I understood most of it now.
The forest.The cores.The diary.Even the strange journey that brought us here.
But some things still didn't add up.
What about the black ring?
What about the golden one?
Where did they come from?
And more importantly—why do they feel so dangerous?
The monocle man—his technology was below Earth's standards. I realized it the moment I saw his weapons. Primitive construction. No modern tech. No mention of internet, satellites, nothing that would point to a truly advanced civilization.
His people lived like they were clinging to survival. As if they had fallen behind, while the world moved forward without them.
But…
Where the hell did Aldrick come from?
He didn't match them. Not even a little.
He summoned potions out of thin air—no glowing scrolls, no flashy chant. Just a flick of his wrist.
And when he killed the monocle man?
He did it like he'd done it a thousand times before.
Calm. Clean. Unshaken.
It didn't feel like revenge. It felt like routine.
Why was the monocle man even chasing Aldrick?
He looked terrified of him. Desperate.
He didn't just want Aldrick dead.He wanted something from him.
But what?
What value did Aldrick hold?
No… no, something's wrong.
I'm sure of it now.
I don't belong to this world. That much I already knew.But…
Aldrick doesn't either.
He spoke once, vaguely, about his world. A place swallowed by ash and silence. It sounded like a ruined Earth, or something worse.
The monocle man and his group? Their world might've been falling apart too.
But none of us—none of us came from the same place.
We were strangers pretending to be travelers.
That diary the monocle man left behind…He never mentioned modern tech. Never hinted at a world like mine.
And me?
I remember.
Internet. Cities. Concrete. My world was fine.
Wasn't it?
The more I think about it, the more twisted it feels.
We're from different timelines, or different Earths, or something else entirely.
That's the real question now.
Are Aldrick and the monocle man from the same world?
No. I don't think so.
Aldrick doesn't carry the desperation the others did.He's too calm. Too capable.Too… practiced.
And then there's the red crystal.
I remember asking about it—right after I took it from the monocle man's body.
He gestured. Spoke slowly. Paused often.
Told me to break it. Eat it.
He knew what it did.
How?
Had he been here before?
Had he died here before?
Or had someone taught him?
But then again—how did Aldrick know about the crystals?
He never asked questions when I killed the wolves. Never reacted to their cores.
Did he already know?
Does he have a group?
Was he leading me to something—someone?
Come to think of it, I never showed him my bear form.
Not once.
Even when we shared the cave, I stayed distant.
Just in case.
One thing I'm sure of now:
Aldrick is hiding something. Hiding it deep.
I did the right thing taking all his stuff and hiding it.
Especially the black ring.
And the golden one.
I keep them with me. Always. No matter where I go.
Because I don't know what they do.
But I know what they feel like.
They pulse sometimes. Like something inside is waiting to awaken.
If Aldrick ever gets them back, who knows what he might become?
Would he still smile at me the way he does?
Would he still treat me like an ally?
Or would he turn on me?
That's the truth now.
I don't trust him.
I can't.
And I can't afford to wait for answers either.
Whatever these rings are, whatever power lies behind them…
I have to get stronger.
Before he does.
Before anyone else does.