Aric didn’t immediately run to the place where the scream came from but rather to the the tall and thick trees on the sides and made his way slowly towards while keeping his movement as silent as possible. This was where the lens and his communicator actually came into play. It gave an optimum ways to step forward while making the least amount of sound.
It even showed where there could be twigs and the fallen leaves making sounds. It was not always accurate as there was no actual AI connected but it was doing its best with the processor that it had.
Soon he reached the edge of the small forest and finally got to see. Aric had seen many things in life but he had never seen or been in a situation like this. He could easily make out that it was a village. And not the kind of village he had known or was that he would come across in his world.
But rather a village where houses were constructed from timber harvested from possibly the same forest he was hiding in, their roofs thatched with golden straw or covered in moss. From far, he could also see a weathered stone fountain, its waters flowing from the mouth of a mythical creature carved in exquisite detail. Even though it was a village, the fountain was working.
He wasn’t that taken aback by the village but the thing that was happening at the moment there. There were screams and shouts, children and women running around shouting. There were men dragging people out of their homes and throwing on the gravel stone path itself.
Many houses were on fire and some were already destroyed. These men looked like bandits with masks on their faces. From the dress the people of the village wore, Aric was sure that it was some kind of old times. Tunics, dresses, and trousers were common, dyed in earthy tones like moss green, deep brown, or sky blue.
And the bandits wore a little more fancier. They wore more rugged and thicker cloth, with embroidery on the edges. And among these bandits, there were two men which gave the biggest surprise of Aric’s life.
Much more surprise than the one in Echorysia One man was holding his hand horizontally and his hand and on the palm of his hand generated a small ball of fire, smaller than a tennis ball and the ball shot out and struck a home. The house caught a bit of fire and the man repeated the things a couple more times before the whole house caught fire.
And another man did a similar thing. He put his palm on the ground and small shards of gravel shot out from underneath and hit the ones who were running and screaming around. These small shards were very random and most of them missed the mark.
He had never seen such cruelty nor this magical thing ever in his life. He was shaking a bit as he was struck with a mix of emotions but he stood his ground and watched. He felt bad for the men and women in the village as they were beaten and dragged horribly. Many of these people had lost consciousness.
"What is this place?" Aric murmured. As he watched he could hear them speak loudly.
"Make sure not to leave evidence that it’s us. Make it as random as possible. Loot them. And take the young ones, we can get more money by selling them as slaves. Hahahaha.."
"Doing the slave business with those bastards is more profitable."
"Of course it is. The barbarian attack on the borders really was a boon. Captain was right."
"Of course he is. He is a mage who even went to school."
Aric was surprised that these people spoke English and more surprised that one of them even called a mage. It became increasingly clear that this world was way too different than he thought before.
He also wanted to help these men and women but he knew that he wouldn’t be able to. He was just a 13 year old kid looking at everything at the eyes of an adult. And the adult thinking of his brain was telling him to back off and get back home.
"I should leave." Aric thought and he was ready to just vanish from this place and come back later but before he could do so, he felt a cold feeling and on his neck. Aric instantly stiffened when he felt that.
"Look what we have here.. Oye lads.. We have found ourselves quite the guy.. Move and I will slit your throat bitch."
Aric’s eyes went wide and had almost out of fear teleported away but stopped. He needed to think this through. Soon many men came running as Aric was pushed from the shades.
"Rick, your stealth magic has gotten us a golden goose again."
"Exactly now, kiss my feet and chant my name in glory."
"Fuck off.. Just because you are good at stealth magic doesn’t make you the King."
Everyone bickered and Aric who didn’t have any the steel blade on his neck was increasingly getting agitated. He wanted to teleport, but once he did he wasn’t sure it would safe for him. Since there was a mage here, he could guess that there were many magical things and creatures around.
The deer with beautiful antlers made sense now. But here was the question. Was teleportation unique or very rare? Because both of the options were dangerous. He had read enough fantasy books in his previous time, to understand that teleportation was a power everyone would love to have or something to be jealous of.
If the ability was rare then he was fucked. If it was unique than he was also fucked.
"Calm down. You can’t teleport now. From the looks of it, they want me captured. I can slip away once nobody is looking." Aric thought.
The bandits caught him by the collar and dragged him to the fountain. He was just another man to be abused and played with.