A rather enthused start began to wither down to mediocrity.
"How many days do you think it'll take to get there?" I pushed a branch hanging right in front of my face.
"Huh? At this pace? Maybe two weeks. It's further than Rottheim, definitely." Rumie turned around to look at me but her back bumped into another tree so she turned forward again. "But I can't be sure, the last time I came here we were on a carriage."
"How'd they even manage to fit a carriage through here..." I rhetorically mumbled. She was probably lying but I couldn't be bothered.
As we were headed west from the back gate of my town, the forests gradually started to get thicker and thicker. So thick in fact that it was hard to see past the trees.
On the first day, it was bearable. Sure we had to carry Rumie for a decent distance, but there were plenty of places to rest and an even greater number of water bodies to use. But that only lasted for two days.
Now the forest was so thick that we had to walk around trees because there were so many of them. Not to mention the lack of any place to stop as a group to take some rest. It was almost suffocating being outside.
If a monster found us here it would be a pain to escape.
The trees had also gradually been scaling in height and our surroundings looked the same no matter where our eyes wandered.
"You're not trying to k-" I stopped in place.
"Kill you?" Rumie stopped too.
"Well, firstly, I dunno if I can even do that, and well, I don't wanna take my chances." She rubbed her belly. "Just bear with it for a little bit lo-"
"I CAN'T!" Vivi jumped in between us. "I swear to god, I've been holding back for hours now. BUT THIS PLACE IS WAY TOO CRAMPED!" Welp, her fuse finally blew. I was expecting this to happen. "I'll just... just-"
"Don't even think about setting this place on fire."
Her face turned into shock from me having figured out her train of thought and then turned to a strong 'BUTTT WHYYY????!'
"URRRRGHHH! You know what? Screw it. I'm headed up!" I stared up at the sky, or well the lack of it. Yeah, there's no way she's getting up there.
How did these many trees even fit in such a cramped space in the first place? There's no way there's enough nutrients for them.
"It's pointless, we're al,-"
"Huuuu-UP!" She dug her hand in the bark of a tree and launched- no shot all the way up. The trees were tall. Very tall. But on her own, with no one to carry, her agility was another level.
I underestimated her.
Her ascent was so quick that there was air flying around us! The bark where she took off was obliterated.
She was already higher than the canopy. An absolute beast.
And beyond that it was silent. Not a single confirmation. For half a minute.
"WHOAAA! YOU GOTTA SEE THIS!" She suddenly shouted from all the way up there.
'I mean, how?'
With her enthusiasm, I decided to put a step forward too. In all honesty, I was getting sick of this too. The same view, the certain sense of getting suffocated. I didn't have claustrophobia but this was too much.
I needed some air.
Oh well, I squatted down on the ground, ready to jump. 'But how do I even get up there? There has to be a way, right?'
While squatting, I opened my palm and the grimoire appeared in my hands.
{ Strength - Five/Ten - E }
{ Agility - Six/Ten - C }
{ Endurance - Five/Ten - E }
{ Dexterity - Four/Ten - E }
My scores had increased from the transformation, but I hadn't quite gotten as strong as the one skeletal body. That form was way out of my reach right now.
I tried transforming again, but it was like a part of me was actively trying to stop it from happening.
With these stats, I don't think I can get all the way up there in a jump. I might have to climb up there like a monkey.
"Why're you not up here ye- Oh." Vivi peaked from between the leaves to see me squatting. "You can't, eh?"
"I mean, it was worth a shot." Neither of us had to shout. Our senses were keen enough for casual conversation. Except this conversation wasn't going to be casual for long. Vivi's face turned to a smirk.
"Do you wanna get up here too Ru?" Vivi said all friendly. Over the past two days, Vivi decided to accept Rumie. She thought that Rumie was a victim of the circumstance and that she would have killed people too if that was her only way of survival.
'Everyone only cares about themselves at the end.'- Was what she said.
I was out here trying to kill Gods when the world needed them the most to fight against the Darkness. So I couldn't really refute.
Out of the entire group, Rumie only harmed me, so I was still biased against her. But the character she was putting on wasn't deplorable at the least.
"I mean, I don't mind but it's po-"
"Alright! Grit your teeth, harden and jump on three! You too, Ru."
"Eh?"
"One."
The ground under me started to swell up.
"NO!"
"Two." There was a bright red light under both Rumie and my feet.
"VIVI STO-"
"three..." That psychopathic bitch!
"HARDEN!" I grabbed Rumie's calf. The hardening went through both our bodies and we got covered by an exoskeleton.
BOOOOOOOM!
The ground beneath us exploded launching both our bodies up. This was strangely reminiscent. And if this was going to be anything like last time, Vivi must've messed up the power.
Damn it damn it damn it!
And she did! This time we weren't high enough.
This idiot trusted my powers way too much.
I got rid of the hardening and grabbed Rumie's calf even harder until my hands were imprinted on it. I ran up a tree and then jumped off to another, trying to look for the lowest canopy.
I bounced between trying to not lose any momentum. After several milliseconds passed I hit the leafy part of the tree. Unable to keep my eyes open, I swung Rumie around and threw her way in the air. She broke through the top.
While on the other side, I was in a downward fall. But it was recoverable. I grabbed onto a branch and swung myself around like I was doing a three-sixty but left on my way up.
My downward momentum got turned into upward momentum.
Right at the last second, I used my arms to launch myself even higher.
"Hardening." My legs broke through the canopy and I was in the air. Upside down.
And then...
After so long, after walking through the forest for days, the sky came into sight.
.
.
.
It was early evening. The sun was starting to set. The sky was pink.
The wind on my face felt pleasant but more importantly present. And then the view became apparent.
"Whoa."
A huge cliff from the edge of the forest. One that made the crater I was going to fall off of look like a joke. We were almost there. But what lay beyond the cliff was spectacular. Humongous, humongous, humongous... stone plateaus?
I don't know what I would call them. Tall skinny grey rocky mountains, littered with greenery.
Almost a hundred of them.
There were no small plateaus or rolling hills that I could see. The clouds blocked the distance of the fall.
I was lost for words. I wondered what the entire scene would look like.
"Natural Predator." My vision expanded as if someone sprayed clear water in my eyes and the horizons expanded endlessly.
One last thing caught my eyes.
A structure, right in the middle of the elevated wonderland. Lights burning, layers upon layers of wooden houses on thick beams and stilts, it was separate from the world, as if it were floating. A city that looked industrial as industrial came.
Yellow and brown. Clogs all the way around.
I was presented with the arms capital of our world.
The city of Dungeons, Ohnicht.
"I was about to tell you that climbing now would be pointless."