Chapter 124: Dungeon Found (1/2)
The deeper the group traveled into Laetus forest, the stranger the scenery around them became. The brightly colored fir trees from before, became sparse, replaced by giant orange flowers that were taller than everyone in the group put together.
These flowers glittered and shone like they were disco balls. Although they looked out of place in this wacky forest, Xinya felt that they were a vast improvement over the fir trees. Basically anything would be in his opinion.
It wasn't just the scenery that changed, the monsters did too. Xinya couldn't believe that there could be stranger monsters than that caterpillar-hamster hybrid they saw earlier. To his disbelief, there were, as he walked he saw that the monsters became more peculiar-looking than even he could have expected.
Xinya couldn't even start describing how they looked if someone asked him to describe the monsters he seen in the Laetus Forest, he would say that they ranged from something out of a Dr. Seuss nightmare to a Tim Burton's wet dream. All in all, Xinya was very impressed by the monster designs of this forest.
If he had to make a guess as to why this forest was so out of the norm, he would presume that it was the production team did. He figured they asked the designers to think outside the box as they were making this place, and out of spite, because of their meddling they decided to just throw the whole box away.
Xinya smile at that thought of the designers getting so pissed at the production team and decided to do whatever. 'They probably just got drunk while they were making this place, and when they saw what they had done, they decided to roll with it.' He thought to himself, amused.
”This place is simply amazing, It's like we are on another planet.” Xinya heard Melting Snow mummer next to him. He couldn't help but agree silently.
”Who would want to live on a planet like this,” Xinya asked, turning to look at him.
Smirking, Melting Snow cocked his head towards the only female in their group, ”Roaming Wind would love living here.”
”I bet she would,” Xinya said, laughing slightly.
Hearing the sound of Xinya's laughter, Wei turned her head to look at him. What she saw brought a small smile to her face. She loved how much Xinya was enjoying playing this game. He was more carefree now than he ever been in the past. She was glad he found a friend that could bring out that childish side of his.
Although she was glad that he was happy, she was also a tad envious of Melting Snow, for being able to get Xinya to smile like that. She knows she makes him happy too, but she feels like he is always taking care of her when they should be taking care of each other.
Inside the game and outside of it, Xinya has been helping her in some sort of fashion. Even when he was trapped in that house with that 'woman', he inadvertently helped her by not trying to contact. If he did, she knew his stepmother would have made trouble for her and her mom.
Although she appreciates his help, she feels useless. She had previously talked to Wandering Sound about how she was feeling, and he told her that maybe she was subconsciously relying on Drifting Cloud and she needed to experience the game on her own.
She thought about what Wandering Sound told her really hard and realized that it was the truth. After they finish with this dungeon, she will sit down and talk to Xinya about parting ways and go with Wandering Sound to gain experience on her own. Once she was stronger and could match up to Xinya, is when she would rejoin him.
As if sensing that she was thinking about him, Xinya turned to look at her. Giving him a bright smile she asked, ”What are you two laughing about over there?”
”Nothing at all,” Melting Snow quickly said. ”Isn't that right Drifting Cloud.”
”If you say so,” Xinya said laughing at how silly the boy was being. He wondered if Melting Snow was really scared of Roaming Wind.
Cocking her eyebrow at the two of them, she said, ”Sure, have your little secrets.”
Wandering Sound who was walking a little behind the three, smiled at the interaction between them. He could tell that Roaming Wind was a little jealous of how close Melting Snow was to Drifting Cloud. He saw the signs all the way back in Errinishworth.
He wouldn't tell her this, but he found it really cute. The way she was acting was similar to how a child acts when they get a new sibling and have to share their parents' attention. Walking to her side, Wandering Sound nudged her, before giving her a knowing smile.