As I stretched out on a flat rock along the edge of the river, basking in the sun with only my inner shirt to the soft murmur of the river, a sudden realization hit me. In my enjoyment, I had completely forgotten about Finn and Elara. I wasn’t alone in the forest like when I first came to in this world.

'Oh, no!' I thought, sitting up abruptly.

I quickly donned my robes and flew up to look around, but of course, they were nowhere in sight. I tried retracing my path, but the forest looked the same in every direction and I only ended up getting more lost.

“I got too carried away... What do I do now?' I thought, feeling a sudden wave of panic washing over me.

With everything looking like tiny specks from high up, I decided to get closer to the ground search that way. I drifted just below the canopy, scanning the forest floor for signs of Finn and Elara. My heart pounded in my chest as I navigated through the dense foliage, the serene silence of the forest only amplifying my sense of urgency.

'This isn't good,' I thought, my brows furrowing in concern. ‘I really wished we had phones or something right now.”

Just as the anxiety was starting to gnaw at my mind, something whizzed past my ear. I instinctively jerked back, narrowly avoiding a sharp wooden projectile. My heart leaped in my chest as I swiveled in midair, my eyes meeting a group of strange, monkey-like creatures perched on the branches. They were brown, round, and extremely fluffy with puny limbs, and large black eyes. Their round bodies were surprisingly agile as they used their absurdly long tails to swing from tree to tree, all the while holding sharpened wooden rods.

‘???’

As they launched another flurry of wooden rods, I decided to retaliate.

‘They’re clearly trying to kill me!’

With a flick of my wrist, I manipulated my magic to halt their projectiles mid-air, before hurtling it back at them. Each of the three wooden spears hit their mark, stabbing through the furry coat of the monkeys. The stabbed monkeys fell lifeless from the trees, their small bodies tumbling down before landing with a soft thud on the forest floor.

Seeing their companions fall, the remaining creatures scrambled away, their fluffy forms quickly disappearing among the trees. I didn't bother chasing after them, I needed to find my companions.

Though looking once again at the fluffy monkey bodies, I decided to bring it with me. Floating three of them behind me as I searched shouldn’t be too hard. Besides, it felt like such a waste to just leave them here.

As I continued my search, I encountered more strange creatures, a testament to the untamed wildness of the forest. A pair of black wolves, much like the one I had a life-and-death encounter with, crossed my path. These were majestic creatures, uninjured, unlike the previous one I saw. The predatory glint from their eyes made me subconsciously quiver, no doubt a fear left from before. As I tried to bypass them and fly away, they leaped up toward me.

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Instinctively, I unleashed a burst of magic, my favourite icicles flying towards them and knocking them down. It was effective, the majestic black coat of the wolves was damaged, with some blood dripping down. A smirk tugged at the corner of my mouth as I saw their now defensive posture.

‘I can win.’

I wasn’t the same defenseless weak girl with a stick. ‘I’m strong now’ I thought.

Going on the offensive, I first manipulated the earth underneath the wolves, trapping their movements, before finishing it off with a dense barrage of icicles. What remained resembled porcupines more than wolves.

‘I’ll bring these along too.’ It does require some extra mental effort to use my magic to float these corpses, but it wasn’t that big of a deal compared to lifting a living thing.

Further down, I encountered more of the monkey-like creatures, their beady black eyes glaring at me from the safety of the tree branches. Unfazed, I navigated around them, keeping a wary eye on their movements. Any signs of aggression were met with a preemptive magic attack, quickly putting them in their place. Another encounter with a bird that resembled a turkey proved less eventful. The creature had a ridiculous-looking wattle dangling from its beak and seemed more interested in pecking at the ground than paying me any mind.

After some more time of fruitless searching and the floating bounty pile behind me growing ever bigger, a brilliant idea suddenly flashed in my mind. I propelled myself upwards, breaking through the canopy and into the clearing above. From my vantage point, I could see an expansive view of the endless forest.

‘Maybe I can’t see them, but they should be able to see me. Especially with this!’ I thought. Collecting mana in my palms. With a concentrated burst, I shot a stream of fire high into the sky, the vibrant display contrasting with the monotonous blue sky.

Periodically shooting this display into the air, I patiently waited. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, I caught sight of two figures. My heart leaped with joy as I recognized the familiar figures of Finn and Elara, making their way toward me. I quickly descended to the ground, greeting them with a wide grin.

"Alythia!" Elara cried angrily, rushing over to me. "We were worried sick!"

"Yeah, what were you thinking? You can't just go off on your own like that!" Finn added, his brows furrowed.

"I'm sorry..." I apologized, feeling a pang of guilt.

Though a mere apology was not enough, as Elara began lecturing me profusely about the importance of sticking together as a group, never wandering off by ourselves, etc.

“Sorry… I won’t do it again.” I mumbled another apology, my gaze dropping to the ground. I knew I was in the wrong, it was dangerous and selfish of me to just wander off like that. Especially in a place like this in a world like this.

After the lecturing had ended, their attention shifted to the collection of creature corpses I had accumulated. "What's all this?" Finn asked, eyeing the creatures with a puzzled expression.

"They attacked me," I casually explained. "I felt it was a waste to just leave them there."

As they looked through the bodies, they asked about each one. "This one attacked you too?" Finn asked skeptically, holding up the turkey-like creature.

"No” I shook my head and confessed, “that one I just thought looked tasty". It was exactly like a fat plump turkey. Just thinking about slowly roasting or grilling it with some nice seasoning sprinkled on top roused my appetite.

Despite the scolding and the scare I had given them, we were all just relieved to have met up again, safely. It was then I truly realized, I was not alone in this world, not anymore.