I decided not to delve too deeply into the grove's core system, intrigued as I was. Instead, I set off to find the other three spirits. My curiosity was piqued by their sudden absence and the grove's indication of their presence as residents.

As I wandered through the now rejuvenated grove, I came across several locations I had never seen before, mostly because of how corrupted they were and due to the suffocating miasma. There were lush meadows, vibrant with flowers and teeming with life, and serene ponds reflecting the canopy above. The grove seemed to pulse with a newfound energy, every corner was brimming with vitality and energy.

After some time, I heard laughter echoing through the trees. I followed the sound, pushing through the undergrowth until I came upon a clearing. There, I found three figures chatting animatedly, their voices filled with joy and relief. Despite being able to head their voice, their lips didn't seem to be moving at all.

Were there intruders who managed to find their way here after I cleared the surrounding corruption? Or were they spirits that awakened due to me purifying the heart? After observing their features I noticed subtle hints. The three figures were half naked, barely covering themselves with leaves, there were two men and a woman, which sparked my memory, the spirits I carried out of the city were two men and a woman, but two of them were dead, and the survivor was barely clinging to life as I brought him here.

Again, I remembered the system mentioning there were four ancient spirits now residing within the grove. It all started to make sense. These were the spirits I had saved, rejuvenated and reborn by the purified heart. They were no longer lifeless or withered which confirmed my theory about spirits' immortality.

Unaware of my presence. I slowly approached, my eyes scanning their features more closely. The woman had fox ears and a tail, reminiscent of one of the dead spirits I had carried with me. One of the men had white wolf ears and a tail, similar to my own. The other man, now handsome and vibrant, was undoubtedly the withered spirit I had saved.

Did I accidently migrate their consciousness from their dead bodies to my squirrel and fox friends? This seemed like the most likely case.

As I stepped closer, their laughter ceased, and they turned to face me. Recognition flickered in their eyes, mirroring my own realization. We stood there for a moment, in complete awkward silence before the woman's face turned from happy to what seemed like pity, or rather concern.

She quickly moved closer, taking me in for a tight hug. "Oh, you poor, poor thing," she said, brushing through my hair with her fingers, her voice filled with sympathy. The warmth of her embrace and the genuine concern in her tone caught me off guard, but I didn't resist. It was strange, despite her very beautiful demeanor, she looked like she was in her 30s, and she reminded me a lot of my mother. I was never on good terms with my family after I moved out when I was 19, and I didn't see my mom for the last 4 years of my life, even before I moved out, my mom never showed me any sort of affection, so this motherly hug that was full of concern overwhelmed me for a moment, making me forget my current situation.

I couldn't help but shed a tear before the two men approached as well, their expressions a mix of relief and gratitude. The one with the wolf ears clapped a hand on my shoulder. "Thank you" he said, his voice steady and sincere. "You saved us. We are forever in your debt"

The woman’s embrace tightened, her emotions evident as she spoke. "You're so young" she said, her voice a mix of anger and sadness. "You shouldn't have had to go through all of that"

I felt her sigh against me before she pulled back slightly, looking into my eyes with an apologetic look. "While you were asleep, I... I helped myself into your memories. I’m sorry for intruding, but I had to understand. I saw everything you did to get us out"

Her face twisted with a mix of fury and pain. "Those cursed elves," she spat, her voice trembling. "Never again will I trust a mortal with elven blood, never"

"I know this is a bit of a shock for you" the one with fox ears said, "My name is Kaelen, I'm the first ever guardian of the grove of eternal blossoms" he pointed at himself before pointing at the woman embracing me, "This is Liora, she was the second guardian after me, and the one over there is Aldric, he was the guardian before you" Kaelen added.

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Liora looked down at me, pinching both my cheeks gently. I had forgotten that I still looked like a child, so she must have been regarding me as one all this time. Her eyes were filled with a mix of affection and sorrow as she continued to hold me close. Seemingly unaware or rather, unbothered by the fact that I was still fully naked.

Thinking about it, these guys seemed to be communicating with me, and one another using telepathy, which was weird to me, if they were communicating telepathically how come I could hear their laughter from all the way there despite them being fully unaware I was near.

I looked back at my skill page and Aha! It all made sense! One of the my passive skills was Spirit Communication.

Spirit Communication: Spirits communicate by sending out vibrations through the air at set frequencies that only spirits can pick up, you can communicate with other spirits using this method.

I didn't know how to do it, and I certainly didn't know this frequency the system mentioned, but I decided to give it a shot. Concentrating, I tried to focus on sending out a thought rather than speaking aloud, hoping the skill would take over and do the rest.

"Uh... Hi... Hello?" I tried, focusing on the thought rather than the words.

Kaelen's ears twitched, and he looked at me in surprise. "Did you just... speak to us?"

Liora pulled back, her eyes wide with astonishment. "You figured out spirit communication on your own? That's incredible!"

Aldric's eyebrows raised in surprise. "Young spirits regardless of being ancient or not usually need guidance to learn how to communicate this way. You've picked it up remarkably fast."

"Uh, yeah" I responded, still feeling a bit uncertain. "I saw the skill on my status page and just... tried it."

"Skill pa-ge...?" Liora seemed confused, her brow furrowing.

Was I the only person who had a system? I thought that everyone in this world had it by default. Does that mean that not all the spirits here are reincarnations? Not even any of them? That was quite a revelation.

I realized I held a significant advantage over everyone, given I could literally materialize things and learn new skills seemingly out of thin air. This could be a game-changer. While I still had a lot to learn about this world, it seemed my unique abilities might give me the edge I needed to be able to adapt.

"Well now that we can communicate with you that makes things way easier" Liora said still brushing my hair.

"Yeah, but can we please solve this problem first?" I pointed at my naked body. Despite the happy moment that felt like some sort of a reunion, the half naked people in front of me were quite distracting. I couldn't concentrate much knowing I was fully naked out of the open, it seemed like some fever dream.

I quickly opened my Karma shop and figured I could buy normal items not just skills and magic related items, and so I bought four normal kimonos and gave three to them, as they put them on the kimonos magically readjusted themselves to fit each one of them.

"Oh, you had those all this time?" Kaelen asked.

"Not really n- you know what nevermind, I just want to know what's going on exactly because ever since I arrived here I've been very confused"

"Well.." Liora began "I think Kaelen is best suited to start, we've been awake for a day longer than you so we already got acquainted, it's better to hear from each one individually"

"Yes. Of course! So how much do you know so far?" Kaelen said clapping his hand.

I explained what Elara told me, which was the only piece of info I had on this whole situation, I also explained that I got a look into Liora and Kaelen's memories while they were still "dead"

"Oh so we're even now" Liora said with a chuckle.

"Yeah.. Sorry.." I apologized.

"Anyways what that elf said was partially true, when I first created this grove, there was a large group of elves helping me" Kaelan began explaining, "However for some unknown reason weird miasma started spreading across the grove and some elves started periodically attacking me, I didn't know their motives really until the day I supposedly died"

"As for me" Liora said, "I woke up in the grove partially corrupted and I started purifying it little by little, after a year or two I met an elven dryad who claimed to be one of the 'wardens' the same group that Elara claims to be from, and you already know the rest"

Aldric was oddly silent, seemingly reflecting, or thinking about something. I don't think he was paying much attention to what we were saying, neither did he seem to care much. He was more lost in thought just gazing at the flowers nearby.

Kaelen noticed my glance toward Aldric and gave a small, understanding nod. "His reign as guardian was filled with constant strife, and it took a toll on him. The burden of protecting the grove, only to see it slowly succumb to corruption, weighs heavily on him."

Liora sighed softly, her grip on my shoulders tightening slightly as she looked over at Aldric. "He has seen more death and destruction than any of us, you did see the initial state of the grove since you woke up a week before purifying the heart. It's not that he doesn't care, but sometimes, the weight of it all can be overwhelming."

Finally, Aldric seemed to notice our attention and turned his gaze towards me. His eyes were filled with a mix of sadness and resolve. "We each have our battles, both within and without," he said quietly. "But now, with you on board and our combined efforts, we have a chance to reclaim what was lost and get back at this god forsaken race"

With their stories shared and introductions made, I felt a stronger connection to these spirits who had once guarded the grove. Their experiences and sacrifices had paved the way for me, and now it was my turn to do my part.