“You look even worse than yesterday.” Cain greeted me as he entered the kitchen the following morning.

I nodded, as I had seen myself in the mirror, and decided not to waste any makeup covering up those bags under my eyes. Although when I was in university, I had no issues sleeping this little, for more than two nights in a row as well, I had lost this type of stamina ever since I came to this world.

“The moon was keeping me up, that’s why.” I joked, as I poured myself some coffee before setting a box of cereal on the table.

Cain gave me a doubtful look.

“What are you getting at?” He asked.

He must have felt that something was going on. Perhaps the way I was fidgeting with my coffee cup portrayed my nervousness. One might think that this situation was no different from when I had decided to rescue Cain from the lab, but this time I was not making the decision by myself, as the kid who was at the centre of this all was sitting at my kitchen table.

“Would you like to go on a field trip?” I asked. Before he had had the time to give me some weird look, or say anything snarky, I added “To Canada that is. Vancouver to be precise.”

He looked at me with un expression I could not read, and seemed to think for a moment.

“Alright.” He finally said. “When are we leaving?”

Part of me wanted to let out a sigh of relief, while another part felt worse than ever. There went my bodyguard. My OP and very loyal bodyguard.

“After breakfast.” I replied. “But we’re not in a hurry.”

“Is it far?” Cain asked, as he started pouring cereal into his bowl.

“Canada?” I asked with a smirk.

“How long will it take to get there?” He rephrased his question.

“Same time it took to get here from Switzerland. The time to get to the closest train station and use a magic item.”

I had actually already ordered the teleportation gems during the night, when I figured that I wouldn’t be falling asleep anyway. They were supposed to be waiting to be retrieved from Gare du Nord, which was not the closest one to my apartment, but the best the SNCF could do on such short notice.

“Aren’t those items crazy-expensive?” Cain asked in between two spoonsful of cereal. “Sometimes I think that you aren’t as poor as you make it out to be.”

“Hye, what made you think I was poor?” I changed the subject.

“Rich people don’t steal food from work.” Cain said as he gestured at me with his spoon. “And I can’t -couldn’t imagine you earning much money with your weak skills.”

“Again with the weak thing, are we?” I sigh.

He wasn’t wrong of course. That was the whole reason why he was here, but all these words did in this moment was to rub salt in the wound.

“I don’t mean it a bad way.” He tried to justify himself.

“Yeah, I hope you don’t.” I said with a sad attempt at a smile. “I’m gonna pack some stuff.” I added before heading to my room.

“Are you taking that sword with you?” Cain called out.

The katana was laying on my bed, where it had been for the past two nights. I picked it up, and examined once again the vein-like carvings in the scabbard. It must have been a trick of the light, as for a brief second it seemed as if liquid was flowing through those cracks, and pulsating under my touch.

“Yes.” I quietly answered. “I am.”

Holding Void

++ add item ++

A dark vortex, roughly 1 meter in diameter appeared before me. Without thinking twice, I slid my sword into it.

Holding Void

Blade of Namura

++ add item ++

MP - 2

It was better to keep it in there, I figured. At least I wouldn’t have to hide it under my clothes like last time.

Canada was cold. Cain didn’t seem to mind, as he ran off the second we got off the empty airport shuttle bus. I shivered and wrapped my scarf tighter around my neck. Not only was it pitch black, but it was also freezing. I hope that I’d at least get to see some beautiful stars, of northern lights, but the sky was clouded and we weren’t far out enough from the city for that.

“This way!” Cain called out, as he gestured towards a hiking path that led away from the bus stop and into the dark forest.

I hesitated for a second. Technically I had done my due diligence. I had brought Cain home, and now I could return back to Paris with a clean conscience. But then I’d have to sit at this deserted bus stop, in the most remote village the airport shuttle would go to, and wait at least four hours for the first morning bus to come by.

“It’s not dangerous.” Cain said, as he ran up to me. “There are no monsters in this forest.”

“None at all? You can guarantee that?” I asked with a smirk.

He was referring to the fact that wild lands did not work the same way in scarcely populated areas as they did in cities like Paris. Here, they did not have any ‘hard borders’ as their biomes clashed with the local ones, making monsters unable to survive far outside of their respective bubbles. This was even more true for extreme climates such as coastal Canada. This didn’t stop the occasional monster from escaping and reaching a settlement of course, but it was as unlikely as a shark attack (as opposed to the regular chaos that occurred in Paris).

It had never been explained in the book, and I didn’t care enough about the subject to do my own research, but most Wild Lands had a Mediterranean or otherwise mild climate. Hence, I had no issue believing Cain when he told me to follow him.

“Don’t you know the way?” I asked, still hesitant to come.

Amongst other things, I was worried about what to do or say if I accidently met some of Cain’s family. ‘Here’s your kid back, I kidnapped him away from other kidnapper so I’m a not a bad person’ sounded like a very sad and inappropriate thing to say.

“I do, but I can’t see where I’m going when there are no stars.” He replied.

“All right.” I pulled out my phone and turned on the flashlight. “Lead the way.”

It was a good thing I had brought a spare external battery with me, as the hike proved to be longer than I had anticipated. Perhaps it was because the path wasn’t well-treaded, or the fact that every so often Cain would run off further on ahead, as if scouting a road he supposedly knew. Either way, between the creeping cold that didn’t go away with the physical exercise of walking over this complex terrain, and the sounds that would come every so often from within the forest, this experience had become most unpleasant.

I saw a light in the distance, well off the direction of the path.

“Cain.” I called out towards the light, wondering just how the kid had gotten all the way there with my phone.

The light went off.

“Oh great.” I muttered, before calling out again. “Stay there, I have another battery.”

I stepped of the hiking trail, and onto a blanket of frozen needles and leaves. With each step I took, I felt as if I was walking over creased paper. In the dead silence of night, that sound of leaves and branches being crunched was unbearable.

“Cain.” I called out again, once I reached the spot I saw the light at.

My voice hadn’t come out as steady as I wanted it too, and I felt a shiver run down my spine. I blamed it on the creeping cold, as I started to look around for any traced of the kid.

I was about to call again. When I heard a shuffling noise behind me. I spun around, ready to yell at the kid for playing pranks at me, but I found myself face to face with a person I did not recognise.

They were tall, with unkept dark hair, highlighted with several streaks of red. Their eyes were focused on me, and I could feel a sinister intention behind them. They wore outdated hunting clothes. My one saving grace was that they carried a carbine that seemed as old as their outfit, meaning that it would not only take ages to reload, but would also be no good against me in this darkness.

We stood like that, facing each other in utter silence for what seemed like an eternity. Then, as if following some command, we both moved, braking this eerie spell. They leaped back, aiming the gun at me. I kicked leaves in their direction before sprinting towards the path.

I needed to find Cain.