Lukas stared at Sera under the light of the moon, scrutinizing her face for any hint of a joke. Unfortunately for him, Sera was always wearing a look of perpetual amusement, as though she spent all her time concocting schemes to mess with him. Her eyes twinkled, and crinkle lines surrounded them from all the grinning she did. Then there was the grin itself, so infectious that it sent a shiver down your spine as you wondered what she was planning.

Despite the futility, Lukas continued to search her face, "Please tell me you're messing with me."

"I might be, I might not be," she shrugged coyly, "What I said about nymphs being communal is true. What matters is whether or not the nature spirit desires that closeness, and if she does, then there's her self-control to worry about."

"It'll be fine," Lukas said, trying to convince himself more than anything, "You said she's mature for a nature spirit, so she'll be able to control herself."

"Or the excitement of seeing another person after so long will be too much for her," Sera said, playing devil's advocate.

"Not helping," Lukas growled.

"That depends on your definition of help."

Lukas shook his head and took a deep breath, attempting to drop and forget the subject. "Was what Calayis said true? About the road, I mean."

"Perhaps," she shrugged, not too interested in a conversation designed to tease Lukas, "it's been tens of thousands of years since she heard about that road—it could be there or maybe not. I will say that there was a city in that general direction, a place called Pinewood—a completely unimaginative name for a city that I'm not sure still stands."

Lukas was inclined to agree that the name was awful, but he was more focused on something else. "Wait, you knew the potential location of a city and didn't tell me? And let me walk in the complete opposite direction for days?"

"Of course," she said casually, earning a look from Lukas, "don't give me that look. We both know I'm not a guide—I'm not that kind of god—and we don't have that kind of relationship. I let you do your own thing and throw in tips and advice. Besides, it's much more fun to watch you that way; it'd be boring if you just did what I told you to do."

"Whatever. Do you think I should go and see if the city is still there, or wait a while longer?"

"It's ultimately your choice. You're weak right now, which might spell disaster when people figure out you're an outworlder, but I don't think you want to wander through the forest for months on end until you feel powerful enough. There are pros and cons to the decision—it's up to you to decide what to do."

Lukas nodded, having already made up his mind. He was far too curious and hungry for knowledge to wait much longer; if he did, it might eat him from the inside out. He knew there were risks to showing up at a city at the moment, but he'd be sure to play his cards close and lay low. And if things got bad, he could always run off to Calayis for shelter and protection.

"I'll go. I'll just need to be careful."

"Good, you can be reckless sometimes."

"Reckless—?"

"When are you going to go?"

"A few days. I'll stick around here with Calayis for a bit, getting a few more levels with my Combat Alchemy class, then head out and get some for my rogue class too."

"Sounds like you've got a plan. I'll leave you to your meditation then," said Sera, looking out at the night sky.

Lukas nodded and stared at the goddess, waiting for her to wink out of existence. After a few seconds of silence, Sera noticed him staring.

"What?"

"Aren't you going to disappear or whatever?"

Sera just smirked and shook her head before returning her attention to the night sky. "It's been a while since I've seen the sky like this. You can go ahead and meditate; I won't bother you."

With a skeptical side glance, Lukas said, "I find that hard to believe."

That earned him a look of affront. "When have I ever bothered or messed with you!? Never! That's when."

Lukas just scoffed before joining Sera in staring up at the night sky. He let himself be lost in a trance as he entered meditation, with everything but the starry sky fading away. He followed his usual meditative routine, consolidating his experience and practicing his aura contraction. Hours passed in what felt like seconds, and before he knew it, Lukas was pulled from his trance as the first hint of daylight dimmed the stars.

Pulled back to reality, Lukas looked around and was surprised to find Sera still there. She had moved to the other side of the bough, her back turned to him so she could watch the sunrise. Getting up from his spot, Lukas moved to sit next to Sera.

"Your aura control is coming along," she said, not taking her eyes from the horizon.

Surprised, Lukas gave the goddess a side glance. "Uh, thanks."

"It's still shoddy and terrible, but it's not as bad as it was."

Lukas just rolled his eyes and looked out at the sunrise. "I'm surprised you're still here and didn't just disappear in the night."

"It's been a while since I've been able to see this much sky or a sunrise. I didn't want to miss the opportunity."

"You've been stuck in that cave of yours for a while, huh?"

Sera nodded wordlessly.

"How did you end up there? How can a god that doesn't exist in this world get stuck like that?"

"God stuff."

"You know, I'm beginning to suspect that you say that whenever you don't want to answer a question," Lukas said accusatorially.

Sera pulled her gaze from the orange and pink horizon, giving Lukas a faint smile as she bumped her shoulder against his. "Then maybe you shouldn't ask questions."

She laughed at Lukas' exasperated expression. "Some things are too complex for you to grasp, and others you wouldn't understand because gods play by different rules compared to mortals. But I definitely use that as an excuse to avoid other questions. You're like a toddler asking never-ending questions."

"I have an excuse!" Lukas defended. "I'm an outworlder and don't understand this world."

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

"That's fair," Sera conceded. "It doesn't make you any less annoying, though."

They continued to watch the sunrise in silence for a while longer, until Sera pointed up into the branches above them.

"It appears we're not the only ones enjoying the view."

Lukas followed her finger upwards, finding a pair of swinging legs poking out from behind a branch far above. It was Calayis who'd wanted to watch the sunrise without disturbing Lukas.

"Calayis!" Lukas called up to her, waving.

The swinging legs stopped and disappeared behind the branch; a moment later, the nymph's head popped out the other side, looking down at him.

The dryad beamed and waved back, "Hi—! Erm…?" Her face morphed into one of confusion, and Lukas thought she had somehow spotted the goddess still sitting next to him, but that wasn't the case.

"I just realized I don't know your name!" Calayis called down to him.

Lukas coughed awkwardly, earning a snicker from Sera. Resisting the urge to elbow the goddess, he was about to shout back up at the nymph when her head disappeared. A second later, she emerged from a nearby spot on the bough and sat on Lukas' other side.

Lukas looked at her before shooting a subtle side glance at Sera.

The goddess looked at him with a raised brow. "What? If you want to play kissy-face with the nymph, you can go somewhere else. I was here first."

Blanching, Lukas was forced to turn it into a cough, much to Sera's amusement. Ignoring her, he looked at Calayis, who was definitely sitting a bit closer to him than she had the day before.

"Sorry," he said awkwardly, "I didn't realize I never introduced myself. My name's Lukas."

Calayis smiled, "You don't have to be sorry; yesterday was an interesting day," she said, leaning back to sit more casually and propping herself up with both arms. "How was your meditation?"

"It was good. I like meditating under the night sky; it makes me feel like I'm connected to the cosmos. Usually, I can only see snippets of the sky because of all the trees, but up here I can see much more of it."

"You're free to come up here to meditate again if you'd like. All you have to do is ask, and I'll bring you up—unless you want to climb all the way," she finished with a giggle.

From the other side, Sera made gagging sounds, "It's like watching two horny teenagers dance around one another. Just get naked and get it over with."

Under his mask, Lukas bit his lip, "This is weird and awkward enough without your live commentary."

"You think this is bad?" Sera asked incredulously. "Just wait until you get to a city—that's when the real fun begins. The best part is, with your mask, no one but me can see your pained, awkward, and uncomfortable expressions. It's great!"

"Just curious, is it possible for me to renounce that blessing you gave me?" Lukas asked, truly dreading having Sera by his side to make every interaction more awkward and embarrassing.

While Sera gave him a look of mock horror, Lukas replied to Calayis, "No thank you. It would probably take me the better part of the night to reach the first bough—let alone the one we're on now. Best just to have you ferry me around."

Lukas and the two women sat watching as the sun crept up past the horizon, enjoying the view and the brilliant colors that painted the sky and the landscape. The world all around them was bathed in a golden hue, one familiar to Lukas. It was a hue he remembered fondly from early mornings on the porch of his cabin.

After half an hour or so, Calayis broke the silence, "Would you like to come down and have some breakfast? You look very thin," she asked, concern evident in her voice.

Next to him, Sera burst out laughing, and Lukas forced himself to ignore her. "I'm not thin, I'm lean. I've always been like this, but I could eat—it's been a while."

Now that he thought about it, Lukas couldn't really remember the last time he'd had something to eat—weeks at most, probably while in the middle of studying his books on alchemy. Until now, Lukas hadn't thought much about food or water since he hadn't felt any need for either. But now that he considered these most basic needs, he did feel a bit peckish.

"I—I'm sorry!" Calayis apologized, panic creeping into her voice. "I didn't mean to offend you! It's just that—!"

"It's alright, it's alright," Lukas said over her, putting his hands out in a placating gesture. "I'm not offended or anything. Let's just go down and eat."

With a look of relief, Calayis nodded and stood, and Lukas followed her example. As she took his hand in hers, Lukas gave Sera one last look.

"Are you going to be able to stay up here? What's the range on the blessing?"

"No idea," Sera shrugged. "But I doubt it's enough to allow me to stay up here while you play house with the nymph."

Lukas rolled his eyes and ignored the jab. "Well, I'll be up here most nights, so feel free to pop in whenever," he said, before allowing Calayis to move them back to the ground.

Once again, Lukas was hit with strange sensations as he passed through Calayis' tree, and before he knew it, he was back on the forest floor. Thankfully, he was expecting the strangeness this time, meaning that the effects weren't as strong as before. He was still hit with a sense of vertigo upon reappearing, but it passed quickly.

"Why don't you go get cleaned up while I cook up some food?" Calayis suggested.

"Cleaned up?"

That earned him a curious look. "You're covered in dry blood and sweat. Before you sit to eat at my table, you'll have to be clean."

Lukas looked down at himself, having forgotten the state he was in. As she said, Lukas and his clothes were dirty and stiff from dry blood and old sweat, with plenty of tears and burn marks to boot. It looked like he'd been thrown into a blender and then promptly healed. He was getting way too used to being disgusting and really needed to get back to society.

"Yeah…" Lukas grimaced. "Where should I wash up? I don't suppose you have a shower or something?"

"I'm not sure what that is, but you can bathe in the pond. The water is clean and fresh, and you don't have to worry about polluting it."

Lukas threw a glance towards the nearby pond. "And you'll be cooking while I bathe?"

Calayis nodded. "Mhm. Don't take too long, though—you wouldn't want your food to go cold."

The two split up, Calayis heading into the cottage to make whatever it was they'd be having for breakfast, while Lukas made for the pond, which was in clear view of the small stone building. He was slightly concerned about the dryad being able to see him and relied on her decency not to peek. All that was bypassed as Lukas simply walked into the water, still fully clothed.

Only once most of his body was submerged did he begin to undress, washing not only himself but also what was left of his clothing. It felt strange to be completely naked and out in the open like that, even though he had spent weeks walking through the forest with nothing but his cloak to cover himself. He just felt so much more vulnerable the way he was now. It didn't help that there was a woman nearby.

Focusing on cleaning himself, Lukas was soon surrounded by a cloud of murky red and brown water as all the built-up gunk was washed away. Once his clothes were mostly clean, Lukas tossed the rags into his inventory, including his wolfskin cloak. He pulled out a fresh pair and dressed himself while still in the water, more willing to walk around in wet clothing than to show off his naked body. He still didn't have any underwear, but that was a problem that couldn't be solved at the moment, and there was no way Lukas was going to ask Calayis to make him some.

All in all, it took less than ten minutes for Lukas to clean himself off before walking out of the pond in clean but drenched clothes. He did his best to wring out his clothing and dry off, but he didn't have much success, having to wait for the summer warmth to dry him.

Combing his wet hair back with his fingers, Lukas made his way toward Calayis' cottage. He was about to enter and see what she was up to when the dryad came out, carrying a bowl in each hand.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, nearly walking into Lukas. "You finished—perfect timing!" She gave him a quick once-over, while also offering one of the bowls, with a spoon sticking out of the food inside, "You look much better! But where did you get a new set of clothes from?"

With a gracious nod, Lukas took the proffered bowl. "It's one of my outworlder abilities—it gives me a space to store stuff."

"That sounds very useful, but it also sounds even more desirable," Calayis said, waving for Lukas to follow her toward a small table nearby.

"Yeah, I have some good racial abilities, and I know how important it's going to be to keep them a secret," Lukas nodded, taking a seat across from Calayis at the table. "So what have you made for us? It looks great."

The bowl before Lukas looked quite good and smelled even better. He had no idea what was in it, not being familiar with cooking in this world, but he was certain it would be the best thing he'd eaten in months. That wasn't exactly saying a lot, since he'd mostly just eaten flowers and poorly cooked meat, but that didn't mean the food before him was any less good.

The nymph looked slightly abashed at his compliment. "It's a breakfast stew made from some vegetables I gathered from my gardens. There isn't any meat in it, but I've heard that some of the ingredients I used do taste like meat, so I added them."

"Do nature spirits—or nymphs—not eat meat? Are you guys vegan or something?"

Calayis tilted her head inquisitively. "I'm not sure what that is, but no, we don't eat meat—at least, not those of us who do eat. It would require us to kill, something we're naturally averse to. But I was curious about what meat tasted like, so I grew some vegetables that were said to taste similar."

"Well, I've eaten all kinds of meat, so I'll let you know what I think. I just hope it tastes as good as it looks and smells," Lukas smiled.

A slightly dark green tinge spread across Calayis' cheeks as Lukas took a spoonful of the stew and raised it to his mouth. Immediately, the taste hit him and his eyes went wide, his stomach growling for more. It was incredibly savory while also having just the right amount of sweetness. Lukas had barely swallowed his first mouthful before he went back for more.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.