I see your problem. DO NOT GO TO THE GRASSY AREA. It's a trap; the bandits, magical creatures (especially those f*cking Gromps), and Rakkorian warriors will tear you apart before you even make it halfway across, unless you're like level 50 or higher.
Though that's the shortest route to Piltover, for level pre-50, you're going to want to head north towards the Freljord. Yeah, it'll take about double the time and you'll run into some pretty nasty things, but I found it's a helluva lot easier than the grass plains. Plus, you'll get a lot of opportunity for exp, gold, and, yes, those AP items. The quests "Awakening the Colossus" and "A Troll's Gamble" have some really good rewards; I already have access to
and
just from them (too bad I'm
, though I guess I could try some off-build). Plus, they're fun as hell!
Of course, I did start from the Void and took the mission "Infiltrating the Past", so I began the Demacia part a little to the north already. Plus, playing as a Voidborn already gives me the AP-affinity stat, boosting my AP gain rates by, I think, about 15% currently.
But to fix your current predicament, I think the town you're in is Glorft. Demacian prey tend to be taken there after being captured by bandits. In Glorft, there's a couple of Void cultists lurking around - they tend to move around the southeast areas. Get a
to see the Void traces (
or
are preferable, but if you're low level Remnant of the Equinox is cheap as hell and will suffice). Do whatever missions they have for you and submit a piece of your essence to the Void. That should give you a pretty significant exp- and AP gain rates-boost to get out of there.
Hope that helps.
Oh, and be sure to put my username when they ask who led you to them. I need the stat-boost to get that
. ;)