Eyes squeezed shut, shoulders bouncing with muted laughter, Zell could barely contain himself at MacKensie's reaction. When she corrected the record about who saved who, Zell relented and nodded in confirmation to Lillianna. He almost felt bad, it was just too easy. "I owe you a drink for that."

MacKensie and Adam provided some explanation for the situation and Zell tacked on, "Yeah. You should come with. If nothing else, at least we know we can handle ourselves if any more skellies or ogres show up." Subconciously, he rubbed the bump on the back of his head. It was pretty sore. "And if we don't get answers in Valhiem, we'll keep looking until we find them."

...

After taking a leak in some bushes out of sight, Zell emerged from the alleyway near the river, muttering to himself. "One guy gets plant magic, another's covering monsters in ice. James is out here blinding people. I get: A sword. Sounds super fair."

At the river, a couple of townguards were filling waterskins, chatting about the battle. Zell decided to go over.

"You guys should be demanding overtime, huh," he said. Both guards looked at him puzzled and he realised that such a concept might not exist in this world. "Rough battle," he tried instead.

"It was," the taller one replied. "I honestly thought the Commander would die in my arms, such was his wounds. But the Cleric came just in time with his healing magic." The guard suddenly realised who he was talking to. "Saved you too, as I understand it."

Zell was taken aback. "Who me?"

The shorter guard chimed in. "Yes. Dragged your unconcious body from goodness knows where, to the safety of our formation. Then used his magic on the Commander to stop him bleeding out."

"And I would likely have died to the Armoured Ogre without his help," added the tall one.

"Who's the Cleric?" the swordsman asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"One of you. We do not know his name. He carried a staff. And an angry scowl."

Zell's eyes lit up. That could only be, "James. No way." So James saved him from possibly being mauled while he was unconcious. And he had healing magic. Looks like he owed someone else a drink too. "Why'd you call him a Cleric? What's that?"

Both seemed unsure of themselves, but the shorter one spoke. "We just assumed that is his Adventurer Class. Cleric's are mages who specialize in healing magic and Godly blessings. He could well be another class of magic user - we are not knowledgeable of such things, in truth."

"Hmmm." Zell was intrigued. "So what else can you tell me about these classes?"

He ignored the chatter going around him with the practiced experience of living in a Mexican household until he finished his examination of the newest arrival's physical and mental state, then once he was sure there was nothing terribly wrong with her let his softer expression change back into his usual irritated one.

"Alright you seem to be rattled but not hurt, so here is the situation in more or fewer words, we found ourselves here suddenly after falling from the skies in stone coffins, we found we had some amazing abilities none of us had before, helped defend the town from that army of skeletons and ogres (Don't worry about it), and are now planning to go to another town for answers, you in?"

He then directed a look back to the group where the intense-looking Asian man was standing slightly away from the others.

"That goes for you two Sicko Sword, saw what you did back there against the ogre and don't want to be in its place"

Talking to the man was a risk in that he arrived after (almost) everyone else and seemed to have followed a rougher path in life but they were all together in this so there was no reason not to extend an olive branch, waiting for a few moments for both newcomers to say their pieces he once more started talking.

"Okay then, now if you excuse me I want to get a backpack or satchel of some kind, if we are traveling I want to be ready, oh also, for the ones who don't know me my name is James and I too know how to do some magic after being transported here, a pleasure to meet you"

Having said his piece he moved back towards where the commander was still laying on the ground surrounded by his guards.

"Hey I got enough power to cast the same spell I cast on your bandages before so if you really need someone to pull through this is your chance to tell me" A pause "Also, I would like to request a satchel or something to carry my things if you can"

The staff was damn heavy and his arms were getting tired.

Of the 42 townsguard, 9 had died and a further 13 were injured. The flow of battle had been extremely fortunate, all things considered. Arthur had lured the Beserker Ogre into single combat. James had drawn the Armoured Ogre away from the centre of the field. This greatly improved the regular soldier's ability to employ defense-heavy shield tactics which were super effective against the skeletons.

The only asset of the skeletons was their strength in numbers, but Zell and MacKensie's support of the handful of soldiers on the wall made all the difference in the resistance to not be overwhelmed on the wall. Adam's quick idenitifation and subsequent dispatch of the Skeleton Leader rendered The Undead's part in the battle a relatively brief affair.

The evacuation was quick and smooth, in part due to Fenna and Clive bolstering the prefects and escorts. Even young Selica, the citizen whose life was all but gifted to the raiding party, would live to see another day, thanks to their quick response of the threat.

What could well have been a violent and messy grind down to the very last man was anything but. The adventurers had saved many lives with their actions this day.

A nearby building had been turned into a temporary infirmary for the injured. Some guards helped treat their friends, but the majority were taking out and helping bury their dead. Commander Vadim refused to be taken to the infirmary and commanded proceedings from the eastern gate where he'd been since the end of the battle. He was feeling better by the minute and had ordered a guard to fetch him some crutches.

The guards would spend much of the rest of the day here in town, before gathering their horses and mules, and packing on as much of the town's goods as they could before taking themselves to Bridgeton.



Peter and Paul explained what they could about the various classes, including information about how adventurers were known to operate, and even told Zell some of the names of famous ones from history and legends who were alive today. It was clear by how Paul talked that he was something of a fan. It seemed they could talk all day about such things, but a senior officer came over and shouted at them for taking so long with their duties. They left Zell alone rather quickly.



Vadim nodded cordially at James, his hard face softening as he looked at the man who'd saved his life. Just then, his crutches were delivered and he was helped up by a guard halfway before the Commander gestured to leave him be. "I can stand up on my own power, Fredrick, for The Quinity's sake."

Once up and eye level with the Cleric, he nodded again and looked pointedly at the rucksacks, bedrolls and haversacks of supplies that had been set for the adventurers. "Take whatever you need. If you have any other requests, I will see what I can do. As for your healing ability..." Vadim looked at Fredrick. "Take uh..." He hoped James would fill in the blank here as he didn't know the Cleric's name. Whether he did or not, "Take him to the infirmary and show him to our injured."

Half of the 13 men injured were good enough to walk around and help out. What James would find in the infirmary were 6 men in varying degrees of bad condition:

2 of them were being treated for broken bones. One had had his own shield crushed into his own body, right at the beginning of battle, making his fractures significantly worser than the other man.

2 were being treated for grievious lacerations after near-death encounters with the Armoured Ogre's giant machete. One of whom was difficult to treat as his helmet was etched into his face where the slash had gone through metal and flesh. He was in agony.

The last 2 were victims of stab wounds. One of them was falling into fever from a single critical wound to the gut. The other had been stabbed multiple times in the arms and chest.

With only two healing spells left for the day, and the rest of the day to get through travelling in the unknown wilderness, James had tough choices to make.

@Teyao @Crusader Lord @Zapdos

Joji Yamazaki

Joji was glad that the girl seemed relatively okay. Although she seemed obviously a little shaken. He took the flask of water from Lillianna, feeling bad to have given her another flask that she didn’t need. Putting it away by holding it in his other hand. He really needed a backpack or something to carry all of his things. His attention turned towards the Mexican man. “Thanks.” He said in a curt and short manner. He needed to buy some supplies so he did not feel like a baby in the wild. “I assume this Valhiem place is pretty close. ” He shrugged his large shoulders. Walking over towards the eastern gate to grab as much supplies he could carry in his backpack.

Looking over at the two Americans he felt he would need to tread carefully. From what he had seen or heard they could be very short tempted and hot headed. So whatever he said or did could make them blow up. But he was used to dealing with hotheads But he didn’t want to turn these people hostile by pissing them off.

The moment he stepped inside the little infirmary the Guard (Frederick right?) inside informed the young man that had been attending to the injured who he was and why he was there before departing, the youngster in question appeared to be some kind of apprentice herbalist, thankfully he had decided to remain at the edge of the evacuation and was able to be reached in time to come help with the injured, but sadly the only one they had managed to find was him and from what he was told when Frederick guided him to the infirmary his specialty was common remedies and ways to treat little injuries so he had less expertise than necessary to handle the situation.

The nervous apprentice didn't bother with introductions and went straight to the throat of the situation, 8 injured men, 2 with broken bones, 2 with lacerations, one of which being problematic to treat, and 2 were stab wounds with one being half dead with a fever. And they were letting him have the honor of choosing who to use his magic on, him the person with no medical training whatsoever and weird witchcraft. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then he pushed the fear and nerves that were creeping up down the stairs while flipping them off, panicking would help no one and after that goddamn ogre almost cleaving him in twine he was too emotionally drained to feel any strong emotion right now so he was able to think things logically.

First, the men with broken bones were out, yeah they were suffering and would probably never be quite right again unless they received the proper treatment, but they would survive which was more than he could say about the others, the one with the lesser laceration was out too, he had already been treated and from what the apprentice had said he was expected to make a recovery with a scar to accompany it.

So that left three candidates and two uses of the spell.

Another deep breath and he made his choice, wasting no time he went towards the patients from the stabbing, they were in the most danger as there was no way to properly gauge wheter they could make a recovery or not, the one with the fever was likely to die soon with the way he appeared to be delirious and the one with multiple stabs had lost too much blood, it was a miracle that he wasn't dead already. A tense seconds later his hands spelled the same supernatural light from earlier on both soldiers and a (non-magical) prayer escaped his lips.

Then he rushed to the entrance to the infirmary and identified his targets, just because he didn't have another use of his magical healing didn't mean that he couldn't help in other more mundane ways. Or that he was the only one who could.

"MacKensie! Arthur!" What was his.. "Clive! I need your guy's help in the infirmary quick!"

Saying that he ignored the look the apprentice was giving him and prepared the tools he would need, a pair of tweezers, disinfectant for the hands, a surgical scalpel, and a surgical needle. Once he was sure everything was ready he looked back to see who had entered had entered, then he started giving orders again.

"Apprentice, grab these" He passed him the tweezers "Mac you get these" The scalpel and the needle "Now you all need to disinfect your hands up to the elbows" He proceeded to do just that to his own and passing the desinfectant to the others before moving towards the still groaning man with the encrusted helmet.

"Okay okay" A breath "Arthur, you and Clive need to hold him down, we need to get his helmet off to treat him but we can't administrate anesthesia because of his head injury so he will trash around, we can't have that" Then he turned to MacKenzie "Mac you said that you were an Olympic trained archer and I noticed that you managed to get shots that were really far away and your hands didn't shook once so I will need you to cut and separate the parts of his helmet that are making it impossible to get off, Apprentice here" He signaled to the pale youngster "Will hold the helmet with his tweezers so you can cut away and I will make sure that he doesn't move his head"

He moved into position and waited for everyone else to follow, then when he was sure they were ready he directed his attention to the Frenchwoman once more and gave her a nod.

"When you are ready"

Without bothering to pull his tough persona again he started to whisper to the agonizing man encouraging words, every little thing could help.

Arthur had been called into the infirmary alomg side MacKensie and clive by a worried sounding James, he could guess what this was about. It turned out he was right when he entered and saw the injured guardsmen. Jame's was quick to let them know the game plan, it seemed they needed to hold down a guy whos face and helm had gotten a bit too friendly. He quickly used a nearby water basin to wash his hands and forarms before approaching the moaning man. "I think I can hold him still but if we're doing this raw it's going to be painful and we don't want him biting through his own tounge." He said as he looked around for something for the injured man to bite into. Not finding anything in the tent he pulled the knife from his hip and put the leather bound handle into the guards mouth and said in a serious but calm tone. "This is gonna hurt like hell so bite this as hard as you can." He the tried to firmly grasp the mans shoulders to keep him as still as he could.

The surgery was a success. A solid sense of teamwork, together with James' bold and decisive action and instruction, had saved the soldier from severe permanent damage, inevitable infection and other potential conditions. Much gratitude was doled out to Clive, Arthur, MacKensie and James for their help. And even more thanks were given after that to the party as a whole - a party which had been dubbed by many; The Heroes from the Sky. This story would no-doubt be passed on for a generation.

Once the group were all stocked up with supplies and ready to go, they gathered together at the eastern gate. Any two of them that had not been formally introduced, had their chance to do so, and the intentions of the party were clear; A trek through the woodlands and hills of Southern Central Mytheria, northbound to the great city of Valhiem. To deliver the heart of the Undead Skeleton Leader - the strange metal cube.

"There are many adventurers who bear The Gift on this continent," Vadim declared. "Half would not have taken such an unofficial contract, a contract with no guarantee of reward - a contract that would not provide the extra bonus Source that comes from completing a task stamped by the Guild. And among those adventurers that would, there are even less who would stick around to busy themselves with non-magical medical assistance." His eyes narrowed as he looked over them. "You are not normal. And I believe you have come to this world for a reason. I'm too old to still believe in coincidence." He finished with his gratitude. "Hommas will never forget you - Heroes from the Sky."

And with that, he let them be off. Many of the townsguard saw them off too.



It was mid-afternoon. The party had set out from Hommas only an hour earlier. Starting as late in the day as they did, they would not get a full day's travel in, meaning that they may or may not have to camp under the stars for two nights before they reached their destination. That would depend on their decisions. How long would they walk into the night, if at all? Would they find the shortest routes in the mazy hillocks? Would they be hampered by wolves... or worse? Travelling in Mytheria was best done on roads with horses, or even better by airship, generally speaking, but if anyone could brave the wild without training, it was adventurers.

Luckily, the party had two in their number who had plenty of experience in the outdoors, and another one with military survival training. One of them was Adam Phillips, who held the map, the compass and the strange metal cube. Being the only one with a map, he was at the front, guiding the group up until this point.

At this moment they walked through light woodland, with not-so densely packed trees that the afternoon sun would shine on them and the bushes and grass under their feet. The sounds of insects, birds and animals made up the song of nature, together with the light breeze and running streams.

Adam Phillips kept a vigilant eye on the map, his surroundings, and his team as he led them through Central Southern Mytheria. He felt somewhat out of place here for the past hour or so; the Druid did not feel like he deserved the responsibility of leadership and he was kind of surprised he was the only one who had asked for a map. James, who had apparently saved multiple lives, or MacKensie, who seemed so brave, felt like better choices. However, the man also knew why he was doing this in the first place. Many days spent in the nature of northern Michigan in one world and being able to perform some kind of plant magic in this one had prepared him for this sort of task. Whatever world he was in, Adam knew nature, and he knew that he would do his best to ensure that everyone in the group made it to Valheim alive.

So far, the route had been one conductive to that goal. Light woodlands were what everyone had been walking through, with no other creatures besides ordinary forest critters seen so far. Of course, that had been by design. Adam had studied the map before this trip even began, planning to ensure they had a safe path in this new world. And that wasn't the only plan he had.

"Once the sun starts to set, we should prepare a camp for the night. We can sleep when it's dark and resume our trip in the morning. We've been active all day and could use some rest, and without sunlight we'll probably get lost," Adam said to his fellow coffin arrivals. "I doubt these things glow in the dark." He lightly waved the map and compass to indicate he was referring to them. "Does that sound good to everyone?"

It was an honest question; Adam would certainly do his best to guide the group, but he couldn't force them to stay together. Whatever happened next was up to everyone who fell from the sky.

It was strange. Of all the things that had happened so far. Waking up in a coffin. Fighting actual skeletons. Seeing the terrifying beasts that were the ogres. Of all these things, the most frightening and intense moments of the whole experience, had to be the surgery.

MacKensie walked along with the group, near the back, in somewhat of a daze, not noticing that her footfalls were so light that she didn't leave tracks.

It was trauma-inducing. To cut into another human being's flesh while he shook and cried in pain. To have to keep going. For his own good. It was all she could do - for the following half hour - not to burst into tears. Rationale had finally taken over, emphasising the fact that they had saved the guard's life and many others, but she still thought about it, and now the larger picture surrounding it: The horrors of war.

She'd always been a politically-minded young woman. Firmly anti-war. But here, against this 'Witch Queen,' what choice was there? This was not squabbles over national resources or clashes of culture... this was good vs evil. Everything she knew about politics had to be thrown out of the window, right now. And with the information she had, knowing deep down that she might well be stuck in this world for the rest of her life, she had to consider that her new home was in danger of annihilation. She had to consider doing something she swore she'd never do...

She had to consider that she might go to war.

The former uni student shook herself of these thoughts. It was simply too soon for her mind to go wandering like this. She needed more information. A big city like Valhiem with academics like herself might be the key to finding out more about what was going on in Mytheria. Especially as her group had, in their possession, that strange metal cube. Enough, Mac, she scolded herself. When it came to politics, she simply could not help but stick her nose in other peoples business. It was just the way she was.

As the group moved forward, MacKensie strayed over to walk beside James. "James, I thank you," she said quietly, giving him a glance before looking at the ground in front of her feet. "You had more faith in me than I had in myself, in that moment. It was an honour to help you save that man's life." She shuddered as she continued. "Just looking at him made me feel sick. I was so scared. But you were calm and took action... just like that." She snapped her fingers. "Your strength gave me strength. I am grateful for it."

She stayed at his side as the group covered distance, Adam leading the way. When Adam told them the plan, MacKensie answered affirmatively, her bones suddenly happy at the mention of rest. It had been a long day and there was only so much that adrenaline, magical blessings and positivity could do before the body demanded to sit the hell down.

"You have a background in medicine or...? Is this knowledge part of your Gift?" she asked James, hoping to learn more about all of her comrades, and so starting with the man next to her.

"None of us really understand how we ended up here. We arrived like you. But where we are travelling to now, we might find out."

The Frenchwoman's answer seemed to be generally the consensus of the group on it all, roughly speaking at least, based on what the budding mage was able to gather from all the different answers. Truth be told she'd been trying to acclimate herself to whatever in the world was going on around this place, including a fearless examination of at least one dead ogre and some of the skeletons before the group had indeed needed to leave. She hadn't even noticed the ongoing surgery in her attempt to look at things and test the reality of it. Not that the coffin, strange staff, and other things about herself already weren't somewhat convincing. But in the end she'd had to accept the general fact that the dead were read bodies, and that she was indeed very far from home to say the least.

From there she could begin to establish her next line of action, which was frankly to go along with the group of other world-napped individuals around her for the time being. The odd crystal on her hand was something she hoped to get checked out, as well as to investigate her own new capabilities once they arrived in Valheim proper. Should the place have the facilities for such of course, she wanted to see what she could do and reach out to do when it came to the entirely fascinating and enthralling phenomenon that was her actually being in possession of some kind of magic. REAL MAGIC. Seriously.

But even with that bit of magical excitement to help her own mood in things, and it did a bit, it was all still quite a lot to soak in. Like binge studying for a test on the part of her peers, and attempting to let the information disseminate into her brain (or 'soak in' as one peer had once called it) properly over time. In that vein the long walk they'd begun was nothing short of welcome to her mind as well, something she'd used to do on the beach to help her soak in some things more recently in her life...well, before arriving here at least.

Quite relaxing when life was being stressful, much as listening to the running water and sounds of life around them were right now really-

"Once the sun starts to set, we should prepare a camp for the night. We can sleep when it's dark and resume our trip in the morning. We've been active all day and could use some rest, and without sunlight we'll probably get lost."

"I doubt these things glow in the dark."

"Does that sound good to everyone?"

Ah.

"Sounds good to me, and sensible as well."

She spoke in verbal agreement to Adam's idea, also lightly nodding her head in assent as she used her staff to help her walk along with the others.

At a leisurely pace the likes of a farmer set when walking the fields, the Texan moseyed behind the group. Clive gazed westward watching the sun dip as he walked along the winding road, green eyes squinting habitually beneath the wide brim of his straw hat that shaded part of his face from the suns rays. His face was dirty, hair matted neath his hat and a bead of sweat trickled down the side of his chiseled face.

But it didn't bother him one bit, carrying on his merry way with the other folk who done woke up with him along the path. Clive wiped his brow with the back of his arm, and if the others listened as they marched they could hear something of a familiar melody the man lightly began to whistle as he followed them.

Zell's head was on a slow swivel as he took in the tranquil vista he walked through. It was certainly a new experience for the man who who'd lived in big cities his whole life. The song of birds, the random calls of animals - nature didn't shut up! But it wasn't bad. Just different. Occasionally he waved away an insect that flew in his face.

He started to get bored with walking in silence.

"Hey, big guy," he said to Joji next to him. He offered his hand to shake. "Nice to have a fellow swordsman around. All these magic-nerds, amarite."

He was only messing around, but still clearly jealous that he didn't have any magical powers like the others. Joji didn't look like the type who liked to joke around, but Zell tried anyway. In fact, speaking of Joji; Zell knew something about the man just by looking at him, and that was that the big guy was no stranger to 'the other side' of civilian life. The Underworld. Zell had rubbed shoulders with some shady people in order to buy the amount of product required to make a decent living as a drug dealer. In the criminal world, there were a lot of guys like Zell, who weren't tough or who weren't in too deep. But then there were the 'real cats' who lived it and thrived in it. Those particular people - you could just tell who they were - it was in their eyes.

Joji had those eyes.

"Guys like us gotta stick together. You know, guys who aren't afraid to get their hands dirty," he continued. Then his voice got a little quieter. "In this life or the last." Zell held the man's gaze for a second. "Back in England, you rub shoulders with certain individuals, kinda hard to keep your hands clean, ya know."

He left it at that. In the streets, a loose tongue was a quick way to get yourself sent to jail or the hospital. That no longer mattered to Zell, seeing as he was now Skelly Slaying Swordsman: Hero fromm the Sky. But still. It would be disrepectful to just start blabbing to Joji when he didn't even know the guy. And whatever the specifics of Joji's background were, he was very clearly a man of respect.

"You really think we'll get some answers in Valhiem? Something tells me it's not gonna be that easy."

"Shit, now I can't tell her that I had her do that because I pussied out (like a bitch) on doing it myself"

Well that was not necessarily the truth, she did have the hand-to-eye coordination and steady hands necessary to pull off the improvised surgery and that was the reason he trusted her in the first place, some of the pieces she extracted were smaller than he had expected and he would have never even noticed them in the panic of the situation. But still, it was oddly flattering to hear her compliment him on doing something right during that whole mess of a situation.

Better make sure it doesn't happen again.

"Nah, one of my cousins graduated from Uni a little while ago with a medical degree, one of them doctors you know? and she wouldn't stop muttering about proper procedures when we watched medical dramas or would just sprout random medical facts to help herself remember them"

She would also show him gruesome pictures of injuries with a smile and make uncomfortable comments about the body that he wished he didn't know but that was neither here nor there, and at least she was less melodramatic than Pedro (The fucking drama queen) and definitely not even a quarter the asshole that Carlos was. He missed them

"Also I think you are giving me too much credit, the whole time I felt like Apprentice looked" As if a stiff breeze could blow him over and he was about to throw up "And you shouldn't bring yourself down, I think you helped more in the battle than I did and you also played the critical part in the surgery, I should be the one thanking you for the trust and doing what I asked" This was gonna suck "So thank you, Mac, you really saved him-us! back there"

He carefully evited eve contact with the Frenchwoman, sure as hell giving a compliment to a semi-stranger felt awkward beyond measure, made even worse when he remembered that she saw him comfort the guy during the surgery. Fuck this was embarrassing! He needed to change the topic quickly, but what could he say to rile her up?... looking around and catching sight of a certain swordsman a plan sprung into his mind. Perfect

" So speaking of who were we before this whole thing started, I know you said you are an Olympic Archer but did you also know Zell beforehand? You two seem to flirt a lot"

Sorry for throwing you under the bus Zell but you were too convenient.

The farmer's whistling came to an end as he walked along beside the woman he'd fought alongside "You ain't said much since we left," eyes kept forwards and towards the road in front of them, Clive didn't even turn to look at Fenna as he walked and talked "Don't suppose it got nothin' to do with all this dyin' stuff would it?" deep down he still couldn't really believe any of it, after all he had just passed out from being out in the sun wasn't the first time it happened and he was certain it hadn't or wasn't his last.

Clive chuckled and shook his head in disbelief "Ah well, no sense in sweatin' the details too hard." wiping his forehead with the sleeve of his shirt once again the Texan shrugged dismissively "Hm, reckon we aint got much time til sunset, ain't too sure what night will be like but I sure hope none of them skeleton come back and attack us."

@Saiyan @xenon

Joji Yamazaki

Joji walked along with the others towards Valhiem, he really hoped they would be able to find some answers. He wanted to know why he was here besides being tasked to kill some witch. His train of thought was disturbed by the British man speaking to him. He seemed to be implying that he was a criminal of some kind in his previous life. His eyes were scanning Zell. Trying to figure out what he was all about. To him, he seemed like a loudmouth. Something that could get someone in his line of work to be quite dangerous.

“Hi, and I hope we do. I want to know why we were chosen to be here.” He didn’t want to admit his rather terrible profession in his other life. But he could tell that he and Zell had similar backgrounds. “But I’m not sure where to start looking for answers.” He rubbed his chin trying to think of how they could talk about where the Witch Queen was. Which seemed to be the only way they could get any answers. If they could somehow defeat her. “Perhaps if we stick together, we would have a better chance of beating this bitch.” He said wanting to team up with Zell in particular. Because they had such a similar backgrounds.

Taking another look over at Zell, he was curious if he had recognized Zell from before. But shook his head thinking that perhaps he had seen someone similar on t.v.

“How long before we get to Valhiem?” He asked Adam after a few seconds of silence. He hoped the group could get to Valhiem before nightfall.

The staff-wielding mage would increase her pace, moving herself closer to the man at the front of the 'pack' as it were: Adam.

From what she could glean on the surface, everyone seemed to be talking to someone else rather than saying anything about the camping situation. Not that being tired after all the walking really lent itself to anything but wanting to agree to get some rest perhaps. But that was just a guess on her part, as she could still go on for a little while yet! At least physically.

Mentally, however, she already felt a bit tired if she were to be honest about the matter. Not only had her arrival in the strange place been jarring, but she'd been mulling some along this particular walking trek about the last memories she had from back home. The last thing she remembered at all before waking up in that blasted stone sarcophagus that had been nearly lying on its side. Before the magic, the dead bodies, everything she'd seen her so far in what little time she had been here. All she could recall was having been in her lifeguard swimsuit, walking down a section of the beach to keep an eye on things. Then someone had called out to her when the wind gusts had gotten bad, and she'd turned around only to see the image of a large and heavier beach umbrella flying at her face faster than she could react.

Then nothing but instant darkness before she'd woken up.

It was like the plot of one of the recently popular isekai-genre anime she'd seen, albeit instead of a truck it was a beach umbrella. That comparison in and of itself made it frankly ridiculous, and yet the thought she'd died and been nabbed up elsewhere and summoned was increasingly becoming one of the most logical theories about their collective situation, comparatively speaking, when compared to the even stranger ren-faire theory she'd finally dumped out of her mind by this point.

But how does one present such a theory to people who had just as little an idea and a less pop-culture context to draw on? At least for all she knew. Even if the context was not a problem at all, the suggestion of the idea would be as silly as it could sound in the first place. Then again, the very situation they were in was far more than extraordinary in and of itself and would perhaps lend some credibility to it all?

...She wished her Uncle was here right now. Just to hear his stupid laugh and get a hug to make the crazy things she was going through feel like they didn't matter so much anymore. Even if it made those things feel just a little, but decisive, bit smaller.

...

...

...

Ahem. That would all be something to ponder more later. For now, she needed something else to occupy herself with for the time being, and with MacKensie seemingly occupied in conversation with the man who had first come to help her (before returning to his 'resting' face as she assumed) Lillianna's focus had turned to the object in the hands of the group leader: That cube.

According to what she'd learned back in the town, before they had left at least, that thing had fallen out from some skeletal minion leader's body after it had been slain. Glowing purple light, necromantic vibes, and the whole shebang included. Then the remnants of the army had up and run away. Like this thing had been keeping them in the fight somehow, or its loss was noted as being too much or too risky a loss to keep up the fight. At least those were her presumptions and guesses about the matter. Theories at best. But if she could use magic, perhaps she could look into it? Or at least as a scholar be able to take a peek at it, maybe be able to get a reaction out of it that could lend some kind of understanding to what it was made for and what it did in function and purpose.

With that in mind, the aptly-dressed mage felt asking Adam to look at it would at least be something.

"Adam, is it? Ah, I wanted to ask you something while we try to get settled in a spot to camp for the night. Mostly I wanted to ask if I could carefully examine that odd cube for a bit. I would like to see if we can learn anything about it in the meantime from that and such, ah, if that is ok with you of course."

Magic was fascinating, and the scientific method did not change simply because she was in some place with real actual magic. Plus if they could understand anything about their enemy in some capacity, then it would give them any sort of advantage possible. Especially if they could make undead go away somehow with this, if any of her theories about it were true, which would be a boon in case of, ah, another 'attack' surprising them along the way to the town they'd been directed to. Did she mention she could use REAL ACTUAL MAGIC?! Because there was real, actual magic here, and she could use it. That was still trying to sink in even as her attention turned to the cube.

"It...is an odd request to someone I've just met here, but if we could learn anything about it then maybe we could at least better understand why it had the effect it did back there at the village. Admittedly I wasn't there for the battle, but I did glean some basic information about what had happened as we got ready to leave at least."

@Zapdos

Adam was surprised that more people in this group besides MacKensie and Lillianna didn't have an opinion on whether they should camp or keep moving. Something as important as the logistics of transporting a cube that might hold the secret to saving innocent lives and winning a war seemed more worthy of discussion to him. Or maybe their silence was meant to be confidence in his plan, and therefore the Druid should just not worry about it so much? This was flattering, if true. Yes, unless someone made a serious complaint based on strategic merit, he would-

His thoughts were interrupted by Jojo, asking how long it would be until they reached their destination. A reasonable question. Adam worried about potentially upsetting the large man who could cut him up; the man had an intimidating aura about him. However, this was a good time to see how reasonable he was anyway. If something happened, it would be better for it to happen now than in a truly dangerous situation, and lying now wouldn't help the team anyway.

Adam directed his answer to the group as a whole, figuring it would be easier to answer the question once instead of ten times. "It should be two day's travel to Valheim, assuming we aren't delayed by a fight or something. And given that we just fought a small army an hour ago and we know fairly little about this world, it's likely we're going to run into some kind of trouble before we arrive, so it'll probably be longer than that. On that note, please stay alert everyone. I don't want anyone dying out here."

It was as good a reminder for himself as it was for everyone else. The strike from the ogre still weighed on the man. Adam had an idea or two on how to make their camp safer when everyone was settled, starting with-

"Adam, is it? Ah, I wanted to ask you something while we try to get settled in a spot to camp for the night. Mostly I wanted to ask if I could carefully examine that odd cube for a bit. I would like to see if we can learn anything about it in the meantime from that and such, ah, if that is ok with you of course.

It...is an odd request to someone I've just met here, but if we could learn anything about it then maybe we could at least better understand why it had the effect it did back there at the village. Admittedly I wasn't there for the battle, but I did glean some basic information about what had happened as we got ready to leave at least."

Lillianna's question was unexpected, but not unwelcome. The Druid really didn't really know anyone in the group besides MacKensie, so this was a good chance to change that. And the cube, the whole reason they were hiking to begin with, that was certainly important.

"It is, and no problem! I think everything about this situation has been odd," Adam joked with a smile as he grabbed the metal object and held it out, examining it as he spoke further. "I haven't had the chance to look at it much myself, being preoccupied with creatures who wanted to kill me at the time, but I'm not sure if it really is the 'heart of the skeleton' like Vadim thought. If it was, why would it scare away its allies? That's just a theory though, I think these people at Valheim will know more than I would. Anyway, please feel free to inspect this as long as you'd like."

As the man gave the cube to Lillianna, the man had another thought. What if the purple light didn't scare off the skeletons, but was some kind of "evil homing device" that would let them return to their location later with more powerful allies? Adam remembered Lillianna's panic when she first arrived though, and decided not to share this particular guess with her. No use in scaring her over a hypothetical scenario. Instead, the Druid asked her a question, partially to get to know her and partially to ensure he didn't accidentally alarm this woman. "By the way, if you know, what sort of magic do you have?"

Adam would have to talk strategy with the team at some point to ensure they were prepared for any threats, but right now he would talk magic with Lillianna. Or whatever else she wanted to discuss, really. Only an hour or so ago, the Druid was new to Mytheria and extremely scared by everything that was going on. The situation still was far from perfect, but Adam figured what the woman was feeling now had to be similar to what he felt back then, so he wanted to do whatever he could to get her to a better place.

Heroes from the sky, Fenna wasn't sure how she felt about that title. Sure, rescueing a little girl could be considered a heroic act, but they were somehow meant save a whole more than just this village. With a grim expression she made one promises to herself: if it would lead to a way back home, she'd save the entire damn universe.

There was no reason not to trust Adam with the map, so she followed him. As they left the village, she stayed at the back of the group. The plan to camp at sunset was a sensible one and she didn't voice an objection to it, opting for silent approval. Others in the group started chatting amongst themselves and the farmer whistled. It often amazed her how easy it was for some people to engage in small talk. Her attention was drawn to Clive when he addressed her.

"That has more to do with all that hero stuff," she told him. "I honestly don't remember dying, but I am worried about being so far away from my family. I hope I can return to them."
It was true worrying about the details of how they got here wouldn't help them much and she appreciated the down-to-earth mentality of the farmer. She knew farmers like that back home, heck even her grandfather would say things like that. The thought of the skeletons returning made her glance over her shoulder, but no creatures were there. The area was strangely peaceful after the village had almost been overrun. Clive had a point though, there was no reason to assume those skeletons had been the only ones. She clutched the spear and focussed on the group again. Adam seemed to discuss the cube he had found with the latest arrival. That was a strange thing, but something she could provide no insight in.

She had a feeling someone, or something, was watching her, but she couldn't pinpoint it. A bird of prey soared high in the sky, other than that nothing seemed to be around, aside from their group and some small animals like birds and bugs. A part of her didn't like this peaceful silence.

"I'm sorry if you consider my silence rude," she said to Clive. "I'm not at ease in this world." She looked around as she said this, instead of facing on the farmer.

Her eyes sparkled with the distant threat of bittersweet tears as she watched him talk about his cousin. You could tell by his tone that he had a close relationship with her. Passion. Family values. It was all there. It might have been her imagination, but it seemed that his usual annoyed expression somewhat softened as he spoke of her. Funny how just one or two sentences could say so much. She brushed away thoughts of her own family that were churning up to stay focused on the conversation, which steered towards his counter-argument that she deserved an equal amount of credit.

"...the whole time I felt like Apprentice looked"

That one made her laugh. The apprentice healer did look like he was about to faint. In her own terror, she hadn't deigned to notice his comical demeanour. It felt good to be acknowledged for such a difficult task, for it had taken all of her willpower and then some.

"So thank you, Mac, you really saved him-us! back there"

Pursed lips in a solemn smile with a meaningful nod, she accepted his thanks, feeling a little closer to him for it. It was a truly lovely moment - one that the wizard decided to spoil by changing the subject and sending a shockwave down her spine. She bristled when she heard mention the name of Big Mouth and then James decided to double down on the blow by another accusation of...

"Flirt!?" she repeated, disgusted. "I would not be caught dead flirting with that caveman. I cannot stand him. Hmph. He is far too cocky for my liking, he thinks he can just flash that smile of his, and get away with..." And then she realised: She was putting waaaay too much passion into this. Eyes face forward, she paused, embarassed not for the first time since waking up in this world, but she gathered herself, then turned her ire on James instead, giving him a playful shove. "You are just as bad as eachother, to tease me so horribly. I have a feeling you will be two peas in a pod before long. Go and flirt with him yourself." She shook her head exasperated, but there was a small chuckle in there too. She looked ahead and saw Adam talking with Lillianna, imagining they were having a conversation that didn't involve immature unpleasantries. Honestly, she was a little jealous. "Why can you two not be nice young men, like Adam," she gestured ahead. "You could learn a lot from his example."

It was all in good fun, really, even if it was her that seemed to be on the receiving end of the teasing. In a way, it broke the ice between them all better than most things could have. For if you were relaxed enough with your comrades to tease them and trust they would not shoot you with their crossbow(!), you were more than likely relaxed enough to trust them to work as a team. Even that aside, the conversation took her mind off her family, her death and the surgery, and gave her a breather where she could simply pass some time with a person she could call friend. It was comforting.

"I cannot call myself an Olympian, for I never actually got to Japan to compete," she told James. "And no, I have never met Zell before today. I was born in Lyon, in France, but I was attending university in Paris. My dream was to win a gold medal and I worked hard to earn to a starting place on my national team. But to be honest, my skills won me much more than a gold medal, today. If I helped save a single innocent by fighting those monsters, then that is worth more than all the prizes and honours in the world. I am happy with that." She nodded to herself, then looked back at James. He looked the same age as her. "Where are you from? What did you do before this?"

“Perhaps if we stick together, we would have a better chance of beating this bitch.”

Zell raised his eyebrows, impressed. So Joji wasn't just in on ploughing through any obstacles to find answers. No, the big guy was all in on taking out Madam Big kahuna of monster nation. As far as Zell was concerned, they were dropping off some cube and then asking around as to just why the hell they ended up in this world. He hadn't really considered the prospect of fighting in the war.

Fuck it, why not.

"Well, my schedule just happens to be wide open," Zell replied with a smirk. "Count me in, big guy."

Joji asked about length of the journey and Zell listened as Adam answered. Zell was pretty certain the younger guy was a Druid Class adventurer, from what he'd found out about the various classes, plus the fact that Adam declared to the group he had some kind of plant magic. It was a for-sure fit. Adam was handling himself well at the head of the column, keeping everyone informed and confidently making good decisions. At least, Zell assumed they were good decisions. What did he know about travelling through forests n stuff? He went to Peru in his Gap Year and told some guys he was up for going on the four-day mountain hike to see Machu Picchu... he ended up blowing all his money on partying and never did it. That was the closest Zell had ever come to camping in his life.

After Adam had warned everyone to stay alert, Zell shifted his priorities and started keeping an eye on the surroundings. There was no guarantee that they'd seen the last of The Witch Queens soldiers, and Zell didn't fancy getting snuck up on. As a Fighter or Barbarian Class (which was likely what he was) he needed to be ready to get in front of the magic users and Rangers. His job in a party was to defend and provide space for the others to cast and fire. He looked at the group and thought about where best to position himself if they were suddenly attacked. Having experience in sports, team formations in dynamic games, it wasn't too hard to grasp.

He'd be ready.