CHAPTER 55: THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS

Setting up camp was the easiest thing to do out of the entire journey every time it arrives, we never have to waste much time with it. A peaceful activity for everyone to do before we rest for the time being.

This journey has been a lot of on and off with resting which sucks but it’s only natural at the end of the day. You can’t continuously travel without getting any sleep or stopping to eat since you’ll feel the exhaustion.

At least humans will always have this problem, I don’t know about Liora since she’s an elf but I’m guessing they can go longer than a human without the rest.

It’ll be something else worth asking about her since I know very little about her yet. Now that I think about it, she’s the first elf I’ve seen since waking up in this world.

There’s not been very many encounters with other races, besides whatever we see at the popular towns or cities I guess. I probably should’ve paid attention to my surroundings and I would’ve seen more.

Crackle. The fire could be heard by the campfire as they finish lighting it. Shimada and Cynthia had already setup some logs next to it for everyone to sit.

"You guys going to come take a seat?" Shimada asks while sitting down himself.

The party all took a seat by the fire as they all looked up towards the beautiful night sky that had arrived. "So I didn’t remember mountains really being here in Heartfeld, we really have to travel through them?" Liora asks with a bit of a curious tone while facing Shimada.

I didn’t remember anything about mountains when I previously read about Heartfeld either but I guess there’s always surprises. I’ve never been here before to begin with so everything is new to me.

"The mountains have always been here, just everyone usually goes a different route to avoid them. For us it’s better to go through then around." Shimada answers with a laid back tone.

At least he seems pretty okay with going through the mountains, I would’ve thought that something was wrong with it. I’m just curious about why people would avoid them instead of just passing through them.

That’s definitely something that caught my attention when he said it but I guess we’ll find out when we journey into the mountains ourselves.

The party enjoyed a peaceful night before eventually turning in for the night, realizing that a long, treacherous walk through the mountains awaits them.

As usual I shared a bed with Amelia and even Cynthia joined in for tonight which means I have no space. Two girls on both sides of me as I sleep for the night... Not that I could say that it’s a bad thing.

I’ve kind of been enjoying the comfort of them around me like this for a good while now. I was so use to having one girl in bed with me back home that I never thought about this before.

Typically it’s something out of some man’s fantasy but I’m happy that I can embrace this in this world. He moves his hand to the chain near his neck. Except this, maybe I should talk to Amelia about the pact.

Dying the way I did back then with the pact in effect was not the way to go, it was an eye opener for me. Having to endure a forced shutdown for failing to follow the rules of the pact was brutal.

I would’ve died to reset either way but I didn’t even get a chance to see if there was anything else to look out for. I’ll find the right opportunity to talk to her about the whole situation, it’s best to wait for now.

Maybe when we reach Theos I can talk to her more about the pact.

With that final thought he drifted off to sleep as well. The next morning came within an instant and the party didn’t waste any time with packing the important stuff up.

The mountains lie ahead of them so it’s best to get on their way before the next night approaches. No one knows if anything awaits them in the mountains or if the enemy is hiding there too.

Everything is a mystery until they get through it themselves.

A few hours go by.

The mountains look as beautiful as the lands around them now, nothing like how Helfri had looked. Green painted portions of the mountains and a pathway with steps led the way.

It’s almost as if someone made a path for people to follow through the mountains anyway.

This time we had Shimada lead the way since he’s more familiar with the lands of Heartfeld than the rest of us. Though I did fight Liora here so I would’ve thought that she would be familiar too.

Unless she never really traveled that far into the continent itself. Some people get put in certain locations without the ability to go elsewhere.

I’m sure she had a post of her own or something that she couldn’t just leave behind.

"Stick together, the mountains are known for playing tricks on people. I didn’t want anyone to worry which is why I waited to say this but if we stick together we’ll be fine." Shimada instructs while continuing to lead the way.

I should’ve expected something like that with the way this world is but I keep letting myself think different. My mind treats it a lot like my old world sometimes and that’s not the best way to go about things every time.

"It’s odd how we’ve been able to avoid the worst of situations so far." Liora whispers to Cynthia.

"Artemis is good at sensing these things, are you doubting something?" Cynthia asks with a bit of an annoyed tone in her voice.

Liora shakes her head quickly. "I’m just a bit surprised, most people wouldn’t have survived these things." Liora responds with a genuine tone.