The Journey

With his belongings packed, Green went to the Academy's Trading Area and bought a carriage and two sturdy black horses. After loading everything aboard, he drove toward the Academy's outer edge.

At the Academy's exit, Green encountered the Anqivia Goat, just as he had expected.

"Please present your Task Rune!" A psychic vibration entered Green's mind. He hurriedly activated the rune in his mind, sending out a stream of information. Once the Anqivia Goat detected it, a huge vortex appeared. Green drove the carriage inside.

After a dizzying whirl, Green found himself where he had first entered the Academy, outside the white city walls.

He glanced back at the walls, then drove into the Pale Forest.

Three days later, dark clouds piled across the sky like a black mountain range on the verge of collapse. Fine rain veiled the earth as a carriage traveled along a path through a green forest.

Two horses pulled the carriage, driven by a young man in a gray robe. The carriage was wrapped so tightly that no one could see inside. A longsword hung at the young man's waist, while a metallic-looking longbow and a quiver full of arrows hung beside the carriage. He sat beneath the canopy, sheltered from the drizzle, and guided the horses at an easy pace. The driver was Green, who had left the Academy.

"The Academy's bloodline-modified horses really are useful. They've traveled for three days straight without a problem! Even the finest thousand-mile steed from my previous life couldn't compare!" Green looked at the black horses before him and sighed in admiration.

"But I should let them rest. They can't keep this up forever." As he spoke, Green had the Chip bring up the map.

Green studied the map. Red lines crisscrossed it, but one green route