Isekai Journey Of The Magic Archer

[Eon's POV: ]

"I still don't understand why we have to climb down the mountain if we are finding a lake. Aren't lakes like this one supposed to exist somewhere On top of the mountain-…!"

Alf was helping Bell climb down a steep rock and when she was about to fall down, he grabbed her by her waist and pulled her back.

"Careful there."

That much saved her from falling to the ground, but this little incident attracted the attention of the rest of people walking in front of them.

"Ahem! Thanks for that."

Bell got lost in his special purple eyes for a moment, but since this wasn't the first time something like this had happened, she controlled herself and got back to her senses.

'And after that Simple thanks, and a visible blush on her face, she walked off towards the front at Rein and the rest.'

She was leading the group in the front for now since we only had to go straight down this certain hill to reach the first passing point, while the rest of us helped the others who were having any difficulty from the back.

"You know what, Alfred?"

They were chatting with a smirk on their face, enjoying nature, the fine humid afternoon, and the cool breeze of the forest.

"Yes, captain Alpha?"

They were already having fun climbing down this hill even though it was a difficult thing.

But since they weren't any ordinary humans, they were having a fun time together.

And, occasional fun chats like this one made the climbing part easy for the rest of the group.

"You should ask Princess Isabella out."

"Yup. Agree."

"You two are practically a couple, making it official would be a fine addition to this group full of singles."

Captain Alpha, Jen, and Hide were giving some good advice to the newly in-love brother of mine.

But, I agreed with them quite a bit.

"I think she likes you as well, Alf."

"You think so as well, hun Lucifer."

It wasn't their first time suggesting something so absurd to him since this 'incident' wasn't the first time something romantic had happened between them and one of them had run away with an embarrassed look.

This has become pretty common since two weeks ago, specifically twelve days ago.

"W-what… what do you mean she likes me 'as well'?! Who said I like her?!"

"You don't?"

Including myself, six others around us who heard that looked at him with disbelief for a moment.

"What… what does that mean? There's no way I could hate her. And why would I, in the first place?

But that doesn't mean I like her That way-."

"Careful everyone. There's a sharp edge here."

None of us paid any attention to his excuses after he confirmed that he liked her As Well.

Well, it was pretty natural if we see it logically.

'As a half elf, as well as due to her natural disposition, she was sensitive to draconian energy.'

Ever since my birthday where I proposed Rein, she had been attracted to the unique energy that is always surrounding him.

An energy that she now knew belonged to Uto.

But, when she did not know about it and only considered this unique attraction to be some kind of coincidence, she was getting interested in him.

And after they met in the academy and became part of the same house, they got the chance to get closer.

'Their similar interests, his dedication to his passion, her dedication to her interests, there were quite a few things that brought them closer.'

And thanks to the changing times, circumstances, and some fated incidents, they had gotten closer.

'They knew they liked the other's company.'

And they denied it… which meant they knew about this attraction to the other party well.

'They weren't kids. They were younger than us, they weren't yet adults officially so they couldn't make it official even if they wanted to, but something could certainly come out of it.'

They were exploring it in the name of friendship, and seeing them and their pure 'friendship' was a fun experience for the rest of us.

'Not only did it encourage the others who had a person they were attracted to, their pure friendship was a reminder to couples like us how important these little things were to a relationship.'

They were cute together.

Them getting together would be a pretty good thing.

"Alright, one last little climb.

There should exist a crescent fallen tree with three other trees growing on top of it."

After travelling down the mountain slope, we were finally going to reach the place that would mark the start of a few hour long adventure that all of us should remember for quite a while.

"There's a tree up there with other trees growing from it?" Med wasn't the only one that was questioning this thing.

There were many that had never seen trees growing from fallen trees but those of us who were familiar with the forests and the unique nature of some of the special kinds of trees knew well about how this was certainly possible.

There was a steep hill before us now. And beyond it existed the first stop.

We had to go up and doing so was easier than tracking down from this third mountain.

"I'll go ahead. You all catch up slowly."

And saying that, the winged fairy just took off towards the top of the hill, issuing a challenge to the rest of the group.

And, as I knew, Rein and Carla were the first ones to take her up on that offer.

-Ooooooong.

However, since she was actually the only one that had wings here, the others had to use their own unique way to chase after the flying fairy.

"Watch out for the sharp rocks~."

Rein used her special water magic to block Tia in her way while she used her skill to step and run on the air.

Carla was going to directly jump up by using her Aura but she missed the aim and crashed into the very hill she was supposed to climb.

"Ahahaha!

Cradle used that opportunity to create a limited explosion that would throw her properly upward, but her plan failed when the president grabbed her and pinned her in her place with SanSan helping him.

However, since he did that, even he lost the chance to be in the lead.

'Lizzy had no way to even fight in this competition so she just stayed in her place and chatted with Zoe and Med who were having fun looking at the rest of them fighting to get on top of the hill before the other.'

There was a race going on, and there was an audience enjoying this show.

They were competing, but the winner of this little contest of theirs was already decided…

"You all should focus on the important thing instead of fighting among yourselves."

Quin commented with a smug smile while standing on top of the steep hill… along with Ezra and Miss Mia.

"Hen?"

The three of them had somehow made it to the top even before the one that could fly and the one that could almost fly…

"Hey! Using spirits is cheating!"

And both of them knew very well just how that could have been made possible.

Experience magic on m-vl-e-mpyr

"This was not any competition and there were also no rules~. And if you just use your head and come up from the right side like the others, you would save so much energy, you know~?"

She was mocking them, which was a rare occasion where she was having fun after having done something mischievous.

Not that she herself had done anything wrong since what she said definitely made sense.

"Let's go as well."

"Um-hmm~. I want to see those trees~."

Right beside the steep slope, there was a narrow passageway that was better than the slope for faster travel.

It was narrow so only a few people could use it at a time, but it was still better than this straight wall.

"Alf, please take care of Baal and Med."

"Ah, yes."

One just had to use a speed enhancement magic to Swoooosh over to the other side, and wind spirits made it even easier.

"Zoe?"

"Oh, of course~. Come, come."

The other dummies continued their fight for the top spot even when we had reached the top of the hill, and though they took their sweet time, by the time they all had come up there, we were already done admiring the scene before us.

"Now that's… pretty."

Before them stood an arched tree half buried in the ground on both ends.

And the arch was six times my size already, so not even prince Alph's orc vice captain with the tallest height among the people present here could touch the top of it.

It must have been a big tree before it fell, a great tree most likely.

But its lifespan had ended and it was nothing more than a lifeless piece of hardened wood upon which three distinct lives were now flourishing.

"How could these three trees be of different kinds?" Lizzey was astonished just like the rest of us who came up here together.

This was their first time seeing a natural wonder but… it was different for a few of us.

After living in that forbidden forest for all those years, there were only a few things I could think of that would still surprise me as much as these people.

"Amazing…."

Rein had wandered through nature for decades, Tia had lived in the forests most of her life, and the same was true for Gabriel as well.

Quin had also lived on a remote island most of her life, Hide had lived in a deep forest area, and our President had spent most of his life in the forest of the world he had come form.

Thus…

'A forest held a great and unique meaning to most of us, and after today, the same was going to become the truth for those who had no such unique connection with this vast nature.'

This was the first point, and after we cross five more of them, we will reach the destination… and when we do, I'm pretty sure a disbelief is going to shroud this little group of ours.