I heard the delicate whisper of wind through the leaves as the rest of the spirits joined in on the tree nymph's laughter. Her smile was positively radiant and the more I looked, the brighter her skin seemed to become.

The other tree spirits were undeniably beautiful as well, but compared to her beauty they felt normal, like a diamond in the midst of zirconia's.

I felt like I'd been transported into a gathering of heavenly angels around their queen, and I stood in their midst, feeling like the fool that had come to woo her.

Except, the smiles of the spirits were genuine, and the tree nymph's ruby eyes glittered with delight. The more I looked at her, the more she seemed to glow, her skin delicate like it was made out of ivory and glass. I had to stop staring at her directly to avoid being blinded by how much her skin glowed.

Was this the result of making her laugh? It seemed dangerous in itself.

And for some reason, the other tree spirits had started to gather around me, and all I could smell was the flowery scent wafting from their skin. Their pretty eyes shone brilliantly like silver and one even sat beside me, leaning against my body.

The feeling of softness against my scales was unbelievable, her hair was like cotton. And when another leaned over to my horns and began to stroke it, my brain seemed to have stopped.

All my anger and frustration at being captured had disappeared and I felt like remaining with them forever.

What was going on?

«Careful. You're being charmed.» Sensei nonchalantly explained. «Stop focusing on their beauty, they are still enemies.»

"Charmed...? W-Wait a minute." My head spun as I put two and two together. "But I'm a girl!"

What was this confusion? Were they trying to eat me even now?

With that thought, I withdrew from the embrace of the pink haired girls and the effect reduced. However, the tree spirits didn't seem deterred.

When I withdrew, more appeared behind me to replace the others, seemingly sprouting from the roots around my coils. And soon I found myself surrounded by more than ten girls, each one seemingly interested in touching my raised scales. I was surprised none of them got cut.

"They are aware I'm a girl, right?"

Sensei sighed. «That didn't stop you from almost getting taken in. Gender isn't a barrier to a nymph's charm.»

Charm? If their plan was to tickle me to death perhaps.

The tree nymph ruby eyes narrowed as she watched me withdraw, and then she sighed. [Well-spoken and intelligent.]

With a wave of her delicate arm, the tree spirits all sighed in disappointment, their fingers lingering briefly on my scales, before withdrawing their embrace.

[They are fascinated with their reflection on your scales and wish to keep them.] she added, while staring longingly at me. [As am I.]

Great. Not only did they want to bury me – now they want my scales too?

I could still hear their disappointed sighs whispering through the leaves, but I pretended not to be bothered and fixed my gaze on the red eyed nymph who commanded them.

[I could save some scales for you, but I have to shed them first.] I blurted out and laughed jokingly before adding quickly. [They lose their shine if they are ripped out by force though.]

The Nymph was astonished. [Really? Then you must come and live with us.]

Err…that was not the reaction I was going for.

[My scales only come off in lukewarm water and they have to contain live rainbow fish.] I replied in panic.

The nymph looked curious, her delicate brows lifting as her ruby eyes took on a brilliant hue. [Such strict conditions?]

[My scales are very unusual.] I looked away awkwardly.

I wonder if she bought it.

Her ruby eyes regarded me with a steely gaze that gave nothing away, but then she blinked, her lips twitching as she turned away from me.

The roots all around began to creep upwards, twisting together to form an elaborate throne that bloomed with pink leaves. The nymph leaned back on it to sit, her delicate body lounging lazily like she had all the time in the world.

The tree spirits all left the trees to crowd around her in various forms of undress, one even grabbed the tiny dark fae off her shoulders and began to play with her wings.

The dark fae huffed impatiently and had to squeeze through her fingers to get free, preferring to sit on her shoulders instead. Her tiny figure in the midst of all the women, was comparable to a tiny doll and she seemed more like their pet.

I smirked and appraised this tree spirit that held her since she seemed distracted.

--------------

LV27 Veladrys

Specie: Ailith Fae

HP: 265/265 Defence : 190

MP: 210/210 Intellect: 170

SP: 147/147 Magic: 185

Attack:230 Agility: 225

Skills:

[Intangible: LV9] [Tree Stride: LV10]

[?????:LV??] [??????: LV?] [??????: LV?]

--------------

Her results were surprising. She was strong, but not as strong as the nymph. I appraised the others, and they were mostly of a similar level, with the lowest being LV21.

The lounging nymph fixed me with her stare once more. [Tell me, are you really as trustworthy as I have been led to believe?]

I glanced at the dark fae who stuck her tongue out at me.

[I would ask that you allow me to prove it to you, but I fear you've withheld that chance.]

The tree spirits all gasped and the loud disapproving whispers seemed to pick up again, this time coming from every tree. I had counted thirty tree spirits so far. If every tree possessed a spirit, with the number of trees in this forest alone, there was bound to be more.

I couldn't afford to make them all angry at the same time, so I bowed my head slightly.

[You know what it does?] The ruby eyed nymph was more curious than upset at my statement.

[I have seen a similar thing before.] I replied calmly.

The nymph shrugged her shoulders. [Then you understand why it must remain.]

I suppressed my annoyance and spoke. [What do I have to do?]

She was too strong for me to beat and although she was being nice, that could change at any time. It was better to interact with her while she remained civil.

However, the nymph looked at me with sympathy. [You are unhappy?]

I was slightly surprised. Could she read my mind?

The nymph sighed and spoke before I could answer. [You called our methods unfair. It is obvious you would be upset.]

I said nothing. Once again this was the dark fae's fault.

[I will make a promise to you now.] The nymph continued. [As soon as you finish our task, the sapling will be removed. And it is not a difficult task either.]

I wasn't sure her words were genuine. For creatures that multiplied on the blood of other creatures, she was acting rather superior. Did her promises have any merit if she could force me to do her bidding?

[Alright, what do you want me to do?]

[We want you to pay a visit to our sisters on the other side of the forest. Our connection seems to have ruptured and we haven't been able to communicate with them for a while.]

It was indeed a simple request, but still…

[If it is so easy, why not do it yourself?]

The tree nymph remained silent and stared at me.

«What did I say about being respectful?» Sensei grumbled.

I hushed him. "In what way was that disrespectful?"

Yes, I was being difficult on purpose, but she shouldn't think of me as an easy opponent just because she had her tether on my horn. If Sensei wasn't so enamoured with her appearance, he would've taken my side, but he was an idiot. Didn't he realise he was also her hostage by proxy?

However, instead of getting upset, the nymph bent down to lift up the hem of her flowery dress. Instead of gnarled roots, I saw pearly white alabaster skin, delicate ankles, and perfect toes.

She had legs!

[I would, but this forest is the limit of my power.] The nymph replied with a hint of sadness. [I cannot leave until I evolve, and neither can my sisters. We live very long lives but that has its limits too.]

"What exactly is she complaining about?"

Sensei tutted disapprovingly. «The biggest problem tree spirits have is propagation. Until they become nymphs, they can't move more than ten metres from their tree and even then, nymphs can't leave their forest domain. They rely on creatures entering their forest to do their bidding and so, they will attract them at all cost. Some make their trees grow bright leaves and others make them bear fruit. It is incredibly difficult to live as they do.»

Unlimited power, a beautiful appearance, not needing to hunt because creatures willingly came to you to die. Hell that didn't sound like such a bad deal.

"Spare me the sob story and admit you have a crush." I laughed at him.

«I do not.» Sensei deadpanned, but I remained unconvinced.

[So will you do it?] The nymph's ruby eyes shone pleadingly.

[Fine. I will accept your task.]

The nymph leapt up and down in her seat, smiling brilliantly as she clapped. While the other tree spirits rushed over to my side to embrace me once more.

Before they got carried away, I made sure to remind them.

[When I return, will you remove this?]

[Yes, it is my promise.] The nymph smiled brilliantly, her skin once again glowing like a light bulb.

I shielded my eyes with my wings as the tree spirits celebrated. While they were beautiful, I was very much annoyed at them for sticking the sapling on me.

And I wasn't convinced they would remove it once I went through with their request. They had looked at my scales far too eagerly for my comfort, and this made me hesitant to help them.

However, I remembered Sensei's words from before. He'd said any tree spirit could remove the Nymph's kiss, so perhaps I didn't need to return at all. If I found this other group of tree spirits, I could have one of them remove the sapling instead, after relaying her message.

The dark fae buzzed over to me, and I felt my head ache with pain again.

[You should thank me for saving your life.] She said with a wide grin.

And without waiting for my response, she settled down between my horns and began to tap impatiently.

[Now give me more of that fruit.]

Was this brat asking to die?