As I gazed up at the dense foliage of trees ahead of me, I exhaled the breath I'd been holding in since leaving the quarry behind.
"What in the Hel am I doing walking into danger like this?"
I could still hear the wolf's cry that my fellow novices couldn't. Convenient.
"No point standing around out here debating whether I'm going insane or not." My fingers tightened on the handle of my pickax. "Adventure comes calling… and I always answer."
With that bit of self-encouragement, I took that much-needed step through the gap between the trees—thereby shrugging off the doubt weighing on my mind—and crossed into the Wandering Wood determinedly.
The light of the afternoon sun went away as soon as I stepped into the embrace of the woods. The canopy of leaves above me was so dense that it blocked out Yggdrasil's glow as well.
I pulled out my hearthstone and whispered, "Kenaz."
