Lyan's routine was simple and solitary. That morning, as usual, he made his way to the river in the clearing, the only place safe enough to try his luck at fishing.
He needed fish.
It was on this path that reality bent.
Suddenly, the darkness of the forest was bathed in a bright golden light, so intense that Lyan had to cover his eyes.
The light appeared from the edge of the clearing, expanded, and just as quickly as it appeared, vanished.
Frozen in place, Lyan hesitated.
Cautious but driven by uncontrollable curiosity, he decided to investigate.
As he approached, sneaking through ferns and shadows of the trees, he was startled.
A female! Not just any female, but the most beautiful female he had ever seen, and of an unknown species.
Quickly, he hid behind a thick tree to watch her.
Her garments were made of a strange, thin, molded material, unlike any leather or fabric he had ever known.
She seemed to be speaking to a floating golden orb.
"Am I in the presence of a god? Or some kind of spirit of nature?"
Lyan thought, perplexed.
Suddenly, with a movement of her hand, a bizarre and organized structure rose from the ground, seeming to sprout from the soil like a plant.
It was a structure he had never seen before, but it resembled a shelter, a house of incredibly complex design.
He was deeply intrigued.
After some time, the female began walking through the forest.
Lyan noticed she seemed to be exploring, learning about the place.
He followed her, keeping a safe distance, trying to decipher her origin.
His observation was abruptly interrupted when a wild beast attacked.
It all happened very quickly.
In just a few movements, the female took down the creature, which by its size was clearly level five or higher, effortlessly.
In the process, she took a "bath" in dark blood.
Lyan was stunned.
Not even the high-level warriors in his tribe possessed such skill and power; let alone the females, who were usually lazy and arrogant.
Who was this female, and how could she be so powerful!?
His thoughts were interrupted by the strangest occurrence: the colossal boar simply disappeared, as if it had never been there.
The Feran blinked, trying to make sense of it.
The female returned to the clearing.
Lyan, still completely shocked, took several minutes to follow her.
When he reached the clearing, he was met with a scene that made his cheeks flush.
There she was, in the middle of the river, completely naked, bathing with her back to him. Lyan had never seen anything like this — the nude body of a female.
Even though he was twenty years old, he had never participated in a mating ritual in his village, as his Level 3 was like a repellent; females despised him for his low level.
There, in front of him, the female with bronze skin, silver eyes, and long, curly silver hair that shone under the sunlight displayed her sculpted body: rounded, firm breasts, a slim waist, wide hips, thick and toned legs.
But despite all the stir that this sight caused, the Tree Mark on her back was what caught his attention the most.
It was clearly a Tree Mark, but one he had never seen before.
The trunk pulsed with amber tones, and the golden leaves were so numerous that they covered her back all the way to her shoulders.
"Is it really possible for a female to have this many leaves?"
he whispered to himself, inaudibly.
In his moment of distraction and reflection, he stepped on a branch.
The snap was thunderous. And like a deer frozen in the headlights of a car, his eyes met hers.
"How can she... be so beautiful?"
he thought.