The wheels of the wagon rolled across the bumpy dirt road. In the back of the wagon, Al was awkwardly sitting across from Mia.
Ever since Al had killed the gorilla. She had not let him out of her sight once. He wasn't sure how since she didn't have eyes. But, whatever he did, he felt her hawk over him.
"Do you know how creepy you're being?"
"You're more of a threat than I realized. I can't let you out of my sight, you might harm Tristan."
"Then why don't you just throw me out? If I'm that much of a threat."
"You're not that strong. We won't condemn you to be eaten by magical beats. Even here, in the outskirts of Thaz Forest, there are many magical beasts like the Steel Armored Gorilla pack from before."
Talk about mixed signals.
But, it was true Al would have been f**ked if he met that pack alone. If he hadn't traveled with these guys then this trip would have been much more troublesome.
"Overcomplicate things much?"
"Not thinking things over thoroughly gets you killed, so yeah."
Fair enough.
"Hey, I'm curious about something Monty said. It was something along the lines 'that humans can't use spells in the Purification Realm.' Does that mean beastmen can?"
Al was in particular thinking of how Tristan hid in the tree. It looks like he used a spell, but he's only barely at the mid-stage of the 1st Realm.
"Yeah, we can use spells earlier."
"Really?! Doesn't this mean you skip the 1st Realm?"
"Not really, due to us being half magical beasts we don't follow the same cultivation system as you humans. We start cultivation by forming magic cores in the Core Formation Realm, but we still have little magical energy. It's more like we are humans with spell diagram tattoos."
"Magic cores? So, you don't use Qi" Al did feel like the energy emanating from Mia was a bit different."
"Yeah, just like magical beasts, we can directly use the magical energy stored in our cores. We don't need to process it into Qi."
"But, Tristan is still weaker than me?" Al's pride would be hurt if a ten-year-old in the 1st Realm mid-stage could beat him.
That made her chuckle. "Don't worry, that kid is only good at hiding."
"Hey! I can hear you!" Came from the front of the wagon.
"And, what are you going to do about it?" Mia shouted back.
"..."
"That's what I thought."
The rest of the journey through the forest was uneventful, Al spent his time chatting with Mia, sleeping, and doing maintenance on the revolver. The wind crystal used wild magical energy, which if left unchecked could harm the material of the revolver. So, he had to use cleansing silk. He stuffed the cleansing silk down the barrel and bullet holes where it absorbed all residual energy.
Al also used the time to polish and sharpen the two daggers he always kept hidden in his leather boots. They had gotten pretty roughed up in the last fight with Rocky.
His choice and storage of weapons earned him a quip from Mia, "You resemble a cutthroat."
"And, you sound like my mom." That comment made her blush, which Al found to be an effective method to shut her up when she was being rude. One simply had to make her uncomfortable.
Not long after, Al noticed the sound of water rushing down a stream. Curious, he peeked outside to see what was going on.
Through the tree lining, he could see a stunning river flowing in front of him. Azure currents swiftly streamed down the expansive waterway. 'That thing must be at least three hundred steps across,' Al thought. In the moonlight that had taken over the light of day, Al saw all colors and sizes of fish swimming and breaching the crystalline waters.
Surrounding it was the Thaz forest, but the trees were decreasing in density. As Al looked towards the front of the wagon he found it was because they were reaching the woodland's edge.
The wagon stopped and Monty walked towards the rear. "We're going to set up camp here for tonight."
Al jumped down from the wagon with Mia and approached the river. A calm, sluggish feeling washed over him, and it only got stronger as he approached the river. It reminded him of a story he had heard in his youth.
"Is this the Lethe River?"
Tristan walked over. "Indeed! It's the River of Oblivion, or Lethe as you humans call it. Running across the whole Western Continent, It supposedly purifies the souls during Reincarnation. It's so calming! I can feel how it beckons my soul." The boy's face lit up as he rattled on. His eyes were practically glowing.
Monty sighed. "He's always like this when it concerns our race's legends. He's like a tiny archive of all beastmen legends."
"Weird. That's very different from what the Holy Hexagram Sect says about it."
"I heard of that. Isn't it believed that the Holy Water Spirit created the River of Oblivion to divide the western Continent and restore the balance during the Ruin of Ages?" Mia said.
"Yeah," said Al. "Because of that, It's designated as a Holy Land by the followers of the Six Spirits."
"Yeah, yeah, I don't care about all that chatter, all I know is that the river calms all creatures, so it's the safest place to camp," Monty said as he brought out three sleeping bags from the wagon. "Why don't you make a fire, your High- Tristan?"
"He has quite some trouble laying those titles off, doesn't he?" Mia whispered into Al's ear.
Al didn't respond. He was too wrapped up in the beauty of the Lethe River. It was so fascinating. 'This world is truly amazing,' he thought. He couldn't help but stare at it for a while until he felt a slap on the back of his head.
"Hey we're about to eat," Monty said, nudging his head toward Mia and Tristan salivating as they watched a Redback cod roasting on a fire.
"Oh, thanks." Al sat down with them.
"We don't have enough sleeping bags, so you're going to have to sleep bare, Al," said Mia.
"No problem, I wasn't planning on sleeping anyway. I did enough of that during the day."
"Great then you can be the lookout for tonight," Tristan said.
Monty there over a leather flask, "Since this is a safe place have some wine to get you through the night."
And so, they ate and drank wine until late into the night. Tristan was the first asleep then a tipsy Mia followed by Monty.
When everyone was asleep, Al decided to have a look at the river up close. He jumped onto a rock protruding from the water near its shore and sat down cross-legged.
It wasn't long before a school of green fish began to circle him. They playfully swam around him, coming closer and closer. Some even playfully skipped over his head.
It was a peaceful atmosphere. In Al's mind grew the feeling that he should join in. It took over all his thoughts, so he jumped in. The water was comfortably warm, as the sluggish calm of the river grew stronger.
He began chasing after the green fish, trying to catch them. As he played, Al began losing track of where he was. All he could think about was playing with the fish. He belonged here. This was what he wanted, what he was looking for.
He let the currents guide him. As he swam with the school of fish, he became one of them. No more thoughts entered his mind. Only oblivious conformity was present in him. Al would go where the river takes him. All that defined him slowly faded away.
'To hell with adven-.' Al's thought was violently interrupted as a strong force yanked at his leg. He felt himself get pulled out of the Lethe River into the cold midnight air.
His eyes met two tiger pupils. It was Monty. "Idiot," he grumbled.
He plopped the soaking wet Al onto the ground and wrapped him up in his coat. "I thought you knew about this river. It's common sense that one should never get within more than two steps of its shore, otherwise one will be drawn into its oblivion."
"Huh? What?"
"Don't you get it? You almost died!" Al looked at Monty's grim face and knew he wasn't joking. A chill ran over him. 'I could have died? Just like that?' he thought.
"Mia told me you want to become an Adventurer." He said, scratching his head, "Word of advice: learn more about this world if you want to survive."
"Umm... what?" Al was still trying to process what just happened. He had trained for so many years, yet he could have died just like that? That absurd!
"Let me rephrase that. Your ass almost got lost in oblivion because you lacked the most common knowledge. Try and gain some, before this happens again when there is no one to save you." The events finally reconciled in Al's mind. "In Rivia, there is a place called Tudor University. Try and learn something there so you don't kick the bucket."
Al's mind slowly grounded itself again, realizing just how much he still lacked. "Tudor University? I'll look into it." He bowed his head, "Thank you for saving my life!"
"No problem, now get some sleep. I'll take the watch instead."
Al didn't need to be told that twice. He was feeling lethargic after somehow almost dying. He needed to sleep on it. "Thank you."
"Yeah yeah."