“Of course he is, look at his ugly-” Elijah stuffed Aiden’s mouth with wood, turning his shouts into angry grunting.

Berry only shot a glance at his friend before he raised his fists. He had no chance to react as a new minion formed from the wood under him and gripped his feet before Elijah’s mace crashed into the man’s face. A wooden arm impaled his torso and ended the fight a moment later.

Chapter Begin

Seeing the number of people that were still standing in the glade, Elijah moved deeper into the forest after he took care of Aiden too. Instead of moving along the ground, Elijah jumped from tree to tree, using the thick branches to traverse the forest.

Thirty minutes later he decided to hollow out a small space inside a trunk for himself. Even at the height, Elijah was moving, the trees easily had a girth of several meters, leaving him enough room to comfortably fit into the space he created.

It was still in the middle of the night and visibly got worse the deeper he went into the forest so he decided to call it a day and rest for a few hours. His minion followed him into the hollowed-out space before Elijah grew a layer of wood above the entrance, leaving only a small gap for air.

He only realized how exhausted he was after laying down. Before he closed his eyes and fell asleep, Elijah commanded his new minion to guard him.

The sound of birds chirping woke him up hours later. Elijah stretched and let out a long yawn. Five more minutes. He continued to lay next to his minion with his eyes closed as he mentally readied himself to get up.

Two minutes later, Elijah got up to his feet and exited the trunk.

As he looked around him, he marveled at the strange world around him once more. While the trees looked like they were on Earth, their scope was stunning. It was easy for Elijah to overlook the beauty of the new world around him while constantly fighting for his life.

He enjoyed the view for a few more minutes before he decided to get moving. Today he would explore the rest of the island and check out the other markers on the map. Invading the camp was out of the question as the enemies now knew of his existence. They would be wary of him invading the camp again.

Instead, Elijah made his way Southway. He continued to travel on high ground for several hours before he noticed another glade in the forest. You’ve got to be kidding me.

He perched on a branch as he looked at a second camp in front of him. This glade was smaller than the first one, placing the settlement nearer to the edge of the forest. From his location, Elijah could see several smaller buildings that were under construction.

It’s smaller. Do they want to settle here? His minion landed shortly after him as Elijah continued to watch over the settlement. It was the second marker on the map and the only other camp on the island if the map was to be believed.

An arrow impaled the trunk next to Elijah, causing him to swivel around only to see a young man aiming an arrow at him with the string drawn.

His minion was about to charge at the stranger but Elijah stopped it with a mental command. The man only spared a glance at the wooden construct before he regarded Elijah. “You don’t seem to be from around here. State your business.”

The man’s clothes were a mix of green and brown colors, differing from the clothes Elijah saw on the other people he fought against until now. He was also giving off a weird impression. Elijah could somehow feel that the man was stronger than him. It felt like fighting him would result in defeat.

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Seeing that Elijah had no intention of answering, the man sighed. “Who are you? We don’t have to fight it out.”

Elijah pointed at the camp. “Are you associated with those people?”

“I asked you first. But no, I’m not. They are members of the Cloud Raiders. I’m with Lepus.” He didn’t lower his weapon. “You?”

Elijah hesitated. He didn’t want to tell too much about himself. “I don’t have any business with you.”

“Come on man, at least tell me your name. I’m Aric.” Aric said.

"Elijah. Look, I don’t care who you are but if you want to talk to me, stop pointing an arrow at me.” Elijah said as he pointed at Aric’s bow.

“Alright.” Aric lowered his weapon but Elijah noticed how he kept the arrow in his hand. “What’s that?” He pointed at the minion.

“A friend of mine,” Elijah stated.

“Not very chatty?” Aric laughed as he took a step forward, causing Elijah to aim his palm at him. “Don’t move any closer.” He narrowed his eyes.

“Relax,” Aric said as he raised his hands. “What do you know about the island? I’m willing to trade for information. The Cloud Raiders are Lepus’ enemies and I’m tasked to destroy all settlements they’ve built here. Maybe you could even help me? With payment of course.”

“What kind of payment?” Elijah asked.

“Money. What else?” Aric answered before Elijah eventually agreed.

Aric put his arrow into the quiver at his side and fastened his bow at his belt while keeping his eyes on Elijah before he clapped his hands. “Great.” He took an empty pouch and put several coins into it before tossing it toward Elijah. The pouch landed a few feet from Elijah on another branch.

“There are 1000 credits inside the pouch. I would say it’s quite generous for a few snippets of information.”

Elijah made no effort to pick up the pouch. “There’s a second camp in this direction.” He pointed to the way he came from. “ I would say they have at least a hundred people, considering the size of their camp. One of them can shoot huge rays of fire, probably their leader.”

“Did you fight against him?” Aric asked. Elijah shook his head while he commanded his minion to get the pouch. His minion’s arm stretched forward, picking up the money and handing it to Elijah who took a look inside. “That’s it. I don’t have more information.” He was about to turn around when Aric stopped him.

“You are not a member of the Cloud Raiders?”

“I’m not.” Elijah shook his head. “I stole these clothes from them.” He added as he saw Aric’s gaze lingering on his coat.

“That’s what I assumed. Why else would someone in the Cloud Raiders' clothing be watching their own camp under the cover of the trees?” Aric took a step forward before he asked, “Would you like to work with us?” He raised his fist into the air. Before Elijah could answer, two more people landed next to Aric. Elijah jumped backward, increasing the distance between himself and the new arrivals. The minion remained in the same position.

The one to Aric’s right was a tall man in brown shorts and a black shirt. He was at least a head taller than Elijah but his shoulders were twice as broad. The long brown hair combed back resembled that of Aric’s.

“Are you sure about that Aric? Don’t underestimate him just because he’s a tier below you.” The man put his hand behind his head as he regarded Elijah.

“That’s exactly why we should recruit him, Erik.” The third one said. He looked nothing like the other two, having reddish, medium-length hair and fiery freckles on his face. “None of us had expected there to be this many enemies on this island. And he is hiding information.” The other two nodded before Aric raised his hand.

“What do you say, Elijah?” Aric turned his palm towards Elijah. “We could use your help. You probably know this island better than us.”

“What if I say no?” Elijah said as he tightened his grip around his mace.

“We won’t force you. I would ask you to share more information, though.” Aric said before Elijah snorted at the subtle threat. He thought about their offer. He wouldn’t survive for long on his own. Now that the enemies knew of him he won’t be able to move as freely as before and if Aric’s group wanted him dead, they would have had the opportunity to do so already.

“Alright. I’ll join you.” Elijah sighed as he lowered his mace. For now.

“Perfect!” Aric rubbed his hands as he introduced his two friends. “These are Erik and Kael. I’m an archer, Kael can manipulate fire and Erik is a stone mage. We all reached the second tier a few months ago.”

Erik and Kael nodded at Elijah before he introduced himself. “I’m Elijah, a wood mage.” He gestured at his minion. “You can call him Root if you want to. He can’t speak though.”

“Let us head down,” Kael suggested. “We should take care of this settlement before reinforcements arrive. They will probably send more people to this location when the buildings are finished.”

Aric agreed as they began making their way down, jumping from branch to branch. “Elijah and Erik, can you take care of the buildings after the fight?.”

Their group arrived on the ground shortly after, making their way to the edge of the forest. Aric led the way as Kael and Elijah walked right behind him.

Erik slapped the minion’s shoulder as he tried to have a conversation with it. The minion was nearly sent tumbling and only Elijah’s command restrained it from returning the hit as it perceived the slap as an actual attack.