33 A Silent Journey (2/2)

Taking it off, he felt it with his hands again.

He was also pretty sure that he could use this as a weapon if required, as it was quite strong.

According to the Chief and the blacksmith who had come to drill those holes in it, this was made out of a relatively precious ore that was found at the bottom of lakes. The blacksmith hadn't been supposed to use this one, and it was because of a misunderstanding that the man had used such a precious material to make something so useless. However, it had been the tradition of his master to award the first creation of any apprentice to them, so he had apparently grudgingly decided to give it away regardless of the fact that something that could be sold for a value a hundred times more could be made out of the same amount of ore.

In other words, Aaron had lucked out, and he had thanked both the blacksmith and the former Chief a lot while etching their kindness into his heart. The former could clearly have given him something normal, but he had still given him this, which was valuable and also held sentimental value.

It wasn't exactly a round bowl – it had a round, flat bottom which ended at an edge, and then the rest of the bowl jutted out from there. In other words, instead of a rounded bottom like a regular bowl, the bottom was flat, which allowed him to rest his head there while also making sure that it wouldn't move around too much.

The blacksmith had also carved flowing patterns on the outside of the bowel, and he had asked whether Aaron wanted it painted. However, Aaron had been happy with the dull silver of the bowl, which wouldn't make it draw too much attention as it didn't reflect light.

All in all, Aaron was very, very happy with this acquisition which could be used defensively, offensively and, most importantly, for eating comfortably.

Edmond, whose laughter had been stopped abruptly because of the image of a Tera attacking one's head and making it burst open, saw Aaron's smile and decided to hold his tongue. If he looked at it from a different direction, maybe, it wasn't that silly, but he didn't know how others would judge it if when they went to proper, civilized places like Cities and Towns.

Shrugging, he decided to let it go.

Both of them were more or less casual, but Woof was vigilantly looking around while munching on the bread.

That was because it felt a strong sense of danger from this path, which was the reason why it, and, by default, Aaron had always avoided areas like these during their travels in the forest, which seemed to be the reason why the both of them hadn't trespassed on any path and found other people sooner.

Even when they had been about to embark on it, Woof had been very reluctant, and had only finally walked forward after being reassured by Aaron, who had been puzzled by this, too. Yet, knowing that it would be explained by Edmond soon, he had followed.

Now that there was silence, Edmond decided to answer the question that he had asked.

”This path was made by one of the strongest Teras in the World Government. That's all I know, all other details about the Tera are shrouded in secrecy, but those Teras were crucial to us surviving the apocalyptic age, so their power must be at a level we can't even fathom. The purpose is that the lingering presence and aura of the Tera would scare away all other Teras so that weak Ascenders like us, or, uh, me, who wouldn't survive a moment in the forest facing off against multiple ferocious predatory Teras, would have a path to travel on to get between settlements. That is why your Tera was afraid before. Come on. Let's hurry.”

The explanation made sense, as he could tell that Edmond really would die in barely a moment if he went inside the jungle. It also explained how Edmond had traveled until now. As he saw the man hurry forward, Aaron followed.

On the way, he began thinking about how he was supposed to communicate the information regarding the bond to Woof. This was something he wanted to handle well, so he decided to put a lot of thought on it on their way, and tell it to Woof after the reach of this nation.

They might treat each other as equals, now, but the truth was that Aaron was alive because of Woof. As such, he was indebted to the Tera.

With that being the case, it just felt…weird to ask Woof to relent to allowing something like that, which would place it in a subservient position.

Aaron was used to loneliness, so he saw no need to fill each and every silence with useless words. Edmond's mind was also on his father, so the journey proceeded for the most part without them talking to each other.

Both of them were also carrying backpacks made of hemp which also fascinated Aaron because of their practicality. Seeing them, the thought that humans were definitely a very creative bunch had gone through his mind.

They were filled with food that would last them for days, so they weren't very worried about that part.

Three days later, as they walked out of the path, Aaron got his first glimpse of a Town.

And, at that moment, he could only stand there and stare.