3 Chapter 03: A Fork In The Road
Geo grabbed Hikari's hand and set off towards the unknown. Before they left Geo had taken the chance to inform about the best place to go if he wanted to cultivate his elemental talents.
Within the Lizard on the Rocks there he had met a kind and old lizard, who told him about his past adventures... even about his hometown,
where it was flourishing with nature's way of life.
Most of his tribe tended to lean towards the spiritual awakening of shamanism and druidism where one tends to become one with the spirits of nature.
A big part of this was getting a better connection with the spirit realm to the smoking and purification of special herbs, which was why the age one had a wooded pipe with him.
Occasionally taking a zip before breathing it out towards the flammable pot above their heads.
In doing so the flame began dancing within the confined space and even grew larger as well as giving glimpses of different colors.
This intrigued Geo in a way as the aged lizard showed off a little of its talents. At the table where they were sitting a small bush was portrayed in the middle of it.
The aged one waved his hands around the bush in a playful manner before exhaling the purified smoke towards it. As the bush was now engulfed in it, slowly but surely something grew from within, only showing itself to them when the aged one put both his hands together. As he did, multiple flowers opened up within the bush, shifting colors...
Geo had never seen something like this ever before in his life! Within the background, Hikari became rather popular as she was playful and innocent.
The aged one told Geo about the land with riches of nature never seen before, lands rich with energy and spirits alike. A place where he could surely develop his talents to the next level!
About a continent known for having housed the tree Yggdrasil in the past. Upon hearing this Geo wasn't going to be stopped, he had to see this mythical and legendary tree which had been rumored to be part of the Norse and European Mythology of Earth.
It too was a part of this world, which made it even more intriguing, yet mysterious... because although this world was different, a lot of the mythological and fictional creations seemed to be real within this world.
With his talents for Nature, Wind, and Wood,
not to mention his talents to befriend almost any animal Geo knew that was where he needed to go.
The aged one showed him an ancient map as he continued his tales of old.
"This rich continent in history known as "Insert name here" everyone lived in harmony until "they" came along..."
"They?"
Geo asked caught up in the awesomeness of the story of the aged ones.
"Henchmen of nothingness, a creature who left nothing but ruin in their wake... The Terranoids... Horrible insecticide creatures which consumed everything within their wake.
We fought to the last man to protect the sacred three... As one of the sole survivors, I can tell you, nothing...
Nobody was even able to put a scratch on these horrifying, almost otherworldy creatures...
Nobody except "her"."
"Who?"
Geo asked not knowing what was going on at this point in the story.
"Who else? Mother Earth "Gaia" herself did!"
Ahe had summoned several warriors to protect the world from harm, and even with those heroes, all felt lost when finally the last warrior succeeded in calling their Queen which made the entire tribe collapse...
Almost like there was one collective.
A "Hive Mind" if you will."
"Unity!"
The only thing coming to Geo's mind was a similar collective within a science fiction game he used to play with his friends.
Geo now was truly sold and couldn't wait to set off towards the continent of "The World Tree".
The aged one assured him visiting the tree would greatly improve Geo's potential and pushed a dated but detailed map in his hands.
"With this, you should be able to find what you are looking for most! Well then, I have stalled you for long enough, off you go then!
Geo and Hikari said their goodbyes and quickly went on their way, but as it had gone on without any problems so far, they had arrived at their crossroads.
A fork on their path divided their options...
And now they needed to find the correct way to go...
As Geo wasn't sure which way to go and was about to turn right when Hikari stopped him, by gently pulling on his shirt.
"Isn't this why we accepted the map?
To find our way towards our destination?
Geo, are you sure we should turn right?"
Geo stopped for a moment to look back at Hikari.
"We don't need to check the map right away, do we? I say we go right, my guts are telling me we should head there!"
Hikari shook her head and shrugged her shoulders.
"Well... don't say I didn't warn you..."
The both of them turned right only to find a long straight path to open plains, in the distance trees could be seen, but for now, it was nothing but grass and open plains.
Was this the way they had come from?
While Hikari had warned Geo, she looked sure of herself, maybe that was because she knew where she came from?
Geo and Hikari kept on walking through the open plains and encountered all kinds of adventurers who had embarked on their journeys,
maybe even doing their first quest?
As there was an abundance of mobs on the plains. Slime, goblins... even huge frogs could be seen!
Something about this place screamed familiarity to the both of them, yet... Geo was the only one who couldn't place it for himself.
Hikari knew... but she decided it was best to let Geo find out himself. Which he did, once they finally reached the edges of the forest.
As they had reached the edge and were about to enter the forests they were all too familiar with,
Geo finally snapped out of his daydream about the colorful smoke the aged one had been exhaling.
Right then and there it dawned on him that it would have been best to go left where they had turned right... making them lose several hours of progress.
Well... Geo had the capabilities to create shelter for the night so he wasn't all that worried,
and since they already were within a forest...
Maybe the best way of action was to secure something to eat.
Geo turned to Hikari, wanting to apologize for his absent-mindedness, as he was about to tell her they could make the best of this to find some edibles, Hikari's Stomach began to growl.
The sun was setting so... It was now or never.
Upon hearing Hikari's stomach growl Geo laughed.
"Pfffttt It is the time to eat, isn't it? Haha.
Let's secure something to chow down on,
I'll prepare whichever we need.
"Hikari will help, she knows this forest like the back of her hand."
Hikari's help was appreciated as Geo began to learn more and more about nature from his newly introduced friend. It didn't take long before they had berries, fish, herbs, and some rabbits.
Enough for the both of them, you might say.
But before they had the chance to exit a rather large silhouette came rushing towards them.
Hikari got startled and began radiating purple light out of fear. This revealed the true identity of the beast. It was a boar! One of the children of the guardian spirit is known to roam the forests of Sharoo.
They thanked the forest for its sacrifice and Geo went head to head against the boar. Hikari still cowering in fear calmed down a bit as she had not been stricken by the beast. She looked up, to see that Geo and the boar were evenly matched.
Geo had used his wood elemental to tangle up the beast, but its tusks made short work out of them.
Geo smiled as he finally had found a formidable prey.
He slammed his hands together,
widened his stance and opened his arms wide.
What happened next looked like magic to Hikari.
Geo taunted and provoked the beast.
"Come at me swine!! I bet you can't beat my head on!"
The beast with a twinkle in its eyes fell for Geo's provocation and became furious. In a blind rage, the beast snorted and cried out to him before dashing at full speed towards him.
*snort* *oink* *oink*
Before the beast closed in on him, Geo began talking to himself as he had never battled or wrestled for that matter, with a wild pig before.
"Okay Geo, this is the moment, the moment where you'll be wrestling with a wild boar for the first time in your life. Don't make it your last!"
To hype himself up Geo slammed his hands against his face, focus soon returned to him as he shouted out with pride.
"COME AT ME YOU BEAST!!!"
