Ed, Eclair, and Sabrina bid their farewells to Rose. The journey might take months for them, and it was impossible to tell how long it would take for Sigma… once they left the building, Ed guided them to the stable of the city, and they found some horses, but Ed only grabbed two.
"Only two?" Sigma frowned.
"Yeah, these are battle horses. After all, Eclair and Sabrina will have a hard time handling them," Ed replied. "Actually, do you know how to ride?"
"I don't remember… let's check it out," Sigma said and then approached a massive black horse that looked quite ominous from the side.
Without hesitating, Sigma approached and patted the animal on the back, and then the creature looked a bit more relaxed, and then Sigma climbed it with no problem. It felt natural, just like making the animal move around as well.
[You learned the passive Horsmanship]
[Horsemanship: passively increases your attack power when using melee weapons by one point per level.]
Sigma made the animal throttle and then a light gallop before going full speed in a circle. He didn't know how well he would perform on a long ride, but it seemed that he had the skills.
"You have experience, or you are a natural," Ed said and then frowned while looking at his sisters.
"I will go with Sigma. His horse gives me a lot more confidence," Sabrina declared.
The truth of the matter was that Eclair still was pretty reserved when it came to Sigma. He couldn't remember hearing her voice until now, after all. In any case, that was the least of his problems.
After analyzing his actions and the things he did in the last few days, Sigma couldn't help but assume that Saria was really his sister. It would be weird if that weren't the case. Why would someone go to such lengths for a random kid… his feeling of duty must be because of their blood relation.
"That or is it because she is the only person that I remember," Sigma thought while Sabrina was climbing the horse.
"Please… don't space out while riding such a horse. I am a frail woman, after all," Sabrina said.
Sigma shook his head, he was leaving the safety of the city, and he had to put his head in the game. Before Sabrina could assume that he had just negated her statement, he explained things.
"Are you thinking about your relationship?" Sabrina asked. "Well, I guess she is the only one who can answer that… but isn't it fine that she is important enough for you if you keep thinking about her?"
"I suppose…" Sigma said. "Still, I feel like you are the last person I should confirm that kind of thing with."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Sabrina furrowed her eyebrows, but then the horse began to move.
Ed began to ride as well, and he guided Sigma. Eventually, they reached the other wall, and Sabrina used some earth platforms to make them move over it. Sigma kept his bow at hand on the other side of the wall while looking around.
The area was way less green than the area before, it had many rocks, and the ground looked a lot more lifeless since it resembled a bit of a desert… there were even some plants that turned into stones. Now it made sense that such an area would be chosen for hyenas to live, but not the bird monsters that Sigma heard about.
In the distance, Sigma saw some large rocks that were one hundred or two hundred meters tall… he wondered if the bird monsters would make their nests in such locations.
"The monsters don't live that close to the walls, but it has been a week since we sent people here to check the area," Ed said. "If the number of monsters is small, Sigma and Sabrina will take care of them. If not, then we will stop and engage directly."
Sigma wasn't sure of how he should feel by the fact that Ed was taking the reins of the journey… Rose said that they were accompanying him to help, but they also had their own mission. Since he seemed more experienced when it came to traveling, he decided to watch and learn until he decided or do something that might be detrimental to his own goal.
As the group rode the horses and moved away from the walls of Geolia, the temperature began to increase, and the wind started to feel drier. For the time being, they would be fine, but it was early in the day, so Sigma wondered for how long things might become troublesome.
"I feel like the change in the environment is a bit unnatural," Sigma muttered.
"That is because the magic nature of the monsters changes the environment they live in," Sabrina explained. "You saw those giant creatures, they work for the demons, but they don't move around much. Still, since they are a mix of aquatic and earth-type beasts, that area south of the wall is quite green. The double-headed hyenas use wind and earth magic, while the Verdiris use wind magic. That is why things here are windy and desertic."
"It has always been like that?" Sigma asked. "Even before the gods went silent?"
"Yes, the monsters always had that kind of ability. That is why we worked to decrease their numbers while the gods avoided the disasters beyond our hands," Sabrina nodded.
Sigma furrowed his eyebrows. He wondered why monsters could do that… it would make sense if their leaders alone could do that, the ones that could become insanely strong and multiply their numbers like rain droplets.
In any case, it seemed that they got lucky as they moved since they didn't find any signs of enemies even after two hours. That was a good sign, but Sigma noticed that Ed looked worried.
Eventually, he signalized for everyone to stop since he could smell something in the air… the smell of death.