With only one point of entry at ground level and even the air being mostly closed off, this entire region was perhaps the most well-protected area on the planet.
The arching rock walls provided protection from all sides but one and the lights illuminated everything inside.
Hao Xuan gestured towards the light orbs, "What are they?"
"Crystals. This is the only place they can be found," Helena explained without even meeting his gaze but Hao Xuan could tell from her tone of voice that she did not know much about it or wasn't willing to part with the information so he didn't push.
They started walking down the stone stairway that was etched out of the rock wall. Hao Xuan didn't think it was quite so long but even after 10 minutes of walking, they had only reached halfway. Just when he thought it was going to end there would be another twist or turn and it would continue.
But the good thing was that the air was extraordinarily clean. The oxygen content was actually just a little bit higher than what he was accustomed too but on this planet, it was the closest to his old earth.
Various trees with colorful fruits and pleasing smells lined the sides. Hundreds of different varieties of small birds flew from one flower to another, from one fruiting plant to another.
Somewhere along the way Princess Helena stopped near a small tree with plump black fruits. She extended her hand and the fruit suddenly opened up. Turns out it was some kind of a flying beast.
A chubby little thing with four black wings that wrapped around its body to give it the appearance of the fruit. It had canine-like ears similar to the other demihumans but with a furry body.
It had four tiny limbs and a tail, each of which was prehensile from the looks of it, able to grab onto things like a hand. Its face was most similar to a red panda from earth and just as cute if not more.
From head to tail it was only about 22 centimeters long although the tail when unfurled was much longer.
It detached from the tree and almost glided over to Princess Helena's hand, making a rough landing and almost slipping off too. It looked like it was a bit too fat for its wings to support proper flight.
Completely fearless of these strangers, it looked around at their faces as if THEY were the odd ones here.
"Kyuuuu~"
It tilted its head sideways while staring at Hao Xuan. Even he could tell its eyes were trained on his head, looking for the canine ears that all other demihumans had.
It jumped from one person to another until it reached Hao Xuan, at which point it climbed up his shoulders to the top of his head and started ruffling his hair looking for the missing ears.
It appeared to be utterly confused upon not finding any and looked towards Princess Helena for answers, who laughed in response.
"He doesn't have any," she said smilingly, which visibly shook the little creature.
It propped down from the top of his head over his face, grabbing his cheeks and kneading them like dough.
Hao Xuan was flabbergasted by this treatment. He felt like a lab rat being examined by this small furball. And the intelligence in its eyes, it was no laughing matter.
"Shoo, go away!" he swatted it off his head like a pesky fly, towards Princess Helena who quickly caught the distraught creature.
"What is that thing? How is it so smart?" he asked watching it struggle to get back on its feet with a very human-like expression of 'wtf just happened.
Princess Helena just grinned mischievously and continued walking like nothing had happened. The creature crawled up to her shoulder and from then onwards, continuously glared at Hao Xuan.
And maybe if it wasn't built like a stuffed animal maybe it might come off as a little threatening but alas.
After another ten to fifteen minutes they finally reached the bottom. Uri who had been holding back for so long finally couldn't take it anymore and shot off to the right side, shouting "Tell sister Jiang I will come find her later!"
Princess Inara who hadn't said a single word out loud also walked off into the nearby forest.
Princess Helena nodded towards the two guards who promptly followed behind Princess Inara, vanishing behind with the dense fauna within seconds.
"This way," Princess Helena continued to lead him through the narrow dirt pathway.
Hao Xuan accompanied the Princess in silence, inspecting his surroundings in detail for anything 'out of ordinary' all the while.
There was a lot of activity within the woods, numerous creatures small and big but none that could pose a threat to him. It felt like he had walked into the starting town in a game after reaching the end.
There was some ambient spiritual energy in the air but nothing too strong. The one thing of note was that many of the small creatures that he had come across seemed to be quite intelligent.. There was a spark in their eyes that only sentient beings should have.
