Three days and three nights had passed since we started travelling through the desert. According to what I could see from high up in the sky, we were only about a day's travel until we could reach the tree line.

"Smoothie, do humans evolve?"

I had that question in my mind for a while but I kept forgetting to ask. Now that I did, I felt much better, another burden off my chest!

"Did you not check the three you killed?"

"Ack! You said it was pointless so I kind of forgot. They weren't a threat if not for their fancy equipments, right?"

"From what I understand, they generally don't evolve. The elves don't evolve either, at least not that I have seen."

"That reptilian demon when I had examined his status said he came from a mortal race. I'm guessing mortal races could go through double evolutions in some circumstances?"

"Probably. There's no point speculating. We'll know soon enough once we enter a city. There's bound to be a library somewhere with all that information."

By early morning next day, we had made a touch down at the nearest tree line.

It was like a marathon. Because of my various abilities and traits, plus both of us having fey bodies capable of flight, neither of us needed any long breaks. Day and night, we flew almost continuously. It was one hell of a trip. I definitely wouldn't have cared to cross it alone.

"We made it! High five!"

"What's a high five?" She asked, looking at my strange hand position.

Awkward.

Instead, that same hand met my forehead.

"Where's [soothsayer] when you need it?"

"Okay. [Soothsayer] doesn't know."

"Never mind! Never mind! Now, what should we do now?"

"Okay. We should continue north and meet up with Haelley at some point."

"Hmm? I know she can track you to some degree but I don't think I can track her. And, how would she come this far?"

"She should have tried to escape via [rapid transport]. The easiest way to do that would be to look at the clouds in the sky, then towards the horizon."

"Ah, I see. So you believe she teleported this way?"

"She knows we're travelling north to her home country. Since she hasn't came for us, she was likely critically wounded and is currently recovering."

Losing Haelley wasn't too much of a big deal while we crossed the desert. However, we really needed her presence as a fighter around. Someone like me could only fight like a coward, hiding and ambushing with absurd tactics.

I sighed, "I hope she's alright. We've been travelling for quite a while together. If she was still wearing the dress I made for her, I would have been able to track her whereabouts."

"Don't worry, I'm tracking her with [soothsayer]. Right now, she still exists in the future somewhere."

I swear, that ability is broken. How did she even obtain it? It's like some kind of quantum computer.

Since I didn't want to venture into the beast country just yet, I decided to loiter around for a bit, spread some clones and practice compressing my mana. The nearest town was only about a day or two away.

"Smoothie, you should practice compressing mana."

"It's not really beneficial to me. You know, I'm only level 22."

"Suit yourself. I'm going to train until I have all my clones filled with dense mana. Ehehehe..."

"No! Mother, that'll take ages. Don't you want to see what kind of people live in the beast country?"

"Not really. Plus, you haven't told me how we should enter the towns. Are fey beings like us welcomed? If not, it's better to wait for Haelley to come and get us, right?"

"And if she never comes?"

"But... But... What about that future?"

"It changes."

"Then, tell me how we could get in a town. The last thing I want is to get pummeled by some furry brutes when I try to enter."

"The beast country has many races so I believe they should be more accepting."

"Fine, two days. Give me two days to prepare, okay?"

"Okay."

During those two days, we roamed inside the dry tropical forest to the north. Although I had been leaving clones around, without enough water, many of them actually withered and died.

This place is no good. I can't grow anything here.

"Don't waste resources on those clones. Instead, feed me! I'll grow up big and healthy," before she jumped on me from behind.

Her [producer] ability was having trouble keeping up with the drain from the harsh environment. Mana and whatnot had to be supplied by me using [conglomerate] with her. Because of that, I was getting so many doses of her.

"Get a room, won't you? It's as if it's not hot enough here already."

Also, I liked the small fairy appearance of hers. She was cute and adorable but with too sharp a tongue. If she could cut back on the verbal abuses, she'd be perfect!

"No! Feed me! You have so much mana. Don't be stingy."

She playfully bit my right shoulder. Whenever she was short on mana or needed a recharge, she would grab me or touch my skin somewhere to activate |progenitor| and [conglomerate] with her. This time wasn't any different.

"I'm not stingy! It's called resource management," I retorted.

Kids these days. Calling me "stingy" isn't going to get you anywhere. Why do you need so much mana anyway?

She whispered, "Pretty please! With a strawberry on top!"

"You can't bribe me with strawberries. You don't even grow them. Recently, you're always needing mana. What are you even spending your mana on? [Producer] can't be that inefficient. I've used it before."

"It's not that. It's a different ability."

"Don't tell me [soothsayer] uses a lot of mana."

"Ding, ding, ding! Yes! When I'm actively seeking the best way for us to proceed, it uses a lot of mana."

"Fine."

"Yay!"

I was bored of training anyway. However, I wasn't going to give up my mana freely! Something had to be exchanged. Thus, I pulled her to the front, and squeezed her tightly from behind.

Ahhh... She smells so good!

"You pervert!"

"Whaat! It's called a fair exchange! Nothing is free here, I tell you, nothing!"

"You just said it's hot. You go get a room! You stingy pervert."

Ow. A heart attack.

On the morning of the third day since crossing the desert, we arrived outside the entrance of a primitive rural town situated on two sides of a winding river. To avoid being spotted, I forgo the area survey from above. Instead we circled the town from the outside to assess for any potential dangers such as hidden traps or invisible barriers.

The buildings were all constructed of stones and mud bricks. There were no walls or fences around the town itself other than piles of neatly stacked flat rocks at set intervals around the town's parameter.

"I guess we're safe to give our morning greetings?" I asked.

"You're not going to check their status first?"

"That's a good idea. By the way, can they understand the common language? I don't want my 'good morning' to sound like 'death to you' in their native language, you know?"

Actually, I hadn't seen anyone walking around yet. It kind of made me wonder if this place was abandoned. But, I trusted Smoothie not to make a fool out of me so there must be people here.

"I believe they speak them. Otherwise, those birds, if you recall, would have spoken a different language. It's called the common language for a reason."

"If that was the case, Haelley wouldn't need to learn it from me, right? Even though she parted with her parents early, she should have learned enough to speak fluently."

"Maybe there are dialects? We'll find out. I say you go first. I'll watch! A parent should be a good role model, no?" She giggled under her breath.

"You brat! Ugh. Fine, I'll go once I see their status. Just to be on the safe side, maybe I should offer you as a sacrifice."

"No! I'm not tasty." She pouted.

"They'll dress you up and cook you with aromatic herbs so you'll be tasty."

"You bully, big bad bully," as she tapped my right arm with her soft fists.

I couldn't help myself but to tease her a bit as we waited for a beast person to appear. To be honest, it was strange for not a sentry or guard to be on the lookout. There must be a good reason why I hadn't seen any person around.  

They can't be this confident with their security, or lack thereof, right? Am I dealing with super strong folks? This isn't funny.

The suspense was killing me as I waited for a timely opportunity.

blanksphere

Aug 26, there were many comments, and I tried to reply to them. To summarize a few replies, MC is an airhead and this story isn't a scientific paper. Or, maybe I just misunderstood the comments. Enough of my rants... Thanks for reading and I really appreciate any reader pointing out grammar/spelling/flow problems!