"Great. Hold on tight.” Elijah grabbed the minion and put it on his head as he began to sneak away. Their escape was accompanied by Elijah’s constant pleas that they would not encounter any more stone giants.

He didn’t stop walking even after leaving the area behind. His every breath seemed too loud, his every step feeling like a signal for the monsters to tell them his position.

The minion continued to lay on Elijah’s head as its creator struggled to bring them both to safety.

Chapter Begin

All kinds of swear words passed Elijah’s mind as he left the runic area behind him. He let out a breath he had been holding as he punched a tree to vent some of his anger. It was frustrating to run into one monster after another.

Next, he began moving towards the edge of the forest. The sun was already setting and Elijah didn’t want to stay around for the night. Bioluminescent trees illuminating his surroundings or not, he wouldn’t take that risk.

He also felt tired. Not only did he walk around the whole day, he had risked his life several times and hadn’t eaten yet.

Arriving at the edge of the forest, he began climbing up one of the trees again. It felt safer for him to be high up on a branch, especially now that he knew what monsters roamed the forest.

The climb felt noticeably easier than before his transformation and it took him only minutes to arrive at one of the lower branches. He sat down and leaned against the trunk as he looked up at the moons. It still felt surreal seeing two moons hovering above him but after all he experienced today, it seemed like nothing much.

His minion jumped down from his head and landed on the branch in front of him. Its sudden movement startled Elijah.

“Don’t do that again.” He glared at it, before letting out a snort. It was his only comfort against the loneliness he felt all day. “Thank you.” He patted its head. The minion didn’t answer. Can’t speak? Elijah thought as he smiled.

He turned towards the camp in the distance next. Flickering lights were visible in the distance and Elijah could make out the silhouettes of several people around each campfire. He could also spot guards patrolling around the perimeter of the camp but even without any experience, Elijah could see that there were huge gaps in their formations.

Sneaking in should be possible. The fence could be a problem though. After observing the camp for another ten minutes, he laid down and closed his eyes to rest for a few hours.

He woke up with a jolt. His minion hadn’t moved.

“What a nightmare.” He stood up as he rubbed his eyes. They were still burning and it felt like he didn’t sleep at all. His whole body felt sore and his feet were hurting.

Elijah considered what to do with the minion. He couldn’t let it walk on its own, but carrying it in his arms would be too cumbersome. If he carried it on his head, it could draw too much attention to them.

He glanced at the minion. After a moment of contemplation, Elijah crouched down to put his hand on its head. He had an idea.

Slowly, the creature began to shift and morph, contorting itself into a new shape. Elijah manipulated the minion to take on the form of a backpack, with its arms and legs acting as straps made of woven vines.

He lifted the minion and positioned it on his shoulders, the wooden minion’s body resting comfortably against his back. Elijah adjusted the straps with his manipulation abilities to make sure the weight was evenly distributed.

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With his minion in place, Elijah climbed down the tree and lay down. He took a deep breath before he began crawling forward at a snail’s pace.

The blades of grass brushed against his face as he approached the camp. The only sound was the rustling of grass as he moved, but even that felt too loud.

Elijah approached the wooden fence and was relieved when he saw no guards around. He formed a small slit inside the construct to peek through and increased it in size to squeeze through as he couldn’t detect anyone on the other side. He waited for a few minutes.

Elijah became even more nervous. He was in the camp. He considered closing the hole again but discarded the idea immediately as he heard people talking.

He rushed forward on all fours, arriving at a wooden hut. Realizing that the building was made of wood, Elijah willed the wooden wall to hold him as he tried to climb up. It worked and he found himself on the building a few seconds later.

What now? Damn, I should have thought this through better. Elijah turned around himself, checking all directions for people. He considered getting away from there but judging from the absence of anyone calling out for intruders, no one had spotted him yet.

He hesitated for a moment before he created another slit inside the roof of the building he was on. He looked inside the hut and listened for voices but heard nothing.

An idea passed his mind and Elijah decided to try it out. First, he stretched out his right arm and tried to change it. In front of his eyes, his very arm began to stretch forward, increasing in length. Elijah stopped the manipulation and fastened his mace at his side.

So much for being human. He gripped the edge of the hole and let himself hang into the room. His arms elongated and he lowered himself into the hut. His eyes landed on an empty bed and Elijah hurried as he began rummaging through the luggage.

There was nothing of interest apart from a few weapons and clothes. Elijah fastened a pouch at his side and put the few coins he found inside. Never hurts to have some money.

After throwing another look around the hut, he pulled himself up again. He considered taking one of the weapons but didn’t even know how to handle swords so he decided against it. After leaving the hut, he used his wood manipulation to look into a few more huts.

In some huts, people were sleeping. Elijah decided to not risk it and didn’t enter those. After checking three more huts, he found something useful.

A map. He looked through a slit in the roof at a table inside. Should I risk it? There’s only one person inside. A man was lying on the bed and his snoring was audible throughout the whole hut. Elijah hesitated before he decided to go for it. Instead of lowering himself into the hut, he lay down on the roof. He stretched out one arm and elongated it towards the table as he continuously threw glances between the map and the man.

A few minutes later the map was inside Elijah’s hand. He couldn’t help but look at the map now instead of later. No way. An island? While he wasn’t experienced in reading maps, everyone would have been able to read this one. It was simple in its design with a red dot on the camp’s location. The forest around the camp was depicted on the map with what seemed like a mountain range to the east.

There were three other markers on the map. The first was a yellow dot northeast of the camp, beyond the forest. The second marker was a blue circle to the southeast and the last seemed to be another camp, also shown as a red, but smaller dot.

Around the island, everything was blue. In his frustration Elijah was about to hit the roof he was on but stopped immediately as he remembered where he was. Another world, I can deal with that. But on an island? How am I going to get away from here? He closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh as he pressed his fist against his forehead. Alright. Time to move.

For the next thirty minutes, Elijah continued to scout the camp. The security inside the camp was rather sloppy and he only saw about five people awake while he traveled from roof to roof. There were a few bigger huts but Elijah didn’t look inside them as they were deeper inside the camp. The deeper he went in, the less risks he decided to take. If someone detected him there, he would have a hard time getting away.

Eventually, Elijah decided to retreat. The sun was about to rise and if he stayed any longer, someone would probably see him. He would also have a hard time reaching the forest without being seen.

After moving to the edge of the camp, he crawled back toward the forest and climbed up a tree again.

Red, green, or yellow dot? Where should I go first? Elijah thought as he looked at the map. Or should I stay here and try to become stronger first? He remembered the essence he got from defeating the three monsters from yesterday. I need more information. Maybe I can capture a few of their people and get some answers.