John slowly made his way forward, careful to not alert any creature in the area. He eventually made his way through the forest near the river, arriving on the riverbank. The river before him was over a dozen miles wide, and almost appeared to be more of a lake than a river. Only the surging waters crashing in one direction gave indication that it was indeed a river and not a large body of water.
He glanced to both sides, looking up and down the river. Upstream, the river bent to the right several miles away, obscuring his sight. Downstream, the river did the same. There were no signs of civilization in either direction.
John sighed and shook his head at himself.
Surely it wouldn't be that easy to find civilization. He remembered the massive creatures that had emerged from one of the rivers he had seen from the flying ship. With creatures like that prowling beneath the water's surface, establishing a town or city on the river's edge would not be an easy thing to achieve.
Still, a river like this was most likely too enticing a resource for the cultivators of this world to not use.
"There's bound to be a city eventually," John muttered, "the only question is where."
He surveyed both directions for a while, and then chose the upstream direction. That direction was away from the coast, and he wanted to be as far away from those mysterious killers as possible for the time being. If they found him and recognized his aura, he was doomed for certain.
Mind made up, John slipped back into the forest and followed the river from a distance. With the powerful creatures lurking beneath the water's surface, he wanted to follow the river from a safe distance. Who knew what lurked beneath, ready to pounce on him at a moment's notice. Within the forest, he was at least able to see the dangers around him.
The next few days came and went without much excitement. Having learned from his past mistakes, John deftly navigated the forest without altering any beasts. The edge of the forest near the river seemed to be devoid of beasts for the most part, which was much to John's liking.
"Most likely avoiding the water and whatever lurks beneath as well," he thought while moving through the forest.
Despite moving for several days and thousands of miles, John had yet to see any signs of civilization. His hope of finding something on the river's edge lessened with each passing day, but he had no better option at the moment.
Day turned to night, and John found another high-up branch to rest on, his eyes closed in meditation. The night passed by slowly, the morning sun eventually rising, the soft light crashing through the tree-canopy above.His ears suddenly twitched as he heard a soft, yet distinct sound of something unmistakably familiar.
"Music?!"
Startled by the sudden sound of music, John hastily stood up and hopped off the branch, falling to the ground below. He slammed into it and then raced towards the sound of the music, which grew louder as he approached the river.
He crashed through the treeline and spotted a boat, several miles off the river bank, moving upstream through the river. The boat was over a mile long and half as tall, and looked more like a mountain than a boat with its size. It was ornately painted and decorated, akin to a luxurious flying ship.
Music came from the distant boat, the sound of lyres and flutes in rhythmic harmony. John started to move towards the boat, and stopped himself at the last moment, his sanity returning to him. He realized just how stupid he had nearly been, and shook his head at himself.
Caught up by the first sign of civilization, he had nearly flown over the water towards it. If he had done that, who knew what his fate would have been. Perhaps he would have made it safely, or perhaps he would have been swallowed whole by a Late World Expansion beast lurking beneath the surface.
He didn't know why the ship was not being attacked, but it was most likely protected by powerful formations, keeping the beasts at bay. He eyed the ship for a short while, thinking of what to do.
"The ship is going upstream, which is the way I've been going. There should be a city it's going towards, so I'll keep following the river."
Plan in mind, John slipped back into the forest and started to race forward next to the riverbank.
Roar!
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