The morning sun cast long shadows across the worn wooden floor of Rey's modest home. Lea sat stiffly in a chair by the unlit hearth, the fireplace cold and empty. Her arms were wrapped in thick bandages, a grim reminder of her recent clash with the unknown beast.
Rey studied her from across the room, concern evident in his eyes. "How are you healing, Lea? Being discharged from the hospital so soon seems hasty."
Lea waved her hand dismissively, wincing slightly from the movement. "I'll be alright in no time. No need to fuss."
Rey's brow furrowed, clearly unconvinced by her nonchalant air. But he decided not to press the issue for now. There were more urgent matters at hand.
"Very well," he said. "But we must discuss our encounter with that beast."
At the mention of the beast, Lea's cheerful facade faded. Her shoulders tensed as chilling memories of the attack resurfaced.
"It appeared so suddenly from the underbrush," she recounted, her voice hushed. "No warning, no trace. Even my enhanced senses noticed nothing until it was upon us."
She nervously clutched at her bandaged arms. "I've never encountered a creature to be able to hide themselves like that before. And its claws, even with my enhanced durability using Arc, still cut through my skin as if it were paper."
Drias, who had been silently brooding by the cold fireplace, spoke up at last. "Just as I suspected. That beast has some unnatural ability to negate Arcs."
He turned to Lea, his weathered features etched with grim concern beneath his worn hat. "What do you make of this, Lea? Does my theory hold weight?"
Lea nodded slowly. "I see, it makes terrible sense. My arc body enhancement should have enough to avoid fatal injury. This creature bypassing them feels deeply wrong as if I never activated my Arc to begin with."
Rey's expression darkened, the flickering lantern light accentuating his taut features. "An unnerving ability indeed. To think such a creature stalks these woods unchecked."
Lea hesitated before voicing her deepest unease. "Wait...wasn't the beast supposed to have perished? After its fall with the child?"
Drias' eyes hardened like flint. "I inquired about that with Rodoro. The search parties found no trace of the creature that I describe, only the aftermath of the fall."
Dread mingled with disbelief in Lea's voice. "Then, despite that poor girl's sacrifice..."
Rey finished solemnly, "The threat remains."
"We must bring this before the Hunter's Guild at once," Drias declared. "With the guild's support, we can assemble a force to face this creature."
Drias cleared his throat, shifting the discussion toward an even more somber matter.
"There is still the issue of the child's mother to address," he began heavily. "Although Rey commissioned further search efforts, the girl remains lost. We must tell the mother about the harsh reality."
At the mention of the search team's failure, Lea's expression was clouded with sorrow. Rey's jaw tightened, containing his simmering frustration.
Idly rolling a wooden stick from his belt, Drias continued. "I know facing that grieving woman will be difficult. But it's our duty to inform her daughter's fate, however tragic."
Lea stared down at her bandaged hands, grief and shame weighing on her slim shoulders. "That poor mother...because of our folly." Her voice quavered slightly.
Rey rose and began pacing as if movement could vent his impotent anger. "Those incompetent, how could even the guild's best trackers uncover nothing? The search should have continued until the girl was found, alive or..." He trailed off, jaw clenched.
"Calm down, everyone." Drias' gravelly voice was heavy but steady. "There is no hope, we must face the mother. No matter how she responds, we shall endure it."
He slowly rotated the wooden stick in his palms, taking comfort from the familiar worn wood.
Bowing his head solemnly, Drias tucked the stick back into his belt. Drias steeled himself to finally bring that dreadful truth to the mother.
***
The warm morning sun filtered through the leafy canopy overhead, dappling the forest floor where Rushia ambled along happily. A light breeze rustled the branches, carrying woodsy scents of pine and damp earth.
Rushia hummed to herself as she gathered edible plants just like her mother had taught. Spotting some red berries, she plucked a handful and popped them in her mouth.
"Mmm, delicious!" she declared. Then she paused, brow furrowing. "Although, these tastes seem a bit different from before. Maybe they're another kind?"
"Correct. Those are a different kind from before," the monotone voice of Berry responded in her mind. "Their shape and coloration differ slightly from the one."
"Oh, you're quite right, Sir Berry!" Rushia said. She giggled sheepishly. "Thank you for catching my mistake."
They continued on, Rushia greeting each new discovery with wide-eyed wonder, while Berry silently cataloged and identified. When Rushia picked a mushroom with wavy gills, Berry corrected her.
"That specimen is different from before. It does not match previous examples labeled as edible."
"Goodness, you are on top of things today!" Rushia said. "I shall have to be more careful."
Later, when they passed a familiar rocky outcropping, Berry spoke up again. "We have encountered this landmark previously. We are retracing our previous route."
Rushia stopped short, smacking her forehead. "Of course! Silly me, I got us going in circles."
She kicked at a stone dejectedly, then straightened with a renewed smile. "Well, it's a good thing I have you along, eh Sir Berry?"
Privately, Rushia was a bit embarrassed by her blunders and gaps in knowledge. But she brushed it off, knowing that in the end, she was still holding a higher position in their grand quest, with Berry as her faithful minion.
Rushia skipped merrily along the forest trail, humming a cheerful tune. But after some time, a worried frown crossed her face. These surroundings seemed totally unfamiliar, and she was no closer to finding a home.
"Oh dear, I'm afraid we are quite lost, Sir Berry," Rushia sighed. "If only we had a map to guide our way."
"Understood. Generating map of traversed regions," Berry responded in her mind.
Before Rushia's eyes, a glowing purple map materialized, hanging in the air. Her jaw dropped in astonishment. Trees, rivers, and cliffs were all neatly labeled. Their meandering path wove throughout like a threaded needle.
"Great googly moogily!" Rushia exclaimed. "This is incredible! Look at the details, the markings!" She leaned in, scrutinizing the hovering display.
"Affirmative. I have cataloged and mapped our surroundings based on accumulated data," Berry confirmed.
Rushia spotted a small dark purple dot traversing the map. "Is that us?" she asked excitedly. When the dot moved as she stepped forward, she clapped in delight.
"You even added berries and mushrooms!" Rushia pointed to various icons marking their foraging locations. Her eyes widened as she noticed warning symbols posted on dangerous areas, no doubt using Lua markings as clues.
"Berry, this is stupendous! Why, with this map, we could adventure anywhere without worries!" Rushia proclaimed. She executed a gleeful spin, sending her raven hair spinning around her head.
"Thank you for this, Sir Berry," she said sincerely. "You are truly a marvelous minion."
Rushia failed to grasp how revolutionary Berry's detailed mapping could be. If this map is ever mass-produced, the whole hunter guild could be in trouble. But to her, it was just another wonder facilitating their carefree adventures.
With Rushia leading them on whimsical quests, and Berry navigating expertly, they were an unstoppable duo. Rushia took Berry's magical abilities in an enthusiastic stride. Together, nothing could stand in their way!
***
Father Aurelius, head priest of the remote church of the border town, stood trembling in the vaulted stone hall, clutching a message in his weathered hands. His ornate white and gold vestments seemed to weigh upon his tall, slender frame. Though advanced in years, Aurelius still bore himself with rigid poise and authority - white hair crowning a sharp, careworn face that now drained of color as he read.
The letter bore the insignia of Hunter Guildmaster Rodoro. As Aurelius reached the middle, his slender fingers began to shake uncontrollably. With widening eyes full of dread, he whispered, "This cannot be. After all this time, has the hour come at last?"
The initial passages described disturbing incidents in the woods - mutilated animals, and unknown beasts leaving trails of withering vegetation. But what seized Aurelius with terror was the unnatural traces of mutation scattered in the area.
In these grim details, Aurelius recognized some of the descriptions from his previous master's teaching. He had always believed such ramblings were mere allegory. But here finally was tangible evidence - the beasts from the spectral impervious to mortal now beginning to emerge. Surely this heralded the land's descent into apocalyptic chaos as the old prophecy warned!
Fighting back paralyzing panic, Aurelius staggered toward the dusty archives. He feverishly hoped beyond hope that some fragmented record still survived from his predecessors about the spectral beast.
But if even that information failed against the encroaching beast, the border town would be but the first lamp extinguished by the rising darkness. Aurelius uttered a fragmented prayer through quavering lips - "O my Lord, give us protection from this creature!"