Their night went by without any issues, no new arrivals or unexpected guests of the monster variety appeared, allowing for a proper rest to be had. It was quite the difference in how Emanai especially felt, instead of a stiff face that was hiding the exhaustion and ethereal pain she was feeling, now even a small smile had crept on her face, the two sisters had slept together, like kids sharing their bed to stave off their fear of dark with each others presence, huddled together and finding peace and calm in each others warmth.

  "Morning." Rex greeted the the ladies, having joined Danica who was on the last shift and already fiddling around with some food he had stashed away. A simple campfire was lit, in a place clearly meant for one and the smell of fresh and tasty meat slowly enveloped the new arrivals resulting in expectant gulps as they came into the area ruled over by the pleasant smell of cooking food.

  "Just a few more minutes and the first round will be ready." Rex added, turning some of the skewers he was tending to, dipping a brush he was holding into a sauce of sorts as he soaked the meat in it, causing yet another wave of mouth watering smell to engulf the cooking area. The girls obediently took seats, waiting on him to finish, their gazes locked on the cooking meat and a few minutes later, just as Rex had promised, he brought quite a few skewers over, placing them on a larger plate already prepared for it, a few fresh loaves of bread also placed on the makeshift table the girls were seated around as well as a few pitchers of water to slake one's thirst.

  "Just a moment. One more thing to bring over." he added and walked back to the campfire, fishing out some potato like vegetables, baked in the coals of the campfire, placing them in a rather large bowl and bringing them over. "The good stuff is hidden inside. Should go really well with the skewers." he added "Eat your fill. I have to do some more meat frying." and with that said he walked back towards the campfire, switching his attention to another few, large pieces of meat that were spit roasted on the far side of the fire, having somehow escaped the girls notice until Rex walked over and started to tinker with them, all the while not forgetting to add more fresh meat skewers in the same place as before.

  Another fifteen minutes later he came back, the comically large pieces of meat on the sticks they were roasting creating quite the funny sight. he placed one of the spit roasts in front of Danica, the other in front of Eve, then looking towards the sister he asked. "Want seconds? The next batch of skewers is just about ready."

  "What about yourself?" asked Emanai before replying to his question.

  "Don't you worry about that. I have my own spit roast by the fire that I have already half finished. We have some secrets to uncover today after all. So?"

  "We appreciate the kindness and would like some seconds. I do feel much, much better today, plenty of my appetite has returned as a result. Once again, thank you."

  "Don't sweat it." Rex smiled lightly and walked away, returning moments later with the next batch, placing in the same place as before.

  "We will be filled with this batch. There is no need to prepare another for us." Emanai replied having exchanged a few words with Pyra.

  "You sure? I have plenty more to cook still."

  "We will be fine, thank you for the care."

  "All right then." Rex just shrugged, walked away for a second and then returned with his own large sized spit roast, already half eaten as he had said. The next fifteen or so minutes the sisters ate and could not help but wonder just where all that food was going to, the other party consuming their own spit roasts with barely anything being left over.

  "That is some impressive appetite I must say. I think you could put some giant descendants to shame with it." Emanai smiled as she spoke, her words clearly ment as a praise of sorts, and the woman quickly explained to ensure no misunderstanding came about. "Giants and their offspring consider great appetite to be a sign of a mighty and honourable warrior."

  "There is nothing to worry about. Your tone and facial expressions told it was nothing but a compliment of sorts." Eve replied, glancing at her party members who were also finished with their meal. "So, are we heading out now?" she asked, her eyes mainly on Rex.

  "Yes. Let's." he replied, rising from his seat and proceeding to dismantle whatever they had set up so the night would be cozier and more pleasant for those that slept at any given time and, another few minutes later still, the group left, once again restarting their advancement further up, their gazes mostly locked on the mural continuing the story they were following as they ascended.

  As they kept on climbing, the story continued it's dark and gloom motif it had set up ever since the destruction of the city, the lone man stumbling and suffering through trial after trial. Wild beasts, small groups of slavers or bandits, the party could not properly discern which, hostile weather and any other obstacle that one could imagine. And yet, the youngster prevailed, beating challenge after challenge, growing stronger and more resolute in his quest for vengeance.

  He passed through unfamiliar cities, dealing with the people there based on the way he was treated, yet never stopping in any place for too long, always searching for clues of the horde, continuing to both grow stronger and more ruthless as he got further, viewing everything and everyone as a tool to be used for his revenge. He would sometimes encounter a scouting party or a smaller band of the savage creatures that had destroyed his home and he would, without exception, end the lives of every single one of them, leaving their heads severed and on whatever resembled pikes with a warning attached to the grotesque sight 'Each and every one of them will face the same fate. Let this warning ting far and wide, for I am coming.'

  And so, days turned into months, into years and the young man was now replaced by a stout and powerful warrior, cleaving through groups of the savage creatures, relentless and with the same ferocity and even more brutality that the savage creatures themselves. never did a single one of the creatures managed to escape, a set of heads on spikes left behind as a continues reminder of the eternal hunter. He had found more and more traces of the horde and by this point no doubt there were some questions regarding whatever creature was hunting for them, he had already killed thousands by this point. How much more of them could there be? Regardless, he would not stop until the last one was killed, their vile race wiped off the face of the land.

  A few dozen more skirmishes later, the warrior walked through incredibly dense mist, suddenly finding himself in front of a mountain, a large force of the savage creatures sieging some sort of a settlement further up the slope. Almost seeing red, the young warrior charged forward, his weapons drawn and his task clear. He rampaged throughout the savage creature lines, disrupting them and leaving a trail of blood and corpses in his wake, the scars on his being from the raid on his home reopening, fueling his rage more and more.

  For hours he fought, the defenders of the settlement besieged having joined him some time ago and only by the time the sun was set did the last of the savage raiders had been killed. It was here that the warrior realized a crucial flaw in his plan. He was but a single man, up against tens of thousands of enemies. He could not fight indefinitely, his body only being that of a mortal, but he still had time, for as he talked with the people of the local populace, all as one grateful for his assistance, he learned that groups of the savage creatures appeared from time to time, trying to raze a city of theirs here and there, sometimes succeeding, others failing miserably like here, all thanks to the warrior.

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  It was here that he stopped, forming bonds with the local people, earning their trust as he advanced deeper and deeper into their lands, eventually reaching the top of the mountain and becoming part of the ruling family. It was the warrior sitting on a throne, one of the princesses by his side as he oversaw the nation growing stronger, training to be able to repel each and every single attack they would have to experience, leaving only corpses of their enemies as they came. One day, they would take the fight to the horde itself, ending their existence once and for all. The warrior, now emperor sat in his throne, his hand outstretched and pointing towards the gate that stood before the party.

  "is that a test, or an invitation? I wonder." Rex mused as he walked up to the gate, placing his hands on it for a while. Once he sensed no mana circuits within it, no traps or anything of the sort, he leaned forward braced his body and pushed forward, with a loud and creaking shriek the gate moved, slowly opening from Rex's strength. A short while later, the gate was open far enough so the group could see further ahead. A magnificent manor stood before their eyes, cut in the side of the mountain, a few other, each and every one more grandiose than the last, with all manner of gardens and fruit trees growing, plenty of natural bounty and food appearing before their eyes.

  It was then that they noticed the locals as they slowly appeared in the distance, coming from the closest villa. They were dressed in some sort of metallic armour, though as far as Rex could figure out the armour was still quite flexible, allowing them to move at great speeds, utilizing their no doubt powerful legs. The closer they came, the more and more their faces could be discerned by the rest of teh [arty, Rex sharp eyes long since locked on a certain aspect of the locals.

  They stopped a few dozen meters away from Rex and his group, standing there quite imposingly, or at least trying to seem so, no doubt trying to stop Rex and his group from advancing forward and still waiting for someone else from their own side.

  "Rex? What's wrong? You have been staring at them for quite a while." Rex snapped out of his trance like state, his head turning towards Eve slowly who had asked the question.

  "Am I the only one who wants to play with those fuzzy and no doubt soft bunny ears of those girls? Be honest Eve, I know how weak you are to that sort of thing." Rex could see the struggle in her eyes now that Rex had mentioned it loud, no doubt the girl had barely just kept herself in check, but now that Rex tempted her out loud, she could no longer pretend.

  "Y-yes." she quietly whimpered, annoyed more than anything at the victorious smirk on Rex face. In response, Eve adapted a trick Danica sometimes used, jumping on Rex's back and delivering a few symbolic chomps on his neck. "And now I an't get it out of my head. TAKE RESPONSIBILITY!" she hissed, delivering a few more extra bites.

  "Would you look at that, seems like their backup is here." Rex smiled just a few moments later as he noticed another, much older group approaching them. With the arrival of the new group, Rex could more accurately describe the unique traits of the locals here, though there were fairly few differences between the residents and normal humans. Utilizing both mana pulses and his soul power, Rex had deduced the full extent of the species before his group.

  While mostly human, the people of this city, nation of the sealed realm, had a couple of distinct features, the long and fluffy rabbit ears that sprouted towards the sky being one of them. There was quite the number of shapes, levels of fluffiness and color, the soft fur covering said ears matching the hair color of the ones said ears belonged to. The colors too varied anywhere from yellow, brown and black, the usual hair color one would expect, all the way to green, blue or purple or proper red, as well as silver and gray, indicating one's age as their hair was losing color.

  The second feature, though harder to notice due to the backs of the rabbit people away from his group, was a small, very plushy tail, the size of a fist and shape of a ball on the backs of the rabbit people, sprouting out from their backs just above their buttocks. A feature Rex could not pass by commenting on as he leaned his head back and whispering in Eve's ear as she still clung to his back.

  "Think their tails are just like Danica's when slightly pulled?" His question instantly moved Eve's attention back on the rabbit people, her eyes revealing a curious and slightly hungry gaze. She was quite the prim and proper lady with everyone, her calm and collected manner and education often shined through, but with Rex and Danica, she showed another side of her, the young woman who always dreamed of adventures and doing other exciting and fun stuff.

  "Calm down now dear." He whispered once again "We don't want to scare them too much, do we?" his words and the approaching second group finally calming Eve down as the woman slid off Rex's back and stood by him, her calm demeanor having instantly returned.

  "I do wonder how they plan to proceed here? I doubt we have the same language after all." Rex added. already well aware of the fact, having listened in on quite a few conversations already. With the amount of people speaking and due to his insane soul and mind power, he was already recognizing multiple words that overlapped in different conversations, understanding their general meaning either from intonation or gestures that followed along with the talker.

  As the group of the elders reached the same place the one blocking Rex's parties advance, he noticed one of the elder women with mostly gray hair and droopy rabbit ears rousing her mana, discreetly yet not escaping his insane perception. Then, he sensed it, the attempt to read their minds, indicating the woman as a mind mage. Though unfortunately for her, Rex was not going to allow such disrespect to be shown to his group, reflecting the spell and having a free browse of the casters mind, his soul and blood proficiency allowing him to do so without too much of a collateral damage. As he got what he needed, namely the language of the locals, the woman dropped to her knees and screamed in pain, side effect of Rex actions, causing the bunny people take defensive stances, some even drawing weapons towards Rex.

  "Count your lucky stars wailing is all she got for the audacity to try and peruse our minds." Rex spoke the local language, though he had a notable accent as he did so, at the same time using his soul connection to Eve and Danica to share his mind dive of the woman, allowing the duo to understand the language.

  "I am such a nice and understanding person after all." he added with a grin on his face "But clear punishments are to be expected for such audacity. So? Carry on then, speak no doubt there are things you want to convey."

  His commanding tone and confident posture, along with the way he spoke their language as well had the bunny people speechless for a moment until one of the elders managed to get his wits together.

  "Ahem." he cleared his throat, gaining the attention both of his fellow bunny people and Rex's group. "Very well then. We greet you travelers from the lands far away. As our king decreed long ago, the time would come when would be challengers would arrive and strive to achieve what we could not. You stand before the land of Naara, our ancestral home. We ask that you follow our customs and rules while here. Meeka here would have been the one to tell you it all once she had learned your tongue, but it seems that is not going to be necessary now."

  "Yea, I do believe she will still get to do her job as intended. Not many others who will likely arrive later will be capable of what I have performed, so she can do her thing with them, no one else there will be on my level." Rex interjected.

  "U-understood." the elder stammered a bit, a bit flustered that his monologue was interrupted, though he quickly regained his previous poise. "We should assign a separate guide for your group then." he mused for a moment. "Fara!" he called out and moments later a young woman with black hair and fluffy and slightly bent ears at their tips pranced over, a curious yet cautious expression on her face.

  "Y-yes elder?" she timidly asked.

  "You know the protocol well enough. It is your task to guide this group and explain to them the rules and customs to abide by while they are here."

  "B-but I am no elder Meeka." she glanced at the mind mage who was sitting on the ground, slowly recovering from the pain she had gone through.

  "Not a problem. The man speaks our tongue." elder explained.

  "All- right then." Fara drew her words, cautiously gazing towards Rex, her ears twitching just a little bit.

  "F-follow me then." she spoke slowly, her confidence rising as she did. The group did not look all that threatening and she was a well trained warrior of their kind.

  All the while the two were talking, Eve had moved slightly closer to the sisters and translated what was said, ensuring his entire group was aware and once asked to follow, the group did as asked, quite interested to learn about the place and the Naaru people themselves. This king that they mentioned, if the same person as on the mural leading up the stairs, was not one of their species if the depiction of him was to be believed after all.