One day later, in a village about a day away from the city of Blue River…
Matilda took a transparent crystal out of her storage item. It shimmered faintly, shifting between shades of white.
She pressed it against the space between her eyebrows.
"Cristina, don't waste my time with nonsense," she said, cutting the other off before she could even start.
"..."
"What information do you have about this treasure hunt in the Shadow Forest?"
"..."
A soft voice came from within the crystal.
"You already know about that?"
"As expected from 'Bloodstep,' nothing escapes your awareness…"
Matilda interrupted the rambling.
"I told you not to say stupid things."
"Alright, alright. But I think it'd be best if you stayed out of this and focused on your mission to find the duke's daughter."
"This is far beyond anything we should be getting involved in…"
A vein bulged on Matilda's forehead.
"Cristina—"
"The consciousness of the world has been born," Cristina blurted out quickly, cutting her off.
"Impossible. It hasn't even been fifteen hundred years yet," Matilda denied immediately.
"It's true. Everyone who has reached their Third Ascension or higher felt the changes in the world."
"We still don't know exactly why it happened so much earlier than expected."
"But the strongest speculation ties it to the human prophecy about the 'great danger that will return.'"
"That's interesting, but what does it have to do with the treasure that appeared in the Shadow Forest?" Matilda asked, frowning.
"Everything. It's not exactly a treasure."
"After the birth of the new world consciousness, over a year ago…"
"This information wasn't widely spread, since a new consciousness normally wouldn't affect the world's balance much."
"But this one is already creating a physical body!" Cristina said.
"Impossible. That has to be wrong. The last world consciousness died less than fifteen hundred years ago."
"There were still more than three thousand years before a replacement was due."
"You're telling me one was born and is already forming a physical body in less than a year?"
"Who's spreading this kind of misinformation?" Matilda asked, irritation creeping into her voice.
"But it's the truth. Every faction has its own way of detecting when this happens."
"And they're all reacting the same way."
"There's no way it's wrong."
"Then why the Shadow Forest?" Matilda pressed.
"Well, no one knows exactly where the world will create its body, but there are several locations that meet the requirements—places free from the influence of any major power."
"And the Shadow Forest is one of them."
"So all factions are sending multiple teams to different locations, trying their luck."
"The risks are low, and the potential rewards are astronomical," Cristina concluded.
"Alright. Talk later," Matilda said, removing the crystal and storing it away.
She then looked at Arthur and Sabrina, who had heard everything.
"So?" she asked.
Arthur and Sabrina exchanged glances.
"Well… there's nothing we can do about it. We need to stay more discreet than ever," Sabrina said seriously.
"With everyone searching for the world's incarnation, we could easily be discovered."
"Yeah. We need to move carefully and adjust our future plans," Arthur added.
"Our dungeon runs in the city can't happen the way we originally planned."
"But we're already here, so we won't change that now. After this, we should avoid the city as much as possible until things settle down."
"Agreed," Sabrina said. "We'll schedule fewer dungeons than planned and return earlier as well."
"It's already morning and we've had breakfast. Let's get moving and see if we can reach the city before nightfall."
She stood up and left the inn room.
Arthur and Matilda nodded and followed.
…
Morning in Sprout Village went on as usual during winter.
The villagers gathered to clear snow from the roads early in the day, then spent the afternoon drinking at the tavern.
At night, small groups gathered around bonfires to tell stories.
Aron's days were simple—studying in the morning and playing in the afternoon.
But ever since he felt that presence on the third day after his parents left, an inexplicable sense of urgency had taken root in him.
So during playtime, he began adding physical exercises to his routine.
The ambient mana wasn't dense enough to be absorbed efficiently.
Without a proper environment or some kind of treasure to assist him, it would take far too long to gather enough mana to continue researching his ability.
Days passed.
The routine was repetitive—but fun.
Two weeks after Arthur's group had left, a group of children was playing in the snow.
"Did you hear the rumors?" David asked with a mysterious look.
"What rumors?"
"The blacksmith was seen dancing naked near his forge, or that hunter Robert is having an affair with the baker's daughter?" Jhonas replied, completely uninterested.
David stared at him.
Then at the others.
Same reaction.
He sighed.
"A group of adventurers arrived in the village yesterday. They're staying for a few days."
"You saw them?" Jhonas asked, suddenly interested.
"No. My mom didn't let me go."
"What if we all went together?" David suggested eagerly.
"Do you have a death wish?" Marcus asked, shocked.
"If she doesn't find out, then I'll live," David replied proudly.
"You always say that right before getting beaten," Aron teased with a grin.
Laughter broke out.
"Alright, alright. Aren't you curious why they're traveling in winter?"
"There's still a month before spring, and they chose to travel now?" he continued.
"But Uncle Arthur also went to the city in the middle of winter," Sophie pointed out.
"Yeah, but they go every winter, and we know they're going to the dungeons," David said with admiration.
"This is the first time we've had visitors during winter."
"I want to know if they're going to the dungeon… or to other kingdoms."
He looked around and noticed everyone was now curious.
"So here's the plan: we go to the square, and if we see any of them leaving the inn, we follow them and offer to be guides."
"That's not a bad idea… but what if they're bad people?" Sophie asked nervously.
"We only approach them if there are other villagers nearby. Deal?" David suggested.
"Okay… but only if all of us go," Jhonas said, glancing at Marcus.
"…If Sophie goes, I'll go too," Marcus muttered.
"Are you going, Kelly?" Sophie asked, ignoring him.
"If you go, I go too. I'm curious where they're from," Kelly replied.
"Then let's go before it gets too late and we miss them!" David shouted, running ahead.
Jhonas followed immediately.
Sophie and Kelly each grabbed one of Aron's hands and pulled him along.
"Hey, don't I get a say in this?" Aron complained.
"No." (2x)
'Ah… the sin of being handsome,' Aron thought as he was dragged along.
Marcus lagged behind, watching the scene with a jealous expression.
"Hmph… just because he's a little more handsome now… when I grow up, I'll be even better," he muttered, following after them.
When they reached the village square, the children gathered near a snow-covered tree facing the inn.
It was a little past noon. The sun was high, and the cold wasn't as harsh as in the morning.
"Alright, from here we can see who comes and goes. When someone unfamiliar appears, we move," David said, shaping a snowball.
Everyone agreed and kept playing.
Time passed…
Minutes.
Hours.
No one new showed up.
Aron looked at the sky.
"It's getting late."
"We should give up."
"They might've already left the village," Kelly said with a sigh.
"Yeah… my mom's going to scold me if I get home late," Jhonas added nervously.
"Then let's go, we—"
Before David could finish—
He saw her.
A very beautiful woman with green hair stepping out of the inn.
"Yes!" he cheered.