It was the same dark forest, with trees so ancient and grand that they exceeded dozens of meters in height; each of these trees must have easily been over 100 years old, or even more, something rather uncommon to see in the human realm. Their long vines tangled in the treetops, intertwining the canopies and further hindering the violet glow of the moon from reaching the forest floor.
Nolan was running again through this same old forest. He didn't know who was chasing him, but all he could do was keep running. He was also very fearless during his current escape. Running through such a dense forest in the middle of the night, full of thorns, moss, fallen trunks, poisonous insects, and other dangerous animals, was undoubtedly a death sentence in the dangerous Scar World.
And that's what made this nighttime escape even more terrifying; at any moment, a single wound could take his life forever!
But Nolan seemed confident as he faced the dangerous night forest, or was it the fear of his pursuers that outweighed the fear of the forest's dangers?
From time to time, during his escape, he stopped to rest and hide, thinking that perhaps he had lost his pursuers, but soon arrows whizzed past, striking his surroundings, causing Nolan to continue his desperate flight.
Soon, Nolan awoke from his dream and realized that it was all just his recurring nightmare, which seemed to grow ever more intense...
Unlike the previous nights, he was now in one of the most elegant rooms he had ever been in. To describe it in one word, it would be: Spacious!
The fear of suffering injuries in their own homes made the inhabitants of the Scar World build them as spacious as possible, ensuring that all the furniture was spaced far apart, there were no pieces of furniture with sharp edges or dangerous corners, all being circular or oval in shape, and in places like this tavern, which was called the Bronze Tavern, even the floor was padded.
If a house had children, it was normal for even the walls to have some kind of padding. But even with all the precautions, in a small place like Blackwood Village, it was still normal for there to be several fatal domestic accidents every year.
Through the window, Nolan noticed the violet glow of the moon and knew that there were still 1 or 2 hours until sunrise. His body always woke up on its own at that time, and his father would always be making their breakfast. After breakfast, the two would leave to begin their daily routines, whether tending to the animals, collecting firewood, or even on a long hunting trip.
But now, realizing he was alone in this world, and also remembering that he had no more duties in the morning, Nolan thought about going back to sleep.
But due to anxiety, his body refused to fall asleep again, especially since he would soon be willingly volunteering to be wounded by one of the Kingdom's Soldiers and undergo the Scar Granting Ceremony.
With the help of a certain ointment, his chances of surviving by applying it to the wound were higher, but the chances of dying were still very high, to the point that many young people refused such a free "blessing".
This ointment, brought to Blackwood Village by the Kingdom's Representative, who hadn't come this time, and was brought by the soldiers, was called the Sacred Ointment, a miraculous green paste made from many rare herbs that could only be found within the dangerous depths of a Scar.
The Sacred Ointment was the only item capable of increasing someone's chances of surviving an injury in this world and obtaining a Scar more safely; their chance of death, which was previously 90 percent, would become 60 percent, still quite high from Nolan's point of view...
It was said that the so-called "Sacred Ointment" was created by a shaman studying plants capable of thriving in the terrible environment of the Scars, and since death from wounds was caused by diseases supposedly originating from the Scar itself, his theory ultimately proved correct. Later, the human kingdoms seized control of the Sacred Ointment recipe, using it as a base to strengthen humans who were considered weaker compared to non-human races.
For the Kingdom of Scarmith, using such a valuable item on young commoners aged 15 to 18 might be seen as a waste, but for those who had already received a scar, dying and losing everything was too high a gamble.
The safest bet was to offer such items to those who didn't yet possess any power. Primarily, for ambitious young adults with glorious dreams of becoming adventurers and heroes.
Of course, only the first Sacred Ointment would be free, and even then, you still needed luck depending on where you lived. If he survived and wanted to continue playing life or death, suffering even more injuries, he would have to risk even more in dangerous tasks, at the behest of The Kingdom, The Church, or The Adventurers' Guild…
Having been forced to participate in the ceremony and risk his life to receive another scar as punishment for his supposed "escape," Nolan went to the tavern's bathroom to try and take a quick shower before everyone woke up.
As he walked there, his thoughts drifted away from the ceremony and focused on why such a war had broken out so far from the border of the Scarmith Kingdom, or even so far from something valuable…
One of the reasons his father lived in this isolated place, far from everything and with few luxuries, was precisely to prevent Nolan from being forced, through the recruitment law, to participate in any kind of battle. After all, fighting in wars in a world where injuries would kill you with a 90 percent chance was the same as being forced to die for the Kingdom. And all the men of the Kingdom were legally obligated to participate in at least three of these battles, depending on where they lived...
Arriving at the entrance to the restrooms with at least an hour to go before dawn, Nolan encountered two beautiful women with their long hair still wet. One of the beauties was unknown to him, but the other was quite familiar. It was the red-haired Vice-Captain whose name he didn't yet know.
The beautiful, unknown woman, whose beauty was overshadowed by the redhead's, had dark skin, a large scar on her right cheek, and long brown hair. She was the first to notice Nolan approaching and looked at him curiously, while the redhead, upon seeing him, smiled with a look of disdain.
Before Nolan could better observe the two beauties, now stripped of their leather and metal armor and dressed only in long yellow linen dresses that barely revealed their shoulders and calves, he was interrupted by the redhead who greeted him in a mocking and familiar tone:
"Good morning, Deserter. You didn't get up so early thinking you could escape, did you?"
Nolan observed the redhead's beautiful curves and figure again, making sure the mocking woman perceived his gaze as a form of punishment. He also chose to remain silent, giving her the same silent treatment as the first time he spoke to her.
The redhead Vice-Captain felt uncomfortable with Nolan's gaze, but she was already used to the stares of all the men in the army. After all, besides her, there were only 3 women in the army of almost 30 soldiers.
"All those who will participate in the next battle are already in this tavern enjoying the benefits of being a soldier, but the Captain still left guards watching outside even at night since cases of desertion like yours are not uncommon…"
Nolan looked into the woman's red eyes after hearing her second sentence, and he wondered what these two women were thinking when they joined such deadly battles. After all, women weren't legally obligated to participate, only volunteering, and even that right to volunteer had only been obtained in the last 30 years…
"And all this for what? Some Bronze Cards that allowed humans to live luxuriously in these Bronze Taverns for a few months? Or were they trying to prove something to someone or to their families?"
After reflecting for a while, he decided not to judge the female soldiers. After all, their motives could be similar to his own—that is, to gain more power or even something like revenge?
"I was really running away, but I wasn't running away from you…"
Nolan said that single sentence, and then went into the empty men's bathroom to take his shower. Coincidentally, the bathroom was again too dark for Nolan to notice the extra Silver Scar on his heel…
The red-eyed redhead remained in shock for a moment before her eyes gleamed with some kind of understanding. She walked quickly, forgetting about the brunette soldier, and returned to her room.
When Nolan finished his bath, he didn't see anyone outside the bathrooms anymore. He'd said that to the redhead because he was starting to get quite annoyed at being called a deserter, but he was rather vague about the reason for fleeing the Blackwood Village...
After his bath, he asked a tavern employee to bring his breakfast to his room. After calmly eating while watching the sunrise from his window, Old Derrick and Luna knocked on his door.
They had come to escort him to the town square, where the Granting Ritual would take place. It was time to obtain another Scar, and he hoped that this time it would truly be a useful one. And if it wasn't, he wouldn't mind following his new philosophy of life, where he was determined to put himself at risk to continue gaining more power…