"So," Elma said once Cindeen was calm. "I'm guessing you don't know where we are anymore, right?"

Cindeen shook her head. "Fweh... Maybe I can figure it out if we find a high place. There are a ton of mountains, but if I see the Academy Mountain, I can figure out a direction to go."

"Great... Sounds like a plan." Elma looked up toward the sky and scowled at how high the pine trees went. "If I climbed the tree, maybe I could see some high points..."

"That's a good idea, but it won't work. The pines have a mist they release within their leaves that disorients anything in their branches."

"... Why?"

"Because, the trees don't want anyone climbing them," Cindeen happily replied. "It's a survival mechanism to keep the beavurriels off them. It's actually why this portion of forest--the pine forest--is so thick. Those pesky rodents are unable to harm the trees. We won't be able to climb any of the trees here either."

"'Beavurriels?"

"Yes. Beavurriels."

"Huh... Okay then..." Elma smirked. "Do me a favor and stay this well-spoken, please."

Cindeen cocked her head. "Huh? Okay... Sure..."

"So which way do you recommend? The hounds chasing you are dead. And I'll take out any other ones we see."

"Oh! Really?"

Elma nodded at the girl's question, and Cindeen smiled from ear to ear.

"Okay... I think we should go this way. There are plants that indicate which direction East is. We'll use them to stay on track."

"Sounds good... Lead the way."

"Sure... And say, what's your name, Miss?"

"Me? I'm Elma," Elma replied, disinterested and with her eyes still on the treetops.

"Elma... Got it. I won't forget your name!" Cindeen took a step and suddenly yelped as she stumbled. "Huh?" she said, opening her eyes. Her eyes were still pointed to the floor, but she wasn't falling.

"Hey..."

Cindee looked over at her shoulder at Elma, who was holding her up by her tunic.

"Did you just trip over air?" Elma asked, her eye twitching.

Cindeen chuckled nervously. "I swear I'm not usually this clumsy."

"Uhuh."

Elma let go of Cindeen and let her walk a few steps. Before Elma walked, however, she looked down and narrowed her eyes at a strange black protrusion on the ground.

Wool?

Elma looked ahead at Cindeen and saw the girl jumping at the sight of her own shadow. Elma kept her eyes on her and walked behind. Though she left it behind, the black wool clung to her thoughts as fiercely as it had clung to the earth.

That wool... Have we seen the last of it?

"Hah?"

The girl's panicked sound called Elma's attention just in time for her to see the girl fall into a hole.

"You're kidding me!" Elma said as she ran up and pulled her out of the hole.

"I'm so sorry, Elma!" Cindeen cried.

"Don't cry, don't cry. Everything's okay," Elma said as she pulled her up. With the girl out of the hole, Elma poked her head into the hole. "Don't move," she told Cindeen.

Elma inspected the hole. "It... looks like old burrows... I can't believe you stumbled upon it."

"Fweh... I'm sorry, Elma! I'm really unlucky!"

"Yeah, looks like it."

Elma wondered about that thought. By all accounts, the Heroes she had encountered seemed to be visited by bouts of bad luck, but this girl's was ridiculous.

"Alright," Elma said, standing up. "Let's move. Carefully." Elma held out her hand. "We're moving together. I'm pretty lucky. So maybe that will offset whatever's on you."

Cindeen's eyes watered. "Okay!"

***

If only things could be so simple. Elma and Cindeen walked on, but wherever they went, disaster followed.

Mud slides--

"How is this possible?!"

"Mountain is always unpredictable, Elma! It rains on and off!"

Rolling logs--

"Is someone messing with us?!"

"It's the beavurriels when they're in a tree-chopping frenzy, Elma!"

Actual swarms of beavurriels--

"Holy crap! Why are they so large!?"

"The forest has abundant resources for them, Elma!"

And finally, good old-fashioned slipping down slopes that suddenly gave way--

"I'm so sorry, Elma!"

"Damn it! My life isn't a comedy!"

Actually, misfortune wasn't done with them. They still had one thing left to encounter--

"Oh, fuck me," Elma groaned. "Of course we slid right into a pack of those goblo-hounds."

"N-n-no, Elma, look over there."

Elma followed Cindeen's finger and groaned louder.

"Great, hounds and riders."

They encountered a pack of strange hounds and their goblin riders.

"Cindeen, you plant your feet on the ground," Elma said as she pulled out her dagger. "I'm about to earn my keep."

"Oh my god, you're so cool."

***

Two hours, and many goblins later--

"Come on, Cindeen," Elma groaned as she dragged Cindeen through brush and shrubs, pulling her by her collar.

"Elma, I'm so sorry," cried the girl.

Despite how it looked, Elma had decided that dragging Cindeen along would be the safest thing they could do. Of course--

"Aww fuck, not again."

--"safest" really just meant rounds of bad luck happened at a slightly reduced rate.

"Cindeen, come here!" Elma said, yanking the girl into her embrace before the two fell into an old tunnel. That tunnel sloped downward and they rode it like a slide, Cindeen screaming all the while.

"Elma, I'm so sorry!"

"Stop apologizing! We're going to be fine!"

Elma held the girl on her lap and kept her eyes on the tunnel. She gritted her teeth as she saw the light trickling in ahead and prepared her legs for impact. She covered Cindeen's mouth, and the two broke out of the tunnel and shot out straight toward a tree.

"Oh fuck me, man!" Elma yelled as she disconnected her hand and used it to grab her own neck and shift herself. Her back slammed against the tree, the girl holding the pained yelp in, and she slid to the ground.

"Oh my gosh, Elma! Are you okay?"

"Just..." Elma put her hand on Cindeen's face. "Please just be quiet."

"Elma..."

"Cindeen, what did I just ask of you--"

"No, no--don't you hear that?"

Elma sighed and listened closely. "That's... is someone chanting?"

Cindeen, still on Elma's lap and with her arms wrapped around Elma's neck looked her in the eyes. "These woods were always said to have turbulent mana... and we're deep within the woods now..."

Elma stared at Cindeen, her animosity barely restrained.

"I'm really, really sorry, Elma."

Elma sighed. "It's fine... So chanting in the woods; should we be worried."

"I think so," Cindeen replied, guilty she couldn't give Elma a better answer. The headmaster always said that our role is to prevent people from taking advantage of this mountain's... chaos. The mana isn't here for people to try to take advantage of."

"But might there be someone here doing so?"

"They're not supposed to be able to get in so deep. They must be incredibly skilled."

"Yet, we got this deep--"

"But that was because we kept nearly dying!"

Elma covered Cindeen's mouth. "You're too loud."

Cindeen nodded, and Elma removed her hand. Then, Elma raised a brow.

"What's wrong? Your face is red."

"A-ahh," Cindeen stammered, going even redder.

Elma's eyes went wide, and she kicked herself. "Oh, shoot sorry. I didn't mean to make you ill. I'm sorry." Elma moved Cindeen off her lap and stood up. "Sorry. My mana makes people sick. You shouldn't stand too close to me for too long--"

"No!" Cindeen said, scrambling onto all fours. "I'm okay! I swear."

Elma watched as the girl stood up and nodded.

"Okay. Someone's chanting where they shouldn't be. What do you want to do?"

"I... I am a Trevolba Mountaineer in training! I cannot just let someone irresponsibly touch the mana here!"

Elma walked past Cindeen and toward the chanting. "Well, that's that. Let's go find this 'trespasser.'"

"Yes!"

Elma and Cindeen once again traveled, and this time, Elma carried Cindeen in her arms.

"You're so brave and strong, Elma..."

"Are you sure you're okay? Your face is red again."

"I'm fine!"

It wasn't long before the two reached the edge of a clearing. There the two, now hiding behind shrubs, saw a strange man in a black cloak that screamed "evil."

Before him was a pedestal made of branches. It emitted an eerie blue light. Every so often, arcs of electricity would flash along the air. And then, most surprisingly, a goblin rose from the ground--but it came out wrong. Its limbs were ganglier than the regular goblin's and its face had pieces of stone encrusted in it.

Cindeen shuddered. "What's he doing, Elma?"

"Nothing good," Elma replied, her eyes trained on the man. She clicked her tongue. "This might be way worse than I thought. We stumbled across something dangerous."

As the two watched the strange man raise even stranger goblin amalgams, a termite's nest above Cindeen's head trembled.