“They’re taking it out on me. I must be delicious for wasps,” Goldmi complained.

It was the third time they had attacked her. The first had been before reaching the Sacred Spring, and the second one had been soon after leaving, three of them. Now, there were only two, but they had appeared very close. She had only had time to get rid of one of them, while the other was coming dangerously close.

Suddenly, a shadow emerged from some bushes, pouncing on the wasp’s back, out of reach of its stinger and jaws. It broke its wings, and then sank its teeth into the insect’s neck, which Goldmi also attacked with a Serpent’s Attack.

“Well, if you’re so delicious… Will you give me a small bite?” the lynx scoffed, after finishing off the wasp. Despite being several levels lower than the insect, her intelligence and coordination with her sister made her fearsome.

The elf looked at her with mock outrage, although they both knew the other was joking. In fact, they would have known even without the bond that linked them.

A few seconds later, the feline was watching closely the fairy that was cutting up and separating the parts of the wasps.

“I never get tired of seeing them.”

Goldmi laughed, making sure there were no other enemies nearby. Then she turned to the forest.

“I keep hearing it, as if something is following us. Now it seems even stronger, as if there was more of whatever” the elf observed.

“I hear it too. Maybe, they’re jungle spirits. If so, they aren’t dangerous. But we better be cautious, in case they aren’t,” her sister reasoned.

The truth was that Life Detection didn’t show anything strange, but none of them believed that it was their imagination. If they both heard it, it couldn’t be by chance.

Sometimes, it was like the sound of leaves moving. Other times, it was like distant giggles. And while they didn’t have the feeling of danger, they hadn’t had it either when a level 5 mantis had appeared, injuring Goldmi.

In its stalking state, its presence had been mistaken for that of a tree, but luckily they had reacted quickly. The lynx had immediately struck back, drawing its attention despite being three levels lower. And the elf had used Tangle to restrain its enemy’s movements, killing it using several Piercing Arrows.

Then, it had taken them a long time to heal their wounds with Basic Healing, as she didn’t have enough mana to do it all at once. It had been a tense situation, in which they were wounded and at risk of being attacked. So, despite the pain, both had taken refuge at the top of the tree, after healing just enough to stop bleeding. Then, they had had to wait for the elf to recover enough mana and gradually heal them, as they couldn’t afford to run out of mana and become too vulnerable.

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But they had learned their lesson. The next mantis hadn’t surprised them, as they had simply evaded it, by walking away from where it was hiding.

Now, they were resting again in a tree, while the assistants were collecting the remains, thus recovering mana and energy. It wasn’t wise to continue moving forward without being in peak condition to face any new danger.

Suddenly, the elf stared at the lynx with her eyes and mouth wide open, while her sister was only feeling the light caress of the wind above her head. Although that didn’t stop her from guessing what was happening.

“So, you can still see them. Not many can see the forest spirits.”

At that moment, a small child-like being was playing on the feline’s head, but suddenly he stopped. He looked with great curiosity at the elf who was watching him, and waved with his little hand.

Hesitant, she also raised her hand and greeted, causing a big smile on the face of that being, who suddenly disappeared in the thicket. It wasn’t long before he reappeared, this time accompanied by three others.

Soon, the four spirits began to fly around the elf, to sit on her shoulders, in her hands, asking with gestures where she was going.

“I’m going to a village in that direction.”

They looked at each other confused for a moment, pointing to different directions, a gesturing that the elf didn’t understand. Apparently, they were talking to each other, but not with sounds. Perhaps, they also used some kind of telepathy. After a while, they floated to the ground and motioned for them to follow.

They seemed happy to hover around the lynx, but especially around Goldmi, who couldn’t help but smile continuously at the innocence of the little ones, and while remembering the past, the past from the game.

Long ago, she had carried out a mission and had found a huge gem, which could be sold for a large sum of money. However, she had returned it to the heart of the forest, arriving at a fantasy place where something like fairy queens resided.

Later, Gjaki had investigated that mission, concluding that it was a unique mission, a mission that had given her a title that no one else owned in the game, and that apparently was useless. Friend of fairies.

It should be said that they continued taking precautions and trying to detect enemies, but despite the fact that some traces appeared in the distance, none approached them. It seemed that the presence of those small, happy and carefree spirits protected them. If they had encountered several enemies in the first quarter of the journey, in the second quarter none bothered them.

That change intrigued both, since it is known that forest spirits don’t attack other creatures, and the feline itself didn’t feel any strange aura, but the reality was what it was. However, they avoided relaxing too much.

Suddenly something changed. An appalling fear seemed to take hold of the spirits, which were now five, and even one of them took refuge inside the surprised elf’s clothes. She couldn’t feel his touch on her skin, but she could feel his fear.

Even the lynx could feel the fear of those small beings, despite not being able to see them. Something was coming. Something definitely dark and scary.