Following a dirt road, he eventually found himself standing on the edge of an empty highway.
Ferris let out a disappointed sigh. His unfamiliarity with this world's constellations made the stars useless as a guide.
He also wasn't familiar with the road.
Begrudgingly, he took the flattest stick he could find and settled its tip on the flat road.
Whichever direction this stick falls toward is where my home is! Ferris repeated this seven times.
Only a fool would rely on divination.
But this was an option that gave him some hope.
Plop.
Left... I'll go that way then.
While walking, there were cars that sometimes appeared in the far distance.
But each time he raised his arm to signal for help, they sped past without so much as slowing down. After the fifth one ignored him, he eventually lost faith in drivers.
But the sixth car was different.
And the other car behind it, and and the other car behind that, and even more cars.
Sirens? Looks like they also called the police for help... I did say it was an ogre-level threat.
Because of his current situation, he was a prime suspect.
For now, he disregarded his values and decided to hide beneath a ditch on the far side of the highway and laid till the sirens were far away enough.
. . .
They're gone, Ferris sighed and almost succumbed to his tiredness.
His body was practically on the verge of breaking down, every muscle and essence inside him screamed in agony.
. . .
"Was it a bad idea to eat the expired food?" he muttered with a quiet laugh.
No, no. It's not my stomach hurting, it's my abs. Ferris convinced himself.
He pushed through the pain and continued his walk till he found a road connecting to a small isolated town.
I can ask for some help here, he cheered silently.
For a start, he began by approaching one of the houses and knocked. After a while, the front door opened.
Before Ferris could even explain his presence.
A disgruntled man appeared behind the door and began yelling various mean phrases at him before shutting the door in his face.
Ferris quietly said his thanks before moving to another house, which gave him the same response.
Then he went to the third home.
Then at the fourth home, fifth home, and the rest. Ferris noticed that at a certain point, everyone just stopped responding.
It was a small town, after all. They must've known each other and texted each other that a very suspicious and smelly person was loitering around the area.
I have a feeling if I approach another house... they might call the police, he feared, given his current circumstance.
The next plan he had was to search for any public drinking fountain. But given the isolated nature of the town, it was a fruitless effort.
Damn. Ferris remembered the steel water bottle he left at the convenience store's tables. I wonder if it's still there...
All he had on him was his dead phone and a two dollars.
After giving up, he exited the small town and followed the road that connected it to the highway.
Then, his tired eyes caught a small bus stop, and he decided to sleep on one of the benches for the night.
***
Here again... Ferris looked around the dark forest.
[Good evening, Ferris.] The same bush ignited once more, but that scene was already familiar to him.
"Is this what you meant by returning when something interesting happened?" He placed his hands on his waist and waited for the flaming bush's reply.
[It is. You really rocked that pervert just now. But it's not really that impressive; he was barely disaster-level imp,] the fire crackled.
"It doesn't matter to me." Ferris crossed his arms before continuing. "Then... are you an ogre-level threat?" he joked.
The bush moved around for a bit and some embers popped out from the flames.
. . .
[Hmph.]
Hmph?
The flames thrashed wildly for a moment, before settling back into her usual, motionless state.
[You'll eventually guess what my level is... if you'll even bunch me up with those villains and heroes,] the flame crackled, as if she was pouting.
Ferris decided it was best to change the topic. "I see... Anyways, dreamer. Surely there's more for you to say other than congratulating me when I do something interesting."
The flame went silent, and she started seductively laughing to herself.
[Heh... you simply distracted me, and now I've forgotten what I was going to say next,] she teased.
Ferris didn't respond.
The flame saw his silence as playful defiance and she believed he was teasing her even further, she carried on anyway.
[The reason behind the kidnapping of Blessing users is tied to an organization… I won't spoil everything for you, but I expect this won't be the last time you'll cross paths with them,] she said, her tone carrying an ominous certainty.
Ferris leaned forward slightly, trying to squeeze out more answers. "What about the strange plants that sprouted from their bodies?" he asked, hoping the dreamer would indulge him.
. . .
[It's best you don't concern yourself with "him" just yet.]
The fire began to dim, flickering lower and lower. Signaling that the dream was ending.
[That'll be all~]
Snap.
Ferris instantly awoke on the hard, cold bench he had used as a bed.
His body felt worse than ever, as though his very muscles refused to wake from their slumber.
Groaning, he pushed through the stiffness and sat up to collect himself.
Not concern myself with him? Ferris wondered what the flaming bush had meant.
I should probably trust her for now. She doesn't mean me harm if she's even willing to warn me about this organization.
But of course, he set his boundaries—whoever the dreamer was.
She had a very powerful blessing, one whose abilities left no room for interpretation.
And she certainly wasn't an ally, not if she wouldn't tell him everything.
Once his body was fully awake, he got to his feet and began his morning warm up of 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats.
As expected, it was harder than ever. Ferris struggled through his 100th squat.
Is this the perfect time to take a break?
No!
If Yaromech was here, he'd whack me until I died of blunt force trauma.
With a sudden burst of drive, he decided to make another attempt at speaking with the townsfolk who had rejected his presence last night.
He retraced his steps down the same road.
Hopefully they'll be nicer with such a beautiful morning.
Morning?
Now that he was fully awake, he noticed the atmosphere was brighter… and hotter. Did I wake up late?
When he arrived at the town, it was just as it had been last night.
Barren. Empty.
Still, he approached the same house he had gone to before and knocked.
. . .
No answer.
A bud of concern bloomed in his chest—and grew when the second house also gave no response.
Then the third. And the fourth as well.
Now this is weird… Are they just nocturnal? They were still awake when I approached them last night.
As he wandered the empty streets, he came upon a bicycle lying in the middle of the road.
Freaky… Ferris instinctively stepped away from the two-wheeler.
But it wasn't just a bicycle.
Rounding a corner, he spotted a car that was empty.
Freaky! This time, he knew something was wrong.
He approached the vehicle. Finding that Its windows were down and the engine was still running.
Ferris reached through the window and turned the car off. That's bad for the environment.
Since when did everyone disappear? He opened his senses, but there was nothing anomalous nearby.
Wandering further, he stumbled upon an open, unattended local restaurant.
He stepped inside and saw bowls of noodles sat on the tables.
. . .
They were cold. Ferris hovered his hand above the broth to feel the temperature. It been quite a while since this place was abandoned.
After confirming the town was truly deserted, he devoured all three bowls.
But a knight mustn't steal.
He left the last two dollars in his pocket on the counter.
. . .
Unfortunately, two dollars weren't even enough to pay for a single bowl.
To properly digest his cold meal, he headed toward a mini park near the town center. Though "park" was generous—it was just a converted house lot, with harsh gravel for the ground and some playground equipment like swings and a slide.
But he wasn't there to play, he just needed to sit somewhere public. Somewhere that wasn't a bus stop or someone's porch.
He sat on a bench in lotus position.
If he couldn't train his body, he could still train his essence.
Closing off all his other senses, he focused only on the surrounding essence. He expanded the ninth layer around his heart, allowing essence to seep in from the world around him.
Once enough had been siphoned, he retracted the layer and pushed some of it out, repeating the process.
It was like a more dangerous version of deep breathing—inhaling too much could lead to overfill and exhaling too much could lead to emptiness.
Ferris walked the line between the two, cycling the essence, keeping just enough of it with each round.
In this way, his ninth layer slowly grew.
His essence grew in miniscule steps.
But he only meditated for a few minutes.
Something was bothering him. So much so that he couldn't properly focus. It was like a fly buzzing near his ears when he's trying to sleep.
A fly?
No… a hum.
He opened his eyes and adjusted his posture, then cupped his hands before slightly covering his ears to enhance his hearing.
In the distance a faint and almost nonexistent but unmistakable noise was heard.
Sirens?