The top of the canvas tent was dyed with an irregular green pattern—some sort of waterproofing, I assumed—and shone slightly, likely from being treated with oil.
Meanwhile, Chiyome dug through a bag Ariane handed her, and pulled out a small pot and various dried foods.
“Wow, they’ve even left food here?” she said, to no one in particular. “We usually don’t prepare this well when we’re out in the woods. The more you bring, the slower you travel.”
“Food stores like this are pretty normal,” Ariane said. “Elven soldiers spend a lot of time patrolling the forests and hunting monsters. With Arc’s teleportation magic, we should make it to the Dragon Wonder’s mouth tomorrow, so I figured we could pack light.”
Ariane pulled out several pelts and spread them under the tent, then used spirit magic to ignite the twigs. She took the pot from Chiyome and placed it on the stones. After filling it with water from her skin, she tossed in dried food and other ingredients.
I sat to the side, rubbing Ponta’s belly and watching the two women. “What’s the Dragon Wonder?”
“A massive canyon between the Karyu and Furyu Mountains. The cave entrance we’re heading to is located in one of its walls.”
“Huh. So, tomorrow, we’ll enter the cave?”
Ariane shook her head. “At this pace, the earliest we’ll make it to the Dragon Wonder is probably the afternoon. The cave itself is full of monsters, so I’d prefer to travel through it in one go. I think we’ll need to spend a night camping out in front of the entrance.”
She dropped a packet of spices into the pot and began stirring with a wooden spoon as we discussed tomorrow’s plans. She then quickly tasted the soup and nodded. As darkness descended on the forest, it slowly plunged us into silence, save for the crackling flames. Steam rose from the boiling soup, carrying a sweet scent. Ponta rose from my lap and sniffed the air.
“Kyii!”
“Well, it looks about ready to eat.”
Ariane pulled out three light metal mugs she’d brought and filled them with soup. Then Chiyome took sticks of bread from her own rucksack and passed them out.
I removed my helmet and accepted the offered mug and bread, delighted at the unexpected opportunity to eat a warm meal here in the wilderness.
Enticed by the smell, Ponta tried desperately to look inside my mug.
Ariane poured some soup into a shallow dish, setting it before Ponta. The cottontail fox wagged its tail excitedly and began to eat. Ariane smiled as Ponta used magic to waft a cooling breeze across the hot soup.
“We’ll take shifts being on watch. Chiyome, you’re first; then Arc; and finally me. Is everyone okay with that?” Ariane looked at us in turn.
“Fine with me.”
“I have no complaints.”
Ariane slowly wrapped herself in one of the pelts that lined the tent floor. “All right, I’m off to sleep, then. Arc, do you want this?” She offered me another pelt.
Wrapping myself up—armor and all—didn’t seem as though it would do much. On the other hand, I was hesitant to sleep in the woods without my armor. In the end, I decided to do without the pelt. I lay down inside the tent for a quick nap before my turn to stand watch. Spending the evening in such close proximity to two women made it hard to relax, but, fortunately, the night passed quickly.
The next morning, I jolted awake suddenly. I jumped to my feet, grimacing at the ache that throbbed through my head.
“Hyaugh?!”
I looked around, the fog of sleep still hanging over my mind. I was surrounded by a dense forest that stretched in all directions, veiled with a thin layer of fog. Behind me, three large trees stretched into the sky.
“Arc?! Are you okay?”
“Kyiii!”
I tilted my head toward the sound of the voices. Ariane, Chiyome, and Ponta looked very worried as they gazed down from the platform between the trees. Slowly, I put together what had happened. I must have somehow rolled off the platform.
I remembered that, after finishing my turn on watch, I decided to lie down on the platform edge, rather than climb into the tent with Chiyome.
“Err, sorry about that. I’m fine.”
“You sure? That’s a pretty long fall.”
Ariane began climbing down, worry evident on her face.
I tried to sound cool and collected while assuring her that everything was okay.
“What about your body? You aren’t secretly an undead, are you?” She sounded more relieved as she approached.
Judging by the ache in my bones, I was pretty sure I wasn’t undead. On the other hand, falling ten meters and ending up with only a little discomfort was no small feat. Thinking about it further, I felt rather pathetic; I’d suffered my first injury since coming to this world from falling out of a tree.
Just to be on the safe side, I cast a recovery spell on myself. “I guess I should sleep closer to the middle of the platform next time.”
“Please do. I was hoping to start the day off without any major incidents.”
I endured Ariane’s gentle ribbing as I climbed back up. After a quick breakfast, we set off toward the Dragon Wonder. We made swift work of the monsters we ran across as we continued through the forest, collecting rune stones all the while. Shortly after noon, we arrived at our destination.
Once we broke out of the dense, dark forest, we found an impressive, unobstructed view all the way to the horizon. The earth in front of us split open, revealing a dense green foliage carpet at the bottom of a steep precipice, covered in a thick layer of mist. The vast canyon stretched to the north and south, bordered by the Furyu Mountains in the east and by the Karyu Mountains in the west.
The forested canyon floor was easily a thousand meters below. Getting down there would normally have been impossible. It truly looked as if a wound had been torn into the earth.
From time to time, gusts of wind blew along the steep canyon walls, giving rise to strong updrafts. Since Ponta was light, I was sure it could ride those updrafts high into the air if it wanted.
Chiyome and I murmured in amazement at the sight before us. I edged timidly closer to the precipice edge and glanced over.
“So, this is the Dragon Wonder? It’s truly breathtaking. I can’t even find words to describe it,” I said.
“It really is impressive,” Chiyome agreed. “There’s no way I could climb down from here.”
Even I wouldn’t stand a chance, falling from this height—death was practically assured. The drop was at least a hundred times farther than my fall that morning.
Ariane urged us along, already walking away. “We’ll follow the canyon edge east, toward the cave. Be careful not to get too close to the edge. Wyverns sometimes shoot out of the canyon if they catch sight of you.”
I hurried after her.
We moved along, alternately walking and using Dimensional Step, for about an hour. Finally, we drifted away from the canyon and into the trees, where we stopped at another elven outpost.
The platform between these trees was a little lower—only seven or eight meters up. Putting aside this outpost’s proximity to the Dragon Wonder, it was almost identical to the one we left that morning. We’d stay the night in this outpost, then head into the cave first thing the next day.
On our second night camping in the wilderness, I decided to sleep in the middle of the platform to avoid repeating my fall.