Journey begins

Leaving the forest was weird, I had been here for over two years, it had become my home. Not that I wasn't planning to leave the forest eventually, but I just didn't think I'd do it so soon.

I had used the little time I spent eating a meal with merchants by asking them questions. I had a lot more knowledge now and Dee would help me remember if I forgot any of it.

Just outside of the forest, a big grassy field stretched out before us. The grass was bright green, infused with the mana in the air. This region, and the forest for that matter, is a place the people of this world call a magic field.

These places are big fields that form when a hug amount of mana is released into the air, affecting everything. They can form after natural disasters, having a powerful core put into the ground, a merchant even told me of a field that formed after a dragon attack.

This field was called Rinshi field. Inside magic fields, certain things can happen after certain conditions are fullfiled.

This field would create a storm when someone tries to burn the grass. I looked around and saw animals just living life.

A herd of krisha was grazing while crocodiles were sunbathing closeby. Large eagle-like birds were flying in the sky.

That's when it happened, a large dragon dropped out of the sky andkilled the entire herd of krisha, ripping them to shreds one by one.

"Holy shit, that's, I can never unsee that."

Nagiliant looked to me. "That's life isn't it, the circle of life works like that."

I had to admit he was right, I just didn't expect something like that happened. I later learned the dragon was actually a wyvern, a lesser species of dragon. Dragons always look unique apperently.

They were always different creatures. We rode through as fast as possible, but, because the Krisha are living creatures, they had to rest.

Nagiliant, who seemed to be the resident mage conjured up a fire and, a bit to my surprise, Diana started cooking.

"Where'd you learn that?"

She chuckled. "Cooking is a skill every thief has, thieves want to live lavish lives, the first thing a thief tends to steal is food so knowing how to prepare it is useful.

I maxed it out before I even entered the third of the eight classes needed to max out the tree."

I nodded and told Lupo to stand guard. When the food was prepared, I joined everybody after making sure Lupo and the Krisha also had some.

They were surprised when I actually ate the food. "What? What did you think I did with the food people offered up. I'm not wasteful you know."

Aella was the first to ask the question on everybody's minds.

"Where does it go?"

I shrugged and emptied my plate. It was' long after that that I was asked another.

"Do you actually need to eat?" This one came from Markus.

"Yes, actually, I wondered this myself so I didn't eat for a few days and I just started becoming weaker and weaker, I need it to keep my mana levels up. The only good thing is that I can also top up with my refinement skill and by just eating rocks."

Now it was my turn to ask a question, something I had been curious about but had felt weird to ask merchants.

"Do you guys make your own magic? I started mine on accident but it makes me wonder."

This time it was Diana who rushed to answer, probably proud that she could explain this to me.

"Yes, humans most definitely do. Creating your own magic is seen as necessary to grow strong enough to ascend to godhood, something most humans want.

We aren't the only race to do it either, all humanoid races do it. One thing you should know is that the only race were every member has their own unique magic is the Dragon race.

If you ever meet a fully fledged Elder dragon, look out because that's what makes them so powerful. Of course they also have breath attacks.

The most powerfull magic race though, are the Scholar Lobsters, not much is known about them since they are extremely rare but just know that if you ever meet one and it tries to fight you using magic, you're doomed."

"Ok, good to know."

...

That's when it sunk in. Did she just say Lobsters?

The rest of the night, we talked some more, the fire crackled and kept us warm.

It was weird to have a human body again, the balance didn't make sense to me anymore.

I hadn't shown it but I had difficulty using hands. Another thing that was weird was that my senses in the armour, which muted them a little, were now at full power, making me a bit dizzy.

The hardest thing wasn't any of that though, no, that prize goes to this overwhelming urge to protect Diana.

My head hurt because of it, the farther I got, the stronger it became, pulling me back to her.

I had already asked Dee if she could make it stop but she couldn't, the problem wasn't the body, it was the fact that it had a soul.

This body wasn't made with a soul in mind, it was meant to be a mindless golem that would only live to protect.

Luckily, I wouldn't be thinking about it that much longer, because the sound of wings flapping cam closer and closer. Looking up, I saw what it was.

"WYVERN! GET COVER!" It was too late. They would never be able to get away in time.