Bab 859: Departure

Reima smirks, "Oh, it's not you protecting them, it's them protecting you." he says, and the group isn't sure whether he's joking or not.

Quennie "Ah, dad! Don't say-" she attempts to reject his statement but is interrupted by her sister.

Selina points at them, "That's right! Remember to call for us if you need help." she glances at Mathias, "You look like you'd need some help, so keep it in mind." she says with a large smile.

A vein appears on Mathias's forehead, "Huh? I'll have you know I am one of the most powerful Wizards that currently exists in my original world." he bites back with confidence.

Selina "Well, that isn't true right now is it? You're not "currently" in your original world, not are you the most powerful Wizard in this one, Uncle Harry beats you at that!"

...

Barnock nudges Mathias with his elbow, "Kids got a point."

Solaire "Princess Selina, remember what I've said in the past. It'd not do for you to be overconfident!"

Selina pouts, "Yes Uncle Solaire..."

Solaire "Do you remember what's most important in and out of battle?" he quizzes her.

Selina/Solaire "Jolly Cooperation..." "Jolly Cooperation!" they both say, the latter with more enthusiasm than the other.

Reima "You better not be corrupting my kid Solaire, anymore people shout that in the morning the whole continent might hear it." he says, wondering if he should ban the "Praising of the Sun ceremony" that occurs every morning where the sun is visible.

Selina pulls his sleeve, "But daaad, praising the sun is fun! All of my friends do it!"

Reima shakes his head, "And if all of your friends kissed a Dementor, would you do it?"

Selina "Yes!"

He sighs at her answer, knowing that she just wanted to annoy him...

Ciri "Relax Rei, it's not like I haven't seen you out there in the morning before. To deny Selina would make you a hypocrite"

Reima shakes his head and looks at the group of otherworlders, "Harry has already given you the means of finding where you need to go, is there anything you need before I send you off?" he asks.

Mathias "No, not that I'm aware of." he says, not feeling that they'd missed something, if anything they were overprepared for the task.

Reima nods, patting Selina and Quennie's heads before pushing them towards the group, "You two better be on your best behaviour, otherwise you'll be grounded for a year when you back... Understand?"

Selina and Quennie slowly nod, "Yes dad" "Yes father."

Reima "Good, remember your training and what you've been taught, don't panic and always be rational. Say goodbye to your mothers and join your company."

The girls hug both Ciri and Quelaag, Ciri giving them bits of advice that could help and Quelaag peppering their faces with as many kisses as she could manage in the time she had.

Quennie "M-Mum! Let goooo!" she complains, trying to escape from her grasp.

Selina doesn't say anything and simply disappears in a turquoise flash, appearing next to Mathias while using her sleeve to wipe her face. "Mum is so clingy." she groans.

...

"Huh?" most of the group mutter, having thought both children wouldn't be capable of anything but some swordsmanship or basic magic... Mathias hadn't even felt the girls teleportation spell, something even novice wizards could do due to how much mana the spell used.

It was faster than even he could teleport, and he was probably the most proficient teleportation user Sanctuary had ever seen.

Mathias "W-what was that?" he asks the girl next to him, his eyes wide.

Selina looks behind her confusedly before looking back at him, "What was what?"

Mathias frowns, "What was that spell you just used?"

Selina "Spell? Ah, Blinking?"

Mathias nods, "Blinking?"

Selina shrugs, "Dunno, dad taught me."

...

Reima "Alright, you should all be in your way now. Should you fail and I have to personally intervene, any rewards or favour you could potentially earn will all be forgotten."

The group nods and Mathias pulls out the map of the Dragon Mountains he'd received from Harry, using the compass to locate Leah and drawing a line on the map with a quill.

Once they knew which direction they needed to head, they started walking. They passed a large lake and were forced to trek up a mountain without proper equipment for it, though, none of the group found it difficult in the slightest.

Mathias has asked whether or not they were allowed to use horses for the journey, but he was refused... Not because the horses weren't available, but because the horses wouldn't make it a quarter of the way there before having to stop. The terrain made it impossible for horses to traverse due to all the incredibly steep inclines, thick forests, large rapid rivers, and the many, many monsters rising within the mountains.

Horses acted as bait for a few of the larger varieties, which was counter-intuitive when you need to get somewhere as fast as possible.

Mathias had asked about some supposedly "Flying Horses" that they could potentially use, but was outright denied. Apparently using them would not benefit Selina and Quennie's training in the slightest.

Once they got over the initial mountains separating the region from the rest of the continent, they descending into thick jungle-like forests, even with the temperature becoming seriously cold, the amounts of insects, lizards and other creatures you'd not expect didn't lessen.

Mathias himself was concerned with large bloat-fly looking creatures that were almost as big as his head, mandibles that could probably crush wood or bone, and acid that could melt flesh. Truly, this place was hell.

Not only that, but it seemed like the large forest itself was hostile to them, vines randomly swinging past their heads in an attempt to strike at them, roots growing in-front of where they were stepping to trip them, and even some malicious tree's that had spines on them that'd cause immense pain, so much so that you'd likely kill yourself without a cure.