He was still in disbelief.
He saw the carriage approaching closer and closer, he composed himself, waving both of his hands at the carriage. It looked like a old carriage, probably made out of just wood and leather. There was an old man sitting infront controlling the horse.
The old man did notice Suraj, as he approached closer to him, he stopped looking at Suraj. He had long white hairs and beard, his face was all wrinkled, besides that he was short but not too short.
"Who are you young man?" The old man asked.
Suraj went closer to him, "I may have lost my way sir, Can you help me?"
The old man stared at Suraj and made a weird expression, "Why should I do that? I don't know you".
Suraj wanted to say that he was from another world, but he didn't trust the old man. He might not believe it but even if he did what if he attacks him or try something to do?
He thought for a minute before saying, "Sir, I have lost my way home. So if you could drop me to the place where you are going, I can get som help"
The old man frowned, "How can I trust a butt naked man? State your name"
" Suraj" he said, but he blurted it out without thinking, he should have atleast given a fake name.
" Suraj? Thats a weird name"
Suraj couldn't help but smile awkwardly. The old man thought for a minute before he allowed Suraj to get into the carriage.
"But before that" the old man rummaged through his backpack before throwing him a trouser and a shirt. But the size was a bit small, the trousers only reached till his knees, thankfully the old man was slim, if he was fat then the trousers would just fall off of Suraj's waist.
But the shirt didn't fit Suraj, it was short. He just covered himself with it. He went to the backside of the carriage and tried to climb out. But he soon saw a dead body of an animal. Was animal the right word?.
It had a very pungent smell, Suraj took a step back before puking again. The old man was looking at him, "Haven't you ever seen a corpse of Virelstag before? Stop overreacting and get in the carriage"
Suraj didn't have any option, he just stepped up to the back of the carriage and took a seat, leaning back to the arch which was made out of wood and leather to give a cover.
Suraj was covering his mouth with the shirt, he wasn't able to stand the stench. Besides, what type of animal it was? It looked like a deer, but it had horns like that of demon and worst of all I had six legs.
'What is that monster?' he thought 'Honestly, nothing surprises me anymore '.
'Did he call it a Virelstag? What a weird name'
Suraj felt a strong sense of disgust.
The carriage started moving, the arched moved in a to and fro motion to the left and the right.
"Which part of Weldora are you from?" The old man asked.
'Weldora? What is that? A place? Let's just go along with it'
"I'm from the eastern side of Weldora" He said as he prayed for luck that the old man would buy this.
Fortunately, the old man believed as he nodded his head "Must be hard to survive there, I heard the barrier has been weakened there"
'Barrier? He had no idea where this conversation was leading to'
"Ah ,yes sir"
The old man increased the pace of the carriage going the direction from which Suraj came from, "Why were you here anyway? Our for hunting?"
Suraj didn't know what to say, he took few seconds to think "Yes sir, but unfortunately for some reason I woke up naked, the last thing I remember is setting out for the hunt"
"Must be those goddamn bandits, they are notorious these days. Sigh Could we even blame them? If only the former king was alive, he would have found a way out for the food." said the old man.
Suraj just nodded his head, he didn't know what to say afterall.
" What is your name sir?" Suraj asked
" Oh, Just all me Harold and no need to call me sir, I am not a noble " said the old man.
" Yes, Harold" said Suraj.
" So Suraj, are you applying for the soldier recruitment? You are young and you seem to have some experience in hunting but not in corpse dissection" Harold chuckled.
Recruitment? Suraj didn't know shit about recruitment, " I'm still thinking"
" You should do it young man, they are even teaching how to use magic *Sigh* if only I was younger, I would have applied it without any hesitation"
'Magic? As in superpower '.
Suraj was still processing things in his head, Magic? He can perform magic?
" Young man?"
" Ah, yes Harold that's a generous offer indeed, but it still involves your complete co-operation I guess and I doubt that I can do it"
Harold chuckled, " We all have that fear, even I did too, but only when I manage to step up and defend myself, i was able to overcome my fears "
Suraj just nodded, even if it was magic or dealing with monsters and stuff, that sounded cool in novels, but in real life it would be hard to survive. Suraj wanted to go home, but remembering all the chaotic things that happened at night, he wasn't sure if going home would promise his survival.
Although he was a coward and cursed at his life and tried to kill himself several times, he loved his life, he didn't want to die. Even the thought of his death scared him.
Gripping the shirt which was near his mouth, he looked at the corpse again. Even though it looked like a monster, he somewhat felt pitiful for it. It was lying helplessly, sticking it's tongue out. The flies were hovering above its head. It seemed that it was hunted down with an arrow or something similar to arrow.
Even though he felt disgusted, he placed his hand on its brown fur.
'Poor creature, may it rest in peace '