[Chapter Size: 1900 Words.]
Third Person POV
Northern kingdoms.
...
...
Still in Verden, near its eastern borders, a group of 10 people was analyzing an area in the treeless forest.
"So he passed through here..." one of the men said in a calm tone.
"Yes... this footprint is the only one in this treeless area..." Another person spoke as his eyes scanned the touched ground.
"So it's true... what kind of being jumps through the trees in the forest... he must be carrying the girl on his back." The witcher said to his companions.
"Well... stronger than a normal witcher, whatever that boy is... but let's see if he can handle 10 of us at the same time..." the first one spoke again with a smile.
"Anyway, let's keep going, and everything indicates that they went to Brokilon Forest... shall we follow them?" Another asked.
"Do we have a choice? I don't mind facing those Dryads... we're powerful enough to deal with plenty of them." The leader declared, not wanting to stop the hunt while the others nodded in agreement.
They then began to follow the trail where Madara might have passed, occasionally having to climb the trees to check if they were on the right path, getting closer to the river Madara had crossed.
"Are you awake?" The first thing Ciri did when she woke up was speak to Madara, who kept his eyes closed while the energy circulated through his body, much calmer than the night before.
"Yes..." Madara parted his lips but didn't open his eyes, staying focused.
"I'll make us some coffee then." She said with a small smile as she reignited the campfire Madara had set up yesterday and heated the water. She was a princess, and such tasks had never been necessary for her, but Ciri had been learning to do many things she had never managed before in the last month of traveling.
She finished heating the water and added the coffee beans Madara had left out for her to use, making her coffee with an extra cup for Madara, who remained in the same position.
Ciri grabbed a piece of fruit for herself and brought Madara's cup to him as she sat down, waiting for him to finish so they could drink their coffee. As she sat, she looked at him with the same touch of admiration she had felt yesterday, never having seen energy so visible to the human eye.
'So this is the energy he talks so much about...' Ciri thought, considering this unique power that Madara possessed, which, according to him, he was the only one who could wield, creating things very different from all the mages she knew.
Her gaze fell on the coffee that was starting to cool, making her pout, wanting Madara to consume what she had prepared at the perfect temperature.
Madara opened his eyes at that moment as his chakra faded from around his body, looking at his coffee. "You can't even hide your dissatisfaction, even when no one is looking." He commented calmly, picking up the coffee.
"You seem to know everything that's happening, even with your eyes closed..." She remarked, a little surprised, before continuing. "But you let it cool... you should try it; I made it myself." She said with a proud tone.
"Alright... let's see what you've made here." He spoke, spitting a bit of fire from his mouth without using hand seals, warming his drink a little before taking a sip.
"You seem like a dragon sometimes..." Ciri couldn't help but laugh, thinking of what she had just seen.
"..." Madara shrugged and drank the rest of the coffee before sighing and checking his surroundings. He hadn't fully controlled his current power yet, but it was much more stable than before.
"Is this the chakra you talked about?" Ciri suddenly asked, curious.
"Yes..." Madara calmly said, analyzing his hand as it glowed blue with chakra, now easily visible due to his immense amount of energy.
He had received many new jutsus as well and would need to start training them soon. But they would have to leave here first. He finished his coffee and opened his map.
"Can we find those dryads here?" Ciri asked, a little worried, still remembering her stay here, wanting to leave after passing the magical liquid test given by the dryads' leader.
"Possibly... but let's try to avoid them and head east," Madara said in a serious tone, unaware that they had already been noticed by the dryads.
"Shall we go then?" she asked, seeing Madara packing their things as her eyes fell on the sleeping bear.
"Yes... get ready. We'll leave soon," Madara instructed as she nodded.
After preparing, they began leaving the cave, with Ciri once again climbing onto Madara's back. They started walking through the forest, heading east after checking the sun's position, following its direction that morning.
"Madara..." Ciri spoke at that moment as they continued moving through the forest.
"Yes?" he asked, still moving forward, more alert than usual.
"I had a strange dream... I dreamed of Geralt arriving in Skellige, looking for us, and at the end, he entered a portal..." Cirilla said as Madara nodded at this.
"I see... I told him our first attempt would be to go to the location," Madara replied.
"But will we find him where you're taking us?" she asked, curious.
"Yes... as I said, we're going to the School of the Wolf," Madara said.
"Are you stronger than Geralt?" she asked.
"Yes," Madara said.
"I..." Cirilla, despite hearing this with some arrogance, was about to speak but couldn't even express herself before Madara swiftly jumped to the side, startling the girl as he placed a hand over her mouth to stop her from speaking.
"The dryads are ahead of us..." Madara whispered, glancing to the side of a tree, spotting a group of women wielding bows, their skin slightly greenish, while others looked more human, like amazons.
"Hold on tight..." Madara warned, and in the next moment, he moved silently through the trees.
The amazons didn't even notice the ninja passing above them as he continued towards the last one, still advancing.
"That was quite impressive," Ciri murmured, looking back as the dryads kept searching for any intruders.
They kept moving deeper into the forest until an arrow whizzed past them, not aimed at Madara but as a warning, stopping beside him as he perched on a tree trunk, looking down at a woman emerging from the ground, hidden by the trees.
"I'm quite impressed with your way of moving between trees... I've never seen anything like it, and when I saw it from a distance, I wondered a few times if it was real," the woman said with curiosity, her eyes quickly turning to the girl on Madara's back, able to easily see details from that 30-meter distance.
"I never thought I'd find you like this, Cirilla, or rather, Geralt's child of destiny," she said.
"Morenn!!" Ciri exclaimed in surprise.
"..." Madara remained silent between the two.
"Madara, may I see her? She saved me along with Geralt many years ago!" the girl exclaimed with some excitement.
Madara simply jumped down from the 10-meter-high tree, landing softly on the ground and letting the girl see her friend. After all, as far as Madara remembered, this woman had helped Geralt back when he was searching for Ciri and died trying to help him at the end of his journey.
"You've grown, girl, you're strong and even carry a sword now. Could you already take on a giant centipede?" Morenn murmured, looking at Cirilla with interest.
"I fought one yesterday... I cut it... but I wouldn't have lasted longer if it weren't for Madara," Ciri admitted with some timidity.
"I see... but you're certainly much stronger, as I always thought you would be. It's a shame you didn't join us," she said before turning to the boy nearby, observing him carefully.
"And you... I don't know you... tell me, are you human?" she asked cautiously.
"I am," Madara replied with a short, quick answer.
"You seem like a witcher... with that attitude, though I don't believe witchers run through trees like that... You passed all my sisters without being seen. I only managed to identify you with my magical medallion." She said, showing the piece around her neck. "It can signal the presence of non-dryad people, given to me by our leader." Morenn said with a smile.
"That's amazing!" Ciri said, stepping closer. "Could I have one too?" Ciri asked with a hopeful tone.
"Of course, if you come with me to Duén Canell..." Morenn replied.
At this, Ciri murmured, glancing at Madara, waiting for him to decide, while he was already shaking his head.
"We are not going to your dryad capital. We're leaving the forest right now." Madara responded with a firm tone.
"Well, that's a shame," Morenn said casually. In front of her, Ciri looked surprised as she saw a needle prick her neck before she could even react, causing Madara to narrow his eyes as Ciri collapsed, unconscious.
"What did you do?" he asked in a dangerous tone, having let his guard down because this woman had helped Ciri before, as she would help Geralt in the future. With Ciri more at ease with her, farther from him and closer to the dryad, he hadn't had time to react when she acted.
Morenn caught Ciri with a surprisingly gentle touch before turning back to Madara. "Sorry about that. But I just poisoned the girl. The antidote is in Duén Canell. So, even if you want to fight me, we'll have to go there," she said, hoping to lure them both to the capital, even by force, as she had a mission to bring them to meet her leader.
Madara didn't like this one bit. And unsurprisingly, his eyes turned into two Sharingans with three tomoe, even more powerful with 21% of his strength, and the dryad, who believed she was in control of the situation, was taken aback as those two eyes simply stunned her. She didn't even realize how much control of her body and mind she had lost, standing there like a statue.
Madara quickly began to scan everything about her with his Sharingan in her mind. He realized that she truly had no intention of harming Ciri and had only bluffed to force them to meet her leader. There wasn't even an antidote in the capital, and what she had applied wasn't a poison, but rather something to make Ciri sleep for a while. Madara could at least rest easy about that.
The scene in that part of the forest continued with Ciri still lying in Morenn's arms, and the woman still frozen in a trance while Madara assessed the situation in front of them, deciding what to do next. "Alright then..." he murmured, deciding. "Let's see what this leader has to say." He chose to play along.
Using his eyes, he placed her in a genjutsu where she wouldn't remember anything, ensuring that she believed she was still in control of the situation. She blinked quickly, somewhat dazed, before turning her attention back to Madara as if nothing had happened.
"Alright, take me to your leader... Follow me, and the girl will survive, I guarantee it." Morenn said, with Madara nodding. Morenn picked up Ciri and carried her, while Madara followed deeper into the forest ahead of them.