After Kiruya's clumsy display, Her, Clara and Wolfy went to grab their mounts so they could start making their way to the Freya Forest.
"Lucky you found me otherwise getting into the forest would have been a pain." Kiruya was leading her mount alongside Clara who was leading the other 2 mounts.
"Why?" Clara thought it would be easy seeing as Shaman was expected to come to the forest at some point.
"Ah well it's just a million traps and high tier beasts that live in the outskirts of the forest, so the only way to get in is either through a special teleporter or have someone like me to guide you. Otherwise, you would be the beast's dinner." Kiruya casually explained why, and Clara went a little pale as they would have most likely died if they went headfirst into the forest.
"Well thank you, we probably would have died if we just went in by ourselves." Clara was grateful that they had met Kiruya, and she slowly began to trust her a bit more.
"No worries, it isn't as bad as I make it sound but you need to be at least tier 7 or above. You might make it out alive as a tier 6 but I wouldn't recommend trying it." Kiruya blushed a little and fidgeted at Clara's thanks.
Clara regained her colour thanks to the adorable reaction from Kiruya and was tempted to give her some head pats.
They continued to chat and walk down the street towards the inn with their mounts behind them.
**
Shaman thought she was making progress, seeing as her words affected Elysia greatly. However, unbeknownst to Shaman, Elysia was crying for a different reason.
'I'm so sorry Shaman, I… I don't think I can change.' Elysia was conflicted as she wanted to change for Shaman, but Elysia's will would not budge. It felt inconceivable for her to change, and this inner conflict had caused Elysia to cry.
"It's okay, we can take it slow, I will be making sure to reward you for any progress you make." Shaman figured an incentive would help Elysia, especially considering they haven't had a chance to enjoy themselves recently.
"I… Th-thank y-you." Elysia stuttered since she wanted to say something else but instead went along with it.
They then continued to embrace with Shaman patting Elysia, waiting for her to calm down and everyone else to return.
**
Clara found out she could send a message through Rea to let Shaman and Elysia know that they had arrived, making her wish she had a system much earlier as it made everything so convenient.
Soon after her message Shaman and Elysia came out of the inn with Elysia having slightly red puffy eyes.
Clara could guess they talked about Elysia's issue, which made Clara happy that Shaman did not back out and went through with the talk. Kiruya seemed to notice but saw that they were holding hands, so she figured nothing major happened and that Elysia was just having a moment.
"Alright, we have our mounts, just follow me and I will take you through the forest. It should only be a few hours since we are close to the border." Kiruya jumped onto her lizard mount and waited for everyone else.
"That's a lot quicker than the several-day trip of boredom that we endured to get here." Elysia was happy to hear that it was only a couple of hours since the trip to get to the town had taken them a couple of days, even with the best mounts they could find while in a hurry. It also didn't help that Shaman refused to do anything on the trip when they rested since Clara was around and Shaman didn't want to make her uncomfortable.
"It wasn't all that bad, although it would have been nice to encounter some beasts to kill some boredom." Clara did not find the trip all too boring as she had spent most of the time trying to think of a new name for Wolfy once he got a human form.
"Did you end up coming up with a name?" Shaman allowed Clara to think of a name as Shaman knew her way of naming things was rather unique.
"I was thinking Leo, he's got your blue eyes, his silver fur which shows the mixing of his original black fur and your white plus, imagining him as a human just screams the name Leo." Clara explained her thought process and when Shaman looked at Wolfy, she could understand what Clara meant when it screamed the name Leo.
"Sounds good I'll use that unless you think of another name." Shaman was happy with the name and although Wolfy did not express it his tail was once again a traitor, wagging back and forth in excitement.
"Aha, well seeing as Wolfy likes it so much I think I will rest my brain." Clara got on her mount with Wolfy and was ready to go. Shaman and Elysia did the same and Kiruya, seeing that they were ready, got on the move as well.
*
In an open grass field with no trees in sight, 3 lizard mounts were speeding along the unpaved path.
"WHEN YOU SAID A FEW HOURS, I THOUGHT AT REGULAR SPEED NOT FULL SPEED." Shaman was currently yelling as they were pushing their mounts to their highest speed and the wind made it hard for them to speak.
"SORRY, BUT I'M SURE YOU WANT TO GET THERE AS FAST AS YOU CAN SO JUST HOLD ON FOR A BIT LONGER." Kiruya wasn't wrong but everyone struggled to hold on, which made the trip far less enjoyable.
Clara had it the easiest as Wolfy was able to hide in Clara's shadow allowing her to focus on herself. Shaman on the other hand had Elysia holding onto her waist for dear life, which only made it harder for her.
*
Finally, after a few hours, Kiruya slowed down as they had reached the edge of a forest. The trees were massive, towering over the group like skyscrapers. Their width was bigger than any tree Shaman had seen in her own world, reminding her she was in a fantasy world.
'Damn, I would have thought Elfhiem would be the one with the big trees, not the fox realm which is owned by a she-wolf.' Although Shaman had thrown her expectations away, she still could not help make comparisons to her world and the fantasy books she had read.
'Freja though does remind me of one of my favourite novels. It had a ruthless Empress who built her empire in a forest against and waged war against the humans.' Shaman thought back to her time before she got transported and could not help relate it to one of her all-time favourites.
"Okay now that we are here, make sure you follow me closely, otherwise you might attract the beasts. And before you ask, the safe path is this small because we do not want to interrupt the wildlife as it will serve to hide our presence." Kiruya was feeling more confident as they were getting close to her home, far and away from the human settlement that always kept her on her toes.
"What about the mounts?" Shaman was wondering what Kiruya was planning, since she hopped off her mount, suggesting they walk on foot from here.
"We are going to let them free in the forest, they are better here than being used by the humans." Kiruya quickly responded and started taking off the saddle.
Everyone found it reasonable so they began to do the same.
Kiruya smiled as it was nice to see that they understood how she felt and even though the mounts may be hunted and killed by other beasts it gives them a chance to be free rather than remain in captivity.
"It Shouldn't be too long of a walk, so let's get going before it's nighttime." Kiruya could see the sun getting close to the horizon so they needed to avoid wasting any more time before it gets too dark.
Everyone nodded and they all followed Kiruya's lead hoping they would not be killed.
*
Shaman and Elysia were holding hands with Clara and Wolfy behind. Kiruya was at the front, weaving through the trees and bushes. They had been walking for over an hour without saying a word as they were afraid making too much noise would attract attention.
It had also become darker as the sun was setting and the thick trees did not allow for much light. Their pace had been slowed because of this, but thankfully Kiruya had pointed to a cave that was dug in the ground, looking more like a slide.
"We jump down here and we should be safe." Kiruya whispered and everyone nodded. Shaman however was still worried, as Kiruya said "should be safe", meaning that there might be something down there. However, Kiruya had jumped in first without any hesitation and seeing how she went in so confidently, it had to be somewhat safe for them to go as well.
"Well here goes nothing." Shaman jumped into the hole followed by everyone else.
They all started to slide down the cave hole till they saw a light at the bottom and a red pool. Shaman was confused by what she saw, wondering if it was a pool of Kiruya's blood, but was unable to react in time to stop herself and fell straight into the pool.
An instant later, Shaman found herself suspended in the air at what appeared to be some sort of extravagant hall. After a moment, the suspension ended, dropping her to the ground and landing her on her back. Shaman turned over in pain, holding her back and grumbled over how marble wasn't the softest place to land.
Soon Elysia, Clara and Wolfy appeared in the air and landed next to Shaman, all getting the same treatment.
"Well, if it isn't my cute little princess and her friends." A woman's voice echoed in the mansion's hall grabbing everyone's attention.
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