Maldoa looked at her friend, and felt somewhat guilty for taking her out of there. Goldmi had been fused in a long kiss for more than a minute, while hugging her elven lover, who was also reluctant to let her go. However, in the end, they had to separate, or they would have choked.

She turned several times. The elf met the gaze of her lover first, and the thicket of the forest after some time. Finally, she took a deep breath, tried not to think too much about whom she was temporarily leaving behind, and focused on what she had in front of her. At the same time, she was promising herself to finish as soon as possible.

Her sisters were following her, one beside her and one in the sky, and a little fairy hovered animatedly. She used to stay in the forest, where she felt more comfortable, and visited her aunt Omi from time to time, just twenty times a day. The fairy was excited when she could accompany her through the woods, and now they had a journey of several days ahead of them.

For his part, Elendnas stared for a long time at where she had disappeared.

Later, he would stare from the window, as he had so many times. Nonetheless, this time there wouldn’t be the despair of the past, or the uncertainty of a small probability. Now, there would be only worry, and the wish that she would return soon. Time seemed to pass terribly slowly without her.

“There’s no danger. Whatever that weapon is, they can’t use it anymore,” a shadow assured.

“What if they can recharge it?” another one worried.

“They haven’t used it in years, not until recently, and they haven’t used it since. If they can recharge it, it’ll take years. Let’s take the opportunity to hunt living beings,” a third one maliciously suggested.

They had been sending subordinates to various areas, and had even attempted ambushes as in the past. Although they hadn’t been very successful, none of the shadows had suffered any mishap.

From their point of view, there was no reason not to use a powerful weapon immediately, unless it was broken or depleted.

“Let’s make a big offensive!” another shadow suggested.

Whether or not it was a great idea mattered little. They were all excited. They had been in hiding for months, in fear, and they wanted to corrupt living beings.

“Several fairies have confirmed it. The number of presences is growing on the border,” reported a drydwa, a daughter of a dryad and a dwarf.

“It’s taken less time than we’d thought. It’s time to start Operation Jump,” the three-meters giant who was staring at a leprechaun stated. His skin was red, and there was a horn protruding on his forehead.

“Prepare everything. I’ll be in charge of calling the fairies’ friend,” the leprechaun assured.

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Soon, a frenzy of activity took over all the outposts, although it was an activity hidden from most. Mysterious beings of different races also appeared in several of them, with their bodies and faces covered. Their level was hidden, they received individual rooms, and didn’t interact with the rest of the adventurers.

However, there were only from one to three in each place, so they didn’t create great suspicions, just a few curious glances. In fact, it wasn’t so strange that there was an important character passing by. The weird thing was that it was in so many places at once, but few could know that, and even fewer knew that there were some highly specialized mages between them.

What was public was a general order to be more cautious than usual, not to stray too far. While many of the veterans thought they knew their territory better than anyone, they weren’t stupid enough to ignore it either.

They were all afraid of ambushes, and although the last few months had been relatively uneventful, they had no doubt that the warning had a solid foundation. Only if time passed without any noteworthy occurrence, would they begin to ignore it.

An archer also appeared at one of the outposts, whose level was around 65. She was a panther-woman, and was accompanied by a black panther. It wasn’t very usual, but not excessively exceptional either. So, no one paid more attention to her than the arrival of any other new adventurer, one who soon made clear that she hadn’t gone there to flirt. After she knocked out an overly daring jackal-man with an Elbowing and a Head-butt, no one dared to disturb her.

A few days later, a drelf arrived. She, coincidentally, ended up forming a group with said panther-woman, and another three who had also recently arrived.

Again, it was nothing unusual. Though it made those who wanted to approach one of them sigh resignedly, as both the three women and the two men were quite attractive. Unfortunately, they seemed reluctant to associate with outsiders, beyond a polite cordiality.

Of course, said panther-woman was Goldmi, in disguise. The panther was a grumpy lynx who didn’t like to go with that aspect at all, something that a certain bird took advantage of to make fun of her. Nonetheless, it wasn’t something that a few extra cupcakes couldn’t fix, though. Maybe, some centipede snacks could work too.

The other three were high-level bodyguards to protect and assist the elf in her mission. For now, they were waiting for the right moment to act, as well as reconnoitering. By the way, the elf took the opportunity to level up a little, although without going too far, so it wasn’t very efficient.

She missed Elendnas terribly, but this operation was too important for everyone’s future.

When she got up that morning, the red sun hadn’t yet appeared on the horizon. The only reason she had woken up so early had been because a certain drelf had been shaking her until she had opened her eyes.

“You really have a deep sleep,” she laughed.

“Maldoaa. What’s wroong?” Goldmi asked, half-asleep.

“The order has been given.”

The elf suddenly cleared herself. It was something she had been waiting for, but also dreading. What she was most concerned about was failing.

The lynx and the goshawk, both in disguise, just kept lying down. As long as there was no food, or it was time to leave, they weren’t going to move.

“So lazy…” the elf complained.

““You’re just jealous,”” her sisters replied lazily, which wasn’t entirely false.

Since there was no one else awake or watching, apart from the ones with her, the elf simply dressed through her inventory. Though she did need some water to wipe the sleep from her eyes, while a mini Goldmi was combing her hair.

“I can’t get enough of seeing it,” Lingisa mused.

She was a vislzar woman with white, slightly yellowish and metallic skin. The three stylized horns that protruded from her forehead, whose bases formed a triangle, curved upward. She was one of her companions, and had an important mission besides being a bodyguard.

The woman was a mage adept at a very special type of magic, which Goldmi couldn’t yet use. It was one of the key components to the plan they were going to carry out.