02. A Lonely Forest

After waking up in the shadow of a tree, Yumino confirmed his surroundings—a forest taken out of a fantasy book. 

Pearl-white stone walls appear here and there, hinting at the presence of tall buildings taken out of medieval times. However, these walls had been torn down long before Yumino woke up. Though their color remained eternally pure, as if preserved in time, the vines climbing over them revealed that no one had cared for the place in ages.

In the distance, he could see the top of an atypically large tree, standing proud above all others.

High up in the trees, there were houses made of wood. Yumino had never seen that type of wood. It appeared to have a somewhat silver hue, but it kept a familiar light-brown nuance whenever the sun showered it with light. He found those houses especially beautiful, but it was hard to understand how one would get up there, as there was no ladder in sight.

But there was nobody around to answer his questions—no, these houses had long been abandoned, yet kept their pristine look, as if time didn't flow here.

After taking his sweet time to look around, Yumino finally remembered to check the most important thing—himself.

After quickly patting down his own body, he confirmed that everything was in place. His senses worked fine, and he was fortunate enough to wake up wearing a full set of clothes.

He was unfamiliar with this type of clothing. The silky texture felt nice on the skin, but he was not a fan of the excessive use of green.

"I guess it works well for hiding myself around here."

He spoke out more so to confirm his voice was unaffected. Once he made sure of that, he was ready to piece together what had happened in what felt like the past couple of hours.

"Is this all a dream? No, it can't be. It feels all too real... But then, was that competition all a dream? Did I dream up my whole life in Japan or something?"

This was one of the weird habits Yumino had developed during the past year of his life—an unfortunate consequence of social deprivation. He thought too much.

"I've always thought it would be crazy to wake up one day and find out all my life had been a dream, but if that's the case, what is this life? Shouldn't I have memories of this place? How did I get here? The people I have dreamt of in Japan—do they even exist? I had a family back there, and we were getting along well. Where are they now?"

The man spent the next five minutes trying to tie his most recent memories into his current situation, his questions growing more and more ridiculous each time.

After those minutes spent racking his memories, Yumino found something that felt out of place. He remembered a horrifying place he had once been to—a scene that could only be described as hell.

"Agh!"

A sharp headache stopped the man from reminiscing right as he was about to have his hard-earned breakthrough. For now, he was able to remember his past and present life, but the last piece of the puzzle would have to wait.

"The more I think about it, the more this looks like amnesia. That would suck... I have to find somebody to speak to. But first, where can I find some water?"

For the moment, his immediate objectives became clear. He needed to drink something to get rid of the pain, and he had to find somebody who could help him remember who he truly was.

Not wanting to waste any more time, Yumino put on his cloak as a way to cope with the anxiety that welled up inside him. But that was when he noticed something unusual—his ears were much longer than he remembered.

"Ah!" he screamed upon noticing the pointy ears he was unfamiliar with.

"No way this is real."

Feeling a need to confirm his looks, he ran through the forest until he found the nearest pond and took a look at himself. What he saw left him dumbfounded.

"Gray?! No... no way. I'm not that old! Silver?!"

What Yumino checked was the color of his hair. A whitish silver that reminded him of how the moon looked viewed from dimly lit places.

"Am I... an elf?!"

His moment of realization came with a loud scream.

It is not every day that a human gets to switch species; hence, Yumino could not take his eyes off of himself.

"Also, I don't look half bad," he said with newfound pride.

*****

After drinking some water, Yumino took a break at the edge of the pond, trying to wrap his head around what was going on.

"An elf, huh? How can I forget even that? The cape, the hood, this bow in my hand—all of those were clear hints. Something must be really wrong with me."

Yumino lifted the bow he had been carrying with him ever since he woke up. It was different from the ones used in competitions, but he found it fitting that his dream was founded in real hobbies.

As he looked at the bow, the elf noticed a slight movement in the background, between the trees. He let the bow down and tried to identify the green creature that tried to creep up on him. That's when his face went pale.

Behind the first creature, many others appeared from the woods—a group of goblins. The language they were speaking was one that Yumino was unable to understand, but it was clear that they were not friendly.

At that moment, the worst of Yumino's worries came true; the first of them raised his small knife, screamed something in that foreign language, and threw the weapon at him. Luckily, Yumino was quick enough to dodge, only being left with a small scratch on his cheek. But that was just the beginning. The horde followed by running towards him, screaming slurs he could not comprehend.

At the sight of impending doom, Yumino's legs went numb. He sat there, in the grass, looking with fright in his eyes at the attackers.

"Ready an arrow!"

Suddenly, a voice that came out of nowhere seemed to give instructions to the elf. Without questioning it, Yumino prepared an arrow on his bow and pointed it at the goblins, but they continued advancing.

"Not like that! Sideways!"

Yumino listened and turned his bow sideways; that's when the goblins finally stopped.

"Good. Elven shots are strong—much stronger than what a goblin can handle. That's one way to let them know you're serious."

"Who are you? And where are you speaking from?" the man asked, overtaken by fear.

"We can talk about this later. Your legs, can you move them now?"

"Yes. I've somewhat calmed down thanks to your help."

"That's good. They won't stay put for long. Now is your chance. Run back the way you came from!"

Without questioning the voice, Yumino got up on his feet and sprinted towards the forest. As predicted, the goblins soon followed suit.

"Take a left after that cave! Be careful! There are drakes living there."

Without thinking twice, the elf followed the directions given, barely dodging an opportunistic creature that lunged at his legs."

"What is going on? Why are they following me?"

"Don't talk while running—you'll bite your tongue. Take a right after that tree!"

"What tree?"

"That one!"

"Is this some kind of twisted joke? We are in a damn forest!"

"What kind of elf are you? That one! The only one bathed in silver light."

"And why is there only one of those here?" Yumino asked as he followed the voice.

Soon after, he understood the reason. Turning to the right at that tree had him bump into a girl clad in black armor and carrying a heavy sword. It turns out the trees of this forest would shine when somebody was using their magic.

"Isa dalvena nasu here?" Her words came out jumbled and broken.

"Ha?" the man asked while catching his breath.

"Marana kala? Mada, karatu ni."

"Sorry, lady. I don't speak whatever that is. Ahh...whatever. Look!" he said, grabbing her head and pointing it towards the raging goblins. "Enemy!"

Upon noticing the goblin horde, the girl nodded and readied her sword. In a couple of strikes, she managed to take out the vanguard, having the rest of the group stop in order to rethink their approach.

"Now is your turn. Shoot them!"

"Huh? You're telling me to shoot? They're living beings?"

"No time to argue! Shoot now!"

His life or the life of those goblins. The decision was not hard to make, but his face turned pale at the thought of taking another life.

"I know. I can just do that thing with my bow sideways," Yumino said as he took the intimidating position taught to him.

"I said shoot!"

Without his will, the arrow he was pointing at them slipped and pierced the group. Three goblins were taken out by his strike. The rest turned around and ran away in fear.