The first part of the adventure meant travelling back through the barren fields that Gamer once traversed in the beginning of his digitized life. It lacked the threat of shellies and it no longer contained any floating blocks. Any blushrooms seen in the distance were avoided. They didn't need pervs trailing after the caravan.
They were close to the chasm that Gamer and Minnie fell in, but on the opposite side. Gamer asked Persica, "How are we getting over?"
"We jump. Yosauri are known for their strong legs," Persica said while favoring a pink glass pipe.
"I'll go first!" Minnie declared as she heeled the yosaurus. It dashed towards the chasm, and with a great leap, it bounded over the gap. She landed, and they both gave a peace sign. Gamer shrugged and his yosaurus did the same. Landing didn't feel great on the groin, but it was better than dying. Next was Persica and her carriage. With the strength of two yosauri, they cleared the gap, and Persica barely felt anything thanks to the gummi. Finally, it was Asterion's turn.
"It was nice knowing you, Asterion," Gamer mocked.
Asterion ignored his words and patted his yosaurus, "Let's show them."
The yosaurus wheezed angrily, unhappy with Gamer's words. It ran the best it could forward and jumped. It cleared a good portion of the gap, but would come up short. The yosaurus whined and fluttered its feet. Doing so let it gain some more height, and float its way to the other side. It landed right on the edge.
"They can do that?" Gamer gawked.
"Strong legs," Persica repeated herself, halfway done with her substance.
"I never doubted you," Asterion congratulated the yosaurus. It heaved its breaths, but gave a cocky smile to Gamer.
"Don't be so egotistical," Gamer waved dismissively.
"Ego isn't always a bad thing. This raptor has lots of guts," Asterion defended his mount. "Actually, why don't we use that as a badge of honor? Your name shall be Ego."
The yosaurus liked the sound of that and tried to clap its hands together, but it was too wide. It instead resorted to belly pats. Gamer added sarcasm, "How about his full name be Ego Testicle?"
Gamer started to laugh, but Ego whipped its tongue out. It grabbed Gamer and yanked him into its mouth. Gamer's panic was muffled on the inside of its elastic cheek, "Not again! Not again!"
The group carried on after Gamer was regurgitated. The ride across the barren fields of Chanterelle was easygoing. Avoiding blushrooms and maneater flytraps coming out of the green pipes was a breeze thanks to the speed of the yosauri. Any enemy who got too close to Asterion and Ego were eaten. Thus, nothing really posed a threat.
"Princess, how long will it take to reach the fortress?" Asterion asked.
"A fortnight if we were on foot," Persica responded. "With the yosauri, we can cut that in half. These plains will be the easiest part. Once we reach the forest, then problems will arise."
The journey yielded as much. They spent a few days and nights travelling the fields. Gamer asked the princess for instruments to play as travel music, such as a banjo or ocarina, but she did not pack such an item. Instead, she brought along coins to entice Lord Shellie, her drug paraphernalia, clothes, and rations of food. Persica also brought a tent for herself, but everybody else had to do with sleeping bags. Asterion would blink out once a day and return the next morning. This would spell trouble if they were busy with anything at night, but Asterion said he had two days off coming up. By all means, he'd be able to stay on and help even during nights.
On the night before Asterion's two-day break, Minnie and Persica stargazed. They stood on top of the gummi carriage. The skies were too pretty to not appreciate at this time. Minnie asked, eyes sparkling from the vast sea of stars, "How many worlds do you think there are?"
"My friend weaves tales of many. It is wondrous to know there is so much more out there, and yet terrifying that Chanterelle and its large scope is but a speck," Persica spoke as she smoked.
"What do you think, Gamer? Is one of them yours?" Minnie turned and looked down.
Gamer laid sideways on the carriage roof, assgazing. Minnie and Persica's shapely bottoms were too great to not appreciate at this angle. He shrugged, "It's complicated. Maybe I should...hmm..."
"Should what?" Persica didn't want him trailing off. Gamer buried his cares and fucks, and told the ladies about reality. He went through everything, including them being products of design and electrical circuitry, Gamer's crimes and sister, and his true goals. They took it in strides, barely shaken by the news.
"Okay!" Minnie accepted without batting an eye.
"An entirely different echelon of existence? I see why you wish to speak to my friend. This is quite the revelation. It is...too difficult to fathom. I need to think more on it," Persica reached down into the carriage and pulled out a bong and some resin. And the thinking commenced!
Samira texted, "Yo, new record! Over three thousand coochies clicked (≧▽≦) so what did I miss?"
"I told Minnie and Persica about our reality," Gamer responded as Minnie gave the bong a go.
"Oh lit okay...YOU FUCKING WHAT???!!!"
"I figured they should know what's really going on. They're always confused when Asterion and I talk about the real world," Gamer explained as Minnie gave Gamer's bong, and its accessories, a go.
"Bro, no cap, you're already changing their behavior states. Pardon my extraness, but if you start telling them they live in a simulation, it could have catastrophic effects! Butterfly and tornado shit!"
"What's so bad about that?" Gamer asked as Persica joined Minnie in the siphoning of Gamer's resin.
"Oh, nothing! I thought it'd be fun to be overdramatic. Bro, this is uber fascinating!! ꉂ ('∀｀)ʱªʱªʱª keep it up!"
And keep it up Gamer did – all night long. He provided Minnie and Persica new hardware updates.
In the morning, as the group wrangled their yosauri to head out, Asterion rejoined. His pixels coalesced and formed his avatar on Ego. The chill chonker barely flinched, too busy chewing on some edibles given by Persica.
"I told them about our world," Gamer eventually informed the bull man.
"You did now?" Asterion investigated how Minnie and Persica were. They didn't act irregularly. He shrugged, "Alright, not sure what the point is. Their programming won't allow them to understand it. It'd be like telling an ant about human politics."
"Nah, we understand the higher dimension. Gamer will take me there once he achieves his high score!" Minnie chirped.
Asterion shot Gamer a nervous expression, "Uh, NPCs shouldn't be able to comprehend that. Doesn't this feel a little too rogue AI to you?"
"It's fine," Gamer responded nonchalantly. Samira (°□°) ☝️ in the background.
On this day's stretch of travel, Gamer and Asterion talked about the games they like most. It eventually broadened to their favorite genres. Gamer said, "Puzzle games, dating sims, and roleplaying games."
"Ah, that explains a lot. The way you prefer items and make connections speaks to that. Mine are pretty simple: fighting games, sport games, and anything with card mechanics," Asterion listed.
"Stuff that requires a technical approach, but has a high impact. Or maybe I'm reading you into it too much," Gamer fancied.
Asterion laughed, "Mino Martial Vow #4: A strong right is only strong when timed right."
"You would've been a boon against Marco. Dude had all sorts of tricks up his sleeve," Gamer recalled one of Chanterelle's banes.
"The shroomans spoke of how you defeated him in spectacular fashion," Asterion remembered when he first arrived and started helping the little guys rebuild. "They say he fell into the water. Did you confirm the kill, at least?"
"Yeah, I dunked his ass," Gamer bragged.
"Hold up: did you see a corpse, though. Fighting games teach us that if a death happens offscreen, or you ring them out, that doesn't confirm the kill."
"I set his whole head on fire!"
"That just means he'll come back with a wicked scar. It don't mean he's dead," Asterion warned.
"Yeah, right! If he comes back, I'll eat my hat," Gamer didn't give it any thought. His lax behavior started to show its cracks before the minotaur. Simultaneously, Asterion and Samira marked this moment to look back on in the future.