136 Phase 118: More and more

Meanwhile, Katrin was saying goodbye to Edward.

"You should have this." She offered him the money the J-Knights gave her for 'her share' of the Farm. "The Farm was never mine to begin with."

"Keep it. You earned it." Edward said, trying very hard to keep a straight face. It was a losing battle, but he did his best. "I'm going to miss you." His voice cracked near the end.

"I had a lot of fun here." Katrin told him sadly. "But I can't stay here any more. It's too dangerous. You understand, don't you?"

"I know." Edward said, starting to sniff. "You come back and visit now and then, you hear? You'll always be welcome here. You're like the daughter I never had…"

"Stop it, or you'll make me cry too." Katrin said, backing away as fast as she could bear.

"Who's crying?" Edward asked, turning away. "Good Journey, Katrin."

"Good Farming, Ed." Katrin said, and fled before the tears burst out.

The boy with the yellow scarf and the blue bunny was waiting for her outside. With him were two winged horses. "Shall we go?"

"Okay." Katrin said, mounting one of them.

He mounted the other, and they went down the road together, staying on the ground although they could well have taken to the skies. "Katrin… are you sure?"

"Sure of what?"

"Leaving the farm. You've been farming since your first night on Nakama World."

Katrin thought about that. It was a short ride from the farm to the village proper, and they rode in silence until at last, the road was flanked on both sides by angled buildings. Only then did she answer. "I am sure."

"What will you do?" he asked her then.

"What I should have done from the start. I am going to Travel." Katrin said, looking into the distance. "I'm going to explore Nakama World and all its wonders the way Travelers should. I'm going to seek out its secrets, scale its heights, learn its depths."

"Is that so…?" he paused. "It sounds good. But how exactly are you going to do that? What's your plan tonight?"

"I'm going to Skycrown Mountain with Satrox and ask the Mountain Princess some big questions." Katrin told him. "Then there are some important Tournaments going on that I want to watch. What about you?"

"I like the sound of that too." He answered. "Shall we go together?"

"Really?!" Katrin stared for a moment, eyes wide. "Wow… I mean… you're sure there's nothing else you'd rather do?"

"I'm sure." He answered. "I'll go with you."

***

They met in the skies over Iylara's Ocean Tower on their way to the Continent of Eternal Winter. Two winged horses soared on the high winds and came together in a V-formation together with a third winged horse, a Giant Spotted Hornet and a big Cloudy Lynxmouse.

Satrox, Henry and Rita waved in greeting as they joined up and the five of them made their way south together.

"Hey… isn't that…?" Rita peered at the boy with the blue bunny.

"Yeah." Katrin shrugged.

Henry cut in before Rita could ask any more. "Hey, you've been to the Continent of Eternal Winter, right? Do you think we're dressed warmly enough for it?"

Katrin eyed them. "Nope. Not even close."

Rita started a long, long monologue on clothing at that point, and nobody else could get a word in edgewise.

Sora and Lucy met them on his Giant Condor as they passed over Lamico. They were overtaken by a chartered flight of J-Knights also on their way to the Continent of Eternal Winter, carrying Sandy, Abby, and a dozen others.

Tonight, at least, the Continent of Eternal Winter was going to have a lot of visitors. All of them would be heading to Skycrown Mountain for the Tournament of Ascension.

They passed over the Scopic Pirates, Scopia and Banjo together on a huge oil tanker crowded with their Comrades and underlings… but the Scopic Pirates took one look at {this} group of Travelers going south and steered clear of them. They weren't anywhere near as strong as they used to be and going up against {these} seven was more than they were willing to face when there were easier prey about.

Shinji overtook their formation when they passed the Uber Marshes. He had five Storm Swans all loaded with passengers and looked to be in a hurry. Katrin had little doubt that as soon as he dropped off this bunch, he'd be going back for more.

Katrin and her friends passed a Skyship full of Breeders. Nami was the only one on it that she recognized. "What is that?!"

"That's the Celestial Comrade Home." Satrox told her. "It's the only Comrade Home in the sky. It's supposed to have the highest grade selections in Nakama World… and the highest prices. The sky's the limit in that Comrade Home, or so they say. A lot of their stuff are Jijin's breedings."

Even the Breeders were going south for the Tournament. More and more flying vehicles and Comrades became visible the closer they got to the Continent of Eternal Winter. By the time they reached Soft Snows Town, they could see groups of flying Travelers scattered across the horizon, all heading for Skycrown Mountain. Soft Snows Airport was beginning to fill up.

"We better stop at Soft Snows." Satrox added, eyeing Rita and Henry, both of whom were starting to huddle and shiver from the cold. They had brought thick jackets and double layers, but that definitely wasn't enough.

"I need to get changed too." Katrin admitted. She was wearing J-Knight thermo-regulated armor straight out of Hari's Team Equipment Locker, but she could definitely use an added layer of warmth. She glanced at her companion; he gave her a simple nod in agreement.

They tried to book rooms at the Soft Snows Inn, but already, they were almost sold out. They ended up having to share two rooms. Katrin crowded in with Rita and Lucy, then warped in her gear.

"What happened…?" she stared when her stuff appeared. "Where's the rest?"

"Ugh." Rita grimaced when three closets appeared. "I lost quite a few things over the past three deaths."

Katrin remembered then. {When you die in Nakama World, not only do you feel sick, you lose items too. I thought it was just the stuff we carry with us, but apparently 'everything not in a bank' includes the gear we have at home.}

Lucy patted them on the shoulders sympathetically. "Let me warp in my stuff. Maybe you can borrow some of mine."

Lucy's things crowded up half the room. After a quick rummage, though, she groaned. "I don't have anything for this sort of weather."

The three of them exchanged gloomy glances as they picked out what little they wanted and then added it all up. As one, they sighed.

"This won't do." Lucy looked over their mismatched assortment and got up. "Let's go shopping."

Katrin felt a wave of panic then. Between dying and spending, her savings weren't going to last very long. But she didn't seem to have much choice. {At least, I should take a look. Maybe there'll be some good deals.}

They trooped out only to find Henry and Sora trooping out at the same time, both of them with grimaces on their faces. "You too?" Henry asked.

"Yep." Rita suddenly grinned. Lucy hid her smile behind a hand.

Katrin threw up her hands. "You guys go ahead. I'll only be a fifth wheel on this double date."

"Come on, Katrin, it's not like that…" Lucy began.

But Katrin just shook her head again. "I'll just use the stuff I already have. I don't want to spend so much right now. Mind if I borrow yours?"

"You may, but… are you sure?" Rita asked. "I mean…"

"I'm sure." Katrin told them. "Go."

With a few glances back, the two couples left together. Katrin stood there in the corridor outside their rooms, glanced just once at the guy's room, then sighed, and went back to the girl's room. She took up the mismatched assortment of warm gear, put on as much as she could short of looking ridiculous, and decided to go get a hot meal if she could.

Fat chance. The Inn was really getting crowded now. People were bidding on the remaining rooms and paying already housed guests to share theirs.

With so many visitors around, Soft Snows no longer seemed the dreary, hostile place she remembered. There were too many outsiders, too many excited faces and voices for the grumpy locals to dampen the overall atmosphere.

Standing there outside the Inn, Katrin looked about for someplace to get a decent bite. Archie's Joint looked crowded already, and Denise's Diner wasn't much better. Katrin took one look at the Food Corner and gave up instantly. {There's no way.}

"Bruth?" The boy with a yellow scarf and a blue bunny appeared beside her and offered a bottle. He had put on a lot of heavy clothes…

Katrin's eyes widened, recognizing him now, and remembering. "You asked me that last night, didn't you?"

"You {did} want to know what would make the locals friendlier." The boy with the blue bunny reminded her.

Katrin blinked. "Are you saying that… this…?"

"Exactly." He put the bottle in her hands. "Don't worry, I haven't opened that one yet. It's all yours."

"That wasn't what I was worried about." She said. "I'm still wondering why a drink would help me make friends here."

"Try it." He advised. "Just try it."

Katrin opened the bottle and sniffed it cautiously. "What is it, exactly?"

"What does it smell like?"

"It smells like someone poured hot chocolate and coffee into ginger beer."

He nodded. "That sounds about right. Take a sip. Slowly."

The sip burned her tongue. Her nose hadn't misled her. The drink really did taste like that. But it also warmed her up at once.

"And the locals…" Katrin glanced about, eyeing them, noticing it at last. "They're all carrying this around."

He explained it to her. "Legend says this drink saved the original settlers of Soft Snows. They survived being snowed in, cut off from supplies for a week, because they had Bruth. It's more than just a drink to them. It's a part of their culture. Part of what makes them who they are. Or at least, that's the story."

Katrin groaned. "Why couldn't they just have picked a {mascot}?"

He laughed out loud then. Katrin was so surprised, she froze in a different sense of the word. Seeing him laugh so freely, so heartily… {is this even possible?}

Evidently, it was. Knowing what she did of him now, Katrin was amazed he could smile so honestly. Although, she had to admit, what she knew of him really wasn't that much yet.

"Come on. Let's get you something nice to wear." He offered her his hand.

Katrin, dumbfounded, took it and went with him to Canary Imports.

"I need an Import Link from the Higher Plane." He requested at the reception. "Erudite."

'Erudite' proved to be a brand. Katrin's companion flicked through a catalogue, made a quick selection, and in a minute, warped in a package with the Erudite label on it.

"This is for you. Try it on." He invited.

Katrin hesitated. "Um… are you sure? I mean… isn't imported stuff expensive?"

"I'm sure." He said, with absolute certainty. "It's a gift."

Katrin gulped, but did as he said.

Canary Imports had a luxurious changing room complete with a water dispenser in case she got thirsty, a couch, three-sided mirror and its own adjustable heater. It even had a table for her to open the package on.

Her jaw dropped when she saw what he'd gotten her. {A full body leather suit, black lined with yellow. It's thermo-regulated… no thermo-modulated, and it feels… it feels incredible. It LOOKS incredible. Lucy and Rita are going to be totally jealous.}

Suddenly fearful, she clutched it to herself. {It's okay right? It's okay for me to have this? To wear it? I mean… it's mine right? It's really mine?!}

She took a deep breath, put it on, and gaped when she saw herself in the mirror. {Oh. My. God. Maybe I better cut my hair or do something to look more plain. If I ever let mom put make up on me like she wants, anyone could be forgiven for thinking I'm posing for a magazine photo.}

Since she addressed Him, God replied, [Don't cut your hair.]

Nevertheless, Katrin was shaken. {There's no way I'm going to blend in anywhere like THIS!}

But still, she didn't take it off. It really {was} warm, and really, really comfortable. It felt like velvet and her favorite pillow all at once, and it covered her from neckline to toe. Katrin wondered what that low rumbling sound was before she realized it was herself purring.

{Stop that! Get a hold of yourself!} Katrin shook herself and marched out the door to face the cold, the world… and the boy who'd just given her the nicest clothes she ever had.

***

Jonah was grumbling to Larry about the cold (though he wasn't really bothered with it, not exactly) when they heard screaming from the Soft Snows Inn. Thinking someone's Comrade had gone Frenzied or some pack of White Wraiths had attacked the town, they and Hari's team dashed over to investigate, only to realize as they got closer, that the screams were of envy, not of fear or pain.

"That looks {awesome}!" a somewhat familiar voice shrieked. Jonah frowned, not sure where he'd heard it before, but it wasn't Alicia's. "Where did you {buy} that?!"

"Hey… that's Rita…" Larry began.

"I don't care." Jonah stomped off.

"Wait for me!" Larry called, stomping after him.

Hari was saying something about patrolling on this or that side of town to see if any of the outlaws on their Wanted List really dared show up during this Tournament, but Jonah wasn't listening. Larry was, he assumed. That should satisfy Hari. Jonah himself, however, wasn't satisfied. Not even close. The moment Hari was off the comms, he stopped cold. "Larry, what are we doing here?"

"Um… hunting outlaws? Providing security for the Tournament?" Larry guessed.

"Why are we here?" Jonah grouched. "We're cold all the time, our Comrades could all be turning into cold-types and we're not leveling them up or ranking up ourselves, and Alicia's not even here."

"Um… if you want to go level up…"

"The Wilds here are too strong. We don't have enough Comrades, or high enough levels to train here properly. We have to go back to Lamico, or Crescent Continent's dungeons. Maybe even visit Hourglass Continent or Savannah Continent."

"But I thought… I thought we were hunting outlaws…"

"What are you talking about? Alicia's doing all of that without us!" Jonah snorted. "Haven't you noticed the Bounty payouts? She's been killing Colin over and over."

"Oh." Larry thought about that. "Well, I guess we should go someplace else then. Pity. I was thinking that since we were here, we could at least tame some Frigid Rabbits. We really sold off a lot of Comrades for the Lamico Tournaments."

Jonah paused. It would be a waste to just leave like that after all they'd spent getting here. "Fine, but I want to tame at least two Hoarfrogs."

Larry made a face, but didn't protest. He knew better than to argue with Jonah.

"So… where are we going…?" Jonah brought out his map.

.

Map image:

https://imgur.com/Jxzu5dm

.

"Burrow Hollow." Larry pointed. "That's where the Frigid Rabbits are."

"And the Hoarfrogs are at the Timeless Lake." Jonah frowned. "That's right below Skycrown Mountain."

Larry shook his head. "No, that's {Southern} Crown Mountain. Skycrown is further south. It's in the middle of the Rainbow Glacier."

He brought out his own map.

.

Map image:

https://imgur.com/1mlxdqj

.

Jonah stared. "That's… really far."

"Yeah." Larry grunted.

"So that's why everyone's going south in groups. And every Traveler has squads of Comrades at his or her command… we're looking at whole armies going south to see this Tournament." Jonah snorted. "What's so special about it anyway?"

Larry scratched his head. "It's one of the three most important Tournaments on Nakama World?"

"Everybody says that." Jonah scoffed. "But nobody's ever told me why."

Larry was about to say something again, but Jonah waved it off. "Never mind. Let's just go."

Hari and Daud met them as they were leaving Soft Snows. "Hey, guys, where are you going?!"

"Winter's Daggers. Burrow Hollow." Larry answered before Jonah could think of something to say.

Jonah shot him a glare, and was about to whack him one over the head, but then Hari just nodded and said, "Good thinking. Everybody's headed there on the way to Skycrown. We need people keeping an eye out there too."

"Yeah. Of course." Jonah said curtly, and shot another glare at Larry. He mouthed '{Shut up}!'

Larry subsided, saying nothing as Hari and Daud wished them luck.

The Continent of Eternal Winter seemed strangely quiet as Jonah and Larry made their way south along the beacon trail to Burrow Hollow. There were very few Wilds in sight, and most of those had already been defeated by some earlier group. It was a long trip to Burrow Hollow and absolutely boring when there was nothing to battle.

By the time Jonah reached Burrow Hollow with Larry trailing behind, he was starving for a fight.

But it was too late.

"Where did all the Frigid Rabbits go?" Larry asked when he found the place practically empty of Wilds.

"Fought and Tamed and sold off to the Comrade Home already." Jonah's eyes narrowed. "All these visitors passing through… the village is practically next to the burrows themselves."

As if to prove his point, a red-headed, red-clothed girl went whistling merrily by with a dozen Tamed Frigid Rabbits and Frosty Rabbits.

"Hie! You there! Leave some for us!" Jonah barked.

"Oh?" she raised an eyebrow when they approached. "Why should I? You should have come for them earlier. Everyone else already came and got what they wanted."

"Sorry-" Larry began.

Jonah cut him off. "Scrap that! Just leave them behind and let us tame them!"

The girl snorted at him. "No. They're my Tames, fair and square. Go find something else to fight and tame."

"Hullo, are you {blind}?" Jonah snarled. "My friend here is a rabbit specialist! We're taking those rabbits!"

"Yeah, right." She scoffed. "I'm not letting you have them without a fight!"

"Then a fight it is!" Jonah howled. "I challenge you to an all-out duel!"

"Fine with me!" she stamped her foot. "Right here, right now! I'll take {both} of you on at the same time!"

That was it. Jonah had had it. He tapped his badge and called in his strongest, then and there. "Damnaith!"

His Night Mare appeared, just as the girl leapt back and tapped her badge. She called, "Lanta!"

A snow tomato appeared next to her. Jonah guffawed when he saw the walking plant, and called to his black Night Mare, "KILL that thing!"

"Don't even bother dodging." The girl told her Snow Tomato. "Just ice it."

Damnaith unleashed a blast of poison vapor. The little white plant-thing replied with a stream of cold waves. Frost began to form on Damnaith, but Jonah laughed at the tomato. {It's too slow. Damnaith's poisons are extremely potent. By now, it's paralyzed, likely losing HP, MP and points from all its main stats temporarily.}

He tapped his badge again and called, "Bat squadron!"

She touched hers and called, "Squirmia!"

On his side appeared a Vampire Bat and two Swamp Bats, dark green/black, head-sized, and ready to bite or scream down sonic or venomous death. On hers appeared a big fat worm.

"Hit it with all you've got!" he ordered his squad, pointing to the fat worm.

"Slime-skin, anesthetic layer." She ordered her worm.

Jonah had no idea how that was supposed to help the fat wriggly thing, but he wasn't done. Damnaith was his favorite, but he still had his strongest, a gift from the Green Men in compensation for kidnapping him. "Sadist!"

There she was. Twice his size and far more scary-looking. Sadist was a level 93 Black Widow Baronness, and entirely capable of summoning a swarm of lesser spiders to do her bidding. She started warping them in straight away.

The girl with red hair and clothes touched her badge and called, "Shar!"

There appeared a crystal golem of some sort.

"Swarm them over." Jonah told Sadist with a mean grin. "Web them up and torture them, a slow, agonizing death."

"Ignore the support spiders. Just go straight for the big spider." Red-girl told her crystal golem.

Jonah sat back, thinking of joining his Comrades with his Import Links, but already the odds were overwhelmingly in his favor. His forces were swarming all over hers. The poor girl didn't stand a chance! Already, he felt sure, Damnaith would be done with that pathetic plant-thing and about to crush the girl underhoof…

Damnaith fell over. Jonah blinked, completely taken by surprise as his highest grade Comrade (class-9, where even Sadist was class-8) simply keeled over sideways and landed in the snow with a loud THUMP.

"What the-?" Jonah stared. He glanced at the Snow Tomato, which was even now bobbing forward in attack. That's not possible! She hit him with a full blast of poison vapor! That poison should have… should have…

"Tomato plant leaves and stems are poisonous too. The fruit is anti-oxidant and health food for us, but that's beside the point. I trained Lanta's poison resistances a long, long time ago. All that poison vapor is more like a refreshment to him than a threat." Red-girl explained. "In fact, since all your Comrades are poison-types, I think Lanta alone could wipe out your entire group."

Jonah's eyes widened. {I need to change tactics!} He called to his Vampire Bat. "Bloodlust! Bite the… huh?"

His Vampire Bat and both his Swamp Bats were on the ground, completely unmoving. "What the…?"

"Anesthetic." Red girl reminded him. "Their sonic screams can't really hurt Squirmia, and their poison attacks don't get through her slime-skin. Also that slime-skin was boosted with a layer of anesthetic. In other words, when they bit her… they got drugged."

Jonah spun to Sadist, the one Comrade he could always count on…

Only to see her impaled with a crystalline spear and disappear along with her entire swarm of lesser spiders.

"It's over." Red girl announced. "You're out."

"How…?" Jonah stumbled back. "It was a whole army against three…"

"I just explained it to you!" she said, exasperated. "Go learn how to use your Comrades properly. Sheer numbers aren't going to help you much out here."

"Wait!" Larry jumped in. "{I'm} the one who wants those Frigid Rabbits!"

"Fine." She said. "Bring it on."

"Um…" Larry scratched his head. "Actually, since you're selling them… can I buy them from you? I mean, you did all the hard work for them…"

"Well… that's reasonable." she sighed. "Let's talk."

***

Larry blew half his winnings from Lamico on a squad of four Frigid Rabbits.

"You could have gotten those for free." Jonah grouched as they turned and headed for the Forbidden Mountains. There was no beacon trail directly from here, but how hard could it be to find a bunch of mountains in a snow-land?

"I didn't want to fight - you did. I just wanted the Frigid Rabbits." Larry shifted. "Each one is about level 50. I'm up two hundred levels."

Jonah scowled. {Rearing rabbits must be really easy. Larry's total levels are climbing like crazy. But that's his theme. Rabbits. Maybe because the Gaians gave him a Boss Bunny in compensation after they nabbed us. They gave me a Night Mare, a Black Widow, and a Bobcat. That's why I went for poison-types; it was what two of my three best Comrades had in common. But Larry? He went for rabbits from the very start, even before he got the Boss Bunny. And Alicia…}

Jonah sloughed on through the snow, ignoring yells from people saying they were going the wrong way to reach Skycrown Mountain. He knew where he was going and what he was doing. He wasn't going to listen to them, and he was not going to think about {that girl}.

Larry went with him, happy with his new rabbits, and not mentioning his sister as they wandered off into the white.