"Hmm, what do you think Talis is doing? She's been gone for nearly two weeks as of now." Asked Alexander lightly with a curious expression as he rubbed his chin before glancing at Lazuli, who merely raised an eyebrow.
"I do not know. Though if I had to guess, she is most likely flying." Replied Lazuli as she glanced at Alexander before staring off into the distance, causing him to nod in agreement.
"Yeah, you're probably right; she really enjoys flying." Muttered Alexander softly as he placed his hands behind his back and nodded, only for silence to engulf the two while they walked alongside a dirt path.
It's been a few days since we parted from the siblings, and right now, Lazuli and I are heading to our destination to fulfill our, mainly my, reason for coming to Asckbon in the first place. We've been running most of the time, so we're not too far away from exiting Elf territory, at least according to Lazuli, but we're taking it easy right now, enjoying the beauty of the forest.
'And the beauty of my woman.' Thought Alexander with a faint smile as he briefly slowed down, trailing just behind Lazuli, whom he ogled with a loving gaze.
Anyway, while taking this chance to appreciate the sexy view of my lover's behind, we eventually ended up running once again after a few more minutes. We weren't holding back, either, so we were dashing through the forest, covering what I could only assume was miles within a minute. Coupled with the fact that neither of us could feel physical exhaustion, let's just say it was easy for us to travel long distances.
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Slowing down to a casual walk, Lazuli and I exited the forest and stepped into what looked like an empty line through the middle of the forest. It was as if someone had removed all the trees with a hundred-foot radius in a straight line, and considering how I couldn't see the end from the other side, it was safe to say this spanned quite the distance.
"If this doesn't look like the border between the Elf and Dryad territory, then I'm blind." Remarked Alexander lightly as he glanced at Lazuli while walking through the empty, silent clearing, creating a somewhat eerie atmosphere.
"It is. Once we cross the barrier before us, we will officially enter the Dryad territory." Said Lazuli lightly with a nod as she gestured in front of her.
Just as I was about to ask 'what barrier', my eyes landed on precisely what Lazuli was referring to; surrounding the forest on the other side of this clearing, the tree's branches were interlocked with each other, creating a barrier of thorns that prevented entry into their territory. I'm sure if this happened anywhere else, I'd be wholly impressed, but considering this was on the Dryad's territory, it wasn't all that shocking to me.
"Hmm, I know the trees are tall, but couldn't we just leap over the barrier?" Muttered Alexander lightly as he tilted his head while gazing at the thorny barrier surrounding the forest, only for him to shrug his shoulders.
While my idea sounded interesting, it seemed Lazuli knew what to do as she approached the thorny barrier, her body morphing into that of her elven counterpart, causing me to whistle.
'Man, I've hit the serious jackpot with Lazuli; I just know roleplaying will be crazy good with her.' Thought Alexander eagerly as he nefariously rubbed his hands while eyeing Lazuli, only for his eyes to widen slightly.
Although Lazuli did nothing, once she neared the barrier, the interlocked branches gave way and allowed her passage before they locked themselves back together.
"Oh, it's that easy? I was seriously overcomplicating things." Said Alexander softly as he rubbed his head while approaching the barrier, but it never opened for him.
Standing in front of the barrier, I poked the motionless branches before looking through the gaps and eyeing Lazuli, who was staring right back at me.
"The barrier will create a passageway for nearly every species except for two." Remarked Lazuli lightly as she looked at Alexander, whose face twitched in annoyance.
"Oh, let me guess. Humans and Demons." Said Alexander blandly as he looked at Lazuli, who calmly nodded, causing him to groan while rubbing my head.
"Welp, looks like I'm leaping over this thing. Unless…" Added Alexander softly as he looked at the barrier, only for him to faintly smirk while narrowing his eyes.
Trying something new, I approached one of the trees and placed my hand on it as I attempted to speak with it. To my surprise, at first, it wouldn't respond, which caused me to frown as that had never happened before; however, after a moment, I realized why it refused to respond.
'Oh, there is magic preventing it from doing so. Hmm, what if I just…' Thought Alexander with a slight frown as he closed his eyes while carefully infusing his mana through the tree, causing it to ever so faintly shudder.
This turned out to be way more difficult than initially expected; controlling my mana wasn't the problem; it was controlling it within another living being's body filled with mana which was the problem. However, after what felt like five stressful hours, I finally managed to break the magic that was preventing me from communicating with the tree.
"F-Finally!" Stated Alexander in joy as he snapped his eyes open while raising his arms into the air, only for his expression to freeze.
Watching the entire barrier that lined the edge of the forest crumble to pieces, I blankly looked at Lazuli, who was giving me a calm expression, which wasn't helping me at all.
"I-I just wanted to make a small hole… I didn't know that was going to happen." Said Alexander weakly as he lowered his arms and averted his gaze, causing Lazuli to silently nod.
'Master, you should seriously leave; whoever created that spell noticed you breaking it and is probably on their way as we speak to investigate.' Said Zartha sternly as she eyed Alexander while Trina nodded in agreement, her cute little head bobbing back and forth.
Taking Zartha's warning to heart, I quickly grabbed Lazuli's arm and dashed into the Dryad territory, going so far as to use [Lightning Cloak] along with [Strength Augument] and [Speed Augument] after filling my body with mana, further enhancing my physical attributes, significantly increasing my speed as I dashed through the forest.
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Staring at the spot where the intruder broke my grand spell, I lowered myself to the ground and approached the exact tree, searching for clues as I felt some of their residue mana, yet I was slightly surprised by what I found.
"There is hardly any mana. Whoever broke my grand spell needed little mana to do so." Muttered a man wearing a large greenish-black cloak that obscured his appearance while holding a tree-like staff in his hand.
As the Grand Magister of the Kingdom, I was wholly confident in my spell that none could forcefully break it using conventional methods; however, there was a major weakness to it, something one of the princesses would've easily exploited. Yet, considering she has been the only one in thousands of years to be born with such a unique ability, I found it pointless to worry; besides, she was a Dryad; what need would she have to destroy my spell?
"Is it her announcement that she has returned? No, I've met Princess Lavender; she doesn't strike me as someone who would do such a thing. Who else could it have been then?" Muttered the Grand Magister as he tapped his staff while gazing at the tree in curiosity and confusion.
Saving these thoughts for later, I tapped my staff onto the ground, causing an ethereal dome to envelop the surrounding area, turning everything colorless as I used [Rewind], rewinding time in this area to see exactly what happened. However, after two minutes, I began to feel the strain on my mana reserves, causing me to frown as I knew my limit was close; despite having mastered this spell decades ago, the exuberant mana cost to cast this spell was atrocious.
Yet, just as I was about to give up, at the last few seconds, I was able to see the culprits, though I was forced to stop my spell as I neared mana exhaustion.
"Two people, an Elf and a Human? A surprising duo." Muttered the Grand Magister with a frown as he looked at the faint silhouettes of Lazuli and Alexander before glancing in the direction he had run off into.
"Hmm, a human in our territory will be easy to capture. I'll relay this information back and stay here and re-cast my grand spell." Said the Grand Magister lightly as he reached into his pocket and sat down atop a small tree that suddenly emerged from the ground.
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"I'm pretty confident we just evaded something dangerous." Muttered Alexander softly as he speedily dashed through the forest with Lazuli in his arms while his heart rate slowed down.
Shaking my head, I further upped my side as I wished to get away from whatever or whoever it was that my heart warned me off.
'I didn't leave behind any evidence, did I? Ugh, I hope I didn't.' Thought Alexander softly as he looked at the sky before sighing to himself.