Morning went by quickly as did noon during which YuJu covered a great distance, much more than what he and Ellis covered normally but that was to be expected, he was much faster than her and plenty more stealthy, even with a cage in hand and a person on his back

In fact, he could perhaps do this all the time but then she wouldn't feel herself slowing him down and thus start working harder to improve herself, she had the type of mentality that didn't want to drag people behind, the more of a burden she was the harder she worked, furthermore who wanted to give their followers a piggyback all the time? His prestige as the master would be nonexistent….

"Kisasasas"

The sound of the angry mantis coming from behind brought his attention back to the matter at hand

"Good, keep following"

He said knowing that the insect didn't understand much really, luring it further and further ahead

Their chase had been ongoing for quite some time and YuJu didn't actually want to shake the persistent insect off, not that he could at this point, but if he wanted he could have avoided its hiding location to begin with but then who would act as the sacrifice for his next bit?

The mantis behind could sense something was weird as it ran, during the entirety of the chase between it and this two-legged beast they hadn't seen a single other creature, many territories they had passed but everything was rather quite, even if the territories owners were afraid to get involved there should have at least been a few skirmishes on the way right? Noone of that had they seen making it quite nervous

Giving up on this prey wasn't an option though! It was horrendous what it did to it, minding its own business it was when a sharp object suddenly poked its behind, lodging itself deep into the….anyway it was unforgivable!!

'There it is'

YuJu noted a few pebble-sized dents some distance ahead, these dents were barely noticeable and even if one noticed them what of it? There were dents everywhere in this jungle, unless one knew what he was looking for they wouldn't find anything weird in them

But when one looked from above they would see these small dents make irregular zig-zagged lines around an empty circle, empty other than the rather large amount of leaves covering the ground

YuJu didn't instantly change his route toward the leaves but first took out a small pouch from his storage along with a few knives, waiting till he got close enough to the vicinity of the dented area

Once he was pretty close he threw the knives behind and dumped the pouch's powdery content on himself before darting toward the leaves and jumping over them

The mantis, none the wiser, jumped after him soon as it avoided the knives, thinking its prey was giving a final struggle before the end, which was indeed partially true, for it was the end

The ground around the leaves suddenly sprang out encasing the poor bug with layers of teeth like thorns, poking it to death before it even realized what was happening

Several long tongues extended from underneath the folly coverage of the leaves, wrapping around the dead body and bringing it underground

Just as it was about to borrow back under the earth in wait for the next pray a knock rattled on of its leaves

Apparently the companion that brought the food was asking for a treat so it sniffed it using the small bulges on its leaf, it had a few of these helpers and smell was the only way to tell them apart, this particular one had its treat three days ago

The leaves fluttered in debate, to feed or not to feed, normally it would give them food at specific times or when they brought a certain number of pray, they needed to work in balance and not be greedy, then again it might be in real need of it or it would not ask for food so soon

Deciding with its semi-intelligent brain that it was best to keep the helper happy it took out some white substance using its long tongues and presented it on the leaf

Looking at the transparent mucus like liquid YuJu wasn't grossed out for he had his fair share of horrendous food, instead, the quantity wasn't satisfactory

'Finding this Gull Grotto was a gain in its own way, if not for that Allure Antelope I wouldn't even have this little, I shouldn't get overly greedy'

It was best not start a fight he couldn't finish so he grabbed the liquid and patted the cooperative plant before hitting the road once again, feeding the sleeping Ellis bits and pieces of it slowly on the way

'The ground is getting muddier, the smell of narcissus is in the air even though it's not night, this must be a nocturnal beast's territory, a safe passage in the day'

Using his wealth of knowledge he analyzed and stepped through the land with no worries, not even bothering to try and hide himself

Just like that he continued going through areas one after the other, sometimes waltzing in them like he owned the place other time creeping through the trees slowly while some areas he avoided even stepping in as if they were plagued

The rest of the day and night was spent in this fashion, he didn't stop to rest since without Ellis being awake he could easily hide himself making him end his journey into the depths by the next day's afternoon, two days earlier than his expected arrival

'Maybe I should knock her out some more'

He joked to himself as he walked through the cover of the trees, his destination towering ahead

Before him was the only 'city' in this land, though looking nothing like a city at all, housing one massive building made up of vines and trees, it was so massive that an entire lake fit in one of its balconies, the building was several floors tall easily outpacing a skyscraper, then again the trees around it were much taller than skyscrapers themselves

Around this beautiful work of both nature and the handy work of sentient beings was a delicate wall of orange-red thorns, looking ever so beautiful and well made that any single part if it was worth painting

'Vincula Hortus'

The name of the city was, one that he would never forget

As much as he wanted to waltz in and reminisce he still had to keep up appearances lest someone tags them a target so he slipped back into the cover of trees and lay Ellis on a spot waiting for her to wake up

It wasn't long before she did so, merely a little after midnight hit with the pale blue mist, a perfect time for their disguise's activities

Seeing her wake up while looking around in confusion he gave her a quick update on their location before asking her how she got knocked out, a vital piece of information he had to know

"I recall you sharing a very visual feeling of our surroundings through our bond Master, my skill countered that making me feel very pressured and torn before I got knocked out"

"? Describe how it felt"

"Umm, it felt like...everything? I have no idea how to explain it Master, it just felt like everything around me was a part of me as I was a part of it, I could feel the pulse of life in the trees the wisps of mist dancing through the air and even the small ant crawling inside the bark of the tree, it was so overwhelming I can barely recall some of it"

"Hmm"

He knew what she was talking about for it was what he felt most of the ties he woke up, but why did she only feel it now? What about all those other times she was there when he woke up, why did she save him from the feelings then and only get affected by them now of all times?

'No, everything I need to think about will be handled after we take refuge in the city, I will have all the time I need to debate then'

Pushing the matter to the back of his head he told Ellis to don her mask while he put on the blindfold, the two then walked into the clearing outside the city and circled around it until a tall exquisite gate came into sight

There were guards at the gate, both wearing an intricate blue armour, that's where their similarities end though as one was a tree with two legs and two arms, a face in its torso, and an owl sitting on one of the branches in its head while the other one was a sloth, literally just a sloth, rubbing its eyes while looking sleepy

The second the three saw them, the owl included, they instantly looked alarmed, as if they would call for help anytime soon

It was night time where the pale blue mist covered the land, Ellis's swirling purple eyes were undoubtedly the focal attention of the three, especially with the leaking aura the made her look especially elegant, combined with her covered up and rather unique appearance in this land of many races it made them unable to tell whether this was friend or foe

"Hello gentleman"

A quiet voice rang close to them, startling them out their wits

Quickly turning to the side they saw a blindfolded man with a canine smile and a very light presence to him, even though they were class specific scouts they still failed to spot him, if he had wanted to enter the city, or worse, kill them, then they would have been sure helpless to do anything against that

"Goo-Good day sir! Are a resident of Hortus? If-If your not we can arrange a temporary residents for your esteemed self"

The owl unexpectedly spoke instead of the two guards, but Ellis was too busy staring at the beautiful city to take notice of that, even if she did what was normal anymore? If the air suddenly started speaking too she wouldn't find it too surprising

"I am nor a resident or someone looking for a temporary stay, I have been invited here"

"Sir, may I know who's your host?"

The owl spoke with some composure on its voice, it was calming down somewhat even though it recognized what race this devil before it belonged to

"Aminta"

"Keok!"

The bird choked and fell off the branches, what composure and calm it had thrown with the wind

The rather familiar sight brought a knowing smile to his face, a genuine one at that