As we traversed through the Great Forest with Altair-san, the mythical beasts residing inside occasionally appeared in front of us, seeking my caress.
The forest trail from the second village to the third village, which was also called the middle layer, was home to all sorts of mythical beasts.
The mythical beasts here seemed to have sensed my existence as I possessed a vast amount of mana, and just like the mythical beasts in the «Empty Wilderness», they came to me because of it. I transferred mana to them while caressing their chins or napes.
"What adorable kids. But we need to go, so forgive me, okay?"
"You can't-nanodesu. Teto hopes you all stop your attempts to take Majou-sama."
Teto persuaded the mythical beasts who had my robe in their mouths as they tried to pull me into their territory for my mana.
"Chise-sama, please be careful. You may lose your sense of direction since obstruction magic has been casted on this area, and it would be awful if you were to be lost like this."
I didn't actually mind the mythical beasts who were pulling and guiding me to the depths of the forest, but when I heard Altair-san and imagined how I would be stranded in this unfamiliar land, I hurriedly returned to Altair-san's side.
Then as we walked through the forest facing such situations, Altair-san explained the kinds of obstruction magic to us.
For example, a magic that used fog as its medium to confuse one's sense of direction has been casted on each part of the forest.
Or how fascination magic has been enchanted onto the things around like stones or totem poles which would naturally attract your gaze and pull you away from the territory of the mythical beasts.
They also monitored the area with the help of spirits.
"You have me in awe that you're able to keep this up on such a large scale."
"It's amazing you can protect such a big forest."
"You can say it's the magic I’m most proud of... but well, even such magic requires lots of mana and it's difficult to encompass the whole forest."
Hence why they couldn't completely block the stream of intruders entering the forest. There were the rare poachers or kidnappers who still slipped through, and so there was no end to the dirty scoundrels who seek mythical beast materials and elven slaves to strike it rich overnight.
In this way, we walked close together to avoid getting lost accidentally.
In the depths of the Great Forest, we stumbled upon rivers, fallen trees, protrusions of land, boulders, and many more that blocked our way. We also walked through the untrodden path.
While thinking if we were really on the right path internally, we continued with our unhurried pace while crossing those obstacles with flight magic. And after what seemed like about a week, we reached the village in the deep end of the forest.
"It finally feels like a fantastical scene of an elven settlement."
The mana of the world tree in the elven village in the depths of the forest was quite potent, and since it was impossible to completely clear the land, the dwellings of the villagers had been made by transforming the big trees, creating a hollow space-like cave inside.
"This is the same reaction most first-timers give."
I channeled my mana into my eyes and saw the spirits fluttering here and there, turning the world into a glittering place.
Doors or small circular windows were attached to the big straight trees which gave them all an impression of comfy tree houses.
With the sound of flowing water echoing from somewhere, the branches of the tree houses swaying under the whims of the pleasant wind, and the light trickling down from the gap of the trees, it was nothing short of a fantastical scene.
Furthermore, I could also sense that the mana density here was relatively higher, perhaps because it was a region closer to the world tree.
"You can say this place is equivalent to what you humans call a town. People here more or less gather the fallen trees and leaves and then transfer them outside the town. However, no matter how much danger the path to the world tree is fraught with, there's never a lack of poachers or kidnappers trying to pass through."
After saying that, Altair-san looked up at the world tree that was so tall one might even think it could reach the heavens, peeking through the gaps between its branches.
"We're going to rest here tonight, and tomorrow, we'll head to the capital city of the Eldar Forest Kingdom."
Reigning in my excitement about the kingdom of elves we were going to visit tomorrow when they had kept themselves from interacting with the outside world for over 2000 years, I spent the night enjoying the unique tree houses of the elves.
Then, the following day——
"An even stronger obstruction magic has been casted on the path we're going to tread from here, and a little far is the monster land, so please be careful to not lose your way."
"Alright. But I can see the world tree from here, so does obstruction magic even serve any purpose here?"
I understood we were going to travel through a dangerous path after hearing about the obstruction magic and monster land.
But from the immediately visible world tree that acted as a landmark, I tilted my head wondering if someone could even get lost with it as a guide.
"Your question is understandable...... But you see, the world tree Chise-sama can see from here, can you say you're looking at the real world tree?"
I was confused when Altair-san asked me so, and then my eyes went wide, realizing I didn't have any means to discern the truth.
"The spirits here, whose numbers here are on another level compared to the middle layer, have set up multiple types of obstruction magic to protect the world tree. For example, what if the light spirits slightly distorted the visible scenery to the other direction, or the dark spirits concealed the appearance of the world tree——"
"They will not be able to reach it, right?"
Aside from that, there were also water spirits who could cover the forest with dense mist, making you lose sight of distant landmarks, and earth spirits that could disturb the mana, thus rendering magic like «Earth Sonar» obsolete.
Perhaps, even detection means like «Mana Sense» would suffer lower accuracy. I was deeply amazed at the terrifying power of the elves who had turned nature's strength into their ally.
"Well then, let's resume our journey."
Feeling the need to get my act together, I tightened my grasp over the wand in my hand and ventured into the depths of the great forest with Teto.
"This is quite a harsh environment."
"Are you alright, Majou-sama?"
Heavy fog greeted us as soon as we entered the great forest, and quickly chased after Altair-san walking in front of me and Teto. Whether it was the hindrance of my mana sense, or the poor visibility, neither of them was something I had experienced before.
Despite being accustomed to mountain walking, our pace naturally slowed down, and we became quieter, almost silent.
Chasing after the back of Altair-san walking in front of me single-mindedly, I turned around to look at Teto behind me.
"Are you alright, Teto? Are you keeping up? ......Teto!? Altair-san, Teto isn't with us..."
Seeing that Teto was nowhere to be seen behind me, I turned to look ahead and called out to Altair-san. However, even she had vanished from sight. "Hu—...Ah......"
I was perplexed for a moment, unable to understand what just happened after seeing someone who should have been there was now missing.
I was sure they were with me, in fact, I was even getting a reaction from those two with «Mana Sense» despite the lower accuracy, but realizing it might be a feint from the spirits' obstruction, I was left astounded.
Immediately after that, there was a reaction in my mana sense, and I had just erected a barrier reflexively when the sound of something colliding against it prompted me to kick the ground and escape into the sky with flight magic.
"——«Multi Barrier»! A monster attack!? And at this timing——«Wind Pressure»!"
I generated strong winds to clear off the heavy fog from the surroundings and looked at the identity of the thing that collided with my barrier. It was a tiger-type monster possessing a body over 10 meters in size with sharp, long fangs and claws, it was a Saber Tiger.
Generally, it was a B-rank monster but since it had been living in this mana-dense region thanks to the world tree, it was two times bigger than normal and my estimated guess was it has reached A-rank.
In an unfamiliar place with limited knowledge, I would inevitably be at a disadvantage in combat.
"What an unpleasant situation, seriously!"
But disadvantages aside, my mana and rich experience as an adventurer had also made me mature compared to the past when my opponents were the Five-Headed Hydra or the Deathscyth Mantis.
"I'm going to do it! Haaaaa! — «Wind Cutter»!"
I fired a wind blade at it. Perhaps it was my habit working again to cleanly finish the monster and to keep the damage to the surroundings as low as possible, but the Saber Tiger easily evaded it.
However, I managed to pin down the Saber Tiger by barraging it with a series of overwhelming rapid-fire attacks fueled with my substantial mana, and I was able to inflict a wound on its leg.
My wind blades were filled with ample amounts of mana to take down a monster of B-rank level, but I understood it wasn't going to help out the next moment, so readjusted the mana infused in the spell and unleashed another barrage of wind blades upon the enemy.
The Saber Tiger tried to evade and counterattack a couple of times, but I seized the moment when its movements were slowed due to its wounded leg, so my series of wind blades struck its torso and cleaved it in two.
"Usually, it's Teto who keeps them engaged so my mana consumption is unexpectedly huge. The question is what to do now. Should I search for Teto and Altair-san, or would it be better to not move now knowing I am stranded......"
Just as I was staring at the corpse of the Saber Tiger absentmindedly, I quickly turned around after noticing killing intent again and saw another Saber Tiger exuding a murderous aura.
Furthermore, it appeared there were five of them.
But things didn't stop there as even more monsters were drawn to the scent of blood from the corpse of the Saber Tiger, and in a state of excitement, the situation was just an inch away from turning into an explosive fight.
"......Separated from Teto and Altair-san and attacked by monsters, what is this damned incomprehensible situation?! What emergency state have I caught myself in?!"
As if to vent out my irritation, I cursed loudly while standing in the dead center of the monsters' turf war and distanced myself from that place by escaping into the sky.
Without a clear sense of direction, I darted through the forest between the gaps in the trees and used «Clean» magic to wash off the smell.
And when I caught my breath, I was completely clueless about where I was or how to go back. I searched for a spring nearby for the time being, erected a barrier there, and decided to wait for Teto and Altair-san to come and find me.
