Clair stopped in her tracks. She turned around waiting for me to come over.
I halted my steps. Why do I feel like there is something wicked on her mind? Is she scheming something again? Nevertheless I continued.
As I approached she spoke, "Steve I want you to lend me your strength." She said as she waved her hand in the air in a vertical motion as if caressing something. "There is a barrier here, you have to shatter it with your strength."
It seems she is referring to some kind of generic magical barrier. It seemed to block outsiders from entering the forest. What kind of treasures might be inside this forest I wonder. Maybe I might find something Op in there.
"Hehe" I audible smiled, "It's my time to shine. It seems you are hopeless in this case without me. Are you not?" I began teasing her as the opportunity called for.
But Clair didn't seem to get angry like usual instead she seemed to be down.
"You are right, I am more or useless in these kinds of things," she said.
This is annoying. What happened to the old Clair who was always fun to tease with?
"Magical barriers need to be shattered with magical blasts, but since I can't use any my fists will do the job," I said as I swung my fist in the air.
I felt the barrier on my knuckle as they collided. But, nothing else happened.
"Eh, did it work?"
Clair rubbed her temples seemingly a bit annoyed. "Of course it didn't, Steve this is no place to full around. Use your strength properly!"
'Hmm, it is true that I just swung my arms without putting any force in it to ascertain the position of the barrier but you didn't have to point that out
I pulled my chest in front of my chest and hopped up and down like a boxer.
"Okay, this time with full strength!"
I will do it just like those characters in pop-culture who defeated their enemies with the power of friendship!
An image popped into my mind. It was from my childhood friend Najimi. Speaking of that person, I was never able to discern he/she/its gender. He/She/It was quite the mysterious being.
'Najimi, the bond of friendship that we share has great power! I can feel it flowing through my fists strengthening it. With this, I can defeat anyone! Behold the power of friendship!'
I swung my arms at full strength as I shouted on top of my voice.
Clair's PoV
He screamed on top of his voice as his fist landed on the 'skin'. The 'skin of the forest' as people colloquially call it refers to this barrier that prevents outsiders to invade this wilderness.
The barrier shattered accompanied by the sound of breaking glass. But, that was not the only sound that entered my ears.
"Owie, it hurts" Steve cried as he rolled on the ground.
I rolled my eyes. Steve, is such a clown. How does he even come up with these acts?
"Stop acting! There is no way someone with your strength is going to get hurt from that!" I shouted.
That was enough to stop its act. He jolted back to a sitting posture and pouted, "Huff, no concern for me"
I sighed. What should I do with this guy?
I bent over on my knees. I continued apologetically, "Steve jokes have their own place and time. If lady, um... Lapis catches wind of us we would have pursuers chasing after us. We need to escape this place as fast as possible."
Steve stood up and brushed off the dust on his clothes. "Okay let's go"
It seems like he got serious for a change but why do I have a bad feeling about this?
Steve's PoV
The purple forest with its deathly atmosphere spanned a few steps in front of me. I lifted the majestic purple vines as I entered my forest.
"It must be your first time in a wilderness so it is for me, but if we tag along I am sure we can come out unscathed"
"Why must we go through such a place?" I inquired.
"The empire of Anatolia and Disciple are divided by this natural barrier. If we cross this, I am sure that Lapis won't be able to reach us easily."
"So it seems" I nodded.
Though her words convey her resolve I could see her visibly shaking.
"Are you scared?"
She sighed. "It would be a lie if I claim to not be"
"Don't worry it's not like ghost will pop up out of nowhere. Besides..." I don't know what kind of face I was making but it must be ghastly pale, "besides..."
I was stuck at a word repeating like a parrot. Because just in Clair's blind spot I spotted a ghost that was flying towards us.
On closer inspection, I realized its form. It looked like a beheaded human coming straight out of a horror movie. The only thing that was contrasted was that it was a sculpture made out of wood! Yeah, a beheaded sculpture walking towards us.
Well, I was spooked out. I expected some goblins or slime or something similar. What the hell is that thing!
Not speculating its form any further I threw a casual punch at it to keep it at bay at least. My fist flew past Clair brushing off against her hair. She was startled enough to cry out in surprise.
*Poof*
The monster that was standing there a moment ago disappeared into the smoke. That's strange. Am I hallucinating?
"What was that for!" Clair cried.
"Um, um... there was a ghost behind you and I was startled so I tried to punch it and then it went poof and disappeared" I said as I waved my hands in the air trying to convey what I meant.
She turned around to confirm whether what I said made any sense in the first place. Then her eyes shot wide open.
She bent over and picked what seemed to be a purplish pearl.
"It was guardian," she said.
"Guardian?"
Clair nodded. "They are a kind of defense mechanism of these forests. They attack any foreign entities that enter these forests. The soul of the wilderness creates solely to defend itself"
"okaaaaay" I said in a confused tone trying to figure out what she meant. It's a lot different from what I have read in portal scriptures. The people in those scriptures always used to explore dungeons killing slimes, goblins, and stuff.
"Weren't we supposed to be attacked by goblins or something?" I asked finally losing my patience.
"Eh? Why would people of the goblin tribe attack us? Especially considering that we are penniless."
'Tribe huh?'
"I don't know. Maybe for your body" I winked.
--
[Author: Plz guys UwU. Vote with stones to support my work. I will die without your votes :'(] ]