They walked only for a few minutes before their tiredness caught up with them. They decided to lay down for just a bit.
Both Fenrir and Felix just lay there for a while, soaking in the feeling of not being hunted by fantasy monsters.
Eventually, Felix pushed himself up, brushing dirt and leaves from his clothes.
"We should get moving before something else finds us," he muttered, gripping the basked tightly.
Fenrir groaned but forced himself upright too
They began walking.
And walking.
And walking.
After about a genuine hour of walking, they approached civilization. But something was off. Instead of the ruins fading into the outer slums, the treeline just thinned.
The dirt paths became paved stone. Walls rose up in the distance, sturdy, clean. Lanterns hung from wrought iron posts, glowing with mana-infused light. People bustled about, wearing nicer clothes, carrying goods and chattering animatedly.
It was a completely different atmosphere, almost a polar opposite to the muted, dull and lifeless poor area they hailed from.
Fenrir stopped, blinking.
Felix stopped beside him, equally confused.
To Fenrir, the scene looked slightly familiar.
"Wait…", he said dumbly. The architecture, people looked familiar.
Then it clicked. "We're in the city!" He exclaimed.
Felix frowned, piecing it together. "We must've gone south into the forest, crossed west over the tributary, then north after we ran..." He glanced around, realization dawning. "We overshot the slums. Badly."
Fenrir looked over at the weirdly annoyed boy, confused. "Why do you look mad?". He was confused, this was something to be happy about. They had a chance to explore somewhere which wasn't full of deadly monsters or people who had given up on life.
Felix didn't respond. 'I feel out of place…' He thought inwardly. He wasn't much of an extrovert in either life, so he justifiably felt nervous. Not to mention this area was human dominated.
The two stood there awkwardly for a moment, a pair of disheveled beast kin standing out like sore thumbs amid the clean streets and polished stone.
Still, this was an opportunity. They could scout out the area. It would be easier to forge a believable document if they knew more about the place. They did want to come here anyway, for the spring water. They would probably need to enter the capital in the near future too, for one reason or the other.
Fenrir, who had gotten bored of Felix's silence, decided to speak his mind. "We should look around!" He said, excited. The city looked to be something straight out of fiction and fantasy. 'That is what it is so…', he thought absentmindedly.
"Are you not tired anymore?" Felix asked, trying to find an excuse to not enter the city, even though he wanted to. Self sabotage is an evil thing.
Fenrir blinked, he actually wasn't tired anymore. Was this really beast kin vitality or was there something else at play?
"Actually, I'm not", he said, moving his arms around to search for soreness or fatigue, only to find none.
That caused Felix's ears to perk up, he was intrigued. He thought for a moment before he spoke. "That means your mana recovery rate is high", he said decidedly. Mana afterall, was life energy. If it enriched the body, the body would heal readily in turn.
"So me getting tired easily is cus of me having a low mana capacity?" Fenrir questioned. He hadn't ever really thought this deeply about the intricacies of mana, he never really had an incentive to.
"That tracks", Felix replied simply. No more needed to be said, Fenrir had come up with a decent enough theory in his opinion.
But then another reason found its way into his mind. "Or maybe tides edge requires a lot of mana to fire off", he guessed. It could be either, or it could be both.
Fenrir turned his head upwards, pride overflowing in his demeanor. "It is a kickass spell afterall".
"I would know, I made it", Fenrir responded smugly.
Fenrir just scoffed. "Anyways, stop getting sidetracked. Let's look around", he said, already moving.
Felix, who didn't want to go, didn't really have a choice anymore. Having someone he knew around would be better than to just stand at the edge of civilization, staring like a weirdo. So, resignedly, he followed after his friend.
As they walked around, they of course got stared at. They were the odd ones out after all. Fenrir just shrugged it off, but Felix kept his head down.
The city was loud. Clean. Alive.
Vendors shouted from market stalls. Children chased each other past polished stone fountains. People with a scholarly look walked with their noses in their books. The city felt like it was straight out of a period piece about ancient Rome, Greece or something of the sort.
And the further they walked, the more Felix noticed. Not all of the stares were hostile. It was a minority, but not all.
"I get that we stand out", Fenrir whispered, walking close beside him, "but they're staring like we just pissed in their holy water."
"That might actually be less offensive than having animal ears", Felix muttered.
"Furries would hate this place", Fenrir said humorously. That got a short laugh out of Felix.
Eventually, they took a turn down a quieter street and came upon a squat, solid-looking building with a sign hanging above the door, a sword crossed with a quill etched into dark wood. The place bustled with traffic: armored adventurers, robed mages, and even a few beast kin walking in and out.
"A guild branch?" Fenrir tilted his head, intrigued.
Felix blinked. "Didn't think they'd have one this far from the main plaza... but yeah, looks like it."
Fenrir looked excited. "Let's check it out."
Felix hesitated, the people in there might be racist. Racist and armed wasn't a good combo.
But then he saw another pair of beast kin walking in, older teens with confident steps, weapons strapped to their backs. No one stopped them.
"...Alright," Felix sighed, giving in. "Don't try to fight anyone this time"
"That was out of my control!"
They then headed in.
The inside of the guild was warmer than expected. A big stone hearth flickered near the back wall. The air smelled of parchment, sweat, and ink.
A massive mission board stood near the center, cluttered with papers, some crisp and new, others yellowed and curling at the corners. A few adventurers browsed the board, muttering to themselves. Others sat at long tables, resting or talking.
Fenrir made a beeline for the board.
Felix followed, eyes darting around..
Most of the missions were a mess of mixed script: half legible to them, half some blend of symbols and local letters.
Fenrir squinted. "This one says... 'Group Elim…ination'? Elimination! Of… goblins?"
Felix leaned in.
"'Exterminate goblin group – Thorn Forest. Reward: 4 silver coins. Status: Incomplete.'" He read aloud quietly.
Fenrir's eyes widened. "Four silvers?"
Felix nodded.
"That's... two weeks of Jack's pay."
Fenrir stood frozen, staring at the notice like it might vanish if he blinked.
Suddenly, a polite voice broke their focus.
"Can I help you boys?"
They turned to see a woman behind the counter. Human, probably in her twenties, wearing a blue tabard with the guild's insignia and a practiced smile.
Felix reflexively shook his head. "No thanks, we were just—"
"We actually do need help," Fenrir cut in, stepping forward confidently.
Felix blinked.
"We saw that goblin extermination mission," Fenrir said. "If we already did it—like, if we killed the group—how would we claim the reward?"
The woman's smile didn't falter. "If the quest is still marked as incomplete and the deadline hasn't passed, you'd need to provide proof. For monster extermination, that usually means body parts. Goblins? Ears. Two per corpse. If it's a delivery or escort job, a signed document from the recipient will suffice."
Fenrir nodded thoughtfully. "Ears. Got it."
"Do you have proof with you now?" she asked politely.
"Not yet," Fenrir said quickly. "Just wanted to ask first."
"Alright then," she said, returning to her paperwork. "If you decide to register officially, the desk is always open."
"Grim luck", Felix said simply. It was an inside joke. This was amazing.
Fenrir turned on his heel and grabbed Felix by the wrist.
"Come on," he said, pulling him outside.
…
Once they were outside, Felix pulled himself free of Fenrir's grasp. "Let go, you brute!"
"Hey hey, we got no time to waste! We already completed the quest!" Fenrir said adamantly.
Felix paused for a second before going with him of his volition. It's not like he didn't want to go, he just didn't want to be dragged around.
With that, they headed right back from where they came. Towards the Forest which they now knew to be the Thorn Forest.