“How is she feeling Anita?” asked Sofia in concern of the well-being of her daughter.

“I do not know. For the many years that I have been a druid, this is the first time that I see something like this,” replied Anita with concerned eyes.

After the incident with the grand lake where they have witnessed the child using her powers for the first time, Alviona had fallen unconscious, falling on a stone that caused a deep cut on her right shoulder. The fragile bones of a three-year-old had also broken, further causing damage to her body.

Fortunately, Anita was quick to react. She checked Alviona’s pulse and ensured that she was breathing, and also examined for signs of head trauma. Seeing that none were present, Anita relaxed a little.

After telling Sofia about the diagnosis, the mother began crying to a degree where she started to choke. The sudden stress made her faint, and so, Anita had to deal with two patients simultaneously. 

Mounting the two of them on Piu’s back, she began walking towards her residence.

“Say, Piu?”

“Yes, Anita?”

“You noticed that, right?” (Anita)

“Yes, I did” replied the wolf. Despite the inability of making complex facial expressions, his voice carried the emotion of shock and disbelief.

“Is that even possible?” (Anita)

“I can confirm that it is not.” (Piu)

“Well…. Then, what can we do?” asked Anita in a low voice. She fell into thought, attempting to analyze everything that had happened from the day she met Sofia, until now.

All-right Anita, think! What facts do I have? She gathered her knowledge and focused.

First, Sofia is an ordinary Half-Elf.

Second, she birthed Alviona, so that child is undoubtedly hers.

Third, her husband was a male human, so how on earth did reproducing with a human and a half-elf create a fully pure-blood elf? Is she perhaps not telling the full story? Did she have a love affair with another person who was an elf? It did not have to be a man. Women can and have reproduced with one another before. Since us elves are species that are infertile for at least 200 years of our lives, it is rather hard to find a partner to mate. There are cases where Elves breed with other races, although rare. So, is it possible that she had an affair with the same sex and got pregnant? Ah! This situation is hurting my head. I should ask her when she wakes up, for this is too odd.

But then…  Anita bit her lips. Even if she did reproduce with an elf and had a child born that is a pure-blood, it does not explain that the god-damn child does not bleed! I checked, again, and again! A deep cut, yet no blood.

No blood on her shoulder, no drops of blood on the ground. Nothing! So, what in the name of Mother Earth is Alviona? I need to investigate this even further.

“Piu. The second Alviona fell, I noticed something very odd. It is not related to her not bleeding, yet it is related to that phenomenon. Did you notice anything odd with mana?”

“Sadly, I have not,” replied Piu.

“Is that so… very well then,” said Anita with a hint of disappointment.

Once they arrived at the hut, Anita carefully moved Alviona first since she had the worst body condition between the two. Gently placing the child on her bed, she quickly switched her attention to Sofia. She was moved to Anita's bedroom.

After ensuring that what Sofia needed was rest, Anita grabbed her healing supplies from the 4th floor and went into the room where her primary patient was.

“She has a high fever” muttered Anita after touching Alviona’s forehead. “Well then, let the treatment begin!” she declared, as she began washing her hands.

First, I will disinfect the wound.  Anita grabbed the three leaves from her supply bag that were of red color and began chewing them. After three minutes, she removed the leaflets from her mouth and put it inside a bucket and then proceeded to lightly cut her pinky finger to allow the small droplets of blood accumulate with the leaves and water, mixing it into a medicine.

After confirming the results, she wetted her fingers in the water and moved it over the wounded area of her patient's shoulder. Anita gently slid her fingers on the wound while simultaneously chanting [Minor Heal]. As a result, the cut slowly started to close off. Satisfied, she continued her job.

Second, I will treat her fever. Dumping the water into the sink, she filled it up again with fresh water, which was provided continuously through the tap that was gathered by the tree roots. After filling the bucket up, she took a different cloth and submerged it in the water. After removing and squeezing the fabric, Anita cast [Freeze], a spell that could freeze anything over time, so long as the user provided mana. Concentrating on the flow of mana, the cloth towel slightly froze. Judging that it was satisfactory, she placed it on Alviona’s head.

Phew. This operation is harder to perform on a child than on anyone else. Ok! Focus Anita. Now, to heal those bones. Anita extended her hands and closed her eyes. After focusing and constructing the image of bones mending together, she used a skill [Repair]. Checking the area, where Alviona’s bones were shattered and noticing that it was all right, Anita was quite pleased with herself.

“All righty then. Rest child,” she told Alviona while leaving the room. Her next destination was none other than her second patient.

“Oh, you are awake Mrs. Sofia,” said Anita as she entered her room.

“H-how long was I unconscious? Did I give you trouble miss Anita? I am truly sorry,” said Sofia while looking around and realizing where she was. For some reason, her face became quite red. So much that Anita wondered if she had caught a fever like her daughter. To double-check that this was not the case, she gently moved her hands towards Sofia’s forehead. Satisfied that she was healthy, Anita smiled.

“Wait! Alviona? How is Alviona? How is my child?” asked Sofia nervously.

“Please, calm down. Your daughter is safe and sound. I already treated her. She is now resting to drop the fever," replied Anita slowly.

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Hearing these words, Sofia wholeheartedly started to cry. Those were the tears of guilt and joy. Watching this sight, Anita thought that it was quite cute.

“Anita, we need to talk for a moment,” said Piu, who no longer was in his wolf form.

“Is it urgent?” asked Anita.

“Yes,” he replied.

“I am sorry… I will just leave and check on my daughter for now,” said Sofia,  getting off the bed and excusing herself.

“It is fine Mrs. Sofia. However, please do not disturb her too much. She needs rest,” said Anita with a warm smile.

Sofia quickly moved out of the room and went to Alviona’s side. Once she entered, she approached her and sat down by her side. “My dear daughter. I am sorry. Your mother is frail. In the end, I am unable to protect you in any way. Every time I try, I end up failing. I am truly sorry for this my child. I promise, that when you grow up, I will find a way to give you the happiest life imaginable,” she whispered. Usually, Alviona would have giggled or smiled after hearing her mother’s words, but right now, her face was pale and was breathing heavily due to her fever.  It appeared that she was wholly unconscious. Sofia landed a kiss on her daughter’s cheek, and as she did, Anita walked into the room.

“Mrs. Sofia… We need to talk." (Anita)

When Sofia looked at her, she was surprised to see Anita’s face, for it was a face of utter shock and disbelief.

“Is everything all right?” Sofia asked confused.

“I am sorry,” said Anita while quickly shaking off her expression. “It is critical, so would you please come down to the 2nd floor? We truly need to talk. It is rather urgent and heavy, so perhaps I should brew some tea too."

The two of them walked downstairs. Anita asked Sofia to sit down, while she began brewing the kettle. After the water adequately boiled, Anita proceeded to pour the tea into teacups. As she handed one over to Sofia, she also decided to sit down. Afraid to speak first, Sofia did not say anything and instead waited for Anita to talk.

Anita let out a deep sigh and looked at Sofia with serious eyes.

“Mrs. Sofia, I apologize if my actions were a little bit rude. However, understand that I am still attempting to comprehend what Piu had just told me,” she started while attempting to drink some tea. Her slender hands were shaking.

“What on earth happened, miss Anita?” asked Sofia.

“I… do not know.” Came a reply. “I honestly do not know. You can not hear Piu right now, and for that, I apologize. However, what I am about to say will make absolutely no sense.” Anita gulped, “It appears that the time has decelerated inside the Forest of Great Javl.”

It took a few minutes for the information to properly sink into Sofia’s head. Once it did, she gasped.

“H-how is that possible?” she exclaimed in shock and disbelief.

“It is unknown. However, I can make wild speculation; one that I can bet my life on," said Anita, mustering up courage to speak up. She took a deep breath and uttered only one word: “Alviona.”

Sofia looked confused, but she did not argue. If anything, she knew how unordinary her child was, so if Anita said that Alviona was responsible for this phenomenon then it was most likely correct.

“Mrs. Sofia, I have a few questions for you that you need to answer truthfully,” said Anita. Seeing that Sofia nodded in affirmative, she began inquiring about her background. After hearing it all, she asked one final question regarding her intimate relationships, to which Sofia only spoke of her husband - Duncan.

“Are you sure that there was nobody else?” asked Anita again. “Think well. It does not need to be a male,” she added.

Sofia was confused. “What do you mean? Could you please explain that?” she asked.

Anita nodded. “We, pure-blood elves, were never numerous. Due to our strong affinity towards mana-wielding, the gods agreed that overhauling the way elves reproduced would ensure a balance. As such, whenever an elf of the male gender is born, he is normally powerful and evolves our society to higher grounds. However, birthing an elven male is rare. From what my mother had told me, within the past three centuries only eleven male elves were born and approximately 4000 females. So, for our species to not go extinct, the gods have allowed us to mate with the same sex and still have children. However, the rule states we can only be fertile once every 200 years, regardless of the role that we take on,” finished Anita.

“That… sounds rather flawed,” stated Sofia while slightly blushing.

“Well, I do not know what the gods were thinking. It has been a rule since the creation of our world, so who am I to judge? Regardless, back to the topic. Even if you did meet someone of an elven heritage that made you bear your child…” (Anita)

“There was no one like that!” stated Sofia firmly. “Duncan was human, and I truly loved him. There was nobody else in my life. Be it elf, orc, demi-human, a god or what have you!”

“…Even if so, there exists no elf who possesses such powers as decelerating time. From what Piu gathered, the mana flow patterns only affect our forest and nothing else. We are still talking, so that proves the time is not stopped. Perhaps Alviona has such skill due to a blessing from one of our gods? Is it possible that the time God had chosen a champion to represent him?” (Anita)

As Anita and Sofia were discussing their current situation, an unexpected event took place.

“Hey, you! We know you two are in there. Come out! We have some business with you. If you do not come out, we shall burn you,” came a voice that belonged to neither Anita nor Sofia. It was a male’s voice.

“Who… Piu, what is going on?” (Anita)

“I do not know… these people appeared out of nowhere. I do not know who they are and I can not see their mana patterns… It appears that they are well versed with using concealment and illusion type of magic.” (Piu)

“What?! No… this is bad!” exclaimed Anita with anger and frustration. Just as she was solving one riddle, another problem had popped up.

“Oi! Have you not heard me properly?! GET OUT OF THAT PLACE! Both of you!” the shout intensified.

“For the moment, we do not have any choice but to get out. My tracking is being jammed miss Anita” stated Sofia with a cold expression. “We do not know how many of them are out there, so it is best to avoid the combat…  I can not let any harm come to my child, and they only mentioned the two of us, so we better go out and negotiate."

“I agree with you. I do not have time to get upstairs and get my gear but I can still cast magic. If we deem the situation to be too dangerous, I shall utilize my spells to hold them down, while we evacuate,” replied Anita.

As the two of them walked outside, the first sight they witnessed was that of a tall man wearing steel armor. He was holding a long spear in his right hand and a torch in his left. He wore no helmet, but the condition of his armor roared of the battlefield. Some chunks of meat and blood were still visible on his boots. Besides the man, stood another male, who had no left arm. He held a short sword in his only hand and was breathing heavily. Anita assessed, that the man was severely injured lately and that he had lost a lot of blood. From the looks of it, the man should be dead by now. Seeing that the two of them were exhausted and weakened, Anita cast her skill [Mass Entangle], and as she did, roots shot up from the earth and entangled the two people who were the source of the ruckus earlier. Seeing this, Sofia reacted by retrieving her bow and aiming at the two people but just as she did so, she was grabbed, and a dagger was pointed at her neck, ready to slice her at any moment.

“My, oh my,” came a voice that belonged to a female. “It appears that you two are living alone in this forest, so perhaps you can shed some light on our current situation. You see, our friend over there is supposed to have died from the blood loss about 3 hours ago, but it appears that he is still alive. We only got here a few hours ago, so can you please tell us what is going on? It was daytime when we entered this forest and now, all of a sudden, it is almost midnight. Also, would you be kind enough to release my friends? If you refuse, your friend over there shall die,” finished the young woman who had revealed her presence while pointing at Sofia.

Anita understood. She withdrew her offensive skill. This situation is terrible!!! Shit! Cursed Anita, while looking at Sofia and back at her house. No matter what she was going to do, she was endangering both her and her daughter. There was no way out of this situation. Just who the hell were these people, she wondered. A man was holding a dagger at Sofia’s neck, two men stood in front of her, and a woman stood at a little distance. Four people, all armed and experienced at killing.

Just as Sofia and Anita faced this situation, an unexpected voice sounded through this grim scenario.

“Hello. I see that you are playing and do not wish to disturb you,” said the voice that was too sweet to belong to a male. It was not loud, but everyone could hear it.  “However, if you hurt my mommy or Anita,” the voice paused, “I will kill you,” she claimed with a tone that carried no malicious intent, but was firm enough to shake the ground.

 It was Alviona. A girl who had been asleep and battling fever a moment ago.