Chapter 31: Chapter 31: Sweet, Candy-Skinned People

Morning arrived after a much-needed quiet night. Neither the moon nor Mayumi altered, and once everyone was awake, they departed. As more days passed, the environment became less perilous, and threats were no longer present. High, nor low, could Artie sense any monsters. The most significant danger became falling as they could no longer see ground level, just a misty plunge into infinity. Fortunately, the devoid land started to bare more life, both plants, and seemingly harmless animals. In the absence of threats, they slackened and began to interact with one another and the land freely.

"Are you sure that's edible?" Doubted Artie, hunched over Harvey, who'd sat on his bottom and studied a row of silver bushes.

The land had flattened to some extent, and there was a far-reaching field of various plants and manageable hills. Another twenty miles ahead, they'd ultimately reach two unthinkably giant rock masses that stood parallel. Both the left and right formations were tall enough to disappear into the sky and wide enough to fade off into the distance with no signs of stopping. However, the space in-between them created a wide ominous gorge that they'd resolved to pass through. But before that, they dealt with their dire hunger.

"At the very least, it doesn't appear poisonous," Harvey observed.

The talented man cut a string of vines from the concerningly silver bush, then observed it further before reaching a definite verdict.

"The width, texture, and the glossy look means this vine absorbs and stores moisture."

Confidently biting the plant, Harvey quietly munched on the strange vegetation before swallowing. Even after, he didn't immediately speak but focused on something unbeknownst to Artie.

"You good?" He inquired, leaning closer to the man with curious eyes.

"It's fine," Harvey nodded and smiled.

Artie sighed with relief, then the man called over the crew to also partake in the grub. Artie was hesitant to join and continued to peer at the vine in skepticism, his ears and tail slumping naturally.

"Not hungry? Sebastian asked, mindlessly biting onto the plant.

"Some pretty messed up things happened last time I ate a wild plant," confessed Artie.

"Aww, don't be a wimp!" Laughed Rachel, playfully bumping into Artie and holding a half-eaten vine to his mouth.

He brushed it out of his reach, then squirmed before sharply inhaling and gobbling down the one in his hand.

"Hmm?"

"It's not disgusting."

"Told you," chuckled Rachel."

"Eat up; there may still be a long road ahead," Mayumi advised.

Laria, who'd been using her talent for drawing to create a map, eyed an expansive paper, then flipped through several pages of her personal journal before glancing around the terrain.

"There's wildlife but no hostile creatures here. It's just like when we left the forest. I think we'll enter a new tutorial zone once we pass that gorge."

"Then there should be people!" Burst Rachel, excitedly reaching and pulling out a moonstone.

"Yea, you should stay in the back," suggested Artie, irritated by the thought of his first encounter with her.

"The task of greeting them should naturally fall to the guild leader!" Cheered Laria.

"Actually, Mayumi should do it," Artie outright rejected.

"What about me?!" Jumped Sebastian, his long hair shuffling as he pointed at himself with a goofy, twisted expression.

After a long and dull glance at him, Artie rotated away and made way for their objective. Sebastian complained, then flew after him.

"Hey! Don't ignore me!"

"I was a guild leader before, too, you know!"

"Ears!"

"Don't call me that," quibbled Artie, dismissing the man's previous objections.

Laughter sounded from the company as they followed after the two. Mayumi shook her head while sighing and calmly rubbing her temple.

Nearly five hours later, they reached the impending gorge. It was wide enough that they could walk side by side down the path and so high that sunlight didn't seep toward the bottom.

The setting wasn't completely dark, as they found white, glowing plants on each rock side. It was far from comfortably lit, but they could see their next step at the very least. Harvey estimated a ten-minute walk to cross the intimidating passage completely, and they embarked post haste.

After quickly making it out, they'd arrived, and a new page in their journey revealed itself. Clear skies and fresh frigid winds accompanied their discovery of three distinct and vast sectors of mountainous land.

An enormous flowing waterfall stood out from the leftmost margin of land. There was a meager amount of trees, but extensive fields of bushes and moss covered the area. Because of the pure shade, it looked as if everything was blanketed in snow.

Far down the center margin, a long-necked species roamed together in packs; Simultaneously, exotic winged creatures soared in the sky. The terrain there quickly and steeply rose into mountains, unlike the other two areas.

Looking toward the rightmost quadrant, the land wondrously formed into a colossal cave that hid the details of its contents. Perplexed by the scene before them, they halted and absorbed the picture of the imaginary land before resuming.

 

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The party guardedly embarked down the center without any means to gauge what lay beyond each path. An hour in, they came across something intriguing.

"A corpse, more than that, it looks it was cut by something sharp," Laria observed, beginning to sketch the man-sized, dusk-colored monstrous insect before them.

"What a strange-looking thing. It's like a caterpillar, but with an outdated mohawk."

"The question is, who's handy work is this?" Sebastian wondered, scanning the land with a smile and crossed arms.

It was then that an obscure sound emitted from around a tall protruding rock formation as if on command. Artie's head rotated in its direction, and he led the guild to where he heard the noise. From simple sounds to rough rustles and thumps, then to what sounded like shouting, Artie slowed and stopped just before turning the corner of the blocking rock.

Gradually poking out his head, a wild gust of wind slapped him across the face as something gigantic and dark trashed against the floor and uplifted rock, dirt, and plants.

"A monster?" Guessed Artie, quickly withdrawing his head.

"I'll check it out," volunteered Sebastian, happily jolting from behind cover and into the cloaked clearing.

"Why!?" Artie fumed, dumbfounded at the man's lack of caution.

Agitated, Mayumi closed her eyes and used her index finger to press the center of her brow. After she recruited Artie and commanded the rest of the band to stay hidden.

Following Sebastian was all but leisurely; the dense screen of dirt and a white powdery substance made it near impossible to see. In addition, too many sounds were present for Artie to focus. Voices, but non he could identify or even begin to understand.

"Do'og Krow Enoy'reve."

"It's just sounds, gibberish," Artie muttered aloud, befuddled as to the meaning behind them.

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"Where is it coming from?" Inquired Mayumi, blindly feathering alongside him.

"Further ahead," pointed Artie.

They tentatively advanced, remaining close while scanning for any threats or Sebastian. As the screen gradually dissipated, faint shapes were revealed. One giant, circular figure laid out before them, and vertical humanoid figures moved and grouped around it.

"Throwing knives?!" Sebastian exclaimed, his riled voice appearing just left from where they'd trekked.

More incomprehensible voices sounded, then one of the standing human figures jumped up and lifted what vaguely looked like a sizeable axe over its head before spinning it like a flagpole. A burst of wind swirled around the source, then forcibly fanned around the field, clearing the dense grainy curtain.

After settling, they could make out their surroundings and, unexpectedly, those that populated it. A few yards ahead, a man with mid-length wavy hair stood on a truck-sized dead caterpillar. From their experience and seeing the massacre of smaller creatures, they quickly deduced it was a God-type monster.

Upon closer inspection, the man on top and the many others around them were not human. All of their complexions were creamy and pale variations of colors; light pinks, sky blues, and soft browns, among many other varieties. Even more unusual, wide, spiraling ram horns grew from the side of their heads. They also had sheep-like ears and modern styles but colored a darker tone than their skin.

The bizarre new race, Artie and Mayumi, stood in disorientation for quite some time. Until; Sebastian continued to excitedly communicate with one of the individuals. When Artie turned, it was clear that neither of them understood one another, but they were elated while they passed their weapons off to the other. Sebastian handed his bow to a similarly aged man with milky brown skin and a long white fur coat. Then, the stranger happily gave a set of throwing knives to Sebastian before they gawked and toyed with one another tools.

More gibberish was voiced from the man on top of the dead monster, then he hopped down, slung an enormous battle axe over his shoulder, and approached. Standing at 6'5, the man had orange pastel skin and glanced down at Mayumi and Artie with carrot-colored iris. While their eyes were primarily human in shape, the black pupils were horizontal instead of circular.

Once satisfied with his scan, he turned from them and called to another one of his people. A stranger ran off, then the orange man returned his attention to them and vocalized sounds.

"I don't understand…." Said Artie, shaking his head.

"Yel'worc," the man projected, slapping his hand against his chest.

Mayumi took a step forward, placed her hand beneath her collar bone then introduced herself.

"Mayumi," she enunciated. She next pointed to Artie and then presented him as well.

"Oh, then your name is Yell work?" Recited Artie.

The heavy horned man nodded, then shouted at the person Sebastian fooled around with. The joyfully caramel-skinned individual snapped to attention and saluted the tall man before returning the weapon he borrowed and rushing to their pack. Then, upon command, all of the inhabitants began to depart.

After the man made an apparent "follow" motion with his hand, Mayumi whistled to summon the rest of their group. They all pursued the unusual people up the side of a mountain. The entire trip, Sebastian rambled about the unique weapons they carried, and Rachel erupted with excitement in wanting to examine the new race of people. After a twenty-minute hike, they arrived at a village on top of an unusually flat mountain range.

 

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A few things were evident as they were led through the village. First was the difference in appearance from the where'd they hailed. While some wooden structures were built, most of the homes were large huts or tents.

Second, many of the people who glanced so awestricken at them were armed. The hunter to worker ratio leaned heavily in favor of combatants, and colorless were the minority, unlike the first town he'd found.

And finally, all weaponry, except for the typical shield, was different from the first region. Throwing knives replaced the bow and arrow, axe's replaced swords, and curved bladed polearms or "glaives" replaced spears. Then there were what looked like long wolverine claws that strapped onto one's hand; these were the counterpart to gauntlets.

Not speaking any known human language made it difficult for them to gather any intel. Still, the native people were generous and gave them a spacious tent to rest in and brought food. There was no immediate hassle, and instead, Artie's party had alone time to prepare their next approach.

Two hours later, after they'd gotten a handle on the situation. The tall, heavy horned man entered their tent alongside the spirited fellow Sebastian met and a woman with light pink skin and darker, curly, pink hair. Neither side bothered to speak; Instead, the assumed leader of the bunch motioned to the woman. She stepped forward and smiled while holding out a cluster of papers.

"Their skin looks like cotton candy," Thought Artie, beginning to stare at the smooth-skinned pink woman.

He wasn't the only one in the room intrigued by appearances because he could hear Rachel tapping her arm in anticipation. What's more, the three guests would discreetly glance at Artie and place their sights on his head every so often. He didn't mind since he also peeked at their spiral horns and cottony sheep ears.

Out of nowhere, the caramel-skinned man reached into his coat, pulled out a knife, and started throwing it up and catching it boastfully. Each time the blade barely avoided cutting strands from his side-parted hair. In return, Sebastian smirked while drawing and twirling an arrowing in between his fingers. The pair cackled, which set Rachel off because how dare someone get the jump on interacting with an alien race.

Following a beaten exhale, Mayumi pleaded with Rachel to remain levelheaded. And, as if her appeal never existed, Rachel forcibly grabbed the leader's hand, held it flat, then set the moonstone on it. The results arrived immediately. The stone shined the same pleasant color as the green-blue sky and displayed the number 16 within.

"Wonderful!" She exclaimed, shoving her head closer to the stone and sparkling with elation.

The man didn't mind her forcefulness; in fact, he nonchalantly withdrew an identical stone from his coat and showed it to her. Rachel vibrated in delight, but Artie groaned and sucked his teeth.

"So they have them here too…."

He’d detested them since the first time he’d touched one and became classified as a hunter.

"I'd even wager every town has its own moonstone or means to gauge a hunter's power," Laria commented, devotedly looking at him with persuasive eyes.

"I'm still not touching that thing," declined Artie.

"BUT-," started Laria.

"I'm not hearing it," interrupted Artie, snapping his head away from the woman.

While he sat out, Sebastian held the stone, then the side-parted man put away his knife and followed suit. The axe-wielding man had the highest level, then Sebastian at 14, and the side-parted man at 12.

Mayumi, ever so patient, took her turn last. She valued growth no matter how small, and even if it was only a level higher, she was content. But, her expectation versus the resulted reality was worlds apart. She grabbed onto the smooth stone, then within seconds, it illuminated.

"Mai!" Rachel screamed, startling most of the room's occupants.

No longer colorless, the moonstone in Mayumi's hand radiated the same deep sapphire blue color as the occasional moon. In complete befuddlement, her mouth parted, and her eyes widened as she gaped at the emitted light and the number 17. It appeared that at any moment, she could succumb to tears. Without a word, she smiled and pressed the item against her forehead graciously as if thanking it.

Rachel set off on a tangent and rambled in her language, bouncing between Mayumi and the leading man. It was only after five minutes of spewing a mess of words that she stopped with elevated breathing and held out her hand in introduction.

"Ah, yes, formalities."

"My name is Rachel. A pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"You're terrible at first impressions," Artie informed, looking from her to the confounded man who'd coat had been halfway off his shoulder.

The man adjusted himself and then happily took her hand. After, he conveyed something to his female companion, and, with that, she roamed over to a desk and placed down the papers. Her comrades withdrew, then Artie's group circled around the woman. Starting from the top page, she slowly and clearly pronounced the words that she pointed to.

"It's a lesson…."

"As boring as this is. If I don't know that language, I won't be able to ask them what state they were teleported from."

Thus, the remainder of the day was spent learning a foreign language. From past knowledge of learning languages on Earth, it was estimated to take two months; however, the colorless, being Harvey, Laria, and Rachel were able to master it within two weeks.

With their early understanding of the language, they learned that Artie's group did, in fact, arrive at their destination. Though it didn't mean he could find his father because, according to the locals, many tribal-like villages were scattered across the mountains.

They explained that most western states were teleported within proximity of one another. Any survivors of the first day's massacre scaled the mountain, banded together, then named their land "Western Ranges."

Informed of these circumstances, Artie decided to continue studying while making time to search for his family. But, Laria rejected his decision and affirmed that she would ask around on his behalf so he could focus on understanding the language. While he wanted to refuse, after two weeks, he still could not properly communicate. And so, he bit the bullet and diligently studied every day, leaving little to no time to explore the remarkable land.

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