“All right, let’s move out,” Belamus said firmly.
At dawn the next day, with preparations complete, the group of six set off from Beresdral’s northern gate: Belamus, Delarosa, Medello, Navasha, Liza, and Mimi. Spirits were high, but the air still carried the weight of the unknown.
“Hey, hey! Mimi, are you good in a fight?” Delarosa chirped as they walked, her voice light and curious.
Belamus translated, and Mimi quickly shook her head, eyes wide. “Nope! Not at all! I’ve never even tried to fight!”
“Ohhh, then we’ll all just have to keep you safe!” Delarosa beamed, flashing a rare moment of maturity that caught even Belamus by surprise. Over the years, she’d begun to grow, if only slightly, into someone who could consider others. Belamus nodded approvingly.
Then, as they stepped into the vast, mist-laced forest, Belamus’s tone sharpened: “Don’t stray from me. Not even for a second,” he warned, his tone firm and unwavering as he scanned the dense, unpredictable forest ahead. “If you get separated in this place, it’s not just inconvenient; it could cost you your life.”
“That’s the tenth time you’ve said that,” Delarosa whined, though she stayed close.
Belamus didn’t care if he had to say it a hundred more times. In the Great Frazes Forest, one misstep could mean disappearing forever.
Liza chuckled softly beside him. “I understand your concern. With these girls… I’d be anxious too.”
Belamus gave her a sideways glance. She wasn’t wrong. Even if they’d matured slightly, Delarosa and the others were still prone to spontaneity. One moment of inattention, and they’d be off chasing squirrels or fighting butterflies.
The underbrush ahead rustled sharply; something big and fast.
“Wah! Something’s coming!” Medello yelped.
Belamus’s eyes locked on the source. Bursting through the foliage was a monstrous centipede, its body gleaming crimson and its legs skittering like knives across the ground.
“A Red Centipede,” Belamus muttered. A grotesque creature, all segmented muscle and snapping mandibles.
“Ughh, gross! I hate these things!” Delarosa squealed. Without hesitation, she raised her hand and fired off a burst of flame magic. The fire struck squarely, but the creature didn’t even flinch.
“A-Ah… wha—?” Delarosa blinked, stunned as her fire magic bounced harmlessly off the monstrous centipede’s armored hide.
Without missing a beat, Belamus stepped in beside her. With a flick of his hand and a muttered incantation, he summoned a barrage of light: twenty glowing arrows of pure energy streaked through the air and slammed into the creature’s segmented body. The Red Centipede let out a horrible screech as its limbs spasmed. One hit wouldn’t have done much. But twenty? Even a beast as tenacious as this couldn’t endure that.
It collapsed into a twitching heap.
“Fire magic doesn’t work on this type,” Belamus said casually, lowering his hand.
“Ohhh, I see!” Delarosa exclaimed, eyes wide with admiration. “That makes sense!”
Just as Belamus turned to move on, something caught his eye: Mimi had dropped to her knees, trembling violently.
“I-I can’t… what was that thing…?” she whispered, her voice shaking. “Monsters up here are terrifying…”
Belamus approached carefully. “You all right? It’s dead now.”
“D-Dead?” she echoed, slowly lifting her head. She rose to her feet hesitantly and peeked past him toward the clearing. The mangled corpse of the Red Centipede lay sprawled across the path, its crimson body punctured in dozens of places, still twitching slightly.
Mimi recoiled with a small gasp. “I-Is it really… dead?”
“Does it look alive?” Belamus asked dryly.
“I mean, ugh, even dead it’s disgusting,” she mumbled, clearly unnerved. The way her shoulders hunched and her face paled made it obvious that she really didn’t like centipedes.
“But…” she added quietly, glancing up at him, “you really are strong. I didn’t quite believe it until now.”
Her voice was tinged with awe, eyes wide as she looked around at the others. The group pressed forward through the dense forest, aiming for the research facility. Several more monsters ambushed them along the way, each more dangerous than the last, but Belamus, Delarosa, and the rest fended them off with ease.
Not a single enemy managed to leave a scratch.
Watching them, Mimi could only stare, deeply impressed. “It’s not just Belamus… everyone here is strong…”
There was genuine wonder in her voice now, admiration born from seeing firsthand the power that protected her.
“It’s getting dark,” Belamus noted as the last rays of sunlight vanished beneath the treetops. They’d been walking all day, pushing steadily toward their destination. Now, with night fully fallen, it was time to rest.
“We’ll make camp here for the night. Let’s get set up,” Belamus said, his voice calmly decisive as he scanned the forest clearing for the safest spot.
“Roger!” Delarosa chirped, already bouncing into action.
Belamus began by clearing a space, cutting down trees where necessary to make room for building. Once the area was secure, he raised his hand and cast Magic House, a spell that conjured a sturdy, comfortable structure on the spot.
Mimi blinked in disbelief as a complete house shimmered into existence before her eyes. “Wait, how is this still considered camping?”
She followed the others inside, still trying to wrap her head around the idea of calling it “camping” when they had literal walls and a roof.
During the day, they’d defeated a monster that, thankfully, turned out to be edible. Belamus had wrapped it in Magic Thread and hauled it along behind them until nightfall. Now, with the house set up, he prepared the meat, roasting and stewing it with simple seasoning until the rich aroma filled the clearing.
Everyone sat down to eat.
“Well, I’ll be having this,” Mimi said as she pulled out her own dinner: a chunk of iron about the size of a child’s fist.
She didn’t eat meat. As a dwarf, her diet was strictly metallic.
The rest of the group watched with varying degrees of curiosity as she bit down on the solid lump with a crisp crunch. Despite its density, she munched through it with ease, chewing the metal like it was nothing more than a biscuit.
“Wowww,” Delarosa breathed, staring. “Isn’t that hard?”
Belamus translated and relayed the question, and Mimi grinned.
“Not at all! All dwarves eat metal; it’s completely normal for us,” Mimi said cheerfully, flashing a proud grin as she crunched through another bite of iron like it was candy.
“Huhhh… I wonder what it tastes like,” Delarosa murmured, leaning in with wide, fascinated eyes as if the metal might reveal its secrets just by being watched.