The next day came and Zachary and the gang set out for the long mission bright and early. With him were Heather, Shuhua, and Carlos. They headed along a well-established path through the underbrush and headed east. The quintessence spring was located within the mountainous region. He had never gone so deep into the jungle. He didn’t know what to expect and was on full alert.

“Blue, usual scouting pattern.” He said and let the blue bird fly off, “Boba, stay sharp. We’re heading into dangerous territory.”

Carlos laughed from behind, “Are you always this anxious? We haven’t even left our territory. How did you survive so long on your own?”

He was riding a large, brown pill bug. It was one of his adept rank summons that was good at strength and defense. It was a passable mount even if its crawling speed was a little slow. It also looked like an uncomfortable ride.

Zachary laughed and retorted, “Very carefully.”

He was riding Doro, or more accurately, the wave of dirt it created. After the breakthrough, Doro grew bigger and learned a new ability. He aptly called it earth surfing as Doro could move the earth like waves. The sitting atop it was quite smooth, much better than the pill bug.

“How do you feel, Doro?” He asked.

“Rahh… fine, I guess.”

Its voice was deep and slow. It carried a great sense of comfort and strength, like a friendly giant dog. But when it was angered, it was a completely different beast.

“How do you… feel?” It asked.

“Pretty good, although it would be amazing if there was a backrest.”

“Rah… what is… a backrest?”

Zachary explained the basics of it. Doro understood and formed a rough mound of earth as a backrest. Aside from the little worms and bugs that scurried everywhere in a panic, it looked very comfortable.

“Ahh, now that’s the stuff,” Zachary said, full of satisfaction, as he leaned back and put his hands behind his head.

Heather cut them off before Carlos could retort, “Stay focused, there’s plenty of time to chat when we make camp.”

The two ladies in front were riding a summon together, a large grey wolf. The beast surely came from the wolf pack that occupied the ruins, probably as a novice rank and cultivated to the adept rank. It wasn’t the pack leader but it was still big enough to fit two people. Shuhua was holding onto Heather for dear life, looking quite miserable. Heather was unperturbed, glancing left and right as her powerful green mantis cleared the way.

They had a long trip ahead of them which is why they were riding their summons. At the adept rank, these Ensouled were already much stronger than humans. They could easily serve as mounts with varying levels of speed and comfort without wasting too much strength. If a summon got tired or reached the limit of its summoning, it could always be switched out for another one. This way, their pace more than doubled compared to simply walking.

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They were a strong group, so they didn’t expect much trouble. Heather had five adept rank summons while Shuhua, Carlos, and Zachary had four each. Theoretically, they could even hold their own against a pack of forest elephants. Still, it was better not to get into unnecessary fights and conserve their strength before reaching the quintessence spring.

The group stopped to rest at midday when it was most humid and the heart was unbearable. This also allowed them to swap out mounts as needed. Zachary gave Doro a rest and summoned Onkie. He almost laughed when Carlos revealed his replacement mount which was a stag beetle. It seemed that he had encountered another bug catcher after Jean-Pierre.

“How is it? Am I heavy?” Zachary asked.

“Nope! Zachy is not heavy!” Onkie squealed.

She bounced around with happiness, leading to him being thrown off.

“Oh, no! Is Zachy hurt?”

Zachary patted the dirt off his butt and laughed, “No, no. But try not to make sudden movements. I will also hold onto your hair for extra stability.”

“What is stability?”

“So, I won’t fall off.”

“Onn.” She nodded her head eagerly.

It took a few tries to get used to riding Onkie but she was a good sport about it. It was much less comfortable than earth surfing but Onkie’s fur at least provided a good cushion for his butt, unlike the hard bumpy shell of a stag beetle.

“If Onkie gets tired, I can give you a ride.” Wander offered.

“Yeah, no way. It will be faster for me to walk.” Zachary said.

“Hey! That’s offensive!”

“How is that offensive?”

“It’s offensive to call a turtle slow!”

“…”

The journey continued even as Zachary and Wander continued to argue over inane things. Wander was having too much fun. He saw so many new things, met all kinds of strange Ensouled. He even wanted to fight the pill bug to see whose shell was the strongest but Zachary talked him out of it.

The afternoon passed by quickly. They left the territory of the village and entered the wilderness. They took a slightly circuitous route to avoid the territory of the Dark Star Gang. It would have saved half a day to cut through there but that would have probably started a small-scale war.

They also didn’t want to alert any of their rivals unnecessarily. Heather assured him that nobody else knew about the quintessence mine. But if people followed them, then the secret would be out.

They fought off some stray Ensouled here and there but it was mostly quiet. The aura of so many adept ranks together made for a formidable force. The jungle seemed to part in front of them, leaving a tranquil path ahead. Of course, this was only because they were following trails established by the herds of forest elephants. If they left the trails, it would be another story.

As the sun set, the group set up camp beneath a giant tree. The group had three treants between them, an adept rank for Shuhua and novice ranks for Heather and Zachary. They used the treants to scout the area thoroughly to make sure the jungle wouldn’t come alive and eat them during the night.

Zachary volunteered for first sentry duty and picked a spot on a large, jutting branch. As he was climbing, a sound he hadn’t heard in a while made him pause.

“Hoo… hoo!” It was an owl’s call, drifting hauntingly from the darkness amidst the rustling leaves and branches.

He frowned and tried to find the source, using his soul sense as well as his special sensitivity toward Ensouled. There was nothing. The creature was already gone or maybe it was never there.

It was strange. He had heard an owl during the first few days in the New World. He assumed there would be many owls in this jungle. But he didn’t hear any owl calls after that, all the way until now.

“What’s wrong?” Heather asked from below.

This brought him back and he quickly replied, “Nothing, just remembered something from a few months ago. You guys go to sleep. I got this.”

He clambered onto the branch and waved.

Heather waved back with a smile and left.