[Luna POV]
The next morning we quickly picked up camp and left the camping area before me and Ophidia stood next to each other with enough space between us to both transform.
“Ready Ophidia?” (Luna)
“Of course, master. And even though I know you’ll be holding back I plan on winning this race.” (Ophidia)
“Fufufu. We’ll see about that. The only way you’ll win is if you drop some golden apples in front of me.” (Luna)
“I don’t have any of those.” (Ophidia)
“Yeah, just ignore that, something related to a myth from my last life, I don’t expect anyone to get it but me.” (Luna)
We both looked forward and transformed into our respective other forms. I crouched down onto the ground and let Velvet and Soleil climb on my back and Skadi started riding Ophidia.
“Hold on tight, don’t bite your tongues, and please for the love of fluff, don’t pull my hair out.” (Luna)
“We’ll do our best.” (Soleil)
“Are you comfortable, Skadi?” (Ophidia)
“Perfectly.” (Skadi)
“Soleil, give us the signal to start.” (Luna)
“Aaaaaaaand……GO!” (Soleil)
Ophidia immediately moved when Soleil gave the signal, and I started right after so I could get a read on her speed. I then realized that this would be more difficult that I thought.
‘Why didn’t I think this through? Even with a tunnel this big, our sizes are quite large and it’s hard not stepping on her tail.’
{I have faith you’ll do well. And if push comes to shove, just run on the walls. You’re fast enough that you should be able to.}
‘Heh. That actually gives me an idea.’
“Hey Soleil, I’m going to open a small domain and have it float around us, stick as many of the winged shoe talismans onto Ophidia that you have and we’ll see just how fast that’ll make her so that this becomes more interesting.” (Luna)
“While I don’t mind doing that, is Ophidia OK with it?” (Soleil)
“Are you, Ophidia?” (Luna)
“Go for it.” (Ophidia)
“I don’t like this idea.” (Velvet)
“Hey, at least I’m not coating my body in lightning at the moment.” (Luna)
“Very true.” (Velvet)
I opened a small domain and then got a little closer to Ophidia who slowed down enough for us to do this. Soleil reached into her bag and pulled out talisman after talisman and stuck them to Ophidia where they activated immediately on contact and left somewhat faint glowing marks on the places where the talismans were placed.
“Hahahahahaha. Everything looks so slow now. Is this how you see the world, master?” (Ophidia)
“When I want to. It gets annoying after a while though.” (Luna)
“I’m done. Let’s resume.” (Soleil)
We refocused on the path in front of us and sped up again. The second Ophidia actually attempted to speed up, she practically disappeared.
“Fufufufufufu! Ahahahahahahahahaha! That’s more like it! Here we go!” (Luna)
I sped up as well and very quickly caught up with Ophidia. During this speed up, I felt the two on my back cling tighter to me. I glanced at where Skadi was on Ophidia’s back and saw she had a fierce smile on her face showing she was clearly enjoying this situation. As we ran, I heard a few rumbles coming from us.
‘I hope that doesn’t cause any problems.’
{These tunnels are fortified by magic, so they’ll be fine. By the way, what were those sounds?}
‘Probably the sound barrier breaking. I’m so happy I put a barrier around Soleil and Velvet for safety’s sake.’
{Indeed. Though by the looks of it, Skadi is enjoying herself.}
‘I think Soleil is enjoying this, but Velvet, not so much. At least that’s what I can somewhat tell from how hard they are gripping me.’
{Oh, look out, you’re about to run into some other people.}
I saw what Tamamo was talking about and veered to the left and up the wall of the cave.
“LUNAAAAAAAA!!!” (Velvet)
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! THIS IS SO MUCH FUN!” (Soleil)
As I passed by the obstacle I was delighted by the people’s shocked faces.
‘Hahahahahaha! Priceless.’
{Ufufufufu. That was really funny. Especially the one that fell backwards while trying to follow your movement.}
‘I’m more surprised they could even follow my movements at all.’
{Well, they did see you coming from the front, just not for very long.}
I made my way back to the ground and I somehow pulled ahead of Ophidia. When I used my space magic to look at her and saw an excited gleam in her eyes. When I started to pay attention to what was in front of me again, I saw that the tunnel opened up into a cave filled with pillars of rocks spread everywhere.
“Velvet, I’m so very sorry for what’s about to happen.” (Luna)
When I burst into the cave I started doing my best to keep my speed while also avoiding the pillars and minimizing my movements so I didn’t shake Velvet and Soleil up too much. I was doing well for about a minute when Ophidia passed beside me weaving through the pillars like it was nothing.
“I’ll be seeing you, master.” (Ophidia)
“Gah! You and your serpentine body!” (Luna)
“She is a serpent, Luna!” (Skadi)
“I know that!” (Luna)
I focused on dodging the pillars for a bit until I found my rhythm and I started to slowly start gaining on Ophidia again.
“Master, a warning, a big gap is approaching.” (Ophidia)
“Alright. Thanks.” (Luna)
A few seconds later I saw what Ophidia was talking about. It was a large chasm that had only one thin bridge spanning it.
‘Pfffffft. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! The bridge of Khazad Dum!’
{Huh?}
‘It’s nothing. Let’s see if I can jump it.’
Ophidia slithered across the bridge at an incredible speed while I lined myself up to the edge and, once there, jumped.
“WHY DID I DECIDE RIDING ON LUNA’S BACK WAS A GOOD IDEA!?” (Velvet)
“I AGREE WITH YOU AT THIS PARTICULAR MOMENT!” (Soleil)
I had made it more than halfway across before I figured I wasn’t going to make it, so before I started falling, I blinked to the other side and slid to a stop. Seeing this, Ophidia did the same.
“What a rush.” (Luna)
“Are you ok, master?” (Ophidia)
“I’m fine, but let’s take a break here, Velvet and Soleil need a moment.” (Luna)
Ophidia nodded her head and Skadi climbed off her back before she returned to her humanoid form. The two on my back shakily climbed off me and I did the same.
“Luna, we need to have a talk.” (Velvet)
“No need, I get that that was a bit too reckless but I kind of got caught up in the moment.” (Luna)
“No, you need to reflect. If you don’t, I know for a fact that something like this will happen several more times. I may have given up on common sense, but I haven’t given up common decency.” (Velvet)
“Velvet, how much of this is you being mad at what big sis just did, and how much of it is just you venting since you haven’t really enjoyed this in the slightest?” (Soleil)
“…I’m mostly just venting at this point. But I’m still serious about Luna reflecting on her actions just now. Now, as I was saying, Luna…where’d she go?” (Velvet)
“Over there.” (Skadi)
I had sneakily moved away from Velvet’s lecturing and was staring down into the chasm that we just crossed. I took out a torch from my inventory, lit it with lightning magic, and dropped it down into the dark. I could see it fall for a while before it got too far away for the light to be seen. I strained my ears to see if I could hear the torch hit the ground, but I never did.
“…” (Luna)
{No.}
“But Tamamo!”
{No.}
“Fine.”
I turned my back on the chasm and walked back over to the group.
“Ophidia, how about calling the race here? Velvet is clearly not enjoying it and by the look of it, this cave still goes on for a while. Going by this, you’d most likely be the one who wins. And for the record, you only win due to terrain advantage.” (Luna)
“I’m fine with that. But now I must ask, what do I get for winning?” (Ophidia)
“Wyvern meat cooked by me using the full power of level 10 cooking and not level 6 to 8 like I usually do.” (Luna)
“WOOOOOOOOO!” (Ophidia)
“You’ll share, right?” (Skadi)
“…yes.” (Ophidia)
“Hahaha.” (Soleil)
“Anyway, let’s set up our resting spot and I’ll get to cooking.” (Luna)
We all got to work and a little bit later I presented Ophidia’s reward to her. Her eyes were all sparkles and her mouth was creating waterfalls. When she took her first bite she froze completely.
“…” (Ophidia)
“Luna, you better not have broken my Ophidia.” (Skadi)
“I didn’t. She’s just trying to process what she’s experiencing now. She’ll be back to us eventually.” (Luna)
“I’ll trust you on this.” (Skadi)
I chuckled at this and then got to handing out everyone else’s meal before sitting down with my own. We chatted for a bit while waiting for Ophidia to reboot about today’s event. By the time Ophidia snapped out of it, she went on a tangent of how insanely good the meal in front of her was causing Skadi to try a small bit of it which resulted in the same thing happening to her that Ophidia just recovered from.
“Master, you better not have broken my Skadi.” (Ophidia)
“You literally just went through the same thing.” (Luna)
“I know, but I still had to say it.” (Ophidia)
“It’s funny they both said the same thing.” (Velvet)
“Yep. Had the same expression and tone as well.” (Soleil)
The chatting continued until Skadi recovered and then we discussed if we would move on now or just stay for the rest of the day. A majority voted to say here until tomorrow, so we got to work setting up the rest of our camping equipment.
Chaos Realm:
Order: INSANTIY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Crisis: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Grey: Do I even want to know?
Atmos: No.
Grey: Alright then...So, Velvet isn't good with thrills like this, huh.
Atmos: Seems like it. But it was still a good race.
Grey: I agree. Shame it had to end so soon. And those talismans, damn were they effective.
Atmos: I think the only reason they were was because it was Luna and Soleil that made them. Normal ones made by normal people most likely won't be as effective when Stellar magic becomes more usable.
Grey: I figured as much, but it's still impressive.
Atmos: Yep.
Tonya: Nya. Too loud nya. Irritated nya.
Crisis: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Tonya has joined the case!
Order: GET BACK HERE!!!
[Luna POV]
The next morning we quickly picked up camp and left the camping area before me and Ophidia stood next to each other with enough space between us to both transform.
“Ready Ophidia?” (Luna)
“Of course, master. And even though I know you’ll be holding back I plan on winning this race.” (Ophidia)
“Fufufu. We’ll see about that. The only way you’ll win is if you drop some golden apples in front of me.” (Luna)
“I don’t have any of those.” (Ophidia)
“Yeah, just ignore that, something related to a myth from my last life, I don’t expect anyone to get it but me.” (Luna)
We both looked forward and transformed into our respective other forms. I crouched down onto the ground and let Velvet and Soleil climb on my back and Skadi started riding Ophidia.
“Hold on tight, don’t bite your tongues, and please for the love of fluff, don’t pull my hair out.” (Luna)
“We’ll do our best.” (Soleil)
“Are you comfortable, Skadi?” (Ophidia)
“Perfectly.” (Skadi)
“Soleil, give us the signal to start.” (Luna)
“Aaaaaaaand……GO!” (Soleil)
Ophidia immediately moved when Soleil gave the signal, and I started right after so I could get a read on her speed. I then realized that this would be more difficult that I thought.
‘Why didn’t I think this through? Even with a tunnel this big, our sizes are quite large and it’s hard not stepping on her tail.’
{I have faith you’ll do well. And if push comes to shove, just run on the walls. You’re fast enough that you should be able to.}
‘Heh. That actually gives me an idea.’
“Hey Soleil, I’m going to open a small domain and have it float around us, stick as many of the winged shoe talismans onto Ophidia that you have and we’ll see just how fast that’ll make her so that this becomes more interesting.” (Luna)
“While I don’t mind doing that, is Ophidia OK with it?” (Soleil)
“Are you, Ophidia?” (Luna)
“Go for it.” (Ophidia)
“I don’t like this idea.” (Velvet)
“Hey, at least I’m not coating my body in lightning at the moment.” (Luna)
“Very true.” (Velvet)
I opened a small domain and then got a little closer to Ophidia who slowed down enough for us to do this. Soleil reached into her bag and pulled out talisman after talisman and stuck them to Ophidia where they activated immediately on contact and left somewhat faint glowing marks on the places where the talismans were placed.
“Hahahahahaha. Everything looks so slow now. Is this how you see the world, master?” (Ophidia)
“When I want to. It gets annoying after a while though.” (Luna)
“I’m done. Let’s resume.” (Soleil)
We refocused on the path in front of us and sped up again. The second Ophidia actually attempted to speed up, she practically disappeared.
“Fufufufufufu! Ahahahahahahahahaha! That’s more like it! Here we go!” (Luna)
I sped up as well and very quickly caught up with Ophidia. During this speed up, I felt the two on my back cling tighter to me. I glanced at where Skadi was on Ophidia’s back and saw she had a fierce smile on her face showing she was clearly enjoying this situation. As we ran, I heard a few rumbles coming from us.
‘I hope that doesn’t cause any problems.’
{These tunnels are fortified by magic, so they’ll be fine. By the way, what were those sounds?}
‘Probably the sound barrier breaking. I’m so happy I put a barrier around Soleil and Velvet for safety’s sake.’
{Indeed. Though by the looks of it, Skadi is enjoying herself.}
‘I think Soleil is enjoying this, but Velvet, not so much. At least that’s what I can somewhat tell from how hard they are gripping me.’
{Oh, look out, you’re about to run into some other people.}
I saw what Tamamo was talking about and veered to the left and up the wall of the cave.
“LUNAAAAAAAA!!!” (Velvet)
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! THIS IS SO MUCH FUN!” (Soleil)
As I passed by the obstacle I was delighted by the people’s shocked faces.
‘Hahahahahaha! Priceless.’
{Ufufufufu. That was really funny. Especially the one that fell backwards while trying to follow your movement.}
‘I’m more surprised they could even follow my movements at all.’
{Well, they did see you coming from the front, just not for very long.}
I made my way back to the ground and I somehow pulled ahead of Ophidia. When I used my space magic to look at her and saw an excited gleam in her eyes. When I started to pay attention to what was in front of me again, I saw that the tunnel opened up into a cave filled with pillars of rocks spread everywhere.
“Velvet, I’m so very sorry for what’s about to happen.” (Luna)
When I burst into the cave I started doing my best to keep my speed while also avoiding the pillars and minimizing my movements so I didn’t shake Velvet and Soleil up too much. I was doing well for about a minute when Ophidia passed beside me weaving through the pillars like it was nothing.
“I’ll be seeing you, master.” (Ophidia)
“Gah! You and your serpentine body!” (Luna)
“She is a serpent, Luna!” (Skadi)
“I know that!” (Luna)
I focused on dodging the pillars for a bit until I found my rhythm and I started to slowly start gaining on Ophidia again.
“Master, a warning, a big gap is approaching.” (Ophidia)
“Alright. Thanks.” (Luna)
A few seconds later I saw what Ophidia was talking about. It was a large chasm that had only one thin bridge spanning it.
‘Pfffffft. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! The bridge of Khazad Dum!’
{Huh?}
‘It’s nothing. Let’s see if I can jump it.’
Ophidia slithered across the bridge at an incredible speed while I lined myself up to the edge and, once there, jumped.
“WHY DID I DECIDE RIDING ON LUNA’S BACK WAS A GOOD IDEA!?” (Velvet)
“I AGREE WITH YOU AT THIS PARTICULAR MOMENT!” (Soleil)
I had made it more than halfway across before I figured I wasn’t going to make it, so before I started falling, I blinked to the other side and slid to a stop. Seeing this, Ophidia did the same.
“What a rush.” (Luna)
“Are you ok, master?” (Ophidia)
“I’m fine, but let’s take a break here, Velvet and Soleil need a moment.” (Luna)
Ophidia nodded her head and Skadi climbed off her back before she returned to her humanoid form. The two on my back shakily climbed off me and I did the same.
“Luna, we need to have a talk.” (Velvet)
“No need, I get that that was a bit too reckless but I kind of got caught up in the moment.” (Luna)
“No, you need to reflect. If you don’t, I know for a fact that something like this will happen several more times. I may have given up on common sense, but I haven’t given up common decency.” (Velvet)
“Velvet, how much of this is you being mad at what big sis just did, and how much of it is just you venting since you haven’t really enjoyed this in the slightest?” (Soleil)
“…I’m mostly just venting at this point. But I’m still serious about Luna reflecting on her actions just now. Now, as I was saying, Luna…where’d she go?” (Velvet)
“Over there.” (Skadi)
I had sneakily moved away from Velvet’s lecturing and was staring down into the chasm that we just crossed. I took out a torch from my inventory, lit it with lightning magic, and dropped it down into the dark. I could see it fall for a while before it got too far away for the light to be seen. I strained my ears to see if I could hear the torch hit the ground, but I never did.
“…” (Luna)
{No.}
“But Tamamo!”
{No.}
“Fine.”
I turned my back on the chasm and walked back over to the group.
“Ophidia, how about calling the race here? Velvet is clearly not enjoying it and by the look of it, this cave still goes on for a while. Going by this, you’d most likely be the one who wins. And for the record, you only win due to terrain advantage.” (Luna)
“I’m fine with that. But now I must ask, what do I get for winning?” (Ophidia)
“Wyvern meat cooked by me using the full power of level 10 cooking and not level 6 to 8 like I usually do.” (Luna)
“WOOOOOOOOO!” (Ophidia)
“You’ll share, right?” (Skadi)
“…yes.” (Ophidia)
“Hahaha.” (Soleil)
“Anyway, let’s set up our resting spot and I’ll get to cooking.” (Luna)
We all got to work and a little bit later I presented Ophidia’s reward to her. Her eyes were all sparkles and her mouth was creating waterfalls. When she took her first bite she froze completely.
“…” (Ophidia)
“Luna, you better not have broken my Ophidia.” (Skadi)
“I didn’t. She’s just trying to process what she’s experiencing now. She’ll be back to us eventually.” (Luna)
“I’ll trust you on this.” (Skadi)
I chuckled at this and then got to handing out everyone else’s meal before sitting down with my own. We chatted for a bit while waiting for Ophidia to reboot about today’s event. By the time Ophidia snapped out of it, she went on a tangent of how insanely good the meal in front of her was causing Skadi to try a small bit of it which resulted in the same thing happening to her that Ophidia just recovered from.
“Master, you better not have broken my Skadi.” (Ophidia)
“You literally just went through the same thing.” (Luna)
“I know, but I still had to say it.” (Ophidia)
“It’s funny they both said the same thing.” (Velvet)
“Yep. Had the same expression and tone as well.” (Soleil)
The chatting continued until Skadi recovered and then we discussed if we would move on now or just stay for the rest of the day. A majority voted to say here until tomorrow, so we got to work setting up the rest of our camping equipment.
Chaos Realm:
Order: INSANTIY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Crisis: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Grey: Do I even want to know?
Atmos: No.
Grey: Alright then...So, Velvet isn't good with thrills like this, huh.
Atmos: Seems like it. But it was still a good race.
Grey: I agree. Shame it had to end so soon. And those talismans, damn were they effective.
Atmos: I think the only reason they were was because it was Luna and Soleil that made them. Normal ones made by normal people most likely won't be as effective when Stellar magic becomes more usable.
Grey: I figured as much, but it's still impressive.
Atmos: Yep.
Tonya: Nya. Too loud nya. Irritated nya.
Crisis: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Tonya has joined the case!
Order: GET BACK HERE!!!
