As soon as he was relatively clean, though his clothes were still wet, Joel took advantage of the morning and immediately resumed his journey.

  His stomach felt completely empty, save for the water he had drunk, but curiously, he didn't feel weak. Ashoka's message echoed in his mind: "As long as you are in a place with abundant natural energy, you will never suffer the consequences of hunger or dehydration."

  A useful, but cruel truth. Because although his body wasn't weakening, the hunger was there, burning, piercing his mind and his patience. The emptiness didn't consume him physically, but it tormented him like an invisible cage.

  He had no choice but to spend a good portion of his mana creating food from his memories: fresh bread and some sweet treats with plenty of sugar. As soon as he had them in his hands, he eagerly brought them to his mouth, devouring them until he was partially satisfied. It wasn't enough, but it calmed him enough to think clearly.

  When he finally left the wooded area where he had spent several months, he encountered an unexpected sight. The nearby roads were swarming with military personnel, in well-organized groups, setting up blockades on the main routes and extending a perimeter that even extended into the wooded areas. There were stakes driven into the ground, ropes marking off access points, and above all, signs warning in red letters:

  “EXTREME DANGER – RESTRICTED AREA.”

  They were new. The wood was fresh, the hammer marks fresh, the paint still shiny. Joel realized immediately: they hadn't been up for more than a few days. And the worst part was, they all pointed directly toward the forest he had just emerged from.

  A cold sweat ran down his back. “It can't be… are they still looking for those responsible for the attack on Musall Castle?” he muttered through gritted teeth.

  But he soon dismissed that idea. The distance to Musall was vast; it wouldn't make sense for a deployment of this magnitude to extend this far.

  The conclusion was immediate and bitter: something else was happening in this region, and as always, he had ended up in the wrong place at the worst possible time.

  He rubbed his forehead with suppressed rage and spat on the ground. "Damn my luck... misfortune always follows me."

  Joel still hated the monk for what he had done to him, but he had to admit that he had granted him surprising things after his spiritual ascension. His body, now capable of regenerating quickly and enduring famine, was a gift difficult to ignore. However, there was something even more important: the medallion.

  This artifact offered him the possibility of hiding his magical potential from others, something he had never tried, but which—if it worked—would make him capable of going unnoticed even by the most experienced.

  The temptation was too great, and he couldn't continue without testing it. So he hid his bag full of magical objects under some hollow roots, covered it with earth and dry leaves, and prepared to test it. He smeared his face with a little damp earth, hunched his back, and ruffled his white hair and beard. The disguise of a defenseless old man would be the perfect shield.

  He walked toward the road and stood in its path, just as a group of four horsemen approached in formation.

  "Who's there?" asked the one who appeared to be the leader, raising an arm to stop his group. The horses' hooves thundered against the ground. "Identify yourself."

  Joel bowed his head slightly, shrugging his shoulders awkwardly. "Sorry, brave warriors, this old man is a bit confused... what are all these danger signs?"

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  The soldiers looked at each other. The leader frowned. "Where did you come from? This place has been restricted for over a week. Don't you know there are dangerous creatures in the area?"

  Joel pretended to put a hand to his forehead, as if disoriented. "Sorry... that wasn't my intention. I come from the south, always traveling along the back roads, looking for mushrooms and medicinal herbs. I didn't notice anything until now."

  "He must have gotten in before the blockades were put up," one of the soldiers commented, relaxing his posture slightly.

  Another, however, rode up on his horse and studied him closely. He extended his hand, closing his eyes for a moment. "I don't detect any magic on his body. He looks like a simple civilian."

  Joel felt a chill run down his spine, but he maintained his mask of innocence. The medallion… was working. Even under direct examination, its energy was completely hidden.

  The leader nodded, though he still watched him suspiciously. “You must return to your place of origin. There are reports of Titan-class creatures in this area. The Duchy is on high alert, with the arrival of numerous sages (level eight) and even eminences of the Empire (level nine) to prevent a disaster. For your own good, stay away and warn your people that no one dares to enter this forest.”

  Joel bowed his head in obedience and stepped aside without argument. The soldiers resumed their patrol as he returned to the place where he had hidden his bag, then resumed his journey west.

  He didn’t need to delve too deeply into Ashoka’s memories to understand what they meant. The so-called titanic creatures were none other than the colossal birds that had witnessed the monk's ascension. Everyone knew they were magical beings of terrifying power, capable of surpassing level eight in both destructive force and magical potential. Due to their size, they were often more lethal than their human counterparts, and their intelligence far surpassed that of common animals.

  In Myrrial, they were venerated as sacred creatures, remembered in the chronicles for having thwarted countless invasions from other worlds when portals opened in their domains.

  "How did the monk manage to attract such monsters to his ritual?" Joel thought, a shiver running down his spine. "Apparently, the feather I keep in my pouch comes from one of those birds."

  He soon spotted more soldiers on his way, but he did his best to avoid running into any of them directly, using less-traveled routes and going straight through the forests.

  One peculiar thing that began to occur was that animals began to behave strangely in his presence. When he rested, birds and rodents would approach him in an almost friendly manner, wandering around him and watching him as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

  At first, Joel thought about taking advantage of the situation and hunting some, but something inside him told him it wasn't right. Then, when even larger and more dangerous animals, like wolves, tigers, and giant snakes, approached in a friendly manner, Joel knew this couldn't be a coincidence, but the work of the monk.

  "I don't know whether to feel good or terrified by this," he said to himself, as he stroked the head of a nearly four-meter-long tiger.

  The feline lay down beside him, closing its eyes as if recognizing him as a master, and the birds perched on the nearby branches, forming a kind of living choir. Joel felt a chill. It wasn't just the animals' obedience; it was the feeling of being watched by something much larger than himself, an invisible bond that tied him to the realms of nature.

  The worst part was that he felt everything was normal. And it was difficult for him to get used to the internal struggle between this new feeling of security and the natural instinct to be on guard against creatures that would have previously attacked him immediately.

  Joel sighed and stood up, adjusting the bag on his back. "If the soldiers are already nervous about the Titans, the last thing I need is for them to see me surrounded by beasts as if I were their leader…"

  The tiger followed him for a few steps, but Joel raised his hand and the animal stopped, as if understanding the order, then disappeared into the forest.

  Fortunately, it only took him a few days to understand how to control the animal attraction. Apparently, it depended heavily on his emotional state and a kind of aura he now possessed, so to avoid being invaded by all kinds of creatures, Joel had to make that feeling clear in said aura.

  For that, the medallion was extremely useful again. Apparently, Ashoka had glimpsed everything that was happening to him now, and the medallion was the key to helping him master his "animal aura," as he decided to call it. Taking it in his hands and concentrating hard enough, Joel was able to activate or deactivate the magical camouflage, as well as control the intensity of his connection with the animals.

  "I have to admit... this can be convenient in some circumstances," he murmured once, resting his head on the warm fur of a huge black wolf.

  The animal protected him with sacred devotion, and around him five other wolves formed a silent circle, like sentinels who wouldn't allow anyone to approach. The night was cold and the icy wind swept through the treetops, but beneath that improvised guard, Joel felt something he hadn't felt in a long time: safety.

  As he stroked the wolf's back, his thoughts wandered to what this gift meant. Was it a blessing or a tool he must learn to use? He couldn't help thinking that every time one of those memories took control of his body, something surprising happened to him. So far, everything has ended well, and he's even gained new powers and abilities. But what would happen if one of them decided to take greater liberties or do something that risked their life too much, like what the monk did?

  “At this point, what I want seems irrelevant. Something bigger seems to be guiding me down a path I can't avoid… I wonder what Liria is doing right now,” he mused, looking up at the starry sky through the branches.