Chapter 204 204 - Traveling
Chapter 204 204 - Traveling
"We're ready, we can march across the sands for hours," said Pharah, with a confident face.
"That won't be necessary, at least not in the desert," Ryan replied, leaving the warrior visibly confused.
Crouching on the ground, Ryan drew a picture on the stone floor of the ravine. His finger was on fire, melting the material that made up the floor as he created a magic circle.
'The size needs to be big enough for them to pass through, there's no way to make a direct portal of this size,' he concluded.
When the design was ready, Ryan charged the magic circle with mana, creating a display of power that surprised all the refugees. A gigantic portal appeared, like a mirror leading to the other side of the desert.
Confidently, Pharah and Maki entered with the other warriors. Ryan looked back and, waving his hand, invited the rest of the women to cross. In less than a minute, they were all on the other side of the barrier that had imprisoned them for so long.
The feeling of liberation was so great that several of the women began to cry, and the children screamed with happiness along with their protectors. The fresh air of hope they found in that forest was beyond description.
"We left our lizards behind, I can't imagine they'd be useful in a forest," said Pharah, as she looked at the division of biomes in that place.
On one side, there was a vast desert that would kill them at the first touch. On the other, there was a dense forest with gigantic trees, moss and dangers she didn't know about.
"If we keep going, we'll avoid reaching the civilization of the sand elves. There's a place where I want to set up my base that's relatively close to here, but on foot we'll only be able to reach it in about three months," said Ryan, causing Pharah to open her eyes incredulously.
"You flew close enough to four meters when you were reconnoitering the area?!" She said out loud, unable to believe it.
Ryan nodded, "The wind forest goes straight through here. But it has a certain danger that I still need to solve, today we'll make camp near the main river and then I'll go on my way alone."
Putting his own hand on his breast, Pharah was feeling helpless "I can help you in your battle, take me Master Ryan, I know I'm not much help. But I can't let you save me alone!"
Placing one of his hands on the girl's chin, he pulled her into a long kiss. When their mouths parted, Pharah's face was flushed, looking down as she tried to hide from Ryan's view.
'Even though she's such a strong warrior, she's still just a little girl who was dragged into a war that wasn't hers'
Reaching out his hand, Ryan stroked Pharah's hair "You don't have to worry about that. As soon as I return, your help will be more than needed in the wind forest," he said.
The girl nodded, and then the group set off through the forest. Ryan walked ahead of the group, using his wind magic to cut through the vegetation and trees in the area. Meanwhile, Ayumi was using her ice skills to freeze the muddy ground to make it easier for the group to move.
'This forest is damp, if they end up cutting their feet when I'm far away, we'll need a source of water so that we can then apply healing magic. When we get to the clearing I'll need to build a fire soon, they don't seem to have any warm clothes. The great desert is freezing at night, but they stayed inside the ravine to avoid that problem.
There were many thoughts in Ryan's head, valid doubts about how to deal with the situation. This was the first time he had led such a large group of people, and imagining that these women would soon be his followers and part of his people made him want to be even more careful with each of them.
After about four hours walking through the vast forest, the group had finally reached the clearing that Ryan had mentioned. The place had wide green grass, with a river of pure water beside it. There were no signs of hostile monsters, although this wouldn't be a problem with the help of the warriors.
The women then put their belongings in that place. There wasn't much apart from dried meat and a few bottles of water made from the skin of desert creatures. There were no tents to protect them from the rain, and because it was a clearing, there was no place to attach the hammocks.
Concerned looks began to appear among the women, but Ryan put an end to all these problems in seconds. With both hands he used earth magic to create a wall that covered the entire clearing. There were four gates on each side, enough to have two warriors watching at all times while giving them freedom to create shifts of guards.
In addition, Ryan built a large house with pillars, so that all the women in the village could have a place to put their hammocks and sleep safely. Taking advantage of the proximity to the forest, he cut a gigantic tree into several smaller pieces to be used for a fire, so they wouldn't suffer from the cold at night.
The wall had a space for the water from the river to flow through. Seeing the happiness on those women's faces made Ryan's heart calm down, relieving the bad feelings he was feeling.
"Water!" shouted a dark elf, who ran out into the river. She was accompanied by four other girls, who immediately took off their clothes and started swimming in the water.
"It's been so long since I swam! This is wonderful!" replied an elf girl.
A human girl then started crying in the middle of the river: "I thought I was going to die! It's so good... It's so good to be able to take a bath."
>They weren't bathing?< Ayumi asked.
'There were several rivers and oases in the desert, but the water had to be regulated and it certainly wasn't in such abundance,' he concluded.
*Sigh
'I don't have much time'
Ryan was staring at the horizon. His sharp eyes were observing the direction in which the wind forest was located, his chest burning with anger at the flying serpent.
"Master, don't you want to rest for a while?" asked Maki, then she took his hand and began to walk closer and closer. The girl had Ryan's arm between her luscious breasts.
"I don't want you to spend too much time in this forest," he said, sighing, Ryan looked at the girls having fun in the river and nodded "We can stay here for two more days. Today I'll rest, tomorrow I'll leave in the afternoon," he concluded.
As Ryan sat down on the grass, a shout from the warriors caught his attention. It was the woman known as Pharah's right-hand man, her name was Amina, she was a white-haired Dark elf with an extremely defined body. Her skin was a little darker than Pharah's, and her eyes were both strikingly colored.
"MEAT! I GOT BOAR MEAT!" She shouted, an excitement that escaped the seriousness she normally maintained.
"Meat?! It's been so long since I've tasted a good piece of wild boar," said one of the women.
Then the rest of the warriors arrived with Pharah. They were each carrying two boars in their arms. When Ryan approached, the girl explained, "We went out to explore the surroundings and found a horde of forest boars a little ahead. But nothing dangerous," Pharah concluded.
"Forest boars... Did you find any footprints of these creatures?" Ryan asked, but the girl nodded.
"I don't imagine there are any problems, but we need to be on the lookout for more monsters around here. It's possible that this forest has elemental gorillas," said Ryan in a firm voice.
Pharah nodded, and then directed the warriors to begin their patrol shifts around the wall. "We can't let any creature affect our well-being. Do everything you can to look after our people," she concluded.
The warriors then nodded and went into position. The women of the village then began to prepare the more than twenty boars they had collected. Ryan lit the fire and announced, "Today we will celebrate freedom!".
His shout made all the women cheer up and filled them with hope again. While some cried with happiness, others swore their loyalty to Ryan Whitemane.