The next morning, Max woke up Elly and they continued their journey towards Atlanta Kingdom, the sky was clear and there were no clouds in sight, the sun was shining brightly and the grass was green, but the two adventurers didn't pay attention to this scenery as they were focused on getting to the nearest city.
"How long until we reach the kingdom?" Max asked his companion, who was still walking behind him.
"I'm sorry... I don't know..." she apologized, "but it shouldn't be too long as I heard the elders of my village say that the Flavip Forest was a good spot for starting adventurers who want to level up, so there must be something where to sleep near it..."
Max nodded, he knew that the forest was indeed a great place for beginners as it was where he made his debut, but he didn't expect them to build a town or anything near it, maybe a small inn at most.
"Well, we should be able to find something soon then," he said, "it's better to arrive before the sun sets."
Elly didn't respond and just followed him silently, she was nervous about arriving at a kingdom as she had never left her village before, and now she was suddenly traveling with a human boy she barely knew because he saved her from her toxic environment and from that group of orc that wanted to eat her.
'What am I even doing?' she thought, 'he might just kill me when we arrive...'
She shook her head, trying to get rid of these negative thoughts, she needed to trust him if she wanted to survive, and so far he had done nothing to make her doubt him, she would probably stay with him even after they reached the kingdom as she didn't have anybody else, so she just hoped he wouldn't kick her out.
Of course, on their way to their location, they had to fight several monsters, and by then, it was mostly Max just diving in and stopping anything from approaching Elly, who most of the time held onto Max's ragged clothes or hid behind a rock.
Max had absolutely no survival instinct, which was the result of the many years of being in a technological world where you could order anything using a simple click of your smartphone, yet here he needed to do everything on his own, and that's when Elly came in to help as she was used to leaving in the wild.
"This is comestible," she became a pro as soon as it came to that and would point to all the monsters that were edible and delicious, right now she stood in front of a boar that had tried to attack them from behind.
So using his "assassination" skill, he cut all the essential parts and meat from that thing and allowed Elly to do the rest.
She skillfully took the skin off the monster and cooked it over a fire she had made with her magic, something Max hadn't expected a goblin to do, but he could guess that as she was half-breed, she probably was able to do so.
"Here," she handed him a piece of the meat, "it's ready."
Max nodded and ate it, he was hungry after walking for so long and it was really tasty, he wondered how she was able to cook it so well.
"Thank you," he thanked her, "you're very skilled at cooking."
"I... I always helped the elder women in my village to cook, so I learned a few tricks here and there..." She blushed at the compliment and looked away.
And just like that, they continued eating until they were full, they still had plenty of meat left, which would last them a few days before they had to hunt again.
"We should continue moving," Max stood up and dusted his pants, "I really wanna sell those monster cores so that we can rent a room and finally sleep in a bed..."
Max realized that Elly was much more crafty than him, because using some quick materials here and there, she had crafted a bag where they would place all the monster cores of the creatures the young assassin had killed, making his reserve bigger, and also meant that more money could be earned.
Elly nodded and followed him, she was feeling quite happy as she had finally found someone who cared about her, and she couldn't wait to see what the future held for her.
***
It had now been a few days since they had left the forest, but the young boy and girl didn't give up, they wanted to reach the Atlanta kingdom whatever it took.
[You are close Host, do not worry]
'You've been saying that for days already you shitty divination...' Max thought as he read the words, he was currently carrying a bag full of monster cores in one hand while also carrying the half-goblin girl on his back as she had fallen asleep.
He didn't mind though, he was stronger than ever and he felt like he could carry her forever if he had to, which was why he didn't complain when she asked him to carry her.
"Good morning..." she yawned as she woke up, rubbing her eyes with her tiny hands, she didn't let go of the boy though, enjoying the fact he was carrying her like a princess to safety and trying to hide her blush as hard as she could, fortunately enough though, Max didn't turn around to look at her.
"G'morning," the boy replied, not even caring to ask her to get out from him as it didn't bother him.
And that's when the two finally saw it: a giant gate surrounding a massive kingdom, which could only be Atlanta.
"Wow..." Elly gasped in surprise, she had never seen such a beautiful place in her life, and she was now more than excited to go inside and explore the place, it was massive and could probably hold millions if not tens of millions of people, and she was right as the population of the kingdom was indeed very big.
"We're finally here," Max smiled, he had been waiting for this moment for so long, "let's go."
"WE DID IT!" Elly suddenly cheered and hugged the boy's neck tight, making their body as close as they ever were and her chest pressed onto his back, which did cause a bit of a reaction as he was still young, "O-oh, I'm s-sorry."
And so the duo walked towards the kingdom after that interaction.