King's Territory gradually disappeared behind Iris as she walked farther away from the settlement alone.
The noise faded first, then the smoke.
Then the cramped feeling of too many people forced together inside too little space.
The forest air felt different once she was fully outside the territory.
Cleaner.
Colder too.
Even the wind carried a sharper smell here, damp soil mixed with pine and wild vegetation untouched by cooking smoke or sewage.
Iris adjusted the strap of the portable laboratory case against her shoulder before continuing forward.
The late afternoon sunlight filtered unevenly through the trees above, scattering pale gold across the forest floor in broken patches.
For several minutes, the only sounds were distant insects and the soft crunch of leaves beneath her boots.
Then suddenly—
Heavy panting echoed somewhere behind her.
Iris stopped immediately.
Her hand moved toward the dagger at her waist before she turned sharply toward the sound.
A white blur burst out from between the trees a second later.
Snow came sprinting toward her happily, tail wagging so violently his entire body moved with it.
Iris blinked once.
Then laughed despite herself.
The sound escaped before she could stop it.
"How did you even get out here?"
Snow barked proudly like he had accomplished something important.
"You were supposed to stay inside."
The white dog ignored that entirely and circled around her legs once before stopping beside her expectantly. Waiting.
Like this was obvious.
Iris exhaled quietly.
Right!.
It is now her contracted pet. Of course he followed.
"You're not going back, are you?"
Snow sat down immediately. That alone answered the question.
For a brief moment, the tension pressing against the back of her mind eased slightly.
Then the system timer resurfaced again.
[Remaining Time: 2 Days 10 Hours]
The reminder settled heavily inside her chest.
Not enough time.
Not even close.
Iris looked ahead again toward the deeper forest stretching beyond the territory.
"Fine," she muttered eventually.
Snow's ears perked instantly.
"But if we die because you followed me, I'm blaming you."
Snow barked once enthusiastically before running ahead like he had already accepted the responsibility.
The path outside King's Territory became rougher the farther they traveled.
Eventually the packed dirt road faded entirely beneath creeping vegetation and exposed roots twisting through uneven ground.
Iris slowed slightly as her gaze moved carefully across the surrounding terrain.
The forest here wasn't dense in the same way the earlier regions had been.
There was more elevation.
More stone.
Several narrow ridges cut through the landscape naturally while clusters of tall dark trees gathered heavily near lower ground where moisture settled.
Good drainage in higher areas. Natural visibility advantage. Defensible terrain if cleared properly. The thought appeared automatically. Iris frowned faintly afterward.
When exactly had she started evaluating land like this?
Snow suddenly darted sideways into a bush.
A startled animal burst out immediately before disappearing deeper into the undergrowth.
The wolf chased after it for several seconds before returning proudly with absolutely nothing.
"…Impressive hunting skills."
Snow ignored the insult. Iris continued walking while occasionally crouching beside unfamiliar vegetation.
Most of the plants differed subtly from anything she recognized from Earth.
Some possessed thicker fibers.
Others carried strange coloration beneath their leaves, faint traces of silver or deep blue veins visible only under direct light.
Several gave off mild heat when touched.
One particular shrub growing near a rocky incline caught her attention almost immediately.
The leaves were long and dark green, but the vines themselves carried swollen translucent thorns that glimmered faintly under sunlight like liquid trapped beneath glass.
Interesting.
Without hesitation, Iris activated Appraisal.
[Name: Thornveil Vine
Grade: Common
Danger: Mild skin irritation upon contact
Effect: Crushed fluid reduces fever and inflammation]
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
Medicine.
Useful medicine.
Not just random vegetation.
Iris carefully cut away a small section before storing it inside her space.
Snow sniffed the remaining vine cautiously before immediately sneezing and backing away.
"…Noted."
The deeper they traveled, the more Iris noticed signs that the ecosystem here operated differently from Earth's forests.
Growth rates seemed abnormally aggressive.
Plants crowded over one another rapidly while fresh shoots emerged even near recently damaged areas.
Several broken stems she passed earlier already showed pale green regrowth pushing outward.
Almost accelerated.
The system was influencing the environment itself.
That realization bothered her slightly.
Because it meant nature here wasn't entirely natural anymore.
After another twenty minutes, the terrain began sloping upward gradually.
Loose stone replaced softer earth beneath her boots while the trees thinned enough for sunlight to spill more freely across the hillside.
From higher elevation, King's Territory became faintly visible behind her through gaps in the forest canopy.
From this distance, the territory looked smaller than she remembered.
Smaller, Weaker.
Like something temporary placed against wilderness too large to control.
Snow climbed ahead easily before stopping near a cluster of pale blue shrubs growing beside exposed stone.
He barked once.
Iris approached carefully.
The berries hanging from the branches looked strange immediately.
Uneven surfaces.
Almost translucent skin.
Faint glowing lines beneath the outer flesh pulsing slowly like veins.
She crouched beside the shrub before activating Appraisal again.
[Name: Azurepulse Berry
Grade: Uncommon
Danger: Excess consumption causes dizziness
Effect: Accelerates mental recovery and reduces fatigue temporarily]
Her expression shifted slightly. Mental recovery, not physical.
Spirit-related perhaps.
That immediately made the plant more valuable.
Iris plucked one carefully before opening the portable laboratory beside a flat rock nearby.
Compact metallic panels unfolded smoothly outward while dim blue light flickered across the surface.
Snow watched the process closely with tilted ears like he still hadn't decided whether the machine was alive.
Iris sliced a small portion from the berry before placing it inside the analyzer.
A soft mechanical hum followed.
Data scrolled rapidly across the miniature screen.
Organic sugars, unknown compounds, neurological stimulation, high energy conversion efficiency.
Interesting…. Very interesting.
The territory buying specific plants suddenly made far more sense now.
Food shortages, mental exhaustion and constant combat.
Anything capable of reducing fatigue would become valuable quickly.
System territories didn't waste resources on useless purchases.
Which meant every consistently purchased material probably supported infrastructure somewhere else. Cooking, Medicine, Alchemy, Construction.
Her thoughts paused briefly there.
Construction.
Iris slowly looked outward again from the hillside.
Dense forest stretched endlessly beyond the visible slopes, broken occasionally by stone ridges and narrow clearings where sunlight reached the ground uninterrupted.
Somewhere beyond all of this—
There had to be somewhere defensible.
Somewhere hidden enough.
Her fingers tightened unconsciously around the berry.
Not Tobias' territory.
But her own.
The realization settled quietly inside her chest before she could stop it.
Snow suddenly barked again farther uphill.
Iris glanced toward him before standing.
The slope above grew steeper from there, jagged stone cutting upward through the trees toward higher elevation.
From the top—
She could probably see farther.
And right now, information mattered more than rest.
Iris closed the portable laboratory before following Snow uphill.