Moved westward from the plain where Ronata and Saki were located, a village could be found standing with a tall log wall shielding the village interior from any hostile beings.
The village was known as Morinsa Village, a frontier Village under the government of the Thuvar Kingdom. The kingdom built the village as part of their initial plan to seize the land at their eastern Border, which was known as the Servousa Great Forest.
Morinsa, of course, wasn't the only one Frontier Village Thuvar Kingdom had. There were 13 more villages whose existence had the same purpose as Morinsa Village, which was built across the outer side of the great forest.
Currently, a group of Adventurers is staying in this village. They had set up a camp at the square since there isn't any inn this far in the countryside.
This group was even smaller than Grass Pit. Amongst them, there isn't a single Mage. Three of them are close combatants. This is because they weren't a properly arranged party, but a party they made out of need since their next destination required them to face more danger than usual.
"Where would we be going next?" One of them, a bald monk, asked.
The other two give him an exasperated look.
"Again..." A man with a black ponytail sighed.
"Did you forget? We're heading toward The Ruin of King Romess, which is located at the deep Northern side of Servousa Great Forest," the last one, who had blonde hair, explained to the bald.
The bald man nodded slowly as he started to remember it.
"So we'll die?" The bald asked again, stunning the other two.
"No!" The ponytail scoffed.
The blonde paused for a moment before opening his mouth.
"... Why would you think so?" He asked the bald back.
The bald shrugged, "I heard it. They said that Grass Pit had entered the great forest months ago, and they never came out again after that even though they told the villagers that they would be back quickly."
What the bald man said shocked the other two. They looked at each other before turning their heads back toward the bald.
The blonde frowned, "Are you sure about that?"
If what the bald man said was true, then they should have quickly changed their destination. After all, while Grass Pit was not yet widely known since they had only just started as an Adventurer group for a year, the Adventurers who were active near this side of the Kingdom would at least have already heard about them once.
They are known as talented newcomers. If they even lost their lives inside the great forest, then whatever the cause would naturally be something that an impromptu-formed group like them couldn't hope to handle.
The bald widened his eyes and tilted his head, then looked at his teammates, before...
"Hm? No," He replied, stunned the two once more.
The ponytail's face turned red in anger as a result.
"You! You little...! I'll kill you!"
He reached to grab the hilt of the sword he had on his waist. He was about to pull his sword when he suddenly received a heavy punch on the face that flew him 2 meters away.
"Ugh..." The ponytail groaned.
The bald retracted his fist and looked at him with a stern face.
"I don't think it's okay to shout 'I'll kill you!' to someone like that. You should learn how to restrain yourself more."
The bald's words, however, only made the ponytail angrier. Fortunately, the earlier punch was so heavy that he couldn't move his body. If not, he would have already rushed to slice that shining-headed man in two right at the moment.
The blonde ignored the two's frantic exchanges as if it were just a daily thing for him. He shifted his focus to suggesting that the bald person give him a more detailed explanation instead.
"Could you explain?" He asked the bald, who responded with a nod.
"The villagers said that the Grass Pit's main destination was to travel the the border and enter the Confederation through the Beastkin territory, but even after weeks passed, they won't come back ever yet. The only thing they knew about what the Grass Pit aimed was that they seemed to be looking for a Great encounter."
The blonde frowned as he muttered to himself, "Great encounter?"
As immediately as he heard those words, he could already imagine what had happened.
"It's dangerous. We'll avoid the Great Forest."
The other two were surprised by the blonde's words, but seeing his deadpan face, they faintly sensed the criticality of the situation and could only obey him.
They immediately rushed to pack their belongings back into their respective bags. They had decided it, that at first light, they would leave this village.
Meanwhile, rumours about the Grass Pit's disappearance began spreading through this side of the Kingdom.
...
Divine Realm.
A mysterious place separated from the Celestial body of Hamurva, yet still located on the same planet.
This was a place where the Gods of Hamurva could live without directly affecting the world only by merely existing.
"How peculiar... The destiny... Is moving to an unknown path."
Vali read the threads of fates with a slight astonishment, before she shifted to two Goddesses that kneeling before her, her face stern.
"What does this mean, Irmin?"
The younger Goddess flinched when she heard Vali call her name, her platinum eyes wandering around panickedly.
She poked her fingers nervously before looking up to Vali with upturned eyes.
"I might be, or might not be had... Something to do with it," She admitted her guilt.
Vali narrowed her eyes at her.
"Ho? Then explain," She said, demanding more answers.
"It's because Mother Nature... Requested me to do it." Irmin answered, her eyes peeking at the Goddess that nonchalantly kneeling beside her.
Vali looked at the Goddess, who had the appearance of an adult woman with long, twirling green hair. Her eyes were double-colored; one as red as fire, another as blue as deep ocean, with a mix of green mingled in them. While her clothes were white, almost transparent at the top, with green shade coloring their lower half.
Mother Nature, Terraria. To be precise, she was not a Divine being. She had not yet reached that realm at the moment. Instead of a Goddess, she was more like a spirit that was born from the planet itself—Hamurva's daughter, if you will. She was the only one of her kind.
She was an anomaly since there aren't any spirits in Hamurva except her. Her power was also a peculiarity itself. She was connected directly to the Celestial existence aspect itself, so as long as Hamurva still existed, it was impossible to kill her despite her not being a Divine Being or even a mere Immortal herself.
She was also the one who made those options become inanimate objects. The Gods, of course, were unwilling to approve her request at first. But when they thought that it was Mother Nature's first request, who was usually a quiet 'girl' who never made any trouble, they in the end decided to approve her instead.
'She used to be a quiet girl until now. What was the cause of her sudden personality change? Was it because of that brusque mortal?'
"Terraria... Could you explain to me what actually happened here?" Vali asked.
Terraria placed her finger on her left cheek, tilting her head as if considering whether to answer Vali's question or not.
In the end, she decided to shake her head.
"Hmm~ It's a secret, Sister Vali. So don't make me reveal it prematurely, okay?"