"Achoo!" Kaio sneezed, gripping his wet blanket tighter against his waist. It's been about an hour since that whole event, and unsurprisingly, given how not often he stepped outside before, he quickly caught a cold due to the rain. He currently was hanging inside Maya's house, alongside Agrippa, as the three of them were laying down next to the fireplace, situated in the middle of the large single-room house.
"I think even children don't get sick that easily…" Maya muttered, taking a sip of some warm tea. "You already told me that before, but damn, you really aren't one of the legendary warriors…" She snickered, just then as Kaio sneezed again, making her laugh louder.
"Sh-Shut up, maybe it's just that we don't have the same immune system as you do, who knows, maybe this rain has caused me to get an incurable curse to which I'll shortly die of, then what about that! My last moments alive were of you mocking me, that's grounds for me to haunt you for the rest of your life!" Kaio mocked, pointing his somewhat wet arm and finger at Maya, some water droplets falling from his arm to near the fireplace, emitting some low sizzling sounds.
"Morbid. I like it~" She replied, just as mockingly.
"Alright, alright, simmer down you two." Agrippa said, petting both of their heads. "I don't think you'll die from this rain, Kaio. Trust me, I've seen my fair share of slow, poisonous deaths, and you sure don't fit the bar for those." He smiled softly as he sat down between the two of them.
"Hmph. Fair enough…" Kaio said, crossing his arms and sniffling a bit. The rain still poured outside, both from the sounds of it and the little he could see through the window. "What are those?" He asked, pointing to bright yellow stones littering the ground, planted in a way that resembled roads.
"Oh, those are crystallized fire stones." The fox said, also looking outside. "I didn't pay much attention to the elders teaching me where those came from nor how to make them, but the gist of it is that they're geodes that were mixed with centuries of us using casting magic in the atmosphere… or something…" He said, shyly scratching his stubbled chin.
"Close enough. There are little bits of mana in the atmosphere whenever we cast magic, mostly prevalent where a lot of people cast them, think big cities, or the royal town. Those stones are born from those areas, basically like a clump of mana. Think clouds, but stones." Maya answered in return. "If this were a test, I'd give you 10 points out of 40, big guy."
"This world's weird…" Kaio muttered. "What's a royal town?"
"Oh, this one I truly know!" Agrippa puffed proudly. "A royal town is basically this whole continent's capital. The continent we're in, Ars Nova's, is called Lucius. That's a fair bit away from Sava, where we're heading, but we can go there if you'd like."
"Wait, what? To Lucius? As a beastman? Are you ins-" But before Maya could finish, Agrippa brought a finger to her lips.
"I know, I know. That's why I plan to buy one of those visibility cloaks on our way. Plus, Lucius is on the border between continents, it's the only way I… we… can escape."
Maya sighed, gripping her tea cup tightly. "I know… but first, that cloak only works if people aren't paying attention to you, it's not every day we see someone as bulky as you. Plus… who's to say beastmen aren't treated as bad if not worse on the other continent…"
"That's a risk I'm willing to take…" He muttered softly, staring at the crackling fireplace in front of him.
Kaio gently laid his head on Agrippa's shoulder. "I don't exactly get it, but basically what you're saying is that it's impossible to leave this continent, right?"
Agrippa softly nodded. "It's been centuries like this. They never told us why, or even if we're the only ones blocked off from other continents. Most of us can't complain about it, we have plenty of food, water, and as long as you don't vocalize your desire to leave, you get to live a really peaceful life. But like I said, beastmen can only choose to be slaves, or living prey for daemons."
Agrippa shook his head softly. "Sorry, it got a lil grim there. Thanks for the tea, and for giving us a place to shelter from the rain, Maya."
Maya shook her head as well. "No, I understand. And of course, you're always free to stay."
"Thanks. First morning, if the rain's stopped, me and Kaio will head first to Sava."
"Going alone… again… even after all I just told you…" She muttered.
"Listen, it could be-"
"Dangerous? Risky? Deadly? I'm not a teenager anymore, Agrippa, you've seen how well I've handled on my own. Please… let me go with you…"
Those silent seconds felt like hours, the crackling from the fireplace somewhat adding to the tenseness. After a few seconds, Agrippa could only sigh and nod. "Fine. But we're heading back if the danger's too much, ok?"
Maya nodded, smiling as light tears formed under her eyes. "Of course! You can count on me!"