I let out a sigh. The elf girl was telling me she was sorry! Was it genuine, or was it just the influence of the ring? Even though I instructed her to act normally, could she truly comply? Was this another attempt by her to test the waters, or did she genuinely regret her previous characterization of me as soulless?

As I struggled to formulate a response, we were interrupted by a pained yell from the forest, followed by a chorus of frightened screams. I saw Alice already sprinting towards the forest. We exchanged glances and then started running in that direction, only to encounter Hew running towards us. Behind him, a brown monster was trampling the grass.

“Get down!” Alice yelled at him.

She kicked off from a mound with her foot, launching herself into the air. Mid-flight, she swiftly nocked an arrow in her bow and took aim. With precision, she released the arrow, striking the head of the sow chasing Hew. Its head exploded, and its body tumbled to a halt a few yards away. As I identified it as a "wild sow, level thirty-three, dead," horror clenched my heart at the thought of what such a beast could do to my friends.

Alice swiftly rolled over and seamlessly sprung back onto her feet, resuming her sprint. How could she do that with the bow in her hand was a mystery to me. In the blink of an eye, she disappeared into the woods, leaving me struggling to keep up. No matter how much I urged my legs to move faster, she effortlessly outpaced me.

Where had the elf girl gone? I heard pained cries and groans emanating from the forest as I was running as fast as I could. Where were the other two boys, and why had they ventured so deep into the woods? My heart raced with panic in my chest. Had I already lost two of my friends?

As long as they were screaming, it meant they were still alive, but now the screams had ceased, and fear tightened its grip on my heart.

After another tense moment, I finally spotted Alice standing ahead, and for a brief moment, I feared we had arrived too late. But as I reached them, gasping for breath, I found the elf girl sitting between the two boys, both of whom seemed to be alive and well. With her hands resting on their shoulders and her eyes closed in deep concentration, she was clearly focused on healing and examining them for any internal injuries.

"Next time, it would be good to keep an eye on Tina and the rest when I have to run to help someone," Alice said, casting a reproachful glance in my direction. I swallowed, feeling guilty, and turned back to see Tina running between the trees.

"I'm here, I'm okay Aunt Alice. Lores was just worried about her friends!" Tina reassured, approaching us. Soon after, Michael and Hew emerged from the bushes, slaloming between the trees.

Alice's criticism hit home, and it was unexpected coming from her. I sighed and turned towards the elf, who was now smiling, obviously the boys were okay.

"Thanks," I said, expressing my gratitude.

She beamed at me.

"You were pretty fast!" I observed, acknowledging her speed.

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She shrugged. "I can teleport, and this place is practically home for me."

"Oh, yes, her dress. It would be nice if I had such a dress!" I thought to myself.

"Do you want my dress?" she suddenly asked.

I sighed. "You said you do not hear my thoughts?" I protested.

She laughed. "It was a simple guess based on your expression and the look in your greedy eyes. So, would you like to have it?"

Her joke about my greedy eyes calmed my temper enough to prevent me from lashing out at her.

“First, it is yours," I replied, "secondly, it would probably not work for me. I guess it is tied to you, isn't it? And thirdly, I do not know how to control it."

“It is indeed tied to me, but we may try to reconfigure it. It may lose some quality, but it should still function. Perhaps it would work over shorter distances, and you could learn to control it, just as I did,” she offered.

I sighed and tried to calm my rising temper. I didn't want to give her a harsh answer; she was obviously being influenced by the ring. There was no reason to direct my anger at her. But damn it, do I have to control my mood and all those thoughts that pass through my brain now?

"It would be foolish to risk destroying such an artifact." I said, "You've made excellent use of it and may need it more than I do! Plus, I could have easily shadowmelded and been faster, but my stupid brain didn't come up with the idea."

She chuckled in response, and I grinned, pleased with that small victory. Then, I turned to Hew.

"What were you thinking coming out here? Didn't Lynx tell you not to venture into the woods?"

"Yeah, but Mike needed to take a dump, and then he yelled that something was in the bushes behind him, and Tom threw a stick or something..."

Ah, that explained why Mike's trousers were still at his ankles as he stood there looking confused. He must have been pretty badly hurt to need that long to recover after healing. As we talked, a sudden noise caught our attention, and a small group of piglets emerged from the bushes. An arrow struck one of them as they scattered away.

I turned to Alice. "The sow would have been enough, don't you think?"

"Lynx can handle that," she replied with a giggle. "Besides, these piglets are tastier, and they probably won't survive alone in the woods anyway."

I wanted to mention that Lynx was out hunting, but knowing him, a sow for dessert would be just what he'd like; therefore, I nodded and turned to Tom.

"I suppose even on Earth, throwing things at a wild sow is dangerous. But just so you know, that sow was level thirty-three."

"If this panicked idiot hadn't called out, asking us to chase away whatever was in the bushes behind him... I didn't even see what was there when I threw the stick. I thought it would just run away," Tom replied, looking guilty. Then, he turned to the elf girl.

"Thank you, angel!" he exclaimed. "When you appeared like that near me, I thought you were an angel! I truly thought I was dead, and an angel had come to guide my poor soul!"

I rolled my eyes as I collected the piglet in my inventory.

"Boys and girls, we'll have roasted piglet for dinner!" I announced. "But I think we should all stay together while collecting the firewood we need."