"So, like where exactly are we?" We were sitting on a ridgeline a few dozen kiloters away from the military outpost we had just escaped from, eating so rations Rivi had brought along with us for our trip. "I knew scarcely anything about the geography of this world before you guys resurrected , but we’re like, in a whole different continent from where I was summoned, right?" The landscape imdiately surrounding us reminded a little of Iceland from my previous world. Black gravelly rock nearly as far as the eye could see, only occasionally covered by li-green moss. And a large snowy mountain range cutting across the northern horizon.
"Yup!" Rivi was playing with Rufi while munching on a celery-like vegetable. "We’re in the northwest of the Lost Continent right now. As continents go, it’s not nearly as large as the Continent of the Gods, more like a really big island, really, but it’s pretty isolated from the rest of the world, hence the title."
"Ok, so what’s the situation with the Lost Continent, right now? Is the Goddess like a big deal here or sothing?"
"Pretty much. The Lost Continent is divided into four main political blocs, The Ice Kingdom which is just north of those mountains. She pointed at a range of snowy peaks that we had been skirting around. The Kingdom of Undeath, where we are right now, which is ruled over by my sister Endra. The Beast Tribes to our east, where each clan rules over a different territory, though the Goddess is sothing like an overlord who oversees disputes and helps unite them in tis of crises. Then there’s the Demon Tribes in the far southeast. They’re the one bloc that doesn’t really have any connection to the Goddess, though at present we’re in fairly friendly relations with them, especially given the increasing presence of humans on the eastern shores."
"Humans? Is there a human kingdom nearby?"
"Not really. There’s the fortress city of Ceren in the far northeast of the continent, which is ruled over by an asshat demigod. And there’s the Silver Knightdom which exterminated an island of demons off the eastern coast and took it for themselves—both of which are mainly populated by humans from the Continent of the Gods, but they’re pretty insignificant as far as the whole continent is concerned. Maybe my sisters are worried about it or sothing, I don’t know, but they still don’t have much of a foothold yet. Who’s a good girl?" She rubbed Rufi’s belly, who had finally offered it up to her after minutes of playing together.
"So what’s our destination then?" I finished eating the food I was snacking on and started packing it back into the dinsional bags Rivi had equipped us with.
"Well, given our status as runaways, we should probably make our way to the Demon Tribes at so point. That said, we’d have to cross over into Beast Tribe territory on our way. Alternatively, since we’re already so close to the Ice Kingdom we could dip in for a bit, maybe catch my sisters off guard if they were expecting us to go the other direction."
"Ok, but what about my evolution? Don’t we need sowhere safe to do that?"
"Your evolution! I totally forgot about that. Brrrr." She rubbed Rufi’s face then gave her a little kiss on the nose.
"What do you want to do? I don’t really know how hard my sisters are going to look for us. We might want to get a little further before we settle down too much."
"Then maybe the Ice Kingdom?" I suggested. "We don’t have to go into any towns or anything, we could just pop into the mountains, find a cave or sothing you could seal with your shadows, and then move on once I’m finished evolving."
"Sure!" Rivi popped up on her feet. "Wanna fly?" She offered her hand.
"Wouldn’t that just give away our position if people are looking for us?" I hesitated.
"Oh. Right." Rivi frowned. "Ooh, what if we kept racing through the shadows then? Just like we did to get out of that outpost?"
"We could...But wouldn’t that be really draining on you? How long can you keep sothing like that up?"
"It’s fine! I have a lot of magic!" Rivi declared confidently. "And shadow travel isn’t that mana expensive, I bet I could keep it up most of the day if I wanted."
"Ok," I replied hesitantly. "Just make sure you don’t drain yourself too much, alright. You’re our main fighter, so if we run into trouble, it’s important that you still have enough reserves to fight."’
"Hehe, you can count on !" I accepted her hand, and grabbed Rufi as we prepared to start off. "Ooh this is so exciting!" Rivi danced around like a little kid. "Running from my sisters, going on an adventure. Don’t know what’s ahead, don’t know who’s behind."
"Ok, boyscout," I put a hand on her shoulder. "Why don’t we get going now."
"Not sure what you an by that, but here we go!" Shadows grew up around us and began to morph rapidly as we travelled across the barren landscape as nothing more than inky blots across the black rocks.
By that evening we’d arrived at the foot of the snowy mountains. And by the next afternoon we had managed to arrive at the mouth of a cave hidden behind one of the peaks.
"Ooh, so sparkly!" Rivi leaned in to the mouth of the cave, looking around. Polished ice stalactites and stalagmites lined the floor and roof of the cave, leaving hardly any room to walk between them. Blue, purple, and green light danced in the reflection of the sunlight off of the outside snow.
I would have been shivering, due to the abysmally low outside temperature, but Rivi had cast a Cold resist spell on . Though I couldn’t help rembering a little guiltily the cold resist anklet that I had left in Rivi’s storehouse because I thought it was garish and didn’t go with the boots I had picked out.
"So? Is here a good spot? What do you think?" Rivi asked , picking up Rufi in her arms, who protested with a soft wl and a bit of squirming.
"How should I know? I don’t know what your sisters are capable of. Plus I’ve never been on the run before. I think this might be the first ti I’ve even entered a cave before, if you don’t count dungeons."
"Aww, you’re so young and cute! Co on, I’m sure your first cave diving experience will be great." I blushed silently, but followed her.
"Oop." Rivi stopped suddenly after we’d been walking for a while. She’d cast a soft mage lamp that fluttered over our head casting a cold light that only made the cave even more creepy than it already was.
"Looks like this cave isn’t so uninhabited." She turned to with a grin.
"What do you—"
"Rooooaaar!" A distant rumbling ca from deep within the cavern, and I froze my eyes widening.
"Nah, don’t worry about it. Whatever ice monster made this cave their ho, they shouldn’t be any match for us."
"O-ok." I replied still not totally convinced. Wasn’t the last ti I was in this kind of situation, the ti I died!? Ok, maybe I’m skipping over a few fights in the Goddess’ dungeon, but that was a controlled environnt! This is the outside world, what if sothing goes wrong? Wait, when did I beco such a scaredy-cat?
I realized I was holding onto Rivi’s shoulder, almost cowering behind her. I coughed, and resud a position alongside rather than behind her. "So...um..." I tried to break the silence as we walked towards where the roar had sounded from. "What do you think this ice monster is?"
"I don’t know, but it’s obviously not a beast, or it would have made clear markings for us to steer clear of its lair. And since it’s not a beast, that ans we can kill it!" She grinned, as if that was great news.
"Ah," I coughed. "Why is that a good thing?" I looked at her concerned.
She rolled her eyes at . "Because then we can use the cave, obviously. Plus we get so sweet loot! Monster parts can sell pretty well if you know how to butcher them."
"Ah, right." I decided to change the subject. "By the way, what’s even the difference between a beast and a monster? Is it just that the Goddess is on better terms with them?"
"Noo," She looked at as if I was stupid, and even Rufi wled in outrage. "Beasts are intelligent. They’re no different than you or I, just in lots of different shapes and sizes. Monsters, on the other hand, are just the manifestation of chaotic mana flows, the only thing in their nature is aggression."
"Beasts are...but what about animals? Aren’t they beasts?"
Rivi facepald. "Beasts are beasts. Animals are animals. Entirely different thing, didn’t they teach you anything wh—" She didn’t finish, because a huge white furred monster broke through the ice wall in front of us, its giant four limbs solidifying its position in the room as its horrendous maw unleashed an ear-rending roar, sending spittle all the way into our faces
"ROOAAAAAAAAARR!!!"
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