The first of the dark worms had quickly made it up to the plateau, their bulbous bodies glistening wetly as they slithered over to target Typhon and soon, he was completely surrounded by multiple worms.

The dark fae beside him buzzed around in a panicked state, her eyes wide like saucers as the snarling shrieks of the hideous creatures came closer.

They were completely focused on Typhon since she was small and barely visible, however she was extremely scared and would not stop moving.

While Typhon's dark scales gave him partial camouflage against the rocks of the plateau, her fast moving wings glimmered when they caught the light, making her pink leafed figure all the more stark.

And it only took one of the worms to notice her, before all the others did and soon she found herself being chased by half of the worms attacking Typhon.

From then, it only got so much more fun as I watched their progress from the back.

I instructed them to not let any worms come within five metres of me – I even went as far as using my length to illustrate the distance.

But instead of facing the creatures and using her power to attack them, the dark fae rushed towards me with eyes filled with tears, bringing the worms chasing her towards me.

I sighed in exasperation. This wasn't how training worked!

If I defeated every monster for her, how was she supposed to get stronger?

As she flew nearer, I felt a harsh pain in my head as her telepathic link connected, followed by her screams. [HELP ME, YOU EVIL SERPENT!!! STOP RESTING AND FIGHT WITH US!!]

I experienced even more intense pain as her shrill voice harassed my senses. [SAVE ME, I DON'T WANNA DIE!!]

The dark fae continued to cry loudly as she flew away from the worm creatures rushing to eat her, in a desperate attempt to lose them. She was fast but they were too many, and the ones closer to her looked eager, with their maws gaping wide to swallow her whole.

Hmm…maybe she did need help.

But just as she was about to reach me, cracks opened up over the rocky ground and a deep chasm appeared, swallowing all the worms in a flash, allowing the dark fae to fly free.

I looked over the chasm and noticed it had spread all the way from Typhon's location, and just as the worms were about to cross the five meter margin as well.

He was surrounded by the numerous corpses of all the worms he had killed, and I had to suppress my urge to laugh.

This guy was just showing off!

I turned away from him, pretending I didn't notice, just as the blubbering figure of the tiny dark fae rushed into my face.

[HOW COULD YOU LEAVE ME LIKE THAT?!] She bawled loudly as she plastered herself on my face, not letting go. [THEY WILL EAT ME. WHY ARE YOU SO MEAN?!]

Weak? If someone with over [200] points in Mana and Magic was weak, then none of my nestlings could survive at all.

I shook her off my face and glared at her pitiful figure. [You're not weak. Why don't you use your power?]

It was really puzzling how she had survived so far.

The dark fae trembled as she took in deep breaths to calm down. [I don't know how to use it! It just happens.] she sobbed loudly.

The last time her spheres manifested when Ophelia attacked her, so could it be that her ability only activates when she feels threatened?

I smiled at the tiny fae, hoping she would stop crying. [Alright, don't cry now. I'll stay with you this time.]

[Really?] Her face brightened up, although it was still marred with tears. [Okay then.]

The dark fae flew towards the chasm Typhon had created, and I let her surge ahead while I lingered behind.

It didn't take long for the worms who had survived the fall to pick up her scent. One burst out of the ground from behind her, its hideous mouth gaping wide as the dark fae shrieked in fright.

Its tooth maw snagged at her leafy dress, tearing off a fragment just as a series of dark spheres materialised from the air around her.

And soon, I could hear multiple popping sounds and the horrible shrieks as the worm's body exploded in a burst of ichor. A spherical hole had taken off a chunk of the mouth that was about to eat her, before more holes opened up all over its body, killing it in an instant.

Its remaining body plopped to the ground but the dark fae saw none of this happen. She had her fingers covering her eyes and was curled up in a fetal position in the air.

But with its screams gone, she peeked out from between her fingers. And on seeing the devastation her magic had wrecked on the creature, she yelped again in fright.

I sighed, astonished that someone so powerful could be so scared of their own magic. It seemed I had to force her, or she would never learn to fight at all, so I began to retreat quietly.

However, that was just the beginning.

The trembling dark fae had just recovered when the ground began to shake again and she squealed loudly in fright as more worms emerged from the ground to surround her.

[Come on, Bubbles! YOU CAN DO IT!] I yelled out in encouragement, from a distance.

She frantically searched around for me, but I'd already concealed myself within my shadows, leaving her with no choice but to move quickly to evade them. And in her panicked state, more dark spheres materialised around her in a protective circle.

The worms chasing her charged right into them without hesitation, and as they collided with the spheres, more wrecked bodies dropped to the ground, dead and unrecognizable.

But the silly fae kept fleeing, not even knowing what she had done or how much her pursuers had reduced, and I couldn't help but sigh as I watched her fly away.

Typhon would be okay, but I was more worried about her.

"Do you think she'll be okay?" I asked Sensei.

«With her defensive abilities, it will be difficult for anything to harm her.» Sensei answered and I sighed with relief.

I made sure to stay far enough to not interfere with any of their battles, but I didn't stop watching them while I practiced my own abilities.

I focused on levelling up my other neglected skills as well as my [Poison] and [Shadow Magic]. With some of my skills sealed, I had to make sure those I had left were even more powerful to make up for my overall strength.

While I blamed Sensei for it, having my main skills gone made me realise I had neglected some skills in favour of others.

«Won't you fight?» Sensei asked.

"How can I when I'm like this?" I sulked.

Fighting against the worms who were even weaker than me wouldn't help them as much as he thought.

But then I remembered something important.

Didn't he promise to teach me how to create a powerful blade before I met the tree spirits?

"Ehem. My attacks are a little weak right now." I announced. "It would really help to have a "reliable teacher" right now, don't you think?"

Sensei didn't answer and I began to wonder if he had forgotten?

I was about to repeat my question, but then he chuckled.

«Doesn't the student have to ask nicely first?»

Did he expect me to beg him? Well, that was never going to happen.

And so we remained at a stubborn stand still until Sensei eventually gave in.

«I never said I would teach you. I only said I would show you. Whether or not you could learn it is up to you.»

"Alright then, Show me." I became excited.

I was more curious as to how that was possible, and I desperately wanted to see him do it. Because how could a system without a physical body or any of the necessary stats possibly use magic?

However, instead of seeing something happen, I began to feel tired as though my body was being drained of energy.

The shadows concealing me began to tremble and quiver before me, and I watched them get pulled out from under me by an invisible force.

They moved away from my body and my surroundings in an instant, leaving my brightly coloured scales exposed, before gathering to form a large ball of pulsating darkness that swirled around like a shadowy nebula.

And then the huge mass condensed to the size of a marble in an instant, before stretching to an arc so thin I could barely see it from the side.

I watched it happen, all the while staring as my MP drained by more than half in my status menu.

The air trembled with power as the blade continued to stretch, and soon it had grown to half my length. And then he finally let it go like a tensed bow, and it sailed ahead, slicing through everything in its path.

Rocks were cleanly cut through like butter, the walls it encountered were split apart as they fell, but the blade did not stop and it continued to move until it reached the end of the plateau where there was nothing but a wall of rock.

But even that wasn't enough to stop it from blasting through.

In the end, the blade vanished into the rock and all that was left was a smooth cut where it had passed through.

I stared on, speechless.

And then the system dinged.

〚Skill『Darkness Manipulation: LV1』has been acquired〛