We finished our supply run and Tsume was more or less mobile by now, so we were about to head to our first destination. The hatchling kept climbing up and down Masa's arms, but usually slept on his shoulder or in his backpack. It had grown quite a bit in this couple of days, from slightly larger than an adult man's hand to the length of my arm. Masa fed it crushed leaves from a variety of vegetables at first, then proceeded to harder tree leaves. It would respond to its name and clamber over to whoever was currently holding the leaves.

I had to admit it was cute, with its large eyes and soft downy feathers, although its proportions were still awkward and it crawled around on all fours rather than walking on its hind legs like a normal chick. It was a weird-looking bird, but Masa was still thrilled to take care of it. He didn't show much emotion outwardly, but I caught glimpses of him smiling and talking to the baby bird when he thought none of us were watching.

Unfortunately, Inspect didn't show much information about it, just its name and species, which was apparently a Zephyr Hoatzin. Talk about hard to pronounce… At any rate, the hatchling was unlikely to be able to fight, and we weren't expecting much from it anyway. My dad said that the places we were travelling to didn't have the game monsters that attacked you and disappeared when killed, so I was actually looking forward to less fighting.

What about levelling, you ask? Well, that was fun and all, but as far as I knew, my grandma hadn't even encountered the game, yet Inspect showed that she had a high Level and stats. In addition, most of her Skills were related to things a housewife might do, so I surmised that the game somehow incorporated part of the existing system in this world. Wait, did that mean that Earth had some sort of system too?

I shook my head quickly. Nah, that would be too much of a paradigm shift. I wasn't going to waste my time thinking about such complicated stuff. We were already going to explore another world, so I would leave my mind free to take in all the new sights and experiences it had to offer.

"All right, are you guys ready?" asked Dad. "I'll be bringing Eve over first, then Masa and Rynn. Master Claw should be fine as long as Masa holds him firmly, right?"

I rolled my eyes at the nickname my father had given Tsume. I didn't know what kind of reference he was trying to make, but it sounded kinda half-baked. Oh well, that was my dad for you.

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He placed his hand on Mum's shoulder and they both disappeared without a sound. Then he reappeared at the same spot and did the same to Masa. Finally, he returned again and brought me over.

I blinked as the scenery literally changed before my eyes. From the somewhat dim interior of the old mansion, I was suddenly staring at blue-green waves crashing against a rugged coastline. There was a salty tang to the air and I gasped as some of the spray hit my face. "Wow, this is amazing!" was all I could blurt out.

We were all standing on a rocky cliff with the sea about thirty metres below us. The weather was warm enough for me to want to remove my jacket, but the cool sea breeze made it somewhat bearable. Glancing around, I saw more rock columns of all shapes and sizes jutting out from the sea. Some of them even had what looked like pine trees growing out of them. The raucous calls of nearby sea gulls made Masa look up and strain his eyes—oh wait, he already had his trusty binoculars out. Tsume seemed curious about the calls as well, as the chick was peering here and there.

This wasn't a particularly fantasy-like landscape, since it could have passed for some remote spot on Earth, but I was impressed all the same by the way we arrived. "Dad, that was seriously awesome!" I told him, slapping him lightly on the shoulder. "We don't even need the teleports with you around!"

"That's right, you can appreciate me more, you know," said my dad with a smirk. "I can go to so many more destinations than that store-bought thing."

"Yes, yes, but why did you bring us to this remote place? I thought we were going to a town to see the sights?" grumbled my mum, crossing her arms. "Sure, the beauty of nature is great and all, but I'm sure our girl wants to visit some more civilised spot."

My dad shook his head. "Obviously she prefers being in nature, right Girling? And Masa is interested in the birds here as well."

"I've just recorded my tenth lifer in Shyi'eld," muttered Masa, scribbling in a notebook. "Uh…but I wouldn't mind seeing some interesting cities as well," he added after a glance at my mum.

She nodded, then turned to look at me. I raised my hands in surrender at her silent pressure. "I'm enjoying this landscape and breeze, but these cliffs are way too rocky and steep to walk on, so I guess we could go somewhere else soon? I would definitely love to see something fantastical," I suggested to my dad.

He frowned and thought for a while before perking up. "I have just the place! Prepare to be further amazed!"

My mum gave him a small smile as he winked at her. "Ah, that place, huh," she said with a chuckle. "Not a bad idea at all. I wonder how many years has it been since we've visited? The place must have changed a lot by now. Do be careful not to teleport us into the middle of traffic, dear."

"Don't worry, I'll make a short trip there first and find a good spot to bring you guys over," he said before disappearing.

The rest of us settled down to enjoy the scenery as we waited.