The Journey Begins

This is it... I finally crossed all the hurdles that kept me from leaving the village.

I can now aid Rudeus and his companions in their journey and prevent the cruel fate that would happen in the future.

That being said, I followed them to the horse carriage that they prepared for the trip and we all get in the vehicle.

"[Ceobe, wait!]"

As the carriage was about to move, I heard someone was calling for my name. Don't tell me it is another predicament.

Rudeus and I peek out of the carriage entrance just to be sure, and I saw the beast girls running towards our direction. It was Minitona and Tersena, and one of them seem to be holding a book on their hand while sprinting.

"Please. stop the carriage of a moment" I said to Ruijerd who was driving the carriage.

Ruijerd complied and he stops the vehicle, enabling for the two beast girls to catch up.

"Arggh! What is it this time?" Eris complains.

"Relax, Eris. It's just Minitona and Tersena"

Rudeus pacifies Eris while I focus my attention to the two beast girls. Eventually, they finally caught up to us and spoke to me.

"[Here, Ceobe. We need to give this to you]" said Minitona as she gives the book to me.

I received the book and look at the title on the cover. It was written in Beast God Language and the title of the book is [Primordial Rune Encyclopedia].

"[What is this?]" I curiously asked.

"[Miss Sirius told us to give that book to you]"

"[She said that you might need it in your journey]"

The two girls explained, which I nodded understandingly. Then I put the book in the knapsack for now and return my attention to them so I can leave a message.

"[Thanks for the book, guys. Also, tell mother I said thank you]"

"[You got it, Ceobe. We will tell her right away]"

"[Also, if you arrived at Ranoa, tell our older sisters we said hi]"

"[Who were they again?]"

"[They're Linia and Persuna]"

"[Sure, I will tell them]"

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After I finished talking with Minitona and Tersena, they turn around and run back to the village.

"Are you done?" Eris asked with impatience in her eyes.

"Yeah, I'm done. We can leave no-"

"Little missy!! Wait for me!"

Before I could finish my sentence, another voice is calling out to me... AGAIN. I'm sick and tired of people slowing me down even I finally got my freedom.

With annoyance in my face, I peek out of the carriage entrance and saw a monkey face person running towards our direction. He looks out of breath and desperately sprinting for his life.

"..."

"Who the heck is that?" Eris asked as she peeks on the entrance.

"Sigh.... It's mister Geese, a friend of mine"

"Do you mean the guy that got imprisoned for three months?" Rudeus asked as he also peeks as well.

"Yup...."

The three of us all watch the monkey face man as he approaches the carriage. He eventually reached our vehicle and took his time to catch breath.

"So, what brings you here, mister Geese?" I asked, wanting to know what predicament he has in store.

"Well, would you mind if I come with you guys" he replied, which is oddly simple. I was expecting something time consuming but I guess I was just overthinking it.

"Oh.... Is that all? Sure, hop in, buddy"

"Alright, now we're talking"

Mister Geese immediately hop in the carriage and sat next to me. After that, I told Ruijerd to start driving the carriage again.

"So, what do we have here? Looks like little missy has some friends in here" said mister Geese with a cheerfully manner when he saw Rudeus and Eris.

"Are you going to Milis too?" Eris asked.

"Of course, it would be fun to travel with you all for some time. Am I right, little missy?"

"You bet" I said while giving mister Geese a thumbs up. After that, we both laugh in unison.

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While the horse carriage is moving through the long road of the great forest, mister Geese decided to have a chat with Rudeus and Eris.

They talk about themselves for a while and introduces their names to him. However, mister Geese widens his eyes for a few seconds when he heard Rudeus's name.

"Rudeus, huh... I think I have heard of that name before" mister Geese mutters, which intrigues me.

"Have you met Rudeus before, mister Geese?" I inquired, wanting to know if he had connection with him.

"Nah, I just heard that name somewhere when I was traveling" he explained.

"Oh, I see, carry-on"

A while later, mister Geese begins telling us a lot of stories, and one of it was the story of Holy Sword Highway, which is the road that we were currently crossing.

He said that the highway was once created after founder of the Milis Kingdom, Saint Milis, swing his sword, which sliced through mountain range and the Great Forest.

"Woah, that so cool!"

"Yeah, no wonder the road here is so long and straight"

Both Eris and I were astonished by the story

"Hehe, you sure are enthusiastic about it, little missy and young lady"

"Hehe~"

After that, Rudeus spotted something as he peeks through the carriage entrance and then he asked a question about it.

"That rock looks strange. It has symbols written on it"

"Oh, that. That's the stone monument of the Seven Great Powers"

Hearing that cool name intrigues me, so I decided to ask for more information about it.

"Seven Great Powers? What is that?"

"They were the eight strongest warriors in the world. I believe the current ranking includes following: Technique God, Dragon God, Fighting God, Demon God, Death God, Sword God, and lastly, North God"

Mister Geese concisely explained about the subject, which piques my interest. I never knew there were more than one people who earned the title of God.

"That's nostalgic. When I was young, my dream was also to train hard and become one of the Seven Great Powers one day" says Ruijerd who decide to insert himself to the conversation and told us about his ambition.

"Eh? So even Ruijerd can't beat them?" Eris asked.

"I don't know.... But since my name isn't on the monument, I guess I can't"

Hearing that information made me curious, so I should ask him to verify.

"Wait, you fought one of them before, Ruijerd?"

"Yes, it was tough fight but I am not sure if I finished the job" Ruijerd explained, which made my eyes sparkle and my tail wags energetically.

"That so cool, I want to meet them someday"

"Yeah, me too. I will train so hard, so that I can fight them as well"

Both Eris and I were so pumped up to encounter one of the seven great powers and defeat them one day. However, mister Geese shake his head and spoke.

"I'm hate to break it to you two, but it is highly unlikely to happen"

""Eh? How come?""

"First of all, it is uncertain that the top four was still alive. I have been venturing for quite some time and I have never seen the seven great powers. Secondly, I doubt you can match their strength even if you encounter one" mister Geese explains, which made us upset and we pouted at him.

"Geez, what a bunch of petty people"

"Yeah, they should show themselves"

Eris and I both complained, and mister Geese just laughs it off.

Afterwards, we kept chatting as the horse carriage continues to move through the long road ahead.

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[Third POV]

Meanwhile, in a vast empty white void, a mosaic person was currently watching the events occurring in the world.

One of those events he is currently watching was the departure of the young beast girl.

Normally, he would grin in astonishment to whoever he found interesting. However, this time, he is not in a good mood.

"Looks like the little mutt has decided to join Rudeus. How troublesome" he mutters in annoyance.

He indifferently glares at the image of Ceobe while thinking of how deal with her.

The mosiac man seems to be troubled of the young girl's existence ever since Rudeus encounters her.

He kept observing the beast girl as she interacted with the boy. Until the moment she decided to come with Rudeus in their journey, he realized how much of a nuisance she was.

"Oh well, it doesn't matter. As long she doesn't ruin my plan, I will let her live. Besides, she might be useful to me in the future" the mosaic man says as he grins menacingly.