Chapter 7 - The Hollowed Tree Bridge

 It has a been exactly five hours since our last stop. After we got up from our quick rest, me and Ava moved forward and have walked for about sixty thousand yards in  five hours. Though a feat like that would be a too tiring for me in my world. But with the blessing's of the wanderer's hand , i have been able to walk in a face pace with only being a bit tired.

 Ava is doing well mostly because of her fury bull which she mount when she is tired. Though i did try on mounting the fury bull. It did not go well since the Bull still hates my coat for some reason.  Probably due to the material that it really ticks off its nose.

 Though my hooded cape coat is made  of leather and wool with a combination of polyester and nylon ,added with that is a combination of inner waterproof membrane such as mesh and polyester taffeta. The outer shell of my hooded cape coat is treated with a Durable Water Repellent  so that it can endure harsh terrains in any travels. Though it cost a lot of money it is well spent due to its quality and durability.

 Oops looks i got lost again in explaining my coat. Any way right now me and Ava have finally move pass the barren lands  and is now currently heading for the bridge that we need to cross in order to go towards the Mist Forest which there lies the City of Wodfel.

 During our march, Ava have explained the details i needed and after that she requested for a moment of silence.  Apparently it is a habit of her to keep silence when entering a new area or land . It's a habit akin to praying towards Mother Nature in gratitude for keeping her safe, it can be viewed as paganism in a sense. Though I'm not that much of religious guy so i would probably not understood  such habit.

 Anyway our destination is towards a bridge called the Hollow Tree. Why is it called  The Hollow Tree is literally because it's a giant hollowed out tree that was fixed  as bridge. According to Ava there was once a Giant Nomad who saw the river and in order to crossed the river. The Nomadic Giant cut down a giant tree and hollowed it's inside so that his  mountain cows can cross the raging river.

 Interrupting my thoughts , i climbed up the hill when i suddenly heard the sound of footsteps ,hooves and look at the direction and saw the bridge that we need to cross. Though i initially thought that the bridge would empty, there seems to be a lot of traveler's crossing the bridge along with mount companions. There also seems to be guards and people up in the trees with their bows.

''Well it's that time of the year again'' as Ava spoke behind my back.

''Oh, are you done with that 'habit?' ''

''Yes i am''

''But anyway Ava, what did you mean by ''it's that time of the year again?'' is it a festival or something?'' i asked curiously.

"It's the Festival of the Norns. It's seems this year the festival would take place in Wodfel City.''

''Take place here? Why? Is this festival not a tradition in this city?''

''No, the Festival of the Norns is a circulation between the seedling cities. This year it seems Wodfel City would be the one to boil the the tree saps that will be produce by seedling tree of the World Tree. ''

''So basically it's a festival to celebrate a tree releasing saps to be boiled, which i assume to be drink?''

''Yes, although the newborns and young children would be the one to drink the sap from the tree. So that the Norns of the old tree can sew the threads of fate towards the newborn and the children will be blessed. The men and women who would drink the sap would also gain an enlightenment  that would clear their minds. And mostly just because the sap is really tasty. I too would like to drink some its sap.

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'' Well that explains the travelers''

''Yes, some people are addicted to the saps, Some people even tried getting barrels of the sap these years and due to that the security will be tighten. Look at there, there are scouts on the trees and in the bridge guarding the main way towards the mist forest.''

''No wonder... i  guess that there would be someone trying to make profits out of them. ''

"It should be fine, it's not like the bandits would find another way to enter Wodfel without entering  through here''

''Well that's a relief''

''Anyway, we need to go and cross the bridge now Stian , then we will head towards the entrance of the mist forest and go to the camping area and take a rest.''

''Okay, let's go'' i nodded.

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 Arriving at the camp ground near the mist forest entrace. Ava and i have rent up a two tents that was already built upon the place. Since i am penniless, i exchange some of my food packets and canned food for 300 coins  towards Ava as she happily bought them. But even so since she insisted on giving me another 300 coins for more of my packed beef jerky, i decided to give up and sell it to her. And with that i was able to rent a tent and have now a currency that can be use in this continent or world..

 Though it would be be a good save of budget if we shared the same tent. It's impossible to do so. After all i am still healthy young man and Ava is a young woman herself. Putting two different genders in the same room would be dangerous. It's also a matter of privacy which is why we cannot share the same tent.

 I did think about using my sleeping bag, which can also be use as a tent though rather just enough to protect my whole body. I thought about exposing my belongings to this amount of people camping is also rather bad so i went against it in the end and have decided to make a barter with Ava instead.

 Moving on, i decided to prep up the tent before i walked outside. In the area there were a bunch of travelers sitting near the bonfire including Ava. It seems that within those travelers she has friends  which she encountered in this camp. It's no surprise that with her personality she would have a lot of friends and can easily get some acquaintance. Since it's that i decided to leave her alone head towards the survey point near the camp and stay there for a bit.

 Walking along the spiral stairs and arriving at the top of the survey point. I took out my camera from my backpack and pointed it towards the campground and took a shot. There is no goddamn way im leaving my belongings on that tent since it makes me too paranoid.

 I attached the piece of part for the camera and then press print. After taking out the picture i did the same motion i do to make the picture clearer. Sitting on the floor i took my journal out and pasted the picture and use one page to write the details in a summary like way. After i was done writing i put my equipment and belongings back and stand up to take a look at the sky.

 Even with the mist leaking out of the forest, i can still clearly see the starry skies and look at it with wonder. No matter how many times i see them they are still beautiful and incomparable towards how they look in my world. With no pollution to block the sky, the starts brightly lit the night so much  that even without a torch or any light  providing item you can still see your steps.

 As i was about to head down and  go back inside my tent. I felt a chilling stare pointed at me and turn my head towards it. Seeing that the there were rustles and falling leaves. I shrugged it off as something my paranoia have created and leave it as it is. I then went down the survey point and decided to take a rest for the day.