Rise of the Devourer

The last day had passed by in a blur for Noah. After finding somewhere in the nearby forest to camp, the two of them had fallen asleep quite quickly. Noah had asked about any concerns for monsters or wild animals attacking them, but Aurelia had mentioned something about aura suppression, and Noah stopped listening, quickly falling asleep soon after.

The next morning greeted him with two bright suns shining over the horizon. Stretching his limbs, Noah noticed Aurelia missing from her spot. Not feeling particularly concerned about the disappearance, he moved to grab the waterskin Aurelia had left outside, filled up from some nearby stream. Clear water flowed into his palm, quenching his thirst, before using some more water to wash his face in an attempt to shake off his grogginess.

“I really hope they have coffee in this world,” he said, putting the waterskin away.

A rustling noise of bushes had him glance sideways, and he noticed Aurelia walking towards him, with two strange armoured creatures that looked strangely like a hybrid between an armadillo and a giant sloth standing near their camp.

“Aurelia… what’re those?” Noah asked, looking at the giant tanks. Before he got a response, his system gave him the answer, as he used identify.

[Armadial - lvl 37]

“Oh these? Some wild Armadials I found. Pretty much the best way to traverse a forest like this.”

“Wild ones?” Noah asked, surprised. “Are you sure they won’t try to eat us instead? I mean, that creature looks like it could pick fights with an elephant.”

“What’s an elephant? Also, armadials are herbivores, and pretty tame. They’re also known to help out humans as long as you feed them,” Aurelia said, petting the face of one of the creatures.

Noah looked at the creatures in fascination, before walking up to one of the armadials himself. They were tall, almost coming up to a bit above his head while still on all fours. Which was quite big given Noah’s height. Gently, he pet the creature’s scales body, ready to blink away if it tried to bite.

The armadial didn’t pay Noah attention, continuing to eat the grass lazily. “This is… pretty cool. We have creatures like these in my world too. Armadillos. But they’re much, much smaller, and eat insects. We’ve kinda ruined our forests so interacting with animals like this is extremely rare.”

Aurelia smiled, gently scratching the armadial under its chin, and it leaned into the scratch. Watching Aurelia, Noah turned towards his own armadial, but the creature just gave him the side eye, dissuading any attempts preemptively.

“It’s so easy to forget that everything here is new to you. The last time I was excited about armadials was when I was six,” Aurelia said, the armadial she was scratching now completely relaxed as it rested its giant face in her hands, melting.

“Did you have them in your city? I remember you said it was underground,” Noah asked.

“Not in my city no, but I’d seen plenty. They’re common enough in forest terrains, and my father once took me with him to ride one,” Aurelia replied, her eyes turning distant in nostalgic memory.

“Do you not meet him often now? Your father that is?” Noah asked.

“He died when I was fourteen,” Aurelia replied.

“Ah… I see… it sounds like you miss him,” Noah said.

“Of course I do,” Aurelia replied, frowning at his response.

Noah shrugged. “That's good. It's hard for me to imagine missing my father. I may have a man who led to my birth, but I never had a father. But I do miss my mom. And on days when I miss her a lot, I try to remember the happiest days I had with her, and cherish the fact that those moments happened," Noah replied.

“I suppose you’re right,” Aurelia said, brushing the armadial’s body. “My father was a great man. It’s good to miss him isn’t it? Sad, but good.”

“It is,” Noah replied. “You had a great father, and that’s something to cherish.”

“Thank you, Noah,” Aurelia said, her lips curving upwards in a smile.

“No problemo,” Noah replied.

Grabbing onto the armadial’s body next to her, Aurelia climbed the creature with a ‘hup’. “Let’s get moving now.”

Noah turned to face his own armadial, looking back with a bored expression as it continued to chew on its grass. Trying to mount the creature, Noah put a hand on its back, but the creature simply shook its body, making Noah fall. Noah looked at his Armadial before looking back towards Aurelia. “Hey, can we switch?”

Aurelia smiled, kicking her Armadial as the creature began to move away. Trying once more, and sliding down once again, Noah decided to use Blink. With a pop, he fell on the back of the Armadial. The creature snorted, as if annoyed that it lost the battle, before following behind the creature.

“Alright, this might get a bit jerky so grab on tight,” Aurelia said, patting the back of her own Armadial. “On my command, kick the armadial lightly with your heel and it’ll follow.”

“Wait hold on—“

“Hah!” Aurelia exclaimed, as her armadial jumped. It’s long claws hooked around a tree’s trunk, climbing rapidly before jumping to a different tree.

Noah screamed, as his armadial lifted its front legs, before jumping towards a tree. Rapidly, the creature climbed upwards, before leaping. The momentum threw Noah across the branches as he screamed, arms flailing outwards. Blinking in a panic, Noah moved to a branch, which failed to support his weight. With a crack, the branch broke, as Noah fell, but it’d done enough to break his moment. He crashed down onto the ground head first, with his ass hanging above him as he lay against the tree trunk. Aurelia’s laughter echoed through the forest, as Noah’s armadial slowly made its way down next to him, before licking his face with its long tongue.

“This is not funny,” Noah grumbled but it only made Aurelia laugh harder.

The forest flew past, as Noah and Aurelia rushed through the trees at rapid speeds. The armadials were dexterous creatures despite their sizes, and could land on surprisingly thin branches and support their entire weights on them. After some time spent acclimating, Noah began enjoying the experience. He flew through the forest, twenty feet above the ground, feeling nigh invincible as he rode the giant creature’s backs. More times than he could count, he’d started laughing out loud at the sensation of the wind rushing through his hair, and the adrenaline rush that made his heart beat loud.

“Having fun?” Aurelia asked, her own armadial slowing down to move in pace with Noah’s.

“The most I’ve ever had in my life,” Noah replied, a giant grin plastered on his face.

Aurelia laughed at his words, her hair whipping in the wind behind her. “I know the feeling? The first time my father took me I was so scared I peed my pants. I was so embarrassed that I refused to ride them again until much later. But the second time, I went slow and steady, and fell in love with the experience.”

“I can see why,” Noah replied, his armadial landing on a tree, making him adjust his grip. “It’s definitely an experience. Almost feels like I’m flying on a dragon’s back.”

“You guys had dragons? I thought your world did not have any magic,” Aurelia asked.

“Oh we have dragons. Tons of them. In movies, in stories, in myths. So many dragons. None are real though. We used to have really giant lizards called dinosaurs, which were the closest thing to dragons we ever had. But they died millions of years before humans.”

“I don’t think that’s a particularly bad thing. Elder Dragons wipe out entire cities when they appear. It’s been centuries since the last one though. A lot of people think they’re actually myths to hide attacks from elite groups of the strongest Awakened. Which is silly,” Aurelia said.

Noah raised an eyebrow. “Interesting conspiracy. What do you think though? Are Dragons real?”

Aurelia looked ahead, eyes focused. “Yes. I’ve seen some creatures that defy all imagination. So I can believe it. There’s things out there that even the strongest Adventurer would be dwarfed by. I don’t see why Elder Dragons couldn’t exist.”

“An interesting take. But I know what you mean. I've met something like that as well,” Noah said, before frowning. When had that happened?

Aurelia glanced at Noah, but didn’t ask any further questions. The two continued to move around, wind rushing past them before Noah noticed Aurelia slowing down. His own armadial followed, slowly making his way down towards the ground before landing on the ground.

“What happened?” Noah asked curiously.

“The forest patch’s ending. We’ll have to make the rest of the way on the ground,” Aurelia replied. Both their armadials shook their heads, before beginning to proceed on the flat ground at a much steadier pace.

Noah looked ahead, and noticed the trees thinning. A few moments later, the dense forest gave way to a large grassland extending into the distance. Hills rose further in the horizon, a little stream cutting through the landscape.

“Is that… Layfar village?” Noah asked, squinting his eyes. He could see tiny dots far in the distance.

“It is. We should reach there in four hours or so,” Aurelia replied, glancing towards Noah. “In the meantime, why don’t I tell you a bit more about where you are in Erandir?”

“Sure, I should probably learn a bit more common sense so I don’t instantly out myself as an outerworlder,” Noah replied.

“Mhm. The kingdom we’re currently in is Melior Republic. It’s a monarchy, but we have a council of elected members that keep the powers of the throne in check. The Awakened society that I mentioned? They play a huge role in this, consisting of a majority of the members. Guild leaders, some famous adventurers. These are the people that form the council.”

“A quasi monarchy. Not what I had expected,” Noah replied.

“There’s a power struggle happening there right now, but I’ll leave that for later. Melior falls in the south east section of Erandir, and where we’re right now is pretty much as close to the edge of civilization as there is. Further from here, in the direction we came from are the Lost Woods. It’s an B grade zone, so pretty terrifying creatures live there.”

“B grade zone?” Noah asked.

“Mana grade zones are what determine the general mana density in any area. Monsters and their strengths are a direct result of the mana density of an area, this area for example, is E grade, so the monsters here are typically of F and E grade. A B grade zone will have extremely powerful creatures present in them,” Aurelia replied.

“Interesting. So if there’s a B grade area, then does that mean there’s A grade areas too?” Noah asked.

“Death valley. It’s in the far north,” Aurelia replied.

“What an innovative name,” Noah said. “Glad to see people’s naming senses don’t change even across worlds.”

“I enjoy the simplicity of it. Even if you’re someone who has no idea where the hell you are, you’ll hear Death valley and know you need to get out. It’s simple, and it does it’s job,” Aurelia replied.

“I suppose that’s fair. But I wonder what kind of creatures live in Death valley. Undead?” Noah asked.

“Everything. Undead, basilisks, wyrms. All sorts of monstrosities. Even Dragons. If the rumors are to be believed.”

“Oh? Any Dragon you may know?” Noah asked curiously.

“Not really, no. It’s considered bad luck to say a dragon’s name, in case it appears. Entire cities are wiped out when they do,” Aurelia replied.

“Appropriately terrifying,” Noah said, thinking over one day riding one. Perhaps if he could convince it by defeating it in a riddle.

Time flew past, as the two of them continued to talk. Eventually, the two suns were reaching high up into the midday sky. Noah watched Layfar village in much greater detail now, rows of house with neat and compact constructions and a fair amount of brick laid paths met him. The scene looked a lot more like a frontier town to him than a remote village.

People began to notice the two of them approaching on their giant armadials. Distantly, Noah heard a kid shout ‘Adventurers’, in an excited voice. Quickly, a crowd began to gather.

“Is this how they greet you everywhere?” Noah asked, looking at Aurelia.

Aurelia shook her head. “Only in small villages like this one,” she replied.

Noah watched the children gathering at the village roads, and looking at him in wonder and excitement.

“I think I’ll enjoy this.” he said, as the two of them entered Layfar Village.

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