Chapter 3: Wizards Do Exist!

Before I could get a grasp of the situation, I started to hear faint footsteps and a strange chatter coming from the surrounding forest.

At first, I thought I was hearing things but the footsteps grew closer and the voices grew louder.

Then I put the pieces together. The impact may have attracted people and other animals nearby, I knew this wasn't the time to loiter around. I didn't want to trust a random group of people in a forest in a world that I just appeared in. In the off chance, it could also be some weird creature I've never seen.

I slowly made my way towards the bushes of the forest and away from the crater clearing trying to stay as silent as possible. I decided to stay hidden and decide to come out if whatever was heading my way was good or bad.

It wasn't until I reached the bushes that I remembered I was still half-naked in my boxers. The cold night air almost seemed to be strong enough to make me freeze on the spot. I stayed huddled near a bush trying to take shelter from the wind.

In such a situation, I didn't know whether to go closer to the noise or go farther from them. I could hear a series of audible yelling and swearing near the crater at this point.

Peaking out I only to found the silhouette of three males protected by the shrouded darkness of night.

A shudder went through my spine noticing one of them was carrying a staff that held a vibrant, blue flame which flickered to purple every few moments. The staff wasn't necessarily touching the flame, but instead, it was as if the flame was floating.

They were investigating in a very thorough manner as if looking for something.

It didn't take long for me to make a decision. Once again, I began to set off into the dark woods thinking it would be better to risk dying in the dark than to be captured by the 3 men. I admit it was a stupid thought. Who in their right mind would enter a forest instead of going toward sign of humanity. 

In my defense, humanity is probably more dangerous and scary than being out in the woods. Plus stranger danger exist. I couldn't take the chance that these people were slave traders of something. In the end it honestly didn't matter.

Before I could get far, I heard a sudden noise, a mix of a gurgle and a howl. A green humanoid creature with dark yellow eyes entered my vision. It was covered with a sort of leather sewn with bone. Its facial expression reminded me of the Joker from Batman yet a hundred times worse. In it's grimy green hands was a wooden, tattered club. The thing looked at me in silence and so did I, like a predator meeting its prey. 

A goblin.

A creepy gnarled grin appeared on its mouth showing bloody, black teeth.

I stuttered moving backward only to stumble and crawl back through the brush of trees, back into the clearing near the crater. My fear continued to build up internally as the goblin followed my lead, slowly stepping closer.

The goblin continued advancing toward me slowly turning more animalistic than human like. Breathing heavily, I stood back up still holding my breath, getting into a position to fight the goblin like I had any chance of winning.

In a moment, the goblin lunged towards me letting out a mixed sound of a cackle and growl. It extended its club backward ready to swing at me when a sudden ball of flam hit it away from me. I stood their in disbelief.

Shocked, my eyes silently followed where the goblin landed, watching it burn and writhe in a cyan flame as its life was usurped from the world.

My eyes quickly turned, fixated on the direction the ball of flame came from. The three men who were investigating the crater were staring at me with serious and questioning expressions on their faces.

The old man who held the staff of blue flame was the first to step forward. He had a ragged, dark red blindfold with burnt ends. Although it covered the man's eyes it didn't seem to serve the right purpose. It looked too long to be a blindfold.

Without any warning, the man pointed his staff toward me. The flame on the staff grew brighter.

"WHOA!" I yelped still shaken from the short event, taking a quick step back, "d..don't shoot!"

"Who are you and what purpose do you have being here?" although old and hollow the man spoke in a calm demeanor. His voice was clear yet raspy and held authority .

I raised my hands to show innocence like I was being arrested. It honesty it was kind of stupid since this man couldn't see that and only the his other two companions could.

"My name is Axel, I can explain just don't kill me," I frantically exclaimed. The blind folded man who seemed contempt with my answer nodded as if to say continue.

Before I could answer out loud, a ding went off causing me to loose my balance and a digital message materialized in front of me. A monotone, male voice began speaking to me.

[SYSTEM RESTART WILL NOW BEGIN, THE USER WILL NOW BE PUT TO SLEEP IN 5 SECONDS]

I could only stare at the message window in confusion. What I wanted to do was explain myself but what came out instead was, "what?"

The old man who was speaking to me cleared his voice. He repeated the question a second time thinking I didn't quite understand him.

Slightly startled, my attention was back on the blindfolded man. I realized that the three men weren't able to hear or see the system which was in front of me. I glimmer of excitement and fear pressured my chest.

A sudden, electrifying shock went through my body without warning. I let out a scream as if I was shot, toppling over to the ground unable to move. I writhed in pain as all my senses faded out.

The men quickly approached me surprised by what just happened. A ringing deafened my ears which stopped me from hearing anything. Their mouths moving yet nothing came out.

The men had a concerned look on their faces as my vision slowly blacked out to emptiness.