"Doesn't this place remind you of the Grand Canyon?" Penelope asked while looking at her daughter.
"Now that you mention it...It's dry and we are inside of a ridge, but I guess the difference is there is no river. It's nothing but dirt and rocks everywhere. Though, I can smell water somewhere that way." Elanore pointed towards the direction she presumed was North.
"Hey, mistress," Naela said with a pout, "what is this Grand Canyon?"
"I think that would take too long to explain the entire thing right now. I guess I can give a brief rundown. There was this desert where we both used to live, and there was a giant crater in the ground left after a big rock struck it."
"A big rock? Was it magic from a wizard, mistress?"
"It wasn't a spell. It was an asteroid. Do you not get asteroids here?"
Naela tilted her head and pressed her finger to her chin. "I don't know. I never heard of one, mistress."
Penelope smiled towards the maid. "Your girlfriend is so cute, Ella."
Naela grinned. "Not as cute as you are. Now that I look at you better, you really do look like my mistress. Rather, I should say that the mistress looks like you. I must thank you for bringing her into this world."
"Thank you for taking such good care of her. I really couldn't be happier right now."
Elanore pointed with her manapie towards where she smelled the water. "I am sure we're bound to run into monsters if we go that way, but we have to power level you somehow. I wonder if you will also get a lot of experience for being my apostle...it feels weird that my own mother is my apostle."
Penelope shrugged. "I really don't mind. Lead on, my goddess."
"Ah! Please don't call me that. You will make it sound true, and I might gain another weird title."
Elanore started walking before reaching back towards her mother. She grabbed her mother's hand, and for the first time since she was a kid, the two walked hand in hand.
"I really did miss you a lot."
"I know, mom. I missed you too." Before they could get sentimental again, Elanore cleared her throat. "We will never be separated again, and when you get strong, you will be able to live in my energy drink empire with us."
"Can't say I am happy about the energy drink part. I was hoping that you would quit that habit. I thought I lost you forever because of those stupid things."
"Hey, it's more of a metaphor at this point. Also, it's not like those things can kill me again."
"Again!?"
"Ah...yeah...um...I might have died before. I thought that part was explained to you. I imagined that was why Naela told you to scold me."
"No, she never told me this." Penelopes lip quivered, and her eyes started tearing up.
"Please, mom, don't cry. I am sorry. I won't do it again."
Mother sniffled and choked back her tears. "You better not. From now on, I will regulate your energy drink consumption. If you are really still drinking those things, you will have no more than two a day."
"But mom, they really won't..."
"No buts."
"Wait, I need them to survive this time. I actually have to drink from these mana crystals now. They are my food source, and I can't eat anything else."
Penelope sighed and looked at Naela. "Is that really true?"
"Yes, um..."
"You can call me Penelope."
Naela shook her head. "That won't do. What about Mother?"
"I like that!"
Elanore blinked several times at their interaction. I don't even know what's happening anymore.
Penelope grabbed onto Elanore's hand tighter. "I won't let you go this time."
"Hey, you're going to have to let me go when we run into monsters. Speaking of which..."
The crag eventually became a bit wider, opening up to a water source. Several herbivorous dinosaurs gathered around and drank together. Elanore recognized them as ceratopsids, and along with them, there were some Iguanodons. More plants grew closer to the water as well.
Elanore looked towards the herd of creatures wondering what spell she could use to take them all out. I need something that will preserve their bodies as well, but I definitely have plenty of spells that can do it.
"Wait, are we really going to kill such cute creatures?" Mom asked. "This is my first time seeing a dinosaur in real life..." She lowered her voice. "You remember when I took you to that dinosaur museum when you were a child? You didn't want to leave that place."
"I remember that, but mom, we are going to have to level you somehow. It's not like I don't like the dinosaurs, but they are very tasty, especially their mana cores."
Elanore raised her eyebrow, sensing the presence of another dinosaur that didn't belong. She looked towards the wall and saw a mana signature camouflaged against its surface. A hunter?
The witchpire grinned. "I guess we won't have to kill those herbivores, after all."
Race: [Desert Tarbosaurus]
Age: 51
Sex: Male
Level: 100
Health: 3,152,645
Stamina: 2,510,233
Mana: 1,005,322
The giant theropod's magic started fading, and it lunged from the wall. Heavy footsteps struck the ground, rumbling it with the force of a great tyrant. The tyrannosaurid was by far the largest two-legged predator Elanore had ever seen in her life.
Nearby creatures reacted and started running away. The herd of herbivorous dinosaurs became a stampede, running right towards the waiting group. Elanore cast [Fly] on herself and her mother and leapt into the air. Naela flapped her wings in pursuit.
The group passed under them, but one of the Iguanodons wasn't so lucky. The Tarbosaur's jaws snapped tightly around its neck in the most violent and animalistic way. The loud crunching of bones echoed in the canyon as the plant-eater's vertebrae snapped.
It didn't even have time to scream as it fell to the ground dead. The creature's body limply hit the ground with a resounding thud.
Penelope's eyes widened at the carnage. "Is that a T-Rex?"
Elanore shook her head. "It's a Tarbosaurus, and that will be our first prey."
"Allow me, mistress." Naela readied her magic power. "This time its body will be spared."
A javelin of pink flames appeared in her hand, the air around it burning white hot. It crackled, and a layer of wind formed around it. The wyvern locked onto the target and released.
Elanore watched it fly faster than any jet. It breached the sound barrier in a few milliseconds, and before the sonic boom could even reach their ears, it ripped through the dinosaur's head.
Naela snapped her fingers before it could reach anymore of the creature's body, and just like that, the spell disappeared.
The tyrant lizard fell to the ground, right on top of its kill.