As the snake came closer, Zero could see it more clearly. It had two large fangs in its mouth and had a diameter of about two smaller hands.
Zero came to meet the snake so Alice would not get caught in the crossfire.
The snake cocked its head up as if threatening to strike. And Zero invited it to.
Perhaps it was a bit cocky, but Zero found it practical. He would know the moment the Snake would strike. It was time to abuse that Blessing of his.
'What's that red hue?'
Zero kept his blade pointed to the ground and chose a position with a lot of potential energy for when he struck with a sword uppercut.
A moment later, his instincts flared, his vision tunneled, and his sword swung in a wide arc upwards.
{Seeker Small Cave Snake slain}
{Received seeker spirit crystal}
Zero coldly stared down and then pulled his foot back in slight disgust. His blade had split the Small Cave Snake down the middle, about 10 centimeters past the head.
A bit of blood got on his shoe, but otherwise, he was untouched
Zero sighed in relief and then called out to Caelum.
"We're good, I killed it. I'll work on covering up the blood scent so you can go back to sleep."
Caelum responded with a surprising amount of indifference in his voice. It was not a rude tone, but it did not reflect the urgency of the situation.
"A job well done, Zero. You have my thanks."
Then Caelum promptly went back to sleep.
'What a chill guy.'
Zero had said he would manage the blood so no other creatures came to feast, but thinking about it revealed he had no idea how to go about doing that.
So he did his best. He threw sticks on it, and even manifested his dragon head to place atop the snake's corpse. He hoped that when he dismissed the dragon head, it would become clean again.
Zero still felt uneasy, but not exactly in danger per se.
The rest of the night was rather uneventful. Zero woke up Caelum at the first hints of dawn but decided to let Alice sleep in. Finally, with light, Zero could see what Alice looked like, but decided it would be weird to stare at a sleeping person.
Zero laid down and quickly fell into a slumber. His sleep was not great, and it was plagued with unease and restlessness. It was not long before he woke up again, this time to a pleasant smell.
He felt tired and rather uneasy but otherwise fine. Looking around for the pleasant smell, he saw that Caelum had started a fire and was roasting the snake over it. When Zero sat up, Caelum beckoned him forward and handed him a piece.
Zero looked towards Alice and saw that she was still sleeping soundly.
"Should we wake her up?"
"I was going to let her rest a bit longer. I can wake her if you need the Harvest Talisman back. But she had a rough day yesterday. I can only imagine having to crawl around for the better part of a day, and then thinking a dragon was going to kill her."
'I feel bad now…I think I'll apologize, later.'
"You're right, you'll think she'll be heading to Roma too?"
"I do not know. Although she will likely travel with us. We are all lost together after all."
"Yeah, I suppose we are."
Zero and Caelum ate in peace for a bit longer, then waited. And waited.
Eventually, words were not needed to convey the unanimous decision to wake her up. The fire was going out, and it was time to start heading west.
Caelum offered to do it and summoned his staff. Then he slowly began to send more wind her way. It turned into a breeze and then a gust. She slept through it all.
Eventually, Caelum gave up and shook her awake. It took a while.
She let out a startled scream when she woke up.
"Relax, it's just us."
"No, it's not that, that tree branch is reaching towards us!"
"Now that you mention it, Alice, that is a bit creepy."
"No, it was not like that yesterday. I spent some time staring at the canopy here—that tree moved."
Zero did not consider that such large trees could be alive. The idea concerned him and made him feel like a small bug.
"I've got the creeps from this spot here, too. Eat up, and we can leave. And uh, how's your leg doing?"
"Oh, nice food. How did you get it, though? And my leg feels a lot better. I could definitely walk on it. Maybe I'll find a walking stick."
Now that Alice was awake and conversing, Zero could see how she looked. He found her a bit pretty. For one thing, her skin was much smoother than his own or Caelum's. Her hair was a rich blonde and fell somewhere past her shoulders. Her face was somewhat sharp, but carried a thoughtful look, and her eyes' were currently reflecting the sun, giving it an emerald look.
Her clothing seemed out of place like Zero's. She was wearing a well-fitted white shirt. Well, it was white at some point at least. Her pants were a dark blue, almost like a lake. If Zero knew their name, he would have called them jeans.
Alice ate some snake, and was quite startled to find she had slept through the whole ordeal. She apologized a few times, then asked to borrow Valiant Blade. She cautiously approached the snake, then seemed to cut out its fangs and place them in her pockets.
Once they left their campsite, Alice spoke out.
"Where are we heading now?"
"Westward to Roma. We are looking for landmarks as well, so keep your eyes peeled."
Alice threw Zero a dubious look, prompting him to speak as well.
"The city Roma is somewhere west. Since it's the most populous area, I think, heading west will help us find where we are."
"Alright then… To the west!"