Heart of Demise.

Nothing like Pautila.

"Where you hunt?"

I was sort of puzzled as to why that was the first place she chose for my "training." Didn't that place have these big, grandiose monsters that could eat two of me in the same bite?

"Yes."

No elaboration. Just a solid one-word answer.

"...Great."

I could only hope that this place is a lot better than I'm imagining it to be.

"How far away is it?"

"It'll only take us a few minutes to get there."

God, that close? Did something ever pop out of it that shouldn't have? Could it even survive up here? Did that place even have oxygen?

"...Nah, I'm overthinking this."

Maybe it's because I lost my ability to walk, but I was being a lot more... cautious, than usual.

I gave myself a small breather and rationalized the situation. For starters, if I really wanted to, I'm sure I could just hop off of Rupert and crawl back to the cabin. Having an escape option, for a lack of a better term, eased my worries a little.

Secondly, Rivver wouldn't take me to a place just so I could get killed off. She may be a dick sometimes, but I knew she had a good heart.

Lastly, even if I did want to go back to the cabin, it appeared to be a little too late for that now.

"We're here."

In front of us was a giant cave shaped like the half of a thick, bumpy oval. The inside of it was veiled by complete darkness, and dangling vines considered the entrance to be an excellent catwalk. Even from the outside alone, I could tell this place meant business. Goosebumps were already tickling the fabric of my shirt.

"Are you finished admiring it? We don't have all day."

"R-Right."

Rivver entered the cave like most people would their local park. Rupert slowly followed her, allowing me to mentally prepare myself for the darkness of the cave.

"..."

Except, it wasn't dark at all.

The innards of the cave were illuminated with the exact same light that the forest outside had. Puddles of water were loitered around the floor, and the ceilings had water dripping from them while being painted in moss.

"...I can't say I expected this."

It was an exotic place. But not just exotic, really pretty too. Both the looks and atmosphere of this place. It was like taking a walk in the morning with a cool breeze.

"They really don't have places like this back at home, huh?"

I was completely entranced by this place. The slight thuds of Rupert's hooves served as great background noise as I observed the area. My mom always told me to go outside more often, listing nature being beautiful as one of the reasons, but I didn't really buy into that.

At least, not until now.

But suddenly, right when I was acknowledging the abnormal size of one of the puddles, I noticed a brilliant white light coming from in front of me. It was in front of Rivver, too, but she wasn't looking at it at all.

"Don't forget to breathe, Lewis."

Her smile was full of anticipation. Whatever was on the other side of this wall of light must be pretty amazing, huh?

"Guess it's time to find out."

Rupert walked closer to the light and pierced through it, and when my eyes adjusted, I was in awe. Pure, utter awe.

"...W-What the hell?"

It was an absolute abstract piece. An environment that almost seemed to be man-made, but the more you looked at it, the more you realized how surprisingly impossible that idea was.

It was an enormous pit; illuminated by a blinding light that was coming from someplace above us, and we were standing on one of the many ledges protruding from the walls. I heard the running noise of water. I saw bright green trees, some too big to see completely, sprinkled around. And the weirdest thing?

Clouds. Pure, white clouds, above and below us, and they were crashing into the walls and degrading into invisible nothingness.

"...This is ridiculous."

It was something straight from my dreams. The imagination of an entity was warped into reality, and this was the result. Because, how else could something so amazing be created?

"I was expecting a lot more shouting, but this isn't too bad at all."

Interrupting my moment of disbelief, Rivver was chuckling at whatever face I was making with her claws in a checkmark under her chin.

"When are you gonna learn to let me enjoy things?"

"Mmm? Is it a problem that I don't know how to?"

She almost broke into full-out laughter.