Now that they knew what they were going to do for the day, Godo and the team began to head towards the 1st Zone of the Izhia Forest.
On the way there, they discussed among themselves what they should give priority to. Should they first search for the supplies and test out their new abilities after that, or should they do the vice versa. Well that discussion was still ongoing.
In the midst of that, Rai took a quick glance at Nene and felt that something was different about her.
"Nene, did something happen this morning? You look, a bit different."
She inquired. Feeling both surprised and happy that she noticed something, Nene answered her,
"Thanks for noticing. You see, Sir Godo gave me a Nature Gem this morning and, i used it. It made me stronger and allowed me to harness some 'Nature Aura', so you should see something a bit different about me."
"Woah. 'Nature Aura'? What's that? That sounds so cool!"
Shuya came and interrupted. Hearing that, with her chest puffed out high, she replied,
"Nature Aura is a form of energy just like magic. We spirits usually use Nature Aura as our form of evolution. Some special spirits use normal magic for their means of evolution but they are an extreme minority. The more i accumulate over time, the bigger my power will be when i finally decide to evolve.
Also it helps us to form a connection with nature itself, which allows us to become even stronger. I'll give you an example, first is a normal spirit right, let's say after absorbing some Nature Aura, they decide to evolve into either an Elemental Spirit or an Advanced Spirit as it is formally called.
After that, they can slowly accumulate some Elemental Aura or their necessary Auras from their surroundings or objects, then after reaching a certain level of it, they then can evolve into a Great Spirit, some of them include Great Elemental Spirits, Master Weapon Spirits, Great Regional Spirits and many more.
After those guys are the Higher Spirits. Infernal Spirits, Tempestial Spirits and Sage Weapons Spirits are some of the prominent ones."
Hearing all those information, Godo accordingly wrote them down on the page of his mind. Shuya and Folaei basically understood it, and Rai was rather intrigued by it. Completely forgetting about the earlier problem that they had, she began to ask Nene many and different questions about her and the spirits.
How they were born, how long do they live, do they have kings and queens, are there other spirits above the Higher Spirits, where did she live before coming here, how exactly did she come here, how much Nature Power do you need to evolve, what are the difference between different kinds of spirits. And so on and on.
Nene, not having experience being bombarded with words, was overwhelmed after the first few questions that her eyes started to form spirals as she slowly fumed out of her head. Of course Rai didn't notice this as she was too distracted with her own enthusiasm as she was asking questions.
Looking at this rather strange phenomenon, Folaei and Godo decided to butt in and stop Rai. Godo quickly shook Nene and brought her back to reality. Realising her mistake Rai apologised,
"No need Rai! We're friends anyway! Also this was the first time someone had asked me this much questions. Though you guys were the first people i ever met. But just consider it as you training me on basic conversation skills."
She flashed a thumbs up as she smiled. And Rai, hearing all that, blushed a little and replied back with a nod. When suddenly she called Shuya and asked him something,
'Kids sure do unpredictable things'
Godo's thought floated.
"So Shuya, which element will you specialise in? Thunder? Water? Fire? or maybe Wind like me?"
Clearly showing in his face that he hadn't really given much thought on this, he replied
"But I'm a swordsman, and choosing which element to specialise in won't really help much."
Hearing that, Rai believed his logic too, resulting in her being bummed out. It was time for Godo to interject this time,
"Well that's where your not exactly correct Shuya."
"What do you mean gramps?"
With hope in her eyes, Rai shone her eyes onto Godo, like a puppy asking for something which had been denied once already.
"Have you forgotten how you need to be atleast a Grade 9 Mage to be able to use 'Shadow Slip'? Didn't you want to learn that technique?"
Suddenly surfacing again from his memories, Shuya began to remember how 'Shadow Slip' made Godo turn literally into a shadow, and how useful and quick it was for maneuvering.
"Oh! I remember gramps. If that's how it is"
Ending his sentence on a cliffhanger such as that, Shuya began to rack his brain. On the other side, Rai seemed really thankful to Godo for convincing Shuya to choose an element to specialise in. She was still a kid so being the only one to do a particular task was not really fun.
As they continued to get closer and closer to the Outer Zone of the Izhia Forest, Shuya finally reached his answer,
"I guess I'll specialise in Thunder. It would feel cool to call down thunder and lightning from the sky."
He thought about it for a bit, and nodded to himself again. He seemed pretty content with what he chose. So Godo made a mental note to begin training him from tomorrow.
A few minutes after that conversation went off, they finally reached the Izhia Forest.
"So, do you guys want to rest or continue onward?" Folaei asked the team.
"I'm fine with moving on."
Godo was the first to reply, followed by the three kids agreeing. So onwards they went.
From the Outer Zone to the Starter Zone, then finally to the 1st Zone. They took the map they had gotten from the guild, and they began to read it.
"Hmm. It seems to me we are right here."
Godo pointed at the map, from the looks of it they were not too far off from the mark on the map, so they aligned themselves with it and they began to walk.
.
.
.
Deeper Into the Izhia Forest Inside A Cave
"Boss! The mages have sensed a group of people walking towards the loot."
The man was talking to a person who seemed to be the one holding power, sitting on a large rock. He wore a necklace made of animal teeth and had a scarf around his neck which looked like an animal's fur.
He had a scar of a claw running down both his left eye and his right hand. He also had a gigantic sword sitting against the wall of the cave.
"Hey. Are you implying that you guys need my help?"
A hint of anger and annoyance could be heard. The man had a well built body and toned muscles, he had a fierce face and a deep red coloured hair to go with his personality, so that question made the other man scared for his life.
The other man quickly retorted his question and he went away,
"Tch, having to report everything to me. Do they think a group of 3-5 people would be enough to beat us?"
The man talked to himself as he took out meat from a bag beside him. Munching on it, he began to think about what he should do with the group they had found.
The other man, as he walked further and further, he seemed to realise something,
'I still have to ask you about what we should do with them'
The man thought tearily.