"So this is the Past Era huh?"
Vaan spoke as he looked around with a curious look on his face. They had just stepped into a Portal and now, they found themselves in the middle of what seemed like a forest, which could be considered lucky because if they had been teleported into a Civilization, they would have been found out in an instant and sent away.
Vaan glanced at the huge trees around him, he then took in a deep breath and,
"The air is definitely different than our world's."
"That is obvious, we are more than 5000 years into the past, it would be more surprising if everything was the same.
"
Declan commented.
Vaan didn't say anything, fighting here was foolish.
Even if they were inside a Forest, there was still the danger of being found out by the Beasts.
Thinking about this, Vaan wanted to address all his 'team members' and lay out some basic rules, but suddenly,
"Anyways, I will be taking my leave now.
"
Declan spoke up.
"What?" Lirael tilted her head in confusion.
Vaan had a frown on his face as well.
Noticing Vaan's frown, Declan just chuckled,
"There is no need to pretend here, Vesta.
We don't exactly have a good relationship with each other. I doubt we would be able to work together and even if we do and luckily manage to find something useful, dividing it amongst ourselves would be another hassle.
It is better to separate here before anything like that happens.
Of course, that is until you feel like you wouldn't be able to do anything without my help, in that case…"
A smirk appeared on Declan's face and,
"I would still be taking my leave.
"
Saying those words, Declan turned around and walked away in a random direction.
Lirael was quick to turn towards Vaan and questioned.
"Are you going to let him leave?"
"What do you want me to do?" Vaan shrugged.
"And if you think about it, what he said is indeed correct, we would only end up fighting if we stay together, that would make it much more troublesome than it already is, and dividing the rewards would indeed be a pain in the ass.
Him going away is indeed a better option for both of us."
Hearing those words, Lirael narrowed her eyes.
She wanted to say something, but suddenly,
"I will be taking my leave as well."
Another girl spoke up.
It was Isabel.
Lirael was surprised, didn't she have a good relationship with Vaan? She was even Lord Orion's student, how could she abandon them after entering the Ruins?
"Alright.
"
Vaan on the other hand, nodded. Before Lirael could say anything, Isabel nodded back and turned away as well, heading in the direction opposite to what Declan walked into.
"…"
Lirael didn't know what to say.
They had just entered the Past Era and two members of their so-called team had already abandoned them.
'I knew this team was a mess.'
Lirael snorted in her head and in the end,
"Alright then, since everyone is leaving, I will explore everything on my own as well," Lirael announced.
"Alright." Vaan nodded again.
He didn't stop others, so he had no right to hold Lirael back.
Lirael turned to a different direction as well and now, only three of the original six members were left.
Vaan quickly turned towards the last member of their team, Cedric Vesta.
"I-I am not planning on leaving, Sir V-Vaan," Cedric spoke with a nervous smile on his face.
He couldn't believe the rest of the members left as well.
But suddenly,
"You should leave as well," Vaan spoke up.
"What…?" a frown appeared on Cedric's face.
"We are in the Past Era, Cedric.
Nothing here depends on our skills, the only thing required is that we are not found out by the inhabitants of this place.
Grouping up wouldn't help anyone here.
Rather, a bigger group would only be much more noticeable.
And it is not like any one of us is in much of a danger here, the moment we are found out, we would be teleported back to our world, nothing here would harm us.
So we can explore as much as we want without any fear.
Separating is a much wiser decision than sticking together, after all, the more directions we explore, the higher the chances of us getting something here, no?
I was actually thinking of separating when we entered, so although it didn't happen like how I intended it to, the end results are still the same.
"
"I-I understand. Then I will go and explore on my own as well."
Cedric nodded with a determined look on his face.
"I wish you luck."
Vaan smiled and Cedric walked away as well.
Now, the only ones left were Vaan and Elara.
Vaan turned towards Elara and, "D-Do you want me to leave as well…?" Elara questioned as she lowered her head.
"Huh? Of course not.
You aren't allowed to go anywhere else." Vaan spoke as he gently intertwined his fingers with Elara's.
"But isn't it better to separate here to explore?"
Elara repeated Vaan's words.
"Elara, it was hard enough to send everyone away, now that we are alone, don't you think this turned out to be much better than what we initially expected? You don't plan to give this away, do you?" Vaan questioned and Elara was quick to shake her head.
A small smile appeared on her face.
Seeing that, Vaan gently kissed her forehead.
"We should go now as well." He spoke.
"mm." Elara nodded as the two then walked in the direction no one else had.
Their date in the Past Era had finally started.
"We should be careful, we cannot be found out.
"
Elara spoke as she took out an Instant Spell from her bag and passed it to Vaan.
It was a Spell to lighten their presence, it didn't completely remove it, but it definitely made it harder for others to notice it.
A spell like this was extremely useful inside a forest, Beast who were much less intelligent than Humans would find it extremely hard to notice them with this spell activated.
Vaan took the Instant Spell and activated it.
Elara did the same.
The two then walked further and further and around an hour later, they stopped at a certain spot.
"I think this should be enough, no? I doubt we would run into any of our team members here."
Vaan commented.
They all had started from the spot and headed in different directions, after walking for an hour, they must be far enough from each other to explore on their own.
Elara nodded as well, her thoughts were similar.
"Then should we start our actual exploration?" Vaan questioned with a big smile on his face.
Obviously, he wasn't planning on just walking in a random direction till they found something, that was simply too inefficient.
He had a better plan.
Normally, when a team enters the Ruins, they stick together because all the team members excel in different areas.
Some act as scouts.
Some worked on reducing the presence of the team.
Some knew of the different resources like herbs, flowers, and fruits, that were not found in their Era and could be taken back.
With all members playing different roles, the team often tries to pick whatever they can and make this exploration worthwhile.
Vaan's team, however, was different.
And honestly, he was glad that was the case.
After all, he had a cheat no one else did.
He was around the best scouts one could ever hope to see.
"Krriii!"
"Grruuu!"
"Skiiii!!"
And just as he was thinking about it, his three little friends appeared, their mood was exceptionally joyous as they flew around Vaan and Elara's head.
"Are you liking this place?" Vaan questioned and,
"Krriii!"
"Grruuu!"
"Skiiii!!"
The Spirits nodded with excited looks on their faces.
"Alright then, it is time to get to work, okay?" Vaan spoke, the three Spirits nodded with big smiles on their faces.
The rules were simple, the three Spirits would each head to different directions, acting as scouts and once they found something, they would report to Vaan.
Since no one other than Vaan could see these little creatures, they had nothing to worry about and explored much faster and more efficiently than even the best scouts in the world.
The three spirits rushed to different directions, Vaan and Elara on the other hand, made themselves comfortable as they sat on the ground.
"We are cheating," Elara commented.
"Mhm."
Vaan nodded and suddenly, Elara started laughing like a mischievous kid,
"Hehe~ it is so exciting."
"Mhm," Vaan spoke as he placed his head on Elara's lap and as he moved his face to her abdomen, he rubbed his nose on her belly and,
"This is exciting indeed.
"
Elara's face turned red in an instant, her hands, however, had already moved towards Vaan's hair and under her gently ruffling and playing with his hair, Vaan closed his eyes.
"Elara, I am so glad you are here with me," Vaan muttered in a relaxed voice.
"I-I am too," Elara replied.
"I am happy that the two of us are here alone.
"
