Trekking through the forest (IV)

"Fufufufufufu," Agnis's bell-like voice chuckled, her hands covering her mouth.

"What are you laughing at?" Zero's head swiveled over towards his back. The intensity he had around himself disappeared and was replaced by confusion. This whole time, the air around them was serious, and Agnis just broke it with a snap of a finger with her laugh.

Agnis reached over and patted his neck. She then pointed towards his shoulder, where his baby-size wing was fully opened. Her hand reached over and poked his wings a couple of times.

"So cute. When you got angry, your wings opened up and started to flap. It looked like you were trying to cause a fury of the wind, but all it did was flap around so cutely that I couldn't take my eyes off it."

Zero wasn't sure what to say; maybe it was a bad idea to let her ride on his back, especially because it seemed like she won't stop attacking his poor little wings. He wished his wing would hurry up and get bigger as soon as possible so she wouldn't make fun of him. But, unfortunately, his life was on the line whenever she played around with his wings.

He already had a headache from her childish behavior, but at the same time, he couldn't help but watch her cute smile. These days, he's been watching her increasingly, her actions becoming cuter by the second. Sometimes, he thought that her whole persona seemed to sparkle with life, making it even more difficult to look away. Finally, he had to tear himself away before he was caught staring for too long.

With a loud cough, he caught her attention. Her hand was itching to tackle his wings again, but he stopped her just in time. "We should be going. The army will move out soon, and we wasted twenty minutes."

"Ah." Agnis straightened herself, pulled back her white hair as if nothing was wrong, and nodded. She was back to the cold elf princess attitude that she usually wore on her face. The nobility could come second to the elf queen, making it charming. People mistook her at times since the beginning for an elf nobility from the way she carried herself and the clothes that she wore.

Now that he thought about it, her armor had changed to make her features stand out even more. She wore silver and black armor that was a mix of an armored skirt. On her shoulder were feathered clothes wrapped around her like a scarf, and even the high-knee shoe covered most of her legs. A crown-like headband covered half of her head, letting her white hair drape downwards to her chest with her elf ears peeking out to the side. The only part of her skin showing off was her face and a few of her legs; the armor covered up the rest that she wore.

Even an elegant elf bow tip with feathers was strapped to her back, and on her side were two swords, one longer than the other. She looked like a warrior elf princess; her right hand rested on the hilt of her sword as she gazed off towards the city exit. Her sitting on a large black and gold dragon made it even more intimidating and regal, especially for someone like him. He was considered a rarity in the dragon species. Honestly, he was the only one alive in the world he knew of.

"Well then, let's go." Agnis waved her hand in front of her; her heels clicked on my side.

Zero felt like a horse. His eyes squinted toward her, and her mouth opened to say something, but Agnis interrupted him.

"What are you waiting for? You said we'll be late, right?"

"Yea…"

"Then let's go!"

Zero gave a defeated sigh, his shoulder slumped, and he started moving towards the southern gates. They continued through the tall elven buildings, a mix of plants and trees, which made up half the building. Just walking down every corner of the city floor was an exotic artwork that naturally blended in with the environment.

They eventually made their way toward the front of the gates, where thousands of players were present. People were divided by guilds and parties, and quite a few were solo players. When Zero's group stepped out into the field, everyone turned their gaze toward them.

"We bring quite the attention to ourselves, don't we?" Valiant chuckled. "Especially our captain here." He walked up from behind Zero's left.

"So what?" Sekka replied, not caring about the states that she was given. A majority of the female side of the group gazed at her with excitement. Her presence as a gold dragon was more angelic and calming than Valiant. "Just ignore them."

Valiant, a black dragon, had a heavy dark atmosphere around him, making the people near him tense. He looks like an evil dragon that came out of a fairy tale. With one look, the people turned their gaze away from him and continued doing their work.

People split ways for Zero's party as they moved towards the center. Then, finally, they settled down and waited for the event to start.

"Hey, Zero!" Zeraph's voice called out in the dense crowd. He squeezed his way past the thick crowd of people.

"Zeraph, what took you so long?" Zero asked. Zeraph was usually the type to be on time, but today he wasn't. Instead, he looked a lot more winded than usual.

"I had to finish up a quest." Zeraph quickly replied. He bent over, trying to catch his breath.

"That's what took you a while, huh."

"Yea, you wouldn't believe the number of tasks I had to check off. I was moving around for a chain quest as some delivery service." He snorted, straightened himself, and ran his hair backward.

"Chain quest?" Zero cocked his head. "That would do it to you."

Zeraph grumbled under his breath. "I was lucky enough to finish it just in time, or I wouldn't have made it here today. So let's get this quest over and done with."

A loud blast of a horn trumped outwards. Everyone turned their attention toward the sound,

wondering what was causing it. What people saw next were tens of thousands of elven troops wearing green and silver armor, covered from head to toe. They walked towards the group of players and stopped in front of them in a rhythmic beat.

Liam, the human general of the Elven Queen, stepped out, riding on a brown horse with his helmet wrapped in his hand near his waist, gazing out towards the players. His voice became low but loud, catching everyone's attention with a shout.

"Thank you all for coming here today. It is my pleasure to lead you toward our Holy expedition. Seeing so many young and old willing to serve our Elven Queen brings great joy." A stern gaze scanned around the surroundings. "We are headed to ancient lands shrouded by mystery for thousands of years. We take this step forward towards bringing glory once again to our people."

People hung onto his every word, excited at the adventure to come. They all knew that the Dark Continent was considered a danger zone, especially because of the large number of high-level monsters roaming the land. However, the countless treasures explored terrains, and even gaining new lands was possible.

"Now, with the combined forces of the queens and adventurers alike, we shall reclaim our Holy Mantle that brought glory to this city for many generations!" He yelled with enthusiasm, lifting his helmet in the air. "Let us proceed for the glory of the Elven Queen!"

Everyone cheered into the air with wild enthusiasm. Liam put his helmet on his head and spurred his horse forward. The giant army lurched forward into a steady rhythm, heading down south towards the Dark Continent.

Zero and his group followed behind. Days passed as the armies marched slowly toward the south. There wasn't much fighting going on through the dense forest.

They talked, camped, and continued walking onwards behind the Elven army. The journey on

foot was less exciting and fun than many people thought it to be. Instead, it was a repetition of the day as they strolled, lugging the supplies behind them.

Zero and his group eventually made their way toward the edges of the border of the Fire Continent. The sharp contrast of the scenery changed from the lush forest to open rolling plains. There weren't many trees, but tall yellow grass appeared at the waist. Even the monsters were more skittish, running away from the large moving army that slowly descended upon their habitat.

As the army emerged from the trees, Liam shouted to a halt. "Halt!"

Everyone stopped, waiting for what their general would do and say.

"We are at the borders of the Fire Continent; this is my last chance to tell you all that you can turn back now. What we face in these plains are not just monsters we fight in the Fire Continent, but monsters of legends!" His voice was harsh and to the point. "There is no remuneration if you turn now, but once you cross into the plains, I will not tolerate any disobedience! Do you understand?!"

"Yes!" Adventurers and soldiers yelled, but no one moved.

"Good. Then follow me!" Liam was the first to step into the open plains without holding back. He didn't show fear or worry and dived straight in. The soldiers followed his example effortlessly while the Adventurers glanced around to see if others would back down. So far, no one stopped moving and headed into the thicket of the grass.

Throughout the afternoon, the hot, beating sun-scorched downwards on the soldiers and Adventurers, making them sweat every step they took. Hours went by until, finally, the sun started to set.

General Liam stopped the soldiers from advancing and ordered everyone to step up to camp. Soldiers and players busily moved around as tents were set, food was cooked, and even fire started.

On the other hand, Zero didn't need to put up the tent. He was too big to fit inside the tent he brought along with him. Even now, the food problem has become much more problematic than before. His large body took three times more than usual, and all he brought was enough for a one-month trip for a human body. Now the food that he has left for a good two weeks. He didn't know how long this trip would last and knew that he had to hunt for food very soon.

Walking over towards the half-made tent that Agnis was working on, he flopped down next to it and sat waiting for her to finish.

Agnis had most of her armor off; she brushed back her white hair over her ears and gave a satisfied grunt when she was complete. Then, turning around, she gazes up at Zero with a frown.

"Why haven't you changed yet?" Her hand was on her hips.

"Can't shift."

"Can't shift? Since when?"

"Since my wings erupted from my back."

"Wait, why?"

"I don't know, but until it's fully grown. So I'm stuck in this form."

Agnis thought it over, her finger tapping the side of her hip. "That will be a problem, especially your food intake."

"Yeah, I noticed."

"Do you want to go out hunting tonight? So we can stock up on meat that we will desperately need."

Zero nodded. "That would be a good idea."

"Well then, I'll call Sekka while Valiant watches over our things."

"Good idea, plus I was getting tired of just lazily walking with nothing to do these past few days." Zero groaned. "I can't wait to shred a couple of monsters with my claws."

"Yea, yea. Don't go crazy on me yet." Agnis patted my side. "Give me a moment, and I'll call everyone over."

"Sure."

Agnis turned around and started to call the others through her friend list. Zero, on the other hand, sat and waited. During the time that he waited, he felt a strange presence swamping the field. Something was out there, making him feel antsy, and the presence was getting closer and closer.

A high-pitched scream erupted in camp, making everyone freeze up what they were doing. Zero bolted up onto his legs and scanned into the dark. What he saw made him tense up.