Departure (Part - 2)

After the greetings, we introduced ourselves. Apparently, the two were cousins and the older looking lady, named Ionis, was escorting the boy, named Kemian, for his own baptism.

They had joined the caravan on its previous stop further south and would continue till we reached Eristonia.

Over the next half an hour, we just sat there silently as I stared out of the carriage. My breath fogging in the chill and the silence of the morning.

It was strange really, to watch the streets bustling with so many people, almost empty. They seemed almost twice as wide as they usually did.

After a couple more minutes, a muscular middle-aged woman came up to us - Janice was her name - and confirmed our names and the contents of the boxes on the vehicle, before going to the front of the carriage.

—Fwoosh

—Thud

There was a silent tremor throughout the carriage as a faint wind rushed in through the front. I immediately moved to the front of the carriage, moving the smaller boxes and brushing the curtain to the side.

There was a big, big spider.

The hair on my forearm holding the curtain stood on their ends.

As all spiders, it had eight, hairy and spindly legs. But the hairs only now seemed so noticeable because of the sheer size. And the eyes, those shiny black marbles.

Janice was tying straps onto the back of the giant black spider as it skittered around its legs to, perhaps, help her. Its chitinous carapace had a covering of grey marble here and there. Amidst her shuffling, she sometimes patted different parts of the spider, receiving purrs in return.

"That is Janice's soul beast, Hank. A rock spider, as she's told." Ionis answered from behind me.

That is so cool. I mumbled as I backed away from the front.

"Hey, do you want to see mine?" Kemian excitedly hopped near me and asked with figurative stars in his eyes, with his fists closed near his chest.

Ionis just shook her head and sighed with a helpless smile, "He always gets excited about that shelled friend of his. Told him to pick 'nother, wouldn't listen to a word."

Before I could nod my approval to him, green mist spat out of his chest and landed on top of his right shoulder, congealing into a palm sized, dark green and mossy tortoise shell. The shell was covered by almost black 

Slowly, masses of scaly skin came out of the six holes all around the shell. One pointed head with a long neck, four elephant-like feet and a long sharp tail.

Cute, not more than Dia though. Wanna come out?

[Yessss!]

Just like Kemian's tortoise, Dia shot out of my chest and claimed her spot on top of my head and her body around my neck...

...her tail didn't reach my back, nor did she feel as heavy as before.

[She is losing her mass to sustain her existence. For however long you can not supply her any of your mana, her presence is only temporary. I would advise not to keep her out of your body more than strictly necessary.] Codex answered my unasked question.

What about his tortoise, then? Why can he keep his out? I complained.

[He is in the same boat as you.]

Sighing mentally, I patted Dia's tiny head on top of mine.

"He's cute! Is it a he? She? Nevertheless, not as cute as Nick though!" Kemian exclaimed, hopping around me, inspecting Dia excitedly.

"She's Dia. And cuter." I smiled at his antics, sitting down in a corner by the front.

"No, Nick is mor— Oi what are you doing Nick?" Kemian laughed as he angled his head forward to give Nick-the-tortoise turned around on Kemian's shoulder and moved to the back of his neck.

Realizing what was happening, I watched the scaly guy climb forward and flop down on Kemian's head.

...Imitating Dia.

There was silence for a few seconds before Ionis broke it her laughter, us following soon after.

After sharing a few happy moments, we both dismissed our soul companions and shared talks about them.

Soon, the carriage jerked forward and we began moving.

There was a salamander like beast pulling on the carriage behind us, having both more goods on it and less people than ours.

"So is yours' element poison? Mine's is!"

"Perhaps. I've never checked."

Minutes turned to hours, after exhausting things to say and in nature's favor, we stopped talking and just continued to stare out at the vegetation running past us.

The 'Forest of Nightmares' - as it was oh-so-lamely called - was located to the east of the Graham Village, which was further east from Eristonia city. Many kilometers of the path between the village and the city was covered in forest.

Sure, there were probably many villages in the said forest, but they were also most likely less populous or visited than Graham.

Graham village was one of closest villages to the border where natural forest and the Forest of Nightmares met. For a comparison, the average tree at the boundary of the Forest of Nightmares had a height of about fifty to eighty meters, and needed around four to five people extending their arms to wrap around it. Whereas, an average tree out here was only tall at around ten to fifteen meters, barely needing two people to wrap around it.

With my knowledge, it was hard to say how far the Forest of Nightmares extended into the east, but as far as I knew, it was endless.

Further west of Eristonia was the Kingdom of Auzle, under which the barony of Eristonia fell, along with many vassal states.

As many big cities with both cathedral and noble presence, it was due to the presence of a Dungeon.

Dungeons were basically caves of beasts that people went in to farm for Anchor Shards or Beast Orbs.

[Dungeons are magical phenomena occurring due to immense concentration of mana and multiple other triggers. They all have different layouts, some form on the surface, some go underground, and some lead into a pocket space.]

I stand by my point.