Zarin found it strange that he reached his limit that soon. Even if it was the first time he used that ability of his Skill, he expected he could last longer.
Also, he had picked Water Element, which shouldn't be in great quantity in his surroundings, no matter the humidity of the nearby woods.
But the next moment, Zarin noticed some movement in the nearby trees. It didn't look like someone was sneaking around, but instead just moved around the perimeter.
Since whoever made the noise didn't enter the clearing, it should be a Spirit. But Spirits normally couldn't interact with the environment, meaning they couldn't make any sound like that.
Zarin had thought of waking up Eddie, but he was against that idea in the end. Instead, Eddie needed to rest as much as possible to continue their trip first thing in the morning.
As for him, his Status had actually had a debuff that lessened the effect of the potions, and it had a countdown of its duration. So he didn't need to rest like Eddie, just wait for the time to pass.
Aso for resting so that he didn't earn the [Exhaustion] condition, he didn't need to do so. So the time he spent in his Inner Place was the same as having a nap, as he didn't put his body into doing any physical activity.
So Zarin carefully made his way towards the source of the noise. He used his ring this time to turn himself invisible, confident that the day hadn't changed yet.
For the last few meters, he also used his [Stealth] Skill just to be safe.
As he reached the first edge of the clearing, it didn't take long to find out the noise source.
It was another Spirit, which, like Pretty, was a blue female figure of a young-looking girl. But her body wasn't semi-transparent, like Pretti's, giving it a more solid look.
The figure was sitting with a long white feather in one hand and a piece of paper in another. She looked like she was deeply thinking about what to write, and Zarin could clearly see that nothing was currently registered on the paper.
Zarin kept watching her for now and soon noticed why she made so much noise. Every few seconds, she stood up, walked a bit in a random direction, and then sat on the ground and started writing.
But just a few words into her writing, she would stop, stare at the page, and let out a sigh. Then, after a couple of seconds, the paper would become blank, and after she stared at it for a little more time, she would once more stand and repeat everything.
'Those punish-loops are very interesting. I wonder who actually picks them for each Spirit.'
Eddie had told him that punish-loop depended on the unfinished business of a Spirit or their personality. Nonetheless, some higher power or something should have picked the details as he didn't believe it was something self-created.
Zarin kept watching her, and it didn't look like she came anywhere close to stopping anytime soon. He also discovered that this figure was why he got full that quickly.
This was a Water Element Spirit, meaning most of its body was a Water Element Mana. The Spirit used its Mana as ink to write, but each time it stopped writing, the Mana left the paper and got released to the environment.
The Mana from the Spirit was of a much higher quality than what Zarin could typically gain. So reaching his limit in that short time made sense.
Still, Zarin had some questions in his mind that he didn't know how to find their answers to.
First of all, how did a Water Spirit reach this part of the forest? From what Eddie told him, Element Spirits like that were much deeper into the woods. Also, from what Zarin had read about Water Spirits in the Journal, he knew they stayed close to big water sources, like lakes or rivers.
Zarin hadn't covered the entire area, but since he hadn't felt any other significant source of Water Element nearby, he was confident there was nothing like that nearby. Still, he was new at sensing the different Elements, so he could be wrong.
Since he couldn't absolve any more Mana currently, he went back to the camp.
But as he was ready to turn and leave, he noticed the Water Spirit standing up and moving in his direction while she waved at him.
Zarin checked his position, and he was sure that he was within reach of the MonolithMonolith and still under the effects of his ring. Still, the Water Spirit acted like she could see him and kept moving toward him.
Zarin took a few steps behind and then noticed confusion in the eyes of the Spirit, but she kept moving toward him. Once she reached the edge of the clearing, she stopped and kept staring at Zarin.
Zarin slowly side-stepped a bit to see her reaction and noticed that she didn't turn her head to keep up with him.
'Is her detection range that much greater than the rest?'
From what Eddie had told him, the monoliths affected just the senses of the Sprits. So, in theory, Monoliths did decrease the effects their senses had on their area, but the results differed per Monolith.
Not all Monoliths were of equal power, as the deeper in the woods one would get, the more potent the Monoliths would also be. That was because the curse would also get stronger, meaning more power was needed to keep the clearings safe.
So, in theory, if a Spirit that normally was in a high potency area moved to one with low potency, the effect that the MonolithMonolith would have on it would be weaker. But, of course, that didn't mean that they could move into the area and do whatever they wanted, but detecting someone within part of the area was a possibility.
Fortunately, from how much she could see into the clearing, Zarin could tell that these Water Spirits shouldn't be from too much deeper in the woods. Still, he wasn't confident he could face her with his current abilities.
Even if he hadn't watched what she could do, she was clearly of a much higher level than Pretti, and she was a Water Spirit. Since she was made of Water Element, his [Burst of Frost] would have even less effect on her than usual and could even have no effect on her if he was too unlucky.
So the only attack working on her would be [Wind Rocket], but with just it, he wasn't confident of killing her. After all, its cooldown wasn't that short, and she probably was faster than the other Spirits he had faced. Water Spirits should have great speed and quick reflexes, in his opinion, because of the nature of the Element.
Zarin kept his eyes on her for a couple more moments before returning to camp. The camp was far enough for her not to detect them wherever she was situated outside the Monolith's field.
Bad as he was ready to get back, he noticed some more movement in the woods. This time it was the familiar sound of Pretti's munching sweets, but she didn't do so while being still.
Pretti was walking and headed towards the Water Spirit, actually. As she reached her, she stayed in place, standing up and eating the different sweets she had created.
'Why are they keep doing their punish-loops that late at night?'
Eddie had told him that most Spirits were out to hunt at night and mostly performed their punish-loops at night if they were too weak or had some leftover time to cover.
But Pretti was powerful enough to need just a couple of hours, which should be over by now, and the Water Spirit should also be powerful enough since it was supposed to be higher level than Pretti.
Pretti kept staring at the Water Spirit while she kept eating, but this time at an average speed. Compared to before, it was like she was eating in slow motion.
The Water Spirit had stopped writing and was ready to move to a different place, but once she stood, she noticed Pretti. A wide smile appeared as she kept her right hand with an open palm facing up in front of her.
A sphere of water formed in her palm, and she then threw it toward Pretti. The water sphere moved rapidly, giving Pretti no chance to avoid it as it splashed on her face.
But it didn't seem like it damaged Pretti, it just made her face wet.
The two started a conversation, but they kept their voice low, and since Zarin kept his distance, he was unaware of what they told to each other. Afterward, Pretti gripped the Water Spirit's right hand and started dragging her deeper into the forest, like she wanted to show her something.
The entire encounter lasted less than two minutes and left Zarin with even more questions.
'It seems like Eddie was correct. That Pretti Spirit is an interesting fellow.'