The duo walked without urgency, and Jax was relatively casual. He sent out his Raven Familiar back to Aurelion's Fall, updating Xara on the situation while he walked alongside her, noticing how Ashanti reacted to the changing environment.
For Ashanti, every sensation felt very loud.
The mana here flowed freely, unflattened by wards or conduits. It pooled in shallow hollows, thinned atop rocky ridges, surged faintly near twisted trees whose roots drank from unseen ley veins.
Normally, she would have been cataloging it, but now, she simply let it pass through her.
She walked a few steps behind Jax at first, then slowly found herself drifting closer, until they moved side by side without either of them acknowledging the change.
"How far do you think it is?" she asked eventually.
Jax glanced at the sky, not for navigation, but habit, "A few hours, maybe less. Depends on how isolated the terrain is,"
Ashanti nodded, "I can feel… faint clusters ahead. People. Not many."
