The journey to nature

I just got up. All my stuff is packed and I'm about to leave the city early in the morning.
It's really exciting.

I walk toward the city gate, where the guards are already waiting.

When I reach the gate, one of the guards already approaches me.

Hey, little one! You're way too young to leave this place.

I show him the permission.
He takes it but doesn't even look at it.

Hey, you can't even hold such a huge sword properly.
You'll be better off if you just leave.

I draw my sword and get in fighting pose.

It's from Oron. Read it!

Oron? He's still...

The guard starts to panic. He looks at the permission.

Yeah...
That's definitely his signature.
So...
Feel free to leave and enter the city whenever you want!

The guard gives me back the permission and steps aside.

I put away my sword and slowly walk through the gate.
It feels good to be respected for once, even if the respect doesn't really feel earned.

So now I'm outside of the city for the first time.
It looks way different out there.
It's a huge meadow. And a bunch of hills.

I turn back.

Hey, do you know how to get to the nature area?

The nature area? You really want to go that far?

Sure. I have to.

Just go straight ahead. You should reach the coast in only a few hours.
There you have to ask somebody how to get across the sea.
I heard, they're building a train to get to the other side.
But that's probably just a rumor.

Okay, thanks. I think I'll get by now.

I start walking along the meadow.

It's really fun to walk freely in such a vast area.
The open space is a refreshing change.
Not many people are around, so I can just enjoy being there without any annoying people bothering me.

After a while, I notice some weird looking creatures.
It's probably best not to get too close to them.

But suddenly some of them get closer and closer to me.
I'm getting scared and draw my sword.

Then suddenly one of them attacks me.
Now it's finally time to prove my skills.

I swing my sword, slashing one of them, so the creature is hurt and runs away.
Another one attacks. It's getting pretty close.
So I slash it and split it in half.

The creature is still breathing. So I decide to kill it completely.

Oh, I'm really sad for the creature.
But it's their own fault to attack me.

The remaining creatures get scared and run away.

That really was exciting. But I still hope, I can avoid encounters like these.

I keep walking and walking. Once in a while I take a break and eat some of my supplies.
After a few hours I already see the ocean in the distance.
It should still be another few hours until I really arrive there.

As I get closer, I see some small village at the coast.
That's where I should go.
The ocean gets closer and I see the village in more detail.
Soon I notice some line on the ocean. Is that really a rail leading above the ocean?
I'm already getting excited.

Once in a while, some creatures attack me.
I'm quickly getting used to killing them.
I wonder, what's wrong with them.
It definitely was important to have a sword with me.

When I finally reach the village at the coast, it's already afternoon.
Maybe I've just been slow, but now I'm glad I got up so early.
I think, I have to find a place to sleep in this village.

But there's still enough time to find out how to get to the other side. It's not that late yet.

But first I want to find some kind of train station.
The line on the ocean turns out to be a rail for real.
And it seems to lead above the ocean to the other side.

When aproaching the rail, walking along the coast, it looks like it starts somewhere in this village.
And where it starts, there really is some huge building.
I approach the building. As expected, it's a train station.
But it still looks like a construction site.

A few people are standing around, so I ask one.

Hey, what is this? Can I get to the other side of the ocean here?

Hey, this will be the first and only ocean train ever.
But the rail is not finished yet. It will still take some weeks.
So if you can wait, you can be one of our first passengers. What do you think of that?

I don't want to wait that long. Isn't there another way to reach the other side?

Yeah, there is. You could go by boat.
But it almost takes a day to cross the sea by boat.
The train will only take a few hours.

Oh, thanks.
The boat is still better than having to wait for weeks.
But I might be able to try the train on my way back.

Yeah, I can definitely recommend it. I'm sure this train will be a huge success.
I've already been using it to get to the first island and it was amazing.
We got there in less than half an hour.

Yeah, that really sounds great. I'll definitely come back.
Maybe we'll meet again!

I'm sure about that! When it's finished, I'll be using the train all the time.

I start to walk away.

Oh, and if you find a boat now, you might reach the other side tomorrow morning already.

Oh, really? Thanks!

So if I still find a boat today, I might be able to sleep there instead.
So I won't have to find a place to sleep in this village.

I look at the coast and see a few ships standing around.
This must be a port.
I immediately head to the port.

People are currently entering one of the ships.
A man is standing in front of the ship, letting them in.

I approach him.

Hey, can I still get into the ship?

Sure, if you have two coins.

And can I sleep there?

Yeah, everybody gets their own bed.

Cool, thanks!

I give him the coins and he lets me enter.

Inside there are a bunch of gangways.
In some of them there are beds in the walls left and right at different heights.
I decide to take an upper one, so I don't get crushed if the bed above me breaks.

But it's still not that late, so I go out and watch the ship depart from the land.
It's really exciting.
But there's always land around. So it's not that scary.
There are a bunch of small islands and a huge mountain in the distance.

As I keep standing at the railing, I notice a girl around my age. She must be on an adventure, too.

I think about approaching her while looking at the landscape.
But as I look back to her, she's gone.

I'm sure, I'll see her again tomorrow.
And since it's getting dark, I should go to bed anyway.
So I go back inside, walk through through the hallways and get into my bed.

I'll probably fall asleep any moment.
I've never been so exhausted before.