It had almost been an hour, and I was still hiking through the forest, no end in sight.

Luckily the Lurker had not shown up again, or maybe it had, but I just hadn't noticed it.

Even though I was being a lot more vigilant than before, I had no real confidence I'd be able to notice its ambush again.

While walking, I kept using my newly discovered Identify skill on everything to pass the time. Apparently, the mosquito-like insects are called just that: mosquitos... Life is cruel. Even after escaping to another galaxy, I couldn't get rid of those fuckers.

I also used the skill on the trees, but it seems th-

"Evening, young lad!" A Deep shout reverberates through the forest, making me visibly jump.

I quickly turn my head towards the sound to see a chest-high bearded man standing there, about 10 meters away, holding something that kind of resembles a crossbow. The man has a rough-looking face with a large nose, and both his beard and hair are bronze-red and knotted.

"I went 'n' gave ya a scare, huh?" the man asks while approaching me.

On closer observation, he looks to be in his fifties and is dressed in thick leather clothing. He also has a large backpack on his back and a long dagger on his hip.

"Oh haha, yeah. I was a bit lost in my thoughts there," I reply clumsily, breaking out of my daze.

The man seems to relax a bit after hearing my answer.

"It's my bad, but ya ought to be more vigilant 'round here. There's a Lurker nest nearby..." the man warns. "Wait, where are my manners! The name's Bassir, glad to meet ya!"

"It's great to meet you too. My name is Derek. I actually met one of those Lurkers a while back, almost ambushed me too," I respond. Luckily the man doesn't seem to be hostile.

"Really? I came here to search for the last one, but if ya already took care of it, it's great news! Those bastards sometimes come up the river and lay eggs in the lake. Better to take care of 'em while they're still young." Bassir explains, contempt in his voice.

"Oh, heavens no. I didn't kill it. I just managed to scare it away," I clarify. "But you're telling me that thing was just a hatchling? It was almost to my waist!"

My alarm about the creature's size seems to fill Bassir with confusion, which after a few seconds turns into amusement: "You must be one of those big-city folks. How did ya even end up 'ere in the middle of nowhere?" he asks curiously.

'What should I say? I can't exactly tell him I died in another galaxy, met God, and got transported here... Or maybe I could?' I pondered for a moment, however in the end, I decided to go with a half-truth: "Well, you see, I was a bit lost, but then I spotted a city from on top of a cliff and started walking towards it, and here we are."

"Haha, that's a good story! The only notable thing 'ere for miles is that city you spoke about, Melgir, so you can't exactly get "a bit lost"! But oh well, I won't pry into yer personal business. Say, how long ago did you meet that Lurker?"

"Thanks for that, and I think it has been about an hour since it tried to ambush me," I answer.

"Well, darn. In that case, I won't be able to track it down before nightfall... Hmm, if it's fine with ya: I can escort you back to the city after I'm done putting up the last trap," Bassir proposes, patting a contraption hanging from his hip.

"Sure! That'd be great!" I respond almost instantly. If that Lurker was truly a baby, like Bassir claims, I'd hate to stumble upon an actual adult predator while alone and unarmed.

Bassir chuckles a bit at the fast response but then quickly starts setting up the trap while I watch from the sidelines.

'Oh yeah, I should try if Identify works on other people,' I realize, quickly using the skill.

Dwarf - Level 86

Dwarves are sentient land-based mammals known for their short statures, ingenuity, and strength.

'Oh, he's a dwarf? Well, now that I think about it, it seems so obvious... I guess I still have my Earth mentality with me, where every sentient being is human.'

"Alright! I'm done!" Bassir announces while picking up his pack. "Ya coming?"

"That was fast. I thought it'd take a bit longer," I say as we begin walking towards the city.

"It's just a magic force field trap, so it's pretty easy to set up," Bassir explains: "It's wasteful, I know, but the king recently banned the use of lethal traps. Says they were killing too many travelers. It's bullshit if ya ask me... No one dumb enough to get caught in those would survive even one second in these forests."

Huh, so there's magic here. Although it's a bit expected after all that happened.

"Oh really? I didn't know that," I respond truthfully. "So, are you a trapper or something?"

"Yes, and was a damn good one at that!" Bassir rages: "But now, anyone and their mother can just throw down a force field rune and be as good as you can get!"

The more the dwarf talked about it, the angrier he seemed to get.

"Oh wow, I'm sorry to hear about that. It really feels like an irresponsible move by the king to cut people's livelihoods like that," I reply, trying to please his ever-growing fury.

"It is. The king doesn't give a shit about the small guys like us, but oh well, it's not like I'm going to do anything about it. That old monster is way too strong," Bassir explained along with a cacophony of sighs.

❖❖❖

We continued walking for an uneventful hour while making some occasional idle chitchat until finally, the trees gave way for the lake.

"Beautiful," a whisper escaped my lips, warranting some muffled chuckles from my companion.

In front of me was the purest lake I'd ever seen. I can even see a myriad of strange-looking fishes floating around in the crystal clear water. One would be hard-pressed not to accidentally fall in if not for the slight bluish tint the water had.

Off of the cliff on my right side, there came an immense waterfall barreling down into the lake, causing white mist to drift across it.

If one looked beyond the lake, they could see a large white wall rising from behind a small grove of trees. Every once in a while, the wall would be interrupted by a watchtower.

"It is, isn't it? The water from the mountain makes the lake extremely clear," Bassir said, a nostalgic look on his face, "Well enough staring. Let's get going!"

To my surprise, Bassir began walking towards the waterfall. I had assumed there'd be a bridge that ran over the outflowing river.

"Why are we going in this direction? Do you have a boat?"

"No boat. You'll see once we arrive," Bassir answered calmly.

He had not led me astray thus far, so I just decided to shut up and follow while enjoying the pleasant scenery.

It was almost twilight now, and the lights from the wall reflected off of the lake. It was a very calming landscape.

❖❖❖

Soon we arrived next to the cliff, where I saw a man-made path carved out of the rock that led to the other side of the lake.

The inside of the path was overtaken with flora that clearly enjoyed the moist atmosphere the waterfall offered them.

'If I had a camera, I'd be taking so many pictures right now.'

The condensed vapor on the black stone floor made the walk really slippery, yet it beat any regular bridge or boat ride if not for anything but the view alone.

Apparently, my amazed facial expressions and the occasional wows weren't too hard to interpret because as soon as we made it to the other side, Bassir opened his mouth with a wry grin: "Ya happy we didn't take the bridge?"

"Yes, very... Seriously, thank you for the help. I don't think I would've made it to the city before nightfall if it weren't for you." I reply honestly, feeling very grateful.

"Yes, yes. Save yer thanks for later. We're not in yet." Bassir dismissed the thanks. But despite his words, it only took another quarter-hour to get to the city gate.

The gate faced directly away from the cliff and had a dirt road leading off into the forest. The gate had an outer lifted yett and an inner pair of reinforced wooden doors that were also open.

Two plate-armored dwarven guards were lazing inside the gate. One was holding a huge hammer while the other had a crossbow, but both of them clearly looked tired from a long day at work. The one holding the hammer looked around forty and seemed more experienced, while the other was just a teen.

I quickly used Identify on them and found out that the older one was level 70 while the teen was only level 29.

"Welcome back, Bassir! Did ya catch the last one?" the older dwarf asked curiously as we approached.

"Thanks, but no luck yet. It was deeper in the forest than I expected." Bassir sighed.

"Too bad... Who's the new guy? You don't see many humans 'round here," the same man asked, a bit more on guard now.

I was just about to answer when Bassir cut me off: "Oh, don't mind him. He's just a friend I picked up along the way."

"Well, a friend of Bassir is a friend of mine. My name is Begnik, and the kid there is Nalat," the man said cheerily: "Welcome to Melgir!"