Ahri and Caesar walked into the tunnel they came from, Ahri raised her right hand and ignited her bluish flames on her palms.
The dark tunnel was immediately illuminated by the flames and they carried on their way, Joe came running from behind and soon caught up with them.
They walked through the pa.s.sageway in relative silence, Caesar sneaked a glance at Joe and observed his smiling expression… Caesar knew that although Joe was smiling, deep within he was hiding his anguish.
"It"s something that he will have to get over himself, I won"t be able to a.s.sist him" Caesar silently mused to himself.
They soon approached the exit of the mountain and walked even faster, none of them wanted to stay in this wretched place any longer than then they needed to.
Joe walked even quicker than Caesar and Ahri, he reached the exit and once again moved his hands in a strange pattern.
"The people who invaded this place must have known the secret codes for the doors, however, they did not know the location of the secret treasury... " Caesar said quietly, just audible enough for Joe to hear.
Joe nodded solemnly, "I was thinking the same thing, there might have been a d.a.m.n trader amongst us," he said hatefully.
*creak*
The sound of the stone lifted interrupted their conversation, sunlight entered into the pa.s.sageway and Ahri put away her flames.
Caesar took a long stride forward and lifted his head, the strong winds in the cavern promptly greeted him as he took a deep breath.
"Gasp"
The musky and humid air in the mountain had nearly been intolerable… Ahri imitated Caesar and also took a deep breath of fresh air.
Joe who was used to that environment didn"t understand why Caesar and Ahri were so relieved… he had been in an underground prison for nearly 20 years after all.
Once Caesar relished the freshness of the air once more, he turned to the left and caught eye of the carriage located a fair distance away.
"Thankfully no mishaps seem to have happened while we were gone" Caesar breathed a sigh of relief and started walking towards it.
"It"s about time we continue on our way, we stayed for far too long" Caesar continued and spoke in an exhausted tone.
Both Ahri and Joe nodded their heads in agreement. No one could have expected to be greeted by thousands of dead remains and eight-eyed demons.
As they got closer to the carriage, Edward who was waving his hand toward them entered their line of sight.
"Heyyy! What took so long?" Edwards loud shouting entered invaded their ears
Caesar didn"t feel like shouting back so he waited until he got closer to answer, after a minute or so of walking they finally reached the carriage.
"It"s a long story Edward, your better off not asking, but, if you insist… I suppose Joe could tell you." Caesar eloquently dodged the question and entered into the carriage.
Ahri subtly followed Caesar leaving Joe there with a wry smile, Edward looked at him inquiringly while tapping his arm in irritation.
"Ha… well, it all started with…" Joe started to tell Edward all the happenings inside the mountain, of course, he left some specific details out, but Edward still got the just of the story.
Once Edward heard what happened he looked at Joe with shock, "y-you have berserker blood coursing through your veins?" he asked in a wary tone.
Joe scratched the back of his head bashfully, "it"s not so great, most of my problems in life are because of it" he said humbly.
Edward just shook his head and pulled the reigns of the horses, "great powers comes with great responsibility…" Edward spoke as if he were an old sage.
Inside the carriage, Caesar was leaning on the door while Ahri was leaning on him… Caesar reached towards his right eye and took off the eye-patch, he stashed it back inside of his pocket and closed his eyes.
"How are you feeling?" Ahri asked worriedly, seeing his movements.
"It feels much better now, my regeneration capabilities are not to be scoffed at," Caesar said casually which relaxed Ahri.
Caesar had wanted to test his ice magic after his increase in mana, but it would appear that would have to wait until tomorrow.
Both Ahri and Caesar slowly fell into a deep sleep, they both had been through a lot this past day… after they both fell asleep, the necklace hanging on Ahri"s neck started to shine brightly for a short time before dimming once again as if nothing happened.
Only the sound of their deep and rhythmic breathing echoed out inside the carriage, both Joe and Edward were talking energetically throughout the night.
The next morning, the loud chirping and the bright sunlight invading the carriage awoke Caesar, he tossed and turned for a few seconds before begrudgingly getting up… He felt as though waking up in the morning became more and more unbearable as time went on.
"Yawn"
He yawned loudly and stood up, Ahri seemed to awaken at the same time Caesar did and also stood up.
The carriage was currently stopped so Caesar opened the door and hopped out, he observed the surroundings. They seemed to have pa.s.sed the mountain range and entered back into a gra.s.sy plain.
They were surrounded by gra.s.s and a peaceful wind, no trees or animals were in sight… Caesar stretched his limbs and brushed his hair with his hands.
*plop*
Ahri hopped off the carriage and landed right behind Caesar, she also studied the surroundings and couldn"t help but compliment its beauty.
"What a peaceful and beautiful place!" she muttered.
Caesar nodded his head in agreement and walked to the front of the carriage, both Edward and Joe were sound asleep.
Caesar reached out to them and nudged them gently, "you two can sleep in the back, I"ll drive the carriage for the morning"
Both Joe and Edward slowly moved their exhausted bodies to the back of the carriage and slammed the door, once they left Caesar sat on the carriage and gripped the reigns tightly. He patted the seat by his side and gestured for Ahri to sit down.
Ahri climbed up on the carriage and did as he asked, to which Caesar just smiled softly and pulled the reigns, the horses had enough rest, however, they probably needed to get some water.
"Are we going to skip breakfast?" Ahri asked curiously.
"We need to find a water source to quench the thirst of our horses, and of course bathe" Caesar replied.
"Hmm, when do you think we will find one" Ahri kept asking questions like an impatient child that wanted to be fed… she had been spoiled by Caesar"s great cooking.
Caesar just smiled and patted Ahri"s head, he took out a few pieces of dried jerky from his storage ring and handed it to her.
"Although it"s just jerky, it"s spiced quite nicely" Caesar praised the jerky while handing it to Ahri.
Ahri took the meat from his hands and nibbled on it like a rabbit, her eyes sparkled once she tasted the flavor.
Seeing her figure, Caesar couldn"t help but lament… she was just too darn cute!
They continued moving in this fashion for roughly three hours before they finally arrived in front of what appeared to be a lake. It was on the side of the road and quite a few animals were beside it.
"Wow, those are so cute!" Ahri said while pointing towards a creature that looked similar to a deer back in Caesar"s past life.
Caesar wanted to reply "your cuter" but he held back, he hopped off the carriage and raised his hand to gently help Ahri off.
He walked towards the lake while holding Ahri"s hand.
"This will be the perfect place to test my ice magic" Caesar mused to himself and the corner of his lips curled slightly.