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Time: 7:00am-9:00am

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"It's been a pleasure having you here," Crowley expressed, holding out his hand to Artie.

The morning had come, and they'd gathered their things and stood at the village exit. Cal, Leia, and other horned locals congregated to see them off.

Chuckling, Artie firmly shook the man's hand. Aware that he'd, through a strange twist of fate, had become the guild leader of people much more talented than himself.

"Thanks for everything," he replied.

"I'll be back to challenge you again; Night, don't go anywhere!" Sebastian exclaimed, clenching his fist toward the dark assassin.

Lowering her head, she hid the smirk on her face, then raised a black hood over her head before roaming off.

"Good luck," she voiced, then disappeared into the crowd.

Sebastian slapped both of his hands on his waist and laughed to himself. Then, another fellow appeared and addressed Mayumi.

"Next time, we'll finally settle which of our classes is better," declared an athletic, lightly clothed man with a claw weapon at his side.

"It isn't obvious yet?" Mayumi remarked, smiling presumptuously.

Another of the same class stepped up and rejected her statement. Then another, and eventually, there was bickering over whose weapon was stronger. Even against multiple opponents, Mayumi's word warfare stood superior.

While they had at it, Leia approached Artie with a wrapped gift.

"This is for you," she nervously announced.

"Could this be a confession?"

From the day they met, the woman glanced at him in a particular fashion. Though, she'd never admitted it or explained the reason. So, he expected a romantic gesture to be under the wrapping. However, as he opened it, he found something less charming.

"A-A collar? Thank you for the gift," he stammered, lifting a solid black leather band.

Leia looked excited to see him holding the present. She inched closer while rubbing both of her hands together sheepishly.

"It's a choker I made in my free time."

"I hope you don't find it offensive, but you remind me a lot of my last cat…."

Sebastian and Cal snickered at his side, thoroughly enjoying the situation. Meanwhile, Artie hesitantly unhooked the accessory and attached the choker around his neck.

"T-thanks," he stammered, internally screaming in embarrassment.

"You're welcome; it looks amazing on you," Leia beamed, gawking at his new look.

Cat and human hybrids were the one race he always avoided in video games. Their lack of manliness and soft, almost feminine appearance was the opposite of what he wanted to be.

"We have to hurry and find a cure," he thought, looking over at Rachel, who'd mingled with other researchers.

"That's enough for now; they have places to be," saved Crowley, pulling the reigns on the social villagers.

"This isn't the last time we'll meet; we'll be putting the map you gave us to good use," he continued.

With that, Artie's party set off on yet another journey across the unrelenting planet.

 

<>

 

There was no second warning from the Ai when they left the tutorial zone, and they immediately steered northeast. The enemies were just as unbeatable, but they managed to avoid any severe threats. As they traveled, the rocky land transformed into dirt and scattered trees. Then, three days later, they found themselves in a redwood jungle. A hollow, colossal fallen tree acted as a tunnel to the new area. Once through, it didn't take long before arriving at an entirely new manner of living and people.

Deep in the jungle, wooden ladders were tied to towering trees. It was neck-breaking to stare upward at the complex and expansive system of walkways and treehouses that covered the upper trees. Amid their awe, a platform descended from the top. It looked like a wooden balcony with large ropes tied at its corners.

Steeping from the lift was four recognizable individuals. Not in a sense that he knew them, but their form was simply iconic to any geek. Long silky hair, inches taller than the average human, thin to medium builds, and the most notable, long pointy ears.

"Eeeeee," Laria enthusiastically sounded, holding her closed hands against each other.

The four that descended were recognized as forest elves. Unlike the ram-folk who'd been an original mutation, elves were a key figure in many fantasy novels, shows, and games.

"Are we the only ones in the whole country that remained humans!?" Sebastian raged, pulling on his normal rounded ears.

Rachel hurriedly pulled out a clear contraption from her bag and marched toward the new people. However, Mayumi pulled her back and insisted she remained level-headed.

"What's that?" Artie inquired, eyeing a foot-long, ruler-shaped object in her hands.

"I'm glad you asked," beamed Rachel, proudly throwing her hand into the air and forgetting her thirst to meet the new inhabitants.

"Allow me to introduce Moonstone-O-Meter 2.0!"

Sebastian sparkled and clapped to the woman's reveal. At the same time, while Rachel was occupied, Mayumi and Harvey snuck off to greet the four strangers.

What she referred to as the "Moonstone-O-Meter 2.0, had been an invention that Rachel and the ram people created. She took an excessive amount of time explaining the process, but it summarized down to; they melted down three stones into the shape of a ruler. Now, instead of being held, they could tap it against someone and quickly gauge its level. Its primary function would be to easily learn how strong a monster was before fighting it.

Stoked by the contraption, Sebastian rushed to employ it. Rachel slapped it against his head, and it immediately displayed his level.

"I rose to 15? I haven't even been hunting!" He hollered, snatching and shaking the object like a rattle.

"Hunting isn't the only way to improve," informed Rachel, grabbing his moving arm to observe the item.

"So you can gain experience points without killing monsters?" Sebastian grinned, peering at her, then back to the object.

"Weapon proficiency is also a factor," revealed Rachel.

"Well, I have gotten really good with knives," boasted Sebastian."

"It's too bad they weren't available in our town. I wouldn't have wasted all that time learning archery."

Artie did find it strange that the man often used a dagger in combat, despite carrying a bow and arrow. Frankly, he just didn't favor any of the weapons at the forest town and selected the one he disliked least.

"Hey, ears, you try!" Proposed Sebastian.

Artie squinted at the man, opened his mouth as if about to speak, then nonchalantly turned away.

"Aw, don't be like that," Sebastian deviously sneered. He then feather-footed behind Artie and gaily jumped onto his back before holding him in a headlock.

While they goofed off, Mayumi and Harvey managed to communicate their intentions to the visitors. In yet another unknown language, the elves introduced themselves and readied the lift to ascend. Laria happily stepped onto the platform, joyously gazing at the tall attractive men that operated it. Contrary, Mayumi roughly pulled Sebastian and Artie by their wrist and shoved them onto the lift.

It climbed to the top with everyone on board, where they arrived at an impressive village that extended for a mile radius. Each structure was made of bark and decorated with flowers. Plank flooring and roped bridges connected each tree so they could safely cross the village.

Eyes immediately became plastered on them. Dozens of long-ear men and women scoped them out while speaking the unidentified language. Eventually, his party was led to a three-story windowless building that curved around a tree.

Their escorts guided them upstairs and down a long hallway into what appeared to be a throne room. Sitting against the furthest wall in an oversized chair was the assumed leader. A young, pale-skinned man in heavy red robes and a white-cotton belt. His long blonde hair glistened underneath the opening in the roof, and lavender eyes met them all.

The tall kingly man uttered a sentence to them, but after it was known that they did not understand, he turned to his right and motioned to someone in the crowd. A single male unhurriedly stepped forth, and as they did, Artie's face widened.

The individual looked dispirited as they stared toward the floor in disinterest. He had Candy-like blue skin, a square jawline, and short dark hair.

"Dad?" Artie muttered, taking a small step toward him.

From peering at the floor, the man's spiraling horns rocketed upward, and the entirety of his body violently turned.

"Artie?!" He yelled, his life-renewing in a wink.

Wind broke as Artie ran toward his father with eyes lined in tears. The second he reached him, he tossed his open arms into the man's tall frame.

"What are you doing here-" The father, John, sobbed while firmly clenching onto his son.

Overflowing emotion canceled Artie's speaking ability, and he drilled his face into the man's shoulder, sniffling and hugging him. Even though they'd both been in different forms, he recognized his father's embrace and relished it.

The tender moment sustained for over a minute before he lifted his wet face, scanned the room, then inquired.

"Where's mom?"

John cleared his face, then steadily rustled Artie's grown hair.

"She's here," he informed, holding his son's shoulders and smiling with an overexaggerated expression of joy.

Artie returned a smile, ecstatic that he'd reached the finish line he'd desperately sought. One that took months of hardship to arrive at.

John proceeded to merrily explain that while he hadn't seen the mother yet. Within two months, he'd learned the language of the elves and found a woman that claimed to be her neighbor. The woman undisclosed that the missing parent did, in fact, teleport their safety.

"It's a big place, so it's taking time to find her. But now that you're here, we can look together," John continued, pinching Artie's cheek.

Swiping his father's hand away, he chuckled and nodded in agreeance to the plan.

"Just tell us where you've already searched; my friends are good at this kinda thing."

"Friends?" John repeated, looking behind Artie at the party he'd traveled with.

Sebastian grinned and waved wildly while the others also showed their respects to the man.

"Look at you, making friends, huh," the father chuckled, roughly grabbing and pulling his son in for a giant hug.

"I-I guess so," Artie hesitated, forcefully squirming out of the bear grip.

"So, which one of these lovely ladies is going to make me a grandfather?" He commented out loud, his strong voice resounding in the room.

"What the hell man!?" Artie growled, plastering his hand over his father's mouth so hard that his head flung back.

John laughed under the palm covering his mouth, then Artie gave him hell for embarrassing him. Shortly after, they exited the building and reconvened to continue their past conversation.

"So, tell us how we can help," Artie said, standing in front of his father with Laria and Mayumi at his side.

"Well, no one I've questioned seemed to have seen her, so we're down to searching each building," John stated.

"You sure you've asked thoroughly enough? Surely someone aside from her neighbor knows something," Artie uttered.

"So you'd think; With a personality like hers, I'm surprised the whole town doesn't know her name by now," John joked, laughing at his own comment.

Laria stiffly stepped forward from Artie's left with her arms glued to her side and loudly suggested-

"Sir, If you describe her, I can take down a sketch and use that to help search."

"Great idea. Her name is Emily Ernest. She's about 5'7, has light brown skin, black wavy hair, and long eyelashes."

"No matter what she turned into, she'll still have her strict, narrow brown eyes."

Laria took down the details of the description and quickly produced a portrait of the woman. Artie and John gave their seal of approval and praised her for the excellent drawing.

"How about you and me start eastward. We have a lot to catch up on," the father insisted, landing his hand on Artie's head.

"Sure," Artie chuckled, lightly jabbing his gut.

As the relatives strayed off together east of the tree-house village, the older man halted to leave the rest of the party with a message, or rather a warning.

"Oh, and don't go too far north. I heard some terrible things occurred there the day they landed here."

 

Nasty chills began at his upper spine and vibrated down as Artie stooped. His sight lowered toward the ground, and he steeled himself. Not for anything in particular, but the ushered warning frightened him.

No, the thought may not have crossed his mind, but the frigid feeling at his nape said it all. His body had inadvertently considered the worse, so he refused his father's suggestion to search together and stayed behind with his companions.

"You're the only one that understands them; I think I'll be more useful here," Artie expressed.

"I guess you have a point, just-"

"Be careful, son," John muttered.

"Please, I'm tough enough to kick your blue ass all the way to Earth and back," Artie chuckled, dusting off his shoulder tauntingly.

A simple smile saw them off as the man departed from their company.

Mayumi gathered the attention of their band and announced that their search would start north of the village.

"North? But John just said not to go there," Laria questioned, against Mayumi's decision.

"I'm aware of what he said," Mayumi returned, brushing back her hair.

The artistic woman jerked at the realization of Mayumi's reasoning and began to shout.

"Hang on! You don't think that-"

"That's ridiculous; her neighbor from Earth said she teleported here safely!"

Laria was intelligent in many ways, yet her faith and uncorrupted hope disallowed her from making apparent connections.

"That was over three months ago, and no one has seen her since," Mayumi rebutted.

"Don't talk so bluntly; please have some consideration for others," Harvey pleaded, the heavy tone of his voice adding intangible tension to the group.

Inattentive, Artie didn't allow anyone's words to linger and completely disregarded them. He strayed away from the group and to the transporting lift.

Sebastian insisted that the non-combatants remain, and he and Mayumi both descended to the ground floor. From there, they journeyed northward deeper into the jungle. Unaware of the incident that took place on the landing day or why they'd been instructed not to go.