"Hmm…" Natalak groans, squirming comfortably as morning arrives.
"Wake up, Natalak." Voiced Sheila.
"Hmm…" He groans louder, tightening the blanket.
"I've had enough with you!" Chifya comes, dragging Natalak from his sleep.
Stubborn as a rock, Natalak continues sleeping on the floor, arms searching for the blanket.
"Sheila, get me the red vial from my satchel," Chifya suggested, and the moment Natalak heard her irritated voice and the potion—
"I'm getting up, I'm getting up!" The man quickly stood.
An hour passed…
"Can I have my bag back?" Natalak asked while in the middle of their breakfast.
"You'll get your bag when we arrive at the northeastern border." The half-elf replied, seemingly unbothered by Natalak's demand.
After finishing breakfast and resting for an hour, the party teleported to the edge of the village. As they ventured deeper into the forest, Natalak sensed the environment growing denser. The further they went, the more unusual the trees and surroundings felt against Natalak's skin— like stepping into a void. However, for the others, such places had become familiar.
"Can I have my bag now?" Natalak hasten his steps until he was right beside Chifya.
"I'll give it back when the sun is at its highest peak."
"But you said you'd give it back when we arrive at the border. And I don't have any weapons to protect myself when a fight occurs."
"You have your armour and that intimidating claw gauntlet of yours. I'll think you'll manage that."
"This dark elf bitch!" Natalak grits his teeth as he gives Chifya an irritating look.
Unfazed by Natalak's fuming, Chifya distanced herself with a faint smirk, pleased at Natalak's seething situation.
"You can try using my bow." Riya pats Natalak's shoulder.
"Are you sure?"
Riya nods, "I have a spare item that is stored on a scroll that I would like to try, so feel free to use it."
"You can also try Reith's old weapon." Sei comes, extending a short sword to him. "It might not be of great looks, but it had some aptitude enchantment on it. It had the essence of an ogre."
True to his word, Natalak felt a surge of strength through his muscles— still it wasn't enough to rival Ashalain's shared blessing, a candle to a fire, so to speak.
"Thank you… This will come in handy."
"I'm glad you like it, though I didn't revitalise its enchantment so it might give you a small boost."
"I understand." Natalak nods slowly.
Watching her companions' interaction made Sheila smile, though it was only sudden when her delightful expression was quickly replaced by something she once feared—
"I really hoped to stay like this." Sheila gazed at the sky, quickly hiding her solemn expression as she enjoyed the brief moment.
After passing creeks and rocky pathways, the party soon entered an open forest. Giant trees creaked as wind billowed through their top. Forest noise could be heard from birds, insects, animals and even the forest itself. It was then that something unexpected emerged— and as the sounds of the forest gradually stopped, something emerged from the air.
"Wait! A Veil!" Chifya paused.
"A what?" Natalak shifted his gaze back and forth between Chifya and the air.
A hundred meters from where they stood, the atmosphere warps itself, distorting the onlookers' vision. And what came next were monsters from the veil, emerging from the distorted portal. A few, then it quickly turns into a dozen more. Some had weapons, others walked on all fours, and some were human-shaped.
As the others watched in silence, slowly preparing their weapons, Natalak drew his ordinary bow and tried to hit one of the monsters' heads. Unfortunately, without the enchantment, his skills were beyond expertise as the arrow passes two meters above the monster's head, giving them their location.
Disbelief, his companions gawk at him with disappointment.
"It's the arrow's fault." Natalak reasons as he tries to fire five more, only for the projectiles to hit nothing but air.
"Give me that!" Chifya angrily snatches the bow.
No magic, and not even an enchantment. Chifya relentlessly fired ten arrows in seconds, accurately hitting their throats, heads and vital points. The enemies that came closer were met by Sei and Reiths' swords; skulls were hammered, flesh diced open. Before Sheila could conjure her magic—
"Wait, conserve your magic first." Chifya advises, "We don't know what we'll face there at the blight's cradle." She adds before dashing with her twin daggers.
Natalak, however, stood like a snail whose shell had been cracked open— watching his companions slowly eliminate the enemies' numbers, eyes unblinking.
"Should I?" Natalak drew his sword, but already the enemies were quickly eradicated before he could even fully draw his weapon.
"Well, that was easy." Natalak jests as Chifya slowly closes the distance.
"Here!" she declares, slamming the bow against Natalak's chest. "I hope you won't cause any more trouble." She adds with a fuming voice.
"Grumpy ass grandma. Are you in a menopausal state or something?" Natalak muttered as Chifya passed by him.
"What did you say?" Chifya paused her steps before turning her head at Natalak.
Upon Chifya's glance, Natalak had already gone into hiding behind Sheila, avoiding the elf's murderous expression. And while in hiding, Natalak were rubbing his fingers, praying that the situation wouldn't escalate.
"Typical." Chifya rolled her eyes and quickly returned to where the slain monsters were.
Relieved that the tension had faded, Natalak sat on a rock watching his companions despoil the remains of the monsters. Meanwhile, Sheila and Chifya kept a watchful eye. He could see how the three were extracting strange glowing green stones from the slain monsters.
"I should not have agreed to that old man's invitation," Natalak mutter pocking the earth with his sword, seemingly bored.
It took a while until Sheila came—
"We need to move on." She said before the party travelled for another two-mile journey.
Two hours passed; soon the party had to stop for a rest in the woodland forest.
"We should take a rest here," Sheila suggests.
"Agreed," Chifya nods.
Pulling scrolls and resting down their items. Surprisingly, Natalak was sudden when Chifya's scroll conjures her apparatus. As for Sheila—
"Here, take this." Sheila offers Natalak a piece of dried meat and bread. "And give this to sister Chifya." She adds, giving Natalak a package wrapped in leaf.
"Me?" Natalak's eyes widen. "Shouldn't you just give her that?"
"Yes, because I'll be busy learning some spells." Sheila insists, yet after receiving the package, Natalak quickly goes to Riya.
"Can you take this to her?" Natalak nudges his head towards Chifya, who is busy concocting a potion.
Riya smiles. "Sei, Reith and I will be going hunting." She said, preparing her bow. "Our supply might not be enough for the mission."
"I see, then be careful."
As the three disappear and Sheila unveils some parchments, Natalak hesitates for a moment before approaching the half-elf, who seems unbothered by his presence.
"Just placed it here." She spoke.
"Sure-sure thing," Natalak nods, carefully setting the package beside her. Though he aims to leave, he was unexpectedly held back by how Chifya prepares a vial. The shimmering ingredients and peculiar glowing insects draw his attention.
"What are you making?" Natalak said after he squatted—munching the dried meat and bread.
"A purification vial," the half-elf replies, "but it's my own version." She then adds, pouring the green liquid into a tube filled with a black vial.
"It needs more." Her eyes frown as she watches the green vial slowly eat the black liquid. "Guess I'll have to restart from square one." She gave a heavy sigh.
Just as Chifya scraps all of her ingredients, she had expected that Natalak would soon create another distraction. This time, however, was different as she saw the man silently gawking at her chemistry, busy munching his snack, like a child he was or rather more like a cow chomping grass.
"Pff…" Chifya snort. "You're quite funny, Natalak." She said, hiding and holding her sniggering.
Natalak, on the other hand, was odd by her tittering; he couldn't understand why, not that he wanted to. And yet he was the one getting embarrassed. It took time for Chifya to regain her composure and quickly return to her work. After some time, Chifya found Natalak silently sleeping in a fetal position.
"Strange— sometimes I wonder… how such a carefree man endures in a world full of peril." Chifya's hand rests in her cheeks, slightly tilting her head.
More than an hour passes…
Natalak was awakened by Chifya's shaking. And discovered that Sei and others had caught a deer and were already skinning and processing its meat before the party quickly resumed their journey.
As nightfall arrived, the group immediately set up camp under a nearby large tree. They set up ward stones, pulled up tents and kindled a fire, preparing for the cold night and what was to come.
"Um, can I ask you about the Veil thing? I always heard that in my village but didn't take much interest." Natalak implores Sheila.
"How do I say it… It's much more of the convergence between our world and the worlds of other beings, realms and even those that dwell in the abyss."
"Ahh… so that warping from before is a Veil?"
"Yes, but what we've faced so far is only a minor Veil. I once came across a Veil that released hundreds of powerful monsters."
"I see. Is there any reason behind it?"
"As I understand it, scholars and experts believe that constant magic teleportation caused the merging of our realms, resulting in the creation of the Veil."
"I see…" Natalak nods slowly. "So who will take the first night watch?"
"That will be the two of us." Comes Chifya holding two bowls of meat and porridge, one for Natalak, one for Sheila.
"Can I do the second night watch?" Natalak suggest.
"No, cause I have to also watch for someone who has a crooked hand." Chifya coldly replied.
"Says the person who took someone else's belongings without his consent."
"Go get your own food!" Chifya frowned, quickly snatching back the bowl she'd given towards Natalak.
"Such an old bag, should have added my saliva on that bowl." Mutters Natalak as he removes himself, quickly strolling towards the bonfire, leaving the two sisters-like to have their own words.
In the hours that followed and the first night watch commenced, Natalak was slowly losing sleep. Yet as he looks at Chifya, still focused on her alchemy—
Natalak asks, "How do you still have the energy to stay awake?"
"Are you joking, or are you really a country bunking?"
"Both." Natalak gave a smile.
Chifya's eyes measured Natalak with disbelief before quickly returning to her duties. "We elves can stay awake for more than a week, but as a half-elf myself, I can do a maximum of five to eight days."
"Oh, I see." Natalak's eyes were struggling to stay awake. "I should have just taken one bowl, not four rounds of dinner." Rubbing his eyes, shaking his head for the long night watch.
"You can go to sleep; I'll handle this watch," Chifya said, still on her alchemy.
"Are you sure?"
"Just go."
"Thank you-thank you." Nodding thrice before jumping to his bedroll, and after three minutes the man was already in deep sleep.
Nearly four hours passed when Sheila and Sei awoke to take Chifya's shift…
"Sheila," Chifya asks, "Could you cast a simple illusion spell on Natalak's bag? A stone or a twig, anything."
"I can do a small pillow; it's much more suitable and less hassle to hide it from him," Sheila answered.
"Hmm, I think so too."
With a cast of her magic, Natalak's relic turns into nothing more than a pillow made of fur. To better hide it from Natalak, Chifya used it as a pillow in her sleep. And after another hours of silence between the two, Sei spoke once sensing that Chifya had gone to sleep.
"It's been quite a while since we had these kinds of travels."
"Truly," Sheila nodded, yet part of her expression gave a melancholic look. "I wish this would last longer." She added, gazing at the sky. "But enough of that, how's that lady from the adventurer's guild? Why don't you ask her out? She has that delighted look when she always sees you around the guild."
"I think we should focus on our night shift." Sei looks away, blushing. "I'll take the opposite side."
Another three hours passed; already it was past midnight. And before Sheila and Sei returned to their sleep, Natalak woke up, and they could tell he was searching for his bag.
"I was going to take a leak." Natalak reasoned, but Sheila didn't buy it.
"Hmm… just don't go over the ward stones." Sheila gave a tired look before snuggling back into her bedroll.
As it was, no matter how hard Natalak tried, he couldn't see his bag. Not knowing it was just a few feet away from where he was sleeping. Forfeit, Natalak let out a heavy sigh before rejoining his sack, as Riya and Reith take the final watch.