(Ikarus) "Well... this is unexpected"
(Nathan) "Is this a good or bad thing?"
(Charlotte) "Unsure Nat, maybe a good thing?"
(Petra) "..."
All four of us have arrived at the next dungeon and have come to a realization, this one must've been completed. Seriously though, we've all drunk from another fountain and nothing has happened, literally nothing. We've waited for a good half an hour and still nothing.
The next dungeon's location is on a beach at the bottom of cliff face very far into the elven continent in an old ruin, it took half a month to get over here flying following the coast and crossing a huge river as well. This entire continent just seems to gigantic trees nearly everywhere, yet to come across any people but we didn't fly anywhere close to where elves might be.
The woods are supposed to be harsh and dangerous to live in, mostly because of the wild animals that now roam them. A little danger isn't that much to worry about, it's just having to wake up every hour or so because of an attacking animal doesn't sound like the greatest of plans so sticking to the coast has worked out well for us.
Before we got here though, there was a destroyed town at the top of this cliff, Petra seemed to have an idea on what happened to it but was unwilling to explain, she seemed a little down as well so I didn't bother to ask, really don't like seeing her sad.
Should go back to this weird thing that's currently going on right now though.
"I'm confused, does this mean it counts towards the ten dungeons or not then?"
...
"Seriously? No one has an idea, priestess, does your God have a clue?"
"The Lord is a little unsure himself right now, he says it might but that it also might not."
Isn't that great? The person who provided us with the ten-dungeon curse cure has no idea if this counts or not, that doesn't seem dumb in the slightest.
There is someone who might have an idea though.
[<Since -user- has drunk from fountain, Aesa assumes it counts. However, this prediction doesn't have 100% accuracy>]
I'll take her word for it then; fountain dungeons suck so I'm not all that bothered by this. Could just find another one, they clearly don't seem to be all that rare judging by how easily the slimy little blonde-haired rat can find them, I'm talking about the prince of course.
In all honesty, I'm just happy I don't have to slug it through another bullshit fountain dungeon, those things suck. Petra looks to be thinking on something else right about now though.
"Wonder if this place could've been where those two elves entered the dungeon"
That's what Petra is thinking about? It could make sense; we are in the elven lands and maybe this fountain could be connected to the other, there's no way to know if it's true of not though.
The other two aren't going to have a clue what we're talking about so no point talking to them about it, phoenix confidentiality for Zeki and Ariza and all that.
"Then is this fountain busted or something? It looks partially red; shouldn't it provide heal-"
I had to stop myself mid-sentence from saying something stupid. How can something heal you when you're at full health? And you're not supposed to drink health potions anyway, you're supposed to apply it to the wound directly. None of us have needed to use one yet in an actual combat situation so that might be reason why I nearly said that.
"Only one way to find out"
Petra speaks as well as taking out her samurai blade, then slashes a small cut into her arm.
"Damn it Petra! Give me some warning beforehand if you're going to do that!"
"Heh, you worried about me or something?"
"Of course! Erm..."
I blurted that out without speaking, she did just cut herself without giving it a second thought. I know I've done the exact same thing before but still, I don't want to see her hurt...
Petra grabs a handful of the red-coloured water and pours it on her wound. Before it even has the chance to do anything, she confirms what I was just thinking.
"It's definitely a fountain of healent, can already feel it's effect"
Now I'm just waiting for the afterpain, I don't want to see her in pain but it's definitely coming, my first time using it hurt like hell...
...
She has literally no reaction, is she a masochist or something? She clearly can take pain very well; she's looking at me like she can read my mind right now as well though.
"Heh, were you looking to comfort me when the healing pain kicked in? Sorry to disappoint"
She really enjoys her teasing too much; I might be weird seeing that I like it even more. Of course, she can't help but smile as well.
"No idea what you're on about... anyway, can everyone give me a hand bottling this up please?"
"Sure Ikarus-sama"
"Yeah, okay then"
"..."
I've basically got loads of stamina pots, might as well stock up on healents as well, will have to pour some stamina ones out since I don't hold thousands of glass bottles in storage but I should have more than enough for a dozen or two.
If I'm ever heading back far north, just need to use that fountain and I've got enough potions to last a lifetime.
Now that all party members have helped me bottle up as many bottles as I can fill, it's time to leave, but to where?
"So... what do we do know then? I feel happy but also a little underwhelmed"
"I'm unsure as well Ikarus-sama"
"We could head back to the capital and continue the search"
Nathan suggests heading back to the capital to start more dungeons once again, the issue is that will take at least another half a month, kinda want to explore a bit since these lands are so far away from the empire and there's definitely some other stuff to do.
"Could always visit the howling woods and some other places, there are some good places to visit in and around Jötna"
I guess I finally get to see what this howling forest place is all about then, Petra has said about it more than once. Jötna is the name of the elven continent that I keep forgetting and just referring to it as the elven continent, names do tend to slip my mind a lot.
Sierra is the empire continent and basically human, Jötna is the elven and Krieger is the beast desert continent. Just one more to go and learn about, I'm a bit unsure on that though.
"What else is there to do then?"
"You've got the dwarfs just north of the howling woods if you'd like to pay them a visit and the city of Aurora is quite far to the south across the river but that is something you really must see to believe"
So, howling forest, dwarven mountains and a city named Aurora? Sounds like that could be interesting enough, might as well do something before heading back. The longer we leave it, the more chance of the prince finding more dungeons so it's not a terrible situation.
He also gets to live longer as well...
"Okay dokey, let's do all those before heading back then"
I'd ask the other two if they want to do this but with them, they wouldn't have much of an opinion on it, they did help out back in the bandit woods that was off topic from their original goal after all. Back to running the dictatorship then I suppose, blame Petra this time though.
__________
(Ikarus) "This place is definitely... different"
(Petra) "It's beautiful, isn't it?"
(Ikarus) "I guess so"
On the journey over to the howling woods, I asked Petra to explain how the elven continent of Jötna actually worked since there doesn't seem to be too much information on the books I've read about it.
To sum it up, they don't use countries over here and prefer to use a tribe system, it was split up into quite a few countries years back but the volcano killed so many people, the population of the elves never truly recovered back to its fullest so the survivors formed into small groups scattered around the place and it led from there.
The soot from the volcano even reached the empire I'm told; it really was a devastating eruption that would've wiped out so much life and progress. Hopefully, that never erupts again but if the Gods can cause such a thing, then there might be no counter.
There are also seven elvish tribes that Petra knows off and that also includes the gigantic city of Aurora, she's been purposely vague on telling me what the place is like since it would ruin the surprise.
As for the howling woods themselves, it basically a black dead forest but with a few odd things about it, the forest seems to have a red fog floating about it and every now and then a blood red tree or two. Ah, the moon seems to glow red as well here, no idea why it looks different where we are.
I can see why Petra thinks this place is beautiful though. Sure, you would think that a mostly dead forest would be a bit creepy but there is something about this place that just strikes the eye. Maybe we both just have weird tastes, that would explain a lot...
"Petra! What are you doing?"
"Going for a swim, anyone care to join me?"
In this undead looking forest, we are standing next to a small lake that also has a strong red tint to it, why does Petra fancy a swim in that? She's taken off her robe and started to walk into it, well most of everything just leaving her underwear set on.
She really has a nice figure... damn it, stop looking at her like that, stupid bird!
"No thanks Petra-sama"
"Yeah, me and Lotte are good"
"What about you then Ikarus?"
Sometimes I think she might be a little mad.
"Is that even safe? The water is literally red"
"Perfectly, wouldn't get if it wasn't safe"
Guess she has a point then, I flick my wing at the knight for him to look away, for his own good obviously and then do the form change. While I'm doing this, Petra can't help but start her teasing.
"Since you're going swimming, why not try on that armour you picked up?"
She's literally swimming in that red lake and teasing me at the same time, why did I tell her about that stupid dungeon reward? I'm not doing it!
"Seems a bit weird to be swimming naked, doesn't it?..."
Her smile is devilish at times, stupid Petra! It's horrible!
"... I bet you'll look cute in it"
...
"Urgh... f-fine then!"
She changed my mind on that very quickly, I guess it's better than being naked despite how perverted it actually looks. Her compliments can very easily manipulate me now, dumb Petra...
Now that I've done the form change, I take that stupid piece of enchanted clothing bikini out of storage at put it on, it really is skimpier than anything I've ever seen in this world thus far. It feels like shit to wear as well.#
Damn fanservice...
[<Aesa is proud of -user->]
"Fuck off Aesa, don't you be starting"
Got to moan at Aesa out loud, don't want her coming out with things like that. Unfortunately, she's not the only one.
"Was right, it does suit you"
"C-Come on! You're just b-being too much n-now!"
"Heh"
She's just relentless at times, I can't handle it, it's too much! No idea where those other two are now though, I'd rather just get in the water and hide this crappy outfit.
I jump in and instantly realize Petra is secretly a horrible person.
"Jesus Christ! Do you not feel the cold or anything?"
"Heh, it's not that cold, give it a minute and you'll be fine"
You know something? I bet this was her entire reason for wanting to go swimming, so that I would join her and she could find another reason for her teasing. This woman is dangerous, I've got to be careful around her moving forward if she's this sly, I know what you're up to now devilish woman!
While I've got this stupid thing on anyway, might as well check to see how it works while I'm swimming about in here. The water isn't that bad once you're in for a minute or so, feels quite refreshing actually.
'Status'
[Name: Ikarus | Species: Phoenix | Level: 66]
[Health 29,582*/30,000*]
[Stamina 8,288*/10,000*]
[Magicka 20,000*/20,000*]
[You currently have 3000 unassigned points]
'Damn it, why does thing have to be so good yet so cursed? Everything is literally doubled right now, stupid black bikini!'
I wonder if there's any way I can make use of this, it still isn't wearable under normal conditions since clothing over it blocks the effect, already knew that though.
"Petra... is there anyway of reshaping enchanted clothing?"
"Should be, the dwarfs normally know of a way"
Hang on, that's perfect then! If the famous crafting dwarfs don't know of a way of reshaping enchanted equipment, then no-one would know. Although... they're better suited for armour, this skimpy piece of shit isn't exactly armour, I can hope they'll help anyway.
"Then we're definitely heading there next, might pay a visit to have a quick bathe in the volcano first as well, that'll be cool"
That sound like a fun idea, bathing in a volcano, we are phoenixes after all. Make sure the party members aren't with us so they don't see Petra and it'll be all good.
"Ikarus... that's a terrible idea"
She actually seems a little disappointed in me, why though? Was that really a stupid suggestion?
"We're resistant to fire though?"
"Poisonous gasses Ikarus, we'd both die before we even get close. The dwarfs have to go to great lengths to redirect the heat to power their forges, even they can die from doing such a task"
Oh, I did have a stupid moment, completely forgot about having to breathe in air, sometimes my stupidity likes to return at times like this. The dwarfs basically use lava to power their forges though, is that even possible? Of course it is, magic excuse probably.
"About the dwarfs, how do they survive living that close to the volcano then?"
"Tunnels and caves, they basically live underground but also like to build houses in the mountains themselves as well, those houses are all connected with tunnels and have ventilating systems to keep toxic air getting in"
Well damn, the dwarfs are definitely an advanced race of people if they can literally be living and harnessing the power of a volcano. I bet they can do something with this bikini then, hopefully.
While we're chilling in the shallow part of this body of red water, maybe five or ten minutes or so, Petra has slowly started to look a little depressed. The other two-party members have started to set up a little camp while we're doing this as well, it was nearly time to set up camp anyway so it's not like we're purposely excluding them, they can join us anytime they want for a quick bath.
"What's wrong?"
"Just over there... no, it doesn't matter"
She stopped herself from speaking, this clearly is an issue.
"You can tell me Petra; I won't say anything stupid, I'll try not to anyway"
"It's about my ex though Ikarus, don't won't to put any burden on your shoulders"
In all honesty, I'd rather not know but this seems like one of those times where it might be better to just listen to her, she seems down remembering something.
"Still tell me about it though, it might help you out"
"This forest, was where she died... It's actually one of the reasons I despise vampires so much, they caused her death. The village on that cliff face was where I tracked the family of them down... and destroyed them all leaving no survivors. Vengeance or revenge never actually heals mental wounds unfortunately"
Damn, that's heavy. No time to even think about this right now, Petra needs some help.
I go up to her still in the water and give her a hug, it's a bit too intermate for me seeing we're basically half naked right now but her feelings are more important than my dumb embarrassment.
"I'm sorry Ikarus, feel like I'm doing you a disservice by telling you about her, she was my first love after all"
She's seriously coming out with something like this? Is this some guilt thing where she's worried about my feelings since she might still hold feelings for her dead ex? As if I'd worry about something like that, it's clear we like each other anyway so that wouldn't matter, it's not even like it's a cheating thing, she's dead. Damn, I really can be insensitive at times, this is why thinking before you speak is always best.
I stop hugging her and go to speak, she needs to be told off a little here though.
"That's what you're bringing up now? I'm supposed to be the stupid one out of us two, don't be coming out with things like that"
"Bu-"
"No buts Petra, your concern for me is pointless. Grieving is perfectly fine, worrying about my feelings over this thing is pointless. I'm more than happy to provide a shoulder to cry on always if it's needed"
I am right, she seems to look a little more relieved now but there is a more immediate issue that's staring at us with hungry eyes.
"*Howllllll*" "*Growl*" "*Snappp*"
A large pack of wolfs approaches the red lake coming from the side that no party members are camped at, this pisses me off immensely.
"You dumb fucking wolfs! I'm going to turn every single one of you into ash and then burn that as well! Then I'll cremate the Earth under your ashes!"
My anger is partially for Petra's sadness and partially for the fact I have to get out wearing this stupid outfit as well as fight this pack of wolfs like this.
At least Petra's smiling once again, she has such a troubled past. Smiling at me being an idiot is a thing I'll never be fussed about.
I'm going to butcher these bastard wolfs...