Chapter 5 Back From Where It All Started

If the research within that book was correct- then following the direction to where the Northern star could be seen in the night sky would lead him back to the Grand Empire.

It could be said that traveling this deep in the night would be a bad idea for any traveler, but traveling during nighttime was the only thing that could help a directionally challenged person like Jacob.

He then made his way towards the direction of the gleaming star.

The fact that he could barely see anything amidst the thicket made it harder for him to quickly traverse this forest.

He could barely see the star he was following and had to stop every now and then to climb a tree; just to check if he's still going the right way.

And that alone wasn't easy; climbing with a single arm made it even harder.

It was a tiring evening, although nothing troublesome happened the entire night, he barely made any progress. He was still stuck in the forest.

---

Morning of the next day.

Jacob hardly took any breaks from all the walking and climbing last night that he could barely open his eyes; forcing him to just lay down and rest for now.

This unusual way of traveling is really draining his energy- but this is nothing that a little nap couldn't fix. It was before noon when Jacob woke up- feeling refreshed, but a bit famished.

He had not eaten for over 2 days now.

He was a bit used to being able to last days without food- Not that he wasn't allowed to eat, but he often skips meals to make room for both work and studies.

Looking for food within the forest might not be as hard as anyone would have thought. But moving too far away from where he is now might mess up the little progress he made last night; it would be a shame if he'll just backtrack himself.

"... I wonder if there's any food available within the [Shop]?"

"Open the Merchant's System Shop."

[Welcome to the Shop, What can I do for you today?]

"Uhhh... Does the shop have any food?"

Jacob inquired. Frankly speaking, it sounded silly to even think that a shop that operates "weirdly" would have anything fresh and edible within it, but there is definitely no harm in trying.

Within the next moment, the pages in the shop decreased, but what was left was still a plethora of options- all were different choices of food!

" - Ah! This is a bit too overwhelming... Hmmm, how about, Bread?"

The options once again lessened as it stopped to a few dozen choices of bread.

The cheapest one from the bunch was the 'Sweet Bread', with a price tag of 10 copper coins.

Amazingly, this was a lot cheaper than what Jacob remembered from purchasing one of it back then. On Creia, a plain bread would cost 10 copper coins, a sweet bread such as this one would cost 20.

Jacob immediately bought 3- one for immediate consumption and the rest would be for the upcoming days of his travel.

Hurriedly eating the sweet bread immediately pained his parched throat-

*cough* "I forgot... Water."

The system shop reopened as a hefty amount of option appeared; Although this time, the options were a bit less compared to the "food" list.

But what caught Jacob's attention was the topmost item that appeared, a water sack that costs a hundred gold coin.

Tapping the image of the water sack, the details for the said item appeared.

It was a way for the "buyer" to check if the items being bought were worth it- and it seems that this was something that would be under Jacob's wishlist.

It was tremendously useful!

[A Gift from Tethys] - A sack of fresh spring water, fully refills every 12 hours.

But 100 gold coins was a bit too much for now.

Jacob settled with a leathered water bag that cost his remaining 20 copper coins.

It wasn't too bad of a deal- considering it has fresh river water from the moment he purchased it, although it does not have any astonishing effects whatsoever.

Gulping down the water to quench his thirst as he finished his sweet bread, Jacob noticed the fleeting amount of ants that were starting to surround his wrapped bread that was reserved for later.

He had not placed it on the satchel, as it was still a bit hot after purchasing, thinking that it might get spoiled when immediately stored.

Swatting the swarming group of ants, an idea came on Jacob's mind.

Without another thought- he uttered the word...

"Hack"

"..." Nothing seems to be happening- similar to what happened back then on the cave, Jacob waited for a bit as he glued his eyes on the dead insects.

"Nothings actually happening, huh... Ah, it would have been too good to be true for that silly idea to work."

The idea of gaining coins through killing mere ants was indeed enticing.

Even a single copper coin from each of these insects would definitely be something after killing or burning down a few thousand.

"Well, This system ain't cheap I guess. Besides, I'd rather not commit ant genocide just to spare a few change."

Experimenting a bit with the system isn't too bad of an idea after all. At least now he knows that things such as this do not work with the hack.

Jacob just laughed it all off as he finished his meal.

---

Settling on the west was the beautiful sunset that showed its orange radiance.

The northern star reappeared, clear and bright as ever.

Another night came as Jacob prepared himself to travel once again.

This time, he was a bit used to it as his pace was faster than last nights.

It was barely 4 in the morning when Jacob reached the ends of the forest, The wide grassy plains greeted his eyes as the fresh air blew the tiredness away from his face. It seems that he wasn't really that far off from where he was back then.

If the map is correct, the brick road wouldn't be that far off either.

---

The familiar scenery- The last place, as far as his memory could remember, was here; roughly a kilometer from where the brick road starts.

It would have been too much of a chance if there was anything left for him to trace the location of where Lisa might be- if ever she was still alive.

It had been over three days; if he was sure that he had only slept for one that is.

There was absolutely nothing that could help him trace where she is-except...

"Dantalian City."

Their supposed-stop before going to the Academia City.

It was a no-brainer that those people that ambushed them back then were either residents of the city, or hiding within it.

Without hesitation, Jacob hurriedly ran towards the city