Todd walked toward a gate that he only ever read about in books. It was an archaic design of wood boards layered vertically and iron holding it together on the ends. It seemed simple for a gate meant to protect a kingdom, but Todd knew, as part of the wall, it was certainly magic.
On Todd's right side was Rebecca and Liz. On his left was Teddy and Jack. The group all had large packs on and were wearing thick clothes made to be breathable in the heat, but sturdy enough for the journey through the woods.
"Are you certain I have to be in the lead? It feels odd to lead a group of ancient beings when I'm only 15."
Jack started laughing at Todd's comment before giving him a hushed response. "Remember what Advir said? 'You will be doing this mission as alone as possible Todd. The others will only help with basic survival needs.'" The group started laughing at Jack's terrible impersonation of Advir.
As Todd grumpily approached the gate he took a small letter out of his pocket to hand to the guard. The guard quickly read it before his eyes went wide. With a few sloppily rushed arm movements the guard signaled the gate to be opened.
Todd, not knowing what to do, thanked the flustered gaurd and began walking again. It was an awkward experience for him and when he looked to his peers for help they gave him looks that he could only assume meant 'we are going to enjoy this.'
After getting through the gate and beginning to walk toward the treeline, Todd asked "Since we used a portal to get to the gate, why couldn't we have used it to get outside the gate?" He thought it was a fair question. Surely one of the group had been out this gate before.
"Like we said, minimum assistance." Rebecca replied.
Todd had a feeling that would be the answer. "Well can you at least tell me what direction to Bright Forest?"
Revecca nodded before pointing straight ahead of the group. "The bright forest is about 12 days walk that way. With you being new to this though…" She paused for a bit looking Todd over. "I'd guess no more than a few days extra. What do you think Jack? You're the wild man here."
Jack didn't appreciate that nickname. He took pride in his civility. It took him and Advir many years to get Jack out of the wild man habits. "I think he doesn't look too bad. He'll get there somewhere around the end of week 2."
Todd didn't really like the sound of that. He always wanted to go explore outside the city, but he didn't think his first experience would be the woods outside the wall. He didn't know any magic, had no combat skills, and all his survival knowledge is based on books, not experience.
Todd was sure this would be a long journey. His only hope was that he would get to learn through trial by fire. Getting thrown into situations without detailed explanations made things much more difficult, but one would learn quick this way. It also helped that Todd had body guards.
As they walked, Todd spent time looking around. Nothing seemed different compared to the forests he read about. He could see insects and small animals. The underbrush wasn't anything crazy and most of the branches were more than ten feet over head. The leaves on the trees were still their summer green. It was quite peaceful.
"Alright, now that we've walked some distance we can begin classes." Teddy knew just how to ruin the mood.
Over the next several hours of walking Todd was taught the basics of survival in the forest. It was an important topic since there was no guarantee they wouldn't be separated at some point. Missions were wierd like that.
"Ok that should cover it for the bare minimum knowledge. Hopefully we don't get separated, but if we do you should at least be able to get back to the wall."
Todd knew most of what they went over already. He just kept his mouth shut cause it was a nice refresher, and he wasn't sure if he'd missed an important piece during his previous studies. He didn't miss anything major, but he learned some new little tricks that Jack and Liz told him during specific parts of the lecture. Teddy liked going by the book so he didn't add anything of note.
"If we're done with the lecture can I ask some questions?" Todd asked. He had a lot of questions and nobody even talked to him after the meeting with Advir.
Rebecca looked up from what she was doing and gave him a complicated look. "You can ask whatever you want, but just know that most of your answers are in front of you somewhere and we most likely have no idea."
That did not reassure Todd. He got what she was trying to say. The mission would answer his questions. The problem was Todd had so many he couldn't stop thinking about them.
Rebecca gave a big sigh when she saw Todd's gloomy face. "If you really need to then just ask. We might be able to give you some details depending on the question. The problem is we are not supposed to get involved. Plus, we don't know much in the first place so it's not like asking will even help you."
Todd thought for a moment. Most of his questions were about the mission, that was true. He didn't know anything about it so how would he even know if he was on the right track. He felt like he was walking in the dark.
"Well if you can't tell me about my immediate problems can you at least tell me about mana and magic?" Todd knew that if anyone had answers on mana and magic it was the people that lived countless years.