“Now then, what should I do today?” said Angga to himself while stretching himself on his workstation.
It has been days since the contest closure on the Canau, and right now, it was evening out of the window while Angga was in a good mood after work. He knew that he had a ton of materials that could be edited into full-fledged video content, except when they faced the void bull back then.
The situation was too intense for Angga, so he forgot to record the whole situation and focused on helping Clara only with his mirrorless camera’s flashlight. It didn’t do much, but it was an honest work.
About the bonus rewards of the contest against Alcibiades, Angga initially wanted to give everything they got for Clara. But she politely rejected it and said it was their attempt together, so she suggested splitting the reward evenly, and Angga agreed.
Still, using the gold from the Town Hall was quite risky in his world. There is a high chance that the authorities would investigate the source of Angga’s income since his gold has no certificate or other documents supporting its authenticity. If he sold it to the flea market or any such, it would soon create rumors that risked him being targeted by the people he didn’t want to meet.
“Either way, I can’t use it except when I go to Clara’s place,” he laughed wryly a bit while checking the footage on his workstation.
After a few minutes, Angga was deeply immersed in the screen while producing new video content to put on his channel. Perhaps about a solid three hours, he finally stretched his arms and yawned. His fingers clicked his mouse a few times to make a final adjustment for the project.
“Alright, scheduled for tomorrow evening. It is supposed to have massive views since I’ve kept track of the ideal time to post this content.”
He made his head blank for a bit to rest his mind until his right hand moved by itself to access more footage he got left, which wasn’t used for the video this time. At that moment, he realized how different and magical Clara’s world was.
It was real. He interacted and touched any objects that originated from there, and he didn’t wake up. It wasn’t a dream.
His mind wandered, imagining more and more possibilities of amazing things he hadn’t seen yet on another side. There was a lizard human, a strong creature with pointy teeth, green skin, and a seemingly human, but their ear shape said otherwise.
What kind of wonder could he find if he spent more and more time there? Perhaps, he could venture into the domain no human has stepped in before.
“Let’s see…”
He checked the stocked footage to use later. It was true that Angga didn’t need to record this time since there was a bunch to use for his video content later. But gathering and seeing more of how the world works on the other side wasn’t a bad idea either.
The clock hit midnight when he glanced at the wall. Well, he still had work tomorrow, so he quickly went to bed.
Angga’s days went uneventful since he just needed to do his daily routine until it was time to clock off. Somehow, he just wanted to visit Canau town again for no reason.
He went to the usual banyan tree, got teleported to a certain part of the town and took a leisure walk toward the Resources Guild.
“Hey, everyone! How have you been!”
Yet, he greeted no one. He glanced towards every part of the guild hall, which was truly empty. Where did they go?
Since there were none in this place, Angga planned to go around and look for something interesting for his content. As he approached the door, the tall, familiar figure appeared.
“Angga! You’re there!” greeted Clara.
“Hi. Yeah, just paying a visit. I thought you guys were on the job or something.”
“Not really. Well, for Aleid, he got his own business. But pretty much, I don’t have anything to do,” declared the lion girl nonchalantly.
“Then, are you interested in joining me to go around? I want to see if anything is interesting around so I can record it,” asked Angga while he pointed his fingers at his floating camera.
“Yeah, sure.”
Hence, the two individuals were strolling this evening to find something interesting.
The city's center, which usually resembles a night market, has become common for Angga, so he decided to walk in another direction this time. He knew that cafes and restaurants were mainly located in the eastern part of the town, except the tavern, located on the border between the central and western parts of the town.
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It could be because one could easily find any shop that supported adventure activities, such as weapons, armor, and potions. They could easily handle some paperwork related to appraisal magic from their adventure loots since the Town Hall was also in the central area. Perhaps, that’s why the tavern was located in such a strategic place.
So, today, Angga wanted to explore the southern area of the town since he had yet to set foot there.
“Ooh, we’re going south? Okay, it’ll be exciting.”
“What’s in there?”
“You should see it for yourself, Angga.”
It didn’t take long for Angga to open his mouth in awe. The south part of Canau town has been dedicated to a training ground fused with a beautiful park that uses magic for its maintenance, making it an amazing sight for a plain human like Angga—probably the size of three football parks.
There are several bird species that Angga couldn’t recognize, but they could be seen playing around the park, combined with a few flying tools to attend to the tree, which was made into a nest with the said animal–or monster. Some of the staff consisted of Satwa and Sharp Teeth people, casting magics to water or nurture the vegetation there, while the others enjoyed the park to relax or take a break from training.
Speaking about training, there was an open building or stadium for people to gather around and test their might after a few meters from the park. Since there was no killing system, thanks to the Overseer, they tended to go overboard just to spar with each other. It was the first thing Angga saw when he arrived in the southern part of the town.
“Basically, that’s the explanation of this place. Each adventurer needs to hone themselves since there is no mercy against the monsters out there. Well, except those birds. They’re tame,” explained Clara.
“I can’t see the birds.”
“Really? They are right there, in the park.”
Angga snorted. “I’m sorry that my eyesight isn’t that excellent.”
Clara giggled while Angga moved his floating camera to find anything interesting–the scene of people who go against each other. He made sure that he moved his camera around the stadium to find the right angle to shoot two scally people who were on a spar.
One was excellent with his lance, and his opponent seemed comfortable with her bow and arrow alongside some magic to support her skirmish. One could guess that the lancer one could overcome his opponent easily once he got near the archer. But, she quickly utilized her magic for the diversion and quickly made a distance to launch a few of her arrows.
The spar was breathtaking enough that people around there were also watching. The human guy couldn’t remove his attention from his screen while focusing on his mind to control his camera carefully. Little did Angga know that Clara looked at him with a warm, affectionate gaze. She also did some recordings that focused on Angga’s figure. Of course, she made sure that he wouldn’t notice.
After that, they strolled around the park to feel the ambiance. It was definitely different from the parks he visited in his own world since the one here truly filled with that made someone from earth cover their mouth. Who would’ve thought that lizard men were basking in the sun while talking with someone with wings? Or a group of Sharp Ears children playing catch–enhanced with wind magic so it looks pretty fast for human eyes–with a lizardman.
It goes without saying that Angga recorded everything here to his heart’s content.
And the lion girl couldn’t help but notice the sparkles in the human guy’s eyes, which were warm and bright enough since it was brimming with the joy of a child seeing someone new for the first time.
That kind of look was adorable for Clara, and she smiled with a little blush.
They looked around for around two hours until it was almost late. Clara poked Angga's shoulder so she could get his attention.
“I know another nice spot that might interest you. That place is in the same direction as the Ounen Tree in the outer west part of the town. You can look it on the way you go back,” offered Clara.
“Oh really? Then, we can go there now. I think I’ve got enough footage for me to use later.”
“Sure!”
It took a while from the south part of the town to the west part. The scenery was different if Angga glanced at it. Compared to the south part, the west part only consists of residential areas with some gaps visible between the houses; it is mostly an empty area. After all of his walk in and out of this place to the Ounen Tree, he just recently noticed that this area needed to be more developed compared to the central and south areas.
And when they left the town border, Clara led the way toward the tree where Angga’s portal was.
“Now, prepare to get surprised.”
“At this point, anything I’ve never seen here before will surprise me,” commented Angga.
“Haha, understandable. Alright, then…”
Clara waved towards the tree for a bit, which made Angga wonder. Has she tried to communicate with the fae? In the first place, can someone have two-way communication with them?
Yet, Angga quickly recalled when the first time Clara told him about the faeries. One could ask the fairies about anything if his memory served him right. He also had no clue if the faeries were actually all-knowing creatures or just the same as other people–they only knew what they knew.
“Hi there, Faeries of the Ounen Tree! May I ask your grace again?” asked Clara politely but cheerfully.
The tree suddenly looked so busy because of its branches and leaves movement. And then, a group of mini creatures with wings float around to get closer to the lion girl. They went around her for a bit while the girl giggled before a dusty substance came from the crowds of faeries and engulfed Clara.
“Huh, what is that, Clara?”
“Everyone, can you also help me apply this to my friend? Don’t worry, he’s a kind guy.”
“Huh?”
Due to Clara’s request, the faeries moved to gather around Angga, which alarmed him a little, especially when the dusty substance came out and surrounded him until he coughed a bit.
“Cough–cough. Urgh, what is this?”
“It’s a faeries dust. You need to take it. Just don’t breathe when they apply it to you.”
“For–urgh–what?”
“Because this nice place needs their magic so we can go there. You will never see the entrance when no faeries dust is applied,” Clara explained while referencing the faeries.
“Eh?”
The faeries finally finished their business and returned to the tree, disappearing amongst the thick leaves. Clara beckoned Angga to follow her in another direction, which he had never gone before.
It was a cave.
Angga couldn’t remember if he had seen a cave around this tree before on his way back all this time. Perhaps it is the effect of the faeries dust?
He wondered if getting inside was safe. Since there was no light inside and, perhaps, there was danger. But, considering that Clara leisurely walked inside with her face smiling, Angga could ease up a little.
A few seconds after he walked inside, Angga couldn’t believe his eyes to find what was inside the cave, which was hidden because of the magical power of faeries dust.
The cave itself was almost another portal that transferred them to another realm. Various vegetation glowed slowly at its own pace, slowly becoming dim and bright without hurting one’s eyes.
Somehow, Angga could sense the fresh air along with a soft breeze hitting his hair and nose even though he had no idea where this place could lead so the air current could move like this.
What almost took his breath away was when he looked up at the ceiling. A vast space filled with pillars of the cave with a small bright blue light that seemed unreachable since it was located in the pseudo-sky, just like the real stars out there. It illuminated most of this place here, aside from the luminescent plants and vegetation, making anyone feel safe even though they were alone there.
“Faeries of the Ounen Tree told me about this place when they trusted me in the past. When I first stepped on this place, I knew that this place was a safe haven for me,” said Clara in a sweet tone.
And when Angga glanced over at the lion girl, he noticed that her gaze was somewhat different than usual.
That was the gaze of someone who considered the other party as important as their own life.