She drew an Exit Gate in that oasis, with the hope to return in the future, as long as it would continue to exist and resist the corruption until then. She then waited to recover mana before saying goodbye to the unicorns and plants one last time.

The unicorn mother had already recovered, and insisted, through the spirit, that they must go on their way, that they couldn’t delay there. She would stay a little longer, perhaps a few years, until the little foal was able to travel with his mother.

Now that she could use her power freely, she wasn’t afraid of a new siege from the corrupted beings. In fact, she could easily cross the barrier and get rid of them skillfully.

Pikshbxgro was going with them, fearful. Although he trusted “Aunt Omi”, facing the miasma was something terrible for him, because the miasma was that dark energy that had trapped him in the past, although more diluted.

He felt it as soon as they left the barrier. It was trying to penetrate his essence, to corrupt or kill him. So, he clung tighter to Goldmi, whom he was hugging, which increased her concern as well.

The elf feared the effect the miasma might have on the spirit, so she grabbed a level 20 shield she had in storage. She had bought it long ago to try it out, and had dropped it in inventory shortly after.

She infused the shield with Purifying Touch, and covered Pikshbxgro with it. It wasn’t an absolute defense, but it could reduce the miasma that reached him. Especially, the one that hit them the faster they went. And they planned to move forward as fast as possible, since they didn’t want their friend to suffer. For this, the lynx was the best choice.

While serving once more as a mount, the feline sped through the corrupted forest to the south. They couldn’t go through the barrier that guarded the portal that led to the beginner’s village, for they knew that those barriers even prevented the entry of spirits. They had already verified it with those who had accompanied them to the village.

Although the shield protected the spirit, some miasma was leaking in, and wounding him in ways that physical weapons couldn’t.

Therefore, they often stopped to invoke a Light Pillar. This spell temporarily cleansed the surrounding miasma, so giving them just a few minutes of rest. It didn’t take long for the darkness to approach, to reclaim the lost space. When it did, they would start running again, until the elf had recovered all the mana, so they could repeat the operation.

She was also continually renewing Purifying Touch on the shield, as contact with the miasma caused the blessing to run out quickly. And, from time to time, she used Shoot Anyway to eliminate a corrupted beast. In this place, they were relatively low-level and widely dispersed, since many had been eliminated not long ago.

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“I’m fine,” Pikshbxgro assured, not very convincingly.

He had popped out after a new Light Pillar, the only time he dared to do so. He was paler than normal, something that made the elf, and therefore her sister, very concerned.

The feline hadn’t once complained about not having eaten in hours. Or running nonstop. Especially when she knew she was continually receiving energy through Energy Link, so she wasn’t the only one who was tired.

She only complained once, when the elf cast Basic Healing on her for slight bruises, but the lynx gave up on doing it again because of her sister’s stubbornness. Something that, in part, comforted her, as it showed how much her sister cared for her.

They kept rushing through the corruption, so giving no chance for the corrupted trees to hinder their path. Or the corrupted beasts to chase them, except for a few, which were simply wiped out.

The biggest problem was that the state of Pikshbxgro kept getting worse. Even his size had decreased, and he looked haggard. It wasn’t until, in the distance, they spotted the bright color of life, that of the treetops, that they breathed a sigh of relief.

They continued on, until they came to a huge wasteland. Two hundred meters beyond was the jungle, there was life. But there was something else, on the left. Dust and sparkles of mana could be seen there, which meant that someone was fighting. They wanted to find out what was happening, but couldn’t afford it, as it could be the spirit’s death sentence.

So they covered the remaining distance at high speed, even the lynx jumped over a small river that seemed to be the border between life and death.

“We’re home!” Pikshbxgro suddenly exclaimed.

They were in the jungle, and the whole jungle was his home. So he came out of Goldmi’s protection, and he was immediately smiling and looking around. And, although slowly, it was noticeable how his condition was improving. It would still take several hours for him to fully recover, but his eyes were full of life.

“Thank you Aunt Omi!” he hugged her again, and kissed her on the cheek, sharing his joy with her.

She was relieved to see her nephew happy and recovered. What she didn’t expect was that he would turn suddenly, surprised, and stared into two yellow eyes that were fixed on him.

“You can see me!!” he exclaimed again, went towards those eyes, and hugged the owner of these. “Aunt lynx can see me!”

The lynx, who was resting on the ground, was somewhat surprised. She didn’t know very well if she found that spirit annoying or amusing. The reason she could now see him clearly wasn’t obvious to her, though it was true that it had started while they were still with the unicorn.

Every day, she had seemed to see him a little less blurred, to distinguish a bit more, but it had been that vertiginous journey in which she had felt, through the connection with her sister, that she was also beginning to share a bond with the spirit.

But, even though everything seemed to have ended well, Goldmi’s face was very serious.

“Will you be fine here? I’d like to see what’s going on there.”

“Yes, Aunt Omi. I’m home. Go there. There are bad guys there. You have to kill the bad guys.”

The elf nodded, even more concerned after confirming her fears. And, despite being tired, both sisters headed towards where they had seen what looked like a battle.

In the distance, without crossing the river, Pikshbxgro followed them with his eyes.