The Gods are Always Wtaching

Outside The Dungeon

Adam was standing in front of the Dungeon Gate as the sun was rising.

It was still a bit dark outside but he could see perfectly.

'It's time to go home.' As soon as Adam thought that, his heart sank.

'Home? Where was home again? Is it even my home now? Can I really return there? Alone?' He looked at the ground.

His stomach growled. He was reminded of the task he had to fulfill right now, which helped him escape his thoughts. He raised his head.

In front of him was a large plain field that seemed to stretch forever.

Behind him was a forest. It wasn't as dense as "The Forest Of Goblins", he could see pretty clearly inside it. There was plenty of space between the high trees.

Then, there was the military base.

'The military base sounds annoying. There will be lots of people and they'll ask a bunch of questions. I just want some food. The forest is a drag. Even if I somehow capture a rabbit or something, I can't cook it. Guess I have to get out of here.'

Adam decided to cross the large field in front of him.

He decided to walk as moving fast made his stomach hurt from hunger.

The sun was now shinning upon most of the plain field.

After walking for a bit, he could see a golden field about five kilometers away.

Thanks to his heightened senses, due to the Sense stat, he could easily see it.

Adam stopped. He held an expressionless face as he looked at the field.

'It's...beautiful. The way the sun shines over the golden field, it almost makes it look shiny. Like some kind of treasure.' Without realizing it, Adam's face had become full of tears.

The golden color held a special place in Adam's heart.

He looked back at the Dungeon Gate for a couple of minutes while wiping his tears.

When he faced the golden field again, he held a smile. A very sad smile.

He started walking again towards the field. He walked faster and then a bit faster again.

Before a minute passed, he had begun sprinting towards the golden field.

It only took him about 5 minutes of running at max speed to find himself in the middle of the wheat field.

He slowed down and came to a full stop.

He was surrounded by golden plants.

For a reason unknown to even himself, he started feeling good in the middle of the field.

'This is weird. This is too weird.' He thought, as his sad smile turned into a genuine smile of happiness.

He started walking through the field, with his hands raised a bit to the side, in order to touch the top of the wheat plants.

A deep serenity and calmness washed over him.

He felt at peace.

For the first time in a while, he wasn't afraid of something jumping at him with a knife from behind. He wasn't scared of arrows coming from afar. And most importantly, he wasn't thinking about drawing the blood of a creature that hadn't even noticed him.

["The Guardian Goddess of All Huntsmen and Workers Of The Land" says that you look joyful.]

Adam looked at the bright sky.

"I guess I am pretty happy right now." Adam said with a smile.

["The Guardian Goddess of All Huntsmen and Workers Of The Land" shall continue to bless the earth and it's inhabitants.]

"Mm! Thank you!" His smile was now brighter than the sky he was looking at.

["The Guardian Goddess of All Huntsmen and Workers Of The Land" is pleased by your character.]

["The Guardian Goddess of All Huntsmen and Workers Of The Land" says she will watch over you during your future endeavors.]

[A Certain Evil is looking your way.]

'Oh, are you jealous that am talking to someone else?' Adam thought while chuckling.

He looked around the field.

To him, who hadn't seen a normal view in what felt like a really really long time, this was an incredibly beautiful scene.

He sat down in the middle of the wheat plants and looked at the beautiful sky once more.

He was reminded of a scene that happened when he was about 8 years old. It was around the time he stopped going to school to help his family make ends meet.

His mother, Lea, was reading to his siblings and him a book. The twins were only four years old then. Adam couldn't remember the book's name. But he remembered what it was about.

'Mom was reading the book to us while the twins were lying on their beds. I was sitting on a chair? Or maybe on the edge of Mika's bed. This part of the story was at the middle of the book I think. It went something like this:

The Hero, tired of all his travels, stopped in a village to recover his strength. But the villagers couldn't just let him stay there without doing anything. It costed money to feed such a strong and big Hero. So, they asked for his help, as he looked strong and reliable. If you want to stay with us, we will give you food and put a roof over your head, but you will help us by plowing the fields, the elder of the village said to the Hero. The Hero, who always paid back others for their help, accepted. The elder guided the Hero to the other side of the village. What the Hero found, was a field of gold! There was gold everywhere. The Hero was suprised. Even during all his travels, he had never seen so much gold in one place.

That's when Mika jumped up and stood on his bed screaming loudly: Really?? Wow, the villagers are so rich!!

Mina was suprised too : How come they are so rich and yet live in a small village?

I probably had a dumbfounded expression on my face too.

Mom who had stopped for a second continued reading the story:

As the Hero got closer, he noticed that the gold was moving with the wind. He found it weird as gold was known for being heavy. When the Hero was in front of the field, he looked at the elder with an expression full of doubt and disbelief while asking: Is this some kind of magic? Why is the gold shaped in such a weird way? Not only is it's shape weird but it's going into the ground and moving with the wind. The elder looked suprised at the Hero's words. He laughed loudly before telling him: Haha! If only this was gold. It is called wheat. The plant does have a golden colour, but it's value is nowhere near that of gold. But for the magic part, well, it is said that wheat fields have a sort of magic to them. The Hero was suprised and asked: magic? The elder answered: Yes, it is said that if you work a wheat field for a long time, your mind changes, and you understand what is truly important in life. Although that is just what the previous elder told me when I was your age.

I think the Hero worked the field for three months. Before going back on his journey. But he never forgot the days he spent working the field and the moments he spent with the villagers.'

Adam reminisced about the past while feeling the refreshing wind brush over him.

His stomach growled once more. 'Alright enough eminiscing I guess.' He started getting up when

"Hey! Who are you? What are you doing here?" An old man that looked to be in his sixties with a head full of white hair screamed loudly while shaking his fist at Adam.

Adam's whole body shook at the sudden encounter. He straightened his back and raised his hands in front of him in a defensive way. He wanted to explain why he was here, but no words came out of his mouth. The sight of a person struck something deep in him.

He couldn't talk, he stood there and tears started flowing.

The old man was too far to notice Adam's crying.

"Oh, you're just a kid. Are you lost boy?" The old man had a kinder voice this time.

Adam, still unable to answer, shook his head sideways.

"Really? You know the way? Where are you going?" The old man got closer as he talked.

This was the question Adam didn't want to hear. He had no idea where he was going. He was just going somewhere, and he did not want to think about it.

He thought about what to say 'Should I just say that I live near here? That my family is waiting for me? That they're just...'

Thinking about his family waiting for him, Adam couldn't hold back the tears anymore. The last humans he had seen were the family members he had lost. All the other living beings he saw after that, wanted his death. He started crying, like the child that he was. He did not look like it, standing at about 155cm. But he was only 12 years old. Upon taking a closer look, his face was undoubtedly that of a child.

Adam's stomach growled even more fiercely that it did when he was alone.

The old man laughed as he looked at the crying child in front of him. "When was the last time you ate? That stomach of yours sounds like a beast I can tell you that much!"

Adam wiped his tears. He finally felt like he was able to mutter some words. He talked very quietly "Maybe...maybe a week."

The old man held a suprised look "A week? Well we better get some food in you before you pass out in our field. Wait for a second, will you?". The old man started walking away.

Adam got scared for a second. He didn't want to be alone again. Although he didn't know the old man, he didn't want to be abandonned, so he followed the old man.

The old man kept walking away while muttering to himself " A week? How can a child starve for that long? He is a bit tall but the way he started tearing up, he probably was abandonned or something. Anyways let's bring him some food before deciding what to do with him. Hope he's waiting for me." The old man turned back before jumping away in suprise.

Adam was right behind him, looking at the ground with his fists pressed against his thighs.

The old man stood there for a bit. 'How come I didn't hear him moving in the field? I usually can even hear the movements a rabbit, even if it was 20 meters away from me.'

Adam was wearing his Old Assassin's Boots.

"Oh, so you want to come along? Well that's fine too." They started walking side by side.

"So where are you from boy?" The old man asked.

Adam was still looking at the ground "I...I'm..." He couldn't talk.

"Are you too hungry to talk? If so I'll do the talking." The old man continued talking. "This is my field. It is also my family's field. I live with my wife. She's old and nags me a lot, but we love each other. We've been together for 40 years you see. I spend my days working in the field and she spends her days taking care of the home and the kids. The kids are spending some time with us. They're our grandchildren. Layla is 13 so a bit younger that you maybe. Salma is 7. They're both good kids...."

Adam interrupted the old man "I'm...I'm 12."

"Really? You're so tall I thought you were a thief or something in the field." The old man wore a suprised expression.

"Do you get lots of thieves here?" For some reason, Adam was able to talk a bit more. It seemed like as long as it wasn't about the past or the future, Adam could talk.

"Well, originally no. But since those damned Dungeons or whatever appeared, those who got out are doing whatever they want! We only heard about it from the news but apparently they come out of those weird portals with weapons or something and they think they can do anything they want! Well you know, since most of the people who entered them were death row convicts and stuff. So mostly bad people get out of those." The old man paused for a bit. He looked Adam up and down before continuing. " So anyways, you started talking that's good. Where's your family?"

Just when Adam had gotten the ability to talk back, he immediately lost it.

"Alright am sorry for asking." A house appeared to be about 10 minutes away. The old man continued. "This is our small house. I built it myself when I was about 25. Took me years to finish. Impressive right?"

The house was beautiful. It's roof was made of wood and had multiple windows. It wasn't as small as the old man made it out to be.

A young girl a bit shorter than Adam was just outside of the house. She was sitting on a tree stump while waving her legs.

When they got closer, the old man shouted "Layla! Get some water and bread, we've got a guest!"

The young girl jumped down and went inside the house.

After a moment, she came out of the house with a piece of bread the size of a fist on a plate and a glass filled with water. She was wearing a yellow summer dress and sandals.

Although she was thirteen years old, she was much shorter than Adam and shorter than people her age in general. She didn't mind it as she thought shorter girls were cuter than the taller ones. Her hair was red. A fierce red. She had freckles all over her nose and at the top of her cheeks.

Adam was taken aback when she handed him the plate and the glass. He took them and kept looking at her. It was the first time he saw someone with red hair. His stomach growled loudly.

"Are you okay? I brought this for you so eat, alright?"

Just as he heard that, Adam stared at the food he was given.

"Go sit there and eat." Layla said as she pointed at the stump tree she was sitting on just before.

Layla got closer to the old man and whispered in his ear with a low voice "Grandpa. Who's this? He's weird. And his clothes are super dirty. Why did you bring him here? He's probably nothing but trouble."

Adam could hear, but he was too focused on the food. It had been a week since he had last eaten. And it wasn't like he spent that week sitting around doing nothing. It had been one of the most active weeks of his life.

The old man answered her without paying attention to if Adam could hear or not.

"Yeah maybe. But still we can't leave a kid his age alone like that. When he saw me, he started crying like a small kid."

Adam who had finished his food was sitting on the stump tree while looking at them. He felt very awkward.

Layla got a bit closer.

"So? What's your name?" she asked.

" I'm..Adam." Adam answered while looking at the ground.

"And? What were you doing in the field?" both her and the old man were looking in Adam's direction.

"I..I was lost. I don't have anywhere to go. I think...But, I'll get going. Thank you for the bread." Adam answered.

Even after saying that, he didn't get up. His body didn't want to.

"Whatever. Am going inside." Layla said. She left.

"She can be a bit difficult." The old man said as he sat next to Adam. "Her parents entered one of those portals hoping to make it big. Since the government is offering millions. It's been three days so she's obviously worried. Especially with everything that's going on."

Just as Adam heard that, images of his bloody family members came back to his mind. The fear he felt during the first day inside the dungeon. All of it came to him at one. He started shaking and had a worried expression.

The old man put his hand on Adam's shoulder. The latter stopped shaking.

"Let's go inside. Am sure I can find you more food than what the stingy kid brought hahaha."