Tomorrow, 8:00AM—
Syla was woken up by the sound of the morning birds, the loud chirping symphony caused her eyes to slowly open as her conciousness grow. Her vision was initially blurry, she could barely see what's around her, then after she rubbed both of her eyes and raised her upper half, Syla was able to see the beauty infront of her.
"Urghh.. Whah.." She said, a drool was about to drop from her mouth when Syla focused her vision and closed her mouth to look at the scenery in awe. "W- woah.."
The lake, which previously was silent, calm, and void of any lifes, was now filled with animals and birds landing to take a sip out of the lake's water, multiple Grass Deers, Forest Boar, and a few horned rabbits was seen grouping on the edge of the lake.
Syla who was watching not far away couldn't help but be surprised.
"So many creatures— Where's Fedhr!?" Syla looked to her side and saw Fedhr still sleeping, he was laying on the grass while Syla used her cloak as a carpet to avoid staining her white blouse.
'It's beautiful..' Syla said in her mind. Once again, her heart was relieved, this kind of scene was the exact reason why Syla chose to be a wanderer, to see the world's secret, its hidden beauty, and appreciate the new world that Syla was reincarnated into, to her that moment was one of the few time where Syla could feel at ease.
.
.
A few minutes went by, and Syla, now with Fedhr who had woken up, continued their journey towards the edge of the forest, Syla was the one that woke Fedhr up since she doesn't want to wait longer, knowing that Fedhr might just be a heavy sleeper and won't open his eyes until the middle of the day, now that the two of them are walking together again, Syla could continue their conversation again.
Step!
Step!
Syla and Fedhr stepped on multiple dried leaves, the crunching noises that came out of it was satisfying. They hopped on a protruding roots that blocked the road infront of them before they stopped and looked around.
"We're lost aren't we." Syla said.
"Yeah.." Fedhr nodded slightly while turning his head to the side.
"Should i jump above the tree to see where we're at?" Syla suggested as she looked into the sky.
"Sure." Fedhr replied, giving his confirmation.
After receiving Fedhr's approval, Syla then pushed both of her legs to the ground and jumped, she reached the height of 15 meters and was able to see into the distance since the trees around her weren't as tall as her jump height.
'Oh? That's the cliff where we found the dungeon..' Syla said to herself after accidentally glancing at the cliff in the distance.
Thud!
Syla landed beside Fedhr and then told him the direction of where they should go, they then continued to move towards the said direction while wandering amongst the endless woods.
.
.
"You asked me 3 questions yesterday right?" Fedhr suddenly talked, his voice slightly startled Syla after the two of them walked in silence for a good minute.
"3 questions?" Syla tried to remember her words from yesterday. "Ahh.. Yeah."
"Who taught me swordmanship?.. I enrolled in an academy, so i guess you could say i was taught by multiple teachers." Fedhr said, answering the first question Syla asked yesterday with a blank face.
"Academy? So you're from the cities?" Syla responded, her curiousity was ignited once more as she wanted to know more about Fedhr's life.
"Not quite, i was born in a town, then i moved to the capital for my academy life- I stayed for 6 years before i graduated." Fedhr said, he occasionally touched his chin as if he was trying to remember his past.
"Is that so.. How old are you anyway?" Syla asked again. She momentarily forgot that she was still 18 years old to an outsider.
"..Syla, you sounded older than you look.. By the way im 21." Fedhr answered, he turned his head towards Syla and looked at her with slight suspicion.
"A- ahh, i see.. Uhh- Im still 18, so.." Syla was almost hesitated when she tried to tell Fedhr her age, she scratched the back of his head as if trying to ignore Fedhr's glare.
The two of them then passed by a few wandering rogue goblins, there were 3 of them that saw Syla and Fedhr, but before the rogue goblins could attack, Syla already killed them using her sword.
Slash!
"Anyway.." She said before placing her sword back into the scabbard.
"Your second question, how long have i been adventuring?" Fedhr said as he pulled his sleeves up, revealing a few of Flarebloom leaves sticking to his arm.
He then brushed the leaves off of his skin one by one, his bruises from yesterday that looked quite severe has now disappeared and his skin had healed along with it.
"2 Years.. "
Syla's eyes slightly widened upon hearing Fedhr's words, she had expected him to be quite experienced, but for someone that only has been adventuring for 2 years, she was surprised to see that he hadn't left the kingdom yet.
"Do you wander around or stayed in a single place?" Syla asked Fedhr while the two of them walked pass multiple vines.
"I have a house, but i rarely come back because i always visit multiple towns in one single quest." Fedhr replied casually.
"Heeehh, that's interesting.." Syla smiled, she felt a bit satisfied with his answer even though his answer were vague.
"Your third question, where did i come from?.. That- I can't answer yet." Fedhr said, his mouth was then closed shut as if he just zipped his lips to avoid talking any further.
"Oh really?.. Okay then, i won't force you, it's not like im that curious." Syla scoffed while sighing, she might not show it to Fedhr, but deep down she was a little frustrated that her last question was met with no answer.
"— 18 years old and you're already that strong.. That's amazing." Fedhr softly whispered, his voice might be quiet, but Syla was able to hear it thanks to her demihuman ears.
"Y- you're really a straightforward person.." Syla responded, her tail once again swayed aggressively.m, though thankfully Fedhr didn't notice it, atleast that's what she think.
Their conversation ended there as a few moments later, Syla and Fedhr stopped talking completely, they only walked together through the forest, slaying various monster that blocked their way and occasionally rested beneath one of the tree while munching on their dried jerky. Thankfully they've restocked their water supply at the lake in the morning, after they regained their energy, both Syla and Fedhr soon arrived at the outer layer of the forest, the terrain that previously was rough and full of obstacles were now smooth and mostly just a straight path without huge rocks or cliffs.
.
.
30 Minutes later—
The wind was starting to get stronger, signaling that they were close with an open space, Syla knew that they were near with the forest edge and will exit soon if they just went straight, however the question is where they would ended up at, as she was sure that she wouldn't arrive at Boonsap the moment she left the forest.
Syla looked to her side and saw Fedhr with his emotionless face, he was staring at the trees and birds that landed on the branches infront of him, completely ignoring Syla. Seeing as how they were about to leave the woods, Syla then asked Fedhr one final question that she had in mind.
"Hey Fedhr.. What's your goal?" She asked.
Fedhr's eyes quickly bloated as his pupils moved towards Syla, he was obviously staring at her with an eerie face.
"My goal?.." Fedhr said quietly.
Swoosh!
A bright light engulfed both Syla and Fedhr as thegy walked out of the forest, greeted by the vastness of the grasslands infront of them, Syla could feel her entire body shivering from the gentle wind that grazed her skin.
From her side, Fedhr was frozen, Syla stopped her walk and looked at her companion in confusion before he suddenly opened his mouth.
"I want to search for a certain artifact.." He said.
"Artifact?" Syla couldn't exactly understand what Fedhr was saying.
"An artifact that can call spirits whose already dead and talk to them.." Fedhr added, his answer was quite a surprise to Syla as she can already tell why he wanted to obtain such artifact.
"Do you.." Syla tried to guess Fedhr's intention. "Want to talk to someone close to you?"
"Yeah.." Fedhr instantly replied.