So where are we?

It took an hour for us to return to Mount Dragspear's after my... little accident. I had ignored the look of pity Milla gave me when I was on my way back to the summit. And after we returned to the summit, I had jumped off once again but under Lia's directions this time and was gliding around for about half an hour before landing. But we have run into yet another problem. With no identifiable landmarks in sight and the dark of the night, we are unfortunately lost.

"So, I think we are still in the steppes."

"Please don't distract me right now, I'm trying to figure out where we are."

"Wouldn't it be better to just wander off in a random direction? Better than staring at a dark empty landscape."

"This wouldn't be a problem if you had gone in the right direction from the beginning. Anyway, I think I know where we are, but I'm not completely certain since it is too dark out to know for sure. Since you can still see without a problem just follow my directions and do not veer off course."

"Alight, my sense of direction isn't so bad that I can't follow other peoples directions."

"But it's bad enough to warrant Milla explicitly telling me to go with you to make sure you don't get lost. Although, I think I would have found some excuse to tag along regardless."

With Lia's very simple directions that even a monkey could follow, we eventually reach a river. If Lia's idea of where we were are correct, then this is is the Shiolan River. If we follow this river it will eventually lead us to our destination, Zagas. Although this river was apparently not apart of our original travel path so it will take longer than Lia originally thought it would for us to arrive in Zagas.

Since we've reached a good stopping point, Lia suggests resting for the night. The amount of rest I need is significantly lower than most as I can remain active for several days at a time before only needing a couple of hours of rest, Lia doesn't have this benefit though. I offer to keep on moving forward while she sleeps on my back, but she says she doesn't want to fall off while sleeping and that she doesn't trust me moving on my own.

Unable to refute her claims, I just coil up near the river while Milla lights a fire and has me spit out her large bag. And from her bag, she pulls out a foldable bed and tent... are you kidding me. How in the world do those even fit in this thing? I know that bag is big, but it shouldn'T be big enough for a tent and bed, even if they are foldable.

As I don't need to sleep, I keep watch over this little campsite, but unfortunately, or perhaps, fortunately, it is really boring. I mean, it is probably a good thing that none of the monsters around here tries to do anything since they seem to mostly be looking for an easy meal and my presence here dissuades them from making an aggressive move. It's good that she can rest easy, but I wish I had something to do other than counting the stars in the night sky.

Actually, on that note, something feels off about the stars, but I can't quite place it. It's as if the light from the stars are being distorted or something. I'm not really sure what the problem is, but something just feels off about them.

After having counted a few thousand stars, they begin to fade from sight as the dawn approaches. With the sun now shining on her face, Lia wakes up and takes out various different types of makeup from her bag, applying it with the help of her reflection off the water from the river.

"Do you really need to waste time putting makeup on?"

"Of course I have to, I woman needs to always look her best, no matter the occasion. Although Milla would disagree with me on that point, but what does she know, she has never once taken the time to care for her appearance. Just wait a few more minutes and I'll be done."

"I'm sure most don't notice it, but makeup seems to have a rather unpleasant smell. Fortunately, most the people who use it don't have the super senses that I do. Moreover, I think you look better without than with your makeup on."

Seemingly taking my words to heart, Lia's hands suddenly stop for a moment. And soon enough she begins to thoroughly wash her face, clearing it of the makeup she had just applied.

"Alrighty then, let's get a move on, shall we."

"What about your makeup? You spent so long doing it only to remove it."

Slightly disgruntled over my words, Lia says, "would you rather I had kept it on?"

"So where too now, up or down the river?"

"That's what I thought. We are going upstream. Follow the river long enough and we will have to pass through a large forest. There are some dangerous monsters that live there so we are going to have to be a little careful when passing through. Ideally, we make it through in a single day without having to spend the night inside the forest, so we should camp near the forest the day before we enter. Depending on how many disturbances there are, we should be able to make it through the forest within a day and once we are out it will take about four days of travel to reach Zagas as long as we keep following the river."

"And how long will it take to reach this forest? Because I don't see even the slightest sign of one."

"Hard to say. Since I don't know our exact location, it could be anywhere from a day or two or perhaps even a week if we are really unlucky."

"... I'd rather you not bring up luck. In my personal experiences, I am not a very lucky person and if fortune finds a way to shine on me then something bad will almost always immediately follow."

"I hate to say it but I wouldn't say I'm very luck either, my luck stat is only at 35. What's yours?"

"...ty"

"What did you say? You were mumbling."

"20. My luck stat is twenty. And if it wasn't for my Elite Monster bonuses then it would be at 0."

"Oh, well... look on the bright side, it can't get worse. But I think we may be in for a long trip."