A splitting headache still hammering inside his head, Alex woke up gaining consciousness gradually. Cold hard stones and chilly winds blowing in the forest greeted him. His back was joined to a big tree while his hands were tied up.

He wanted to caress the back of his head, but it was impossible. Opening his eyes Alex was greeted with the shining sunlight splitting past the gaps in between the canopy of trees.

Slowly, he regained his memory and realization dawned on him as he remembered what happened with him. As the groggy feeling passed away with clear slight he tried to assess his situation properly.

He was tied to a huge tree with his hands tied to each other. His mobility was restrained but there was no sign of any possible injuries on his body. He deduced it as he didn't find any pain or discomfort.

As he tried to look around, he found three men and one elf resting on the floor of the forest near him still maintaining their vigilance. From their garbs and weapons, Alex posed them as adventurers.

'What are they doing here... no it is the forest, so it is understandable why they are here and also why they tie me up. What do I do if they ask any questions? It may become a problem.'

Meanwhile, the mage noticed Alex.

"Oh! You are finally up.", Mage said. With this all present there looked at Alex carrying a million questions in their eyes.

"Boy! Tell us who you are and What you are doing here. Are you from the other side?", asked the burly swordsman as he stood tall like a mountain in front of the seated Alex.

"Stop making that grim face, you are frightening him.", reprimanded the mage.

"Shut up. I hate those Tearmoon bastards. If he is from there then he is already dead.", said the swordsman with a menacing smile.

"You muscle brain don't know anything.", the mage said

"Was that an insult Oldcane?" With that, both men started to glare but stopped after the captain intervened.

Meanwhile, Alex was observing every detail and was thinking about how to make an optimal and convincing identity.

'They are strong and experienced fighters. I can't fight them. I have to make up something. Think... think Alex...'

"Boy! Are you a mute or what?", the swordsman shouted.

With that, Alex came up with the idea to be mute. It would be easy and sympathetic. It would also make them drop their guard. He still hadn't figured out how someone hit him without him noticing. He hadn't seen that person yet. He was sure that person was hidden behind a veil and would take action if he tried to do something. So, with this Alex would gain a little time.

Alex started to nod confirming the claim of the swordsman. Alex noticed different reactions from them. The elf was not interested in him. The captain was apprehensive but from his reactions, it felt like this whole situation was like a simple stage for him. His mind was occupied with other important things maybe he was thinking about this job.

More than anyone the mage was hyper-interested with him. He seemed genuinely disappointed after seeing him nodding to confirm his condition. The swordsman was in a rage before but now he was confused.

"Listen, everyone! we will be resting for 5 minutes then we will start walking toward our goal." Captain said addressing everyone present then he looked at Alex. With an exasperated tone, he said, "Oldcane! you hold on to him as we move."

Oldcane the mage was happy with that decision. He was very much interested in him and his tattered clothes in real. The burly man was dissatisfied but stayed silent. With all of this situation happening in front of him, Alex felt relief but a sudden chill behind his back made him cautious. The Deathmask was looking down without blinking his eyes for even a second.

Time was up. Everyone stood up and prepared to move out toward their destination. Alex was now free from the tree but his hands were still tied up. The captain and the swordsman stood vanguard, the mage and Alex in the middle and the elf in the rear with his bow started marching toward their desired location.

As they continued many small monsters attacked them but got slayed by the vanguard. They didn't get to the middle at all.

"Don't worry. We are going along the planned path, so we won't face any dangerous monsters.", the mage said to Alex as he noticed the tension in his face.

The mage continued rambling about everything, their mission, their life about situation, and the dungeon in the shadow garden.

'So, there is only one large piece of land in this world divided by two empires and this forest named shadow garden in between. These adventurers are from the Blazingsun Empire, and they are going to conquer the dungeon in the middle of this shadow garden.'

As Alex was organizing all the information inside his head the mage noticed his unresponsiveness. He thought Alex was getting bored so...

"Haha... Let me tell you a story about how this land was divided into three parts. Do you want to hear the tale?", the mage asked with a mystifying voice to string his curious chord.

Hearing about the mention of a story Alex eagerly nodded his head. Satisfied with his reaction the mage started telling the epic tale of world formation.

'Hah! A child will always be a child.'

"So listen..."

It is a legend of two lovers and their grieving tale. It is the story of the cruelty in heaven. In heaven, there is God the ruler and angels are the inhabitants. God is the creator of heaven, earth, angels, and humans. After sending humans to earth God told angels to remain in heaven and help him maintain it.

Angels were faithful believers and worshiped God wholeheartedly. Every angel believed all that God preached. But there was one among them who wasn't like that. He was skeptical of every wrong thing God said.

His mind was more developed than any angel and he was a shining star among them. Initially, God liked him for his honesty and intelligence and also claimed him as his superior creation. But slowly as that angle started even question him, God became more and more angry with him. He was jealous.

That angel was unaware of God's feelings. He was happy with his work and he also had a lover, Moon. They were so dazzling together. As the name of the angel was Sun, all angels knew them as the Sun and Moon pair. Every day for the Sun and Moon was so full of happiness.

Like that, the day of their wedding came. The God got the news and schemed against them. On the day of their wedding, God stripped them of their wings and threw them down to the earth. God threw them to opposite corners of the earth and made a dangerous forest between them so they wouldn't be able to meet up.

Sun and Moon were heartbroken. Sun was teeming with rage every day and There were only tears covering the face of the Moon. Not a simple smile ever came out from them. As they were transformed into humans they died at last without meeting up. After they died two treasures came out from their dead body as they vanished into oblivion.

Those were the Tear of the Moon, a white gem from the body of the Moon, and the Spear of the Sun, a spear from the body of the Sun. Nobody knows what power it gives but 1000 years ago, the white gem, the tear of the moon was possessed by a woman, and the spear of the sun was possessed by a man.

It was told that they were also lovers but due to God's curse they started fighting and that battle between them made the two empires of the present time. It was also told that there was another man who was more powerful than them. He was staying inside the shadow garden. When both the woman and man, emperor and empress of the two empires wanted to capture the forest for their conquest, that man was able to push them off quite easily.

" So, that's how till today the whole continent is in three parts. The place where those powerful things from the past are unknown, many still fear that they are stored in the vault of the empires. But no one is sure. This is the legend."

After listening to the whole story Alex was in deep thought. He just nodded his head.

"Next I will tell you about the man who was living in this forest, the legend of the shadow garden", The mage was going to but...

"It is here. Ready we will enter the dungeon."

Their destination the dungeon was in front of the company. The story of the Legend of the Shadow Garden will be for another day.