[You idiotic, fool, nitwit moron! What would you have done if your ability to move overflowing water was conditional!? Did that feeble little mind of yours not take into account the possibility that you might be immobilized if you were directly overflowing water!?] She fumed.

Huh, didn’t expect her to get this mad. I reflected.

I mean, to be honest, I didn't really think it through, but I had a contingency if we actually did get stuck.

[I-I’m sorry.] I apologized.

I guessed that I had taken it too far with my revenge for her earlier joke with eating Thomas.

[How can you offer such a pitiful excuse? Your reckless actions could have doomed us and all you can manage is a feeble sorry--] She snapped, her voice breaking with a mix of rage and fear.

She cut herself off and fell silent, trying to regain her composure.

I was surprised by how scared she had gotten, but that only intensified my remorse for my idiotic prank.

[I’m really sorry,] I said again. [I-I was sure that the water couldn't affect me, so…... I thought it would be funny……. and... I’m sorry.]

[Well, it was not amusing.] She said with a sigh. [Just don’t do something like that again.]

I would have nodded, but remembered that she couldn’t see me, so I spoke.

[I won’t.]

[….] she grumbled, as she stayed silent.

For a brief moment, we stood still on the side of the road. Mia appeared to be thinking about something and I didn't disturb her. I thought I should lay off her for a bit. When she finally broke the silence, she was as courteous and composed as usual.

[Perhaps you should steer for some time that way you can practice moving around as a vampire--]

[Hell nah, I'm good, that's your job.] I interrupted.

Though I felt bad for my prank earlier, that still wasn't going to be enough to make me go through the forest at night alone. I mean I didn't know how to fight or where we were going. What was I going to do if we got attacked by a wild animal or got lost? I was pretty sure there were no GPSs here.

[…]

[I mean I don't even know where we're going, remember? You don't want to let a kid like me wander in the woods alone right?]

And besides this was a fantasy world, I was sure there were monsters here.

She paused as though considering my words.

[We’re heading to Areiroso, a city much larger than Dreake. We shall use it as a resting place to acquire the blood and supplies we require before heading to Tocea and repeating the process. After that, we shall journey south-eastwards through the forest until we reach the border of the Tournonian Empire.]

I didn’t have a map and I didn’t know where south or east was.

[Umm…. Thanks for telling me? But I’m still not gonna be the one in control.]

[….]

We stood silent for a few seconds before she sighed in resignation, as she took control and resumed our journey.

***

After a few thirty minutes or so had passed.

[By the way out of curiosity; what other weakness do we have?] I asked Mia who was agilely moving through the trees.

We had abandoned the road and decided to take a shortcut through the forest. And to my surprise, we hadn't been attacked by a wild animal or something, and as a matter of fact; I hadn't seen any animals at all.

[Hmm, Weakness is it……I assume you are referring to our weakness as a vampire?]

[Uhh yeah, I know we burn up in the sun, along from silver and that light that guy was shooting at us. And, apparently, now we can't cross flowing water.]

What else could we not do or were these the only weaknesses we had?

[… We are vulnerable to anything that is associated with holy power, such as holy magic, holy water, silver, holy silver, and so forth. Holy power and fire are naturally the foes of anything undead. Therefore, saying that there are specific weaknesses for vampires is not necessarily accurate.]

[Ohh, so the power that guy was using wasn’t a vampire’s weakness?]

[Indeed, what he was utilizing can impact any undead, it is not essential to be vampires.]

Okay then I got it, so silver and that power he was using wasn’t really a vampire’s weakness but an undead’s.

[The weaknesses we possess are as you witnessed; flowing water and sunlight. We are also weakened in the presence of a crucifix. A wooden stake through the heart can slay us instantly and lastly, we cannot enter a home uninvited.]

So the weaknesses were the same as most vampire stories I’ve read about? That was kinda interesting, maybe some vampires did manage to get to Earth—Nope don't think about it. It was probably just a coincidence.

[How does a crucifix weaken us exactly?] I asked for the specifics, curious about what a cross might do to us.

[It is likely to debilitate us as if we were fatigued, as though we had strained ourselves with arduous physical endeavors, or at least that is what I anticipate will occur.]

[Huh, I see; I’m guessing that you know all this because of your memories?] I said, referring to the fact she had memories from multiple people.

[The order is remarkably diligent with its examination of the undead.]

We came out of the woods and met the road again. We ran alongside it heading to what Mia said was east, but….

[We’re being pursued,] Mia suddenly said.

[Huh?]

Pursued? What was following us? I wondered, but just before I could ask Mia for the specifics.

She suddenly stopped and turned with a backhanded punch. Something made contact with our fist, causing it to give out a yelp as it flew back to the trees.

Mia jumped back landing on the dirt road, as she took up a fighting stance. She turned our head slowly looking around at the numerous trees and bushes around us.

[What was that!?] I asked in a panic.

[Dire wolves.]

As she said so, large wolves came out of the tree thickets all around us, snarling and growling.

They were big, as tall as we were despite them being on all fours. Though I doubted they’d compare to our wolf form. There were about five of them. We were surrounded.

I guessed I had spoken too soon about not being attacked huh?

The one that we had knocked away came out of the bushes. It was slightly shaky but seemed to be just fine.

Okay, there were six now.

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They formed a circle around us.

[Hmph, I should have exerted more force.] Mia said with regret, but I could feel that she felt excited for some reason.

We, or rather Mia, glared at one of the wolves which made it back away in fright. When she turned her head to the others, they did the same, showing that they were afraid of us.

My eyes widened in surprise, that Mia could scare animals that were attacking us, but even more so that the wolves were afraid.

What was it about us that could make car-sized wolves back away? We should have only looked like a human who was smaller than them, and yet they looked scared. Could it be that they could sense we were a vampire?

Mia smiled at the fear they displayed, but—

“Grauwww (Do. not. Coward. You. Shame. us!)”

One of the wolves that was black in color and was probably the leader, reprimanded the others, causing them to stop backing away.

Hmmm, so the wolves in this world could talk? Huh, it seemed that there was no limit to the weirdness in this world. Perhaps they were vampires like us? But I think Mia would have mentioned it instead of calling them Dire wolves.

Our smile faded and I felt Mia’s dissatisfaction; at the wolves for having stopped cowering.

Crunching nose sounded behind us, as a one of the wolves was charged at our back.

Mia moved to throw out another backhand, but she missed. And as we turned we saw a wolf just a few feet from us.

“Growl (Back. Back!)” I heard one say and I knew that this one in front of us was just a distraction.

A crunch and a feeling of pressure on our shoulders and I understood that we were attacked in the back and bitten in the shoulder.

We stumbled and nearly fell from the wolf's weight.

“Greeaa (Attack!)”

“Greeaa (Attack!)”

“Greeaa (Attack!)”

They moved in around us, inclosing the encirclement.

Mia with a snarl and a growl, grabbed the wolf that was on our shoulder and yanked it off with little effort.

She swung the large animal sideways like a bat, as she attacked the wolves that came at our side.

She hit the one that was in front, sending it flying with a yelp along with the one we were holding, but unfortunately we had missed the other two that came with it.

Our leg got bitten, but before we could react it was pulled under us and we fell face-first to the ground. One of them had taken advantage of our blind spot again.

We fell but never touched the dirt, as we got caught mid-air by our neck. A wolf had sunk its teeth into our neck.

[No you don’t! these are the only clothes I have!]

She lashed out with her free leg, kicking the wolf that lunged at us in the head. It flew back, yelping in pain, and landed on the ground with a thud. She quickly moved our hands behind us and grabbed whatever she could reach. It was the wolf’s head and neck. She squeezed it hard, feeling the bones snap and the flesh tear under our fingers. Bloodstained our hands and dripped on the floor. The creature whimpered and released its grip on our neck.

We fell with a thud on our back to the dirt ground, giving us a perfect view of the wolf that was holding our leg. Mia immediately kicked it in the face and I could feel something break as it fell to the ground.

We got up, growling ourselves as we looked at the hesitant animals.

There were two only felt standing, and the one I guessed to be the leader, was the only one who seemed to not want to run away, unlike his friend next to him.

"You despicable hounds, you seem to have no sense of assessing your adversaries' strength! Have the beasts in this wood gone mad?" Mia roared as she glared at the wolves.

Her excitement from before had disappeared and all that was left was anger.

I guessed She was probably mad about the ruined outfit, she seemed to like it after all.

“Grawee (Leader. Strong. What do!?)”

"Ahhhh, not fleeing are we?” Mia said as she dropped the bag that was on our shoulder to the ground.

She then said in a cold voice as she glared at the wolves.

“Very well, you have roused my ire as it is. Though I wished not to stain my garments with blood, for we are bound for a human city, I shall make an exception in tearing you asunder!"

She lowered our body as she readied to pounce, but—

“Alu’ll aknness Hijt! (Please stop! Don’t be mean to them. It’s not their fault!)”

A high-pitched voice, as sweet as a flute and as cheerful as a bird, filled our ears. It came from a tiny ball of light that darted out of the dark forest, shining like a star in the night sky.

“Glorp quix bix nix pix fix mix six! (I knew this was a dumb idea, but he still snuck away, and, and, and now the others are hurt too. Raven you dummy!)”

The light got closer as it complained till we could see a tiny person with 4 shining wings.

A fairy? Or was it a pixie?

A small person that could fit in one’s hand that had skin that was dark, like the rich soil of the forest, and her hair was golden, like the rays of the sun. Her ears were long and pointed, and her wings were shining and shimmering, changing color with her mood and the light. But the most striking feature of her appearance was her eyes. They were completely black, with no sign of pupils or irises, giving her a mysterious and captivating look.

She spoke with a musical lilt, as she was singing rather than talking.

“Gyallkhn threy thruului? Fgth wwy kall oofttwe (Why were you so mean? You’re way stronger than them, but you didn’t go easy on them!)”

The pixie held her hips as she tried to glare at us, but it looked more like she was pouting like a child.

The scene was heart-warming compared to the wolf attack that had just happened. The only thing I had a problem with here was the absence of clothes on the pixie. Though she had no nipples or any other sexual parts that might arouse unholy thoughts, I still couldn't help but feel weird looking at her.

***

Mia’s POV

“Alu’ll aknness Hijt!”

Something else appeared from the trees. Another disturbance that helped fuel my irritation.

A fey? I thought as I observed the flying creature in front of me.

My eyes had widened when it had spoken, shocked by its sudden appearance.

I was startled by and concerned as to how it managed to sneak up on me without my noticing? But my surprise had quickly turned into caution, as I realized it had bypassed all my senses. I hadn’t been able to feel, hear, smell, or see it until it was right in front of me. If it hadn’t spoken, I doubted I would have noticed it at all. And even then, as I looked at it, I still was able to sense it.

“Glorp quix bix nix pix fix mix six!”

It yelled out something I couldn’t comprehend, as it flew around the injured wolves.

It seemed to know them and possibly could have sent them. Animals and weaker monsters typically didn't attack the undead but instead chose to avoid them entirely. I had found it odd that the dire wolves were attacking us despite the fear they clearly had for us. They should have instinctively known what we were and yet they engaged regardless.

I looked at the fey again, now closely observing it.

The spirit looked like a ‘human female’ shrunken to the size of a hand. By supposed that ‘human’ wasn't right as its long ears matched that of the tree folks.

It glowed with a radiant light. A radiant light that was much too familiar to miss. Though that awful light wasn’t radiating outwards like most order knights, I still could tell by looking at it that it was holy mana.

I tensed up now on more guard, as I waited on the holy spirit’s next actions.

Why was it even here in the first place? We were very lucky to encounter a fey out of nowhere like this, but really unfortunate that it was a light spirit.

Did it come here intending to fight? Were the wolves simply a pre-emptive strike to it engaging itself?

Memories of the human who has been the most useful thus far flooded into my mind.

An academy classroom that was a large hall with wooden furniture and stone walls appeared in my mind.

A room that had arched windows, a fireplace, and various decorations and instruments. A teacher lectured from a podium, and the students to her side wrote on wax tablets or parchment.

It was here that the human Mia was taught about light spirit, also known as holy fey. One of the only types of creature that actively hunted undead and dark beings like the Order. It was said that, because of the abyss-like nature that dark beings had within their souls, holy fey often were attracted to them.

The fey flew in front of my face and it held its hips as it continuously pointed its finger at me while it yelled with its small voice.

“Gyallkhn threy thruului? Fgth wwy kall oofttwe.”

I did not know what it was trying to achieve, but this thing was clearly a danger to me.

Should I attack while I had the chance? I was certain if I could get my hands on it I could squeeze the life from it without much difficulty, or at least I could damage it enough that it would go back to its realm.

My hand twitched as mana flowed through it. The ‘black mana’ had shown it could block holy mana, which meant that I would be safe grabbing the thing.

[Mia wait--]

Leo yelled out, presumably trying to stop me, but I simply could not waist this opportunity to attack while it was close.

I reached out moving my hand as fast as I could, but I grasped empty air. The fey was gone. There was no trace of it anywhere. I looked at my hand then around, but it had completely disappeared.

“Thrulllui?”

A voice came from behind, causing me to turn swiftly. The same fey was there floating near my head.

I threw my hand in a swipe, but it disappeared again.

What was this? Was it using some kind of magic on me that allowed it to disappear? Was one of its techniques capable of manipulating one's mind? Like an illusion?

I heard a voice and I turned with an attack. I was attacking wherever I heard its voice or wherever I saw it, but after countless blows, not a single one of them hit.

No holy magic shouldn't have been capable of illusions, or at least to the Order's knowledge. It appeared and disappeared so fast that I for a moment thought it could manipulate where it wanted to be. I could not keep track of its movements, of its speed.

Then it dawned on me. It was avoiding me, dodging. Was there a creature in this world that moved this fast!? Something that moved so fast that the eyes of a vampire couldn’t keep up?

I stopped as I tried to back away, cursing my stupidity.

This was a terrible mistake on my part, I had to flee at once.

I called upon more mana, intending to fuse it with my clothes as protection. The fey hadn’t attacked yet, but I wasn’t going to give it the chance to.

But just as the shadowlike mana covered my torso and arms.

“Yuurtqcccee!”

Multiple attacks pierced through my legs, leaving holes. I felt that the attacks had hit me all over my body, but because of the mana serving as armor, I wasn’t entirely filled with holes. I collapsed as my legs failed. My legs were experiencing burning, which was to be expected.

What was that? I couldn’t see the attacks until they were already on my body. Were they invisible or were they just too fast that I couldn’t recognize them?

I pulled more mana out. I needed to build a defense, otherwise, I was going to die.

“Uuuohjaakhel avk rellaa.” The fey yell with joy as it raised its hands.

[Ummm, Mia, I think we should talk to her and just apologize,] Leo suggested.

He had been saying such messages, but I couldn’t be bothered to listen to them. We were in mortal danger, so having to argue with him on what to do wasn’t ideal.

I focused on the number of lights that were now growing in the sky.

There were so many that I doubted we would be able to dodge even if its attacks moved at normal speed.

“Teryneewan jkvall? Uoondon.”

The creature flying above us shouted as it floated next to the countless balls of light.

So this is the power of a high spirit? I thought as I felt my body shake.

The large amounts of mana that its technique emitted were enough to give my body chills. This just displayed how much power this fey hid behind that small size. Every part of me was telling me to run away.

The thousands of balls glowed, indicating that they were about to fire. Like how the human Mia was taught by the order, I enclosed my entire body with my mana. I created a dome around me, a shield that should have been as thick or thicker as when I faced Thomas.

There was no sound, no anything, but pitch darkness, as my mana blocked everything outside from reaching me. When the fey’s attacks landed, I could only tell I was being attacked by the drastic decrease of mana in my control. My shield was getting scraped away, but I just added more mana to my shield, I just needed to hold out.

***

The balls of light fired lasers at each other, then bounced them off like mirrors to other balls. As they did, they created a dazzling array of lasers that moved in complex directions toward their target: the black mound on the dirt road. Thousands of beams hit the cocoon every second, from every angle possible, trying to break through its shell.

The lasers disappeared when they made contact. They instantly vanished as though the shadow was swallowing them up.

“Wow, that’s so cool! Is that black stuff your magic? How does it work? What type of magic is it?”

The pixie said enthusiastically, but of course no reply came back. She pouted, mad at having been ignored.

Silva understood that the girl wanted to ‘play’ with her, but she could have at least said something, and not made Silva feel like she was dumb.

We’re the people in this world this rude!? She thought for a moment before seeming to realise something.

“Ohh, I get it, maybe the people here don’t talk to you unless you show them you’re stronger! That’s what Raven said, is it true? You’ll talk to me if I win this game?” She waited for an answer, but none came. She nodded to herself.

“Okay, I got it. Let me show you what the great and powerful Silva can do. And I’m also curious what that shield of yours can stop, try not to die! Okay!” The light pixie said with glee.

Though the moving shadows reminded her of Nyx’s magic, she still hadn’t seen anything that could nullify magic. It was like the shadow was eating up her attacks. She wanted to see how much they could eat up, or was there a limit.

She raised her hands up high again, and the balls stopped firing. She touched her hands together and the balls also moved coagulating into one place in the sky to forming a bigger ball. They combined and compressed and a sphere that was the size of a soccer ball was left, floating above the black mound.

“Okay then, try to stop this one!” She announced, her voice excited as she threw her hands down.

Like a smiting from god, the concentrated power came down in the form of a laser. It instantly made contact with its target without a second delay. A flash of light and then a massive explosion took place. The ground at the epicenter was immediately vaporized, as the rest close to the explosion got flung up into the sky. The trees burned from the heat wave and then immediately got uprooted and thrown into the air by the shock wave.

When the energy dissipated, all that could be seen was smoke. A lot of smoke and burning forests. Rumbles of the ground could be heard as the debris that was launched up into the air came back. The ground—no, the crater was charred as the circular hole held nothing but melted rock.

The pixie emerged from the explosion, unscathed by the blast that could rival a nuke. She casually waved the smoke away, trying to see where her target was. But she still couldn’t see anything through the haze. She frowned in displeasure, not getting to see if the human-looking thing was all alright. She froze, however, as if realizing something.

“Oh no, what did I do!” She said as she looked around franticly. “I messed up big time! Flora is gonna kill me. I need to fix this–How did I get carried away like that!?” The pixie said in a panic as she flew around widly just above the carter that span thousands of feet across.

Looking at the destruction she caused she gasped.

“Oh no! I forgot about Raven and the others! A-Are they okay?!”

She looked at where she last saw them but all that was left was molten rock. Her eyes teared up as she began to cry.

"You know crying after you yourself burned everything down is exactly why you're dumb."

A voice came from behind the light spirit Silva. She stiffened as she slowly looked back.