Running through the forest in confusion Voluk was still wondering what his boss had meant with those strange eyebrow expressions she had given him earlier. Was she interested in him? He wasn't exactly the most handsome of folk, but he was a ladykiller in his fifties. Of course that was after he had learned how to treat them and before he became ancient.

The best thing about leveling up was that your looks became better usually and your age kind of locks in, so if he continued to level although he wouldn't die from old age, he wouldn't become younger either. It happened around level ten or so, he really hated that he fucked himself by going out drinking while he was level nine instead of grinding for that crucial level, alas he is now an old man.

Unless he can use some kind of artifact to reduce his age, on that note he finally found a large enough tree to hide behind, the hydra was fumbling behind him with it's charge. It wasn't the most efficient of creatures so it didn't exactly know how to go around forests that well, maybe when it was younger and had a more nimble body it could.

He almost cackled at it's misfortune, but kept himself calm, not that he wanted to be nice to the thing that almost ate him, it was just that he didn't have much stamina left. As a mage he could run quite fast, but not very far, and the definition of fast was very loose. He had to use a few fireballs to keep the slow lumbering hydra from getting him when he initially took off.

'Not going to bring that up with the leader' he thought, he was already embarrassed, best not to compound that. Taking in a deep breath he began to sike himself up for another run and off he goes, by going in a parabolic trajectory, he can keep a maximum distance from the hydra while still making progress, he needs that buffer. Not because he's slow... Okay it's exactly for that reason.

If he runs straight to their little village he would get gobbled up like a tuna set out in the sun, but instead of his predator being a cat, it would be a multi headed snake. The run isn't very eventful, a few moments later he finds a snake in his face. Luckily it was just a normal snake but he had almost shat himself. Another thing not to bring up with the leader.

An hour of running and resting has finally gotten him out of the denser parts of the forest, the hydra was still stuck on a cliff he had just about managed to jump over, being the sleezebag he was he had quietly broken off a part of the ledge so the monster misjudged it's jump. That time he had actually cackled.

Then something occurred to him and he ran towards his estimation of where Lunetta might be. if the hydra was stuck they could entomb it, or better yet... His face lit up with a cruel smile.

Bury it alive. Or drop a massive boulder on it, or both. A sitting duck was exactly what he needed to test out his earth magic, the wooden and earth spikes from the village might also help, especially those large launched spikes.

***

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Standing on a hill Lunetta looks on to an unfamiliar patch of flowers, she had smelled some and they smelled wonderful, almost citrussy and sweet. She had then taken one and placed it into her hair for great effect and now her hair smells wonderful. She wondered where that hydra ran off to since the earth had stopped shaking.

She had even went as far as to use her moon affinities and give the flowers a bit of mana with it, they had become extremely excited upon sensing the energy and were now looking much healthier. Happy with how the wildflowers were doing she started heading home, hoping that Voluk had reached it.

En route she spotted the large treads in the ground from the hydra running after the old man. He didn't look very fit and it would really suck if he died right now. She searched for a while only managing to find some yummy fruit, which wouldn't bring Voluk back to life if he had died. She then shrugged and just headed home.

If he was alive he would likely go back to the village as his first action.

When she finally saw the wooden gates of the village she saw someone creeping up from a bit of foliage, stopping and examining them it seems that it's Voluk and he had survived. He is excited though, that much is apparent. "Come here!" He yells over and runs a bit, he stumbles a bit but manages to catch his breath.

Knowing that he was about to give her some important information she didn't interrupt him. She hated when people interrupted her sense of urgency with menial requests, the few times it had happened in the past when she was Angus had led to her not telling them at all due to spite. Oh that sweet revenge.

"The hydra is stuck" He breathes heavily, "I managed to get it to chase me onto a cliff, I then bamboozled it by breaking where I was standing so it wouldn't make the jump. Now it's wedged in there quite tight." He finishes finally and falls down to rest.

Lunetta thinks for a moment, the elemental warriors in her village, or rather mages since they barely fought with melee weapons might be useful here. One of them specialized in wood magic and the other in earth magic. After considering the situation she came to the conclusion that they simply didn't have enough people to deal with the threat.

"Have the scribes go out and look for more mages and people with expertise we can use, we don't have much time. They might want to join the 'kingdom' we have built, or rather might build." Lunetta said. Hydra skin was valuable, but not as valuable as being at the forefront of a developing world.

And so they returned to the village.

Lunetta walks side by side with Voluk, they call the scribes over and explain the situation, one of them immediately sets off to Seven Fall Academy. It would take him a few hours to get there with the more direct route they had worked out, but it was better than spending a week traversing the forest of hallucinations.

Even at her current level, when she had tested it she felt her sanity being tested and her bloodline seething. She stayed clear of that place as much as she could after that, hoping that with the sorceress' death that it would just become an ordinary forest.

With the scribe now recruiting people she had the mages prepare some more spikes in case they have an early encounter, with the knowledge that the hydra can use fire they have decided to abandon the oil strategy, instead using boiling water. Still based on pain, and although boiled water has some traces of fire magic, it's a lot more focused on the water side of things.

Lunetta walks over to her own hut and manages to meditate for a while before eating and going to bed, maintaining your health was critical if you wanted to survive in the wilderness. Her history did get a big bump though.

Not only would what you do aid in what you become naturally, it would also add to a history of sorts that will help you develop your skills and affinities, mostly skills though and maybe some classes, she wasn't entirely sure on that part of it.