Fayde found himself once again surrounded by a blinding light and he was growing quite frustrated with being thrown around from one place to another. He wasn’t sure what exactly was going on but he was aware that he had obviously been teleported for a second time.

Before he regained his sight, his hearing returned to him. While he waited for his eyes to adjust, he listened carefully to his surroundings. He could hear all manner of strange sounds which he couldn’t discern the origins of. The sounds were unfamiliar to him and a strange feeling of discomfort washed over him.

As his sight began to return, he noticed first that he was sprawled on the ground in the dirt. He was filled with a strong sense of déjà vu which reminded him of the time he first arrived in Aergan.

His senses were finally beginning to return and he could now feel a heavy weight on his back.

“Ugh, what is so heavy!?” Fayde blurted out.

“I am not heavy!” Came an angry reply.

“Just get off of me, I can’t breathe!”

Fayde attempted to shuffle the weight off of him by rolling to the side, but his struggle was in vain. He couldn’t move the weight by himself. The heavy weight finally lifted off of him and his sight had returned enough for him to see more clearly despite the somewhat dark atmosphere.

“Tch, Fayde, how could you say that about me!? I am a healthy weight for a Tigerkin woman!”

“Felicia? Oh.. sorry.”

He could see an outline that looked like a woman although he couldn’t make out many details. His eyes were still adjusting to the dark, but he recognized the voice.

“Hmph!” She still seemed angry despite Fayde’s apology.

“I didn’t know it was you… I already said sorry. I can’t see well yet, can you see anything?” Fayde said, changing the subject.

Felicia was aware of Fayde’s attempt at misdirection, but she let it go. She was somewhat self conscious of her weight, not because she was fat but because of her compact muscles. Despite the fact that she didn’t look as if she weighed much, because of her species’ unique strength, her weight was far more than one might suspect. This left her feeling somewhat dejected at Fayde’s comments.

“I can see fine, it looks like we are in a forest.” Felicia said halfheartedly.

“A forest… Are we back home? Does the forest seem familiar to the one in La’gun?”

“I don’t know… There is something strange here. I am feeling a little uncomfortable but I don’t know why.”

“Hmm, me too. I feel a strange discomfort. Hold on, let me see if I can use my void power.”

Fayde attempted to ignite his ‘Void Flames’ but strangely his power felt distant and unstable. The flames briefly came into being, sputtered, and then failed.

“This is not good, I can’t use my powers.”

Felicia frowned when she heard that and lifted her warhammer which was strapped to her back. The weapon wasn’t anything fancy, but it was a powerful weapon nonetheless. The handle was made of wood and the hammer head was solid iron. It was extremely heavy and could easily crush a person’s skull.

As far as Fayde knew, it was Felicia’s favorite weapon. He had never had the courage to ask her why it was her favorite weapon, or perhaps it would be better to say that he didn’t wish to know the reason.

Felicia took a few swings of the warhammer which caused goosebumps to form on Fayde’s arms. He didn’t want to imagine what would happen to him if he got hit by that right now.

“I still have my strength, my body feels fine at least. I could never use magic to begin with so that doesn’t affect me.” She said and then chuckled, “I can still crush something with my warhammer!”

For some reason her chuckle made Fayde sweat a bit. He didn’t want to imagine what exactly she wanted to crush.

Fayde unsheathed his blade and also took a few swings.

“Well, I can’t use my void power, but my body seems fine as well. I still have my sword and my sword abilities. It looks like there is something restricting my magic, but it doesn’t appear to have any physical effects despite the discomfort.”

A loud roar suddenly reverberated through the forest causing Felicia to jump and run behind Fayde practically grabbing his arm in a death grip.

“Fayde, I’m scared!”

“What the hell are you doing? You’re stronger than me right now without my magic! You should be protecting me! But, what was that sound? It didn’t sound like any normal monster.”

Felicia loosened her grip, peeked out from behind Fayde and whispered, “I don’t know… I’ve never heard anything like it before… Well, it almost sounds like a dragon’s roar, but that can’t be right?”

“Strange, well whatever it is, you can’t just hide behind me! Until we find out where we are, we need to be careful and watch each other’s back. My eyes have adjusted to the light but I still can’t see very well in the dark. I will need you to lead the way.”

‘The damsel in distress doesn’t seem to work. Fine, then I will show him my strength! Just wait until he sees me smashing things!’ Thought Felicia as she pumped herself up.

“Alright! Follow me!” Felicia said enthusiastically while swinging her hammer.

“Just watch where you swing that thing…”

With Felicia taking the lead, it wasn’t difficult for the two to navigate through the forest. Felicia was well suited to traveling like this because of her species’ unique characteristics.

What was surprising to Fayde was that they didn’t encounter even a single monster in the forest. There were some large animals which mostly shied away, but no monsters to be found.

However, Fayde couldn’t shake the feeling that something terrifying was stalking him. He couldn’t sense anything nearby, but the feeling was there at the back of his mind. It was almost as if the eyes of a predator were glued to his back, watching his every move.

Fayde thought of the loud roar he had heard when he first arrived in the forest.

The forest eventually began to open up as the canopy of trees thinned. The moonlight could be seen shining through, giving the forest an almost ethereal glow. Strange insects glowed in the night and the hoot of owls and other creatures weighed on Fayde’s nerves.

He was used to these types of environments due to exploring dungeons in the past, but without his powers he felt somewhat naked.

‘At least I can rely on my sword.’

Though that didn’t bring him much relief and the more he traveled through the dense and creepy forest, the less confident he became. He didn’t know why exactly he was feeling this way, but he couldn’t shake the strange discomfort he felt or the strange feeling of being watched.

‘I can’t help but shake the feeling that we aren’t in Aergan anymore…’