Elendril couldn't think at all.

His mind was a swirling pool of shock and despair. 

Above him, a guard suddenly noticed a motionless figure below the wall.

Thinking back to the chase for Elendril, and how Elendril hadn't been found yet, he decided that the figure seemed awfully suspicious.

So he shouted.

"Hey, you! Identify yourself!"

The sudden shout awoke Elendril. 

Turning around and seeing the guard, he quickly ran towards the forest that bordered the west of town.

The sentry, seeing this, immediately called for reinforcements from the town guard.

-----(:)-----

Elendril quickly ran into the forest. 

Glancing towards the town, he could see several town guards gathering at the southern gate. 

"This is crazy... Even my home's been burnt down!"

In the forest, it was dim and gloomy. 

The moon and her stars could not pierce the thick leaves.

Here, the shadows ruled. 

In this familiar environment, Elendril began to calm down.

Earlier, in the field, the grass was too short to make hiding a good idea. 

But here, in the forest, Elendril was a demigod. 

Even the king of the forest, the bear, feared him! 

Elendril slowed down to avoid making noise.

He employed an old hunter's technique for moving that his father taught him.

With his feet, he felt for the ground around him, and pushed away anything that he could step on, before making the step.

His breathing steadied, seemingly melding into the forest.

After years of practice, Elendril moved extremely fast.

It seemed as if he was gliding through the forest!

As he entered where the shadows deepened, he finally jumped into a tree and sat on the crook where the branch and tree met. 

It was a considerably high position.

In combination with his mottled green, gray, and brown cloak, which broke up his silhouette, one could only see him if they were told where he was!

The town guards, roughly 20-30 people, had arrived in the forest!

Rustle rustle!

Unlike Elendril, who treated the forest as his second home, the guards were not accustomed to the thick trees and deep shadows.

"Are we sure he's here?"

A guard said.

"Yes, Farrett said so himself! He was last seen heading towards the forest."

"Damn it! These shadows give me the creeps!"

"Sigh, couldn't we have at least waited til morning? I have a morning patrol later..."

Intimidated by the darkness, the guards split into groups of two and carefully began to scour the forest.

Elendril could only see small flickering balls of flame tracing barely visible silhouettes. 

Several times in the next hour, the guards came very near to his tree. 

However, each time, they could not find him.

As the moon began to go down, they finally decided to retreat back to Desden.

"It's time."

Elendril quickly hopped down from the tree. 

He was beginning to feel sleepy, but the adrenaline had not faded away yet.

He quickly glided towards the west, moving as fast as he could while staying silent.

From the guards' conversations, he had gleaned some more information about his situation. 

Apparently, a commission to capture him and his family was issued in the Adventurer's Guild, for 2 gold coins!

A single gold coin was enough to feed a family for years, let alone two!

This meant that he had to make the most of his time to move away from town before the adventurers came! 

Unlike the towns guards, the average adventurer was around level 25.

He did not stand a chance against them!

Let alone fight them, it would be a challenge to even escape their chase!

Currently he was still level 1, or a rank F adventurer.

He was still a regular human.

At rank E, he could fight soldiers who did not have the system.

At rank D, that was the pinnacle of the mortal realm!

The majority of the adventurers in the town were rank D and E, but that did not make his situation much better. 

Adventurers typically traveled in groups of 3-5 people.

He might be able to escape the rank E adventurers, but once the rank D adventurers followed, he was doomed!

He also learned that his father and Ezekriel had managed to escape the house after all and headed to Chronosum. 

Despite being surrounded by 50 town guards and even old Damon, who had been a retired rank C adventurer, his father had managed break the encirclement and escape!

This greatly relieved Elendril's anxious heart. 

Now, he only had to focus on getting to Chronosum, and it would be alright!

He moved for several hours, until he saw a stream of water. 

With a parched throat, he gulped several handfuls of water. 

Finally sated, he moved into the shadows and found a suitable tree, hopping into the tree.

He curled up and used his cloak to ease his back, until he finally fell asleep.