Faust's feet stepped on the grass. It was a completely different sensation from the wet, damp, rough stone. His hair fluttered in the cold wind, revealing his pale face—one that was being bathed by sunlight at the moment. It was strong, blinding. His eyes remained closed; he had spent too much time in the dark.
He waited for a few moments before finally being able to open them. Ahead of him were trees, bushes, tall grass, and flowers. Some animals lingered nearby—rabbits hopped around, birds flew across the sky, and a few ants began crawling up his leg. Normally, it would've been annoying, but at that moment, he didn't even care. He stomped a few times, feeling the ground. His face bore a faint smile. He was happy.
Faust took a long, slow breath, his ears trying to catch every sound, it was overwhelming, but he liked it. He had stepped out of that cave after almost a year.
He spent a few minutes just letting his body adjust to the new environment, his dark red eyes glistening with sunlight.
"Finally… wow…" he whispered, breathing slowly. Every bit of air that entered his lungs felt like a dance. It was pure, fresh, and natural. In the cave, the air had been heavy and damp—it was way worse than this.
Faust started to walk around, trying to get a sense of the place. After all, for all he knew, he could be anywhere in the forest. When he had run away, he hadn't paid attention to where he was going. He just ran.
He wandered, listening for any clues. Soon, he heard the sound of flowing water.
"Water? Maybe there's a river nearby."
As he followed the sound, eventually a shallow river was reached. The water flowed past rocks, breaking its continuity. He drank from it before deciding to follow its course—maybe it would lead somewhere.
His goblin followed closely behind, carrying a leather sack with his items. They walked for quite a while. As the sun died and gave way to the moon, Faust decided to rest.
"Now that I think about it, I don't know how to craft a shelter. I never had to in the cave. It shouldn't be too hard."
He gathered some wood and grass, trying to make a shelter, but after three tries it always collapsed. He grew annoyed of it and gave up; he settled for making a rough bed near a tree. He was out in the open, but his instincts had sharpened. He would wake up if he heard anything. His ears had become very sensitive.
The sun rose again. Faust had slept through the night—insects and some wild small animals disturbed his sleep. Upon waking, he ate some red, fist-sized fruits from a nearby tree. They were quite sour, but far better than the tasteless moss he was used to.
Faust followed the river to its end, where the forest continued.
Three days passed.
He slept in the open, ate fruits or some stored moss, and drank rainwater.
While wandering the forest, he stumbled upon an interesting scene. A boar was wounded and fleeing. Its body stood over a meter tall and stretched just under two meters long. Two grey wolves hunted it. One of them was slightly wounded—tusks marks visible on its side.
Faust observed, hidden in the bushes and behind trees, as the boar found itself cornered. Its back was against a tree, the wolves in front of it.
"Interesting… I've never seen these animals so up close. Not while they were alive, at least." His expression was solemn, but curiosity filled his thoughts. "Red, do you think they'd be useful?"
"Maybe. Try it," Red's voice echoed.
Faust stepped out of hiding and threw a bunch of small stones at the wolves' feet.
"Detonate."
A series of small explosions followed. The injured wolf collapsed, while the other weathered the blast, turning its wary gaze to Faust. The boar, startled, attempted to flee.
Faust ordered his goblin to jump on the boar, it was already slower now because of its injuries. He quickly placed two small stones on its head and jumped away.
The stones detonated again. "When they have such little mana, they can still be so useful… And they charge way faster than full ones. I should make more of them. This test went better than expected."
Two small explosions were enough to stop the boar. It slipped and tumbled across the dirt, hitting the tree.
The remaining wolf lunged at Faust. He dodged—it was much slower than the black creatures. Just slightly faster than a goblin. After struggling to knock it out, Faust grew tired of its resistance. It had already scratched his goblin's chest. The losses were stacking once again, he wouldn't risk it more than that.
The wolf leapt at him, jaws wide. Faust picked up a javelin and stabbed it through the mouth, piercing its skull. It fell, dead. Blood and gray brain matter spilled out.
He returned to the injured wolf and quickly restrained it with leather strips—crafted from leftover goblin skin. He also tied the boar's limbs. Neither would be escaping like that.
Two hours were spent carving obedience runes into both the wolf and the boar. He failed on the wolf—it bled out before he could use a healing rune. His mana was already spent on the obedience rune.
Besides, the healing rune was peculiar. Unlike the others, which could be carved into rocks, ground, or other surfaces, healing required something like a paper—and it would crumble after use. Otherwise, it wouldn't activate. He had tested this in the cave—without success. Once outside, Red suggested trying a leaf. It worked. Faust had stored a few leaves for emergencies.
"Damn… A wolf would've been useful. Well, it is what it is. The boar will have to do."
He ordered his goblin to dismantle the wolves' bodies. Their pelts could make a better bed than leaves and maybe even a saddle, if his plan worked, that is.
Once he recovered enough mana, he attempted to subdue the boar again. He had carved the rune into its tusks—a solid surface made things easier.
It worked. The boar was now under his control. But Faust wasn't exactly satisfied. He had lost almost all his goblins in the cave. He needed at least three or four companions. The mental strain was heavy, but their utility was worth it.
Now, he had two: the goblin and the boar. He fully healed the boar and his goblin after regaining his mana. The entire process took around four days.
He used the boar as a mount, using the wolves' pelts as a saddle. It was big enough. Despite the training in the cave, Faust was still human, and a child on top of that. He felt exhaustion. Days of walking without proper rest had taken their toll. A mount was more than welcome.
Then, he resumed his stop and went back to walking through the forest. He found no more interesting situations for days. However, whenever he stopped, he would use wooden sticks to craft makeshift javelins—wood was much easier to obtain than bones, after all. He would also make more stone "grenades" and sleep on top of the boar, which was quite comfortable and warmer than sleeping on the ground.
The forest was immense; even after wandering for so long, he still hadn't found his way.
Days later, he heard something interesting. A huge noise came from behind some bushes. Getting closer, he saw a camp far in the distance. He climbed a tree to get a better view. The camp was surrounded by wooden fences. Inside, there were furry creatures—taller than goblins and even taller than Faust himself. They stood close to two meters tall. They also looked much better groomed, but apparently more dangerous. Most of them were armed and wore armor.
Their fur varied in color—black, brown, white. Their bodies were muscular and imposing. The camp itself had multiple wooden huts, packed dirt roads, wells, and even crops. It was clearly much more advanced than the goblin camps.
"What are these…" Faust mumbled; he didn't recognize these creatures.
"Beast folk." Red answered almost instantly.
"You really know so much. How is it that you know about them?" Faust tried to bait Red into revealing more, but he failed—Red remained silent.
The beast folk appeared to be performing some kind of ritual. At the center of the camp was an open space where they threw plants and water. They also danced and sang in a strange language.
"There's at least fifty of them, probably more inside the houses. I have no reason to trouble them, and even if I did, I'd probably be killed easily. Yeah, I'm just leaving." Faust was interested in the ritual, but he was too close for comfort. He didn't know whether they were peaceful or hostile. He'd rather not take the risk. He had another objective anyway.
He climbed down the tree, got back on his boar, and turned away, leaving.
More days passed. Faust's wolf meat was beginning to spoil. After several failed attempts, he finally managed to make fire. He cooked a small portion of the meat and ate it. The rest he gave to his goblin and the boar. Then, he wandered again.
After several more days without any discoveries, he decided to return to the cave area. He remembered the path and planned to use it as a point of reference—but this time, he would go in the opposite direction. If he found nothing, he would simply try another path again.
And so he did—testing several different routes.
Two months passed. He remained cautious around animals, refusing to engage unless he was absolutely certain he could win without suffering losses. During this time, he encountered a few wolf packs, but most had over ten wolves—he avoided them. Rabbits and similar creatures were useless, too small and weak to be worth the effort.
One night, Faust came across a large cave. A strong, bloody smell drifted from its depths. Near the entrance, there were torn pieces of cloth and dark stains of dried blood on the rocks; he could also hear something breathing inside. He set up camp at a safe distance and waited.
"This is…" Faust's eyes shrank to needle size, fear forming in his heart.
At sunrise, a giant bear emerged from the cave. It was about two meters tall on all fours, and when it stood on its hind legs, it surpassed three meters. Its fur was dark as night. Fortunately, it seemed to hunt during the day, so it wasn't too difficult to spot. Its body was marked with scars, and it was clearly powerful. The bear sniffed around briefly before rushing into the forest. Despite its size, it moved with alarming speed.
"Maybe…" Faust said with a solemn face, sweat forming on his forehead.
He was tempted by the idea of subduing the creature—but he quickly shook the thought away. That beast would easily massacre him and his 'companions.' He was afraid of it—wary. For now, finding out what was inside the cave would be enough. Whatever it was, it was probably dead. Still, he held on to a sliver of hope.
"If it's a goblin, I can follow the bear from a distance and see if it passes by any goblin camp. Maybe I can subdue more goblins. If it's a human, they were probably a deceased hunter. That might mean a village is nearby—or at least a road. Maybe they were just far from their home. But I have nothing better to bet on. If it's something else, like the beast folk Red talked about, then I'll just leave."
He took advantage of the moment the bear had left its "home"—and stepped inside.