ZE - Chapter 40: The three riders

Disclaimer:

“Dialogue”

‘Thoughts’

-Author notes-

Chapter 40: The three riders

“Hurry! I want to see the forest!” Seth became more energetic after their discovery, despite all the walking they did during the night.

Zephyr was also excited to see this. A living forest meant there would likely be animals or other things to eat. They could not bring much food with them after all.

He had also not seen any signs of the poison clouds the Celestials always warned them about.

The Goddess's voice would have also warned him if he got poisoned like it did when he was bitten by the drake.

This can only mean that, at least this part of the southern continent is clean.

They came here not knowing if they were going to be able to survive in these lands… now their future seems a lot brighter.

However, what Zephyr wanted to know now was if humans still existed here. The southern continent was several times bigger than the part north of the wall. There must be some places where humans survived.

“Wait, Seth, don't enter the forest yet, let me go first!” The boy had been too excited and failed to wait for him.

They had no idea if any dangerous beasts like the Red Bears or Shadowcats lived there.

While trying to catch up with Seth, something flew past him and went straight for the boy.

“Seth, careful!” Zephyr did not have time to catch whatever that object was, and Seth was still too far away.

The boy was only around twenty feet away from the entrance of the forest when something huge landed in front of him and buried itself in the grassy ground.

"Ahh!" Seth got startled and jumped back to get away from that thing.

“Are you okay?” Zephyr finally arrived at his side.

“I’m fine…where did that come from?!” Seth then recognized what it was. It took him a moment because he had never seen one this large. “It's an axe!...is huge!.” He exclaimed.

Zephyr stared at it too. The axe had a single-sided blade, but it was massive. The blade alone was at least half the size of Seth. And the thick wooden handle appeared to be taller than Zephyr himself.

‘What kind of monster threw this?... and why didn’t I get any warning?’ He thought.

The Goddess always warns him when someone hostile is about to attack him.

Zephyr turned around and looked in the direction the axe must have come from.

Several figures were approaching from a good distance.

“Someone is approaching,” Zephyr warned.

Seth was also looking now. They were able to see three distinct humanoid figures, riding on top of some kind of mount. “They are closing in very fast!” Seth started to panic. 

“What are they riding? They don't look like horses.”

Zephyr was currently more worried about the riders.

“Are those Celestials? They must have been chasing us from Raingar Fortress then. But why are they coming from the East?” Zephyr said.

“What do we do?... do we try to escape into the forest?” Seth asked.

The three riders were now getting closer, and Zephyr was able to get a more detailed view. They appeared to be covered in some dark furs.

‘Beastmen?... no, wait. Identify!’

[Human Warrior Level 25]

“A human?!” Zephyr shouted. ‘His level is so high too.’

“They are humans? There shouldn't be any humans here,” Seth said.

He then used his skill on the other two.

He was relieved to find out they were weaker than the one in the center. The riders at his side were levels 11 and 12.

‘The high-level one must have been who threw the axe. To be able to throw something that massive from that distance… just how much strength does he have?’

“Zephyr, they are almost here!” Seth shouted.

Zephyr was hesitant to run away. If these were humans who had lived in these parts for a long time, then he definitely wanted to talk with them.

He had also not received any warnings about hostile presences, so their intentions were probably not bad.

It's not even clear if they could escape from them.

“We wait,” Zephyr decided.

Seth glanced at him. “What if they attack us?”

“Then I’ll fight them off, and you can run into the forest.”

The three riders stopped their mounts some ten feet away from them.

The mounts appeared to be giant green lizards with yellow spots on their hide. 

They looked at Zephyr and Seth before letting out a warning hiss.

The riders were definitely humans. They wore thick animal furs and carried weapons on their backs.

What got the most attention was just how big they were. He had never seen humans of that size. Even the carpenter twins from his village would fall short of these men.

They all had a very feral and primitive feel. If it weren’t for his ‘identify' spell, he would doubt if these were not Beastmen in disguise.

Zephyr looked at the middle one, who seemed to be their leader. The man was enormous, maybe over eight feet tall (2.5 meters), and looked to be incredibly strong. His arms alone were thicker than his torso.

He had long black hair and a pair of brilliant orange eyes, which told Zephyr that this was an awakened human.

‘Perhaps another runaway?... but his companions are not awakened.’ He thought.

The leader got off the mount first and walked a bit closer to Zephyr and Seth.

Seth was on guard while Zephyr felt more relaxed. He could not feel any hostility coming from the giant.

“Hello… we are travelers…” Zephyr decided to speak first.

The large man lifted his arm and pointed behind them.

“That forest… you can’t go in there.”