Back in the house, the trio sat around their stone slab and opened up the map. They hadn’t looked at it for several months but the inside of Aclysia’s adventurer’s bag had stored it well. Still slightly off and with several minor drawing errors, the black outline of Azenia-Ra greeted them.

Looking at it only made them realize all the more how much time they had spent in a small corner of this Leaf. “What do we do next?” that was the question on everyone’s mind and Apexus spoke it out loud. It went out more to Aclysia than to Reysha.

Not only was the metal fairy decisively the main brains of their operations, she also had gathered the most amount of information. Usually being the one that went out to do trades and the like, she had picked up a bit of coherent knowledge about the Leaf. Reysha had some supporting figments from her eavesdropping, but that only went so far.

“Obviously, we need to be stronger,” Aclysia answered and looked at the map. “That has to be our immediate goal for as long as Apotho remains a threat to us… which is likely until death claims him or us.” She tapped on their current location, or at least an approximation of it. “Our two goals have to be to gain strength and to delay confrontation with Apotho or whatever forces he sends after us for as long as possible. To that end I suggest that our immediate decision should be to move west to the Verdany dungeon.” Her finger trailed over to the location.

Verdany was located on the western end of the jungle-filled island they had briefly passed through on their way to the Summer Rest. As it was a dungeon of the level 10 to 15 difficulty range and relatively close, it was the natural place to visit next.

“We should clear Verdany only once. Reysha and I growing stronger is not the objective at that location. Instead, we should only go through in search of items and useful Growths for Apexus to acquire permanently, once we defeat the boss. From what we know of his acquisition of lasting Growths, it requires that the surroundings pose a proper challenge. Combining this with our knowledge that darling, like us, has levels, we can assume that any dungeon in the appropriate or a higher difficulty range for that level could suffice.”

Apexus hummed and tilted his head in thought. “So, we should hurry through Verdany so I do not cross level 15 and can still get permanent Growths from Myrlight and Myrm Nest?” he asked, pointing at the other two dungeons in that level range on the Leaf. If they kept exploration and combat to the necessary minimum, it was possible that he could get three Growths out of the three dungeons. Grinding through for levelling purposes would likely make this impossible.

“That would be the logical approach to this,” Aclysia nodded. “If we can methodically exploit your ability to evolve, then we should do so.”

“Not like we should stay too long in any one place anyway,” Reysha brought another reason to the table. “So, we go to Verdany and then clear the rest of the Leaf?”

“Not necessarily,” Aclysia responded. “We have four paths forwards, as I see it. Two of them are similar, but the underlying rationale is different. Our first option is to simply clear the dungeons in a safe order of ascending level.” She gestured over the map a route they could follow. “Alternatively, we could push ourselves along, sacrificing efficiency of Apexus’ Growth acquisition in favour of quickly gaining more levels. To that end, we would skip a few dungeons.” More gestures, another route. “The third and fourth options that come to mind are based on intel I do not have yet. One way or another, we will visit cities and I want to take that time to ask about nearby Leaves. It could be, unlikely as it is, that another Leaf holds better opportunities for us to increase our strength or be otherwise safe. In that case, I would suggest we go to Verdany, then Myrlight, and then leave. Of course, that also depends on the Infestation being removed by then. Lastly, and this option similar to the first one, I have heard rumours about the Long Way,” she tapped onto the centre of the map.

“The ones where there might be a portal in there?” Reysha asked, having heard that name before.

“Indeed,” Aclysia nodded. “If the Infestation remains for a longer time, which is likely, such a portal would be our best way to leave this world behind. It would also serve to greatly obscure our tracks. I want to inform myself about the validity of this rumour and any potential conditions to cross it.” Her hand wandered back to Verdany. “Whatever else we decide to do, heading to the jungle is our best option in the short term. What we decide to do afterwards is up to us.”

“I agree,” Apexus nodded. Although he did not know whether his instinct driven evolution would trigger reliably if approached like a simple numbers game, everything else about all plans was solid.

“Next question,” Reysha raised her left hand and pointed at it. “What do we do with this?” The question was completely in regards to the demonic nature of that hand. “For all we know, this might be the way Apotho can find us again…”

“Unlikely,” Aclysia shook her head. “To be more precise, it is highly unlikely that he would have limited himself to this one way.” Shifting her attention from the map to Apexus, Aclysia wrapped her arms around her slime and cuddled. This entire discussion awoke fears in her that she would rather keep suppressed. “That sociopath primarily wants revenge on Apexus. He wouldn’t run the risk of us separating and him therefore being unable to find us. If your arm serves as some sort of trackable beacon, then that is only insurance on top of some other fundamental measure by which he can find our darling.”

“What we should do is keep a lookout for methods to purify or replace your arm,” Apexus stated. “Until then, it should stay attached. Having you fight one handed wouldn’t serve us well.”

“I guess.” Reysha formed a fist, opened it again, then repeated the motion a few times. An unsure expression crossed her face. Nothing about this felt unusual to her. She knew it wasn’t the arm that she had been born with, but it still felt purely like hers. It was part of her and the nails had the same blood-red tint to it as the right side. Noir consistently affected both sides. “If we run into a skilled Warlock, I guess I should ask what exactly this arm even is.”

“Yes, we should keep it in mind,” Apexus agreed and looked at the map again. “We have our goal, then… When do we leave? Immediately?” The suggestion passed his lips without much thought. It just felt right. There was nothing keeping them there, no acquaintances or unfinished business. They only needed each other, fundamentally. Everything else was additional.

“Sure,” Reysha nodded and Aclysia was also in agreement. The metal fairy began to fold the map, while Apexus and the tiger girl scouted through the house for things they should take with them. Strips of cloth, rations and small tools that they had bought over recent months to get things fixed up. Small issues were discussed, such as Reysha’s needs for new leather pants. Since they didn’t have money at the moment, that particular one had to wait.

It only took half an hour for them to be certain they had everything on them that they could take with them. Apexus would miss the bed, but, for the rest of the house, he didn’t feel too much. They left it in a much better state than they had found it. Chances were, whoever would live in there next, would only find the cabin after the elements had reduced it to its former state, however.

“It was a nice time,” he said, wanting to at least pay some respects.

“It was alright. Having a bed was great,” Reysha stretched, sharing his opinion in basically all aspects of this. Neither of them were beings that became particularly attached to any place. They were migratory at heart.

“I will miss having a home,” Aclysia sighed, she was slightly different in that regard. “Not that this place ever truly felt like one… I wonder why that is…”

“Probably because Apexus held back his pheromone ducts all the time,” Reysha giggled and poked the slime’s side through the robe. “Congrats on managing to do that even while we were fucking, by the way.”

“I have self-control,” he responded, proud of himself. “Like a clam around predators, I knew to keep my shell closed.”

“A lack of smell could have hindered the feeling of homeliness,” Aclysia did agree, then she sighed. “As it is, as it might be, let us resume our wandering, then.”

They turned around and aimed towards the nearby hills. Their load was light and their stride enthusiastic. After all this time, they almost couldn’t believe they were on the move again. Although Aclysia disliked not having a place they could call home, she was happy to orient herself towards something productive. Finally, being gone from one place also eased her fears of being discovered. Apexus just cherished the idea of eating something else and doing the things that felt natural to him. Reysha was the happiest of all of them. After all, she finally felt comfortable in her own head again.

They did the usual thing, talking about what came to mind or just walking along in relaxed silence if there was nothing. Crossing through small valleys, and staying away from any settlements in the area, they went deeper and deeper into the arrangement of large hills until they climbed the tallest one in the area. From up there, they could see the entire surroundings. The giant tree of Summer Rest was in the distance, one of the two huge cities even closer. The other large one to the north was hidden behind the curvature of the planet.

“Alright then,” Apexus said and quickly stripped off his robe and mask. Aclysia had barely stashed both away when he started to change the shape of his body. Spine segments extended and his arms became longer, until he was more comfortable standing on all fours than on two legs. All the while, his entire body just grew in size, until he was closer to a horse than a human. “Get on my back,” he told Reysha.

The tiger girl nodded and soon her arms firmly wrapped around his neck. Unlike on the way here, Apexus was confident she would keep herself steady. This would allow them to bridge greater distances in the air than before. That there were fewer villages in the direction they were going also helped a great deal. When they had made their way to Summer Rest, they had been hunting for money, travelling on foot, and getting knowledgeable about the environment and the people. Now this was less necessary.

“We will land on the other side of the strait to visit the city,” Aclysia announced, starting to hover off the floor next to them. Less necessary still meant that they had their information to gather. “We should land in the outskirts of the jungle and then backtrack on foot. That will be the safest approach.”

They would also need to hunt. From where they were, it would take hours to get where Aclysia described. Almost the entire rest of daylight, in all due likelihood. Regardless, Apexus nodded, and began to run. His wings beat and soon he lost contact with the ground.

They would never return to that island.