"The Forest of Lyah'thien is the largest of the continent. Monsters and natural dangers don't even bother to hide. The place simply throws them at your face without hesitation or regret. Some places are even more dangerous, even for the natives who are renowned to tackle every opportunity to progress and getting recognized as worthy by their Goddess.

These are the days in which we can be most grateful for our cities.”

-Professor Alaric, in a lesson from the Beacon of Civilization.

Nashariel pov

The next day, the team was a guest to Phillia. They talked while being served by a trio of plant golems, in the sense of literal humanoid made of plant and clay.

The druid had conjured a map over the midsection of a tree trunk. Althei was represented as a white tree, other villages as larger trees than usual, while cities were the largest ones. A few dangerous zones held deadwood. The border with Varastill started when the trees ended.

Phillia told them the rough scale of things. It would be a long, long journey.

Nashariel had asked about flying all the way. The older woman told her that there were almost as many monsters above, and fighting them with two or three other people on her back wasn’t… recommended.

“The fastest way would be a direct line, obviously, but I’d advise against that.” The druid said. She traced the line in question. “As you can see, you would bypass most villages, but not the dangers.”

“Couldn’t we just go around them? Safer and faster altogether.” Asked Dan.

“You are ignoring the most obvious thing. You all have no experience in Lyah’thien, nor any information about its dangers. Your leader is a capable hunter, but no one can last for two months of forced march, not even a dragon.” Phillia gently rebuked.

Dan grimaced. “I guess…”

Nope, barely a tenth of that. Especially if I need to fight 24/7. “What do you propose?” Asked Nashariel.

The druid traced her finger along a zig-zagging path. She touched most of the villages in the direction they were going, together with three dead zones. "This would be the safest path. These places will be friendly enough towards you since you're Astillians. The few dangers on the way, you can fly over them for a brief moment.”

“How long?” Asked Dorel.

“Four or five months, depending on how fast you can march and how many monsters you encounter. Maybe six, if snow falls early?”

The Templars collectively deflated. “An alternative?”

Phillia pursed her lips, staring at the map. A minute later, she nodded to herself. “I see two other possible ways. You can ignore the first few villages, and head to this city here,” she gestured towards the closest of the giant trees. “and you may gamble on their hospitality. While you don’t respect their standards, they might let you in if you tell them your circumstances. Again, they might lend you an ear for being Astillians and not elves, but I wouldn’t bet on that. If you somehow manage to get listened to, they might let you teleport out.”

“I thought that your belief wasn’t the most… compatible with our faith. Why the favor? I get that we’re allies, but…” Asked Veliel.

“Your nation is one of healers and protectors, but you also have the necessary strength to back up your philosophy. Such things don’t go unnoticed, especially in the moments of direst need.”

Phillia was probably talking about the invasion from four hundred or so years ago. Some kind of corrupted monsters had emerged from the depths of the earth, taking control of a large part of the forest, reaping the lives of hundreds, and threatening to spread uncontrolled, if not stopped. As one, Varastill and her sister nation, Valkas, moved as soon as the news reached them. While the Valkanians seared the corruption to nothing, the Astillians had set up the largest hospitals that any elf had ever seen, saving the lives of thousands.

The three nations needed ten years of continuous fighting before getting rid of the problem, and five more to completely extinguish it.

Turns out, helping people is rewarding. Nashariel chuckled between herself. “And the second path?”

Phillia traced a snake-like path, hitting villages and dangers almost equally, but still…

The villages are too distant from each other. “I think we should risk for the city. At worst, they won’t welcome us in, and we might go there,” Nashariel indicated the nearest village, “then move a little towards Valkas before turning home. What do you guys say?”

They discussed with each other, weighing the pros and cons of each path. The most direct one was discarded immediately, as it was beyond dangerous. The serpentine path held too few benefits for the added risks.

The main choice was between the path proposed by Nashariel and the safest one. The Astillians wanted to get home in one piece, but also manage that before winter or, at least, be done before the true cold. And autumn was coming soon. The cold season was likely to completely stop them for a while, and they already knew that they were likely to proceed slowly.

To the city it was.

“I’ll gather some supplies for you. I would like to escort you personally, but…”

“You lack people. It’s fine, don’t worry about that.” Dan said.

“Thank you. I’ll be at the gate, tomorrow at dawn. Be there.”

“We will.”

During the last day of their stay, the Templars bid their farewells to everyone. Nashariel, much to her surprise, was reached by Althos.

“I want you to have these.” The man held out two vials filled to the brim with a red liquid.

The omnidragon tried to examine them. “[Identify] doesn’t tell me anything. What are ‘these’?”

“You'll need some levels in [Alchemy] and [Herbalism] merged with [Identify] to learn by yourself. These are medium-grade healing potions, but I had to improvise them with what I had at hand, unfortunately. Anyway, they should restore around 2-3k health per vial, helping your body in the meantime.”

Holy Astill! “Are you sure? You might need them more.”

The man waved her off. “We’re safe now, thanks to everyone’s efforts. Plus, I wanted to apologize for… that, again. Please take them, I insist.”

Nashariel nodded. She accepted the vials. “Thank you. It… consider us even now.” The dragokin had almost said that it didn’t matter, but it simply wasn’t true. He activated the spell too early, and didn’t consider the ‘seal the dragons in’ part; she had almost paid with her life for that mistake.

The alchemist looked much relieved. With a last goodbye, he went back to his shop.

Phillia was at the gate, as promised, together with most of the village.

Nashariel's team had conflicted looks on their faces. They hadn't gone out to train in the whole month, so they expected a bit of rustiness in their teamwork and general combat prowess. Nashariel had been disappointed, but she had recognized that the rebuilding efforts were much more important than practice. I managed to do both, though… She shook the thought away.

The druid gave the group a strange-looking sphere. “It’s a little golem, enchanted with a pinch of fairy dust. It will show you the map, your location, and your objective, much like the one in my house. Be careful, it isn’t built for combat.” She answered before their confused faces.

Nashariel took it. The stony sphere weighted much more than it looked. She put it in her mantle. “Thank you, Phillia.”

The elf shook her head. “No, thanks to you all. Both for helping against those monsters, and to have helped us to rebuild. May the First Hunter look away from you during your journey, friends.” She said, bowing. The prayer and the bow were imitated by the whole village.

“May the Thousandth Winged Lady smile upon you, friends.” Answered the Templars as one.

With that, they ventured into the forest.

As usual, Dan led the way. The place was unknown to all of them, but the inquisitor said that he had gathered some basic knowledge of the various flora and fauna while working with Phillia and Althos. Nashariel was proud of him.

They hadn’t encountered any monsters yet, probably because of the various dragons that had soared here for a while, Nashariel included.

The lush vegetation seemed untouched and alive. The tall trees and the multicolored eye-leveled plants had a solid weight on them, which gave the Astillians a sense of claustrophobia. Adding to that, the humidity combined with the cold of the approaching autumn, making them sweat and shiver at the same time. Insects chirped and monsters cried in the distance, furtherly grating the Templars’ nerves.

Nashariel smiled, remembering the first time her father had brought her out to hunt during nighttime. So many years ago…

“Months of this? Are we sure that we can’t take the straight route? Is it too late?” Complained Dan, when they stopped for the evening. The two humans were the most worn out of the group, but Veliel wasn’t faring too well either.

“That’s why we’re going to the city, my dear. Hopefully, they’ll teleport us out and we’ll be back in less than two weeks.” Replied Nashariel, cheerfully. As the rest of the group was tired, she had decided to do the cooking. A seared boar stake that she hunted the night before instead of sleeping, put together with some diced potatoes and a few spices. Dan had lent her the latter, since Nashariel didn’t know them, yet. She was borrowing the book Phillia gifted to the inquisitor though. Better know what’s deadly and what’s tasty. Can something be both? I hope not.

They ate in silence. The results were… okay. Nashariel didn’t do a lot of cooking in her life. It showed.

No one complained.

“Do you think they’ll let us through, boss?” Asked Dorel.

"I don't know. They might?" Nashariel said, but even to her ears, it sounded like a question. She brought out the little sphere.

It opened in a miniature version of the trunk in Phillia’s house, as promised. Their icon was identical to their stemmas, a winged and open hand. It pulsed a bit far from Althei, but they had a lot of walking left before going home.

“We need to accelerate our march.” They had covered just shy of three-quarters of their estimated distance per day. “If we are this slow, we can forget Andriel until next year.” Declared Nashariel.

A chorus of groans raised, but no one protested. Their call for home was stronger.

Two weeks to a month had been their estimation before leaving the village, but Nashariel calculated that the group’s current speed wasn’t up to that.

In three days the Templars had covered less than half the distance. It wasn’t exclusively their marching speed, but the fact that most monsters looked at them and saw easy prey.

Nashariel squashed the umpteenth carnivorous plant that had tried to eat them. Dorel rubbed his half-corroded shield against the ground. The unfortunate leaves and grass below it sizzled to nothing. “Everyone’s ok? Good, let’s go!” Cheered Nashariel, returning in her dragokin form.

She received a few exasperated looks. “Boss, this was the sixth ambush today. I need a break.” Grumbled Dan. Dorel gave him a thumbs-up.

Nashariel frowned. “We just had one. We have to get there before…”

“I know, I know. It’s just…” Dan huffed, “this damned jungle is suffocating!”

Really? I mean, it’s humid, but… Nashariel realized that her resistance might have been playing a bigger role than she imagined. "Just hold on for two weeks." She said, in the gentlest tone that she could.

The rest of the team sighed.

“...But we can have a break now.”

The rest of the team cheered.

“Based on the map, this should be the first Danger.” Declared Nashariel, eyeing the aforementioned map.

A bubbling, purple swamp rotted in front of the Templars. The sweet scent of putrefaction and death filled their lungs, forcing them to hold back a retch, while the continuous sizzle added an ominous promise to it. Nashariel saw that one of the boars she hunted was sinking, half of its body eaten by the acidic poison. Not a good place to bathe, if I’m being honest.

“Why are we even looking at it?” Asked Dorel, using his clock as a scarf.

“Haven't you heard? This is the best inn around!” Joked Nashariel. There were a pair of forced chuckles. Well duck, I tried. “The map says that this thing extends for a tad less than a mile, so our best way to go through this is by flying. We can also bypass it, but we’ll lose another week or so, and…”

“Flight.” The other Astillians said immediately.

Nashariel hid a smirk. Yep, figured as much. She quickly transformed into the Light dragon, allowing her friends to hop on her with practiced motions. “Keep an eye on your health; if it goes down, I’ll heal you. Veliel, can you cast something for the fumes?”

The siren chanted a spell. Nothing changed at sight, but the air didn’t taste like death anymore.

Without further ado, Nashariel took flight.

Despite Veliel’s spell, the omnidragon had to activate her aura just a minute later. The spell was enough to prevent serious poisoning, at least.

Phillia had recommended to not fly too high or too fast, especially with passengers, least she attracted the attention of something hungry. Even the sky had its own ecosystem.

Unfortunately, the Templars failed to consider the very same swamp below them. More precisely, that creatures could thrive in such an environment, lowering their guard.

While Nashariel calmly beat her wings, something splashed against her left thigh. The sudden searing made her jerk, forcing the Astillians to cling to her back to stay put.

The omnidragon cast her gaze on the offender.

It was a frog-like creature covered in purple mud, only the size of a horse. A dozen similar creatures were also preparing to spit their liquid death on them.

“Hold tight!” Nashariel shouted. She rapidly beat her wings, throwing every pretense of care at the winds. Her friends hugged her as their life depended on it.

A flurry of projectiles flew past and against the dashing dragoness. Other than searing pain, the attacks fed her a little bit of mana, which she used to reinforce her Aura and healing.

The swamp extended for a while more, but the dragoness could see its end.

“Just a little- Aargh!” She tried to encourage her friends, but some projectiles splashed against her right-wing in the same instant. She uselessly flapped it as hard as she could, but the sizzling membrane was too slow to heal. “Veliel! Spell, NOW!!!”

The priestess brought up her staff, chanting two spells at the same time. Her voice doubled, almost in a haunting way, then a visible barrier protected them all.

Just before Nashariel splashed into the acid.

Veliel’s defense broke a few moments later, blocking most of the waves from Nashariel’s improvised landing. An untold number of droplets rained from above, promising certain death.

Dorel reacted instantly. He snapped his tower shield as if it was an umbrella. Light blossomed, protecting the Astillians from the acid shower.

The agonized roar from Nashariel rippled across the waters, physical enough to stop incoming waves.

The acid immediately started to eat the omnidragon’s body. She flailed uselessly, this body completely inept at swimming. Fighting against her instinct, Nashariel grit her teeth and didn’t flail, using her wings to keep herself and her friends afloat. This is nothing. This is nothing. This. Is. Nothing!

Ignoring her body’s conditions, Nashariel flared her healing at maximum power, shifting then into the water dragon. Her lingering focus allowed her to take ample and measured strokes with her four legs, while her conscience fell into her status. Her swimming speed was too slow, so she commanded her status to buy the necessary parts for [Body of the water dragon], then merged them.

Snapping back to reality, Nashariel felt her paws grow webbed, while her tail thinned and grew into a large shark-like fin. Her friends were startled by the slow sprout of a caudal fin but held onto it tightly.

The omnidragon found herself swimming in what felt like oil, such was the difference in resistance. Her new finned tail added to her speed and agility. Now, to reach the shore before melting.

A frog jumped on her side.

Faster than Nashariel could react, a pair of daggers perfectly sunk deep in the monster’s eyes.

The flailing monster landed on Nashariel's body, where it was quickly kicked out by Dorel.

Nashariel sped up.

*Hp 6.542/14.000 *

Minutes later, they had finally reached land.

Nashariel almost threw the others away, before rushing out of the acid. The lower side of her body was rotting, thankfully not below her muscles. The dragoness frantically rubbed herself against the ground to wipe away the acid, shifting into her Light form to heal.

She suffocated her screams, for such sounds in a forest were sure to attract more predators. She knew that very well, after all.

Veliel was singing and chanting relentlessly to help Nashariel heal faster.

The dragoness was grateful, but the regrowth of her damaged parts was not a pleasant experience. She heard the others saying something, but she didn’t pay attention to it, focusing on keeping her mouth shut while heaving for breath.

That is until Dan punched her snout.

Startled, Nashariel opened her eyes. When did I close them?

“Dragokin! Smaller!”

Shaking away the clouds from her brain, Nashariel did as he said.

Her friend squeezed her shoulder, ignoring the small sizzle of his glove.

The dragokin trembled for what seemed to be an eternity. Not a moment too soon, Nashariel stood up, healed, taking in a deep breath. “Well, that wasn’t fun.”

The others sighed in relief. “Welcome back, boss.” Dan grinned.

“Thanks for that.” She muttered.

The other winked.

“How are you guys?”

They looked wary, but not hurt, which was a relief.

The health of her friends assured, Nashariel turned towards the swamp. Some frogs eyed them, but they slowly retreated below the acid. The omnidragon let out a maddened growl.

While the others hurriedly moved away, Nashariel returned in her true form, shifting to Lightning. She filled her gland to the brim, then unleashed her fully powered Infused breath.

The literal golden thunderbolt struck a frog, vaporizing it instantly. The closest monsters also turned to charcoal. When the Breath struck the water, the sun dawned a second time that day.

The electrical field extended for the entirety of the girl's sight; yellows, and reds, and purples danced on the acid. Cries rose and went silent in the space of a single breath. Electricity arched between those who emerged to escape the onslaught and the rotting corpses.

A single moment later, everything went back to normal.

The sound of static took the place of the usual sizzling, and burnt flesh made its way in Nashariel’s nostrils.

The silence was deafening.

Physically and mentally exhausted, Nashariel dropped on the ground, taking in ample breaths, and gripping the Core in her chest. After a while, she followed her wide-eyed friends.

A heavy silence filled that evening.

Today was Dorel’s turn to cook, something no one looked forward to.

Nashariel glared at the map Phillia gave them. “That thing was marked as safe to fly over!” She complained. Her tail smacked against the ground.

Dan shrugged. “We’re pretty far from the village, and everyone gets stronger all the time.”

“Maybe it was the light?” Proposed Veliel. Everyone turned to look at her. “I mean, we were pretty big and shiny.” She scribbled.

Damn, she’s right. Nashariel repeated her thought aloud.

“Are we going to face more dangers?” Asked Dorel, while re-focusing on the soup.

Nashariel looked at the map. “Only another one before the city, but this one is deemed dangerous. We’ll need to go around it.”

“Do we?” Asked Dan.

The dragokin tilted her head. “What do you mean?”

“That lightning was neat. Can you use it more often?”

“No.” Nashariel hesitated. “I mean, yes, but with moderation. With the resources I have, I think I could use it twice per day safely. Three if I don’t care about collapsing the moment after. I still have to regenerate my stamina to full. Plus, don’t forget that the environment played in my favor, so the normal thing should be much less impressive.”

“Damn.”

Nashariel eyed her stats. I could raise my endurance for that, but I don’t think it’s worth it. I’m enjoying that form, though. I wonder…

“It’s ready.” Called Dorel.

It wasn’t the best soup ever by a longshot, but Nashariel devoured it just the same as she did with her mother’s cooking.

After they emptied the cauldron and chucked it back in Nashariel’s mantle, the Astillians minus Nashariel went back to sleep.

The dragokin glanced at her gains for the past week.

*Wood-Giant boar Lvl 98 has been slain.

Blood-Wolves Lvl 78 (x6) have been slain.

Blood-Alpha wolf has been slain.

…

Mire/Poison -Giant frog. Lvl 63-135 (x23) have been slain.

Hunt rewards: 38 stats and 48 skill points.

Difficulty trivial. Most rewards have been halved by Omnidragon kin.

Essence absorbed: 28 stat and 42 skill points.

Omnidragon Lvl up!

-46 total for Body of the water dragon.

Total rewards: 86 stats and 47 skill points.

Acid attunement cost reduced to-> 41

Poison attunement cost reduced to-> 22

Body of the water Dragon Lvl 2

Water dragons have the smoothest scales among their cousins, granting them unparalleled agility while below the surface. Rarely coming out of their domains, these dragons are adept at silently stalking their prey using their fins to maneuver around their sight. The deadly venom they carry within themselves waits in their extremities, ready to be injected at a moment's notice. Beware the depths, for no one is safe from these dragons.

You grow a stinger on your tail and quills on various parts of your body. These additional weapons can be used to deliver your various toxins.

Water-resistance is considerably reduced, and dexterity while in the water is equally increased. Dexterity-based skills also gain this bonus.

Your gills and scales don't form bubbles or produce any noise during your breathing. Your oxygen intake per breath is also increased. The air you intake is also purified marginally.

You grow webs between your fingers, and your wings are redesigned to swim faster and more agile. This modification makes you slow while walking on dry land and impairs your flight.

Upgrade cost: 8 points Lvl. *

Not bad. Shame that my skill took away so many points from me though. Nashariel shrugged. Considering the staggering amount of points she received in so little time, maybe those months of travel wouldn't have been that bad… but no, home awaited, and her friends wanted to go as fast as possible.

Snapping at a sound, Nashariel relaxed when she realized that it was just Veliel waking up. Judging by the moon, it was time to change shift.

The siren walked towards her. “Do you mind talking? Or are you tired?” Veliel asked, not bothering to sign.

Completely unaffected, Nashariel answered. “What do you wanna talk about?”

“Today. That attack… was it really necessary?”

Nashariel tilted her head. “What do you mean? They were attacking us.”

“No, boss. We were retreating and they weren’t going to follow us. I expected that lack of mercy from Dorel and Dan, not from you.”

The dragokin frowned. Veliel was a monster like her, technically, so the statement made sense. That said, she had never said or written a word against the team's hunts. "What is worrying you?"

“You’ve changed. In five years, you never went out of your way to defend us. Save for today. You were... scary.” She lowered her gaze to Nashariel’s chest. “Are you sure that a Core like that is safe for you?”

“It’s giving me lots of points, and none of them is Torment-attuned, so yeah.”

“You’re squeezing it, right now.”

Staring at her hand, Nashariel saw that, in fact, she was clutching her Core as if it was her baby. Duck. “I don’t feel different, though.”

The other gently placed her hands on hers. A moment later she retracted them, grimacing. “It’s hurting you even now! Please, throw it away.”

“I’m not feeling any of it, and I’m using its points to protect you guys. So, no.”

“Please, Nashariel! Karda warned us about these kinds of things. We need you, our friend and leader, not your points!” Veliel pleaded with teary eyes.

Their main instructor had talked about the temptations of power. Many times in Nashariel’s presence, actually.

The dragokin went through a flurry of emotions, from anger to worry. She took the thing away from her armor, staring at it. She didn’t feel any different, but… was she really? “Give me a moment.” Nashariel sighed. 'You were... scary' echoed in her mind.

The other nodded, uncertainty evident in her eyes.

Nashariel quickly ran towards the swamp, reaching it in a few minutes. There, she stared at the place. Even for a swamp, it looked wrecked. Flashes of the ruined village played in front of her eyes.

The number of skills I could buy with this…Sighing deeply, Nashariel threw it as far as she could. The Core soared faster than an arrow, plopping in the acid a moment later.

The dragokin stared until she saw a plume of dark-green smoke coming out of the swamp.

Nashariel remained with the sense of loss for a while, until it got replaced by relief. Maybe she’s wrong, but I won’t risk turning into one of those dragons.

Returning to the team’s camp, she found Veliel stressing her wings. the siren scanned her from head to toe, melting in relief. “You did the right thing. Thank you, boss.”

Nashariel smiled. “You guys come first.”

Always.