Chapter 5

Learning from my earlier mistake, I'd made sure everything went as planned this time round.

As light pierces through the blackness, I surveyed my surroundings. In complete contrast to Zelretch's orderly office, I was in the midst of a thick, messy forest with nothing but greenery till the eyes could see.

While looking around, I felt the earth tremble beneath my feet, sending a wave of energy through my body that gently tethered itself into my very soul. Greatly familiar with the sensation, I couldn't help but break out a smile.

As expected, I was right where I needed to be—the sudden, welcoming embrace of nature was more than enough of a confirmation. I was here no longer than a day ago, yet it felt as if I've been gone for longer.

The memories of the war, the massacre of my family at the hands of that Eldritch Beast, were still fresh in my mind. The world could try producing another child to help in the fight, but it would take many years, possibly centuries, for another Terrarian to fully form with its current condition. It'd be too late by then. I was all on my own for now.

My smile quickly transformed into a deep frown as I gazed upward, finding an iridescent breach that covered the entire sky, not too dissimilarly to an aurora. It looked beautiful from a distance, but it was a sign of an looming disaster.

'Not good. The barriers are barely holding up,' I thought.

Long ago, I had set up a shield that encompassed the entire world—a barrier strong enough to withstand even the combined might of my siblings and me. But now, that very shield was on the verge of breaking, held together by nothing but hopes and dreams... literally.

It was a construct made from the collective faith of all who called this planet home. For long as they do not lose hope, strive to survive even at the darkest of times, the shield would endure, slowly repairing itself over time. However, the damaged it had suffered from the recent war was too great to be fixed in its entirety.

At the moment, I had no feasible way to aid its recovery. But unless Cthulhu decides to show up now, it should hold long enough for me to regain some of my lost power, letting me patch it back up.

First, I should get a better understanding of the world's situation. Now's not the time to dawdle. Quickly scanning my person, I found my bag and trinkets undamaged. Nodding, I then sent pulses of mana through the air, scouring the area for any signs of human life.

The spell took a few minutes, but it eventually found what it was looking for, pointing me directly eastward. The distance wasn't too great, thankfully, it'd take no less than an hour to get there on foot. Before I could make the first step, however, a sudden noise to the left drew my attention.

Rounding a wide tree was a tall, humanoid figure. Its slim body was pitch-black, like the void itself, and emitted a faint trail of drifting purple particles. Recognizing the creature, I raised a curious brow. It seems my little act had attracted some attention.

"Oh? You're a long way from home, aren't you?" I spoke to the lanky figure, thinking nothing much of it.

It was an Enderman, a being native to the End—a dimension belonging to a race of dragons known as the Ender Dragons. Occasionally, these tall creatures wandered into the Overworld, meandering for a while to do whatever, before slipping back to their home. They're passive creatures that could reposition themselves in an instant, akin to teleportation, and isn't a danger for long as it's left alone.

For a fleeting moment, our eyes met as I studied it, and all hell broke loose. A chilling screech tore through the forest as the Enderman's mouth unhinged, its eyes filled with aggression. Before I could react, it charged at me with the speed of a supercar on an open road.

Eyes widening, I barely managed to raise my arms before a sweeping hook slammed into me. The strike connected with the force of a cannon ball, nearly breaking my forearm.

The world spun as I was flung backward deeper into the woods, stopping only after I collided with a tree, knocking it down. I forced my body into a roll, narrowly dodging the devastating overhead swing that followed right after. Had I been a second slower, my skull would've been splattered all over the ground.

"Hey! What the hell is your problem, man!?" I shouted at the Enderman.

They usually wouldn't attack unless provoked... what did I even do? I had no time to ponder the reason as the beast vanished, leaving behind a cloud of purple mist. My instincts screamed, telling me to duck. I obeyed without thinking, narrowly avoiding a jet-black arm that zoomed past the space where my head had just been.

Reaching forward, my fingers dug into the fallen trunk. Before it could retract its limb, I twisted into a spin, swinging the log like a club. The impact sent a resounding thump through the forest as the wood splintered against the Enderman's body, causing it to collapse onto its back, dazed. Lunging forward without hesitation, I drove a textbook uppercut into its face, my reinforced knuckles slamming against its hard skin.

"You want a fight?" I growled, hammering another punch into its jaw. "Then I'll give you a fight!"

To be frank, I did not expect my first fight upon return to be with an Enderman. If anything, I expected myself to be immediately swarmed by those abominable Pillars the second I appeared. I don't even remember the last time I've interacted with an Enderman, let alone throw hands with one.

I wasn't as refined as Solar in the art of close combat, as my specialty lay in long-range battle and long term preparation, but that did not equate to me being helpless up close. Far from it. Solar had made sure that I, Stardust, and Vortex, knew how to defend ourselves if push comes to shove.

My attacks carried not a hint of mercy, brutal in every sense of the word, and never gave the Enderman even a second of repose. It didn't matter who it was; if they swing at me first, they should be prepared to catch some hands.

It tried to flee my onslaught, using its natural ability to put distance between us by vanishing and reappearing in rapid succession. But with a bit of spatial manipulation, I was able to leap through the rifts it created, chasing after it. Doing so caused a sharp jolt of pain, but it was manageable.

As I rapidly closed in, the Enderman flailed wildly, its elongated arms swinging in a desperate attempt to keep me at bay. But its attacks were erratic, and I wove through them effortlessly, slipping past its defences once more.

I threw a punch that flowed into a high kick as it tried to block, causing it to stagger backward. It was only after its back was on a tree did I decide that it was time to end this. Opening my hand, I channeled a clump of mana, shaping it into a sharp, ordinary dagger.

Gradation Air, otherwise known as Projection, was a useful yet imperfect spell known by most magi who knew their salt. It was capable of conjuring any form of object, limited only by the caster's imagination and mastery of the craft. But these constructs were fake and brittle, only lasting a minute or two before breaking, and is generally considered by the magi community as a 'wasteful' spell.

However, under the right circumstances, such low level art could be elevated into something unheard of. With my body's unnaturally high affinity with swords, I could create near-perfect blade constructs that wouldn't vanish unless broken or dismissed. In a sense, I had an inexhaustible supply of weaponry so long as my reserves allows it.

With a gutting motion, I drove the blade straight through its chin, ending its life in one swift motion. A final wail left its mouth before its body dissolved into shimmering motes, vanishing without a trace, not even a drop of blood left behind.

As the fight concluded, my mana circuits cooled, releasing the Reinforcement spell coursing through myself, and my bag. This particular Enderman wasn't that strong, but in the End, there were millions of them, some far more dangerous than this one. I was lucky to encounter one of the weaker bunch.

Catching my breath, I dismissed the dagger and fell into thought. The Enderman had attacked the moment our eyes met... but why? Was it always this aggressive? Or had something changed? For such a drastic shift of behavior to occur, something must've disturbed them greatly, turning Endermen hostile. The End was home to dragons powerful enough to single handedly wipe continents off the map. Who, or what, was even capable of doing so?

My mind quickly thought of an answer: Cthulhu. Of course, why wouldn't it attack the End? That Eldritch Beast was clearly out for everyone's hide. My siblings and I were simply too busy defending our home to pay attention to anywhere else. Another problem added to the list, it seems. Still, that's just a theory. Maybe this was nothing more than a freak accident. I can't come to conclusions after just one example.

After dusting my clothes of twigs and debris, and making sure my bag was fine, I began trekking eastward, towards the nearest humans in the vicinity. As the ground was relatively flat, and the trees fairly spread out, traversing through the forest wasn't much of a problem.

Not long into my walk, my eyes caught sight of a man heading in my direction, covered in a pale green cloak. With a bit of mana, my sense of sight sharpened, giving me a better look at the distant figure. In his hand was a strung bow, and a full quiver was strapped on his back, clearly poised for combat.

By the time I finished analyzing him, the man had finally spotted me. I could see him make a curious expression, as if surprised by my presence. Then again, who wouldn't be caught off guard by the sight of a ruffled teenager in the middle of the wilderness?

"Hey!" he called out, waving his free hand.

I returned the gesture as I marched towards him. He appeared friendly enough, hopefully he'll throw me a bone and direct me to a town or some sort.

"Good afternoon, lad," he greeted, slinging his bow behind his back. "Did you happen to stumble upon an Enderman near here? I heard one scream not too long ago."

"Yes, actually," I confirm, nodding. "You don't need to worry about it, though. I already took care of that."

"You took care of it?" he asks.

"It suddenly attacked me as I was going through the forest, so I fought back. It wasn't too strong, I was able to kill it without much trouble," I answered.

"Hmm, I see. They've been a real pain in the ass recently, be sure to watch out for them." Hearing my words, his taut posture visibly relaxed.

"Will do. I'm Shirou Emiya, by the way," I introduced myself. "If it isn't too much trouble, can you point me to the nearest settlement? I'm not from around here, so a bit of help would be appreciated."

For now, I'd keep my former identity to myself. Sure, broadcasting my survival would be great news to most, but there's a high chance it would reach the ears of Cthulhu's army. And once they find out about my weakened state, I had no doubt in my mind they'd use everything in their power to remove me for good.

"Jacob Wilk, a pleasure. And you're not from around here, you said? I don't remember there being anything in this forest, did you come from out there?" he questions, pointing at the fractured atmosphere above.

"I was born here," I clarified, "but was forced to evacuate to another world when that... thing came down and destroyed everything. Barely escaped with my life."

The existence of other worlds was no secret in Terraria. A handful of planets that orbited the same sun as this one had already been explored, and subsequently conquered for resources. But interplanetary travel wasn't something just anyone could do on a whim. The technology required to cross between worlds was tightly regulated, granted only to a select few after months, or even years, of rigorous appraisals.

Naturally, it was I who made such a feat possible quite long ago. Left to their own devices, the people of this planet would have needed thousands of years to discover a means of linking their world to others. So, in my infinite wisdom, I gifted them a bridge—a pathway that allowed them to set foot across the worlds in our solar system.

Traveling to different universes or even parallel realities, however, was something they were far from ready for. Only my siblings and I possessed such knowledge. It wasn't a matter of hoarding the ability, but rather protecting them from what they might encounter. I knew far better than anyone else that otherworldly escapades don't always go in your favour.

"Welcome back, I suppose." He nodded in understanding. "And if you're looking for a place to go, you can just follow me. I came out to investigate the Enderman from earlier. But since you already dealt with it, I'll be heading back to make a report."

"Thanks in advance, and sorry for the trouble," I did a small bow.

"It's nothing," he says, giving a dismissive wave.

Turning around, he retraced his steps, and I trailed closely behind. Our journey was brief, and before long, a two-meter-tall wooden wall came to view, circling what appeared to be a small town. The walls were weathered, clearly damaged by some form of attack. Groups of people in similar clothes to Jacob were near the walls, hauling materials and patching up the damaged parts.

As we neared the gates, a bearded man in casual attire, clearly a civilian, met up with us, saying, "Jacob, you're back. Nothing bad happened, I presume?"

"All good. Just another rogue Enderman out and about," Jacob replied.

"Those fiendish things... causing so much trouble," the man sighed. He then looked at me. "And who might this be?"

"Shirou Emiya, he's the one who got rid of the Enderman," Jacob answered for me, "He's looking for a place to stay. Figured might as well bring him here."

"Aye, another stray. That's the third one this week. Worry not, young man. The Guild of Guides recently renovated this place. It's got plenty of empty space to accommodate you," he declared, respect flowing in his voice.

'Guild of Guides?' The name bounced around my head.

I had never heard of such a guild in my lifetime, meaning it was likely established sometime after my death. And judging from his tone, they were pretty well-known and admired. I'll have to ask around for information.

"I'll have to leave you here, Shirou. You can go inside if you want. I've got more urgent stuff to do round these parts," Jacob bid his farewells.

He and the bearded man left shortly after, joining the group by the entrance in their efforts to fix the broken walls. After offering a small gesture of gratitude, I entered the town without much fanfare. The townspeople barely spared me a glance, too occupied with their own tasks to pay me any mind.

END.