Chapter 711

  “What about you? Are you going to keep our newly minted last name or change your last name to your husband’s?” Anton asked his sister.

  “I don’t know. That’s a million years in the future!” Anna exclaimed, which only made Anton and their father laugh.

  Luna already considered such things because in the high society that she was a part of ever since she was born, she was already of age to get married. She was going to be seventeen this year, but Anders had already told them that personal things like that would be their decision and not the family’s. Meaning that there would be no such thing as marrying for the good of the family or some such foolishness. Anders's only requirement for Luna and Alfred was to make sure that they would be happy in whatever they would choose to do with their lives.

  The rest of the family already understood that their family was not truly noble and did not have the sensibilities of nobles, but just the common sense of ordinary commoners, even if the core family members were powerful.

  Luna even understood that even if something extraordinary happened and the family reverted to being a poor farmer or merchant family, it would be truly no big deal with Anders, Anton, and Anna. As a matter of fact, every member of the family knew the experiences that Anders, Anton, and Anna had while running from the Undead Coalition, and they knew that the three were always prepared to run away and start from scratch somewhere else. That was also the main reason why the three preferred to increase their personal power instead of pursuing overall family reputation and connection like nobles.

  What Anton did not know was that Luna and Alfred actually preferred the freedom they had right now compared to their friends, whose futures were firmly tied to the decisions of the heads of their families.

  Come dinner time, Anton, Anna, and their father joined the family in the dining room. It had become a tradition for the family to gather in the dining room during dinner, ensuring everyone remained close.

  After dinner, Anton said goodbye and returned to his campsite deep in the northern forest and told his family that he would be back in four or five days.

  Back in the forest, Anton retrieved his tiny house from his inventory and made sure that it was hot and comfortable against the low temperature of the forest. Before sleeping, he spent a few hours leveling up his characters inside his Diablo System. He had the goal to seldom skip leveling up his characters because his system was still the surest way for him to continue gaining power. Once he was tired, he slept, and after a few hours, woke up to continue his journey.

  As usual, he summoned a couple of Spirit Wolves as company because it was truly too lonely just being by himself. At least with some summons, he could pretend that he was traveling with somebody. He also remembered to summon his globe of browser sharing to continue his vlogging, even though he almost always forgets to talk, which meant that in his hours of recording, he barely talked. Nevertheless, whenever he found something unique, wonderful, or magical in the forest, he made sure to make a commentary, even just to praise the things that he had found. For example, he stumbled into a community of spiders. Normally, something like a spider community would bring terror to anyone, but the spiders he found created webs that formed beautiful patterns that, for some reason, either through science or magic, reflected different colored lights from the low lights that managed to enter the forest. The phenomenon caused a unique light show in a part of their forest that would mesmerize anyone watching them.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  The good thing about the spiders was that Anton saw that their prey were insects. They did not bother any mammals that entered their territory, so they basically ignored Anton watching their webs.

  The largest of the spiders was as huge as Anton’s hand, and if one looked at them directly, they still looked terrifying, but because of their web creations, one could ignore how the spiders looked and appreciate the beauty and art that the arachnids created.

  Anton stayed to watch the spiders capture their prey, modify and create more sparkling webs for a couple of hours. After that, he continued traveling while holding his wooden staff that he recently enchanted with a globe of Charge Bolt.

  When the sun had set, Anton saw that the snow started to fall. He looked for a good place to camp, and when he found it, he retrieved his tiny house and entered it. He saw that the snow kept falling until the surrounding area was covered in snow. Anton realized that winter had arrived, and from then on, the forest would probably be covered in snow.

  Thankfully, his Fire Wall stove was enough to make sure that the inside of his tiny house was comfortable. He retrieved his winter gear and chanted into it. Even though his physique was robust, Anton still could not fully ignore the cold that came with the winter.

  While preparing his things while seated on his bed, Anton was surprised when he heard a knock on his door. He knew that the creatures knocking were not enemies since his two Spirit Wolves would have attacked any monsters that came near his house.

  When he opened his door, he was surprised to see a family of small goblins wearing clothes, and Anton looked flabbergasted.

  “Hello, sir. My name is Terun, this is my wife Glenda, this is my son Amul, and my daughter Sindra. We’re a Brownie family traveling to the Brownie Village of Oak Village, a few miles from here. I thought that we would have enough time to reach the village before nightfall. Unfortunately, we were delayed since we hid from a group of goblins passing by. Can we stay at your house for the night? We’re prepared to pay,” the male creature who was wearing thick clothes that Anton thought was a small goblin said.

  The Brownie family was wearing thick clothing, and because of their small size, Anton found them cute. It was the first time he encountered the Brownie species, and Anton was astonished. Thankfully, his globe of browser sharing was still active and was still recording everything. The four Brownies were small enough that even if Anton invited them inside his small wooden house, they would all still fit.

  “Welcome to my tiny traveling house. You don’t need to pay. I’m happy to host you, but please forgive me at my house small size. Have you eaten? I’m about to eat my dinner. Please join me,” Anton invited the brownie family inside.

  His guest started removing their outer clothes since Anton’s house was warm and toasty. The four sighed in contentment when they sat on the fluffy sleeping bed that he prepared for them, then he served a warm stew and water to everyone. While they were eating, the brownie family kept thanking Anton.

  “Thankfully, we found your house. We know that it would be safe staying here since it appeared that you’re being guarded by powerful spirit wolves,” The brownie man named Terun said.

  “Your stew is really delicious,” Terun’s wife said, and based on their children’s reaction, they fully agreed with their mother.

  “If I may ask, what are you doing in these parts of the Northern Forest, young mage?” Terun asked.

  “I’m sorry I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Anton, and I decided to travel to Enundia through the Northern Forest. I wanted to see the sights inside the forest,” Anton replied.