"While no sane person would ever wander too far away from the southern shorelines of Ur-Teros, the region of the endless oceans, approximately three to four days' worth of sailing away from the shores, as far as most dared to go, still remained highly abundant in fish, other seafoods, and various useful underwater herbs.

Both continental fishermen as well as local merfolk made good use of these abundant seas to live in prosperity, the small risk of occasional leviathan attacks considered an acceptable one for these hardy folks." - Frilla Borsdatter, Jötunbergian historian, circa 518 FP.

Cal had to stifle a laugh that threatened to spill out as she saw how her students scrambled to cope with the sudden command she gave. Elaina, Sidonie, and Fheeri just shared a grin at the situation instead, as the "passengers" in question.

Ognar tried to hold Elaina in his arms by her back and legs, while she had her pet samoyed curled up on top of her. That forced him to run while he leaned slightly backwards to compensate for the weight he carried in his arms, and made him look somewhat comical.

Giselle had Sidonie piggyback on her, with the girl's malamute draped over her shoulders. She managed to run faster than Ognar - she always had been faster than him - but Giselle had to slow down periodically to catch her breath, as her stamina could not match her half orcish fellow student.

On the other hand, Willa simply dropped to all fours and beckoned for Fheeri to ride on her back, and launched into a loping gait that way. She easily left the other two behind to eat her dust and actually kept up close behind Cal throughout that day's trip, without showing much if any signs of fatigue, testament to her physical constitution.

By the time they took a break and camped in a clearing that evening, still in the forest of shadows, both Ognar and Giselle panted for breath as they sweated profusely, even though Willa looked none the worse for wear.

Cal generously lent her students the use of her bath after she and Kino were done bathing, and they all too happily washed off the dirt and the grime that have accumulated from their run, while she saw that her nieces giggled as they chatted with Fheeri while they waited for their turn.

The Forest of Shadows would have normally taken over a week to traverse, but at the speed Cal and her students moved, they estimated that they would emerge from the western end of the forest by afternoon the next day.

That was a hideously rapid pace, as they had taken a route towards the southwest, towards the southern shores of the Elmaiya Empire - the fifth regime now - and that was a trip that would have normally taken four days, if not five.

Before they departed the next morning, Cal gave Willa a couple of large backpacks, full of heavy items, for her to carry on top of Fheeri, as she had felt that Willa's training from the run was not satisfactory enough. To her credit, the therian girl just shrugged them on without a word of protest, and continued to run throughout the day with them on her back.

Much to her expectations, the forest started to thin, then gave way to rolling plains around the afternoon, as they passed through the borders of the forest. They continued their travels headed for the southwest, as they were still on Ptolodeccan lands. The border with the empire lay around a day's journey away from the forest.

At least, it was a day's journey for normal travelers. The steeds lent by the elves proved to be fast and possessed great stamina, which allowed them to keep up with Cal's pace with little issue, while her blood mage students and their training made the rest of the party move at an equally rapid pace.

That night, when they stopped for a break, the shoreline was in sight, far in the distance to the south. They passed by a couple villages along the way, but other than one fort which used to be an Elmaiyan defense against elven raids, there were little other than a scattering of villages in this westernmost region of Ptolodecca.

Unlike the previous day, Willa looked visibly tired after today's run, as the extra weight she had to bear took their toll. Her fur was matted with sweat, and Cal caught how she and Fheeri joked about how badly they must have smelled.

Cal was originally uncaring about which route they would take on their way towards the Elmaiyan capital of Sabaya, but Kino mentioned that there were some people she would like to introduce to Cal along the way, and that they lived by the southern shores.

That was reason enough for her to take the southern route, and besides, after the almost entirely landlocked travel they had last year, she definitely wouldn't mind at all to take a route that passed by the shorelines instead for a change.

It was in a small Ptolodeccam village near the border that served as their place of rest that evening. The village was truly small, barely fifty households or so, by a quick count, yet much like the ones she saw before, seemed to lead an idyllic and happy life.

They tended to farmlands where they planted wheat and barley to their north, while to the south were wetlands where they made paddies and cultivated rice instead. A nearby river also passed right next to the village, and gave them a bounty of fishes and other aquatic lifeforms freely, as well as a convenient source of water.

Despite its small size though, as they were close to the border with the empire, the small village was very well defended. Cal counted at least a couple hundred skeleton soldiers on guard in and around the village, while the villagers just walked along as if it was perfectly normal. To be fair, for a Ptolodeccan it was perfectly normal.

The village elder actually came personally to greet Cal's group when they walked into the village - they had stopped a bit away from the place and refreshed themselves first - and he was accompanied by a young elvish couple both dressed in the characteristic black robes worn by Ptolodeccan necromancers.

Apparently Mimia had sent word ahead to the places Cal would likely pass through on her journey this time, considering the warm welcome they received.