4 Vilto Village (1/2)

At the base if the origin tree, middle of the world.

\”Hey old man, how do we leave here and start our journey? I want to go as soon as possible\”

\”Calm yourself Dryad. We have to select a location first and bypass your personal body guard, the devourer\”

\”Oh that guy, nothing to worry about in that case. It can transform into a shadow and protect me since it's technically my shadow\”

\”I..see. In that case, chose a gender and we're good to go\”

\”You called me a mother one time, so, what's the gender of a mother?\”

\”Female...\”

\”Yes, that's the one I chose\”

\”Oh, then touch the symbol then\” Dryad nodded and stretched his hand to touch the blue symbol. It glowed brightly and covered Dryad in a bright blue light. After a few minutes, the light subsided and the result left Ariama shocked.

Green skin like the healthiest leaves, brown doey eyes and a figure that made men drool. Dryad as a female was beautiful. Ariama knew even if it chose to be a male, it would still be very handsome. It wasn't something that Bolsa could control, it was how Dryad was supposed to look like.

\”If Amphia, goddess of beauty, sees you like this, she's going to be very jealous\” Ariama joked making Dryad roll her beautiful eyes.

\”At least I'm not old and wrinkly\”

\”Urgh, shut up and let's go\”

\”Okay. Shadow\” She called and out of the black mass, a human like figure came out and stood behind Dryad. She touched the it's forehead and the information she got over the years flowed into the shadow.

The shadow became more solid, shocking Ariama.

\”You'd follow me from now on while the rest of you looks after my body\” Shadow nodded and blended into the environment.

\”Okay old man, shut your mouth and let's go\”

\”Oh, okay....Wait, you damn tree!\” Ariama yelled and punched her head.

\”Ow, bully\” She cried pouting.

Few hours later, they were travelling on a boat made by Ariama. Surprisingly, it was a wooden boat. The boat moved in its own towards a direction only known to Ariama.

\”Hey Dryad\”

\”Yes?\”

\”Open your real eyes for me\”

\”Why? They give me a headache\”

\”Just this once, bear with me\” Dryad looked at him and saw he was sincere so she complied. The veil of her fake eyes removed and the eyes that she always closed appeared. She opened her real eyes for the third time and stared into the universe.

She looked beside her and saw a huge glowing light that was a hundred times her size.

'Is that Ariama?' she asked herself.

\”Yes, little one, it's me. You can close your eyes now\” She did so and her fake eyes returned.

\”I've verified what I wanted to check. You got the heavenly eyes\”

\”Heavenly Eyes? What is that?\”

\”The eyes that always sees the truth and knows everything. A gift from the creator to a special creation of his. This is the first time I'm seeing this. The other gods will flip if they know you possess this treasure\” Ariama replied, grinning.

\”Whatever old man. I just want to know if we're close to our destination\” she said indifferently. Smoke curled out from the god's ears as he tried to reign in his temper.

\”We are almost there Lady Dryad\” Shadow answered from her side. Ariama was shocked again when he heard Shadow talk. Just a few hours later, the devourer's small manifestation could talk. The little tree just kept on surprising him.

An hour later and they approached a shore. They alighted and Ariama waved his hand, making the boat disappear. They marched forward, trying to get to a settlement before night approached. The lack of trees in that place made all three of them feel insecure.

The place had a lot of caves and stones that acted as natural barriers. It seemed as rocks had replaced trees making it a stone forest. Dryad wanted to start planting trees right away but was stopped by Ariama who told her to observe before acting. Against her desires, she agreed.

They walked for 15 hours before reaching a small settlement. There was an arc there made of stones and a stone sign saying the name of the village.

\”Vilto Village\” Dryad read and frowned. How could a village be named fish village when it was far from the sea.

They walked for a while before seeing a grey skinned woman. That was the first time all three if them had seen a person in the flesh so they were quite surprised. But they covered it up well.

'She's normal' they all thought.

\”Hello there\” the woman greeted with a smile as soon as she saw them. It was quite dark so she couldn't see their figures well.

\”Hi, we're travellers and we managed to find this village. Could you please settle us in?\” Dryad said in a sweet tone. The woman froze as she struggled to speak. Ariama stiffled his laughter while Dryad and shadow gave him a weird look.

He knew what happened to the poor mortal. That's what happens when they hear the melodious voice of a goddess. Ariama transmitted it to their minds and they glared at him. The woman was in a daze and did not answer for quite a while. Ariama decided to take pity in the poor woman and used his power to snap her out of it.

\”Oh, please forgive my rudeness. We have a small inn where you can settle for the night. Please follow me. You can meet the village head tomorrow\” She said.

\”Thank you kind lady\” This time it was Ariama who spoke.

The woman led them to a small inn and introduced them to the innkeeper. In the dim light, the woman could see clearly their complexions. Ariama was pure white, Dryad was emerald green and Shadow was nowhere to be found. It had blended into the environment.

\”Elementals!\” The woman gasped and the innkeeper had a shocked look on his face. Ariama's element, light, was one that was rarely seen in that world and Dryad's has never been seen before.

The two grey mortals were trembling.

\”Forgive me your graces, I had no idea you were elementals. This is a village of mortals so we rarely have Elementals except for the tax collectors and the few children who awaken their affinities\” The grey woman said with a bow.

Ariama dismissed them with a wave of his hand. The two of them visibly relaxed and after a few discussions, the woman went home and the innkeeper gave them both the best rooms. They thanked him and retired for the night as they were both tired. They didn't need to sleep but they needed to recharge they energies.