Eylul followed Mayana like a lost puppy. She still got tired easily but at least, she was able to kinda-sorta keep up and the fact that she didn't want to leave Kiresula's wife out of her sight for even a moment meant that she strained herself to keep up. Mayana noticed this and when the spell expired, she asked Kiresula to carry the girl, which she did. While she never had a child, she had offered piggyback rides to kids occasionally, so she knew the process. The fact that Eylul was really light (and she noticed the elemental assistance by Kju in her own elemental awareness) helped. Only when Eylul had restored her own magic, she was able to activate the enchantment again and walk again, which she did with surprising vigour. Eylul's mother looked at the scene with happiness. She didn't say anything, just smiled at the scene.

It was in the evening, after many pauses, that the group reached the place where the group had slept for the first time. Kiresula, Mayana and Kju called out for a break. No one set up a camp. After having walked for so long, they were all dead tired. Some people had food and shared and ate, others were tired enough to just curl up on the ground. With how many people were in the group, everyone pretty much at least partially was on others – or had others fall asleep on them. And again, the three glitchlings guarded the area in shifts. Kju insisted that Kiresula take the middle shift again, claiming that this had become tradition by now. She accepted, of course, if only to keep the peace. She lay down near Mayana and fell asleep.

After an uninteresting guard shift in which she restored her magic and used her elemental awareness to perceive the world around her, and scared off a curious animal just by standing up and hissing in the direction where she felt the ground being disturbed. She didn't want to wake anyone up and as the creature fled for easier prey, she didn't use light to see what it was. Apart from that, her watch was calm and when she woke up Mayana, she was pretty tired.

When she was shaken awake, the sun was up and apparently, Mayana had tried to wake her up for a while. Kiresula shook herself groggily and tried to assess the situation. Food had gotten scarce the last day and the mood was cranky, aggressive and quarrelsome. Kiresula told the group to wait until they would leave the farm area for foraging, but it barely made a difference. People were hungry right in that moment, not in the future. Kiresula understood and offered the little she had still with her to others. Eventually, the group departed, but the mood was gloomy. The group was not in a rush, and with how crabby some felt, they were not rushing anywhere. At a small stream, they drank their fill in clear, cold water. As soon as the fields gave way to untamed areas, Kiresula asked for a break, ran off and used her botanical awareness to forage. Soon, she returned with mushrooms, root vegetables, that she had not been aware of before but which her class skills ensured her were edible, leaves with a spicy taste, and many other things.

The resulting meal was a feeding more so than a feast. Her skills could determine 'nutritious', but not 'delicious' or even 'fits together to make a meal'. The mushrooms, roasted over fire, were especially bitter, but hunger made people eat them and even ask for seconds. A fire mage who handled the cooking with delight, lit up metaphorically whenever Kiresula returned with more food, but each time, before allowing the food to be cooked, he showed each kind to anyone who had plant magic or interest in farming. First, this caused frustration and for the first time, almost a brawl, but people with better social skills than her made everyone understand that this was to ensure food supply in her absence, not because she wanted to make people wait for their well-deserved meal for the sheer sake of it. She had not even eaten herself, but as her Fortitude was the highest, she assumed that she could do the longest without it. Only when at last, Kiresula, Mayana and Kju had a meal, after the rest of the group had their fill, she started to feel better herself. The dark cloud on her own mood lifted. She had not even realised that she had been more grumpy than normal until she had a filling (but bitter) meal.

The journey now became slow. Kiresula often stopped and showed the others something edible or also to show them particularly dangerous plants in order to warn them. She felt a sense of resentment building in the group, in the comments people made when they deemed themselves outside of her Perception range. She felt like being in front of an unruly class when the headmaster was watching. And yet, these were encounters she had braved before she glitched. She didn't have the stellar social skills of other classes, but she had to concentrate on what she was good at: Forcing herself through an obstacle with her Fortitude and her strange perspective on things. After she once again showed them a seemingly inconspicuous plant with medicinal properties, she heard grumbling. That was when her patience ran out: "Yeah, you grumble, but you realise that this area is where you are going to live so you need to know everything about it? Until there is agriculture or you can get food from a dungeon that has no tolerance for low levels, you need to live off the land. I cannot always be around, so I need you all to understand what is relevant. Maybe some folks can get classes for foraging, but I need to, even if that is not the case, make sure you all have a good chance of making it there even in my absence. So, I understand you all want to be there, but I also want you all to be there in a few years, heck decades, so please pay attention!" It was a cup of water on a raging fire. People seemed to not even hear her words, just be annoyed that they existed. Someone with social skills could have gone through this, Kiresula assumed. She however was not one of these people, she could just try to let the insults run off her back like rainwater.

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Eventually, they reached the area behind the former magical border. Kiresula was done with the grumbles and just sat on the ground and called for a break. When everyone sat down, she spoke: "I got you here into the Black Waters region. No one who is of conventional magic can get in here – except when aided by glitchlings. The Holy Order won't be able to chase you here, neither will the secular troops of the Co-Prince. From here on it's up to you. Remain near civilization, settle in the vicinity of the dungeon, settle near the coast for fishing in addition to foraging and agriculture, you decide. Even split up if you so desire. If anyone wants to rest, you can. If you want to start planning, you can. The area here has no groundsnarlers, but there might be other animals. Which can be a boon or a bane, food or foe. Just, you know, please don't be harsh to me any more. I heard your whispers, saw your gestures, and am tired of this." She sat down and listened to the discussion about what to do now. Eventually, Arisha and Barish walked to Kiresula, who had walked to a thorny bush and was plucking berries. "Kiresule, can you lead us to the coast?" Barish asked.

Kiresula offered a few berries to him. He ate one and grimaced. Kiresula responded: "Sure. Sorry that I went off. I was just frustrated and had to remove myself from the situation. Are we going to be near the dungeon?"

Barish shook his head: "Near the lighthouse. Yeah, it's a bit out there, but we want to have shelter for at least some. Also, Eylul used to work there."

Kiresula made a vague gesture: "I had seen it at the shore. I can get you all there. It's not that bad a distance for me, but I am not sure how well others can hold up."

Barish nodded and said: "Grand! You can show us about any plants you deem interesting. People understand."

Kiresula raised an eyebrow: "Have you persuaded the group to shut up or did someone learn a silence spell?"

Barish grinned: "Not really. We learned that the food you showed them actually can be made much more tasty after Metin gained a [Cook] class. Even these mushrooms."

Kiresula smiled: "That's good to hear! I didn't care about taste at this moment, just wanted you to be fed and my absence to be short. I have been on the road a long time, so I might've reduced my standards a bit too much. You have been fed by relatives from the city, right?"

Barish nodded: "We were, yeah. And, yeah, we all were hungry and still are cranky from the night. It happens."

Kiresula nodded and returned to the group, motioned for them to follow her and then led them via a good path without any elevation changes or bad terrain to the lighthouse. Occasionally, she pointed out edible plants, or in contrast poisonous plants that looked similar to edible ones and pointed out the differences. She warned when they walked past dangerous terrain and for the first few times, pointed out the dangers, afterwards, the group stopped making comments about taking a more circuitous route. Her skills were subtle, but in the Black Waters, she felt just how important they were. When the sun was about to set, they reached the lighthouse. Eylul's mother moved a rock near the door to reveal a key, triumphantly raised it, happily exclaiming that no one had touched this place in all that time. Then she unlocked the door.

The place was in a terrible state, but people were long past caring. They were at a place that was reasonably warm, some cupboards still had blankets or linens which were quickly repurposed as blankets. People laid down on the ground or clambered up the ladders to do so in the higher levels. The walk exhausted the level 1s massively. While everyone else looked for a place to stay, Kiresula was about to leave once again when Kju stopped her: "I would not go forage again."

Kiresula raised an eyebrow: "Any particular reason for that?"

Kju looked embarrassed: "I don't want you to gain a foraging class. I am afraid that in that case your experience gains are halved."

Kiresula looked at him in confusion: "Am I at risk for that?"

Kju nodded: "Yes. I see how your skills for a magic connection to the land around you. It didn't create a class so far because you were on the move and your [Seferian Mage] had been able to swallow up the experience. However, I fear that just remaining in the area will prevent this from happening again."

Kiresula nodded: "So? Can others handle the hunting and foraging?"

Kju nodded: "We will do so. Just be around and check what we bring home with your skills!"