NOVEL NEXT Chapter 031 – The core of the jungle
Sophia learned even more about magic and also managed to further bond with it. She also gave it free rein over her domain to let them add whatever they wanted to it. It seemed like the particles, from the way they acted, were very happy about playing around without needing to recreate normal flora. The prospect of being allowed to create whatever they could think of made them very excited.
“As we’re already relatively close after you two got lost, shall we continue to head towards the core of the jungle?” Sophia, after having reunited with Fen and Maya, wanted to continue exploring after their break.
“I’m not against it.” Fen was up for more.
“Same.” Maya also nodded.
“Great!” She energetically raised her arm high in the air. “Let’s go!” The blonde then made a passage through the jungle using wind-based magic.
“Someone’s in a good mood, huh?” The wolf didn’t fail to notice her excitement.
“Yeah.” The cat-girl nodded again. “What did you do after you exiled us?”
“Ah.” She froze up for a moment to come up with an explanation. “I played with magic?” Luckily, she had no need to lie. Technically telling the truth while accidentally omitting some details was one of her specialties, after all.
“Oh, I see.” As it didn’t sound like anything out of the ordinary for Maya, she didn’t feel the need to ask any more questions.
“By the way, the next time we leave, the Sophia Tax of magic power left behind in my domain will be the absolute maximum to have barely enough left for the regular world.” The blonde smiled at the duo. “There’s a little project I started working on, and there needs to be a LOT more ambient magic around!”
“Do I want to know?” The cat-girl wasn’t sure how to feel about that.
“No.” She shook her head. "Just be assured whatever playful or ridiculous thing you'll do in the future, now that you stopped holding back, won't even come close to what I’m up to.”
“…” Her expression turned complicated.
"Don't worry, it'll be strictly contained to my domain."
“Good…”
“The outside world isn’t ready for it, after all.” Sophia’s expression turned a little smug.
“Fen, remind me that I never ask what she’s up to.” The cat-girl lightly rubbed her temples while looking at the wolf. “And if I ever find out, remind me that I need to get Ari for a double punishment.”
“Okay.” He just nodded because he didn’t want to get involved. “Though, I am quite curious about hearing more.” Fen then turned his attention to the blonde.
“It will be a while before I can reveal it.” She lightly shook her head. “It’s too early for even the group to know.”
“Even more curious!”
“Even more concerned!” The duo had very different views on it.
“Well, things will definitely be interesting in the future~.” Sophia smiled at them. “Anyway, let’s get going!” She then started walking alongside the path she created.
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The trio kept exploring the jungle that Mira had gifted to the blonde for another hour and were slowly getting closer to the core.
"The plants around here sure are extra dense, huh?" Maya couldn't help but notice that there really was no empty room between them anymore. “I guess that’s to be expected from the overseer of magic, huh?”
“It surely is impressive.” Fen nodded a few times.
“You do know that this area here is pretty close to where you and Ari had your, uhh… moment?” The blonde looked at the cat-girl. “It’s mostly your doing because Mira’s bit of the jungle wasn’t nearly as overgrown as this.”
“A-Ah.” Maya averted her face.
“Though, I can’t say for sure how the very core looks because even I have a hard time getting a reading there.”
“So it might be from Mira, after all!” The cat-girl raised her voice.
“No, there are definitely faint traces of Ari’s and your magic inside the plants here.” Sophia shook her head in return.
“Ah.” She had the same reaction as before.
“The magic I’m sensing from further ahead, around the core, feels more neutral, though. Whatever happens there is not your fault for a change." The tiger turned a little smug again.
“Hey!” Maya glared at her. “The last part wasn’t necessary!”
“It definitely was.” She disagreed with her. “Let’s continue!”
“Yes, I want to see what’s going on there, too!” Fen was also very motivated.
“Urgh.”
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“Ah.” They kept going for another 30 minutes, and this time, it was Sophia’s time to have the dumbfounded reaction.
“Well, that’s indeed unexpected.” The wolf was surprised, as well.
“Interesting.” Maya, too, wasn’t sure what to make out of the fact the group had stumbled into a small shrine of Canir right in the very core of the jungle. It wasn't anything fancy, just a stone statue of him between two small obelisk-like structures about three meters tall, but it was a shrine nonetheless.
“I think I’m starting to understand why Mira gave you this particular part of the jungle.”
“You think?” The blonde glared at Fen. “She even said she gave me a bit extra because the jungle is so interesting in the area she added.”
“To be fair,” Maya glanced at the shrine again. “I think it is somewhat interesting.”
“You think?!” Sophia then focused her attention on the cat-girl. “I disagree!”
“You don’t think it’s interesting to find a shrine of Canir in the middle of a jungle you have been gifted by the overseer of magic?” Fen could see why it would be interesting. “I’m not talking about whether you enjoy it or not.”
“…” The tiger went silent. “The one thing is too much to make the other part viable, though!”
“Did Mira ever mention that you’ll like the extra?” Maya tilted her head.
“Grr!” She didn’t appreciate that and ignored her. Then, the blonde walked closer to the shrine and lifted her hand. Immediately after, everything turned sparkly, and once it stopped, the shrine was gone. "With that, the shrine becomes a problem of the regular world. No Canir shrines in my domain! I put it in the area we camped before~.”
“Clever.” Fen liked her solution.
“I disagree.” Another male voice joined the conversation and expressed his dissatisfaction with Sophia's actions.
“Ah.” Sophia, Fen, and Maya had the exact same reaction when they turned around to look at Canir, who decided to join their party.
“It’s lovely to see you all again, too.” Slightly grumpy sounding, the man with the dark-brown, unkempt-looking hair, seemingly in his twenties and giving off a rather unreliable feel, rolled his eyes after seeing how unenthusiastic they were.
“Why are you here?” The tiger looked right at him. "Mira said that no one can enter my domain unless I let them in!"
“Like, just as an example, by pouring magic into one of my shrines and summoning?” His expression turned smug.
“Ah.” It was a common reaction that day.
“It’s been a while~.” Canir seemed to be in a good mood. “Although, I don’t know why this statue is, well… was here?” He seemed honestly surprised. “If I remember right, this was Mira’s.”
“She got rid of it to annoy me!” Sophia was not happy about it.
“Oh?” His tone changed a little. “That’s not nice. It was a gift for her.”
“Did she want that gift?” Fen addressed him.
“This and that are unrelated.” He turned his head away. “Unrelated to that, it’s not nice to re-gift presents!”
“Especially not if the new receiver wants it even less.” Sophia heartily agreed with his statement, though for different reasons.
“Is it really that unpleasant for me to be here, my dear?” Canir then faced the blonde once more.
“This is my sanctuary!” She raised her voice. “It’s supposed to be stalker free!” She didn’t like the part where the male overseer enjoys watching her exploits.
“Don’t worry, can’t take a peek in here.” He smiled at her. “Even now that I’m here, I can only see the things directly around me like everyone else. And, right now, I can’t say that’s much at all.” Canir took a quick glance at the thick undergrowth all around them. “Not a great feeling to be this blind.”
“Wait, does that mean I’m more powerful than you right now?!” The tiger’s eyes started sparkling.
“C-Calm down!” He didn’t like how excited she seemed while closing in on him. “While I can’t oversee this place, I still have all my other powers!”
"Aww." Sophia looked incredibly disappointed while she also relaxed her clenched fist again. "I thought this was my chance!"
“Chance for what?!” He didn’t like that, either.
“They get along splendidly as usual, huh?”
“Yep.” Fen and Maya just looked at their exchange with a warm expression.
“How did you come to that conclusion?!” The two didn’t agree with that.
“Anyway, enough of that.” Canir then decided to change the topic. “Will Mira be around later? I’d like to have a word with her about getting rid of my shrine.”
“Why would I rat out my favorite overseer?” The blonde smirked at him.
“H-Hey!” He tried to look extra hurt.
The two kept bickering for a good while longer. As it was more than obvious that both of them were actually having a lot of fun while doing so, Fen and Maya had no intention of intervening and stopping them. Once Sophia and Canir had enough, the tiger invited him to the cottage with them. After all, while she has some issues with him, Sophia doesn’t really hate him. Having saved her life and bringing her over to the new world definitely helped with that sentiment.
