The sound of the gallop of the horse that Ravastine and Kaizen were riding was the only constant sound that echoed through the woods.
The further north they went, the colder it got.
Now that he had the map of the entire Tretidian Kingdom, Kaizen knew that in the far south were the Frozen Mountains and the Arctic Sea. Probably the landscape of these places was shocking, snow everywhere, trees covered with ice, large frozen rivers and ancient castles covered by snow.
Ravastine and Kaizen, mounted on Black Cloud, were riding through the woods. It was dangerous to talk while riding, because of the risk of biting their tongues, so the two remained quiet. When Kaizen saw that the Royal City was already far away, he decided it was time to take a break for his mare to catch some breath. Although Black Cloud was a Mutant Rank horse, his vigor was not unlimited.
Once the two had stopped, Ravastine inquired with a little trepidation, "So, Kaizen... how is this test of mine going to be...? You haven't said anything about it yet."
"Ah, so that's what you're worried about? I'd swear it's because a stranger is taking you away from the kingdom." He said, because he had already noticed that she was looking at him as if she looked like she was about to ask something.
"What?! Hahaha! I have no reason to be afraid of you doing something like that to me."
"Why?"
"Because you saved my life." She said, looking into his eye with a neutral frown. Slowly, she gained her own confidence to look at him more calmly.
Kaizen let out a little air through his mouth as he almost laughed. 'She's too innocent. Lucky I was the only player in that arena who tried to save her. Any other player, would be extorting her...'
At that moment, Kaizen remembered something that made his eyebrows furrow. Immediately, he looked in the princess's direction and asked:
"Are you rich?"
Ravastine found the sudden question strange, but shrugged as he answered. "Of course I am. Well, my father is the King and we own a lot of land and property."
The pupils of Kaizen's eyes instantly turned into two gold coins. However, he held back a little and turned away.
'HOW THE HELL DID I NEVER THINK OF THAT?!' He asked himself, so nervous that he could eat the tips of each of his ten fingers off his hands.
This was the first time Kaizen actually realized the level of the NPC with whom he had formed a bond.
The truth was that just like every genius, Kaizen was very intelligent for several subjects and for others an idiot, at least until he had an awakening of consciousness.
'I can't believe I never thought to ask for a reward for saving the princess.... For what it's worth, her father is sick, her sister is estranged, and her stepmother is a shrew, so maybe no one was going to pay... However, maybe the princess has a little money of her own.'
When she saw Kaizen turning back around with eyes like that of a hungry dog, she practically read his mind. Accompanied by a sigh, she said:
"I'm broke."
She put out the pockets of her military uniform and all were empty except for one pocket of her pants, from which flew an old wooden button.
Kaizen's hope was evaporated from existence, as if a nuclear bomb had fallen on her.
Watching Kaizen on his knees, Ravastine approached with a worried look and stroked his head affectionately. "Did you suddenly get into some kind of debt with someone? You never struck me as someone greedy."
Psyker stood up, still heartbroken. He thought about mentioning that he had a sick brother and needed money to pay for medical costs, but bringing that into the game would be awkward, so he stated:
"I'm setting up a Gun Shop in the Commercial District and I've spent a lot of money, so I thought it wouldn't hurt to recoup some of the investment."
"Oh!" Surprised, she was. "You don't look like a good blacksmith."
Her words hurt his ego as much as if an anvil fell on his head.
"N-not quite what I meant.... Um. Let's just say you don't have the appearance of an ordinary blacksmith. You know, with long beards and short fingers." She quickly tried to explain herself.
"Basically, a dwarf?"
"Exactly a dwarf. In all the books I read, the best blacksmiths were dwarves, and the best musicians too."
"Yes, that's what they all say. Anyway, you wanted to know what your test would be like, didn't you? You are strong, so I have not prepared something easy for you. What we will do in Nyland Forest will be to free the Skogsrås who are being captured."
After hearing this, Ravastine looked for a few seconds at Kaizen, not knowing if he was serious or if it was a joke. Kaizen stared back at her, expecting any response.
"What are you talking about? Skogsrå don't exist." She said with full confidence.
"Of course there are."
"Are we talking about the same thing? I'm referring to the little women who stay in the deepest parts of the forests and who the legends say literally have cows' butts up their asses."
"Yes, those same ones. They exist, but they are extremely rare to see."
"How can you be sure? Have you seen them?"
"Not exactly, but a reliable person, or nearly so, told me that I need to help them."
"Frankly, you know that one of the legends says that they are extremely beautiful and that everyone who sees them falls in love with them and never leaves them again, don't you?"
Kaizen hadn't researched that yet, but he nodded. "Of course I know and that's why I brought you with me." He said.
In reality, the only reason Kaizen brought the princess with him for his Class Mission was because she was the highest level NPC he knew. Since the Class Mission didn't specify what the minimum level was to complete, he just wanted to make sure he would succeed.
Yes, it was a risk to bring the character from one Story Mission to another mission, but the riskiest methods are also always the ones that yield the best fruit, especially in MMORPGS.
*
Nyland Forest was a forest like any other. The trunks of the trees were brown, and the leaves on their branches were green. The water in the rivers was blue and clear, and the animals that lived in the forest could be found in any other ordinary forest.
The squirrels had the same habit as always. They often gathered food for the winter. Bears hunted medium-sized mammals during the summer and also hibernated during the winter.
During all the days of the year it was almost impossible to see humans, except for the wagons and carriages of travelers passing on a road at the southern end of the forest. Everyone who saw the forest saw nothing different about it. It was indeed an ordinary looking forest and its existence was not even remembered by humans.
However, Nyland Forest was different from all other forests, just in a different way than all other magical forests.
The difference was not in the forest itself, but in the beings that inhabited it. The animals of Nyland Forest, in fact were different from other animals. They not only thought logically, but could communicate with each other. None of them exactly spoke understandable words, but they always understood each other.
The animals of the Nyland Forest didn't have proper names. They identified each other by what kind of animal they were. For example, a squirrel was called "squirrel," a bear was called "bear," and so on. There was no need for proper names, as they were all able to practically read each other's intentions.
On this day, when a strange horse entered the Nyland Forest territory, a common sparrow, flying over the area, spotted it.
As fast as he could, the bird dived into the sea of green leaves on the trees and landed on the back of the big black bear that was sleeping on a rock in the middle of a green clearing. All it took was a few whistles from the sparrow for the bear to understand what was happening.
In the south of the forest, Kaizen decided to tie Black Cloud to a tree trunk so as not to expose her to danger. As he knotted the rope, he looked up at the sky once again.
'Ever since I entered the region of this forest, I can smell this strange smell. It's as if something is burning.... Besides, on the way here it wasn't as cloudy as it is now.'
The sky in the region was completely gray and heavy, dark clouds were gathering in the distance, forming a large cloud.
'I hope it doesn't rain.'
He twisted around and looked at Ravastine, who was clearly fearful looking at the forest.
"What happened?" Psyker asked her.
"Aren't you feeling that feeling too? You were right...there is something weird in that forest."
...
Edited by: DrHitsuji
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