Chapter 1 Part 3

Alright, all the stuff to find out later has passed and we pick back up when Mylzronth and Reiki are saying their goodbyes to the others.

"I'm going to find the little one's parents then head back to my guild, I hope to see you there soon." Mylzronth says.

"Yeah, we will definitely be taking the exam for that when we graduate." Heather says.

"We'll heed your warning about Christopher's inner Affinity soup." Haider says.

"Ppft. Why did you describe it that way?" Christopher laughs.

"I couldn't think of the right word, ok!" Haider giggles.

"I mean, it doesn't have a name so if you come up with one then you can do it that way." Mylzronth says.

"Oh just to make sure, there's a town nearby right?" Heather asks.

"Yes, there is. There is a split in the path about a day away and you need to take the left path." Mylzronth says.

"Alright thank you ma'am. We'll be on our way now." Heather replies.

Heather, Haider, and Christopher wave their goodbyes and Mylzronth puts Reiki on her shoulder and the two wave back before walking away to find Reiki's mother.

(Narrator) I like her, that little Dragon Newt is so adorable I just want to squeeze her!...Wait, isn't that cute aggression? Didn't know I could show that emotion. Awesome.

As we watch Mylzronth walk into the trees Haider's knees buckle. Heather catches him.

"Are you ok Haider?" Christopher asks.

"Yeah, just lost my balance for a second." Haider replies, pulling himself back up.

"Take it easy ok? If anything else attacks us just focus on defending yourself." Christopher says.

"After that dragon attack I doubt anything hostile will have the courage to be in the area." Heather says with a smile.

"Let's just try to get me to the closest bench or something." Haider says, using Heather for support.

"The next area on this map is a small food stall about three hours away. Can you hold on until then, we can eat and rest there, since me and Christopher already ate our food, we can order while you eat your lunch." Heather says. Haider nods.

A few hours later, and nearing the food stall, Heather and Haider hobble their way to a bench near a portable restaurant named The Cabbage Man.

"Hello sir, can we have a menu?" Christopher asks.

The man working at the stall nods and hands him a pile of menus, Christopher takes one. He sits down on the bench next to the heavy breathing Heather.

"Here sis, have a look at what you want on the menu." Christopher asks.

Heather only takes a quick glance at the menu before continuing to gasp for air. "Just gimme the fried seaweed."

"I'll have the same then." Christopher says, he walks up to the vendor and orders two dishes of the Crispy Fried Seaweed. The worker takes out a pot filled with dried cabbage strips and places them in a deep pan of hot oil and while it cooks he takes out a seasoning mix containing sesame seeds, Maranus five-spice powder, chilli, sugar, msg, and salt. As soon as the Cabbage is crispy, He takes it out of the oil, shakes off the excess and tosses them into a large bowl. He adds a handful of the seasoning mix and tosses the mixture together until all combined. He places half of the Crispy Fried Seaweed into two separate thick paper containers and seals them shut.

"Thank you, it smells amazing, how much is this?" Christopher asks.

"4 copper." the man says.

Christopher gives the man the money and takes the large servings over to the bench. He hands a container to Heather and she sits up. They both open the square box with chopsticks next to it and the smell hits her nose. Heather's eyes widen and a smile streaks across her face. She takes the chopsticks and digs into the food.

"This smells so good! Is this the type of food they have in this country?" Heather says. She takes a bite and her face lights up, the area around her brightening, sparkles around her face.

(Narrator) That didn't actually happen, just for all the...slightly less smart individuals in the back. I just added that because I thought it might be cute, or funny, or both! I dunno.

"I guess I'll start too." Christopher says, smiling at Heather. As he takes a bite he recognises something that isn't used in Maranus. He checks the ingredients for the dish and notices the msg. He shows Heather and says, "I think it's the msg ingredient, maybe we should buy some, you can try it in your food."

Mouth full of seaweed Heather says. "Yeah sounds good, always willing to experiment."

Christopher laughs at her sudden lack of manners. "It's not like you to talk with your mouth full."

Upon realising Heather swallows. "Sorry. This stuff is amazing. You sure it's just cabbage?"

"Yeah, all he did was fry it in oil." Christopher replies, taking another bite of his food.

"Who would've known you could make something so tasty with just cabbage and seasonings." Heather says.

"It's amazing how different Stocaean food is." Christopher says.

"And with only a single ingredient too." Heather says, eating some of the seaweed.

Meanwhile Haider is still recovering from walking for such a long time. They spend the next hour at the bench, Haider has eaten his boxed lunch and puts the dishes into Christopher's dimension for washing later. Heather and Christopher thank the vendor for the delicious meal and the three head on their way to the town nearest to them named Nestin.

On the west road, our Stocaean trio escapes from the tree line to see the beautiful city of Nestin. The road slopes down into a beautiful valley full of gently sloped grasslands. The city was built atop quiet and serene hills and is truly a magical curiosity. Its grace is matched by the backdrop of several cliffedge waterfalls and floating islands which have helped shape the city to what it is today.

The riches these waterfalls brought were of great importance, but they were also influential when it came to architectural designs as the vast majority of buildings not only use water from those waterfalls, they often incorporate some form of falling water as part of their architecture.

The skyline is growing with tall trees atop the islands, water cascading from a few of them and a lot of them seem to have evolved throughout the ages. A fair few dragons seem to call this city their home, enjoying the freedom as they glide through the air.

"Woah, I've never seen anything like this. It feels totally different to anywhere in Stocaea." Heather says, her eyes glittering in pure awe.

Haider, now fully recovered from the days prior says, "It truly is a sight to behold, I wonder how the islands are able to defy gravity like that."

"We'll find out soon enough, I think it may be the magic of the dragons that live here. It's possible that their existence keeps this place looking like a mystical place." Christopher says. "But I could be wrong about that."

The three start walking once again, taking in the scenery and basking in the sunlight. Several spectacular rainbows float above most of the city as the sunlight hits the mist of the water falling from the sky.

"I'm shocked by how different the topography is in this area. I heard a large portion of this land was swamplands populated with mangrove trees. Seems like another thing the Empire lies about." Heather says.

"I didn't know you were into geographic sciences." Christopher says curiously.

"I want to use powerful earth magic one day so I thought it would be best to study the land a bit." Heather replies with a smile.

"That sounds like an amazing combo, especially if you can learn to use your plant magic at the same time." Haider says. He brushes his hand across some unfamiliar fauna and gets stung by it. He lets out a yelp and Heather comes over to come check on him.

"Lemme see your hand." Heather says. As Haider shows his hand, his palm and fingers become red and inflamed. "You got stung by some sort of brambly leaves, this swelling is caused by what I am assuming is an irritant. It won't kill you, just make some ice to reduce the rashing." Heather puts on a leather glove and picks up the plant by its roots. She gestures to Christopher to pull out her sample bag from his dimension and he complies.

Heather stuffs the hairy plant into an empty glass container and seals it shut, she then takes a parchment with the rune combinations for a spell called Viridi Stasis and sticks it onto the glass to keep the plant fresh.

(Narrator) that is a Latin word from your world I think. Viridis means green, we just took the 's' off.

"You're starting to gather quite a collection there, sis." Christopher says.

"56 different and unique plants. I need proper equipment to extract the seeds for most of them." Heather says. She puts the newly found bramble into the bag and hands it back to Christopher to put away.

"It's honestly rough to know there are deadly plants in here. You're despicable sometimes. Like, there's a vomiting nightshade lily in here." Christopher ominously says.

"Yeah, one of my greatest finds that one." Heather light-heartedly says.