Two months have passed and Van was getting ready to depart. Right now he was going over a few things with Kella about how they should proceed from here on out. Who to take with them, and who should stay within his soul realm. He had also made sure to give a blessing to Thea for her baby. Hopefully, it would prove useful, he was still nervous about it, unsure if it would actually be helpful. But he drove such thoughts from his mind and focused on the task at hand, making sure all the supplies were loaded and secured.

The maximum number of carriages they plan to bring with them was two. One for Van, Luna, Anna, and a few others, and the other one for a few more, plus about two more in covered wagons that would be housing the goblins they would be bringing as well as the supplies, though they didn’t really need it considering Van’s soul realm. But not even the rangers knew about that, and as the saying goes, to trick your enemies, sometimes you have to trick your friends…

Speaking of which, it was agreed that they will hide the amount of hobgoblins they had, and instead, they will use the lower tier of goblins to show off, in the hopes of making others underestimate them. Not too much though, they of course will be bringing about a dozen fully armed hobgoblins, but the rest will be regular goblins. For a total of about sixty troops, not including everyone else. They will also be hiding the number of Anna’s going with them, limiting the amount to only six. Gwen and a few harpies will also be going with them, but not the full amount.

There were of course a few people unhappy about this, many wanted to go with Van instead of being cooped up inside the soul realm, but he put his foot down and refused. He didn’t need the attention of traveling around with a menagerie of a dozen or more different groups of people and races following him around. He wanted to keep things as low profile as possible…

“Van, are you sure this is everything you need?” Alv asked, a little worriedly, he knew that Van had a literal army inside him, but as a father, he still couldn’t help but worry.

“Don't worry dad, I’ll be fine, plus you hired about a dozen rangers to help take me through the woods safely. And let’s not forget the hundred thousand Crava’s you gave me.” Van said, trying to soothe his father’s worry.

Alv sighed a little. “I actually would have given you more, but it is required that you go in person to ask for an upgrade to your bank holdings. You will also have to provide them with more information about yourself. So here, take these.” then handed a stack of papers to Van. “These have your date of birth, natural hair and eye color, and a bunch of other information that should help you get a proper bank account with them.”

“Just like with the lover’s guild, and with the necromancers guild, you can get an ID card from the bank of Thram that can help you enter and exit cities and towns. Almost like an Adventurer's guild ID can do. Once you have it, slot it in with the rest of the other things in the vespera bangle you have, and it will add to the information. The more gems from different guilds you have, the more access you have to certain places since it all acts as proof of identity.” Alv explained.

“Thanks, dad, had no idea I even had all these papers,” Van said, seeing most of these notes about his person for the first time. Taking a quick look through them, he even saw he had some sort of symbols and numbers next to his name that he could only presume were unique and meant to single him out as the person that the paper was indicating, almost like a barcode would, or maybe a social security number.

Alv then gave his son a hug. “You take care of yourself, you will be gone for five years, going to one of the most dangerous places in all of Alcray. Listen to Kella, and watch your step and what you say. And most importantly… stay safe…”

“I will dad, don’t worry…” Van said, touched by his father’s concern for him. “You take care of Thea and the baby when it comes. I won’t be here for it, so do me a favor and give it enough love for the both of us…”

Alv nodded, gave his son one last hug, and let him go.

Van then started to help everyone else pack up and put things away, within a few minutes they were done, and everything was packed up and ready to go.

But before they left, Yesi, the ranger leader that was assigned to him and her brother, wanted to go over a few things first.

“Yes, how can I help you?” Van asked. “Is there something I should know before we leave?”

“A few things actually,” Yesi said. “The Gleam woods are not for the faint of heart…” she began. “While it is smaller than the forest you’ve been staying in for the past few months from before. It is filled with even more ferocious monsters since it has no forest wolves or fairies to regulate it.”

“While we are traveling through it, you must heed everything I say, and stay in the carriage at all times. Do I make myself clear?” Yesi asked though It sounded more like a command than a suggestion.

Van nodded. “Don’t worry, I understand,” he said.

“Good… let’s go then…” then turned on her foot back to her rangers.

After that, everyone entered the carriages except for Yesi and her group, who got up on the wolves they brought and started riding them in a protective formation around the small caravan.

Once more, Van was a little nervous about leaving his home. And this time it won’t be just for a few months, but a few years… on top of that he will be meeting Rosalyn, a powerful duchess interested in his hand in marriage.

“Hopefully nothing crazy will happen like it did in that forest… I don’t think my heart can take ‘that’ kind of adventure again… Or for the rest of my life…” Van thought worriedly. Hopefully, it was just needless concern on his part. Afterall? What are the odds of a series of events, culminating into something that would require an entire forest to be erased off the map? Surely something like that won’t happen twice any time soon… right?

Van sighed once more. “Come on Van… what happened before was a fluke… just enjoy the ride… you wanted adventure right? Well… here you have it…”

Oddly enough the rest of the girls with him didn’t seem that worried about their future. If anything, they happily chatted along, passing the time with what appeared to be without worry or care. Gossiping about one thing or the other… Perhaps he should take a page from their book and just relax and enjoy the scenery.

And like that, the hours passed him by as the landscape changed around him. They passed through quite a few villages, and a few girls ran alongside the carriage when they passed by, Luna was excited to see them, asking Van if it was okay to let them in.

Van remembered the last time something like this happened, many years ago. But with Luna’s puppy-eyed stare, he could do nothing but concede and entertain a few of the girls running around. Much to Luna’s joy as she watched.

But Van did make sure to put his foot down and make it clear this was the only time. He didn’t want to slow down the traveling speed every time they hit a village, not to mention Yesi didn’t seem to like it either. Nor he himself since the girls got clingy afterward.

Luna pouted though when he refused to entertain a few more girls, and Van decided to change the subject to something else.

“By the way, we still haven’t named the cub we picked up in the forest. It’s doing well now in my soul realm, but we should come up with something soon, since we’ve put it off for so long, right?” Van asked.

He was surprised though when Luna shook her head.

“No… I disagree…” She said, “I didn’t defeat it, only rescued it. I’ll only name it when I defeat it, when it’s fully grown and reached the peak of its power…” she said adamantly.

Van was moved by Luna’s sense of honor and integrity and nodded in agreement. “That’s a good point… but we should still think of something to name her when the time arrives. It could very well be that she doesn’t want to fight, nor does it mean she could truly reach her peak without a name… names give power after all…” he pointed out.

“Do you have a suggestion?” Luna asked.

“Not at the moment no…” Van admitted. “But if I had to think out of the top of my head…” he then gave it a few seconds of thought. “Nishrai… or Nishra for short… It's a name that means night lightning. Taking the Nisha from night, rai for lightning, and Nishra itself means shadow… I think it’s a good name considering her color scheme and lightning ability… what do you think?”

Luna thought about it. “It’s not bad, but I still have to think about it, and we still have to wait for her to grow up first and see what she thinks about it.”

“We may not have to wait for long, she’s growing up fast. Maybe in a few months, she will be full grown?” Van said.

“I’ll fight her whenever she’s ready,” Luna said somewhat excitedly.

“If she wants to fight,” Van said, pouring some water on his wife's fiery excitement.

The two began to bicker a bit on who Luna should and shouldn’t fight. Van pointing out that she has really taken after her mother, and Luna taking that as a point of pride. And like this they joked with each other for the next half hour before growing bored once more.

Until…

“Oh! Stop the carriage!” Van exclaimed.

To which for the third time today they did and Van rushed out to pick up a white mushroom with red spikes, putting it in his soul realm and running back to the carriage to continue their travel.

“Seriously? You complain about me slowing us down and yet you turn around to stop the carriage every time you see a nice plant?” Luna complained.

“You slow us down far more than what I do,” Van said, rejecting Luna’s point. “Besides! This is a Devil's thorn mushroom!” he said exactly. “I don’t have this kind of mushroom in my soul realm yet!”

Luna leaned away from him worriedly. “That wouldn’t be something like the bloodthorn would it?”

“Of course not! In fact, it’s the opposite!” Van then began to explain. “This kind of mushroom is in fact used for a lot of healing reagents and salves, and most importantly, for high-end healing potions. They are very hard to find because of how small they are, you need a keen eye to spot them. Of course, if you're not careful, this mushroom can grow on a person's body and kill them slowly… but! The reason why it’s called devil’s thorn is because it’s ability to heal many poisons and venoms, and most importantly! Heal some minor curses and otherworldly corruption!”

“It’s been proven to do so consistently too! It’s a real thorn! In a devil's side! Get it!” Van said, still continuing excitedly. “These things are worth their weight in gold. I can’t believe my luck in finding a sporeling of such a rare and valuable mushroom. If only Lore and Sheri were here, they would totally flip! Of course, there is a scientific name for this, but I forget what it is at the moment, but! Combined with the Verasophelias, meaning true wisdom or helper, also known as the common healing flower, can create even more powerful healing remedies!”

“Now… about the devil's thorn. At first it looks like a white mushroom with red spikes, but as it grows it can actually turn into a completely different plant! Can you believe that!? It somehow changes it’s genus into-”

And Van went on and on much to Luna’s dismay and everyone’s elses. She really wasn’t one for things like this… unless it could help her in cooking or sewing… those two things are the only things she likes when she isn’t training or fighting…

After a few more hours, they finally arrived at their stop for the day. Much to Luna’s relief, and everyone else's, and not just because it turned out there was a surprise fog storm headed their way. The rolling mass of dark clouds covering the landscape with lightning strikes within its depths indicating that it wouldn’t be a small one either.

By the time they entered the barrier, the wind had become a strong gale and the fog storm’s vanguard was already beginning to buffet the outposts' walls. Those in charge began to charge up the mana barrier further to prepare for the storm ahead of them.

As the group exited their carriages, Yesi came over to talk to them, her voice a little raised in order to be heard over the howling winds.

“It seems we are in for a freak storm. I’ve already contacted central about the sudden change in the forecast, thankfully, this was only slightly out of their expectations, and they said that we are still good to leave tomorrow, though with a few hours delay. Be sure to stay in and stay safe. Once the fog storm passes us by, I'll come by to pick you up, so be ready to leave at a moment’s notice so that we may make up for lost time. Alright?”

Van and Luna nodded, eyes slightly squinted due to the harsh winds.

“Good. see you tomorrow then.” and with that, Yesi went to make sure her own rangers got some proper housing for tonight.

Later that night, Van and Luna were trying to snuggle in bed, Luna particularly wanting something more than just cuddling, as well as Anna… just when they thought they were going to have their way with him, a giant roar of lightning shook the entire building, making them all jump up with fright.

“Holy hells…” Van said. “That was some lightning strike…”

“We must be completely surrounded by the fog storm,” Anna added. “The barrier should hold, but that was frightening either way…”

“Ya, well… if that lightning tried to get in, i’ll… punch it out again!” Luna said, puffing out her chest in determination.

Van rolled his eyes while Anna looked amused. He was just about to say something when an even louder bolt of lightning roared through the house, shaking it to its core. Making Luna jump and cling onto Van and Anna in fear.

After a few moments had passed and everything calmed down, Van began to tease his wife. “What happened to showing that lightning whose boss?”

“I-It’s playing unfair!” Luna stuttered against her will. “If it showed up and decided to face me like a woman, I would beat it! Ten out of ten! You could bet on it!”

Van and Anna chuckled at that as the storm clouds outside grew and it began to rain and thunder more heavily.

“Well… it looks like we aren't going to get sleep anytime soon… unless you two want to jump in my soul realm…” Van said, opening up the blinds a crack to take a quick look outside.

“I ain’t afraid of no storm!” Luna said. “...but if I go outside now I'll get wet soo…” she turned to Van and opened her arms, “so I’ll protect you the best I can here okay? Just jump into my arms. Don’t be afraid! I’ll protect you!”

Van and Anna shared a look with each other, then he turned back to Luna. “Alright, thank you very much, Luna.” embracing Luna into a big hug and gently bringing her down to lay on top of him, letting her cuddle and snuggle him with all her might.

“Let’s just try to go to bed the best we can, alright?” Van said, making room for Anna as well, to which she gladly accepted, snuggling up to him on the other side of him.

The group then did the best they could to get comfy and relaxed enough to sleep. Or at least rest the rest of the night away. Something that was a bit hard to do.

During the night, Luna tried to get a ride out of Van, but every time she got close, a bolt of thunder would freeze her up and shake the house so hard that she couldn’t move for several minutes afterward due to fear that they might be struck by lightning.

The next morning, just like the new forecast said the clouds overhung heavily for a few hours longer than expected, delaying them for a bit, but not enough to ruin their time frame, something Van realized Yesi was a real stickler for. At least he learned something new about her, like the fact she liked to be punctual.

Either way, they left the outpost somewhat on time, if not a little tired, the sky clearing up a bit later that day. Allowing them to once more, enjoy their journey in… relative… peace…