Astral Flow

Chapter 4

Daybreak arrives, everyone begins to prepare themselves for the upcoming expedition, this would be the true beginning of their journey in this world, if they ever wanted to find a way out then it was time to move.

Ryder stands at the edge of town leaning against a wall as he waits, it was almost certain he'd be heading off on his own but it was better to wait and see. His eyes focused on the mountain top once again, it'd probably take a couple of days to reach it but surely there had to be something up there. Even if it was just a lore page it could be useful in the long run.

Soon the sounds of marching feet came from his right, indicating the main group was getting ready to leave, casually he glanced over to look at who it was. There was a group of 50-75 players, who were being led by Aranea and Oto, though they were the only ones he recognized.

Oto, upon spotting Ryder, temporarily broke off, seeming to want to speak with him for a moment. "Hey, are you really heading up the mountain? From what I've heard it's more dangerous than the main paths."

"I figured it would be, it'll probably take me longer to get up there but someone's got to scout it out, right?" Ryder shrugs a little. "Besides that friend of yours, Demea, she said something about a mountain and a forest so it has me curious."

"I'm going to guess you had her look at that tome... but alright, just be safe then." Oto reaches into his pocket and holds out a potion. "Here take it, better to be over prepared than under prepared."

"Thanks, oh by the way where are the others? I figured Lily or Radogan would be with you." Ryder looks around while pocketing the potion.

"From what I know Demea and Radogan are staying behind to help the rest of the beginners in the area. As for Lily, I really couldn't tell you." Oto looks around. "From what I know she decided to opt against joining us, but I haven't seen her since."

"I see, well thank you for telling me. You really shouldn't fall too far behind though." Ryder crosses his arms and motions to the now slightly distant marching group. "Good luck out there, be sure to come back alive."

With a nod Oto quickly runs off, catching up to the rest of his group, leaving Ryder alone once more. "Well, guess there's no point in waiting any longer." He mutters to himself before pushing off the wall and looking towards the gate. With a slight carefree stride he starts walking through and into the plains.

"Hey! Wait up! Don't leave without us!"

Ryder turns around in surprise, spotting a trio strolling up to him.

Lily, Laurence and Eleanor. Not the trio he was expecting to see, as he was certain they'd all have better things to do at this point.

"You three tagging along? I'm a little surprised, especially considering we don't know what's ahead." Ryder says in a rather calm tone.

"Hey we can't let you go alone now can we?" Lily replies while strolling up to him. "Besides with a more varied team like this we can get a lot more done than if you went solo!"

"Really? So what can you all do that'll help us on this mission." Though not trying to drive them off Ryder was curious what they all could do.

"Well for starters I'm pretty nimble! So if we need to go up to a higher ledge I can climb up and throw a rope down!" Lily lightly bounces in place as if to show off her nimbleness in a light hearted manner. "Aaaand I've been practicing my archery so I don't have to rely on just a knife."

"Alright, fair enough, what about the other two though?" he inquires, looking at Eleanor and Laurence.

Laurence smiles a little. "Well, I figured not only could you use a lore master in case of new discoveries but a dark mage as well." He creates a tiny plume of purple light in his hand. "It's mainly debuffs but it helps in many situations."