In a single moment, a bright wall of flames formed behind Isaac. The figure grabbed Isaac's wrist and started to drag him. Isaac was barely able to grab his things before the figure dragged him, and the pouch of barriers fell out of his hands.
The figure drags Isaac close to the edge of the lake before the air gains a cold breeze, and loud cracks sound around them, as the lake freezes over. The figure drags Isaac onto the ice, which is continuously being frozen by the figure.
Isaac tosses a look over his shoulder, and he sees the source of the ungodly roar, a bear as tall as a house, and as wide as a truck, with deep black fur. Isaac is only able to make out its figure due to the wall of fire that the bear effortlessly walked through.
Isaac turns his head back around as they make it off the ice. The figure's skin seems to have gotten lighter and looks more like a human. The figure is breathing heavily, a lot like how Isaac was when he was trying to cast *understand*.
The figure looks at Isaac and speaks
"The pouch, hand it over."
Isaac is taken aback since a few minutes ago they had to communicate through charades, but now he can understand them due to the spell. Under any other circumstances, he would feel happy, but considering that they are getting chased by a bear that would make god cower, he doesn't have time for that luxury.
Isaac looks at the figure showing his empty hands and responds
"I didn't have time to pick it up after I dropped them, but I think I have some in my bag."
The figure lets out a disgruntled noise before retorting.
"We don't have time. Look, wanderer, you need to cast a spell that can melt that ice."
Isaac looks at the figure, silently computing the request before turning to the frozen lake. Isaac didn't know any spells that could do that, but channel magic is mainly just using words and their meaning to get the desired effect.
Isaac gives the figure a nod before walking over to the ice and placing a hand on it, and then focusing. Using the same pathway he used for casting *understand*, he attempts to cast a spell without knowing what it does.
Isaac looks at the ice and speaks.
"Melt"
Like when he cast *understand* dark blue mana flowed out of his mouth, but instead of covering everything around him, the dark blue mana only covered the lake. The ice where Isaac's hand melts in an instant, while everywhere else on the lake still has a layer of ice, but has nothing else supporting it.
But only Isaac notices it, to everything else, it looks like his spell failed miserably. The figure grabs Isaac's shoulder and starts dragging him, and lets out an insult.
"Dam it, I knew a Wanderer couldn't even cast a simple spell, can't do anything."
Isaac lets the figure drag him, but responds to the insult
"My spell didn't fail. Yeah, it may have been lackluster, but it will work.
The figure turns around, about to insult him again, but is stopped as the bear walks onto the ice. Both the figure and Isaac turn around as the bear steps onto the ice. At first, the ice supports the bear's weight, but when it walks a bit further in, the ice starts to crack.
The bear looks down at the ice, but before it can do anything, it falls deep into the water. This doesn't stop the bear, as the bear slams its paw against the ice, and it all shatters, leaving only an odd shard left.
Seeing this, the figure and Isaac share a single look before both run into the forest. Both of them stick together while dodging brambles and trees, and the rogue animal, along the way, they come across some of the mana berries. Instead of taking them, they throw them around to act as a distraction.
Clouds above them start to brew as light rain starts to pour down, starting as drizzle but quickly turns into a storm. They both start looking for shelter. At this moment, Isaac thinks about running, but considering the bear chasing them, this person is a lot safer.
After a couple of minutes of searching, they can't find any place to hide out from both the bear and the weather, so they gradually move west closer to the mountains, and after about half an hour of searching, they find a long cave that seems to lead somewhere.
They settle down in the cave. Isaac is visibly blue due to running around shirtless in the rain for almost an hour. The figure makes a small fire using magic, which Isaac gladly sits next to. The figure is next to Isaac, who is facing the entrance of the cave.
Isaac looks at the fire and musters up the courage to speak.
"I guess we never got to continue our conversation."
The figure looks at him and says.
"We didn't even start it, since that crescent bear showed up."
Isaac looks at the figure who is looking straight into his eyes, and asks.
"What's a crescent bear?"
The figure lets out a laugh before responding to Isaac's strange question.
"The bear that attacked us was a crescent bear. They are called that since they grow ten times bigger during a crescent moon."
Isaac takes in this information and lets out a laugh.
"So you're saying that the bear that almost just killed us is really like 3 feet tall."
The figure joins Isaac laughing at his comment and responds with a confirmation.
"Yeah, they are tiny guys. Some people at the tribe like to tame them and use them as mounts, for night time hunting."
Isaac's eyes widen, and many things that the figure said, mainly that there was a tribe of people in this forest, and that they tried to domesticate those bears. Isaac asks a question.
"So, where is that tall guy you were with last time?"
The figure thinks for a second, seemingly trying to understand, but then responds.
"Oh, you mean that brute. He is just a defender from the tribe, so I snuck out without his, since I wanted to meet you."
Isaac is taken aback by this. Why would the person who cursed him want to talk to him? It doesn't make much sense to him. The figure seems to notice this and keeps speaking.
"It's because we are both wanderers who come from other worlds."
Isaac looks at this person and realises what they meant. They were from another world, just like him, but clearly not from Earth, and maybe from the same world as that tribe. Isaac let out a shiver before realising he was still wearing his wet clothes, so, disgruntledly, he took them off, leaving him only in his underwear.
The figure looked at this and realised they were also still in their wet clothes, but before they took off their clothes, they let out a comment.
"Oh, so you're a guy, wouldn't have been able to tell because of how weak you are."
Isaac looks at the figure, clearly annoyed at that comment, and speaks.
"Well, not everyone can learn magic easily, dude. You probably have a trait that helps you."
The figure grins at Isaac, who is clearly annoyed and responds in a mocking tone.
"I have no Trait like that, I am better than you, and how dare you assume I am some barbaric male."
That made Isaac freeze. He had acknowledged that they looked feminine, but didn't think they were really a girl, but what made him freeze most was that they didn't have a trait that allowed them to learn magic, even though James could only learn magic due to his trait.
The figure stands up and walks deeper into the cave, and before Isaac can turn around, something wet hits the back of his head, and a comment can be heard from inside the cave.
"Don't turn around, and just dry my clothes."
Isaac bursts out into a deep blush as he realises that he is now holding her clothes, he lays them down next to the fire to dry like his clothes. Isaac faces the entrance of that cave and speaks.
"My name is Isaac, and I'm from a world called Earth."
From deep inside the cave, a voice can be heard.
"I'm from a world called Grassciair, and my name is Tiy."