A small ogre settlement was chomping away on freshly hunted prey in the middle of the forest, their little camp centered around a spire-shaped stone carving.
About three meters tall and two meters wide, one side bore a doorway-like pattern, making the carving look like a tiny exotic house. Moss and vines covered it—clearly abandoned and forgotten for ages.
The ogres were used to the weird statue and ignored it, focused entirely on their feast.
Right at the height of their gluttony, the statue moved.
The side with the "door" pattern gave off a creak like old wood.
Squeeeak—
Glen pushed it open. Expecting pitch-black, he was blinded instead; his eyes, used to darkness, stung badly. He had to shield them with his arm.
When his vision cleared, he saw he was in a jungle, surrounded by hideous, snarling humanoid monsters staring at him.
"Uh… hello?" Glen twitched the corner of his mouth into a weak smile and gave a quiet greeting.
"Foo… food!" One of the ogres mumbled, breaking the silence.
Instantly, the ogres dropped their meat, grabbed stone clubs and axes, and charged the intruder.
Wow, what a warm welcome… Glen rolled his wrists, claws shooting from his fingertips…
Moments later, a few ogres lay dead. The rest, badly injured, panicked and scattered.
Glen could've killed them all, but leaving corpses to rot would stink. Maiming them ensured they wouldn't survive long.
Where the heck am I? Glen scratched his head, looking at the dense jungle. Since he'd only partially wolfed out, his clothes were fine—no need to dash home and change.
He glanced back at the doorway he'd come through. Impossible to believe his basement led to this.
Touching the open door, he found one side stone, the other wood. On his right wrist was a band of runes linked to the door.
That's the hand I used to turn the knob—must've gotten branded then. As he figured that out, the door slammed shut on its own.
Glen jumped, scrambling to pry at the door seam—useless.
"Great…" He clenched his teeth, face twisting in frustration.
Trapped here forever? No—stay calm… He took deep breaths, steadying himself.
Looking at the runes on his wrist, he tested the stone wall. When his fingers brushed a triangle symbol, the runes glowed faintly—and the door reopened.
Glen wiped cold sweat from his brow, relieved.
Knowing how to open it, he wasn't in a rush to leave. He scoped the area, picked a direction with mountains, and started hiking.
From the peak, the view shocked him: an endless jungle ending at a city.
One of those classic kingdom cities—European-style buildings, castles, smokestack factories. No mistaking it.
Am I in a regional capital? Probably. The thought hit instantly and hard.
To check, he headed straight for the next mountain. Action beats guessing.
A black gust tore through the jungle, scaring animals and magical beasts—none had any idea what it was.
Even lightly wolfed-out, Glen's speed outpaced anything in these woods.
He caught a whiff of humans, soon closing to within a hundred meters of the city wall. Roads teemed with merchants, travelers, and bizarre mounts—car-sized lizard beasts, big cats with horns, and more.
The gates stood wide open, armored soldiers with muskets keeping order.
Glen shifted back to normal, stepped out from the shadows, and flagged down a passing youth.
"Hey, friend, mind telling me where I am? Got lost and ended up here by accident. Help a guy out?"
The youth gave Glen a weird look, but answered, "This is Kairdelia City. Don't know that? Unless you're some wild savage."
Kairdelia? Not the region Bayek's in. Isn't that the western kingdom's main city? Several regions away from Bayek! Kairdelia… seems closest to the royal capital… Glen's brain pulled up facts about Kairdelia, momentarily speechless.
"Uh… you okay, sir?" The youth waved a hand in front of Glen's face, eyebrow twitching.
"Huh? Oh…" Glen coughed awkwardly. "Sorry, zoned out. Sudden realization I'm in a regional capital throws you, y'know?"
"Good luck, sir." The youth sighed, clearly done with Glen's flimsy excuse, gave a small nod, and walked off.
Thick-skinned Glen didn't care; he just wandered off in his own world.
A teleportation magic door… reminds me of an animated movie. The previous homeowner must've been no ordinary guy—building something like this means a serious mage.
But seeing how his basement looked, clearly no one's been here in ages. That mage's probably pushing up daisies…
Without drawing attention, Glen slipped back into the jungle. No need to enter the city now—wait till he has money and time.
At the gates, a sharp-eyed hawk perched on a guard's shoulder spoke in a human voice: "What the hell? I think I just caught a whiff of werewolf."
"Impossible. Knights swept this area. Don't spook yourself," the guard replied.
…
Meanwhile, Laila had dressed carefully that day, wearing her nicest dress and a sun hat, carrying a bamboo basket filled with treats her mother had prepared—expensive foods for their modest means. She looked like she was visiting relatives.
But she wasn't going to visit anyone.
She'd asked a few close friends in town to come along, but they all had excuses. The only one free turned pale at the mention of Bayek.
A freckled, petite girl half-opened her door, speaking carefully: "Laila, listen. You don't want to go there—I swear! If you knew how dangerous it is…"
"You know it?"
"Of course. I wandered in once by mistake. Full of monsters. Saw them in the fog. If I hadn't run fast, you wouldn't be seeing me now." The freckled girl looked genuinely terrified.
But Laila just giggled, covering her mouth. "Heh… Bonnie, I think you must've seen wrong."
Bonnie flushed, tone grave. "Laila! Believe me! Ask the adults—they'll tell you the same!"
"All right, Bonnie, all right. Gotta go." Laila gave her a quick hug and turned away.
To Laila, if Bayek were truly as Bonnie described, it'd be infamous by now. Plus, that kind gentleman lived there.