“I suppose I should thank you”, the man said with a large smirk on his face. Grey was still assessing whether the man was currently a threat to him or not. It was clear that he was powerful enough to cause him major harm if he wanted, and combined with the earlier warning from Ki that he had some sort of wind affinity, he was on edge. However, the man’s body language suggested that he was not looking for a fight.

  “If that’s the case, why did you come flying through the trees at me like that?” he said with a gruff tone. He could clearly understand the words he was saying now, but he also had an uncomfortable feeling as his mouth adjusted to the new syllables and sounds of the language he had only just instantly learnt from Ki.

  “Ah, is that what has you so spooked. No need to be alarmed, friend, any killer of slavers is a friend of mine. I just have a flair for the dramatic, one might say,” he said in a light tone. That he was testing Grey's abilities was left unsaid, but he had diffidently noticed how quickly he had reacted to him dashing at him through the air.

  “I see, so they were a bad cup of tea. Might I ask what your name is, considering I did deal with your capturers and, in turn, released you from your cage?” Grey said.

  “You hardly released me. I was, in fact, just taking a rest before I escaped the devils, but I guess there is no harm in sharing a little for a fellow wanderer. My name is Akasuba, but to my friends it’s just Suba,” he said, raising an arm to his chest. “And who might you be wandering the trees on your own?”

  Grey did notice the genuine curiosity surrounding him being alone in the forest, confirming to him that there was more danger out here than just slavers. Still considering that he knew nothing about Akasuba he wanted to give a false name but then realised this was the first person he had actually truly met in a world still completely unknown to him and realising there probably wouldn’t be a better opportunity to find out more about this world until he came into contact with civilisation decided to take a leap of faith and trust him, to a extent that is, until he had gleamed all the knowledge he could from him.

  “My name is Grey.”

  “Curious that, the colour? What an odd thing to name your child, your parents really must have been dull”, Suba said with a laugh. “Of course, considering the look you are giving me now, it seems most appropriate.”

  “Might I ask what you are doing wandering around the boundless alone?” Suba asked him

  “The boundless?” he answered, not understanding the question.

  “The forest we are currently in”, Suba answered with a puzzled expression on his face.

  “Oh yes, of course”, he said, trying to cover up his ignorance. “I’ve just been out here doing a little hunting.”

  “A little hunting in the boundless forest, you must be jesting with me, but keep your secrets, Grey. I’m not one to pry”, Suba answered.

  “In that case, can I ask how one manages to find themselves trapped in a cage in the middle of the boundless forest?” he countered

  “You see, that is quite a lengthy tale, my friend, but considering the length of the sun, I think we have the time. First, let us get a little food going on the fire. I wasn’t exactly getting the most glamorous meals for the past few days trapped in that box with all those runes draining away at me.” Suba answered.

  Grey looked up at the sun and noticed it was getting late, but thought back to the bodies of the men and the gore still in the clearing. Staying here could only lead to trouble.

  “I’m thinking of moving camp. I don’t think staying in this area is a particularly good idea”, he said

  “That I agree. It wouldn’t be fantastic if we had a horde of night walkers surrounding us as we eat. Well then, let me just grab my things, and we can be on our way”, Skuba said as he began gathering certain things around the ruined campsite. Grey noticed him grab the short sword that the smaller man had been holding before the fight, and instantly stiffened, but still sensing no threat from the man, decided to carry on the little game they were playing. He also decided not to question what exactly a night walker was, trying to keep his ignorance of the world hidden for as long as he could.

  After a little time had passed, they both started walking out of the clearing with Akasuba slightly in front of him.

  “My old campsite is not too far from here. If we hurry, we can reach it before nightfall, but do try to keep up,” Suba said, looking back at him with a grin

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  The next thing he knew, the man became a blur of wind and sped into the distance. Having no idea where he was and no idea as to what dangers came out at night, he had no choice but to follow. Using his advanced body, he sprinted after the man. The next few moments were an exhilarating rush as he sped past the trees and released all the tension in his body that he had been feeling since the fight. Just putting one after the other. Akasuba was insanely fast, maybe even as fast as him, so he had to focus to keep him in range of his eyesight as the shadows from the trees lengthened. After what felt like thirty minutes of running, they finally came to a halt beneath a tree so large that the base could be compared to the size of the old cottage he had been living in. That’s when he realised that there was a small opening in the trunk, which Akasuba walked through. Taking a deep breath to steady his nerves, he crouched through the opening.

  His fears were for nothing as he didn’t receive a knife to the face but rather walked into a cozy little room which had been carved out of the trunk of the tree. The man had obviously been camping here for a while, as his things were scattered all over the place.

  A short time later, they were sitting in the trunk with a warm bowl of stew in each of their hands on opposite sides of the trunk. Grey was eyeing him wearily while the man chattered away about the cooking procedure without a care in the world. Finally, he repeated the question that he had asked Akasuba earlier.

  “So, why are you out here alone?” he asked between mouthfuls of the delicious stew.

  Akasuba looked up from his own bowl and seemed to come to a decision.

  “Every person has a path set out for them in life”, he started for the first time since we had met with a serious expression on his face. “Call it fate or destiny or whatever you want, but it has been written before you even began down this path, but I believe that this path can be altered and changed. I was tasked with a mission. One that I found I couldn’t follow through with. Instead, I realised that I could take things into my own hands and follow my own path, so for the longest time I’ve been wandering. Moving through this large world, living from horizon to horizon in search of my true path. However, my actions from my past have finally started to catch up to me; it seems in some twisted way this is how the world is getting back at me for changing my path,” he said fervently. “Now you may be wondering why I would tell you this at all. It's two things, really. What you did back there in the clearing. The dark magic you used to kill Indub the berserker. It showed me that you are like me. Different from others. The second is you’re a curiosity, and I’ve been searching for that for the longest time. You seem like you will do great things or terrible things, and I have this strangest feeling that I should see what those things are.”

  He could only sit in silence as Suba spoke and listened. Everything he said was impossible vague, but he understood the need for secrets as he had many of his own. The man seemed convinced that some twisted sense of fate had thrown the two of them together, but Grey knew that the man had just gotten lucky that he got transported through worlds close to where the man was being held captive. The interesting thing to him was that the man did not seem weak by any means, so he couldn’t understand how he had been captured in the first place.

  “But how were you captured by those slavers?” he asked.

  “It was an unfortunate series of events. You see, I do not have the strongest perception skill, so I did not notice them tracking me until it was too late. They had come prepared for me and used certain magical tools to nullify my strongest abilities, which left me powerless to defend myself against Indub in his berserker form. The only way they would have those priceless tools would be if they had backing from someone very rich and from someone who once knew what I was capable of, hence why I said my past has finally come back to haunt me. Why, now I could not answer, but it seems someone wants revenge.” Suba said

  He could see that he wasn’t telling him everything, but decided not to pry further as the man had respected the fact that Grey hadn’t said much about himself so far. By this time, it was getting late, and they had a long day, so they decided to get some rest.

  Settling down at the opposite sides of the trunk with his back to Suba, he finally had a moment to communicate with Ki in silence.

  “What do you think of him. Do you think we can trust him?” he asked.

  “I am not sure, human, for now, maybe. He is stronger than he is letting you know. I can feel it in the shadow he casts, and there is something else he is hiding. His wind affinity. It does not seem natural”, Ki answered

  Grey agreed that there was more to the man than meets the eye, but knew his best course of action for now would be to trust the man until he got out of the boundless forest. Deciding that it was best he got some rest, he asked Ki to watch his back and closed his eyes. However, it would seem this new world had other ideas, and he would not sleep for very long.

  After what felt like he had barely closed his eyes, he felt what he had come to think of as his shadow perception flair to life, instantly shaking him awake. He stood up immediately and looked around. It was fully dark in the trunk, but he could just make out that Akasuba was awake as well. Suba looked over to him and slowly raised a finger to his lips to signal that he should keep quiet as he slowly approached Grey.

  “Night walkers”, he whispered to Grey.

  They stood there silently looking at each other as the erratic noises of what sounded like a grinder sawing through metal slowly begun to get closer to them.

  Closing his eyes in concertation Suba whispered, “Two of them at least, closing in on us.”

  The sound only grew louder and louder eventually he could tell they were right outside of the trunk. Grasping his knife, Grey prepared for battle. Deadly, still, they stared at the opening in the trunk. A large snout slowly peeked through the opening and let out an awful shriek.