One of the Missions asked Tanuki to combine four Tiles.

At first, he didn’t know what that could mean. The Expansion menu didn’t allow him to mix two tiles or even place one above the other.

“Wait, could it be…”

Tanuki still had three Expansion Points to spend. Knowing that his idea might fail, he gambled his chances and expanded the forest in a very specific way.

West and North to the already placed forest tile was emptiness. He placed three other forests around it, creating a 2x2 forest biome.

As he did, the four separate grids combined, creating one larger unit. Subsequently to that, Tanuki was presented with two choices.

[ Forest Tier 2 Unlocked ]

[ Choose one! ]

[ -> Fey Forest ]

[ -> Overgrown Forest ]

“So this is how you upgrade biomes…” Tanuki rubbed his chin. “I should be careful with what I choose, as consequences will arise according to that.”

A fey forest sounded promising. If it means that the forest will have magical attributes, then that means rich otherworldly materials can be harvested from there. That also meant, that whatever consequences arise from his choice, they will be magical.

“Well, I have the Heifer’s Mask and Kurohyou, so…”

This was a bad idea. He knew it.

But god, was he curious to see what a fey forest looks like.

He chose the fey forest and as he did, the earth trembled behind him. When he turned around the forest he knew looked… almost the same. The only difference he could feel was how the leaves became much livelier and colorful, and also that the air felt much lighter around the forest.

“Alright, that’s not too bad…”

His mission was completed. He combined four tiles.

A screen appeared before him, displaying his rewards and the new Trophy he unlocked.

[ Name: ‘The Combiner’ ]

[ Conditions: ‘Combine 4 Tiles into 1’ ]

[ Unlocks: ]

[ 100 Tile Points ]

[ ‘Monsters prey the lands…’ ]

“Monsters, huh? That’s what I need for the other quest.”

Tanuki accepted the rewards and returned to the [ Missions ] menu. There he could see a countdown for the next Gaia Core mission, which will appear exactly 24 hours later.

“Awesome!” Tanuki stretched his arms and grunted. “Alright Professor, I did what you asked. Now can you tell me why you need that weird heart-shaped…”

When he turned around the Professor was nowhere to be found. Maduka lay on the ground, looking at something above her. There wasn’t anything, but the way her eyes moved made it clear that she was, indeed, looking at something.

“M-Maduka?” Tanuki called out to the goblin.

It took her a moment to react. She looked back and forth, and her eyes widened in surprise when she looked up.

“What?!” She jumped up anxiously.

“Where is the Professor?”

“Da bird? He was talking to Maduka just now!” She pointed next to herself. “There. Da bird was there. It disappeared!”

Tanuki recoiled. The Professor was next to him the whole time, opposite to Maduka. Now that he really thought about it, the goblin was absent from his vision for the last few minutes, despite her being on the ground barely meters away.

Something caused an uncomfortable feeling in his ears. He cocked his head to the side and hit it a few times. The thing causing such a strange sensation began pouring out of his ears.

It was sand.

“Sand? Could this be what caused us to hear and see different images of the Professor?”

Illusion magic. The realization struck Tanuki as if it was a violent lightning bolt coming straight from the heavens. He blinked twice and sand particles appeared before his eyes.

“Nuki?” Maduka stepped closer, concerned by the boy’s expression. “Is something wrong?”

Tanuki gazed at the small sand particles. Despite his respect for the Professor, Tanuki’s concerns grew exponentially. Only now did he start to understand how dangerous it was to let a complete stranger so close to himself.

“No. My bad.” Tanuki replied. “I must have been daydreaming. Anyways, what did he tell you?”

“Oh, da bird? Nothing. Maduka doesn’t understand smarty-boy talks.”

“I see. No problem.”

“But he did tell me about monsters in da forest! Bird said that we have to find da big pink applez!”

Pink apples? Tanuki never heard of anything like that. At first, he thought the Professor might have talked about pomegranates, but even those have more of a red color.

There was only one way to find out what the Professor meant.

Tanuki checked his weapon supplies. He used up most of his tools on the fight against Soup, so all he had left were a sharp spear and a thick piece of wood that resembled a baseball bat.

Tanuki chose the latter and gave the spear to Maduka.

“If anyone attacks the camp, lure them behind the Gaia Core. I set up a few traps in case of an emergency. Don’t worry, none of them are lethal, so you can’t get hurt.”

Maduka had a confused expression on her face.

“Now then,” Tanuki waved his goodbyes. “See ya!”

A force held him back.

“Huh?”

Maduka grabbed the back of his hoodie.

“Where is ya going?”

“To the forest. To hunt monsters. I have to complete missions to get stronger. Otherwise, if anyone invades again, I won’t have the power to defend us.”

“That’s why Maduka has to come!”

Tanuki looked away as he scratched his head. He didn’t want to see the goblin get hurt, but didn’t know how to put it into words.

“Listen, I know you want to help, but…”

“Maduka wants to be strong like you, Nuki!”

Tanuki was taken aback by what she said. He froze down for a moment, then when he saw the determination in the goblin’s eyes, he realized she meant it wholeheartedly.

A chuckle, then a laugh echoed throughout the field as Tanuki burst into laughter.

“Oh–– Oh god! Maduka, you didn’t tell me you were such a good comedian!”

The goblin punched him.

Tanuki was surprised. Not so much that he got punched, but that the punch was weak. He didn’t feel any pain, nor anything that would’ve remained after Maduka pulled back her hand.

The goblin looked up at him, the same golden determination burning in her eyes.

“Nuki fought all da gobboz. So many of them came, but Nuki beat all of them. Even Soup, da big boss. Nuki saved Maduka. Maduka wants to be like Nuki.”

There was something in her primitive yet resolute way of speaking that captivated Tanuki. Despite how weak and fragile she appeared to be, Maduka possessed the soul of a true warrior.

Tanuki couldn’t help but sigh as he proudly smiled. There was no way he could keep Maduka from following him into the forest. That also made him more confident, in a strange way.

“Alright! If you wish to be a true all-mighty warrior like your friend, that so-called Nuki, then stay close and follow me!”

Maduka tightened her grasp around the spear.

“Yessir! Let’s hunt down da monstaz and feast on their corpse!”

Proud and determined, they entered the fey forest.

– – –

New animals appeared between the leaves. Blue gibbons jumped from tree to tree, munching on the many different mushrooms that appeared. They were blue and green, and they grew on the side of other plants or in the shadow of holes.

Rhino beetles appeared on the trees, fighting each other for territory. Pesky flies buzzed below the mushrooms, infecting the spores with tiny baby flies. The squirrels grew antlers, that let them fight against other animals in case they were to try and take their food. The birds’ color changed to green to better camouflage from the other animals. They used these same feathers to build a fence around their nest, hiding their offspring from the gibbons.

Most interesting were the blue horned swallows. These tiny animals had a tiny horn on their beak, which they used in a very special way to hunt prey.

A blue horned swallow would fly high into the air to search for smaller animals or bugs. Once it finds the right target, the bird would fly above it and charge it from a vertical angle to maximize the speed of the fall.

If the chosen prey is not cautious, the blue horned swallow can get close enough so that its prey won’t get away when the bird activates its rather loud ability.

[ Minor Soul Shield ]

A defensive ability, which raises a shield that protects the user from all other soul-based attacks.

The blue horned swallow uses this defensive ability for offense. Channeling magic through the horn on its beak, the swallow raises a small shield that pushes away all soul-based magic, including the prey’s soul.

Crushing down on its target, the blue horned swallow aims at the prey’s heart, the source of its soul, and crushes it into the ground. All downward momentum gets redirected onto the animal, into its heart, which in turn explodes from the incredible expanding force.

Blue horned swallows have one more unique feature. Despite being birds, they possess canine teeth, which they use to tear up the prey’s stomach.

The bird usually spends five minutes feasting on the prey’s corpse, before tearing out a long curl of its intestines to bring it home to its offspring.

Blue horned swallows also prove to be good pets as they come naturally potty-trained.