We were on the 'road' following behind the giant baby. This was something you don't get used to...easily.
Walking on blue...'ground' which barely felt solid, following behind a giant floating baby while also enduring the harsh pressure that burrowed down on us from time to time.
Cassandra looked soulless. Ever since she saw the toe she looked like she could use a time out.
I had warned her not to be the curious cat and look up but.... to be fair most people would, including me.
The first time I came here, I was led by something that I can only explain as a humanoid cloud to my destination.
In my foolishness I had also asked where the hell the harsh 'wind' came from and I got almost the same reply as the one Cassandra had gotten from the giant baby.
I looked up as well and I almost lost it much to the enjoyment of the creature.
I had tried probing for more answers, but it just remained silent without giving even the slightest semblance of an answer.
I turned to Cassandra seeing her still pale face and smirked.
"That got you huh?"
"Yes it did," she answered.
She took a deep breath and restrained herself from looking up again.
"How do we get back after the mission is over?" she asked.
"Well, we'll have to go back to where we appeared. The same crossroad. We'll be counting on Baby Bro here for that," I replied.
"That will cost extra," said the giant baby.
"Fine. What's the price this time?" I asked in annoyance.
"Nothing much, just the amount of Pahphs you have to take care of. Right now it's three times."
"What?!"
"Leading you to the Pseudo Hell, the Mind Bark and the trip back."
"Mind Bark? You mean these communication thingies?" asked Cassandra.
"Precisely."
Dammit. We had been ripped off and I was still pissed about that. Baby Bro had conned us with that Mind whatever at first. I can't say I wasn't anxious.
Typically, throughout history, trade was done in a sensible fashion. None of the creatures from the Spirit World had ever really gone back on their world. Or maybe the ones who got the short end of the stick where never really heard from again, given that they were on the creatures' home turf.
Baby Bro didn't seem like the kind to just leave us in the middle of nowhere....probably.
The return trip was as simple as the trip to the Market Point. We just had find our way back to the crossroad and let Dominic pull us back.
The time flow inside the Spirit World was irregular, depending on where you were. The Market Points were some of the only places where time was somewhat consistent with Eriss, with some slight deviations.
The necklaces we had been given would also protect us from the distortion of time that we faced outside the Market Points whilst also acting as a beacon for him to sense us when we were ready to be pulled out.
For that reason, Dominic had to keep the flimsy doorway he opened open to keep sensing us on the other side.
Such a task was something only Elite Sorcerers could do, which is why we had such a hard time proceeding with this mission.
As we walked I finally decided to ask what errand we were supposed to do. Fighting is fine and all, but I preferred to know what the job description entailed.
"What exactly is our deal about? The Pahphs, fair and fine, you don't want to share what they are, but exactly where are we going?" I asked.
The giant baby, still floating in the air, squirmed and turned its right eye to me.
Eww, Baby Bro, I prefer it if you don't glare at me like that.
"We are going to my farm. Its plagued by Pahphs and you're going to be dealing with them for me. As per our agreement, you'll have to deal with a large number of them," it said.
"Okay, can you specify how many?" asked Cassandra.
"The initial quantity I was willing to drop on you was 300 Pahphs. However, since now we have to triple it, you'll have to deal with 1800."
"Bro, explain to me how 300 times 3 is 1800!! And how big is your farm that it has such a large number of Pops?" I yelled.
"First of all, that's not my problem," said Baby Bro. "Second of all, they're called Pahphs."
I flung my arms in frustration and wished the skyground would swallow me whole.
I heard a clear harsh breath from Cassandra's nostrils. She was pissed.
This was the biggest rip-off I had faced in my entire life, and I couldn't do jack about it.
We went on walking for hours, following Baby Bro in the exact same pattern he walked. I was too frightened to veer off, as I suspected that it was a mistake that I couldn't come out from.
Just looking at the clouds and blue sky underneath my feet made me feel uneasy and queasy.
After what felt like 3 hours, Baby Bro came to a halt and turned to us with those creepy eyes. His flesh wiggled as if he was excited.
"We're here. All you have to do is take care of the Pahphs and I'll take you to the destination of your choosing," he said.
I gave an amiable smile.
"Great. And how are we supposed to fight if we can't see anything? IF YOU DARE SAY THAT ITS NOT YOUR PROBLEM I SWEAR I'LL SPANK YOU SO HARD THAT YOU'LL BECOME DADDY BRO!" I bellowed.
There was a moment of silence as I glared at Baby Bro, half expecting him to actually dumbass his way out of this.
"Actually, unlike the road here, I can freely toggle your vision because its my territory. You will be able to see everything clearly," it said.
"Fine, do it," I said impatiently and half embarrassed that I was really about to continue bashing Baby Bro when he actually had a courteous response this time around.
With that, Baby Bro snapped his...fingers.
Slowly my eyes began to adjust. In my vision, it was like a cover was being burnt in order to reveal what lay underneath.
The blue sky and clouds faded and a new view appeared.
A new, weird yet beautiful-ish view.
Baby Bro was not lying when he said the concept of the sky and ground was actually vague in this world.
What lay bare before me and Cassandra was a ...farm?
The ground was ash grey, with the texture one would find on soil in general.
On this soul were plants of some kind, neatly divided by type and colour in rows. The first type of plant I saw looked like a massive beanstalk, a dark shade of red in colour and with an average height of 4 meters.
However, from its stalks, strange black fruits grew from it that looked like raspberries. A tinge of red emanated from them, giving them a ethereal depiction.
The other types of plants looked wheat and maize, rising higher than the beanstalk like plants and with colours that resembled their Eriss counterparts but with a deeper shade.
Nothing like seeing wheat that looked like polished gold instead, gleaming in the light that I still couldn't tell where it came from given that there was no sun.
These bore fruit as well; the wheat bearing apple-like fruits that came in a deep green colour, the maize bearing peach-like fruit in a purple colour both exuding the red hue.
There were two odd things, however.
The first being that while there were neat rows of these crops planted as far as the eye could see, no doubt for miles of this peculiar plant life on the ground, the same was evident above.
Yes.
As I looked up, I saw the exact same thing above, as if it was mirror.
It was as if the sky duplicated what was on the ground.
I really wanted to learn the rules of this place, but they seemed beyond me.
The other odd thing, was....
The massive black figures that hung on wooden crossed poles in the farm.
There seemed to be a lot of them. I saw them clearly when I looked at the inverted double of the farm that was above.
It looked like they had twisted arms stretched on either side of the horizontal pole that made the cross shapes.
They looked like humanoid crows, wearing large coats made of feathers, with a head that looked like a hat...a top hat to be precise.
Even as they lay their heads low while hanging from the poles, I could see their sharp, dark beaks.
"Umm, what the hell are those things?" asked Cassandra facing the nearest black crow-like creature that hung on a pole that rose above the crops.
"Those are the Pahphs. They are annoying creatures that scare away people from their own farms. They come with their own resting poles and wait for the fruits to ripen," explained Baby Bro.
"So you mean to tell me that these guys are scarecrows but instead of chasing aware crows, they are the crows and they chase away the farmer?" asked Cassandra with slow shaking of her head.
"I have no idea what you mean, but if it means that you're ready to begin then that's fine," said Baby Bro.
"David."
"Yeah."
"Let's just get this over with."
"Nice."
"Please, be warned. They are quite powerful," said Baby Bro.
"Thanks," I said to Baby Bro as I flicked my palm, prompting for a sword to appear.
I flickered my other palm and another sword appeared.
The first one was my default sword, Avantis. A silver bladed claymore with a crimson hilt that faintly glowed with a pristine white hue.
(A/N: He used it in chapter 3).
The other, was a Swiss saber with a black hilt that was lavishly designed into a pattern of diamond shapes. It's blade did not have the glow that Avantis had, but runes could be seen decorating it, plastering an ancient feel to it.
Guntias.
I dual wielded the blades feeling their connection to me perfectly as I activated All-Seer simultaneously.
Beside me, Cassandra gave me a brief glance and then I felt a massive wave explode from her body.
Gift Release.
The energy she released caused the Pahphs to start raising their heads one by one.
The next thing we heard was a deafening scream that sounded like a cross between a cicada's noise and an eagle's call.
.