『 A Forest? — Suuran — Everi, ?? h ?? 』
"Alright, guys, you ready?" Vars asked.
"Yeah!" Itoî and Uyan cheered.
The kids started walking before Uyan began asking questions, as usual, being the curious boy he was:
"Where are we? Do you know, Vars?"
"Uh... Hmm..."
Vars thought for a moment, looking right, then left, before glancing up at the sky. It was pretty dark. No, not because it was night, but because the trees cast too much shade.
Indeed, they were in a dense forest filled with conical trees: Olimali firs, Noris, or Voulot. All these trees shared one thing in common: they resisted extreme cold well and reached impressive heights. Some could grow up to thirty meters. Moreover, their dense foliage made it feel like it was constantly night in this forest.
"Judging by the trees, I'd say we're in a forest."
Uyan dropped to the ground, defeated by Vars's stupid answer.
"No! You don't say?!" he exclaimed, grumbling.
Vars laughed before answering:
"I'm kidding. Based on these trees, especially their spike-shaped leaves, and the temperature, I'd say it's a specific kind of forest. And this type of forest—at least one of this scale, with such specific flora and fauna... tells me absolutely nothing about the Nothran side."
"So, we've left the country. That's good news, but other than that, I couldn't tell you if we're west or east of Grandpa's place. Ideally, we'd wait for night to rest, after finding a cave or somewhere a bit warmer."
"But won't there be monsters at night?" Uyan asked hesitantly.
"Yeah, true, there probably will be. But I should be able to protect you easily. I think we're far enough from Nothran that we don't have much to fear from the assassins. So I can use my magic freely," Vars replied as he marched straight ahead.
"What does that have to do with magic?" Uyan asked, intrigued.
"To put it simply, magic leaves traces of mana in the air. Some demons have a keen sense of smell, just like some monsters, for that matter, and that might be how the assassins tracked us down. But I imagine you already knew that. Tell me your real question, Uyan. Don't take me for an idiot," Vars continued.
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Uyan hesitated for a moment as he trudged through the thick snow.
"I... I mostly wanted to know why us. He said 'Evekius.' Even Grandpa never mentioned a name like that. I thought his name was Boreo."
Vars didn't want to answer that question, but he sighed and said:
"Long story short: Evekius is Grandpa's real family name. He hides it for obscure reasons, but most likely related to several demons."
"Several?" Uyan asked.
"Yes. Remember: he said 'my father.' So we have to conclude that his father is most likely a demon or a possessed man. Now, what they want with the Evekius family, I have no idea. Besides, neither Kaelle nor Dad know either. Only Mom and, potentially, Grandpa know," Vars said calmly.
"Wow, you sure ask a lot of questions, little redhead, huh!" Itoî said, acting a bit cocky.
"Well, I don't know. I don't understand anything about this situation," Uyan replied.
"Yeah, same," Itoî said.
"But you're lost all the time," Uyan retorted.
Itoî hit him square in the face with a snowball.
"Hey! Cut it out!" Uyan said, scooping up snow to throw at Itoî.
Itoî dodged it and shot back:
"You suck!"
Vars laughed, then took a snowball straight to the face, courtesy of Itoî.
"Gotcha!" Itoî laughed.
Uyan grabbed a stick and whacked Itoî on the butt.
"Take that, bastard!"
"Ow! Hey! You can't use a stick!"
The three of them laughed, engaging in an all-out snowball fight with total abandon for about thirty minutes.
Heavy footsteps echoed.
"Wait, guys. Hear that?" Vars said, dropping his snowball.
The kids gently set down their snowballs, listening to the steps.
Bam. Bam. Bam.
"What is that?" Uyan asked.
"I don't know. Guys, stay behind me," Vars said, shooting a quick glance at his brothers.
A howl rang out:
WOOOOORRGGHH!
Uyan and Itoî's hearts pounded. They broke out in a cold sweat.
"It got hot all of a sudden. I gotta admit, these noises are freaking me out," Itoî said.
A gigantic shadow leaped ten meters away from them. The ground shook. Uyan and Itoî lost their balance and fell, while Vars stood his ground, his sharp gaze locked on the beast.
Then the roar echoed:
WOOARRRRGGHH!
"It's... It's a Quashti!" Vars cried.
"I-I think I see what it is, yeah... I didn't think there were any Quashtis left," Uyan said, shaking like a leaf.
The Quashti was a beast with thick, white fur. It had a humanoid shape and looked like a cross between an ape and a yeti. This creature stood on two legs, possessed a tail, and had two powerful, muscular arms. It could grow up to fifteen meters and had massive hands that let it grab and throw rocks, trees, or anything else it could get its hands on.
It had an extremely powerful jaw and was omnivorous. Moreover, two one-meter-long fangs jutted out from its upper jaw.
"I-I heard a legendary Quashti, over thirty-five meters tall, was once defeated by a supreme mage..." Uyan said, hiding behind Itoî.
Itoî whipped around and screamed:
"HOW TALL?!"
Vars spun around instantly and told Itoî:
"Take our brother and run as far away as possible!"
"But I wanna fight t—"
"No, Itoî, this really isn't the time. I won't be able to fight properly with you guys in the way! Go, get out of here!" Vars yelled.
Itoî scrambled up, scooped Uyan up, and sprinted in the opposite direction from Vars.
"We're counting on you, big bro! And don't forget about us!" Itoî screamed as he ran full tilt.
"Don't worry! I'll catch up with you after!" Vars hollered back.
The beast, whose red eyes contrasted with the dull gray skin of its bare face, started howling again.
The snow fell softly, lending the scene an even greater intensity.
WOAAARRRRRGGGHHH!
Vars slammed his fists together, inhaled, and exhaled violently. The gust blew away the freshly fallen snowflakes resting on the ground.
"Now, it's just you and me!"