"…So that's roughly the situation," Aoko said as she took out a cushion, sat down with Touko beside what appeared to be a small, flickering, golden humanoid-shaped Blessing, and continued, "Based on the information I previously gathered about the Lands Between from the Outside World, now that I've seen this thing called a Blessing, I'm even more convinced."
"You're saying too much all at once," Touko said, rubbing her forehead. "While we've gotten a lot of information about this so-called Lands Between world, isn't it true that the place we're currently in doesn't seem to be part of it?"
"Exactly," Aoko nodded. "There are similarities, but many things don't match. So, I'm guessing this place is probably related to the Lands Between, but it might not be the Lands Between itself."
"So, is there anything from the Lands Between worth bringing back with us?"
"Probably the magic system related to Glintstone and the sapling of the Golden Tree," Aoko thought for a moment before replying. "First, the Glintstone magic system might be highly compatible with my Fifth Magic. Then there's the sapling of the Golden Tree, which might be able to increase the concentration of the Greater Source. But we'll have to find the seed of the tree first before making any conclusions."
"The Golden Tree?" Touko glanced at the crooked giant tree in the distance. "Do you mean that one?"
"I'm not sure," Aoko shook her head. "That thing doesn't look anything like the Golden Tree I've heard about, which is why I think this place can only be described as vaguely similar and not necessarily the Lands Between."
Just as the two, who were waiting for Stark to return from scouting, were starting to feel a bit bored, they suddenly felt the earth beneath them tremble. Either it was an earthquake or something massive in size was approaching.
"I say, Touko, aren't you an expert in automata?" Aoko suddenly said, looking into the distance. "How about leaving that thing to you to deal with?"
"No way!" Touko protested. "A golem of that size? If you want to take it down, it should be someone like you, who's more adept at destruction!"
"Our understanding of the various factions in this land is still very limited. That thing is some kind of war machine," Aoko said seriously. "If we end up smashing what might turn out to be an ally's property down the line, it wouldn't be a good look, would it?"
"You're just trying to avoid the trouble, aren't you?" Touko gave her sister a suspicious look.
"Aren't you the same?" Aoko replied with a mischievous smile.
As Aoko leveled up, her magical pet Stark also benefited from significant upgrades. As a Nyx Crow, it was reaching new heights in its crow life.
Stark took less than an hour to thoroughly scout the village and church on the high ground before returning to Aoko, who was resting by the Blessing near the checkpoint ruins.
Aoko fed Stark some clean water and nuts, letting it rest for a moment before listening to its detailed report.
"Caw, that village is pretty creepy," Stark began after some thought. "There are these tall, fat humanoid monsters there. They didn't seem very smart and were muttering things I couldn't understand while gathered together. There's also a spellcaster among them, so I didn't dare get too close."
"They're not human?" Aoko asked in surprise. "You mean, they're not the horned people?"
"No," Stark thought for a moment. "They're the kind that are tall, have big bellies, are super ugly, and don't seem very bright. Anyway, they don't look like humans, caw."
"Wait a second. Let's share memories," Aoko suddenly said. "I need to confirm something."
Aoko closed her eyes and focused her consciousness on Stark's memories. Although the memories were clear, the perspective of a crow differed greatly from that of a human. Even with the enhancements Stark had received as a magical pet, its vision was only slightly better.
Nonetheless, the images she saw confirmed Stark's account. This new race couldn't be called human. If anything, they resembled the trolls from Earth's folklore.
After getting a general understanding of the situation, Aoko opened her eyes and decided to investigate the village herself with Touko.
"So far, this place is full of ruins," Touko remarked. "None of the living people we've encountered seem to have any interest in communicating with us. That's completely different from the other world you visited before."
"Where there's prosperity, there's also decline," Aoko replied while casting a spell. "Last time, I found a world where civilization thrived. Isn't it only fair that this time I end up in a decaying world?"
"Wind Ascension!"
Aoko spoke the incantation in a low voice. A vortex formed under the control of her magical power, taking the shape of a roughly spherical wind barrier that enveloped both her and Touko. Slowly, it lifted them into the air. This was one of the spells she had learned in Lina's world, a spell driven by magical energy produced from her magic circuits. Aoko had slightly modified it to suit her own needs.
As they gained altitude, Touko cast a Rune spell for invisibility on both herself and Aoko, concealing their forms as they flew westward toward the highlands.
Unlike Stark, who had to rely on its wings for flight, Aoko's flying magic could achieve very high speeds by continuously supplying magical energy. As long as their bodies could endure it, they could keep accelerating indefinitely.
Incidentally, during their earlier wait, Aoko and Touko had tested the functionality of the Fifth and Third Magic in this world. The conclusion: they worked but were significantly weakened.
For Touko, this meant she could still materialize souls, but the strength of the souls she could convert was limited. Stronger souls couldn't be materialized, and weaker ones had limited lifespans or energy after conversion.
For Aoko, this meant that her various derivative abilities from the Fifth Magic were weakened. For example, she couldn't maintain an invincible state throughout the entire use of Redshift, and the time segment she could push into the future had been shortened.
Aoko speculated this was due to the existence of an overwhelmingly dominant Law in the Lands Between, suppressing the abilities of outsiders like the Aozaki sisters, who carried foreign Laws.
Though they hadn't yet come into contact with this world's Root, the fact that their magic was still partially usable suggested that this universe's structure might be similar to that of the Nasuverse.
However, the stars, sun, moon, thick fog, and oceans of the Lands Between were all ambiguous and unclear, with blurry boundaries everywhere. Could such a world still share some fundamental rules with the Nasuverse?
Lost in her thoughts as they flew, Aoko brought Touko to the airspace above the abandoned village.
Looking down, they saw that the village was indeed built on a hilltop. Judging by the intricate design of the architectural remains, it must have been quite prosperous in its heyday. Unfortunately, now it was populated only by those troll-like creatures.
At the moment, these trolls were gathered around what seemed to be an altar, engaging in a ritual. Combined with their grotesque appearance, the scene exuded a sinister atmosphere, reminiscent of some cult activity.
"There's something on the altar," Touko said, her sharp eyes spotting an object placed in a cup at the center of the altar. "It looks like some kind of pendant."
"Well, I guess we can't just ignore this injustice," Aoko chuckled, pulling a small ball made of bat guano and sulfur from her pouch of spell materials. "After all, being too ugly is a crime these days."