With careful, calculated rhythm, Rex placed one of his feet in the ankle deep water and as he was about to proceed with the next one, he sensed immediate reaction. Not from the plant ahead of him, not from some well hidden, even for his mana pulses, monster leaping out to ambush him from either the lake or somewhere behind them, but from the birds circling high into the sky. The near nonstop mana sonar he deployed instantly picked up on the two, diving forms on birds, aimed directly towards him. With a quick reaction, yet just barely so, Rex jumped back, well away from his previous position, pulling Danica with hims as he dis so and at the same time shooting out his chains towards the places he an Danica were at just moments ago.
And as he did so, one after another, two, extremely fast shadows damn near collided with their previous locations, extremely sharp claws swiping at their supposed bodies, only to find purchase wit hempty air and moments later getting wrapped in numerous chains, forcing them to the ground. And yet, extremely powerful, large wings began a rather frantic and angry flapping, trying to get back into the air, and yet, teh chains were extremely tough and fast, wrapping more and more around the to birds, eventually reaching their wings and restricting them entirely. Still, with a notable cloud of dust, the pair of humans, or more precisely the human and wolfkin pair, had to wait for a few minutes to see what they were actually dealing with, though with his near nonstop mana pulses Rex already had something of a suspicion, and he could not help but develop a shit eating grin as the dust settled, revealing the two gigantic birds of prey to their sights.
Before their eyes, tightly bound, to both limit their movement and ensure they don't harm themselves with all that trashing, on the ground laid two, majestic, almost bus sized falcons. Though unlike the white brown and black mixed colouring these birds had back in his world, these were slightly different. Their lower half was still light, colours of white and a bit of heavenly blue decorating their underbellies, ensuring they could barely, it at all, be seen from below, were their potential prey with extremely sharp eyes might sense the danger and try to see it. From above, the birds had a similar, brownish colouring with accents of green, looking much like the ground below them, providing additional camouflage against whatever mightier predator could be stalking the clouds even above them.
Sensing their struggle, Rex called forth more and more of his chains, locking down the two birds entirely, leaving them nice and wrapped up. With the main danger out of the way, he returned to his previous activity, slowly moving towards the small island in the center of the pond. Even as he stepped on the land, nothing else happened, the falcons apparently the last line of protection, and so, with cautions steps Rex reached the bush with the cradled nest.
The nest was not empty. No. There, in the very center of it sat a rather small bird, no larger than a chicken. Its body, like that of a hummingbird, with a large tail of a peacock and a few, long and bright feathers coming from its head, reaching all the way to its tail. Its feathers were in all the colours of rainbow, slightly shimmering as it just barely moved, unwilling to leave its current location, even in the face of a possible danger such as Rex, for he was a danger, should be at the very least.
As Rex observed the bird, the nest and the plant said nest was formed in, he used more of his soul power to examine things. His mana sonar not complicated enough for his needs. And as he did so, the bird remained in its place, its beady eyes, as if filled with intellect, locked on Rex. Some ten minutes passed as he comprehended what was happening, not all that much of his attention on the bird itself, until finally, he smiled lightly and bitterly.
"Damn. Thats just sad." Rex spoke, a slight disappointment in his voice and Danica quickly perceived it.
"What's wrong Rex?" she asked from the other side,, slight worry on her face.
"Nothing dangerous. Do not worry." Rex replied as he looked towards her. "So?" he then looked to the bird in the nest, speaking in a much lower tone "I am loathed to stop what you are doing. Though from what it seems, I can take the water in the pond, since that is a side effect of the process and not needed for you." and as he spoke, the birds head just barely moved, nodding to Rex words.
"I also want the two falcons. No doubt you have more, yes? Not that I need exactly these two, to be honest. All I need is a healthy pair that could propagate. Of the same species, or if you have anything that can fly faster, I would not mind that then. And in return, not only will I not interfere, I will also create a little something that will serve as an additional protection. It would seem you still need a few dozen years to hatch that fairy, no? What say you?"
There was a moment of silence as the bird considered Rex's words and a few minutes later, it once again lightly nodded its head, agreeing to Rex's proposal. Its task was far too important, It could not risk interruption. It had taken centuries to reach this stage, and no other human had ever reached this deep into the forest. Had humanoids truly gotten so far that its success was now at risk, forced to come to concessions, sacrificing more and more every time another group would come? The bird asked itself, though as if its mind was read, the human before him explained that he was, indeed a rare specimen among his kind, alleviating some of the creatures fears.
Slightly calmer, it nodded once again, allowing the human to do what's promised as it returned to its own task, nurturing the fruit that would soon turn into a new life. Soon, the forest would have its true guardian and caretaker.
Rex returned to Danica, crossing the pond just as slowly as he had the first time around, reaching her and smiling calmly. The two, struggling falcons had also stopped their desperate attempts to break free, now gazing towards the duo with their eyes. Even as Rex recalled his chains, freeing the falcons, he explained Danica the situation.
"So, what is there? Is it a treasure?" Danica asked with excitement and waited for his explanation.
"Well, in a manner of speaking. That there is a cradle of a new forest spirit. It is forming right as we speak, though no sooner than a few decades later would it emerge. It still needs time. And as such, we will leave it as is."
"Is it valuable?" Danica asked, more out of curiosity than anything. Forest spirits were good, as rare as they were. If a forest had one, it was guaranteed to blossom and grow, ensuring every creature living there would prosper as well.
"Very much so, yes. It could be consumed as is, resulting in quite the spiritual transformation for ordinary people. There also would be alchemists who would sell their entire families, nations even, if it meant getting their hands on something like this. Its greatest value though, is in what it represents. Should it hatch, this forest would grow even more vibrant, no doubt attracting countless people once the change becomes visible. So much so that due to the size of the forest, more than a single city would form, highly dependant on the bounty it provides."
"I saw you talking there. What was that about?"
"Coming to an agreement I suppose? Once I realized what it represents, I was loathed to take, as I believed would you. Though we have come so far for a reason, and I believed that our host" he gestured towards the small island "could solve our needs. As such, I offered a small service to assist in protecting this place while the new spirit is formed. In return, we get to take some of the treasures that can be found here and do not harm the developing spirit." Rex smiled as his head turned to another direction, two new arrivals approaching them, their majestic wings flapping and carrying them closer by dozens of meters every second.
A slight way off, the two birds tilted their bodies back as they slowed down their approach, landing and displaying their form in its full grace.Twice the size of the falcons they had captured, these ones had a different colouring as well. Pitch black feathers covered their bodies, with turquoise blue eyes, glowing as their gazes locked on Rex, intelligence clearly exuding from their forms.
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"Magnificent." Rex smiled, though did not rush to get closer to them. "First things first I suppose. My part of the deal." Rex noted, a couple of his chains shooting out of his body, working as a sort of a giant pen, or brush, drawing on the canvas that was the earth all around the pond, creating a complex and intricate rune carvings laced with both crystalized blood and copious amounts of mana, creating solid construct on the ground. Rex was burning through his mana pool in quite the impressive rate, though with the amounts of it in the surrounding air, he had enough to absorb and maintain a steady pace. He did stop every few hours though, the constant cycle exhausting him rather notably, forcing him to take equally long, couple hour rests.
And so, in such a manner, Rex spent another two days finishing his runic engravement, all the time making sure his creation did not interfere with what was happening in the very center of said runic engravement. As a being so with conceptual understanding of soul and blood, he could do so with relative ease, ensuring it all went according to plan. As Rex was working on his own thing, Danica mostly relaxed, or ventured in the forest, hunting some game for them to consume, keeping herself busy, or went on some light hunting alongside Snek. From what she told Rex, his pet was a damn good partner. She did not fault him for the way Snek was deployed though, since she too enjoyed the ability to spend quality nights together with Rex, either having fun or just cuddling in their sleep.
Eventually though, at the end of the second day after Rex started to create the array, he was done. A sharp light briefly shone throughout the engraved runic array, forming multiple transparent layers that disappeared from sight just as quickly as they had appeared. Then, those from outside, would see as extremely dense fog took over the area, making whatever was inside imperceptible and hidden from one's sight.
Since Rex had been extremely cautious as he worked and after the tests he did, he was perfectly assured it had all gone as planned and started to collect what was agreed upon. First, he collected the crystal clear soul recovery water that filled the pond, taking up a rather large space in his storage dimension. Then, after he had drunk a solid few liters of said water, slightly empowering his soul, he proceeded to brand the two midnight falcons as he had come to call them. Due to the influence of the spirit, it was rather simple, Rex did not sense the least bit of resistance from the birds, on the contrary, they seemed to be proud to have served such an important role in ensuring the safety of the forest spirit that was to be the guardian here. With his rewards collected, Rex once again walked over to the center island of the now empty pond, explaining the nature and control over the array he had developed, placing a small tablet in front of the bird. Explaining what he had to and informing of their departure, receiving a simple nod from the spirit, Rex turned around once again and left the island, joining Danica and the two mounts of theirs.
"Shall we return to your home town first? Or do we head out straight back to Monarchy of Sol?" he asked, more than fine with her decision.
"So these two are our mounts then?" Danica exclaimed, sparks of excitement in her eyes as she approached one of them, pressing against its chest, exclaiming how soft and pleasant the feathers felt.
"Yes, though we will have to ride together. It will be rather tricky to stay on top of them as they fly at high speeds. Unfortunately, your control and mana pool is not quite there yet." Rex apologetically explained. Not like they had any sort of saddle or something to ensure their ability to remain on top of the birds, aside from of course using ones mana to hold onto the birds back, or using the blood chains to ty oneself to the birds.
"Want to name them?" Rex asked as he himself also approached the duo.
"Can I? You sure?"
"Mhm. Go ahead." Rex smiled as he replied, explaining which one was the male and which one female. The difference being, the male falcon had a couple of golden feathers situated above its eyes, like a brow.
"Then lest call the male Wari and the female Sidsel." She smiled as she chose a name for each, looking towards them as she called out the names.
"So be it then. Your names are henceforth Wari and Sidsel." Rex confirmed, the chosen words etched into the brands on the two birds souls. "Lets head out, shall we?" he lightly jumped on the males back, extending his blood chains towards Danica, and with an approving nod, he gently lifted her up, finding a good spot on Wari's back, both for themselves and the falcon, gently nudging their mounts to depart, all while providing them with directions to fly in. He had left a few soul marks in the city Danica came from, as well as any other place he had visited, providing him with impeccable compass. Given a map, he could easily find his way anywhere, so long as he knew his current location. There was no stronger beacon than something marked with a soul imprint, especially so in a world where the concepts were barely researched and comprehended. Soul was one of the most elusive and esoteric of them all, making its methods even more pronounced and special in a world like this.
Unlike their way towards the forest of giants, that had taken them a couple of weeks, their return was incredibly swift. Then again, it was expected. They had straight path to proceed along, the sky clear and free in every direction, their speed- many times greater than the wolves could ever hope to achieve and they had already seen most of the sights along this particular path. Sure, the view from sky was impressive, serving as quite the treat for ones eyes, observing the endless fields of grass, trees or lakes, but there was only so much of it one could appreciate. The rather chilly and fresh air, high in the skies though, that was something unique. And while normal people would find it uncomfortable, or downright painful to breathe at such heights, both Rex and Danica were no ordinary people, their bodies developed and powerful enough to appreciate their current location a great deal.
Due to Rex properly utilizing his aura, the duo were also unaffected the the winds, allowing for uninterrupted conversation.
"This is AWESOME!" exclaimed Danica once again, as they neared her home town. She had done so a few times already, and yet, she felt the need to repeat her statement. "I do not care. We only travel like this now.Wait, can we do it?" she stated, adding a question moments later, not entirely sure about the logistics.
"For the most part, yes. We would have to use ships to cross the ocean if we planned to visit other continents though. I need some reference points and general understanding of the size of the ocaen Wari and Sidsel would have to cross. And then of course there is the small caveat that our party must remain relatively small. Judging by the current strain, I believe we should be limited to six, maximum eight people, no more. I would not want to overburden them."
"Great!" Danica confirmed, enjoying both the flight as well as the pleasant feeling of Rex chest her back was pressed against. Even with all the sad things she had seen recently, referring to the destroyed village, life was incredibly fun, stoking her inner adventurer and raising her spirits.
At the end of the day, just like in the modern world, where a few days drive with a car could be achieved with only a couple our flight, their new way of travel resulted in the same, if not even greater difference. What had been more than a weeks travel, was covered in less than a day, by the dusk their group already gliding high above Danica's hometown.
"You sure? It does sound a little mean." Rex questioned, an eyebrow raised as he was not entirely on board with Danica's idea, though since he could ensure nothing bad happened, he just shrugged and followed her suggestion. As the sky grew darker and darker, they kept gliding around, theirs, and the falcons sharp eyes locked on the land below, desperately looking for either Igdan or Astrid. Rex had to note the downright terrifying mischievous smile that adorned Danica's face. It was just about at midnight that Rex noticed one of the possible targets, as he saw igdan walk down a street towards his parents house. So, he mercilessly informed Danica, giving the woman another chance to drop her plan, though no such luck happened. And so, sending a silent plea of apology, he sent a mental command to his falcons, acting according to Danica's plan. Sheesh. 'Igdan must have done some pretty nasty pranks in her youth' Rex thought, as they descended with incredible speeds.
Moments later, just before any actual danger could come to either Igdan or the falcons, they performed a sudden stop, leaning back and making a few powerful swings with their wings, creating a powerful guts of wind, knocking Igdan off of his feet and earning a loud scream, followed by uncontrolled laughter as Danica could not hold back as she saw the disheveled Igdan get back to his feet. The mans eyes were nearly popping out of his skull, initially at the incredibly majestic creatures, and after that at the sister who had deemed it appropriate to mess with him. Curse after curse escaped his throat as was dressing Danica down, the woman only grinning, not the least bit sorry by the action. Though before a crow had gathered, Rex was already on the ground, the falcons rose back into the sky, disappearing from the sight, and then Igdan was almost grabbed like a sack of potatoes and then the trio disappeared from the place, soon enough reaching their home.