Ch 12: The Way

"Hahahaha! Seems like I win!" Cheeringly yelled Lequiss as he stepped out of the city gates.

"Hm? What do you mean? I won." Said a voice on the left to Lequiss.

Lequiss was surprised and looked to his left and saw Eilda waiting, leaned on the wall.

"Huuuuuh?!?!" Exclaimed Lequiss.

"What? Were you expecting to win against me in a contest of speed?" Asked Eilda.

"What's this?" Asked a voice behind them.

They turn to see Jildelmn walking up to them.

"I wasn't second? Did this woman beat me Lequiss?" Asked Jildelmn

"No, she beat me!" Yelled Lequiss in an annoyed tone.

"Huh? Wasn't she the last one to move? Yet she still beat you?" Curiously asked Jildelmn.

"Haha, I'm just faster than you!" Joyously said Eilda.

Lequiss looking bitter.

"We're last? I thought Eilda went after us" Asked a voice behind them.

They turn to see Fylo carrying Mihikolo along with him.

"I guess Eilda really is fast." Remarked Mihikolo.

"Enough of that, now that we're all here, we need to know where we're heading."

"I thought you guys had somewhere to go in mind since you guys were insistent on leaving." Asked Jildelmn.

"No, I do have somewhere in mind, it'll help us greatly." Answered Eilda.

"Huh? Where's that?" Asked Mihikolo.

"The Adventurers Guild." Answered Eilda.

"OHH, Right! The adventurers guild! I forgot about that, they're always open to anybody so anybody can be a part of it." Said Mihikolo.

"Yeah, I suggest we make an adventurer team ourselves since there's a lot of benefits that come with making one." Said Eilda.

"Hey, Hey, what's the adventurers guild?" Curiously asked Lequiss.

"You don't know a lot of things huh?" Remarked Mihikolo.

"Nope!"

"The adventurers guild is an organization of people with a common interest, adventuring, though now with how big it became, it's more of an organization that takes in anybody as long as they do quests for the guild." Explained Eilda.

"They accept anybody? They must have a lot of strong people, haha!" Remarked Lequiss.

"You're right, they indeed have a lot of strong people. Their strongest adventurers can even reach the level of a World Alterer." Said Eilda.

"A world alterer? That sounds super strong, what's that?" Asked Lequiss.

"They're the most powerful people in the world that have the powers to even alter the world." Explained Eilda.

"Woahhh, I want to be like that too!" Said Lequiss with glittering eyes.

"Hahaha, hopefully you do. Now, are we set to go to the adventurers guild?" Asked Eilda.

"Yeah! I want to go there right now!" Yelled Lequiss.

"Wait but I'm certain there isn't any branch here at Civiposs." Said Jildelmn

"That's right, that's why we're going to the closest one here, the main base of the adventurers guild in Laraposa."

"What?! But that's another country! Isn't that too far?" Asked Jildelmn.

"Yes it is another country but fortunately, Civite is just on the right of the adventurers guild. It's quite close." Said Eilda.

"Huh, is that so? Then I don't have any complaints." Said Jildelmn.

"Alright, let's go then!" Said Eilda as she began to walk towards a path to the left that goes to a forest.

The rest of them follow her and they walk towards the path that leads to a tall and dense forest, the path in between the city and the forest is just a straight plain land and with no hindrance, they quickly reach the outskirts of the dense forest. Upon getting close, the trees look way more taller, they cover the sky with how big they are."

Lequiss looked amazed and said. "Woaah!! These trees are so huuuuugeee!"

"This forest separates Laraposa and Civite, We just have to get through this forest and after that, we'll be at Laraposa and soon the adventurers guild." Said Eilda.

"This must be a pretty large forest if it can separate two countries." Remarked Jildemn.

"Yeah, it's so long that it even hits the outskirts of Vitruss." Said Eilda.

"How do you know all this, Eilda?" Asked Mihikolo.

"That's because Laraposa was where I lived and I crossed this forest before to get here in Civite." Said Eilda.

"Ohh I see, you used to live in Laraposa, huh?"

"That's right and I still faintly remember how I crossed this forest so I might still know the way." Said Eilda.

"That so? Then let's go already! I want to see the adventurers guild!" Yelled Lequiss.

They went into the forest with Eilda taking the lead, now inside the forest, it was so large that if you looked anywhere, all you'd see were tall trees, it was also a bit dark as well and the trees covered the skies with their tallness but Eilda continued walking on and the others just followed her with Lequiss looking around occasionally.

They walked for minutes that soon turned into hours but they continued on walking, she turned left, they turned left, she turned right, they turned right but it seemed as if they were going in circles, anywhere you look there is still nothing but trees and after more walking, the forest is getting darker and darker, the Mihikolo was the first to grow tired.

Mihikolo looked so exhausted with sweat all over and out of breath.

*Huff* *Huff* "E-Eilda, are you sure you still know the way...?" Asked Mihikolo.

Eilda stopped walking but didn't turn around to respond.

"Eilda...? You still do right...?" Asked Mihikolo with doubt in his face.

Eilda slowly turns around and looks at them with an ashamed and embarrassed grin. "Ehehe, My bad guys, I guess I don't remember it correctly."

"Ah, is that so." Everybody looked at Eilda with a deadpan gaze and a hint of disappointment.

Jildelmn sighs. "After walking for hours, it's already turning night. We might as well set up a camp to rest, instead of aimlessly walking more." Suggest Jildelmn.

"I agree, I can't keep walking anymore. I'm too tired but... Why do none of you look even a bit exhausted?!" Exclaimed Mihikolo as he turned to look at them, looking perfectly fine and breathing normally with not a drop of sweat.

"What the hell are you people?!" Asked Mihikolo.

"Aw shucks boss, thanks!" Said Fylo.

"Anyways, before it gets too dark, we should find an area with a more open space so we can set up a resting area for us." Suggest Jildelmn.

"I agree, with how tight it is over here we wouldn't even be able to lay down, much less rest." Said Eilda.

"You can agree all you want but you aren't leading the way anymore." Said Mihikolo with an annoyed face.

"Ahaha, fine by me." Said Eilda feeling embarrassed.

"Then how bout I take the lead!" Said Lequiss.

All of them were surprised.

"You? Are you sure we won't get more lost with you leading us?" Doubtedly asked Mihikolo.

"Hahaha! Trust me!" Said Lequiss.

"I'm fine with following him since he's the leader and all anyway." Said Jildelmn.

"I'm okay with it too." Said Eilda

"I'm fine with anything Boss Mihikolo decides." Said Fylo

Mihikolo an eyebrow raised and still in doubt, just sighs.

Mihikolo reluctantly says "Well, I guess we could follow him."

"Hahaha, good! Follow me then!" Said Lequiss as he started walking back towards where they came from.

The others were confused but followed him.

Lequiss joyfully marched, following the same path they walked earlier with the others behind him.

"Hey, why are we going back?" Asked Mihikolo.

"Huh? You didn't see it earlier?" Asked Lequiss.

"See what?" Replied Mihikolo.

"We passed by a small open area earlier, I saw it when I was looking around." Said Lequiss.

"What?!" Mihikolo was surprised. "There was?! Why didn't you say it earlier?!" Annoyedly asked Mihikolo.

"Hahaha!" Lequiss Laughs "You guys just continued walking on so I didn't bother!" Said Lequiss.

"A-" Before Mihikolo continued, he gave up and just sighed.

"Anyways, are we close?" Asked Mihikolo beginning to be out of breath again.

"You tired already? Haha! Don't worry, It wasn't that far from him, I think we're getting close too!" Said Lequiss.

Lequiss continues walking a bit more and takes a turn to the left, Mihikolo sees this and feels relieved as he follows him along with the rest of them but when Lequiss turns left, they lose sight of him as a tree has blocked their view of him. They hurriedly followed him and turned left.

As they turn left, they are met with an open circular grass field with no trees and a clear view of the sky with the shining moon. They walked straight to the center of the field.

Mihikolo sighed a sigh of relief and instantly sat down. "Finally, we can rest!" Said Mihikolo.

"Stop sighing, your breath stink." Comment Lequiss.

"Not bad, this is a pretty wide area." Said Jildelmn.

"Yeah, luckily you still remember the way here, Lequiss." Said Eilda.

"I'm pretty good with directions, even my grandpa uses me as a map! Hahaha!" Laughingly said Lequiss.

"What kind of grandpa do you have...?" Concernedly asked Eilda.

"Now that we have an area, we only need to set up a place to rest. I think it's best if we build a fire, It'll only get colder and colder tonight." Said Jildelmn.

"Yeah alright! But how do we build a fire?" Asked Lequiss.

"Just grab some branches or any wood would do then give it to me, and I'll make the fire." Said Jildelmn.

"I'll grab the wood, I'll be quick." Said Eilda as she sprints towards the forest.

"Don't stray too far, you might get lost!" Yelled Mihikolo.

"I won't enter the forest, don't worry!" Replied Eilda as she stopped before she entered the forest.

"Well in the meantime she's getting wood, what should we do?" Asked Lequiss.

"Do any of you have any cloth that we could rest on? Or are we all resting on grass tonight?" Asked Jildelmn.

"I don't, I only have my sword with me and this crown, haha!" Answered Lequiss.

"We have our cloaks, we can use that to rest on." Answered Mihikolo as he stood up and began to remove his cloak revealing him wearing a white button-down shirt and red pants.

"Hey, remove yours too Fylo." Demand Mihikolo.

"Okay, boss!" Fylo also takes off his cloak revealing him wearing a grey polo t-shirt and blue shorts.

"Your outfit is pretty neat, Mihikolo." Remarked Lequiss.

"Thanks, with my appearance, my outfit makes up for it." Said Mihikolo.

"I only said your outfit is neat, it doesn't make up for anything though, you still look ugly." Said Lequiss.

*Pfft* Jildelmn covers his mouth and tries to hold in his laughter.

"Hey, what the hell did you say about Boss?!" Angrily asked Fylo.

"I said he's ugly, isn't he?" Said Lequiss.

"Huh?!?! Boss is handsome! He's just bald!" Angrily replied Fylo.

Mihikolo getting irritated listening to them with his eye twitching.

*Thump*

 *Thump*

 *Thump*

A loud thump can be heard, it sounds as if two dense and hard objects were hitting each other.

They get surprised by this and look around to see the source of the noise and they see Eilda.

*Thump* *Thump*

Eilda is punching a tree, smaller compared to the rest of the forest but still way taller than her. The collision between her fist and the tree was so strong it was making a thump sound and as they took a closer look they saw the tree with a huge crack and Eilda hitting the center of the crack. With each hit the crack grew bigger.

"Eilda!!" Mihikolo yells at Eilda.

"Huh?" Confused, Eilda turns. "Yeah?" Yelled Eilda.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Asked Mihikolo.

"I'm getting wood!" Replied Eilda.

"We need sticks and branches, not the whole damn tree!" Yelled Mihikolo.

"Huh, not the whole tree...?" Said Eilda as she gave one more punch to the tree which ultimately broke a hole in the middle of the tree leaving just a little wood on the side which couldn't hold the tree and it fell down just beside Eilda.

"Ah, we don't need the whole tree...?" Asked Eilda.

"Wow, her punches must hurt a lot!" Remarked Lequiss.

"It's fine! There's nothing we can do, just grab the branches of that tree and bring it here." Said Jildelmn

"Okay!" Yelled Eilda as she started grabbing the branches of the tree. After grabbing a lot of branches, Eilda quickly heads back to the group and as she arrives there she drops the branches.

"Are these enough?" Asked Eilda.

"Yeah, that'll last us all night." Said Jildelmn

Eilda looks at Mihikolo and Fylo and notices something. "Hm? Mihikolo, Fylo why did you remove your cloaks?" Asked Eilda.

"Oh right, remove yours as well, we need a cloth to rest on. We'll place the cloak on the grass so we can lay down on it." Answered Mihikolo.

"Oh Alright." Eilda removes her cloak, revealing a sleeveless black skin-tight top and a red tight shorts.

Jildelmn sat down grabbed two of the branches and began to rapidly grind both of them to each other.

"What are you doing with those branches?" Asked Lequiss.

"I'm grinding these two branches together which makes heat and that will result in our fire." Explained Jildelmn as he continued to grind the branches but nothing happened.

*Tsk*

Jildelmn begins to speed up the grinding which makes a smoke.

"Woah! Look smoke is coming out!" Excitedly said Lequiss.

Eilda just quietly and carefully observed along with Fylo and Mihikolo.

Jildelmn continues to grind until one of the branch finally catches on fire which he immediately throws on the rest of the branches, the branches quickly catches on fire.

"There now we have a fire for the night." Said Jildelmn.

"Woah!!!" Lequiss excitedly observed the fire.

"Finally, I can rest!" Said Mihikolo as he sat down and placed his cloak on the ground.

"Wait." Jildelmn stopped Mihikolo. "Before you take your rest, we need somebody to stay awake while the rest of us rest up so that we can be alerted if something happens." Said Jildelmn.

"I agree, we don't know what might happen in this forest," Willingly said Eilda.

"Alright but who's staying awake all night?" Asked Mihikolo.

"It doesn't have to be all night, we can take shifts like every 3 hours. What do you say?" Asked Jildelmn.

"I'm okay with that." Said Lequiss.

"Same here." Said Eilda.

"Well that's fine but who's going first then? Cause it definitely can't be me! I'm too exhausted" Asked Mihikolo.

"I'll go first." Said Eilda.

"Are you sure? You might be tired?" Said Jildelmn.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I'll go first since I was at fault for getting us lost anyway." Said Eilda.

"Well okay then. I'll take my rest as well." Said Jildelmn.

"I'll join you Eilda! You might get sleepy just on your own!" Said Lequiss.

"Aren't you tired with what you did all day?" Asked Eilda.

"Nope! Hahaha!" Laughingly replied Lequiss.

"Suit yourself." Said Eilda.

Jildelmn takes Eilda's cloak and places it on the grass, "Then I'll take my rest first, Goodnight..." As he says this, he lays down facing away from them.

Fylo and Mihikolo do the same with their cloaks and lays down on them "We'll take our rest too, just wake us up if it's our turn, goodnight Eilda."

Eilda nods in affirmation. As they began to sleep, Lequiss started walking around the area while Eilda sat down beside the fire, she stared at the flame, seemingly observing it. It looks like the flame is dancing with the wind as the strong windy breeze tries to extinguish it. Eilda was mesmerized and couldn't take her eyes off it, soon a couple of minutes passed as she blankly stared at the fire.

"Whatcha doing?" Asked Lequiss, suddenly behind her.

Eilda was startled and immediately turned. "You startled me..!" Said Eilda.

"Hahaha! Did I? I didn't mean to. I was just curious as to what you're doing." Asked Lequiss.

"Ah, I was just observing the flames- no, rather I was mesmerized by it." Said Eilda.

"Huh? How so?" Asked Lequiss as he sat down beside the flame.

"You see this flame and do you feel this strong wind?" Asked Eilda.

"Yeah?" Lequiss looks at the fire.

"The fire, which only has a short and temporary life, is still living despite this strong wind, and seemingly it looks like it's dancing along with the wind. It looks like it's having a short but life despite the harsh environment..." Explained Eilda.

...

They both just quietly stared at the fire and silence filled the night for a moment.

"Ahahaha, I'm sorry, I said something embarrassing." Said Eilda.

"Eilda..." Said Lequiss in a serious tone as he looked at her.

"Mhmm?" Eilda looks at him.

"What do you truly wish to do along with me?" Asked Lequiss with a serious look on him.

Eilda is surprised by the question and begins to contemplate as she looks at the flame again.

"I-"

Lequiss just looks at her, awaiting her response. Eilda's relaxed face starts to change into a face full of anguish and anger.

Lequiss was not expecting this and was surprised a bit.

"If you seriously don't want to talk abo-"

"I want to take revenge..!"

Lequiss's eyes widened from shock.

"I want to take revenge and if I'm with you, I can probably get it." Said Eilda.

"Who do you want to get revenge on?" Asked Lequiss.

"That's... That's the reason I need you." Said Eilda.

"Hm? Why me?" Asked Lequiss.

"Because I don't know who I need to take revenge on and the best chance I got to know them is that Quiss." Said Eilda.

"Huh?! My Quiss?! Don't tell me you wanted to steal it all along?!" Asked Lequiss as he held his crown.

"No. I don't need the crown for myself. The crown itself is bait to lure out the ones I'm trying so hard to find." Said Eilda.

"Ohh, I see. So you're using me as bait?" Asked Lequiss.

"Yes, I'm sorry..."

"Haha! It's fine! As long as you promise to be with me until I achieve my dream!" Said Lequiss.

Eilda comes to a realization and curiosity takes over, she looks at Lequiss.

"Ah, that's right, what is your dream Lequiss...? I heard you say you wanted to bring peace but I don't think that's all there is to it, is there?" Curiously asked Eilda.

"My dream? Hahahaha!" Lequiss begins to laugh.

"You'll know my dream soon enough! Hahaha!" Said Lequiss.

Eilda was left with her curiosity and couldn't say anything. "Aha." Eilda chuckles. "Alright, I'd like to know the dream of someone like you. I'm looking forward to it."

"Hahaha! Alright! Then I won't disappoint!" Said Lequiss.

"Hahahahahaha!" The night was filled with laughter after a serious conversation between the two of them but...

Jildelmn turned away from them, his eyes still open. Jildelmn was listening to them...

"I see..." Said Jildelmn as he closed his eyes.