As they walked through the city, they stopped at the third-ring gate where Lucas asked them to send a runner to the castle with his request for the criers and then they continued, stopping at Dubio's to buy some potions.
"Ah! You three! Lottie and Leeman were here, oh hello Lucas, they were with the Duke's attendant. He purchased a large amount of alchemical manuals, tools and ingredients for beginner level potions..."
Dubio continued to ramble for a bit before Jonah held up a hand. "We truly appreciate the assistance, Dubio. When we're settled, we'll invite you to a housewarming gathering..."
"Really!? You know housewarming gathering, but not yo- Ahem! Sorry, just slipped out." Lucas said and Jonah realised he slipped up and would have to be careful.
"...Actually, the weird thing is I don't, I just knew the phrase, but not really what it means."
Lucas burst into laughter, as did Orcette and Kayla, rather than retort and risk opening a can of worms with Lucas he took the mockery and they ended the conversation to continue on their way.
"Since you know Gregor, why don't we stop in and get you two throwing knives? They're good for hunters and rogues and can be used for distractions, hunting and long range attacks on magic resistant enemies."
"I will get myself a shield as well, I didn't think about it yesterday, but it will be interesting to see if prolonged exposure changes the blessing." Jonah replied as he started cradling his chin, eager to discover the extent of his natural abilities.
When they got there, they had the same discussion about a housewarming with them, then purchased the supplies for maintaining weapons and the throwing knives and radial shield for Jonah that cost an entire gold coin all together.
As they left and continued on their way, Lucas asked how much money they actually had left.
"About one-hundred and ninety-five. It would have been more, but the ladies wanted that self-erecting, floating tent which cost two gold."
"Haha! Yeah, not gonna lie, the old lady nearly dropped taking two gold off an Angel..." Lucas continued laughing while the girls whistled innocently,
When they got to the fourth-ring, the guard traffic was much higher than they had seen, which they soon realised was because of their warning about potential suicides.
Despite, or maybe because of, their macabre assignment, they were all acting in good spirits and Jonah could sense that they were putting on a happy front.
"Jonah! Thanks for helping with the Captain."
"Yeah, he needed something outside of work."
That led to having to explain to Lucas what happened with the two of them, then Lucas grabbed one of them and handed over a pouch of coins and whispered something to him...
After that, Lucas nodded through the gate and continued, refusing to speak about what he had said.
They didn't head due east, but instead up to the north east and away from the river and passing through the fields that were being worked and not as untended as they appeared to be the day before.
"Lucas, was there a curfew in place yesterday as well? We didn't see the fields being worked yesterday." Orcette asked as she noticed the farmers stopping work to bow to the passing Angel.
"Excuse me, Lord! Can you bless our fields? They suffered this year from infestation." The heartfelt plea made Jonah feel a pang of guilt, how could he reply to someone with so much hope and expectation with, "sorry, don't know how".
Jonah stopped and approached the man, intriguing the others...
"I'm sorry, I am a guardian angel and have only the skills to fulfill that role..." He paused to look around him and raised his arms. "...The noble path of agriculture is beyond my purview, but worry not, for you it is you that have worked these fields through every hardship before.
There is power in determination and I know no better word to describe the way you toil these fields day in and day out, from dawn to dusk.
Have faith and take pride in your talents, for the ones you possess are beyond one as simple as me."
With those simple words, the farmers began celebrating for some reason incomprehensible to Jonah, Orcette and Kayla and then Lucas intervened to get them back on track.
"Apologies everyone, the criers will be through as soon as they can, but Jonah here isn't a "yes, Lord, no, Lord, three bags full, Lord" king of Angel. He's here as our equal and neighbour, leave his charges in peace and beyond that he couldn't care less. Unfortunately, we are on a guild mission, so introductions will have to wait."
With that they continued on their way,..
Marching through the golden fields of growing wheat, the perigot orbs of lettuce and the sprawling leaves of other vegetables growing underground, it was hard to see what the farmers meant when they said they had been ravaged by infestation.
'Maybe an active quest that was made redundant by the world coming to life?' Jonah was growing more and more curious, he wanted to know exactly how the typical quests associated with these games would work in a living world.
"Lucas, do you mind if we pick up the pace? I want to get wherever we're going, fast."
"Why the rush? Adventures should be enjoyed." Lucas asked inquisitively.
"I have a feeling we're going to find foreigners there..."
"What!? None of them seemed interested in anything. They were dejected, defeated, they had lost the will to do anything."
"Most did, but some people operate differently. Throw hopelessness at some people and they'll find hope instead. I think what happened might make some overconfident and push themselves to the point of self-destr-" Jonah stopped talking and grabbed the back of his neck "...ARGHHHHH!"
The others watched as Jonah fell to his knees, roaring with the pain penetrating the back of his head. They wanted to help, but Jonah was flailing and as Lucas tried to get close, one of Jonah's wings sliced through his shoulder guard like it was paper.
"What the hell is wrong with him!?" Lucas roared as he stepped back before he lost a limb.
Orcette didn't answer, just held onto Kayla as if consoling her. "Kayla, whatever you do, don't speak about what this means. You know, don't you? Jonah is a part of this world now, but why I wonder?" Orcette was whispering into Kayla's ear.
Staring at Jonah, Orcette could see it wasn't a pleasant experience, moreover he now had any choice stolen from him and so soon. She wondered what had happened, why his headset was removed so quickly, what kind of toll it would take on his mind.
"Orcette..." The word, her name, cut through the noise of her musings. "...Sorry if I worried you, the pain has passed."
"What do you mean "passed"? Jonah, what the hell happened to you!" Lucas shouted from the side.
"The events of the courtyard... My body was purging the remnants, though it seems I didn't ascend to the usual level of an Angel."
Lucas approached and patted him on the arm before looking at his pauldron. "I'm glad you're okay, but can you watch those wings in future? Damn near lost my arm, no wonder your kind looks down on weapons."
"I insist I pay for repairs, it's strange though, my body feels lighter and easier to control, like my mind wasn't properly fused with my body before. I can feel them now though and I'm truly sorry you nearly got injured because of me."
"Yeah, I won't argue, the pauldron will cost about ten gold and I don't have that kind of coin right now. Still though, to think whatever happened affected an Angel so deeply."
"Never mind that now, like I said we need to pick up the pace, I'm lucky enough to have built in cleavers but others are not."
"Right and after seeing that, anyone in the dungeon feeling the same thing is in trouble." They nodded at each other and set off at full speed, which Jonah was initially worried would be too much for Kayla, but she was actually leading the pack.
Plenty of people turned to look at the group running through the fifth-ring fields, but they were focused and before they knew it, leaping over the simple waist high fence.
They followed the northern edge of the woods, hugging its border tightly as they moved. It followed in a completely straight line from the city at first, then after about ten minutes of running, swept across in front of them.
Lucas pushed forward and took point then strangely kept hugging the edge and followed it round.
"Why are we following the treeline!?" Orcette asked as they followed it as though a solid wall was deciding their path for them.
"The dungeon is called "Boundary Forest", you can only get there by following the boundary of this forest a certain distance..." Lucas explained, before recommending they refrain from talking as they could bite their tongues since they seem to have no experience with their own abilities and half-stumbled several times. "...Jonah, when you get the hang of flying again, it would be handy to know if you can get there by flying the route."
Caught off-guard by the suggestion, Jonah obliviously stretched a wing, quickly furling it again when it sliced halfway through a tree. "Damn it! Stop! We need to finish the job before someone gets crushed.
Everyone skidded to a halt and Jonah returned to the tree...
"Good call..." Lucas said before heading back to Jonah and kicking the tree over completely. "...Jonah, don't want to be overbearing, you need to watch those things."
"I know, apologies, I'll see if Gregor can find anything to prevent accidents. Are Angel wings usually like this?"
"Why are you asking me?..." Lucas was completely perplexed, he knew Jonah was unique, but he wanted to know exactly how much he was. "...Let's get moving again, we can think about that later."
They resumed their run, the trio of Jonah, Orcette and Kayla, wondering how exactly they were not out of breath but too busy to stop and think about it.
After another ten minutes, they were heading out into some kind of hidden grove and they wondered whether Lucas was messing with them, but as they were about to enter the rocky grove they had seen before them disappeared and they found themselves in a thick forest.
Behind them was a large stone door covered in some kind of runes that glowed an electric blue, the entire structure thrummed with power and the runes glowed strongly enough to illuminate the immediate area.
Aside from the door, the area was a collage of deep emerald vines and deep brown tree trunks, a thin veil of steam that rose from the ground as dead vegetation decomposed into the soil and filled the air with a damp mouldy smell.
The area was so quiet and stagnant that it simply felt wrong, like the forest only existed to die and nourish the ground, a twisted satire of the usual balance of nature that could typically be observed in such biomes.
"Welcome to Boundary Forest, you three..."