Chapter 6: Friend or Foe

Rowan felt tired, he had just woken up several hours ago in a brand new world, where everyone has recently obtained powers. Not to mention the part where the system mentioned other worlds. This was all a lot to take in, and Rowan felt that he needed to rest before anything else.

It was getting dark, and Rowan needed to find shelter, food and water.

'The food part is covered, but where am I going to find shelter and water. Will drinking melted chocolate count?' Rowan had no experience in this regard, he was only a half-baked Confectioner, after all.

However, he knew exactly what would know where the water source is, the animals in the forest. He would just have to look around for one, and follow it, hoping it leads him to the water source. He had an idea for the shelter part now, and he could eat his confections for a while.

He stopped dead in his tracks after hearing some rustling in the bushes nearby, something was in there.

Crunch

Whatever was in the bushes was stepping all over the branches and leaves on the ground, was it not afraid of predators?

As Rowan kept observing, he saw a pair of antlers poking up. It was a deer. The deer appeared to be eating something there, it stayed there for a while until it finished. Rowan heard it moving in another direction, and waited a bit before following. It wasn't too hard to follow, thanks to the trail of animal fecal matter.

The deer would occasionally stop, to graze on something, and then continue moving. Careful to avoid stepping on any branches or the sort, Rowan trailed behind, though it was getting hard to see.

Swoosh

'An arrow?' Rowan couldn't see, but assumed so, there was someone nearby. Rowan activated Hot Chocolate, and spread it out, it looked like a big blanket floating in the air. He could have spread it out even further than that, but the arrow - assuming that was what was shot - might not melt.

The deer appeared to have been hit by something, and fell down. It didn't even get to struggle before another sound was heard, and the deer stopped crying out shortly after.

"Who are you?" the voice was clearly from a man. Hearing the voice, Rowan tensed up, the person appeared to know his location, while he had no clue about the man's location. With that being the case, the man didn't attack, which means that he bore no ill will or had other intentions.

"My name is Rowan, and you are?" only now did Rowan realize he could understand and speak the native language in this world. He thought about it for a bit, but the man answered after a short silence.

"The name's Liam, there aren't too many visitors around this part, what are you doing in this part of the woods?" the man- or Liam, as he put it, appeared to mean no harm. Rowan thought that Liam might be living around here, and wanted to know his intentions.

"I was following that deer you killed. I thought it would lead me to a place with water." Rowan responded in kind.

"Right you are, there's actually a lake near here." Seeing that Rowan meant no harm, the man came out from where he was and started to drag the deer away, only glancing shortly at the mass of chocolate in the air. Seeing the man's back, Rowan thought that it was to show that he meant no harm.

"Follow me." Liam leisurely said without turning around, he seemed easygoing, and even took the initiative to exposing himself in the open. Rowan could see him clearly now, he looked like a middle aged man with black hair. He seemed relatively fit, and experienced with the scars that could be seen running across his body, quite possibly from animals.

Despite this, Rowan kept his guard up, and kept his skill activated, although he shrunk it down into a ball, ready to spring into action in case the the man attacked. Rowan followed from behind, and the duo soon came upon a small house made of wood and stone, and Rowan could even see the lake a distance away.

Liam walked into a small hut outside near the house, and started stringing the deer up on a stick and made a big cut, he was draining it's blood. After that, went inside his house, leaving the door open for Rowan. By now, Rowan had mostly let his guard down, if the man really meant to harm him he would have attacked already. He deactivated his skill, walking inside the house, but remained alert nevertheless.

The house seemed cozy, despite there not being much furniture or decorations. There was a bookshelf, a fireplace, a dining table, a pair of antlers mounted on the wall, a fur rug, and other furnishings. Liam walked into a room, and came out with a knife, it was probably the kitchen. He walked outside, probably going to process the deer meat. Rowan made himself comfortable on a chair at the dinner table, and shortly after the man came in with several cuts of meat.

"Care to join me for dinner?" Liam suddenly asked, about to head into the kitchen. At this point, the man really seemed to mean no harm, Rowan had his suspicions at first, but Liam did not show malicious intent even once. Rowan knew that he wasn't a friend, he wasn't an enemy either.

A moment later, the rich aroma of stewed meat and spices aroused Rowan's appetite. He's only had some sweets, and was dying to dig in.

Around two hours later, Liam came out with a pot and some bread on a plate. Rowan was already dozing off at this point, about to fall asleep, but woke up when he heard Liam putting the pot and plate on the table.

"Help yourself, I'm a pretty good cook." Liam seemed proud of his dish, and rightly so, the stew was delicious. It was rich in flavor, the meat was tender, and Rowan just couldn't stop eating. It's this first decent meal he's had in this world. The two ate in silence, and Rowan offered to help wash the dishes.

"Wash the dishes, at night?" Liam was confused, as if Rowan just asked him something weird.

"...Never mind" Rowan wanted to smack himself in the head at this point, there was no running water in the house, so they would have to go to the lake in the morning. He had forgotten that this world wasn't as advanced technologically as his previous one.

"There's a room down the hall to the right with a bed, you can sleep there." Liam offered. After thanking him, Rowan went into the room, closed the door, and crashed on the bed. Rowan had a lot of things to do, but he had no idea how to go about it. He would try and first get some information about this world from Liam tomorrow.

"...A new world, huh?" Rowan thought as he drifted off to sleep.