Online In Another World

Pointing to the direction she came from, Melisande clarified, “Bees!”

Just then, the skin-crawling buzz of bees could be heard as Emilio faced towards the same direction as Melisande, standing back-to-back with Everett.

Revealing themselves from beyond the foliage were not just any bees, but large, round variants with bright-orange fur.

“I’m so done with this forest!” Everett complained, clearly reeling from the sting to the rear he took.

As a mini fireball hurled right past Emilio’s cheek, lightly scraping against it with a slight burn, he gritted his teeth out of frustration, mostly stemming from his lack of sleep.

“Okay, we’re getting the hell out of this forest! I’m sick of everything shooting fire at me!” Emilio said.

Following his own words, he grabbed Melisande’s wrist, sprinting to the side with her as Everett was a second slow to follow up, using his shield to block the mini fireballs that were shot in their direction from the swarm of moths and bees.

“Wha–hey!” Melisande said as she was tugged alone.

Emilio let go, “Sorry, but we need to move quick!”

Running beside him, Melisande couldn’t help but laugh from the ridiculous situation and the adrenaline of it, feeling relieved to have reunited with her friend.

Emilio was confused by her display of joy, but he found himself smiling as well, feeling as though this was the true essence of an ‘adventure’–something he yearned for.

However, Everett was alone in his feelings of frustration as he held his shield while running, having to endure continuous blasts of fire, “I hope you know where you’re going! I don’t want to end up in circles in this forest!”

“I’ve got it!” Emilio responded, telling a white lie.

It was as if the crimson forest had a sentience of its own, trying to drive out the invasive humans by the conjured will of fire as the insects chased their heels with sparks and embers.

As he sprinted forward, glancing to his side to make sure Melisande was keeping up and that Everett didn’t collapse from his encumbrance, Emilio looked ahead of him, past the clearing of fiery trees to find a massive crater separating the two sections of the mystical valley.

A gap?! He realized.

Melisande saw it as well, sputtering out, “What’re we supposed to do about that?! I can’t jump that!”

As they all ended up at the edge of the crater which led downwards deep enough that the bottom was simply an unseen abyss, a sinking feeling swirled in Emilio’s stomach at the thought of plummeting down.

It was at least a ten meter gap, and there wasn’t anywhere else to go now that the fiery critters of the accursed forest were closing in on them from behind.

“What do we do?…No way am I making a jump like that!” Everett breathed out, catching his breath as he huffed.

Though Emilio knew he could clear the gap easily with wind, he couldn’t say the same for the others nor his ability to safely guide others along with air.

…Alright! I’ve got to get creative and a bit reckless here! He thought.

It was something he’d never done before, but it was now or never: putting his bare palms against the edge of the crater, emitting his mana signature through the soil and into the rock below, manipulating the natural element.

“W-woah!” Everett stumbled as the ground began to rumble.

“–Did you think of something?” Melisande asked in a hurry.

Emilio responded, maintaining his focus, “Something like that!”

Stretching out from the edge was an unrefined bridge of rock, stretching across the gap and connecting to the other edge, cementing itself, though seeming unsteady in its form. It was quite a large structure he had to make on the fly and integrity was something questionable in his hasty method.

“Let’s go!” Emilio called out.

He ushered for the others to move ahead of him, which Everett and Melisande hesitated for a moment but accepted as the fire-spewing insects closed in. There were thousands of the heated, orange-glowing critters, proving to be a force far too numerous to take head-on.

At the very least, I need to keep the bridge stable until they cross…! He thought.

Keeping himself knelt with his hands against the ground, he stabilized the rocky bridge while the heavy shielder and lithe rookie ran across its length while hundreds of tiny fireballs soared through the air.

With the sheer number of fiery spheres moving in his direction, inevitably they began to hit, landing against his body with small, but painful explosions of embers.

“Ghh…!” He winced, clenching his teeth to maintain the bridge.

“Emilio!” Melisande looked back worriedly.

Though Everett knew better, taking the girl’s arm and forcing her to hurry across the bridge, “Come on!”

“But he’s–!” Melisande tried to contest.

“He’ll be fine!” Everett wholeheartedly said, believing in his own words.

A large number of burns appeared across his body as he stayed knelt; his cheeks burnt and his flesh bubbled from the compact heat. Though his undying blood combated the injuries he sustained, fire seemed to be the bane of his limited regeneration as the more it burned, the slower the healing became.

As the two crossed the bridge, Melisande didn’t waste a moment signaling their arrival, “Emilio! Come on!”

Finally, the young Dragonheart was able to rise to his feet, faltering for a moment as the tiny fireballs continued to hit him, causing him to nearly stumble as he stepped onto the bridge.

“Grgh-!”

As he raced across the magically-made structure, racing over the chasm, he summoned a barrier of water behind him to absorb the fiery blows that shot towards him from the crimson critters.

Reaching the other side, he nearly fell over onto his knees from the overwhelming pain of the flames, though Everett caught him.

“I’ve gotcha, pal!” Everett assured.

Melisande checked his body worriedly, though the wounds began closing up slowly, “…Are you alright? That was seriously reckless!”

“Yeah…I know,” Emilio caught his breath.