“We need to get you a new sword..”

Yuri was saying while walking down a busy road that led away from the Academy and the potential threat that loomed there. The treat being Hikaru’s supposed sister.

Hikaru was busy buying supplies from a passing merchant and wasn’t paying attention to what Yuri was saying.

“Hey are you even listening?”

She tried to get his attention.

“Oh forgive me Yuri. I was busy choosing what supplies we might need for the journey ahead of us.”

He was picking very dry looking rations from the merchants cargo.

“Yes..that’s good and all. But we need to get you some kind of weapon, or you’re useless, something that doesn’t break as easily as the last one.”

“Miss, if you’re looking for good smiths, it’s best to visit the city of Brokkr, although I’ve heard it’s been in lock down recently”

The merchant said while receiving some coin as payment.

“We know. Besides not like we can go back there..too close to that damn Academy..”

She muttered.

“Well, if that is out of the question, you can always try the Golden forest”

The merchant shrugged.

“The Golden forest is a myth, merchant, and quite a bad one at that.” Hikaru commented.

“What’s this Golden forest?”

Yuri wondered.

“The Golden forest..”

The merchant began before Hikaru could say anything.

“Is a city that few men have seen, a city where the trees are made of gold, and the rivers flow with glimmering honey..”

The merchant gulped.

“The city’s people are peculiar, they believe in no god yet have created amazing creations, despite not being under the protection of any god. It is said that the majority of the rarest and most sought for magical items come from this city. Monopolised by a small number of merchants, only they know the city’s location..”

“You had me at trees made of gold!”

Yuri’s eyes shone brightly, like a kid.

“Too bad no one except those few merchants know it’s exact location. Besides that city is no more than a myth, a city without the protection of a god would not get successful.”

Hikaru shrugged and dismissed it, not noticing that the merchant was already on his away, and Yuri was rolling up a piece of parchment.

“The merchant sold me map”

Her eyes still glittered while she smiled gleefully.

“We are going to the Golden forest!”

Proclaiming like it was already decided and heading down the road, Hikaru followed after her with a small sigh.

–

Their journey last several days, during which they had bought a wagon without a steed to pull it.

Through the clever use of air and water runes, Yuri managed to make it into a pseudo car, having enough propulsion to push the cart forward.

They flew down the gravel road at as speed that shocked everyone they passed by.

While sitting in the moving cart, Hikaru noticed something strange.

“Hey Yuri, aren’t we off road now?”

He observed the ground which moved past them so quickly it was only a blur.

“Yup.”

Yuri wasn’t even looking ahead of her, still busy looking at the map.

“Are you sure we are going the correct way?”

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“I’m sure, I’m following the map. It should be around here somewhere..”

Holding the map, she was holding it upside down and sideways, trying to pinpoint where they were.

They kept travelling in the moving cart for a while longer, the carts wheels getting worn down from travelling off road at such a great speed, making their ride significantly more bumpy.

“Hmmm..i think I might have taken a wrong turn somewhere..”

Still looking at the map, she didn’t notice what was ahead of them, or rather the lack of what was ahead.

Approaching them at a great speed was a giant cliff side that led down to a very steep and deep fall.

“Yuri I think it would be wise to turn off the runes now.”

Hikaru readied himself.

“Hm? Oh.” She finally noticed what lay ahead of them, and moved her hand over the runes to deactivate them.

The spray of water and wind behind them slowly stopped, their propulsion however, did not disappear.

Due to the power of the runes, the cart was going to take a while before to slowed to a halt.

“This is bad..”

Standing up and taking Yuri into a princess carry. Hikaru jumped off the cart with Yuri in his arms, abandoning their bags, and landing gracefully down on the ground just before the cart plummeted down into nothingness.

Instead of a loud crash into the ground below. They instead heart of something falling into water, as they saw a giant ripple go through the seemingly empty air in front of them.

Jumping out of Hikaru’s arms, Yuri stood up proudly.

“Guess I was right on track after all”

She smiled while the ripple made an image to become clearer in front of them.

Instead of a cliff dropping down into darkness, what instead appeared was a forest of tall golden buildings, each with wires coming out of them like branches. Giving them the illusion of being a golden forest that shined in the sun.

“Let’s not waste any time then.”

Walking towards the buildings excitedly, Hikaru followed after, un-fazed by the sight in front of him, despite his disbelief in its existence.

They entered through the water-like illusion barrier, and were met with the true sight of the city. Which shimmered by itself.

Approaching the city, they were stopped by a thin man with a slightly elongated head, wearing clean by simple white robes.

“The entrance fee please.”

He blocked their path.

“What entrance fee?”

Yuri asked with some doubt.

“The entrance fee for any visitors that enter the city.” He answered dryly.

“Okay..how much will that be..?”

She took out some coins.

“I believe you misunderstand, we have no need of something as primitive as currency. What interests us are magical items and other note worthy inventions.”

He sad as if talking to a particularly dimwitted child.

“Right..well the only thing I have that I would be willing to part with is..”

Yuri touched the ribbon on her head.

“Ah, that item would be more than enough to cover the entrance fee. It seems to emanate enough magic that I can feel it without touching it.”

He looked at it curiously.

“You have served me well..you were a fine magic item..”

She begrudgingly gave the ribbon to the man. While giving it to him however, she placed a tiny coin into one of the seams of the ribbon.

“Ah yes, wonderful.”

He took it with a pleased tone.

“Ah wait!”

He called out after them when they began moving towards the city.

“What now?”

She sighed.

“This magic item, is of the highest quality, it is well above what is need as entrance fee. Have this to even out the value”

The man snapped his fingers and a pen and paper appeared in front of him, upon which he quickly scribbled on.

“Show this to anyone in case you run into any trouble, although I hope you don’t, for your own safety”

He gave her the paper and waved at them to leave.

“Thanks I guess..?”

Shrugging an pocketing the paper, they continued towards the city.

(fool, I placed a coin with a tracking rune into the ribbon, I will be sure to get it back before I leave)

Soon arriving at the city, the sight they were met was something that made even Hikaru stare with wide open eyes.

The ground was covered in a smooth unknown metal that was etched with different symbols and markings.

The buildings that looked like giant tree like structures were everywhere around them, both tall and small.

The air all around was always filled with something or someone moving about.

Be it a floating box, a floating letter, or many of the other white robed people that seemed to use any possible method of transportation other than their own legs.

Some stood on small metal boards that had the ability to hover, others used many different variations of wheeled transport that was powered by either some sort of magic crystals or simply the drivers own magic.

Others simply chose to use magic to fly about.

Despite all the activity however, it wasn’t nearly as chaotic as the other cities. There seemed to be some sort of system for when to move and when to let someone fly or drive by.

It took Hikaru a while to get used to, Yuri however, who was used to the heavy traffic of her old world, felt like a fish in water.

“So…what do we do now?”

Yuri asked after they were done looking around a bit.

“We came all the way here without a plan..?” Hikaru held back his sigh.

“Well, no..I have a plan..” She looked away.

“I see, mind to indulge me?” Hikaru asked curiously.

“Well..the plan is..uh..find the most valuable thing this has..and steal it!”

She smiled while nodding, visibly proud with herself.

“Oh and to get you a new sword of course!” She added quickly.

“Right..well I guess let’s start with finding an inn or some place to rest, and then we can see how we can go about doing that.”

He began looking around.

“This is going to be so fun..they have a lot of things here..”

She skipped happily after Hikaru.

“Things to steal that is~”