(Heartfelt thanks to 'Yi Ye,' 'Tong Xin Liang,' '3 Point Crystal,' 'Shu Lian Yue Jing,' and 'Pokémon' for their donations!)
This was an exceedingly tranquil forest.
There were no signs of human habitation, nor any visible boundary. Like a vast ocean with no end in sight, everything as far as the eye could see was lush green.
Within this tranquil forest, a stream slowly flowed in from the distance. Like a tiny Milky Way, it adorned the verdant sea of trees, giving the place the feeling of a paradise secluded from the world.
However, that tranquility did not last for long.
"Bang—!"
Along with an extremely abrupt, heavy muffled impact, a rather enormous shadow suddenly shot out from one corner of the forest before crashing heavily to the ground.
"Thud—!"
The impact of that huge shadow made the ground tremble slightly, sending shattered stones flying and raising clouds of dust.
Then, amid the thick dust and scattered rubble, the enormous shadow scraped across the ground, plowing a long trench through the earth. Only after being dragged nearly a hundred meters did it finally come to a gradual stop.
Looking closely, it was a giant entirely made of stone, roughly two to three meters tall, with the hulking outline of a human.
"Flap flap flap flap—!"
The sudden commotion sent the birds within the forest into a panic, flapping their wings as they fled.
"Roar—!"
The stone giant that had been knocked to the ground let out a roar that sounded both furious and fearful as it struggled to rise.
At that moment, a clear set of footsteps began to echo from deep within the forest.
Amid those distinct footsteps, a human figure slowly emerged from ahead.
"Roar—!"
As it watched that figure slowly emerge from the depths of the forest,