A day had passed since Aria first met him, and it was now morning. Evel was out tending to his fields, while she sat back at room Deliah had lent her, mumbling aimlessly as she lied on the floor, flipping through several enchantments in her head.

She'd tried to leave and rest in the little makeshift shack she'd made in the woods, but Deliah wouldn't allow that, lending her one of the few unused rooms in the cabin. She'd tried to refuse the offer of course; she had enough experience living on the road, and she would leave to the neighbouring village in a day or so, but Deliah insisted on the issue.

And it was...strange, in a way.

She'd never had a family; she didn't have parents nor siblings. The closest that came was her teacher, but even he left her, his soul carried to the sunless lands as his body decayed.

It'd been too long since she had someone be so worried over her safety.

She wasn't quite sure how to feel about it.

Nonetheless, she was grateful. She wasn't one to look a gift horse in its mouth. She had a room, a roof, and a source of food. That was enough.

Sighing, she pulled out one of the many needles in her pockets and placed it on the floor. Its edges had dulled from the many nights it'd spent outside, and the shine it once had was long gone.

But that was fine.

[Enchantress Lv - 2]

[31% towards next level] Through magic, you speak in the tongue of the world. All casted enchantments are 10% better.

The language of the elements has struck your tongue. Allows elemental-based enchantments. -WARNING-

Casting an enchantment unprepared could lead to permanent lung damage.

She was an [Enchantress] after all.

Slowly, she took a breath, infusing her lungs with magic, and began.

"Morph. Turn thin. Pierce." The words bounced across the room, echoing back and forth and amplified by her magic. Slowly, the bouncing sounds came together, swirling towards the dull needle she'd placed on the floor.

Then,

"[Sharp]."

On her words, the needle magically thinned, its edges turning sharp once again. Its shine was still missing, but it could certainly pierce through human skin now.

Not that she'd be able to. Her skill at throwing was horrendous.

...Maybe she'd try giving it to Evel. Perhaps he'd have more use for them.

That aside, this was a routine she did every day; a way of slowly increasing her experience as a [Enchantress]. She would've enchanted something more practical, but she didn't have much MP to spare. [Sharp] took 15 MP to use; a fifth of her entire MP pool, and enchanting [Degrade] on her sword ran her completely dry.

But that was fine. Unless forcefully broken, an enchantment will remain active, saturating itself using the ambient magic in the air.

It's why enchantments are so valuable, and why she liked it so much.

Well, that, and it gave her-

Suddenly, a knock came from her room's door, and she quickly placed the sharpened needle away. "Aria? Are you busy in there?" Deliah asked from the other side.

"Just finished." She said as she quickly opened the door, letting the wonderful smell of a newly cooked lunch waft into her room. "Is Evel back?"

"Hmm? Oh, not yet." Deliah replied with a small shrug. "He'll come in..." She took a look out the window. "An hour or so. He has a lot of plants to pat."

Aria blinked. "...pat?"

The woman nodded. "Yes." She gave no further explanations, and Aria couldn't help but wonder if there was some special reason for it.

There isn't. Or, at least, none that Evel knew of.

As Deliah had said, Evel did return an hour after, dirt and grime on his shirt and a bright smile on his face.

The lunch they had together was superb.

As planned, Aria left after lunch, bidding farewell to him and his mom before leaving towards the village west from here, though not before he asked her to spare the goblins in the surrounding forests.

And as expected, there were a lot more goblins roaming around.

You have killed [Goblin Lv - 1]! Gained 15 Exp!

Like that one.

Evel let go of the breath he'd been holding, pulling the wooden knife out of the goblin's head and wiping it clean. This was the third goblin he'd killed, and just like the previous two, he'd busy himself dragging its corpse back to his field.

He needed their corpses, after all!

...

Now that he thought about it, it did sound rather ominous.

Nevertheless, he needed at least a couple goblin corpses. That'd allow him to cross two Goblin Tomatoes II for a possibility to get its third generation. It wasn't a definite possibility; he'd only managed to get 4 generation II from a total of 12, and the chance to get its third generation would definitely be even lower.

But an uncommon possibility is still a possibility, after all.

So, placing his wooden knife back onto his belt, he grabbed onto the goblin corpse and began dragging it back, keeping an ear out for any approaching movements.

He made it back to his field soon enough, placing the goblin corpse behind a tree to hide it before rushing back into the forest, wooden knife in hand as he searched for more goblins to bury.

Except he couldn't.

The distant noises of rustling and movements had vanished, and the air seemed impossibly heavier, as if some invisible weight was suddenly added.

It was familiar. He'd felt this before.

"That's intent." His dad had commented, idly staring at the terrified group of kids he'd somehow forced down onto their knees. "Pull it, gather it, and direct it. If it's strong enough, you can force the world to shift."

Intent. Killing intent.

He found himself struggling to breathe, the breath having frozen in his throat. The source was coming closer, inching like a predator stalking its prey.

Then, at the corner of his sight, he saw...something, sitting atop the branches of a tree, with eyes a bright feral red and its body shrouded by a blue cloak. It was far too inhumane to be a person, but still a humanoid.

The Blue Phantom.

Evel grit his teeth.

He needed to run.

So, with a deep breath, he turned and dashed, retracing his steps back towards his home. Distantly, he heard a branch snap, and he could only curse.

But he kept running, stepping past trees and bushes as he rushed towards the small shred of light in the distance. He heard more branches snap, broken as the phantom leapt from one to another.

Then, it stopped.

Surprised, Evel turned around to see his pursuer, only to find nothing. The weight in the air was gone, the cold feeling of approaching danger was gone, and the monster that'd been chasing him was nowhere to be found.

He kept watch for a few moments, blinking rapidly as he looked around.

The Blue Phantom was gone.

With a sigh, he turned and continued on his way, a wooden knife shakily held in his hand as he followed his steps back home.

"To think the Goblin Lord managed to find one of you..."

The Blue Phantom growled, the inhuman face underneath its cloak twisting to an ugly scowl. Deliah glared back, the sleeves of her tunic swaying as she continued to spin thread all around the surrounding trees.

Still, she never expected to see a grue so close to her home. It was an ogre subspecies usually native the northern region of this continent. It was smaller than its normal counterpart, but no less strong and durable.

And unlike their counterparts, they were adept magicians, particularly talented in manipulating blood.

It'd been a while since she last fought one.

But that was fine. She had her threads spun and ready, and if she truly needed it, she had her ball of metallic string in her pocket.

It would've been great if her son could kill it; it gave quite the fountain of Exp if he did, but he wouldn't be strong enough. A knife throw paired with [Savage Strike] could perhaps injure it, but it would be far from enough.

Oh well.

The grue growled again, droplets of blood slowly trickling out of its nails.

Deliah smiled.