Zoe dropped Eliza off back at Korna and spent a few months in Foizo enjoying the slower life with her friends. Her home was very different, and she still hadn’t had the time to just sit and enjoy it for a while. To watch the cats play in their room for days, or enjoy her much smaller but cozier bedroom. To just ignore the woes of skills and system messages and relish in a mundane life.

She made a point of not using her magic, to the best of her ability. To just walk through her home, to feel the carpet and wooden floors on the bottoms of her feet. She wandered through Foizo, and down the road to Inkley and the other individual buildings that popped up around the dungeon.

And it was relaxing. Life had been so hectic for so long and she hadn’t even realized how heavy it all truly felt. Cosmic Step was an amazing skill for getting from place to place, to travel great distances in the blink of an eye — or several blinks of an eye, really. But she lost the foundation of what made life so enjoyable and worth living.

What was the rush, when she would live forever? Why did she need to skip past so many interesting little adventures just to get to her destination as quick as possible? It was as though instead of not being able to see the forest for the trees, she’d stopped being able to see the trees for the forest. She’d become so focused on the big picture that all the little details just fell to the wayside.

She thought back to her time in Flester, when she would just sit in the park by Kaira library and watch the birds for hours. When that older lady would stop by and talk about her husband. When she’d just enjoy watching people walk through the city, and think about their lives.

But she couldn’t remember the last time she just slowed down and appreciated the things around her. It was always on to the next big adventure, the next crazy idea that popped into her head. One thing after the other would grab her interest, and she was off to pursue it as though that was all that matter.

And they just didn’t matter that much, she’d begun to realize again. The dungeon would still be there in another year, another ten years. The valleys and the wanderers weren’t going to go anywhere anytime soon, if they hadn’t already.

But Foizo? It might not last forever. The people in it definitely wouldn’t, the culture and the history of it all wouldn’t. The forests she flies over as she travels from city to city wouldn’t remain the same forever, with the same flora and old growth. The small villages she didn’t even notice as she raced across the planet might not be around in another five or ten years.

There was so much she was missing, so many little details that she just ignored. Getting to space would happen, someday. She was steadily working towards that, bit by bit. Even if all she did was make dungeons to act as outposts on every celestial body she passed, leaving breadcrumbs for her to follow back, she’d get there eventually.

But she found herself having a growing interest in wandering Abyllan on foot, seeing all of the wildlife that ran through the forests. Stopping in at all the little villages she passed and meeting all of the different people from different cultures, seeing how they all lived.

And in perhaps a fit of irony, she leapt into her slow mundane life with the same vigour that she did everything else. Zoe said her goodbyes to her friends and set out on a much longer journey. Her end goal was to make it to the capital of the kingdom, finally. A place she’d been wanting to visit for so many years.

But her true goal was to see everything the world had to offer her on the way. She wouldn’t fly, she wouldn’t teleport several dozen kilometers every second. She wanted to walk. And perhaps it would bore her in time, but that was a part of the beauty of it, in a way. Boredom was something she hadn’t experienced in such a long time that somehow, it almost appealed to her.

The first weeks she spent wandering down the road were exciting and pleasant. The smells of nature flooding her nose with earthy tones and bright floral scents. The sounds of birds chirping in the trees and smaller animals skittering about in the bushes. Even the odd traveller careening down the road at a blistering pace — at least relative to Zoe’s casual stroll, felt exciting and fun.

Many of the travellers were by themselves, hauling small carts behind them with horses or other large four legged animals. She even saw a couple people pulling carts themselves as they ran past her, the wooden wheels bouncing on the odd rock or hole in the road.

But some of the travellers were in larger groups, caravans with several larger carriages full of people and wares. Most were travelling from further down the road, heading to perhaps Foizo or even Darpi further on. After a few weeks of wandering down the road — maybe a few seconds away from Foizo at most if she were travelling at full sped, she heard the somewhat familiar sound of hooves clopping on the worn dirt road and wheels scraping along the rocks come up from behind her.

Zoe turned and looked down the road, seeing the first larger caravan travelling in the same direction as her poking out of the trees on the winding road. Many of the travellers she met were friendly — she’d even go so far as to say that most were. And of those who weren’t, Zoe didn’t feel any particular hatred or anger from them, they were just disinterested. Too focused on what they needed to do, on where they needed to get to. Perhaps a little fear when they noticed a lone traveller, and a little more when they noticed her higher level.

Some were wary of her, but most seemed relieved that somebody at her level was nearby. Perhaps it meant that where she’d come from was clear of any bandits or other nefarious cretins, or perhaps it gave them confidence that she’d catch up to them if something were to happen up ahead.

But, this was the first time a larger caravan was coming up from behind her and Zoe wanted to make a good impression. If possible, she’d love to join them. Meet the people travelling down the road, talk to them about where they came from and what they did. What their passions and interests were.

And so, Zoe stopped on the side of the road and waited for the caravan to approach. The wait felt like an eternity, and Zoe wondered if she seemed like a brigand waiting to ambush them. She kept fidgeting with her pose, wondering what seemed the least threatening. Should she lean against a tree, should she wave them down, should she wait in the middle of the road? Maybe it would be best to start walking towards them?

She decided to walk towards them and after the first few minutes of floundering about with herself, started walking down the road towards them. She waved her hands above her head in a large, hopefully friendly gesture as she approached them and the woman at the front of the caravan waved back as they got closer.

“Ya need somethin’ miss?” The woman asked when they were in ear shot. A dark red level one hundred twenty eight warrior, to Zoe’s identify, with a rather harsh accent.

“No, not really. I’m just travelling this way and was wondering if you had space for one more?" Zoe asked. ”I can pay, if you need.“

The woman looked a little uncomfortable and radiated anxiety to Zoe’s empathy. “Jus’ wait, I’ll ask.”

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Zoe nodded, and the woman pushed back a cloth hanging at the front of the carriage she was sitting at. Another woman came out and sat at the front of the carriage, scowling at Zoe, though felt just as much anxiety as the previous woman. A dark blue level one forty seven warrior.

Some chattering was heard within the carriage, and then a couple different women hopped out and walked over to the other nearby carriages where Zoe heard some more chattering. She tried not to listen to what they were saying, but it was difficult not to overhear them voicing their concerns with picking up a random stray on the road.

After a few minutes of chattering, the first woman Zoe spoke with popped back out of the carriage and the angry looking one crawled back inside.

“Ya might join us, where ya headed?" The woman called out.

“The capital?" Zoe called back. ”Just looking for anything interesting, really.“

“An’ we’re interestin’ to ya?" The woman called back.

“Yeah, why not? You’re people I’ve never met. You’ve got stories to share and passions to talk about. I can’t think of anything more interesting right now.” Zoe responded.

The woman nodded. “Ya can get in this carriage, but no funny business, now.”

“Sure, thanks!” Zoe smiled and walked up to the back of the carriage. A heavy black cloth was hanging over the back of it, which another woman pushed aside to let Zoe in.

Inside the carriage was the angry looking woman, who looked no less furious now than she did before, the kinder looking lady that opened the curtain for her at a surprising dark red sixty seven worker, and two younger boys, level sixteen and fifteen, both light blue warriors.

The sides of the carriage were lined with benches that people were sitting on, and the floor was covered in large cloth bags full of food and clothes. No storage items, Zoe wondered? The abundance of carriages in the world always confused her to begin with. If people had storage items, then why would they still need carriages?

She supposed for the same reason she and Emma built storage rooms in their new home. Storage items were convenient, but not everything you owned would fit inside them, all of the time. Certainly not for cheap, at least.

“Hello!” Zoe smiled as she climbed inside the carriage, sitting down on an empty space on one of the benches. “I’m Zoe, it’s nice to meet you all. Thanks for letting me join you.”

The two young boys slid up on the bench next to the kind lady — their mother, Zoe wondered?

“Hi, I’m Gerda. Nice ta meet ya.” The kind lady answered.

“Jorda.” The angrier woman said.

“These’re Hirgo and Lirgo.” Gerda said. “My sons.”

“Where are y’all coming from?" Zoe asked. ”I’m from Foizo, myself.“

“We come from the village. Never ‘ad a name, it.” Gerda said.

“Huh. Sounds neat. You ever been to Foizo?” Zoe asked. “How far away is your village, if you don’t mind my asking.”

“We stopped earlier, but never been comfortable with the big cities, y’know.” Gerda nodded, her accent much less noticeable than the other woman’s but still very present.

“Where you headed?" Zoe asked.

“Korna.” Jorda answered, her voice deep and hoarse.

“What for?" Zoe asked. ”If you need supplies, I imagine Foizo would have whatever you need and they should be much closer if you were already there anyway.“

“The little ones wanted to see Korna.” Gerda answered, patting her sons on the head. “Is a’right, Zoe ain’t gon’ hurt ya now.”

“You ever been?" Zoe asked.

Gerda nodded. “When I was a youngin, we went up there. A nice place, but too many people for me.”

“Seems like a risky journey just to visit a distant city.” Zoe said.

“Everythin’s risky, y’know?” Gerda asked. “We could be sitting in our homes when some critter comes and burns us down, or worse even, bandits.” She shrugged. “Travellin’ down the road’s no worse than sittin’ still, I say.”

“That’s fair, I guess. I’ve never lived in a small village so I wouldn’t know, I guess.” Zoe shrugged. “I always felt pretty safe in the city, and eventually I became strong enough to fend for myself anyway.”

Gerda nodded and giggled. “Yer pretty high level. Gave Prida quite a scare.”

“You’re not scared, though?" Zoe asked.

Gerda shook her head. “If’n ye been wanting us dead, we’d be dead, yea?”

“I don’t really like thinking about it like that.” Zoe responded.

“But it is true, no? We’d not put up a fight. Even Prida couldn’t tell yer level.” Gerda said.

Zoe bit her lip. The honest answer was Gerda was probably right unless they had some powerhouse hidden away in one of the other carriages. But to just say they were meaningless? That their efforts to stay safe would do nothing to stop somebody at her level? It just felt mean, more than anything. She didn’t like the feeling of having that power over people, of having it so plainly shoved in her face.

“I don’t know. Maybe. I don’t want you all dead, though.” Zoe said.

Gerda laughed. “See? She’s too kind for her own good. Can’t even tell us we’d be dead if’n she wanted it.”

Jorda scoffed.

“So your boys wanted to see Korna, then? Why’ve you got the whole caravan out? Just to keep everybody safe?” Zoe asked.

“Family,” Prida called out from behind the drapes at the front of the carriage. “We stick together.”

“So this is all your family? Just travelling on a family vacation, then?" Zoe asked. ”That sounds nice. It’s been quite a long time since I went on a family vacation.“

“What’s happened to yer family?" Gerda asked.

“I’m not sure. We got separated when I was younger and I’ve never seen them since.” Zoe said.

“Ah. I’m sorry ta hear that.” Gerda bowed her head.

“It’s fine. It’s been a while since it happened, and I’ve accepted it by now. I’ve got people I’m close with now, people I value. Life keeps on going no matter what we do, so may as well make the most of it while we can, right?" Zoe smiled.

“Aye, that it does. Well, yer more than welcome ta our family vacation. Make yerself at home.” Gerda smiled.