The next day, after Magnus grabbed a bite, he eagerly began his hunting spree.
From the repeated usage of the monster control skill, he came across some rules.
The first and most important one, controlled monsters aren't hostile to each other. Second, if he orders them to commit suicide for easy XP, they can break free in their desperation.
'Self preservation instincts, I guess.' he mused.
And third, the intelligence of the creatures affects how well they follow orders.
To Magnus surprise, the crow was far more intelligent than anything else he had controlled. It was capable of following relatively complex orders, like searching for specific animals or landmarks.
[Experience: 13/40]
By mid day, there weren't any targets worth hunting nearby, so he decided to go deeper into unexplored territory.
'I covered roughly 120 kilometres since escaping from the city...' he looked at the long line of explored terrain on the map,'And yet I'm still in the same damn forest. Just how big is this place exactly?'
Contemplating where to head to next, he decided to go westward for now.
A few hours of traveling later, he stopped the horse from continuing.
A grassland was stretching out as far as the eye could see, tall enough to reach up to his arms when mounted.
Soon after, Magnus noticed another glaring detail.
'Nothing. There's no living things in this place. No monsters, humans or animals.'
Pausing for a moment, he smiled mockingly. 'As if I'm going in there, ha! This is exactly the setup for some horrible way to die. Adios, suspicious patches of weed!'
Turning around on his mount, he wanted to triumphantly make his way back home.
Rustle-
He turned around, and his face turned as pale as a sheet of paper.
More than twenty different creatures eyed him from the grass, their bodies covered by thin moving shadows.
A tense staring contest between Magnus and the creatures began.
The horse, seemingly oblivious to these creatures, continued forward, carrying Magnus further and further from the grasslands.
Only when they were barely visible to him did he regain his composure.
'How did those things suddenly appear!? And they can't leave that area, RIGHT!?' he thought, feeling the cold sweat on his back.
He glanced at the map, and noticed there were indeed 20 odd red dots in the grassland area.
'The map is not omnipotent. The map is not omnipotent. The map is NOT omnipotent. I need to remember that from now on.'
Soon after, all 20 dots disappeared from the map, letting Magnus exhale a sigh of relief.
'They're not following. What the hell were those things even? No, I'm not finding out.'
Coming back to his cave, he decided on exploring towards the east.
The forest, although sparse here, was too difficult for the horse to transverse due to the sharp rocky ground and the uneven roots.
Sending the crow ahead to scout for anything interesting, he got off the horse and started walking.
'Honestly... If I wasn't in a different world, I would love to spend my days here with my family. The forest is beautiful-breathtakingly so.'
His hand traced the tree bark, memories surging within him.
Memories of a better time.
'Sis always complained about city life, so a vacation here would've been perfect for her. A camping trip?'
His mood turned gloomy once he thought so far.
He shook his head.
'Focus, Magnus. You're in unknown territory, you can't let your thoughts stray.'
Gripping his knife tightly, he kept walking into the depths of the rocky forest.
A hour of exploration later, and he was just about to turn around when he noticed something on his map.
'Gray? I haven't seen that color before. Should I...'
His hesitation vanished, striding in the direction of the gray map marker.
'Is it a human? Or an intelligent beast maybe?'
Minutes later, his movements stopped.
A waterfall spilled forth from the side of a mountain, creating a mesmerizing rainbow. A large crystal-clear lake stood in front of him.
And in the middle of it, on a rock jutting out of the water, a person lay there.
'Is that... Really a person?' suspicious, he tried to make out the details of the unknown being.
Uncertain, he slowly approached the edge of the water.
'Is that... A Knights corpse?' his gaze solidified on a vaguely human outline in the water.
It wasn't the only corpse in the water though, as Magnus counted more than 20 corpses strewn about.
'It seems... They died fighting each other. But what is the reason they fought?' he mused, inching closer to the water.
Checking his map once more, he recalled the unknown beings in the grassland.
'There could be something in the water. I'm getting out if-'
Splash!
Interrupting his thoughts, a stream of water shot into the skies.
Magnus assumed a defensive posture, ready to face the unknown foe.
Disregarding him, the ice solidified mid air, a large ball of ice that stared at Magnus.
Instinctively, Magnus used his control ability on it.
He felt a light pricking sensation in his head, and after a brief struggle the creature was brought under his control.
New information flowed into his head, identifying the creature before him.
'An low ranked ice elemental?' he froze, 'Why is something like that here?'
From the bond, he received a weak response.
'Master... Summoned... Me... Help... Master...', although fragmented, the voice of the spirit was desperate.
He cast a quick glance at the human on the rock.
'... Okay. I can't promise I'm gona save your master though, I can only try.'
'Yes...'
Before he could take off his shirt and jump into the frigid waters, the spirit froze the lake. All the water turned to ice, and the spirit turned translucent before vanishing.
'Sleep...' the thought came, before the bond was severed.
'Convenient!' he thought, as he raced across the surface of the lake.
As he jumped onto the rock, he took a look at the person.
Long pointy ears, a pale white skin, and middle length white hair. Although they were lying down, the identity was obvious.
'An elf?'
Crouching next to the elf, he checked for injuries while recalling his first aid training.
'Would first aid even work on a fantasy creature? Whatever - I can only pray it works.'
He soon found the wound-a large cut on the leg, bleeding profusely. Judging by the accumulated pool of blood, he was lying here for a while.
He tore off a piece of the elf's clothing and used it as an improvised bandage to staunch the bleeding.
Next he raised the leg above the heart level using a rock, so that gravity helped in reducing the blood flow to the wound.
Within seconds, the bleeding stopped.
'That was... Oddly effective. Regeneration?' he looked up and down at the elf.
'I'm glad at least some things are similar to what I know, like elves being incredibly beautiful.' as he stared at the clear blue eyes, he came to a sudden realisation.
Carefully raising his remaining and hand, "Hello?"
"...Who are you?" a deep male voice came from the elf.
"Oh, you can understand me! I'm Magnus. I saved your life, so could you answer some questions I have?"
The elf eyed him suspiciously for a while, before he answered, "Fine. I can do that much."
"First, who are these bastards?" Magnus asked, pointing at the knight corpses.
"You really don't know?" the suspicion in the elf's eyes grew stronger.
"My entire life I lived alone in a cave with my master." Magnus recalled some cultivation stories from earth, "And although my master was wise, he did not want to teach me anything about the outside world. So I snuck out."
"Poor thing..." A hint of pity appeared in the elf's eyes.
'Did I dupe him?'
"Unfortunately, your master didn't teach you well." the pity in his eyes disappeared, replaced by a murderous glint. "For example, that elves can tell when someone lies. So try again."
'... OH COME ON!'
"Fine. I woke up in the middle of a city, attacked by them, without my memories. I ran away from there since they already slaughtered everyone. I got my hand cut off by one of 'em, and then I stole one of their horses to escape pursuit. Happy?" annoyed, Magnus spilled the beans.
'I hope I get an ally out of this at least.'
"...Wow you really dont know anything."
"Hm?"
"The lie thing was a lie." the pity In the elf's eyes was real this time.
"... Whatever. Anyways, spill the beans, what are those guys?"
"Hmmm..." the elf looked up and down Magnus, as if he made up his mind "Fine. They're the infantry of the Azel Empire. Since the third prince took over, they've been expanding their territory." he said hatefully, "And the city you come from is probably Velez."
'It's Grans-something. Better not tell him, what if his attitude changes.'
"And as you can guess, they're eyeing the lands of ours." he said, gesturing at the bodies.
"I see. Second, is there any village or something where I can gather more information?"
The elf shook his head. "None other than the elf village are nearby. The closest few would be near Velez but I doubt they were spared by the Azel bastards."
"Mmmm... I see. What's your plan now big guy?" Magnus asked.
"Getting back to the elf village, as I have something urgent to do." The elf answered,before looking at Magnus. "And it's Etin."
"Hmm?"
"My name is Etin, human." the elf said, before trying to get up.
"Oy! You're gona open your wound if you move around!" Magnus said in panic, yet the elf still got up.
"I have a duty, human. Even if it costs me my life I must fulfil it. Whether you understand or not, move aside." standing upright, the elf easily towered over Magnus.
With the first step he took, a pained expression appeared. White blood burst forth from the wound, and the elf started falling.
A hand supported him from the side, stopping the fall.
"I know what it's like to have principles." Magnus gritted his teeth, supporting the elf, "And I know what it's like to suffer-believe that. So let me lend you a hand now, and you owe me one later, deal? As for my goal, it's simple, survive and grow stronger, I don't want to lose another arm to some no name bastard."
Hesitation appeared in the elf's eyes.
"How can I trust you?" the elf asked.
"You cannot, but I saved your life, so you can carry out your mission. As for the information gathering, you could also tell me stuff when you recover so I won't need a village, if that's your worry."
A tense silence, that ended with the elf sighing.
"You're right. I can't trust you, yet the situation calls for it. If you double cross me, your death won't be easy. If you're a man of your word, I will be one as well. What will it be?"
"Great. Where do we go?" Magnus replied without hesitation.
The elf pointed in the distance, towards a solitary snowy mountain that buried deep into the clouds.
"...Let's get going, I guess." he replied, listless.
'A hero's journey entails walking. Endure, Magnus.'