The next day. It was still foggy outside when Lawrend's team stepped out of the town.
"It's cold this early in the morning," Nuon said out loud as he hugged his shoulders.
"Mm. We should be careful too. This side is closer to the demihuman tribes. There is a great chance that we would be attacked by the demihumans. After all, they hate us humans to the bones," Lawrend warned them.
He had seen the state of the demihuman slaves in the town. They are living very tough lives. Who knows how many had already died overworking?
There would surely be a lot of hate between the two races because of that.
"Okay," Nuon and Logan nodded their heads together.
The trio walked through the forest carefully.
Before long, the sun appeared on the horizon. The fog slowly dissipated and disappeared as the heat of the sun's rays warmed the surrounding air.
Rustle Rustle
Suddenly, a bush in front of them made rustling noises.
"Shh!" Lawrend stopped Nuon and Logan from moving with his arms.
He stared at the bush warily. Logan and Nuon readied themselves to chant their spells if something happens.
Pop
A mouse raised its head and sniffed the air.
"Sigh," Lawrend sighed and relaxed his body.
Nuon and Logan did the same. They were all tense as they know that they could be anywhere around them.
"Where are we?" Nuon asked Lawrend.
A rolled map suddenly appeared in Lawrend's hand from the Storage Ring. He unrolled it and looked at it. It was a map of the Yttervia Forest.
"We are 25 kilometers away from the first demihuman tribe," Lawrend said to the two of them.
"We probably shouldn't worry about them yet," Nuon said to him.
"No. We don't know if they are waiting in an ambush to attack humans. We should still be careful," Lawrend said to Nuon.
"Ah, I'm sorry. I didn't think of that," Nuon apologized.
It could have been their end if they let their guards down because of his words. He was sure that Lawrend was making the right call here.
Thus, the three of them continued walking through the dense forest. Once in a while, they would encounter wildlife.
...
"It's already lunch. We should take a break and eat," Lawrend said to the two of them.
The sun is already almost at its highest peak in the sky, and that means that it's lunchtime.
"Yes," Nuon nodded his head.
They sat on thick tree roots and rested their backs on the tree trunks.
"Here," Lawrend passed two bags of meat jerky to the two of them.
It was their food for lunch.
They ate for a bit before they stood up and started walking again. It was a treacherous walk as they encountered thorny vines on their way.
"Ow!" Logan suddenly exclaimed behind them.
A fruit had fallen on his head.
"F*ck! Why am I so unlucky?" Logan cursed angrily.
He looked up at the tree in annoyance.
"Puf—" Lawrend and Nuon tried to hold back their laughter.
After all, anything bad that happens to Logan makes the two of them happy.
"What are you two laughing at?" Logan asked the two of them unhappily.
He could see the suppressed laughter on their faces.
"N-Nothing," Lawrend replied as he continued to suppress his laughter.
"I hope the two of you get hit too!" Logan said to them in anger.
"Ow!"
"Ow!"
Suddenly, Lawrend and Nuon shouted together in pain. Two fruits had fallen on their head.
"Wahahahahaha! Serves the two of you right," Logan laughed uproariously.
"Shh!" Lawrend shushed Logan solemnly.
"What? I can't laugh at you?" Logan asked with a frown on his face.
"Someone is doing this on purpose," Nuon explained to Logan solemnly.
"That's…"
Logan realized hearing Nuon's words. He looked around them warily.
The three of them stayed still as they looked at the tree branches above them. They all had serious looks on their faces. It would be bad if they were ambushed.
But even after standing still for 5 minutes, nothing showed up.
"Could it be a coincidence?" Nuon asked with doubt on his face.
"It can't be. That's too much of a coincidence," Lawrend replied.
"We should move. It's bad to stay here anymore longer," Logan said to them.
"Alright. Let's go. Look around you carefully as we go," Lawrend said to the two of them as he continued leading the way forward.
The trio walked at a slow pace as they examined every possible angle that they could be ambushed from. They avoided any suspiciously thick shrubs.
Before long, night came. The three of them had gathered stuff to set up camp along the way.
"The two of you, stay on the lookout. I will start the campfire," Lawrend said to the two of them.
He was the only one with magic capable of starting a fire.
Lawrend set up the campfire, and he used the Thunderbolt Disk to start the fire with his lightning magic.
Crackle Crackle
The flame slowly started growing as it crackled loudly.
"It's done," Lawrend said to the two of them.
"Phew. I think we're safe," Logan sighed in relief and sat down beside the campfire.
"Let's eat then sleep. Also, one of us should stand guard," Lawrend said to them.
"Sure. I will stand guard. I can go on without sleep for a while," Nuon said to Lawrend.
"Alright. 3 hours later, wake me up. I will substitute for you," Lawrend said to him.
"But how will I check the time?" Nuon asked him in confusion.
"I have an hourglass here."
It was Logan that answered Nuon. He passed to him a small hourglass.
"Once it empties, one hour has passed," Logan explained to him.
And so, the three of them ate their meat jerkies before they closed their eyes inside their makeshift shelters.
An hour later, Nuon was sitting beside the campfire silently as he watched the hourglass.
Rustle Rustle
Suddenly, Nuon heard rustling noises around him.
"Wake up! Something is in the bushes!" Nuon shouted in alarm.