The three continued walking for a very long time. So long that they began to question whether or not they were going the right direction.
"We've only been seeing grass and more grass. Does the map say anything about landmarks?" [Adam]
"Let me check." [Felix]
Pulling the map out of his personal space, Felix unfurled the map.
"Uh… Not sure what some of these signs are, but I think this is just a really large grassy plain. At least it doesn't seem like there's going to be any enemies." [Felix]
He then slipped it into a pocket instead of his personal space rift.
"Don't jinx it." [Adam]
As they continued to walk, they spotted a group of people digging up the ground from afar.
"What are they doing?" [Tiffany]
"Wanna check it out?" [Felix]
"Hell no. That's their business, not ours." [Adam]
"I'm going to check anyway." [Felix]
"Damn." [Adam]
Adam and Tiffany followed closely as Felix approached the group.
"Hello there!" [Felix]
Speaking to the closest person, Felix found himself conversing with a muscular young man. From the looks of it, the rest of the group were also a group of people on the more built side. They carried shovels, hammers, and hoes.
"Huh?" [Young Man]
"Strangers?" [Burly Man]
The burly man motioned for the young man to keep shoveling instead of stopping for conversation.
"You could call me that. Do you guys mind telling me what you're doing over here?" [Felix]
"Can't you see? We're building a road." [Burly Man]
Now that he mentioned it, there was a trail of torn up dirt behind them. It seemed to stretch far, farther than the eye could see.
"You bunch don't look like locals. What are you even wearing?" [Burly Man]
There was a fashion disparity between the three. Adam wore clothing clearly made of animal pelts or scales from a lizard, Felix wore high class clothing with several layers like a noble, and Tida was wearing the military uniform of Stradori.
"Are you foreigners here to sightsee?" [Young Man]
"Eh… Kind of. Where does this road lead?" [Felix]
The burly man paused his work and stuck his shovel into the ground. He aimed a finger at the horizon and pointed left and right.
"We've got two roads branching to Lithik and Ruitaria. Are you heading to one of those?" [Burly Man]
"Yeah, we're going to Lithik." [Felix]
"Oh. You're not one of those… Heroes, are you?" [Burly Man]
Felix shook his head.
"No, no. Not at all. We just have some business there." [Felix]
The burly man gave Felix a look of suspicion.
"Hm… Well, if you're going to Lithik, go straight until you see our branching roads. Take a left from there and you'll find yourself at a yellow river. We call it the Topaz river. Careful though, magic doesn't work in, or above it so you're going to have to find a way around yourself." [Burly Man]
"Okay, I've got it all down." [Felix]
The burly man raised a brow.
"You didn't write anything." [Burly Man]
Felix tapped the side of his head.
"Got it all in here." [Felix]
"You've got quite a head on your shoulders then." [Burly Man]
The man then picked up his shovel and resumed his work.
"If you're going to head to Lithik, make sure to use the road. It'll help pat the soil down and keep grass from growing over it. Other than that, be careful of Heroes or Feerae. They'll attack you if they feel like it." [Burly Man]
"Wait. What are Feerae?" [Felix]
"Demon equivalent of Heroes. Crazy strong. Steer clear, you hear me?" [Burly Man]
"Will do. Thank you." [Felix]
Felix flashed a smug look at his allies before proceeding with their journey. It wasn't until they were out of earshot that they spoke.
"See? What did I tell you?" [Felix]
"You said "I'm going to talk to them anyway." So… you didn't say much." [Adam]
"Um… Can you guys tell me what they said?" [Tiffany]
"Ah." [Adam] [Felix]
The two had already forgotten Tiffany was unable to read nor speak Ashtal's language.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
They followed the road far until they met the crossroads mentioned, where there was a sign hammered into the ground written in a strange language. Unfortunately, only Tiffany was unable to read it.
"Yep, Lithik is left." [Felix]
Like the burly man said, they reached a yellow river. What he didn't mention was the village near it. Just like last time, Felix tried approaching the people.
"Hello~." [Felix]
"Halt!" [???]
Another guard with a shoddy spear stopped them.
"You cannot go any further!" [Guard]
"Great. This again." [Adam]
"Hi, I just want to ask what village this is?" [Felix]
"Why do you want to know?" [Guard]
Felix slipped out the map and pointed at it.
"I want to know our current location. My friends and I are travelers, you see." [Felix]
("Travelers? When did that happen?") [Adam]
"It's a disguise." [Krino]
("Oh…") [Adam]
The guard cautiously observed the map before speaking.
"We're at Grace village. Is that all?" [Guard]
"Actually, do you know a way past the Topaz river?" [Felix]
"You have to go to Gerland and go around it. No magic can allow you to pass it, but maybe if you wait a few years the bridge will be built." [Guard]
"Is someone already building a bridge?" [Adam]
"Yeah. Just out that way.
He pointed far along the river.
"Ruitaria is sponsoring it. They're making it out of some kind of special brick. It's supposed to last a millenia or something along those lines." [Guard]
"Alright then. Thank you." [Felix]
He motioned for Adam and Tiffany to leave.
"Let's check out the bridge." [Felix]
They moved along the river, watching the powerful torrent rush through. Adam considered the thought of jumping across the river, but it was far too wide. There was even the thought of using his ability to blast himself across. However, it appeared that usage of his ability was hindered in the river's vicinity.
("It's dispersing my mana…! Astos, how does that work?") [Adam]
"The river is cursed. No form of mana will work properly under these conditions." [Astos]
("The entire river? How do you curse an entire river?") [Adam]
"With a lot of willpower, hatred, mana, and perhaps divine or demonic power. Whoever cast this curse was either a powerful mage, or a god." [Astos]
As they followed the river, they found a rather large group of people constructing the aforementioned bridge. They were all dressed in white, which also fit the fact they were moving white bricks. The workers also appeared to be guarded by what seemed to be knights of white armor. They each had two swords strapped to their waist, one shorter than the other.
"They look pretty unfriendly. Do you really want to talk to them?" [Adam]
"Yeah. Other than money, communication makes the world go round." [Felix]
Without fear, Felix approached them.
"Hel-!" [Felix]
"Suspicious individual!" [White Knights]
Within an instant, swords were drawn on Felix.
("...On second thought, Adam might be right.") [Felix]