“The only landmark we passed by if we can even call it that” started the passenger in robe, “is a perfectly rounded boulder stilled in a field of flat grass.” He chuckled at his own comment. “Quite the landmark… in our two days of traveling.”

  Horse neighed as if in agreement. It had been two days since they left Tamare, on the road to the city of Toulasi. Traveling through small hills and forests on the paved road.

  “Hey, at least there was something!” retorted Arlene, “Plus! The scenery to Toulasi is nice!”

  Their path laced with trees on both side of the roads. They were in a forest after all. The sun held high in the sky, giving warmth to nature. Not too scorching thankfully. It was a cloudy day.

  “Heh” scoffed Wattyson, putting a hood over his head… only for it to fell off moments later. He kept repeating it. “Still prefer traveling like this as opposed to teleporting?”

  “Of course! Why would I? This is what adventuring’s all about. The downtimes in traveling and taking in the surrounding along the path. It’s really breathtaking.”

  She raised her finger, armour clanking from how quick she twirled up. “Let’s not forget! If we had teleported there, we wouldn’t be seeing that boulder, would we?”

  He chuckled at the comment, finally locking in the hood. Probably due to Horse stop shaking about.

  “Still though… I bet if we pivot off the path, we’ll be bound to find those ‘landmarks’.”

  “No need. Restraint is what turn a rookie adventurer to a proud one!”

  “Like you?”

  “Of course! I’m rank SSSSSSSSSS-“

  “Ok Ok, don’t need to tell me about that… a silly system anyway.”

  “Perhaps… but I like it, helped me and my party members a lot during the Dark Lord’s day.”

  Silence befell the two as they trotted along the path. Occasionally broken by sighting of large beasts just living about their lives. One of the beast, large with an ivory horn on the front. Massive unit fully muscle just laid flat on the road. Sleeping.

  “What now, O’ Chosen One?” he nudged her with an elbow. “Looks like you need to throw away your ‘restraints’ and pivot off the given path. A great Unobios hath blocketh our journey.”

  Her eyes rolled, a smile formed reaching a side of her face. “Come off it, Watty.” She reined horse, gently guiding it to the left and simply trot past it. Back on the paved path.

  “Impeccable work, O’ Chosen One. You have shown great restraint in staying true to one’s path.”

  “Knock it off, Watty” giggled aloud.

  He hummed from the giggled before breaking into a yawn.

  “Feeling sleepy?” glanced over her shoulder. “Should we take a rest?”

  “Depends… how far are we to the city?”

  “Oh you know…” paused as she tried to study her nearby. Just a blob of trees in all directions. “I guess a few turns here and there, and we’ll arrive.”

  “Let’s just keep going.” He reached down to the saddle bag in below his leg. Unable too because his robe was in the way. He leaned back but still kept his stability on Horse, to the saddle bag on that side. Hand reached out, unclipping the bag strap to pry it open.

  “Do you…” her eye drifted to whatever he was doing, “do you want me to stop for a bit?”

  “No need. Just trying to get some water.”

  She let go her left arm from reining Horse, flicked to the back and swatting his hand away. She leaned back, pressing against his shoulder as her hands moved inside the bag, pulling out a water canteen.

  “Here,” as she held the canteen right above her shoulder.

  “Thanks” as he took it off her hand, uncapping and sipping before chugging it down. She could hear him gulping loudly as he drank then a satisfied ahh~.

  She eyed him over her shoulder, thinking his attempt to put it back would be met with the same struggle. He just plopped the canteen right down to the opened saddle, before strapping it cover back.

  “I wonder,” she mused and pondered to him. “You could use telekinesis. Why didn’t you just do that?”

  “Why? Because reality bend to my will too much if I do.”

  “Huh?”

  “Thus I will only use it when I require to. As with great power cometh with great responsibilities.”

  “Seriously what are you talking about?!”

  He turned to face her glance over the shoulder. “I just… like you with traveling, I show restrains with those uses after all.”

  He turned his wrist, pinching the empty space. A flower pulled off from the ground and floated to him. “Doing stuffs like this, I think makes the world seem hollow. You miss out on the small things.”

  “Hmmm… quite the philosopher you are. I could relate to it,” her voice then dropped to something softer. Much gentler. “Is it... something you picked up from dealing with the ‘supernatural’?”

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “I guess I picked up it yeah, it’s something all supernatural have in common… well at least the majority of them” he flicked his pointy finger, plucking the flower back from whence it came. “They all sacrificed something of themselves for greater power. It’s different from making deal with demons or something alike. It costs something of them and also their mundanity and the tiny miracles with it.”

  His voice dropped as he caught a few breaths in between. His voice wasn’t the usual monotone and now spoken like there was weight to it.

  “Imagine if you will like with telekinesis. You can just with your hand pull or push anything with a motion. Doing it over and over make you numb to the wondrous magic behind it. Now it’s just something akin to second nature.”

  He snapped his finger, forming a small gust of wind around it, then small droplet of water, then fire, then ice freezing his entire finger, then just nothing.

  “It’s good if people can utilize their power in day to day life, but the magic behind it is gone… the fascination is gone. The mundanity of just doing the action yourself without magic is lost. Now compounds that to the max if you’re a supernatural.”

  He paused a moment as they were navigating around another sleeping Unobios before continuing.

  “If you’re a vampire… you lost the ability to taste anything besides blood. You can’t feel the warmth sunlight without the constant weakening with your skin recoiling against it. You constantly have to watch your back from other vampire and those around them. Having to fight your own Hunger to make sure you don’t lose yourself…”

  “You knew of this… because you hunt them?”

  “Yes… but I don’t just hunt and kill every single one I come across” he took a deep breath, his shoulder slumping down. “There are some… trying their best to live among people. Trying to find substitute to blood… I came across one trying to eat anything that high in Iron just to stave off the hunger. It never worked…”

  “Were all of them like that… just trying to live their lives again?”

  He nodded though she wouldn’t see it. “Most of them wanted to live long… only to be eroded by time and miss their life before. Of course there are vampires revelling in their power to abuse others and enslave their lesser. You can never know…”

  He elbowed her. “If you ever come across one again, always assume it’s the latter. Even if they seem nice or… caring or cheerful. Don’t trust them unless they are comfortable enough to tell you it’s the former.”

  Arlene nodded, briefly hovered her hand up to feel the headband.

  “Do you mind if you’re okay… to tell me about the other supernatural? In this topic?” She glanced over, her eyes were something of solemn, curiosity and a sense of protective nature.

  He sighed, twirling his thumb as he looked down. “I don’t mind. It’s the same for Werewolf. They chose to become one because they believed in the purity of the world. You can think of them as protector of Celes’Ira from those who diluted the world’s purity.”

  Her eyebrow raised. Protector? “I didn’t see them in my quest against the Dark Lord.”

  “Maybe you have, just not in their wolf form or as they like to call it their war form” he tapped his nose. “They have incredible sense of smell since they are so attuned to nature. Make for good foragers or scouts. The wolf’s blood imbued them allowing them to see well in the night and also access to magical spells which of course is all nature related.”

  “Like a druid?”

  “I suppose… though when in war form, all of their abilities amplified and their physical strengths enhanced beyond that of a Tyr’s Golem. See that tree over there?” his finger pointed to a thick and sturdy tree, towering above the rest. “They could snap that in half with a single punch.”

  Her mind harkened back to during the Dark Lord’s quest. Such a strength wasn’t uncommon but it was mostly seen in large monsters or demons in the Dark Lord’s army like a Dark Ogre, Frost Troll, Dragon Ogre and the assorted species of Basilisk and Large Beastman. There were individuals small in size compared to those monsters that could do it easily but they were high ranking in the Dark Lord’s army.

  “So they’ve just… been with us in human form?”

  “Yeah. Like vampires and other supernatural, they don’t want to be known.”

  “How many are there?”

  “Numerous… can’t really estimate it, can I?”

  He unconsciously tried to lean back, almost fell. Forgot he was on a horse and sitting sideway.

  “What do they lost?” asked softly laced with cautious curiosity. “You’ve said before all supernatural lost something.”

  Without a beat, he answered, “The moon. Like vampire with the Hunger, they constantly have to watch out and control the beast within them. Or else they turned into a war form and… slaughter everything around them. Erect with guilt they may lost themselves forever, turning into a wild werewolf wandering lost.”

  “You spoke with confidence there has been cases like this… then I assume people would have run into it right? How comes this isn’t widespread?”

  “Because people never come across it. The process was almost immediate. Those lost werewolf eventually crumble and transform into regular wolf. No more ounce of their humanity left in them.”

  He stopped for a bit, taking the canteen out again with ease now. A pause to drink.

  “Of course, there are other small things. Their sense of smell is heightened to a fault that even a tiniest bit of faint sent their sense to full alert. They are constantly bothered and annoyed unconsciously to the modernity of the world even if they like those things.”

  “So if they were to live in the forest like this one or anywhere with nature, they’ll be at peace?”

  “No. I mean…” he scoffed scratching his knuckle. “Yes for a time, and then it started to corrode them. I said earlier they turned to a regular wolf eventually after losing themselves. Being in a forest even with other werewolves accelerate the process.”

  “Huh? But they aren’t lost.”

  “No. They aren’t, yet it does. From my studies of them, it’s because werewolf as a supernatural species is attuned to nature. Living in a forest and return back to the way of our forefather ancestor did is in line with living one with nature. What should’ve given them peace somehow also make them lose faster to the Beast.”

  She took the answer to heart and remained in silence. Hands clutching on the reins. Her mind thought of the implication before settling in the final question.

  “Why do people… chose to become the supernatural?” A quiet murmur. If he wasn’t listening, he would’ve missed it.

  “Because…” he spoke slow, almost quiet in response. “They seeks power. Because they seek a greater purpose… or because they are down on their lucks and see no other alternative.”

  “Even knowing the cost?”

  “Well hearing about it at first it doesn’t sound too bad right? A small drawback to greater benefits…”

  Arlene glanced to where he’s pointing now, his finger moving as if pointing and selecting small pebbles from afar across the forest floor, stacking them on one another in the somehow in motion with their pace.

  “Those small things eventually stack up, piling on and on till the weight’s too heavy carry on.”

  Those small pebbles clumped together as they stacked, a towering feat same height as a sleeping Unobios nearby in shrub. It collapsed as soon as he stopped pointing.

  “I can relate to that…” pondered the Chosen One. “Maybe I didn’t lose much compare to them but… growing up I was always told it’s my fate to fight and defeat the Dark Lord just as prophecy foretold.

  She looked to her two fingers, rubbing off one another as if trying to simulate that same feeling of that soft hoodie fabric. “I miss out on a lot. I want to try reclaiming it now that the Dark Lord is gone.”

  He didn’t reply, not in words. He placed his hand though somewhat abruptly on her shoulder in a patting motion before retreating his arm back.

  In the distance, the forest was clear now. A sign with pointers signalling direction. Toulasi was only mere distances away. Mere distances… yet the city wasn’t even visible yet.

  “Let’s continue choosing that then,” he finally spoke. “Collecting the small mundanity along the way.”

  “Mhm” she hummed out, leaning against his shoulder now. Relaxing herself while she reined Horse, trotting along the paved path.