The Linabis Uplands: as they broached this new stretch of land, the four of Phyrn’s chosen felt the buzzing glow of fireflies in their bosoms, and the spring of grasshoppers in their feet. That, or maybe it was just the actual density of insectoid life that swarmed through the uplands. Either way, after their much-needed break in Aldiphor, they were ready to resume their quest. They had new direction, new objectives, and renewed spirit. It was time to go.

A strange music moved through their hearts, mystic and alluring. It was like this region was alive with the gentle tones of hand bells and harp strings, and the soothing capella of a quiet angel. In reality, it was just the gentle breeze rolling through the sparse trees that dotted the landscape… though there might’ve been a lingering thickness of mana in the air, bleeding over from the Ijiak Open.

“Perhaps,” Emilie pondered, “that is what gives Aldiphor its luscious lustre, and why so many are drawn to it. The mana there must run strong, being right next to that saturated place. Perhaps it is not only the mundane river that compelled the first builders to plant their foundations.”

“You mean you guys couldn’t feel it?” Pippy furrowed her brow.

The other three did not respond verbally, but all made gestures that portrayed their silent answers; Krey averted his eyes, Livia’s lips twitched upward into a slight smile, and Emilie’s shoulders dropped in sudden relaxation.

Pippy grinned. “Ah, of course you did! I knew it! I knew you had to on some level.”

“So,” Livia dared to enquire openly, “is that why we all felt… a bit strange? Felt…”

“More alive?” Krey finished for her.

“That’s exactly it!” Emilie exclaimed, as if crying eureka!

They could all still feel a faint presence of abundant mana, and almost felt a sinking disappointment as they moved back into normal levels. Magic ran through Berodyl like the life force of the world itself, an invisible, intangible ocean of potential and feeling that the gods poured forth from their very being. I wonder what will happen if we run out of gods, Livia thought. She decided not to share it, and resolved to pus hit aside. That won’t happen.

The sunlight slowly dwindled alongside the thinning of the ambient mana, and it wasn’t long before they were setting up camp. When the pavilion appeared around them, Emilie took a deep breath and smiled. “You know, I think I much prefer this to the rooms of the inn in Aldiphor. We’re closer to nature, it’s serene and quiet, and there’re no… unidentifiable smells.”

“Well then,” Livia replied, “if you wouldn’t mind getting a bit closer to nature, you can get the fire pit started up with Krey’s help while Pippy and I go hunting for dinner.”

“Great idea!” Pippy echoed. “It’ll be good practice for Krey’s pyromancy! And I’ve never gone hunting before; this should be fun!”

“Stay on your toes,” Krey warned. “The creatures lurking out there will put up a bit more of a fight than you’re used to, if Livia’s first reactions from back in Calsa are any indication.”

“Really? I find that hard to believe! Livia has slain a myrewyrm singlehandedly, after all.”

Emilie and Krey froze, slowly turning their gazes upon Livia. “I beg your pardon?” Emilie nearly gasped.

Krey put his hands on his hips and cocked a brow. “I remember you telling us about Aubade’s famed myrewyrms, how they were gargantuan goliaths that took a small army to defeat.”

Livia felt heat rushing to her face, and shot a glare at Pippy. “Yeah, you remember right. Pippy’s just joking around.”

“What? I— ack!” before Pippy could utter another word, Livia grabbed her by the back of the neck and dragged her outside.

Once they were out of earshot of the pavilion, Livia finally released her grip on Pippy. “How the hells did you know that?! And why did you feel the need to bring it up out of the blue?!”

Pippy stared at her with utter bafflement. “Livia, it’s as plain as the streaks on your face. That is how you earned them, right? I figured you’d be proud of that. I thought all the Onyx Taurus legionaries were.”

Livia just shook her head, frowning.

“Why not?”

“You damn well know why.”

“Livia… it’s not like you helped them. I know because, if you had, the uncanny distortion of the ennui would be clinging to your being, and I’d be able to see it through my magic. I can only assume you deserted when things went south, washed your hands of the whole sour affair. You don’t have to be ashamed of being a part of a good organisation while it was good, you did the right thing when they turned bad.”

“I did a good deal more than desert…”

“What happened?”

Livia’s eyes darted all around for a few moments before matching Pippy’s. “Not now. I did not expect this to ever come up, and quite frankly, I’m starving, and would like to get back with some good game sooner rather than later.”

Pippy smiled softly. “Okay, Livia. Just remember…”

“I know,” Livia cut her off, “I… I know.” She smiled now as well. “Thank you. Now… let’s get to hunting.”

“Aye aye!” Pippy struck a mocking pose and saluted.

“Shh!” Livia put a finger to her lips.

Pippy brought her hands down against her chest and held them together almost like the paws of a cat up on its hind legs. “Oh, yeah, right, hee-hee~”

They weren’t likely to find any pexur here, so far from their native land, but one creature did garner their attention as they stalked through the tall grass. It was an oxfiend, an almost gorilla-like, near-humanoid bovine monster. The closer they got to it, the more Livia and Pippy could sense a twisted, sickly magic emanating from it, a bitter taste on the air around it. They looked at each other and nodded, understanding this strange feeling was likely a hint that it was strong, probably possessing some kind of potent magic. With that in mind, they split up and got either side of it.

They had not synchronised the effort - simply both desiring to make the first move - but they managed to make their first strike a firm, unified one. Livia immediately broke the beast’s footing with a jolt of petramancy, sent through the ground with a stamp of her foot, and Pippy severed one of its giant arms with a rending crescent of red aura, swung from her mace. However, that limb was soon replaced by a dark, throbbing shadow, sprouting from the exposed socket and taking the form of the lost arm. It let out a sound that neither Livia nor Pippy would have ever guessed could be intimidating, a fearsome moo that gutturally scraped. It began hurling spheres of pure black magic at Pippy, who parried them with her buckler, giving Livia a window to run up behind and leapt into the air, plunging Veridis into its back. She’d tried to boost herself with airomancy, but no luck, and had missed her true target— the oxfiend’s thick, muscular neck. The wound she’d inflicted looked bad, but the oxfiend just seemed pissed off more than anything else, and shook her off. At this point, though, Pippy had closed the gap as well, and clocked the monster in the face with the Doom, imparting a pulse of deep red that coursed through its body and ate away at the twisted magic within. It fell down dead, and Pippy leapt to Livia’s side to help her up.

“I wonder if this is even gonna be safe to eat,” Livia grunted as she got to her feet.

“Don’t worry,” Pippy chimed, “I’ll make sure we cure it of any nastiness while we’re cooking it! There’s enough here to feed us all for a few nights, so it’ll be worth the effort.”

Livia smirked. “I’m sure you’ve picked up some kind of trick or tool during the three months you were here before me that lets you keep the meat fresh and cleanse the twisted magic, huh?”

“Naturally~” Pippy curtsied not-so-humbly. “Always having one more trick in store is how I’ve made it this far.”

“Anything in your bag of tricks to help us carry this huge son of a bitch back to camp?”

“Uh… hmm…” Pippy shrugged.

Livia’s face fell into her palm. “Fantastic. Alright then… let’s do this the old fashioned way.”

However, when the two tried to find their way back to camp, they saw there was not one, but two pillars of smoke rising into the sky. They had not been expecting anyone else to be camping out this close to them. They agreed on which one to head towards, and decided that they either got back to camp without incident, or would have an opportunity to sate their curiosity. As fate would have it, it would end up being the latter… and Livia wished it hadn’t been. Down in a shallow dip, from above which Livia and Pippy could observe using the ground as cover, they found an encampment of elves… bronze and green elves… all armed and armoured. And, among them, was a human woman… a familiar human woman— at least to Livia. she had olive-tinged skin, black hair tied back in two thin ponytails, and heterochromatic eyes— the left one blue and the right one green.

“Little Miss Runaway…” Livia muttered.

Pippy gave her a silent look.

Livia gestured for them to back away, and once they were closer to their own camp than the other, she spoke. “We saw a bill for that woman in Narkato; there’s a price on her head… and now I see why.”

“Those militant elves,” Pippy murmured, “were they Dunlark Spire soldiers?”

“Looked like it,” Livia nodded. “Come on, we need to tell Krey and Emilie. There could be trouble ahead.”