Timothy rides moving on an old road. The road surface is already uneven from dirt and stone, with the asphalt cracked and damaged beyond recognition. Timothy's rides became very uncomfortable, but it was better than walking.

The Prairie of Illusion itself is located near the border of Jakurtan, in a different direction from the one that has a war. On this side, the Jakurtan border is located near a city with even worse terrain called Dyepock. rumor said that Dyepock is the only place where all magical and weird things meet. Magic Beast with bizarre form and Danger Zone with unexplainable situations is said to fill Dyepock region.
After another two hours of bumpy rides and muddy roads, Timothy finally arrived at the temporary base on the outskirts of Prairie of Illusion. The base is empty but it provides a temporary shelter for anyone who needs it. The base consists of a simple small house with necessary features like water pipes, a kitchen, and a toilet. At the side of the house is a simple garage enough for two cars to park side by side.

Timothy decides to unpack his bag in this house and decide to take some rest. Timothy will use the base as his center of activity and venture deep into the prairie later. Meanwhile, the driver tells Timothy that he will return three days later to get Timothy home if he is already done with his hunt. Otherwise, the driver will leave and return three days later, and so on.

Timothy agrees with the driver's idea and thanks him for the transport. As the driver leaves, Timothy is finally alone in the wilderness with no one to keep him company. Timothy decides to finish his exam as fast as possible, or else he will start to hear phantom noises. Shaking his head, Timothy quickly focuses on cleaning up the little house to make it more proper to live in. The house looked like it could take a heavy cleaning, but Timothy didn't have that much time, so he just cleaned up as much as he could.

****

Timothy spent a night at the small house and prepared to leave in the morning. Timothy only brought a few simple stuff like some food and tools since he didn't plan on staying out late.

The prairie is an open space filled with tall green grass as far as the eyes can see. The ground on the prairie appeared to be uneven, as seen from the hilly shape of the land. There are also a few big rocks here and there, with some forming a rock cluster.

As soon as Timothy enters the prairie, he can feel like something begins to cover his head. like a helmet is forcibly put on his head and cannot be removed. Timothy decides to keep walking, going further into the prairie while being very careful. 

Timothy was walking for about two hours when he suddenly heard the sound of grass rustling unnaturally. like there is something heavy step on it but try to be very careful when doing it. Timothy looked around in wary but didn't see anything unusual. only green grass as far as he could see. Thinking that whatever it is might be him being punctilious, Timothy decides to resume his walk. but it turned out it was a mistake.

Wauf! Wauf!

From behind Timothy, a fox-like magic beast as big as a golden retriever with white fur and two tails jumped and clawed Timothy's back. Protected by his new armor, Timothy doesn't suffer any wounds but he is still pushed down by the fox. As Timothy summons his Soul Weapon, he quickly rolls while turning his body to face the Magic Beast.

The White Fox quickly jumped back to hide among the tall grass when it saw that Timothy was ready to fight back. Timothy watches over his surroundings in wary, ready to respond when the White Fox appears once more. but the attack never came. Everything becomes silent and still once more, as if the attack had never happened.

Wauf! Wauf!Wauf! Wauf!Wauf! Wauf!Wauf! Wauf!Wauf! Wauf!
Wauf! Wauf!Wauf! Wauf!Wauf! Wauf!Wauf! Wauf!Wauf! Wauf!
Wauf! Wauf!Wauf! Wauf!Wauf! Wauf!Wauf! Wauf!Wauf! Wauf!

Suddenly, from all around Timothy, hundreds of White Fox jumped out of the grass and clawed Timothy. Due to his inexperience fighting with the Magic Beast, Timothy failed to notice that more than half of the attacking White Fox looked blurry as if they were low-quality pictures. rain of claws and bites falls on Timothy's protected body as he quickly runs away from the place.

Timothy sees a big boulder in front of him and quickly hides behind it. He could hear the White Fox barking loudly from behind the boulder, but he wasn't really worried as the boulder was so big it could cover his whole body easily. Timothy put his back on the boulder and began to relax a bit.

Scratch! Bite!

A pair of claws and bites suddenly hit Timothy in the back. Timothy's body is pushed to the front while the bite pulls him back. Timothy is slammed down here and there repeatedly, which is followed by him being thrown a few meters in the air before he falls back to earth on his left side.

Crack!

Timothy can feel, hidden under the tremendous pain he feels, that his left arm bone has moved to the side away from where it is supposed to be. Timothy tried to move his left hand but he felt like he lost command of it. Panicking, Timothy used his healthy right hand to stand up and quickly ran as fast as he could. For the first time in his privileged life, Timothy finally feels the threat of death. He tries his best to fight the feeling, but his logic tells him that he almost didn't survive the White Fox attack and his heart almost gave up.

Timothy's mind is in a panic. He runs without care of direction, only trying to go as far and as fast as he can. Timothy can run really fast. He might be the fastest student in the entire school. but now, in his panic, Timothy's running speed is even faster than what he usually does. He is so fast that he crosses the wide prairie without realizing it.

Even after Timothy ran beyond the prairie, he still kept on running without looking at his back. He kept on running until he exhausted himself. But even in that state, Timothy kept himself running until finally, he passed out due to tiredness. The last thing Timothy remembers is seeing the silhouette of a village.

*****

Hours later, Timothy opens his eyes and sees that he is lying on an itchy straw-woven bed. The room where he is located is dark and damp, with a bit of light entering from a few holes and a small tear on the wall. There is nothing much to see inside the room but a few simple house tools. from the appearance, it looks like it was an old village house in an old isolated village.

Timothy tried to sit up but then decided to stay on laying down as a sharp pain stung from his shoulder. Under the dim shadowy light, Timothy can see there is a bag of ice placed on his shoulder. The shoulder itself had already returned to its place, Timothy could tell based on the feeling of his hand that it had now returned to normal, just leaving a blue bruise that would heal in time.

Laying down with nothing to do, Timothy begins to think about his bad excuse for a hunt. The White Fox ambushed him and got up on him easily. Timothy cannot even put up a fight as the amount of White Fox is too much. Then there is also that boulder, which is actually just a fake boulder created by the prairie. The boulder had given him a few small bruises and humiliation Timothy had never felt before.

Most of the records Timothy found in the library are useless. The White Fox is not a kind creature that will only fight defensively. They ambush and hunt, using their advantage to the best of their ability with the intention of torturing their target till they die. The White Fox is also very strong and not as weak as described. This lack of information and failure makes Timothy feel like a useless person.

as Timothy was drowning in the shadow of his own failure, a door suddenly opened near Timothy. It was located near Timothy feet, as Timothy could see a straight line of light suddenly appear and illuminates the room. A shadow of a person then appears from the door, filling the room with their presence.

"looks like you are awake, Mr. Brightblade." said the person that appeared to be a female.

Her appearance is that of a wrinkled old lady wearing traditional village clothing. Her clothes look old and shabby, as if time not only touched her but also her clothes at the same time. Weirdly, her walk is steady and firm, each step is taken with such a strength that she supposed to not have.

"welcome to my old village, Mr. Brightblade.

or can I call you little Timy?" said the old lady with a teasing smile.

"Grandma Light!!!" said Timothy with a shout.