The journey to Taren Forest took a long time, but they passed the time by joking through the communication devices they used.
Roy: "Hey guys, are you bored?"
Cris: "Yeah, of course."
Noa: "How about we play a guessing game?"
Roy & Cris: "Great idea!"
Cris: "I'll go first! What kind of ghost likes to eat cake at night?"
Roy: "What!? Can ghosts even eat cake? But if they could, it must be one as handsome as me."
Cris: "You're right! The answer is 'Ghost Roy.'"
Laughter erupted among Noa, Glen, and Cris.
Roy: "Hey! I'm not a ghost! I'm the coolest guy, you know!"
Noa: "Yeah, right. Even when you cried over that wedding cake."
Roy: "Hey! I was just a kid then! It's normal to cry!"
Cris: "Yeah, yeah, yeah... Baby Roy."
Hahaha!
Roy: "That's not funny!"
Noa: "I think it's hilarious!"
Meanwhile, inside the car, Ken glanced at Glen, who was laughing by himself.
Ken: "Glen, why are you laughing? There's nothing funny going on here."
Glen: "Oh, I forgot to tell you. We're connected through a communication device, so you can't hear them."
Ken: "Oh, can I know what you guys are talking about?"
Roy: "Hey! Don't you dare tell him!"
Glen ignored Roy's protest.
Glen: "Well... When Roy was six, his parents took him to a wedding. He saw a cake on the table, grabbed it, but dropped it before he could eat it. Then he cried."
Glen: "His mom said he looked so cute when he cried, so she took a picture and put it in the family album."
Roy: "Glen! Can you shut your mouth!?"
But Glen kept going.
Glen: "If you saw the photo, you'd laugh too. It's really funny! Right, Baby Roy?"
Ken, who was initially confused, ended up laughing too.
Roy: "Glen, when we get there, I'm going to burn you with my fire!"
Glen: "Go ahead, Baby Roy."
Laughter erupted again.
Noa: "Glen, stop teasing him. Or our cute little baby here might actually burn us all."
Glen: "Now I'm curious. How does a baby burn people?"
Roy: "When we get there, I'm burning all of you!"
Cris: "Just don't burn the forest too. Or the sacred spear might vanish."
Noa: "Yeah! Don't let what happened when you burned Master Ven's ancient scroll happen again!"
Cris: "Good thing Master Ven remembered what it said, so he could recreate it."
Roy: "Hey! That was an accident, okay?"
Glen: "Yeah, yeah, we know... Baby Roy."
Roy chuckled bitterly.
Roy: "Haha… so funny..."
---
Taren Forest
As soon as they arrived at Taren Forest, Cris opened his storage dimension and expanded its space.
Cris: "Alright, now push your vehicles inside."
Roy: "Got it."
They pushed their vehicles into Cris's dimensional space, making them disappear instantly.
Ken: "So... where do we enter from?"
They all looked at each other.
Ken: "Seriously? None of you brought a map or GPS?"
Glen: "Electronic devices usually shut off in this place."
Ken: "What about a map?"
Glen: "Listen, a lot of explorers came into this forest, but they always got confused because there are so many venomous snakes here. Some made it out... but many didn't."
The atmosphere suddenly turned quiet.
Glen: "Let's start from here."
Glen led the way, cutting through bushes that blocked their path. Suddenly, a pen-sized snake slithered between them.
Cris: "Hwaa!!!"
Panicking, Cris jumped up and clung to Roy.
Noa: "Relax, buddy. It's just a small snake. Not dangerous."
Cris: "How can you be so sure?"
Noa: "Because it's small."
Cris: "Hey, just because it's small doesn't mean it's not venomous, Noa!"
Roy: "Uhm... Before you continue your lecture, can you get off me, Cris?"
Cris realized he was still clinging to Roy. He quickly jumped down with an awkward smile.
Cris: "Sorry... That snake was scary."
Roy just stared at him silently.
Noa: "See? Even Roy agrees with me that the snake wasn't dangerous."
Ken: "But Cris is right. Small snakes can still be venomous."
Cris turned to Ken proudly.
Cris: "Thanks, Ken. You're my best friend now!"
Noa: "Ken!!!"
Ken: "What? I'm just being honest."
Glen: "There are a lot of trees here. Let's continue through the upper path. But remember, don't get separated."
Cris: "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know! Our airport won't work here, right? Let's go!"
Noa: "Cris!!!"
Cris: "What? I'm right, aren't I? The sooner the better!"
Noa: "Still, it's rude to interrupt someone speaking!"
Cris: "But—"
Noa: "Still rude!"
Noa gave Cris a sharp look. Not wanting to back down, Cris opened his mouth to respond.
Cris: "WHAT THE HE—"
Glen: "Let's go this way. Cris is right, the sooner the better."
Without waiting for more arguments, Glen climbed a tree, followed by the others.