One week later…
I had settled into Asteno completely.
The villagers had taken me in without hesitation, and I'd introduced myself to the village elder as well. Against all my expectations, she was a striking woman with purple hair. From the waist up, anyway. The lower half was snake.
Everyone in Asteno lived by subsistence — hunting, foraging, growing what they needed. In exchange for using Teok's shed, I helped him with his work. Teok spent most of his time hunting in the forest and gathering nuts, fruit, wild greens, and herbs, so I tagged along and handled the carrying. Heavy lifting was something I could actually contribute. It was about the only thing I could do, at this point.
"We're heading to the Great Tree Springs today."
"The Great Tree Springs?"
"Head into the forest from the west side of the village, follow the path southwest and you'll find it. The mana density out that way is high, so there's good medicinal herbs and spices to be found."
Mana — or maso, as they called it here — was something like magical energy that existed in the air itself. Certain plants grew by drawing on it as a nutrient. The Kusteri Forest surrounding Asteno had pockets where the mana concentration was particularly high, and those spots were where the rare plants turned up. Over the past week I'd been picking up that kind of basic knowledge, bit by bit.
"Is it far?"
"Distance-wise, yes — but the path is maintained partway, so it shouldn't take two hours."
Maintained didn't mean asphalt, of course. It just meant the ground was clear enough to walk or ride without difficulty. Still, the difference between a path and no path was something I'd felt in my legs over the past week.
We packed light — some preserved food, water, and a knife for cutting through brush and harvesting — and set off toward the Great Tree Springs.
We followed the maintained path for a while before turning onto a narrower track. As we went deeper, the light thinned and the forest closed in around us. The grass thickened underfoot; the trees stood closer together. So this is what the deeper parts of Kusteri Forest feel like, I thought, when —
"The slight blue tint in the air is apparently from the high mana concentration."
Teok, offhandedly.
Now that he mentioned it — the air between the trees did have a faint bluish cast to it. The "apparently" told me he'd heard it from someone in the village who actually knew.
We pressed deeper into the blue-tinged forest, and then the trees opened up.
What was in front of us deserved the name Great Tree Springs in every sense. Enormous trees soared upward, several of them, each one massive enough to qualify as ancient. At their roots, a spring had formed — clear, shallow water spreading out across the ground. Ankle-deep in places, knee-deep in others. Thin shafts of sunlight found their way through the canopy above and caught the surface, casting a pale, diffuse glow across the whole area.
"What is this place… This is incredible."
I looked up at the nearest tree without thinking.
I'd always assumed that scenery like this only existed in games and manga.
While I was standing there staring, Teok had already moved off along the edge of the spring and crouched down somewhere.
"Found some."
I went over. He was pointing at a cluster of white-stemmed plants near his feet.
"These go sweet when you cook them down. Good eating. And over here —"
He pointed to a low-leafed plant growing nearby.
"Tastes awful, but the mana content is high — useful in cooking for magical stamina, or as a medicinal herb. Sells for decent coin, so grab what you can."
He pointed out a few more plants and mushrooms worth taking, and we split up to cover more ground. This kind of work suited me, unexpectedly. There was something good about the way it emptied the mind.
"Usually I come out here alone, so having two of us makes a real difference."
Teok said it in good spirits.
We'd filled the gathering bag about halfway when his manner changed.
"Something's coming."
Before I could even think to listen for it, a creature emerged from the deep forest.
Two meters long, at least. Covered in dense fur, with a face somewhere between a wolf and a boar.
"A magic beast… You've got to be kidding me…"