Morning light filtered through the canopy above their camp, dappled and warm despite the chill that had settled overnight. Rem woke to the sound of Elise already moving around. The transformation was complete, her body finally her own again after many days of brutal retraining, but the consequences were still making themselves known in frustrating ways.
She sat up and reached for her armor, the leather and metal pieces she'd been wearing since leaving the settlement. The moment she tried to fasten the breastplate, the problem became immediately apparent. The leather straps wouldn't reach, not even close, and when she forced the buckle the seam along the side gave way with a tearing sound. The chest piece that had fit comfortably a week ago now refused to close over her new proportions, gaping open in a useless and embarrassing moment
"Fuck," she muttered, tossing the ruined armor into her inventory.
Kaisen glanced over from where he was rolling up his bedroll, his eyes catching on her figure for just a moment before quickly looking away. His face colored slightly, that light red hue he'd been having since her transformation, like he couldn't quite figure out how to look at her anymore without his brain short-circuiting. It would have been amusing if it weren't so annoying.
"Armor doesn't fit?" he asked, keeping his gaze carefully fixed at the ground.
"Obviously not." Rem pulled up her system interface, the translucent screen appearing in her vision with its a light glow. The store tab opened with a thought, and she scrolled through the armor options with growing irritation at the prices listed next to each item. Eight hundred LP for anything remotely protective, six hundred for lighter gear that wouldn't stop a determined knife, a thousand for the heavy plate that would slow her down too much to be worth it.
She'd just spent days relearning how to walk and now she had to drop nearly a thousand LP on equipment…. The unfairness of it burned in her chest, she cursed Aria so much internally, that the goddess was probably watching and laughing at her predicament right now.
The Adaptive Shadow Leather Armor caught her eye after several minutes of searching, mostly because the description promised it would adjust to the wearer's body. Eight hundred LP, dark leather reinforced with some kind of enchanted threading that made it stronger than it looked, form-fitting but with armour. The preview image showed a sleek black material that would probably emphasize every curve she'd gained, but at least it wouldn't tear the first time she moved wrong.
Rem confirmed the purchase before she could talk herself out of it, watching her LP counter drop from [4670] to [3870] in an instant that made her want to throw something.
The armor materialized in her inventory, and she pulled it out into physical space. The leather was soft under her fingers, supple and dark as midnight, with subtle reinforcement along the vital areas that wouldn't restrict movement.
She stripped off her torn gear and began fastening the new armor, piece by piece, feeling it settle against her skin with an odd sensation like it was molding itself to her shape. The chest piece closed easily this time, adjusting to accommodate her without gaping or straining, and the rest followed suit until she was fully equipped.
It was form-fitting in a way that made her self-conscious, emphasizing the hourglass figure she'd gained whether she wanted to or not, but when she moved through a few practice motions everything stayed in place without restricting her range.
"Better?" Elise asked, glancing over with an appraising look
"You think?" Rem said, which was about the best she could say for it.
A notification appeared in her vision, different from the usual quest updates or skill alerts. This one was marked with a golden border, the text shimmering slightly as it materialized.
[BASIC STRIKE - MASTER RANK]
Weapon Manifestation Unlocked
You have achieved complete mastery of fundamental combat techniques. As reward, you may now manifest a permanent bonded weapon from the system's armory. This weapon will grow with you, scaling to your power level, and may be dismissed or summoned at will
Available Options:
Greatsword - A heavy two-handed blade Katana - A single-edged curved sword Dual Chained Daggers - Paired weapons with extending chains Chained Twin Swords - Dual blades connected by chain..
Rem read through the options twice, considering each one carefully. The daggers were tempting for the mobility they'd provide, and the chained swords offered versatility she could definitely use, but she'd spent the last month training with a sword. Switching weapon styles now would mean relearning everything from scratch again, and she'd had more than enough of that recently.
The greatsword made sense. She'd developed the strength to wield a heavier blade properly, her increased stats easily capable of handling the weight that would have been too much for her before.
She selected the greatsword.
The air in front of her shimmered, reality bending slightly as the weapon materialized from nothing. Dark steel, almost black, with a blade that stretched nearly as tall as Elise was. The metal had a strange quality to it, like it was drinking in the morning light rather than reflecting it, and along the length were etched runes in a language she didn't recognize but somehow understood meant sharpness, durability, death. The crossguard was simple and functional, the grip wrapped in dark leather that felt warm under her palm, it felt like it was made for her
Which it was technically.
Rem lifted the greatsword experimentally. It should have been heavy, unwieldy, Instead it moved like an extension of her arm, perfectly balanced like it was weightless. Master Basic Strike provided the knowledge of exactly how to wield it, muscle memory installing itself in her body with the same certainty that had guided her training over the past days.
She moved through a few practice swings, and the blade sang as it cut through the air. It could probably cut through a 3 cores beast's flesh with slight effort.
The others had stopped their packing to watch. Kaisen's eyes were wide, tracking the blade's movement to see how she was doing this, of course no one could replicate her fluidity and grace. Elise had her arms crossed, expression thoughtful and maybe slightly concerned. Altaria peeked out from the wagon, her face pale but fascinated.
After a few minutes of swings, she was satisfied. Dismissing the weapon with a thought, It vanished back into her inventory, the space where it had been suddenly feeling empty. Summoning it again took only another thought, the greatsword materializing in her grip instantly, ready for use.
She spent another few minutes testing the manifestation and dismissal, getting used to the feeling of calling the weapon to her hand, before finally leaving it in her inventory and helping finish breaking down camp. They'd lost enough time already with her transformation and recovery, and the path to the capital wasn't getting any shorter.
The wagon was packed and ready within the hour, Altaria settled inside among the provisions, Elise took the reins at the front, the timber beast responding to her control with its usual placid acceptance. Kaisen moved ahead to scout too.
Rem climbed onto the wagon roof, settling into a crouch that let her see in all directions. This spot was her day one, giving her a wider field of view, and Desire Sense could sweep the surrounding area more effectively when she wasn't blocked by the wagon's sides. The manifested greatsword rested across her back in its dismissed state, ready to be called at a moment's notice.
They set off down the path as the sun climbed higher, the morning settling into a comfortable rhythm. The road here was less maintained than it had been closer to the settlement, narrowing to barely wide enough for the wagon, with grass and weeds encroaching from both sides. Trees pressed close on either side, ancient and thick-trunked, their branches forming a canopy overhead that filtered the sunlight into dappled patterns.
Rem kept her senses alert, Desire Sense sweeping outward in its thirty-foot radius, searching for any hint of emotion or presence that would indicate monsters or other threats. The skill picked up Kaisen ahead, Elise and Altaria below. Beyond them, nothing. Just empty forest, quiet and still.
Through the Empathic Bond, Kaisen's mental voice reached her, the connection allowing silent communication between them. "The Path is clear ahead. Looks like it continues like this for a while."
"How far to the next landmark?" Elise asked, her thoughts carrying through the link
"Maybe three days if we don't hit trouble," Kaisen replied. "This route is supposed to be faster but more dangerous. So far though, nothing."
"We're due for something to go wrong," Rem added, unable to shake the feeling that their recent luck couldn't last. "It's been too quiet."
"Don't jinx it," Elise thought back, a hint of amusement coloring the mental communication. "I'll take quiet over fighting for our lives any day."
They traveled like that for hours, the morning stretching into afternoon with nothing more exciting than the occasional bird call from the canopy above. The path wound through the forest in gentle curves, following the natural terrain, rising and falling with the landscape. Rem found herself relaxing slightly despite her instincts, the peaceful atmosphere working its way past her defenses. Maybe this route wasn't as dangerous as the warnings had suggested, or maybe they were just getting lucky for once.
The sun was past its zenith, starting its slow descent toward evening, when Rem noticed the change on the horizon.
At first it was just a lighter patch between the trees ahead, barely visible through the gaps in the foliage. She thought it might be a clearing or a break in the canopy letting more sunlight through, but as they drew closer the quality of the light shifted. Not brighter, but different, with a thickness to it that didn't match normal afternoon sun.
"Kaisen," she called forward, keeping her voice low. "Do you see that?"
He'd already stopped, one hand raised in the universal signal to halt. The wagon creaked to a stop behind him, and Rem felt Elise's attention sharpen through their bond, alertness replacing the calm of the silent travel.
Ahead, maybe a quarter mile down the path, a wall of fog stretched across their route. It was thick and white, completely obscuring whatever lay beyond it, rising from the ground to disappear into the canopy above. The edges were clearly defined, a sharp line between normal forest air and impenetrable mist, like someone had drawn a border and forbidden the fog from crossing it.
"Weather rolling in?" Kaisen said, but his tone held uncertainty.
"Fog in the afternoon?" Rem asked, climbing down from the wagon roof to get a better look. "In the middle of summer?"
"It happens in valleys like this," Elise said, though she didn't sound entirely convinced.
Rem activated Desire Sense, pushing the skill to its maximum range and focusing ahead toward the fog wall. The ability swept outward, searching for any hint of emotion or presence, any indication that something was waiting in that white expanse. It found nothing. Not the emptiness of an area devoid of life, but rather a complete absence of sensation, like the fog itself was blocking her ability to detect what lay beyond.
"I can't sense anything past it," she said, frowning. "Could just be the fog interfering with the skill, or..."
"Or it could be something actively blocking you," Kaisen finished, his hand moving to his sword hilt. "Should we go around?"
"Around how?" Elise gestured at the forest on either side of the path. "The trees are too thick for the wagon, and we don't know how far the fog extends. Could be a small bank, could stretch for miles. We'd lose days trying to find a way around it."
They stood there for a moment, staring at the white wall ahead. The forest around them was still and quiet, the birds were silent, no rustle of small animals in the undergrowth. Just the sound of their own breathing and the timber beast's patient huffing.
"Seems normal enough," Kaisen said finally, taking a few cautious steps toward the fog. "Just weather. We'll have to slow down, watch for obstacles, but we can probably pass through it by evening if we're careful."
"Probably," Rem echoed, unable to shake the unease settling into her bones. Her body was tense, muscles coiled despite the apparent normalcy of the situation, [Mind-Body Unity] keeping her in a state of readiness that felt at odds with the peaceful afternoon around them.
But what choice did they have? Forward was the only practical option, even if every instinct Rem had was whispering warnings she couldn't articulate.
"lets go through," Elise decided, her voice carrying the finality of command. "But we stay close, stay alert. If anything feels wrong, we stop immediately and reassess."
They approached the fog slowly, Kaisen taking point with his sword drawn, Rem was walking beside the wagon with her hand ready to summon the greatsword. The timber beast showed no sign of distress or reluctance, plodding forward with its usual calm indifference, which should have been reassuring but somehow wasn't.
The fog swallowed them all at once. One moment they were in clear forest air, the next they were surrounded by white so thick Rem could barely see Kaisen ten feet ahead. The temperature dropped slightly, comfortable rather than cold, and the sound of their footsteps became muffled. Not absent, not echoing, just... dampened, like the fog was absorbing noise before it could travel far.
Visibility was perhaps fifteen feet in any direction, the world beyond that distance completely obscured. The path beneath their feet was still visible, the packed earth easy enough to follow, but the trees on either side had become vague shadows, their trunks visible only as darker smudges in the white.
"Everyone still here?" Kaisen called, his voice sounding oddly flat.
"Here," Rem confirmed.
"Still driving," Elise added from the wagon.
"I'm okay," Altaria's voice came from inside, slightly nervous but steady.
They continued forward at a crawl, the wagon's pace reduced to barely faster than walking. Time became difficult to track without the sun visible overhead, the white expanse above them offering no clue to its position. Rem found herself trying to count their pace, estimating distance traveled by the number of steps, but the numbers kept slipping away from her. Had they gone a hundred meters? Two hundred? The fog made everything look the same, every tree trunk identical in its shadowy vagueness.
An hour passed, or maybe two, the monotony of white and gray making it hard to judge. They should have passed through by now, shouldn't they? The fog bank hadn't looked that large from outside, certainly not large enough to take this long to traverse. But maybe perspective had been deceptive, or maybe they were moving slower than Rem thought.
Through the Empathic Bond, she reached out. "How long have we been in this?"
"Not sure," Kaisen replied, and she could feel his own uncertainty through the link. "Hour? Maybe more? Hard to tell without seeing the sun."
"We should have cleared it by now," Rem said, that unease intensifying. "The wall wasn't that thick."
"Could have been deeper than it looked," Elise's thoughts carried a note of forced calm. "Or we're moving slower than we realize. The fog makes distances deceptive."
That should have been a sufficient explanation, logical and reasonable, but Rem's body refused to accept it. Every instinct screamed that something was wrong, but she couldn't identify what, couldn't point to any specific danger. Just wrong, so wrong.
"Does anyone else notice there aren't any sounds?" she asked aloud, breaking the muffled silence.
The others paused, listening. The forest around them was completely quiet. No bird calls, no rustle of leaves from small animals moving through the undergrowth, no buzz of insects. Even the wind had stopped, the air perfectly still, carrying no sound except for their own movements and breathing.
"The fog probably drove them away," Kaisen said, but his voice lacked conviction. "Animals don't like reduced visibility. They'll have gone to ground until it clears."
"Makes sense," Elise agreed. "Why expose yourself to predators when you can't see them coming?"
It did make sense, logically, practically, the explanation should have satisfied Rem's concerns. Animals were cautious by nature, and fog would absolutely make them seek shelter. There was no reason to be worried about their absence, no reason for her heart to be beating faster than it should, no reason for her hands to be trembling slightly with adrenaline that had no outlet. She was just paranoid right?
They continued through the white expanse as afternoon bled toward evening, though the only way to tell was the gradual dimming of the light filtering through the fog. The temperature remained comfortable, the air still and quiet, the path continuing steadily beneath their feet with no obstacles or threats.
Finally, as the light grew too dim to safely continue, they found a clearing just off the path. It was small, barely large enough for their camp, with grass underfoot and vague suggestions of trees surrounding them in the fog. Setting up was routine, mechanical, everyone moving through familiar motions without needing to discuss it.
Rem helped arrange bedrolls while Kaisen started the fire, the flames creating a bubble of warmth and light that pushed back maybe fifteen feet of fog before being swallowed by the white. Beyond that circle, the world simply ceased to exist, reduced to formless nothing that could have hidden anything or nothing at all.
As she worked, something nagged at the edge of her awareness. A question she couldn't quite form, a thought that kept slipping away before she could grasp it. How long had they been traveling today? They'd broken camp at dawn, traveled for hours before reaching the fog, then been inside it for... how long exactly?
She tried to calculate it, tried to add up the hours, but the numbers wouldn't stick in her mind. Morning until midday was maybe four hours, then another hour or two in the fog, which meant they should have made camp around mid-afternoon. But the light suggested later than that, closer to evening, which meant either her time sense was off or they'd lost more time in the fog than she thought.
The question bothered her for another moment before slipping away entirely, forgotten in the routine of setting up camp and the growing darkness around them.