The soft voice I heard wasn't much different from last time, but for some reason I was now sure that this it was a she.
"We finally meet in person. Should I call you mother?"
Now I was before her, I got off my palanquin and stepped forward. I thought my familiars would be more tense, but for some reason they appeared even more relaxed than I was.
'Is it cus of the difference in race?'
"No, you address me as you wish. There's not much time so come closer so that I may show you the situation."
I didn't know why I needed to get closer, but I just obediently did so. It was there before I knew it, but while facing her there was a sense of intimacy flowing from my heart.
I didn't try to fight this feeling, so I felt relaxed as I stood in front of her and watched as she slowly moved her finger to touch my forehead. Suddenly, I felt as if had become a bird looking over the forest. However this fresh viewpoint was accompanied by small fires at the edge of the forest, and undead infesting the land. While quickly getting used to this perspective, I focused on the areas with fire.
'This is getting worse by the second.'
According to legend, the sacred beast had blessed the forest to make it more resistant against fire, but the power was distributed from the centre of the forest so it was weakest at the edges. Still, I could only think of one person on the enemy side with enough firepower to affect these trees.
'I hope that's the only lich.'
My current race was superior to Lich, but I didn't want to get stuck taking care of the extras if I had to face the one behind these guys.
'I'll need them to get stronger.'
After showing me the state of the forest through the connection we had, she removed her finger from my forehead.
"Looks like this place isn't doing so well."
The dragon slightly nodded to my words and replied, "At the current rate it won't be long before this forest perishes."
"So, what do you want me to do about it?"
"While watching this forest burn and my children be hunted by these invaders, I saw hope when I saw you fight that lich. I believe that you have the potential to beat the undead lord that stands behind them."
"Woah woah, woah, how am I supposed to do that? You should know better than I do that I can't use my unique skill anymore, how am I supposed to get strong enough in time?"
When we originally made this deal I said I would escape if there was no hope, and even the intimacy I felt for her wasn't going to stop me from doing that. She obviously understood me so she shook her head and gave me an answer.
"No, you're already strong enough. As long as you learn how to control your current power, you should be a match for it."
It was a surprising fact. It was something I never realized but once it was told to me, it made a lot of sense.
'Despite how much Strength stats I gained after reaching 500, I've never felt much of a difference. It must be because I can't control my soul well enough. However...'
"That does sound convincing, but you should know that controlling that power will take a lot of time. More than this place has."
Even now I only had a firm grasp of one and a half of my soul fingers so I knew that completing the rest would surely take months or years.
"I have a solution for that."
While I raised an eyebrow after hearing about a solution, the dragon stretched out its arm as if welcoming me, and apparently she was.
"Come, with my powers I should be able to hide you from the flow of time. It should give you enough time to get a proper sense of your soul again."
...What?
I had to take a moment to wrap my head around the insane thing that she casually mentioned. I knew she was a dragon and all but, isn't an ability like that kind of unfair? I mean maybe it doesn't have many practical uses but I don't think messing with time should be easy.
Even with the magical knowledge of the lich, I couldn't even imagine how she could do such a thing, but there was no doubt in my heart. After all, she was still a dragon. However, there was a bit of worry.
"Will you be able to handle that?"
I tried not to show it too much, but the smiling gaze she gave me, told me that she had seen through my concern.
"Don't worry child, I have no intention of leaving this world until I've seen the conclusion of this battle."
"...Fine."
Before walking into her embrace, I turned to my familiars.
"Work hard while I'm gone. I expect you to be able to support me when I'm back."
"Yes, master!"
None of them looked flustered or worried so I turned back and stepped towards her. Once her dull scales were in arm's reach, she brought her arm back and slowly, my world was just darkness. I could see neither my surroundings nor myself, but there was a nostalgic feeling that warmed my heart.
'How strange. For me to feel like this.'
Without paying much attention to this feeling, I sat down and started meditating. Wasting time may not be a valid term in this case, but there was literally no time to waste.
***
The three familiars showed no anxiety or worry on their faces as their master entered the embrace of the Forest Dragon. This was the first time they had witnessed a dragon in the flesh and yet they seemed completely unflustered. Considering even spirit familiars would be nervous around a dragon, their composure was surprising but none of them thought so. Their master trusted her, and so would they.
Once their master was no longer in sight, the three bowed to the dragon.
"Please take care of our master."
The dragon nodded in response to Jeanne and then closed her eyes. Seeing that they no longer had a role here, Jeanne led the other two out of her quiet nest. Outside of the nest, creatures of the forest continued to kneel in reverence even though they were not with their master.
'A little more.'
All three of them had the same thought as they made it through this sacred path with dignified steps. Once they were away from the kneeling crowd and from any other creature, they simultaneously sighed in relief.
Jeanne, 'I didn't think walking down a path could be so nerve-wracking. I know they don't care about me but I have to make sure I don't disgrace master. Still, it was easier compared to that.'
Brad, 'I thought I would be ready since master already told us who we would meet, but I was wrong. Even though I knew that she wouldn't harm us,'
Ein, 'Just thinking about what would happen if she was hostile...; we wouldn't even be able to stop her.'
In truth, none of them were worried, but they couldn't help feeling powerless before the Forest Dragon. Looking at each other, they could tell that they were all thinking the same thing so they sighed once more before shaking off these feelings. They were powerless this time, so they had to get strong enough for next time.
"So, any suggestions?" asked Jeanne.
Their master hadn't given any specific orders, but since they were no longer just dolls, they knew how to take initiative in serving him.
Ein excitedly responded, "We should go to areas where the undead have invaded too far in, and push them back while training."
Jeanne looked at Ein as he explained, and once he was finished she splendidly ignored him and turned to Brad.
"Hey!"
Ein couldn't believe she would ignore like this. No, he actually could believe it but it still hurt.
Since he was pondering before she asked the question, Brad only took a few more moments to think before answering.
"Right now our top priorities while we wait for master should be getting stronger and slowing down the undead's invasion. We can only properly absorb three enemies a day so we should be careful in choosing our targets while hampering the undead. Also, we have to make sure to not get into too much danger so I propose an area with a sparse distribution of invading undead. Based on the memories you two got, northeast should be good."
If their master was here, he would surely be surprised once more by how intelligent Brad was, but his insight was nothing strange among the familiars.
Jeanne nodded her head while listening to Brad's plan, and decided on it when he was finished speaking.
"We'll go with your idea."
"Wait, didn't I pretty much say the same thing?!"
Ein exclaimed but neither Jeanne nor Brad paid him any attention as they started walking off.