Lee opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. He was calm as he took a deep breath.

“Today is the day.” 

After the funeral, Lee went straight home and prepared for his journey. There weren’t any detailed maps outside of the Shadowgrove at the Consortium of Magical Scholars, but there were roughly drawn maps from memory. 

He was to head west for around two weeks through the Shadowgrove. The Kingdom of Thexis technically held the Shadowgrove forest in their zone of influence, but as they never ever set foot into the forest, it might as well not be theirs at all. 

The maps he had looked at didn’t have any notable locations listed. The Shadowgrove was never settled before The Harrowing. There were no ruins or landmarks other than a particularly tall Garbola or common hunting grounds or habitats for animals. 

He was going to be on his own. 

Lee swung off the bed and checked his watch. It was 7 AM.

He didn’t need to double-check his belongings, as everything he had ever owned was in his Hidden Cache. His cache was more than capable of holding everything he owned, with its 21x21x21-foot holding zone. Initially, he had thought that this ability wasn’t as good as Neia’s Bag of Holding, but he was wrong. The more he leveled, the more he could hold. 

Lee stretched as he thought about his departure. 

He never got to say goodbye properly to many people. He wanted to do something for Neia and Ruven but never really got a good chance. He also didn’t want to prolong his stay. He knew himself too well. If he stayed in Neldam for just another day, that would turn into a few days, then a week, and so on. 

So, today was when he left his home in Neldam for the last time. He left the door unlocked and placed the key he was given on the table. 

Lee wandered through the streets of Neldam, watching everybody go about their extremely long lives. He himself would live an extremely long life now—a unique thought. 

After thirty minutes, he arrived at the entrance to Neldam. He wandered outside the tunnel entrance and arrived at the wooden battlements, which were in the process of being removed.

Lee shook his head as he thought about his conversation with Nitis about permanent defenses. Hopefully, they would learn their lesson, but he wasn’t here to control how people lead their lives. He wasn’t sure what his role should be in the grander scheme of things. Should he tell people, ‘No, this is best.’? 

He kept walking forward, passed the guards leaning against the wooden battlements, and nodded to them. The guards didn’t seem to mind him going off, but he doubted that they knew he was leaving for good. He immediately turned and walked around the giant Garbola.

The entrance to Neldam was facing the East, so his starting destination would be on the backside of the Garbola. He ran his hand along the rough bark as he walked in the Garbola’s shade. Once he reached the backside of the tree, he turned towards the treeling in the distance and began to walk.

He walked through the empty field and admired the recovering purple grass. You could tell where the grass was flattened or mutilated by battle, but like many times before, life found a way. The muddy spots had little purple sprout offshoots jutting out of the ground. 

He kept walking. 

After walking two miles, Lee arrived at the treeling. He lowered his hood and checked over his shoulder. 

The tall and towering Garbola, which had been his home for the past month, stood stalwartly in the center of the open field. He took in the sight of the enormous tree one last time. He said a prayer to the God or Goddess of Nature as thanks, but prayers probably didn’t work that way if he had to guess. 

He flipped his hood back up and walked into the Shadowgrove, ready for the upcoming two weeks of travel. 

—-----------------------------------------------------------------

Neia looked down at Lee’s departing figure as her legs dangled off the edge of one of the Garbola branches. Her glowing green eyes shed a single icy tear before she stood up and walked back into the small scouting tunnel of the tree. She jerked as a familiar voice spoke from the shadows of the entrance. 

“I told you he was leaving.” 

Ruven almost ran into Neia as he walked out into the light. 

Neia swiped at her eyes and flipped her braid over her shoulder. 

“I didn’t think he would actually leave so quickly. He was at the funeral yesterday, but we didn't get a chance to talk. He didn’t even ask for help.” 

Ruven just looked at Lee’s departing figure as he replied. 

“He’s got his own life to live and leveled up. He isn’t the same defenseless person we found lost in the forest. Would he ask you for help for the rest of his life? He’s not a child.” 

Neia glared at Ruven. 

“I know he’s not a child, but he’s young. I wouldn’t have minded a little outing taking him to the wall.” 

Ruven dismissively looked back at Neia. 

“Don’t lie to me. You know better.”

Neia shut her mouth. Ruven looked back to Lee and spoke once more.

“You know, he never lied to me. Not once. He even told me my prices were too high.”

Neia scoffed.

“That’s because they are, and every single person in the city has told you.”

She continued glaring at Ruven. 

“What are you going to do?”

He shrugged and patted his bow.

“Looks like a good day for some hunting. Maybe I’ll head west for a bit. How about you?”

Neia raised an eyebrow and glanced down at Lee once more.

“Hmm. I need to test some of my new skills. Do you think there are any monsters out there to patrol for? Maybe some escaped towards the west?”

Ruven actually laughed. 

“Monsters escaping? Nice joke. I wouldn’t mind a hunting partner, though. I think this will be a longer trip, probably two weeks long. Your Bag of Holding would come in handy.”

Neia and Ruven met each other's eyes, and they both smiled. 

“Give me twenty minutes, and I’ll be ready. You?” 

“I’ve been planning this little hunting trip for a day or two. I’m good to go.” 

Neia and Ruven walked back into Neldam, about to go on a little trip of their own. 

—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lee trekked through the Shadowgrove for hours with nothing of note happening. It wasn’t surprising, as being so close to Neldam meant that any animal or monster activity was lower. Monster hunters, such as Neia and Ruven, culled the monster population, and normal hunters killed the nearby animals. 

This left Lee to his own devices as he traveled west. 

By now, the sun was at his front, and the occasional light beams that peaked through the thick canopy overhead became his only source of entertainment. 

Not having a traveling companion was rough. Before, Lee would have small talk with Ruven or Neia. Not having them to converse with was something he missed dearly. Before this, He never traveled on his lonesome through the forest. Ruven and Neia had found him within hours of his arrival on Pallesia, and that was as close as a comparison as he could make. 

Without fearing for his life at any given moment when outside of the city was also nice. He doubted he would be encountering many, if any, monsters for the first few days. The monster siege left its mark on the land, and any monster nearby had been killed. 

He did try to spot the chipping birds he occasionally heard. But, just like when he first arrived, they were nowhere to be seen. 

Lee frowned slightly while squinting his eyes at the canopy.

He was determined to spot one during these coming two weeks. 

As he never really increased any of his physical stats, he was still fairly slow while moving through the dense underbrush of the forest. But at least he didn’t have to match anyone's pace this time. He wasn’t on a time limit and could spend a month traveling through the Shadowgrove if he wished. It was something he was thankful for. 

After a few hours and as the sun was beginning to set, Lee started to make camp. He stopped early because, for one, he wanted to find out how long it would take on average for him to make a fire and set up a sleeping spot. Two, he was slightly worried about sleeping with nobody watching his back. 

It took a few minutes for him to find a small clearing flat enough to make a one-person camp. Quickly scavenging up any and all sticks and stones on the forest floor, Lee made a small fire pit and grabbed his locket hanging around his neck.

Grabbing the weak emberstone from within, he placed it upon some of the kindling and injected some mana into his.

The stone flared brilliantly, and the sticks and grass kindling quickly started to smoke and catch fire. 

It was at this point that Lee had a terrible thought. 

How am I supposed to grab the emberstone from inside the fire?

Lee tried wetting his hands with Conjure Water, but that failed as he couldn’t spot the emberstone within the searing flames. 

Then, he tried using Mana Sense to spot the mana of the emberstone, and then used his watery hands to grab the stone. This also failed, as all the mana he put into the stone became heat: There was no mana to sense. 

He gave up and hoped that the emberstone would last inside the fire. It was an Emberstone, after all; it should last in some heat and flames. The worst-case scenario is that he loses it and must either go back to Neldam for another or trek through the Shadowgrove and try his best to become Bear Grills. 

He spread out some of his furs near the fire to warm them up and dug into another strudel.

His nutritional intake would probably horrify any of his nurses or doctors back on Earth, but he was the healthcare worker now. They could yell at him when they died and came here. 

But, if he wanted to live his long life, he would have to get his eating habits under control….

Lee shrugged and took another bite.