[Eon's POV: ]
"I still don't understand why we have to climb down the mountain if we are finding a lake. Aren't lakes like this one supposed to exist somewhere On top of the mountain-...!"
Alf was helping Bell climb down a steep rock and when she was about to fall down, he grabbed her by her waist and pulled her back.
"Careful there."
That much saved her from falling to the ground, but this little incident attracted the attention of the rest of people walking in front of them.
"Ahem! Thanks for that."
Bell got lost in his special purple eyes for a moment, but since this wasn't the first time something like this had happened, she controlled herself and got back to her senses.
'And after that Simple thanks, and a visible blush on her face, she walked off towards the front at Rein and the rest.'
She was leading the group in the front for now since we only had to go straight down this certain hill to reach the first passing point, while the rest of us helped the others who were having any difficulty from the back.
"You know what, Alfred?"
They were chatting with a smirk on their face, enjoying nature, the fine humid afternoon, and the cool breeze of the forest.
"Yes, captain Alpha?"
They were already having fun climbing down this hill even though it was a difficult thing.
But since they weren't any ordinary humans, they were having a fun time together.
And, occasional fun chats like this one made the climbing part easy for the rest of the group.
"You should ask Princess Isabella out."
"Yup. Agree."
"You two are practically a couple, making it official would be a fine addition to this group full of singles."
Captain Alpha, Jen, and Hide were giving some good advice to the newly in-love brother of mine.
But, I agreed with them quite a bit.
"I think she likes you as well, Alf."
"You think so as well, hun Lucifer."
It wasn't their first time suggesting something so absurd to him since this 'incident' wasn't the first time something romantic had happened between them and one of them had run away with an embarrassed look.
This has become pretty common since two weeks ago, specifically twelve days ago.
"W-what... what do you mean she likes me 'as well'?! Who said I like her?!"
"You don't?"
Including myself, six others around us who heard that looked at him with disbelief for a moment.
"What... what does that mean? There's no way I could hate her. And why would I, in the first place?
But that doesn't mean I like her That way-."
"Careful everyone. There's a sharp edge here."
None of us paid any attention to his excuses after he confirmed that he liked her As Well.
Well, it was pretty natural if we see it logically.
'As a half elf, as well as due to her natural disposition, she was sensitive to draconian energy.'
"You all should focus on the important thing instead of fighting among yourselves."
Quin commented with a smug smile while standing on top of the steep hill... along with Ezra and Miss Mia.
"Hen?"
The three of them had somehow made it to the top even before the one that could fly and the one that could almost fly...
"Hey! Using spirits is cheating!"
And both of them knew very well just how that could have been made possible.
Experience magic on m-vl-e-mpyr
"This was not any competition and there were also no rules~. And if you just use your head and come up from the right side like the others, you would save so much energy, you know~?"
She was mocking them, which was a rare occasion where she was having fun after having done something mischievous.
Not that she herself had done anything wrong since what she said definitely made sense.
"Let's go as well."
"Um-hmm~. I want to see those trees~."
Right beside the steep slope, there was a narrow passageway that was better than the slope for faster travel.
It was narrow so only a few people could use it at a time, but it was still better than this straight wall.
"Alf, please take care of Baal and Med."
"Ah, yes."
One just had to use a speed enhancement magic to Swoooosh over to the other side, and wind spirits made it even easier.
"Zoe?"
"Oh, of course~. Come, come."
The other dummies continued their fight for the top spot even when we had reached the top of the hill, and though they took their sweet time, by the time they all had come up there, we were already done admiring the scene before us.
"Now that's... pretty."
Before them stood an arched tree half buried in the ground on both ends.
And the arch was six times my size already, so not even prince Alph's orc vice captain with the tallest height among the people present here could touch the top of it.
It must have been a big tree before it fell, a great tree most likely.
But its lifespan had ended and it was nothing more than a lifeless piece of hardened wood upon which three distinct lives were now flourishing.
"How could these three trees be of different kinds?" Lizzey was astonished just like the rest of us who came up here together.
This was their first time seeing a natural wonder but... it was different for a few of us.
After living in that forbidden forest for all those years, there were only a few things I could think of that would still surprise me as much as these people.
"Amazing...."
Rein had wandered through nature for decades, Tia had lived in the forests most of her life, and the same was true for Gabriel as well.
Quin had also lived on a remote island most of her life, Hide had lived in a deep forest area, and our President had spent most of his life in the forest of the world he had come form.
Thus...
'A forest held a great and unique meaning to most of us, and after today, the same was going to become the truth for those who had no such unique connection with this vast nature.'
This was the first point, and after we cross five more of them, we will reach the destination... and when we do, I'm pretty sure a disbelief is going to shroud this little group of ours.