Uninhabited forest.

[Randall's POV]

Throughout the next few days, we continued on our uneventful path towards a certain area of the forest, with Natasha leading us. 

A few interesting topics did pop up, though. Namely, the "place" we are currently headed towards.

The demon storage, and why it exists.

Apparently, a long time ago, the Elven countries were in a severe shortage of materials, due to overconsumption of… everything.

This happened during the Great Depression, a dark age for the elves. 

An era marked by bloodshed, and rising tensions amongst their kind. Only the idea of murdering monsters and beastkin alike could force them to shelter their conflicts… temporarily.

However, that slowly came to an end around a decade ago. The economy of the three gardens began seeing growth seemingly out of nowhere, and they left some of their violent past behind.

I wanted to push on the reason behind the growth, but Natasha said she had no idea. Perhaps she was just feigning ignorance? Unfortunately, it remained unanswered.

'... Thinking about it, it wouldn't be odd for the demons to be involved.'

I mean, we're currently searching for a storage facility belonging to the demons, aren't we?

Surely, that has to mean something.

"... We have arrived."

Eh?

"What?"

"We've arrived at that sector of the forest. Now, find the place and finish up your business here." 

The elf's abnormally worded statement caused my eyebrows to burrow.

"... Aren't you coming with us?" asked the dark haired human.

"I have something to deal with. You guys can rest here for the rest of the day, I'll be back at night."

By this point, Jean raised her voice. "Leave? Weren't you supposed to aid us?"

Though, that did not stop Natasha from walking off.

The dark haired woman tried to chase after her, but placing my hand on her shoulder thwarted said attempt. 

"Don't. She can't help us."

Puzzled, she alternated her gaze between me and the faraway hooded elf.

"Good luck," Natasha muttered very quietly. Each step increased the distance between us, while we did nothing but watch.

As she left us here.

"... So? Why are we letting her go?" asked Jean, while Ren's confused gaze remained in the elf's direction.

"Quite simple: She would be forced to stop us."

I took a breath, and looked around.

The trees are as tall as those from the elven village, and the vegetation did not lose an ounce of its lushness, in spite of the distance… Even the sunlight poured over the forest as usual.

One would expect a change. Or at least some sort of difference. But there was none.

"?"

"Ah, right. If my theory is correct, then the demons are somehow involved in the elves' growth spurt. And well, these storages are a sort of consequence from having that happen. Does it make sense?"

"It sort of does…"

Ren nodded, possibly agreeing with her. She looked around the area, possibly in hopes of finding something.

'It is only a theory, and it needs certain assumptions to be true in order for it to be worth something… However, it seems to have cooled Jean down rather considerably.'

And that's all that matters.

"… Should we get started?"

Nodding at the panda, we began our search.

Occasionally, a few monsters would appear… Ren would fight against them, and then eat them, which in turn allowed her to grow stronger.

It makes sense that she's doing this, since monsters and beastkin do share a lot of qualities… Namely, their main "cultivation system", a term I use for a lack of a better name…

Though, seeing her killing the beasts raised an important question in my mind.

"... Are we meant to kill the demons?"

"Probably. Why are you asking?"

"..."

"Randall, are you-"

"Yes. I am."

A sigh left my mouth, while Jean eyed me strangely. She almost gave up, though.

"... Hey, Jean. And Ren."

"Hm?"

"How… No. Have you ever killed someone before?"

Her face stifled ever so slightly, only to return to normal mere moments later. "Yes. A few criminals. Why do you ask?"

As for Ren, she merely nodded, the gray hood hiding her facial features.

"... How do you handle that?"

They… went quiet.

"Are you asking because you haven't killed someone before?"

I took a step back, unknowingly. 'I guess… She knows.'

My answer to her came in the shape of a nod. After all… Killing a rabid animal in self-defense isn't the same as killing a person… It can't be.

It can't be. Right?

"... We'll take care of it, Randall."

My head turned in their direction, thanks to those words, which brought me back to reality. 

"... Sorry."

"It's alright, really," replied the woman, with a rather warm expression. 

'Good thing they're by my side.'

With that small doubt settled, we decided to split out and keep rummaging through the vegetation. They used swords to cut down some of the bushes, while I stylishly waved my scythe around.

Though… Looking at it reminded me of something.

'If Ego can be used as a weapon, doesn't it mean that it can also be used as armor…?'

I ended up feeling curious about that, so I recalled the scythe, causing the wind to stop blowing. For the most part. 

And then, I extended my hand.

An abnormal, dark energy, which I found hard to describe, spread through my left hand. And expanded to the rest of my arm.

It didn't take long for it to cover my body, at which point I felt a mild headache.

The energy vanished in a few spots, but I pushed through. 'Come on, I've performed far tougher tasks, haven't I?'

Half a minute later, it was… still ongoing.

The nebulous energy explored the limbs of my body, before hardening and transforming into something resembling clothes.

A pair of long, dark sleeves appeared on my arms, reaching up to my wrist. My hands remained free for a few seconds, only for two pitch-black gloves to appear on them.

From the bland, detail-less sleeves, emerged the rest of a similarly coloured trench coat. 

And to top it all off, a shadowy scarf hid the bottom half of my face.

I sat down, and rested for a few moments. The pants-like manifestation served to separate my legs and feet from the grass.

"That… was rather tiring."

My chest heaved up and down, while my eyes wandered around the scenario.

'Right… storage. I should check if they've found it.'

With that done, I seeked out the duo who would help me test this.

They both stood in front of a peculiarly large tree, surrounded by bigger trees. "I can feel something from here," muttered the human, whose voice revealed a small tinge of worry.

I waited for them to turn around… And they did.

"Oi, how do I look?"

Jean almost muttered a reply, only to be… stuck. 

"Not bad?... Most of your body is concealed," voiced Ren, whose reaction clearly differed from the human's, who had her gaze lowered. 

I nodded, deactivating the armor in the process and unleashing the deep blue hood. 'It would be unwise to head into battle with this. But if creating new clothes out of nothing isn't something to keep track of, I'll be damned.'

Just imagine heading to a monster slaughter, dressed stylishly was too good of an opportunity to ignore.

Through, I noticed the duo staring at a particular tree. "Anyway, what is this?" 

"It's probably the storage," replied Ren. 

"... I see. So, what are we going to do?"