The feeble man sat from his resting position and looked at the massive expanse. He was feeling the scenery since it has been so long. Although he wanted to stay for a little longer, he had to move because of starvation.
Slowly, he rose up on his feet, balancing himself. He just had to straighten his left leg, and he would be standing. But his legs couldn't keep up and started wobbling.
He was trapped in a never-ending cycle to the point he forgot how to balance himself—or his armor was just too heavy. He looked at his worn-out armor and breathed deeply.
Piece by piece, he slowly removed them, starting from his helmet. Every time he lifted his heavy pieces of armor, he would grunt. Yet his face makes no changes—being so nonchalant. Beneath the armor was a gambeson, a thick padded jacket.
The gambeson was removed from his body; it was lighter than his armor, but its weight still cannot be underestimated.
After fully removing his armor, he was wearing light clothes. A tight black shirt and a white loose-fitting pant were what he was currently wearing. His shirt was compressing onto his v-tapered body.
His height and body synergized with each other perfectly. He was 5'10 with a mesomorph body, and a white-yellow skin.
He made an effort to stand up. He wasn't rushing, carefully standing up on his feet.
Because he removed his armor, his body became lighter. He didn't struggle much. If he wanted to, he could have stood up faster.
Seeing how he knows it's not difficult anymore, he stood up faster until he was completely standing up. Finally, he was completely upright.
Caprio closed his eyes and breathed deeply to feel the nature. His eyes opened when he felt something big coming.
The once gentle breeze turned into raging gusts, fluttering the man's hair—revealing his eyes. It was plain yet elegant. The eyes were black—black iris and pupils.
Then, the gusts calmed; his hair went back to covering his dark eyes.
His legs started moving forward alternately, and with each step he took, he became faster. It produced power that made him quick. He ran straight without thinking anything.
There was a tiny slope some distance away from him, but his speed covered a couple of meters in seconds. His legs produced more power as he climbed the small hill. With barely any effort, he got on top of the hill.
His mouth gaped open, seeing the landscape before him. In front of him was a mountain slope clothed in greenery and a variety of flowers. His peripheral vision saw a picture that caught the young man's attention.
It was a city that appeared to had taken a vast plot of land. Houses are densely packed, with adequate space between them. The roofs were crimson. Some lots vary in size and shape.
In the heart of the city was an astounding triangular roof of a building. Its overall size was greater than the others. The triangle was white, with straight lines connecting the corners.
The city was fortified by strong walls that encircled its perimeter. It's only entrance outside was connected to a stone path.
He put his chin on his hand, which supported his face, with an expression of contemplation.
'Unfamiliar? No—it was never here.' The young man started thinking.
'It did feel a lot of time had passed, so it would make sense if things changed.
'Question is...' he sighed before solving his problems.
'...' He sighed deeply once again, not thinking about anything.
The young man looked back at the strange city. With a plan in mind, the man launched himself down the slope. The air resistance stopped him from going too fast, but it isn't accomplishing much.
This was the fastest way of going down on the slope than walking, as it could save him time.
Just then, he came to the level ground. He kept rolling down because of the momentum he was creating. His rolling speed moderately lessened, eventually coming to a stop.
He laid in the middle of the stone path, his hair messy, and his clothes had some grass. He stood up and patted himself to make himself presentable.
"Are... you okay?" A woman dressed in strange clothes spoke. She was standing near the black-haired man with two brown duffle bags in each hand. Her voice was average, nothing special.
She was wearing a black zip-up hoodie paired with a white shirt. Her pants were also black, matching her sweater.
The black-haired man looked at her indifferently and said, "Yeah."
He turned and looked at the city; it was quite far away but walkable. "Are you heading there too?" He pointed at the city.
"As you can see," she replied, struggling a bit holding her belongings.
The man offered a hand to her, "Since we're heading the same way, I can lend you an hand."
"I would love that," the woman handed two of her duffle bags to him, carrying only 2.
She switched one of her duffle bags to her other free hand to balance the weight. The young man received the bags and carried both of them with his left hand.
"Heavy," he muttered in his thoughts. It was quite heavy; he can carry it, but he nearly collapsed when she handed it to him.
They were walking along the smooth stone route that leads into the city. He strolled side by side, making sure to keep his distance from her. He didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable or appear creepy. He hastened his pace to ensure he was ahead and to make the lady less anxious about him.
"Hey," she spoke behind him, "What's your name?"
The man was taken aback; he expected it, but not right now. He remained silent till they arrived at their destination, preventing conversation. But it appears that the idea failed.
'I saw this coming..." In his mind, he was nervous.
He cleared his throat to obviate phlegm, "Caprio. You?" He softly but coldly asked.
"Scharf." She faced the ground as she declared her name.
Caprio didn't notice and complimented her name, "Unique."
Shocked, Scharf looked back up at him. "Thank you," Her cheeks turned pink.
Before Caprio could say anything—Scharf asked, "Are you from Quizel??"
Caprio's movement slowed; his pace matched Scharf. "Why do you think so?" He looked at her with curiosity.
'Quizel?' It was the first time Caprio ever heard of that strange name. He wanted to ask about Quizel—but he restrain from doing so.
"How you dress, how you talk, mostly your accent." She listed the things that made her think about it.
'Quite a personal question for a first-time meeting'
"Lady, it's our first time meeting," he replied back calmly, not showing any aggression.
'Come to think of it, her accent is... really weird for me. Her clothes too.
'I never heard of this accent nor read this in a book before.' Caprio pondered and questioned about things he had never heard of.
"Ah! I'm sorry," Her voice pitched up and bowed. She realized she was stepping over the person's boundaries.
"Ah no, it's alright. Stand straight, Scharf." He told her, not making things more awkward.
"Yes, but still, I'm sorry." She bowed again, then continued to walk again side by side.
Silence enveloped between the two of them. Only their steps could be heard. They walked without neither of them striking up a conversation.
"We're here," Scharf broke the silence.
"I'm aware," Caprio said, with a hint of lies in his voice.
He ruminated about Quizel and Scharf, looking for solutions to his problem. He was too busy in his thoughts that he didn't pay to his surroundings.
Scharf raised her arm forward, her eyes looking at Caprio.
Confused, Caprio tilted his head sideways, "?"
"My stuff, please." She asked, her voice back to normal.
"Oh, here," Caprio placed her bags on the floor to ensure she wouldn't get hurt when carrying it.
She picked up her things and looked at Caprio once again. "Let's part ways. Thank you for carrying my stuff." She bowed
"No worries." He raised his hand and waved slightly.
Caprio looked at the city, and it did not disappoint him. It appeared huge to him at first. The entire space was filled with laughs and snippets of discussion. Houses were built to be both sturdy and cozy. Stores are abound, and street sellers sells a variety of items.
Their attire was unique and native to this city. Not a single person wore a dark color; people wore bright and colorful hues. However, some wore dark colors, like black.
"What a sight," he uttered to himself.
Caprio's time of admiration of the city was suddenly disturbed by a loud commotion.
"Make way!" The voice was loud, and it wasn't far away from Caprio's ears.
Caprio looked over at the commotion; he didn't move since it's just in front of him. He saw a carriage passing through the street-filled people. The citizens step on the side to make way for the blue carriage with decors of gold.
'Am I special for a carriage to be heading my way?' He asked himself sarcastically.
As the carriage moved forward, he saw a person at the front accompanied by white horses yelling the same thing again.
He was dressed up in an elegant way. His outfit was a white suit with white gloves. A top hat was worn on his head, refining his elegancy.
'So that was him.'
The carriage moved closer to him, inch by inch. And when it is reasonably close to him—the horses moved left, followed by the carriage.
Outside, it appeared that he didn't care about anything. However, within, he was emotionally devastated.
Suddenly, his stomach growled.
'Right, food,' he said embarrassingly in his mind. After all, no one wants to hear a man's stomach growling.
The people went back to their usual activity, while some murmured about the carriage. Caprio looked for food stalls to fill his stomach. His head looked left to right, checking out every food in a stall.
Then, a food stall caught his eye. It was quite messy but it doesn't affect the nourishments. Out of all the clean food stalls, he chose this.
He twisted his body and headed there. Instead of running like an hungry man, he walked over the food stall.
"What can I ge—" the food cart owner was interrupted by Caprio.
He was an old man, aging between 50 and 60. His green pants, yellow shirt and green jacket were poorly made. His white skin blemished, and his hair and facial hair were white.
His food cart was made out of metal, a large grill beside him, and a huge opened umbrella standing on top of the food cart. On the metal cart were ingredients, meats and vegetables, spices, and a menu sign. The owner sat behind the cart with his legs crossed.
"2 skewers of spicy konjac and 5 skewers of beef," he said in a hurried tone.
The old owner made a hand gesture, "10 shards."
Caprio showed a vague expression of confusion and was left dumbfounded. Both were looking at each other without saying a single word. The owner, who eyed every detail of expression, spoke first.
"You an outlander?" The owner asked, raising one of his eyebrows. He calmly asked Caprio.
Hearing the owner ask a question, Caprio replied, "Precisely."
Again, for a few seconds, no one spoke. Then the food cart owner spoke. "I'll put it in your tab; pay me back after three days." The owner trusted the foreigner for some reason; his voice and expressions show it.
Caprio didn't dare to query the owner about why he trusted him so quickly—it was beneficial to him.
"Name?" The owner spoke once again.
"Caprio." He answered the old man's question.
"Your full name."
For a moment, Caprio was left stunned. He stared at the old man's eye emptily.
"Caprio Kiansan." Caprio went back to present and said his full name. Caprio's mouth twitched as he spoke his last name.
The old man seen his mouth twitched, but paid no heed. The owner grabbed his pocketbook and wrote his name.
"Welcome to Ankcas," the food cart owner said vigorously.
"I appreciate that, but... I'm starving." Caprio said with his stomach growling.
The owner was left quiet then quickly replied, "Wait approximately 8 minutes, I have to cook them."