his tablet notes later.

“Do you remember anything about what happened?” The Stubbled Man sounded apologetic, almost regretful to be asking the question. “You…you don’t remember anything, right? Not even your name?”

“No,” Adam answered quickly. “Not at all.”

The Stubbled Man nodded, then turned to his partner. “He doesn’t remember anything. Let’s just send him to the checkpoint.”

“Are you mad? Lord Aspraey gave us strict orders.”

“But–”

The first guard did not let his partner finish. Instead, he directed his gaze back to Adam. “Could you come answer some questions?”

Adam raced through the possibilities in his mind. He could just refuse, but it wasn’t likely that they were going to let him go. If they were to fight him…he could summon those arrowheads to attack them if they tried to get physical, but there was no guarantee that it would be enough. They were guards in a world where monsters existed –what if they were strong enough to shrug that off? What if their armor was somehow resistant to it?

Just then, he noticed a sudden change in his tablet, a quick flash that announced a notification. Adam was so focused on the situation that it took a moment for him to realize that didn’t make sense. He didn’t have cellular data on his tablet, and even if he did, there was no goddamn way he should be getting reception in a place that had monsters and walking trees.

“You want me to go with you?” Adam asked, trying to buy time.

Both guards nodded.

Adam glanced down at his tablet and tapped at both notifications without looking. He was glad he was prone to under-reacting, because he still felt like raising an eyebrow at what he saw. There were two pictures, one of each man standing before him, both with a short paragraph accompanying them.

Esteban, Imperial Guard

Talent: Knight (Peer)

Orbs: ~3,200

—

Tenver Zellarem, Imperial Guard

Talent: Archer (Viscount)

Orbs: ~250,000

No clue what an Orb is worth, but Knights and Archers look like bad news to me. On top of that, the fact that they’d come to check on him meant that there must be someone watching from the guardpost towers. Even if Adam were to try fighting these two guards and somehow came out okay…chances were about twelve different people would charge at him right after him.

And on top of that, he was starving and tired as shit.

Adam let out a deep breath. At this point, there was no right answer anyway, so why not try to fish for as much information as he could? “If I come with you, am I going to die?”

The First Guard, the one named Esteban, hesitated. The Stubbled Guard, the one named Tenver, did not. He stepped forward, hand on his chest, and declared solemnly, “I swear you will not.”

“You swear?”

“I don’t have much to give, my good man,” the Tenver said, “But I do have my word. And that I give to you.”

Adam thought about it. “And I’ll get food there?”

“Of course.”

He seemed honest. That doesn’t mean much. Anyone can pretend to be honest one moment and backstab you in the next. Still…looking at his options, Adam didn’t have much of a choice. If he tried to fight, he would probably lose. If he somehow won, he would probably be chased by other guards. If he somehow escaped those guards, he would probably be eaten by monsters at night or die of hunger.

Well, if he really wasn’t going to be killed, going to prison sounded like a damn good deal. Food, a place to live, and he could just escape whenever he felt like it.

Might as well roll the die on this one. On one condition.

“Can I keep my belongings?”

Esteban raised an eyebrow. “That is not–”

“Of course,” Tenver interjected. He glanced at his partner with a smirk. “Come on, you know this guy is fine – we’re just taking him in because of the rules. Let’s be nice to him and he’ll be nice to us in return, right?”

“Of course,” Adam lied.