"I don't know why I kept going... even after hearing all that... but I'm finally here."
After thirty minutes of trekking a long, rough path, Lyrica finally reached her destination. And of course, she's exhausted as hell.
Dark circles formed underneath her eyes, her face was glistening with sweat, and her hands are on her trembling knees that look like they were about to collapse at any moment.
Lyrica breathed in heavily. "So this is the infamous forest, huh?"
The Forest of No Return is said to occupy an area of over 2.52 million square miles. The biggest forest known in the world of Alteria, as claimed by the voice.
Soon after catching her breath, Lyrica observed the giant tree standing rather tall right in front of her.
"I've seen them on the way here, but I still can't believe how huge these trees are."
"I see, I see... so you're only about 157 cm tall. That's a little short below the average height of your age in your world."
The voice, nonchalantly blurting out Lyrica's height, made the girl's left eye twitch.
"This is troublesome indeed." The voice remarked.
"Oi."
The voice yelped in horror after hearing Lyrica's dead-calm call. Her hostile look clearly showed that she wasn't pleased by what she heard.
"I never said anything to you about my height."
"Uh, yeash?"
The voice could not articulate herself after seeing such terror.
But this left the girl with a question. How was the voice able to accurately figure out her height?
"No way you guessed it just by looking at me."
But soon after inquiring about the voice's knowledge, a memory of her measuring her height inside her apartment room flashed right before her eyes. Lyrica remembered exactly how troubled she was after learning that her height is a few centimeters short of her age's average height. An age where girls typically reached their adult height.
After that flash of memories, a thought struck Lyrica's mind, making her flinch. "Don't tell me... Don't tell me you watched a memory of me checking my height in my room?"
"A-Aha... Ahahaha..."
The voice's awkward laughter says it enough.
"I might have peeped a bit too much."
Following what the voice uttered, Lyrica started laughing, although there was hardly any emotion coming along with that laughter. Only coldness.
"So you can't alter someone's memories, but you can look at them as though you're watching a TV?" Lyrica's eyes narrowed, showing a murderous glare at the voice. "Interesting, you memory pervert."
"My apologies."
The voice regretted peeping into Lyrica's memories.
"L-Let's move on, shall we? These towering pillars of trees are called Higantes."
"Higantes?"
Higantes are giant trees that can reach up to 90 meters and above. They have enormous trunks and large branches that are as big as an adult tree on Earth.
These enormous plants have a very long lifespan, and they can regrow fast even after cutting them so long as the roots and the stump remain on the ground. These characteristics make Higantes an ideal material in building structures like houses and such.
"Eh... Talk about convenient."
The girl slowly approached the Higantes right in front of her. Her hand gently touched the tree's rough texture.
In the voice's eyes, however, what she saw was a girl silently showing resentment at an innocent tree for being too tall.
"I've rested enough," Said Lyrica after taking her hand off the bark. "Let's get going."
After admiring the tall greens, Lyrica finally entered the forest. And she did so with great caution.
It hasn't even been that long since she entered the Forest of No Return, yet with each step, Lyrica's head would turn 360 degrees, making sure her perimeter is safe and sound.
"You know, you can save the cautiousness once you've gone deep into the forest."
"Uh... Yeah, no."
As Lyrica went further inside the forest, trees and plants with their own shapes and sizes begin to appear one after another.
"Pretty..."
Although she's still trying to keep her guard up, Lyrica could not help but be amazed at the sight of the plants she came across. It's like she was walking through the finest picture made by the most renowned artist in the world.
"How can such a beautiful place have such a horrendous name?"
Lyrica wondered as she kept moving deeper into the forest.
"Oh girl, you haven't seen enough."
Cluck cluck cluck!
"...!"
Lyrica lowered herself almost immediately, her hand clung to the verdant land. The soft and gentle clucking noise went on and on from somewhere.
"I don't see anyone or anything around the vicinity." Said the voice, putting Lyrica somewhat at ease.
"I think I know where it's coming from."
After speaking her thoughts, Lyrica tried to search for the source of the sound. The volume of the clucking noise gradually increased the further she moved forward. That's how she knew she was going on the right path.
The girl pointed her finger up front. "Behind that bush!"
"Wai–Lyrica!"
"What is it?"
Lyrica asked the voice after hurriedly diving inside the bush.
"I-It's nothing..."
"What's with you? Can you stop being weird?"
Confused at the voice's sudden strange behavior, Lyrica nonchalantly dug through the bush. And as she reached the end, Lyrica's eyes met a familiar, yet strange-looking creature.
"That's..."
Lyrica looked at the small, furry creature eating the grass with stern eyes. When she did, a green text revealing the creature's name and level appeared.
[White Rabbit - Lv. 8]
"Woah..." Lyrica exclaimed at the sight of the animal. "That silky, snow-white fur... Wait, is that a horn in its head?"
Lyrica gape at the sight of the horn sticking out of the rabbit's head. A horn looking rather similar to that of a unicorn's.
Hop! Hop!
"Lyrica, look!"
Not long since Lyrica first saw the albino creature, another white rabbit showed up. And much like the former, the other white rabbit also has a horn sticking out of its head.
Growl...!
The white rabbit Lyrica first saw turned around after hearing the growling noise coming from the other.
Thump! Thump!
Lyrica and the voice witnessed the white rabbit thumping its feet as a response to the growling one.
"It doesn't look like they're happy to see each other."
Lyrica whispered to the voice.
"Well, white rabbits are territorial creatures."
The two white rabbits started thumping and growling against one another whilst Lyrica lurked at the bush, watching them in silence.
"I know they are, but they're social animals, too."
"Yeah, but not in here."
The voice suspected that the white rabbit Lyrica first saw is the one who owned the land, while the other who just arrived was looking for a place to make its territory until it found itself in someone else's backyard. Either that, or it could be the reverse.
Meanwhile, the thumping duel between the white rabbits raged on. It's a back and forth sequence where if one tried to go for a higher note, the other will try to exceed that and repeat.
This went on for about a minute, but neither wouldn't budge from where they are standing.
From a loud thumping sound of their feet to them growling aggressively at each other. The two realized that there was only one way to settle their territorial feud. And the voice noticed it.
"Lyrica, you might have to back away."
"Huh, why?"
Before the voice could answer Lyrica's question, the girl lost sight of the white rabbits as they bellowed and lunged toward each other.
"What the–uwa!"
The white rabbits clashed using their horns. The impact caused a shockwave that blew not only Lyrica and the bush she was hiding from but everything else around the two white rabbits as well.
"Because a fight between white rabbits can be pretty windy!"
"Idiot! You should have told me sooner!"