Chapter 29 - First Encounter

In the forest outside Chandola.

I held the WORLD MAP in hand and marched forward with my group. It took us nearly 30 minutes of travel before we neared the mist-covered area.

I unconsciously let out a whistle at the sight of the forest before my eyes. Thick mist clung to the trees, obscuring the view beyond. The only thing visible were the numerous purple roses (Wow! So much money!) growing just inside the mist. There were so many that, from a distance, it looked like a purple line had been drawn along the borders of the mist-covered area. The air grew colder the closer we got, and an unsettling silence covered everything. Not even the rustling of the leaves could be heard.

"So, we're just going to stroll into that, huh? Am I the only one feeling scared?"

"Yes, you are!" both Arya and Lily answered. They didn't seem fazed at all, sitting down to strategize as if they were preparing for a picnic, not a battle.

I glanced toward the stupid cat, hoping that at least it would show some amount of fear. The cat was on my shoulder, and feeling my gaze, it looked up at me.

'What is it, human?' it asked, tilting its head, not looking particularly scared. In fact, it seemed excited!

'Hey, what's the big deal? Why are you so excited?'

'I'm not,' the cat huffed, but I could clearly see its tail wagging.

Whatever. Since none of them seemed scared, I took a deep breath and reached out toward the roses inside the mist. They were worth money, so I might as well collect some. But before my hand entered the mist, Lily smacked it away.

"Don't be stupid," she snapped. "Touching the mist will cause you to develop diseases. Do you really want to deal with that?"

I shook my head and hurriedly pulled my hand back. I glanced at Arya, who was also curiously looking at the mist, almost like she wanted to touch it too.

Hearing about the disease, she groaned and stepped back. Lily then coughed to get our attention and raised her staff, muttering . A golden light spread from the tip of her staff and formed a 10-meter-wide circular dome, with her at the center.

"This will keep us safe from the mist," Lily explained. "But I can only maintain it for 30 minutes. Every time I use a purification spell, the time drops by two minutes. One of you keep track of the time, and make sure we come out before then. Also, whatever you do, don't leave the barrier."

Arya and I nodded, and even Systie, lounging on my shoulder, meowed in agreement. We then shared our skills and abilities before fine-tuning our strategy. Maya had an ability called , allowing her to guide us through the mist while I kept track of time.

Once everything was in place, we stepped into the mist. The moment we entered, the mist pressed against the dome, swirling around the edges, trying to break through. A cold air spread inside, making me extremely nervous, but in the end, the mist failed to penetrate, and I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding.

"We don't have much time, so let's move quickly," Lily said and climbed onto Arya's back with surprising grace. Arya shot her a confused look, and I had to ask, "Why are you riding Arya? Are you too lazy to walk?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "My speed is low, and I need to save my energy for purification spells. Now, can we please move?"

"Fair enough," I nodded as we moved deeper. The mist was so thick that it obscured everything around us, making it nearly impossible to see beyond a few feet. I strained my eyes, trying to spot any sign of movement, but it was like searching for a needle in a haystack.

"Can you sense anything?" I asked Arya, knowing her ability might help us.

She closed her eyes, focusing. After a few moments, she pointed to our left. "There's something that way."

We followed her lead. As we moved closer, the mist thickened, and soon enough, we stumbled upon them—three black ghost-like figures hovering above the lifeless bodies of forest rats. They had no legs, and their faces were shaped like raven masks. Just looking at them sent a shiver down my spine.

'They are plague spreaders. All are below level 17,' Systie's voice echoed in my head. I didn't know why their level was so low, but I wasn't complaining.

They still looked pretty eerie, and the moment Arya saw them, she reflexively cast , sending a swirling fire straight at the plague spreaders. The flames engulfed the creatures, but all they managed to do was reduce the forest rats beneath them to ash, leaving the plague spreaders unharmed.

Lily immediately pounded Arya's head with her fist. "Don't use your skills recklessly! You'll burn the whole forest down!"

Arya rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, but before she could apologize, the plague spreaders took notice of us. They floated toward the dome, hovering around it, their masks tilted as if curious about the barrier. I tensed up as they pressed against it, trying to find any weakness. But fortunately, the dome held strong, and after a few seconds, they backed off.

Lily let out a breath of relief. "Alright, I'll use to inactivate their ability for 10 seconds. Arya, you need to burn them within that time. Got it?"

Arya nodded, but I raised my hand, feeling left out. "And what about me? What should I do?"

Lily glanced at me, then scratched her cheek. "Since you don't have any ranged skills, you can't help in this fight. Just keep track of the time, and if things get dangerous, use your skill on us. We're counting on you."

I nodded, feeling a sting of frustration. I was essentially useless right now, and it wasn't a good feeling.

'Don't worry, human. I'm of no help either,' the cat said to cheer me up, but it didn't help. Taking a deep breath, I forced myself to swallow the frustration. If getting them out of here was my role, I'd do it, even if it wasn't glamorous.

Lily raised her staff and aimed it at the nearest plague spreader. She muttered, , and a ray of bright light shot from the dome, striking the creature square in the chest. It let out a low, distorted wail as its form flickered, the ghostly quality of its body disappearing.

"Now, Arya!" Lily shouted.

Arya didn't hesitate this time. She cast again, and this time the flames hit their mark. The plague spreader screeched as it was consumed by fire, its form disintegrating into ash, leaving only a raven-shaped mask behind.

We all breathed a collective sigh of relief, but before we could celebrate, something strange happened. From the ashes, a figure began to materialize—a woman with soft brown hair and gentle features, remarkably similar to Lily.

Lily gasped, her eyes wide with shock. "M-mom?" she stammered, her staff slipping from her hand, tears welling up in her eyes. The woman—Lily's mother, or at least something that looked like her—extended her arms, beckoning Lily closer.

Without thinking, Lily nearly leaped out of the dome, but Arya grabbed her, holding her back. "That's not your mom! Snap out of it, Lily!" she screamed, slapping her across the face. The sound and pain brought Lily back to her senses.

Seconds later, I watched the figure of Lily's mother dissolve, replaced by that of a silver-haired man with a crown—most likely Lily's father. His expression was just as loving and gentle, but this time, Lily didn't fall for it.

"Don't imitate my family!" she screamed, her voice filled with fury. She aimed her staff at the figure and cast again, but the ray passed through the blurry figure. It reformed seconds later, showing the image of a bed where Lily slept peacefully, her mother and father hugging her from either side.

Tears streamed down Lily's face as she looked at the scene with a longing expression. She clearly missed her family, or a particular member of it.

Unable to see her friend like this, Arya embraced Lily, whispering, "It's okay. Everything's fine. I'm right here."

Seeing Arya's compassion, Lily hugged her back and broke down.

"Arya, th-that's Mom. She's…she's right there. Please, can I…can I touch her just once more?" Lily asked, tears streaming down as she struggled to break free, her eyes glued to the image of her mother.

But no matter how much she struggled, Arya didn't let go, and after almost five minutes, the images faded away.

Lily extended her hand once more, trying to reach her disappearing mother before finally letting go and wailing loudly. A minute later, she wiped her eyes and pointed her staff at the remaining plague spreaders.

Arya stopped her, saying, "Lily, let's take some more time." But Lily shook her head. "I'm fine now, but if I act like that again, please knock me out," she said and used once more.

Having seen what happened to their companion, the remaining two plague spreaders avoided the ray with all their might and fled deeper into the mist.

"After them!" Lily yelled, but I stopped her.

"We don't have much time. If we go deeper, we won't get out in time," I reminded her. I had no idea what had happened to her parents, but I didn't think going deeper was a good idea.

Lily clenched her fists, her shoulders shaking. She wanted to chase them, but in the end, we gave up. After collecting the raven mask, we left the mist.

Outside the mist, we waited for almost 30 minutes before re-entering the mist. As soon as we entered, I used on my whole team. Our aim this time was not to hunt but to scout as much area as possible and find out how many plague spreaders were actually present in the mist.