With spirit in hand I follow Roxanne's back deeper into the forest. As I follow her the density of the trees seems to gradually reduce. To my right I spot a river, most likely the one I heard earlier.

  The trees keep seeming to disappear, until we enter a clearing. In the middle of the clearing stands a wooden cabin. Various plants and herbs grow in the clearing, the ground having a colorful look as a result.

  I take note not to step on the flowers. I'm not sure why, it just feels like a waste to accidentally step on one of these.

  As we get closer and closer to the cabin Roxanne starts picking up the conversation again.

  "This is your new home!"

  Roxanne seems excited about it, but I'm just trying to wrap my head around the fact that this all happened in one day.

  When Roxanne opens the entrance to the cabin, the wooden door squeaks softly. The interior of the cabin seems relatively spacey. In the middle of it stands a big table, on it multiple flasks filled with liquids in many different colors. Some flasks are connected by tubes, others are not. Theres also liquids present that seem to be steaming.

  All the flasks surround a messy stack of paper, the flasks standing in a half moon formation. Crude drawings of plants are sketched on some of the papers, other papers depicting images in a certain order, like picture book instructions for creating potions.

  Other furniture in the cabin includes, one bed, a small cauldron over a fireplace inside of the smoke chamber of the stone chimney, a wall shelf with a row of captured spirits on it, which are floating in a yellow liquid and another larger table, with two chairs standing next to it. Leftover plates and bowls serve as proof of a former meal.

  Wait, theres only one bed? Not that I mind, but Is she really comfortable with this? I'm also not very good with women, so I don't really think she would be happy about my reaction if she made a move on me.

  "Lets free you from that little bomb in your had first."

  She takes an empty, cylindric glass container from the wall shelf. Carefully she takes it from the shelf, so that she doesn't knock over any of the other containers with spirits in them. After that, she carefully places the empty glass on the desk, right next to the stack of papers. She takes a flask filled with yellow liquid from the table and pours the liquid into the container.

  "Don't just stand there, get over here and rid yourself of your explosive little friend."

  I silently oblige. In a different situation I'd say something, but her talking about explosions really doesn't make me feel like wasting time.

  After I free the spirit from my grip and release it into the yellow liquid, I feel slightly relieved. Without really saying anything she takes the glass and puts it back on the shelf.

  For some reason we remain silent after she put the spirit away.

  It's not that we are awkward with each other, it's just that there really isn't really anything to do. We walked through the forest for quite some time, then we also wasted some more time by capturing a spirit. The sun is probably about to start setting, so except for supper there really isn't anything interesting going on in a world like this. You know, a world without any advanced technology.

  No phones, no TV, no internet, no video games. Adding to that, literacy seems to be rather low, which means reading is also not an option. Well, of course the literacy thing is just an assumption, but since there are people in the streets offering others to read certain adverts for them, low literacy seems to be highly likely.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  Funnily enough reading is the only thing in this world that wasn't a problem for me, considering that the people here utilize the roman alphabet.

  "Are you hungry?"

  Her question derails my thoughts and I snap back to reality... (Oops, there goes gravity.)

  "Don't worry, I'm fine. Truth be told, I've been living on the streets for a majority of my time here, so I'm pretty used to only having one or two meals a day."

  "Your time here? You're not from this kingdom?"

  Oh shit, I let my tongue slip a little there.

  "You know the nearby village, right? I, eh, wasn't able to get a job there, so I did a lot of begging and catching lizards, and other stuff like that, to put food on the table."

  Perfect, a lie that is also the truth. Theres no way for Roxanne to tell that I'm lying to her, because I'm technically telling her the truth. Maybe I'm a genius? I'd like to ask myself that seriously, but I'm not even able to learn Ignite, so I'm really just a desperate man saying something to save his own skin.

  "Well, you do give off the vibe of somebody that's been homeless for a bit too long."

  Seems she found her own joke pretty funny, because she starts giggling again.

  What kind of vibe is that anyways? Alright, my clothes are pretty dirty and torn in some spots, but I don't think I look that bad. Its not like dirt is all that visible on a black t-shirt. Well, my pants are kind of ragged, but the people in this world don't really seem that proficient at processing raw materials. I really don't think the state of my pants is my fault, the quality of the material just isn't that good.

  "Okay, If you don't want to eat I guess I'll go to bed. Its been a pretty exciting day after all, so I'm kind of done with today already. Not to mention that going to bed early is probably a good break from all the all-nighter`s I've been pulling."

  She explains this to me while casually taking of her clothing in front of my eyes. I don't really mind, but I'm surprised that she also doesnt mind.

  "And what am I supposed to do?"

  It feels weird having to ask something like that, but the idea of sleeping in the same bed as her still feels kind of awkward to me.

  "Could it be that you are expecting something to happen?"

  While its obvious that shes just teasing me, there is still a slightly seductive tone in her voice. Maybe I'm imagining things, but I think the fact that shes only down to her underwear right now would be pretty seductive to most people anyways.I don't really care, but I guess she's pretty hot by regular standards.

  She got some nice curves and her breasts are also pretty well sized, I'd say c-cup. But... I'm really not excited at all.

  "No, not really. We just met today and I don't really know you. Also, I thought maybe you would be feeling a little less comfortable about this situation, but then again its probably better that you don't."

  My answer is pretty straightforward. She seems a little disappointed from me so firmly rejecting the idea that I'd want to do something with her, but theres no reason for me to lie. Also, the only reason I can imagine her to be disappointed about this, is that my reaction wasn't very amusing.

  "You know, I'm an outcast and all, I've been through some uncomfortable things."

  "I guess Paladins trying to kill you is a lot worse than having to sleep in the same bed with some guy."

  "So you know about that, huh? Then again, I guess everybody knows about that whole church thing. Yeah, that situation was certainly a lot worse than this."

  "Well, then if you really don't mind, I guess we will be sleeping in the same bed."

  Maybe the word sleeping is some kind of trigger word for her, because before I even finish speaking she's already lying in bed, dozing off into her own little world. Damn, shes making that mattress seem really appealing right now.

  Guess I'll join her.