Thus, Ebony set off riding alongside Lucian on that solar horse, which continued its journey at high speed using its magic.
That golden spirit helping them advance so quickly was using a speed spell for that purpose.
However, this spell consumed the rider's mana, so after an hour of riding at full speed, the horse began to slow down.
"Hey, what's going on, why are we stopping? We were doing really well," Ebony said as she let go of Lucian's back, who was the rider of that horse.
"It's too much mana consumption, I can't keep going," Lucian said, his voice shaky with exhaustion.
The spiritual horse slowly lost its form of pure energy until it became a horse of flesh and blood with golden fur.
"The good thing is that we've already reached the first exit and entrance of the hexagon," the elf mentioned as they approached a massive stone gate.
It was made of carefully carved stones stacked one atop another, each one bearing a rune that began to glow softly upon sensing the life of the travelers.
"This is the exit? With no guards?" Ebony asked as she recognized the gate, since they had crossed a similar one when they left the country of Lithany.
"Yes, this hexagon has no ruler, so no one watches the entrances and exits, well, not in every case, but at least here we can cross without trouble," the elf replied as he guided the horse through the stone gate.
As they crossed, Ebony watched in awe as the runes carved into the stones began to shine brightly while the light of the first rays of sunlight pierced through the trees.
Once they crossed, a gust of wind struck the pair and startled the horse, which began to neigh. This put Lucian on alert as he tried to sharpen his gaze to see what was unsettling the horse.
In front of them was a forest of withered trees, however, the dirt road they were following avoided that place, but if they wanted to arrive on time, they would have to risk crossing it.
"No no no, absolutely not, we already did this before so no, besides look at that forest, it's way worse than the last one, whatever lives there is bad news, let's stick to the road," Ebony said worriedly as she felt a strange presence in that place.
"If we take the road that avoids this forest, it'll take us a long time to go around it, maybe a full day. I don't know if we can afford that time in this hexagon," Lucian said while trying to control the horse, which refused to enter the forest.
"The horse doesn't want to go in either, so screw you, we're taking the road! Two votes against one!" the blonde said as she tugged on the elf's clothes.
Despite his desire to hurry, Lucian had no choice but to give in to the girl, and with a command, the horse followed the dirt road at high speed.
Hours passed like this until noon arrived. At that moment, the horse stopped when, beside the road, they spotted a small lake. It was perfect to rest, even if only for a moment.
Ebony got off the horse with her head spinning. She wasn't used to riding, especially not as the passenger who had to cling to the rider's back.
"Hey, ears, now it's my turn to drive, I'm not planning on hugging your damn back for the whole trip," the blonde said as she walked over to the lake to wash her face.
"You can try, but let me ask you something first, have you ever ridden before? From how you made your horse run off earlier, I'd say no," the elf said as he got off the horse and began stretching his body.
"Well, let's see, maybe I haven't ridden much, but I know the basics, besides, that speed spell you used, if you teach me, we could move even faster, we split the riding hours and that's it," the blonde said while admiring the lake.
However, a disturbance in the water alerted the girl. It was like seeing a huge fish approach the surface, only to hesitate and return to the depths.
Thanks to her passive Healer ability, Ebony could sense life forms near her, and with a bit of concentration, she began to feel the life within the lake.
"That's not a bad idea, I suppose if you use the spell properly, we could use maximum speed twice a day, that is… Eh?" Lucian was saying until he noticed Ebony distracted, staring fixedly at the lake as if she were in a trance.
At that moment, eyes emerged from the surface of the lake. It was a massive serpent, as large as a carriage, hiding its true length beneath the water, as if waiting for the right moment to attack its prey.
"Ebony… Come here slowly, don't make any sudden movements…" the elf said as he realized they were facing a natural predator of the area.
If they were lucky, it would just be a water serpent, something normal in some territories, but even so, it was still a magical monster that fiercely guarded its home.
Trying to control her breathing, Ebony began to move away from the shore to return to the horse, while the serpent's head seemed to rise further out of the water, never taking its eyes off the girl.
Without wasting time, Ebony mounted the horse as its rider, with Lucian climbing on behind her like a guest on the saddle.
Both swallowed hard as they continued on their way, trying to appear calm in front of that creature. After a few minutes of slow riding, both let out a sigh of relief.
"Damn, that was dangerous, what the hell was that?" Ebony asked indignantly as she tried to control the horse.
"That was one of the dangers of acting without thinking twice… I admit it's my fault, we should use a map," Lucian said as he removed his hood to stretch his neck for a moment.
"A map? You mean that thing you bought while I was trying on clothes?" the blonde asked.
Lucian nodded and pulled out a piece of parchment that was a map of half the continent. On it, the hexagonal divisions of the land could be seen, and he placed it in front of Ebony.
"This thing is very expensive, so I'll be the one carrying it," Lucian said, then touched the map, which began to change until it ended up displaying a huge hexagon with roads and forests, showing exactly where the pair was located.
"Hey, this… is incredible…" Ebony said, her eyes shining in awe at the magic, "But a map is only useful if you have a compass, did you buy one?"
"No need, look…" Lucian opened his palm, and with a whistle, the symbol of the Pink Unicorn guild appeared on his skin. "The guild seal isn't just decorative, it also works as a compass."
Ebony nodded enthusiastically as she watched the symbol on Lucian's skin move while he tried to orient himself by looking around. "This map stuff is amazing!"
"Yeah, I made the same face the first time too, but they're really expensive, so it'd be better not—" Lucian said, until he was interrupted by an arrow that pierced the map and pinned it to the ground.
From the forest emerged a group of bandits dressed in deer hides, using the skulls of those animals as masks.