Finding Their Way

"Common, we've dallied enough, we should start trying to figure out where we are, so we can start making our way to Orario. There's only a year left before Bell goes to Orario, we should at least be settled in by then, since we're short on time" Cassian said. 'We really are short on time before shit hits the fan, that is why we sho-ghk!' suddenly he was interrupted by a sharp pain in his head before hearing a voice.

"Ah, I see you two have gotten used to your new bodies and even experimented a bit with magic. I'm happy you're enjoying yourselves! I contacted you to let you two know something. Remember when I told you this was an alternate universe? Yeah, that means there are some changes that differentiate it from the one you're familiar with. Nothing that would disrupt you too much, so you shouldn't get all paranoid, but there are some small changes and some BIG ones." Suddenly the voice of Jump-chan entered their heads. The pain swiftly went away and they concentrated instantly on her words.

"I decided to let you know one of the changes in store. Quite an important one. You see, I don't like too many things being jammed into a short span of time and being constantly hit over the head by one big event after another. So, I decided to get rid of the 1-year time limit that was imposed on the original. Bell's growth rate, if he still gets his special skill, will be much slower and the canon events, if they still happen will be more spaced out. That'll give you two breathing room too, so you are not stressed all the time. Now, I've talked enough and will be on my way. I'll drop by from time to time to have a conversation or to inform you of something important. Farewell!" And with that, the connection was cut.

"Huh, well that's awfully good to hear, I was worried we'd be going up against that dragon in 2 years time only. Good to hear that we can actually enjoy our time here instead of being in a mad rush to grow as fast as possible." Cassian smiled. It was a relieving piece of news and he was happy for it. He was a bit worried about the changes Jump-chan talked about, but he had a feeling they were mostly end-game type of settings that the original Danmachi had not even reached yet, so it didn't matter.

"Yeah, I'm glad too, while I want to get stronger, I didn't want to spend 24/7 in the dungeon, after all, what's the point of all this if we don't have fun." Nico felt relief, confronting all the crap the original threw at everyone was a bit daunting for him as he was basically still a kid. Cassian tried shielding him from all of the darker elements of their neighborhood and while it was impossible to shelter him from everything, Nico was a lot closer to a normal child than his brother.

"Uhhh, where do we go anyway?" That was a good question. They were in the middle of a forest so how do they make their way out? 

"Give me a second." Cassian's first plan was to simply pick a direction and go, eventually they'd make it out somewhere. But he thought better of it. What's the point of super senses if one doesn't use it. He shushed Nico and then did his best to concentrate on his hearing. It led nowhere, there was too much noise and he couldn't make out any individual noises when he expanded his awareness as far as he could. Too little experience with this. But then he got an idea.

Sitting down cross-legged, he entered his meditative state again, this time remaining partially aware. He concentrated on his hearing again but now started filtering out the useless noises. The plants, the birds, the insects, the animals. And finally… There! He heard something resembling chatter. It was mumbled and incomprehensible but it was definitely people talking. 

"I hear a group of people around 2 kilometers (1.25 miles) from here, they're talking, we should go check it out and ask them about our location and nearest civilization. Be careful though, even if it's not Orario and we should be capable of handling most of what the outside world is capable of throwing at us, we should still be cautious." Cassian stated and Nico nodded before following him.

In 20 minutes they made their way over the the people Cassian heard. Cassian could clearly hear them and make out their conversation when they got within 1 kilometer of them. They were talking about mundane everyday stuff, things you could expect from normal folk. Apparently, they were sort of guards for a city considering their whining about guard duty, relief shift, and boredom.

"Let me do the talking." The brothers exited the final brushes that were concealing them and made their over to the guard tower, which basically looked like a really cool tree house. When the guards saw them, they tensed up and stopped talking, letting the two approach within an acceptable distance before stopping them.

"Halt! State your identity and business here." Normally outsiders are rarely ever allowed within elven forests due to their isolationist nature, but seeing as the two newcomers were also elves, they became relaxed as they were one of their own. Although the leading figure's eyes were freaking them out, he had slit eyes like a beastfolk, and yet was clearly an elf. They couldn't figure out what was wrong.

"Greetings, my name is Cassian Suncrest and this is my brother, Nikolaos." The brothers decided that they wanted a new surname to be something appropriate for elves and considering they were not the slightest bit attached to the surname they got from their parents, it was easy to change. They settled for a surname inspired by Warcraft's naming style for elves.

"We appear to have been lost and were hoping for guidance, we were attacked on the road by bandits, they wanted to rob and capture us, but we were able to get away. We have been running since then for almost two days but were forced to abandon all our supplies, so as to not slow us down. Could you be so gracious to help us?" Crafting a lie on the spot was as easy for Cassian as breathing after all the times he had to create elaborate stories to avoid punishment from the matron.

The elves in the guard tower gained a look of sympathy on their faces for their fellow brethren, but still maintained a cautious stance. They glanced at the swords on the taller elf's back and inquired about it. The guard captain spoke out again.

"Those swords on your back indicate you are a swordsman and judging by your build and muscles, I would say quite a competent one, and yet you say you ran away from bandits?" After all, he looked muscled enough that even they doubted their ability to contend against him in terms of physical prowess. Which was quite a rarity too, as elves leaned more towards slender and leaner builds. Cassian was by no means super bulky, but when compared to other elves…

"I may be a decent fighter, but I cannot fight against more than a dozen bandits now can I? Especially when I have my little brother to protect, I do not have a Falna after all." At that they nodded their heads in understanding, fighting against a dozen people would be heard for even the best of fighters. Even more so when protecting someone and the brother in question looked far more like a typical elf with his slender non-fighter build.

Nico was annoyed at the insinuation that he was weak, but stayed silent. He knew better than to screw up his brother's ploys.

"Very well, we are currently located in a forest called the Yenite Forest. It is located between the nations of Beltane and Telskyura, east of the Kaios Desert. May I ask, where you were heading before this?" The guard captain continued, deciding that they seemed trustworthy and there was no reason to be paranoid. If they were of other races, then their treatment would be much different, though the elves of the Yenite forest were not as opposed to other races as much as elves from other forests.

After all, Yenite forest was isolated from the main Alf's royal forest and the forests surrounding it. Adding on top of that being surrounded by other nations, which inevitably led to interspecies trading, they were a lot more open-minded than elves generally tend to be. Though the amazons of Telskyura were troublesome, to say the least… Thankfully they were not targeted as much due to the Amazon's fascination with strength and the elves' tendency for more frailty than other races.

"We were heading for Orario. It is our desire to become adventurers and we are hoping to do that in the motherland of adventurers although now we have deviated from the path quite a lot." Cassian answered freely, he had no intention of staying here, and telling them that would serve to reassure them more, as they would know they weren't planning anything in their nation.

"Oh, so it is like that, It is a dangerous path you have chosen, but it is your life and not my place to intervene. Anyhow, you asked for our assistance, what do you need? If it is reasonable we will try to help." Becoming an adventurer was not looked at fondly by most elves, but considering Yenite was between two strong nations with their own Falna enhanced individuals, not having any themselves would be suicide.

As such Yenite has become home to several deities and familias for the safety of their nation. Attracting gods was not particularly hard either, especially gods who leaned more towards the intellectual side. The reason for this was that Yenite Forest housed Elves who valued information and wisdom above all, which led to the creation of a glorious and magnificent library in their Sacred Tree. One of the best and biggest on the continent. Quite the appetizing lure for bookworm gods.

"I was hoping we could go to the nearest civilization so we could resupply first and foremost. After all, we can't travel empty-handed. Afterwards procuring a map for directions towards Orario would be great and then we'll be on our way."

"That is reasonable. Darvus, Corin, and Vina guide them toward the city and help them out in their tasks before reporting back here. As for you two, do you wish to spend the night here? It is almost noon and it would be better to travel in the morning" The captain gave out tasks to three of the elves at the tower.

"No, it is quite alright, the sooner we set off the better." Was the quick answer from Cassian. He had enough stamina and strength to travel through the night if need be. If Nico grew tired he could carry him. On top of that, with his night vision, it did not matter to him whether it was day or night.

With that the conversation ended, the brothers thanked the guard captain and bid him farewell, before following the three elves to the city.

They walked for around 40 minutes before finally reaching the elven city and to say the brothers were blown away was an understatement.

The city was not really what normal people would call a city. Instead, it was suspended in the air. The homes and buildings were all located high up on the trees instead of the ground. They looked cozy and comfortable, like an amazing treehouse built by a millionaire. The trees themselves were interconnected with bridges, which were being traversed by people. Streams and small rivers flowed on the ground between the trees and in them were green glowing crystals, giving the whole place an otherworldly look.

(Images)

It was beautiful…

Nico was giddy with excitement. He never was a fan of modern cities. Too stuffy for him. But this? This looked like it came out of a fantasy setting. Which made sense considering where they were…

Both of the brothers thought about how cool it would be to live in a place like this, atop trees.

But all of this faded into the background when they set their eyes on the center of the elven city. There, stood a gargantuan tree, reaching far up into the sky. Its inside was half hollow and was filled with various buildings. The most prominent among them was the castle, where the royalty of this nation most likely resided. And the second largest building was the Great Library of Yenite, which could honestly be compared to and maybe even exceed The Great Library of Alexandria. The sight kinda reminded Cassian of the Na'vi Home Tree.

This was the heart of the Yenite Forest. The Great Holy Tree. (Image)

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I know a lot of you will be worried about Bell showing up and leaving them in the dust but be assured that won't happen. While he still will get Liaris Freese, it will be nerfed. I always found his growth speed ludicrous and damaging to the story. So instead of leveling up every 1-2 months, it will be 6-12 months. 

The primary reasons for this are: 1) I don't want to cram the entire story in a year, as the original author intends to and 2) I don't want Cass and Nikolaos to grow too fast and leave everyone in non-relevance like Bell. In the original Bell grew too fast and as a result has left behind almost everyone, especially his familia, in fact instead of being irrelevant they've become dead weight. I don't want that to happen here, I want other characters to grow too and be relevant to the story, instead of making this a power trip.

Now I think I've rambled more than enough. If you have any questions, feel free to ask and I'll see if I can answer them.