Elise appeared in the middle of a thick forest. She didn't really have a baseline for what a normal forest was like, but after taking a look she was quite certain that this one should qualify as unusual.

There were three reasons for that. The first was the fact that her Soul-Speak could hear the multiple voices of the forest quite easily, while her sisters had taught that understanding nature via Soul-Speak took quite a lot of focus and attention.

That told her that this forest was a lot more aware and focused than most natural environments. The second reason was that the forest was quite a bit darker than its thickness would explain. The leaf cover was only partial, and yet the shadows were long and deep, seeming almost alive.

The third reason was the most important. Elise could smell an undercurrent of magic running through everything, but in a way that seemed almost threatening, as if all the power wanted to drown out everything else.

Still, there didn't seem to be any immediate threats in the nearby area, so Elise simply picked a direction at random and started walking, searching for anything interesting that could grab her attention.

She didn't have any worries about finding food or a place to sleep, since hearing the forest would be enough to find whatever she needed. Instead, Elise was searching for 'Adventure', which she pretty much defined as 'anything she didn't understand or any situation she couldn't predict'.

She walked without destination, simply following the paths that seemed more interesting. Elise followed small animals that she caught glimpses off, reached out to touch different plants, and once even shoved her hand inside a small tunnel, grabbing a whole bunch of bugs that had been living inside.

Eventually, though, Elise found exactly what she had been looking for, and it came in the form of a voice yelling “Go Away!”, in a manner that resonated directly in her mind, instead of passing through her ears.

“Why?” She asked back, using her soul speak to make sure the message went through.

There was no reply, which Elise took to mean she could keep going. Only a few steps later the situation repeated itself, this time the voice speaking in a tone of command that seemed to demand obedience.

Elise responded the same way as before, pushing back against the will that tried to get her to leave. And so it continued, with the voice becoming stronger and more insistent, to the point where any normal person would be forced away.

She was far from a normal person, though. Elise had been raised by the most powerful beings in the world. She knew what true power was, so she wasn't scared by the mental oppression of the voice. It had no true power except being really convincing, after all.

And so, Elise took a few more steps forward, and looked around. That part of the forest seemed a lot more bleak and desolate, with gray trees and yellow grass, and the sense of threat was much bigger than before.

But her thoughts where interrupted by seeing something that didn't fit. A small point of color and light on the ground.

She approached, pretty much completely ignoring the repeated calls for her to go away. Not long after, Elise realized the true identity of that point of light. It was actually a fairy, barely bigger than her hand, who hadn't noticed her presence.

The fairy didn't seem to be in a good state. There were no injuries visible on her body, but she was crawling on all fours on the ground, apparently trying to move forward without much success. She was groaning pitifully in apparent pain.

Almost without thinking, Elise activated her ability, and information flowed freely into her mind.

'Spell Fairy. Among the many fairy societies, there are some that value ordered and researched magic, in contrast to the free and wild magic of the majority. Those fairies are distinguished by the wide array of spells they know, as well as their deep understanding of magic principles, but they aren't necessarily very powerful.'

All that said, Elise had no intention of simply leaving the fairy in that situation. She walked up to her and asked “What's going on? Do you need some help?”

The fairy noticed her presence with a start “Huh?! Who are- khh!” Her question was interrupted by a sudden spasm, and Elise realized what was going on. It was the same as the voice she had been hearing for a while, except that it seemed to have a much greater effect on the fairy.

That just wouldn't do. Elise wanted to talk to her and figure out what was going on, so she walked a few steps and stopped in between the fairy and the direction the voice was coming from. Then she Spoke:

“Do you mind? I'm trying to talk to her.” Those words were delivered in a polite tone, but with unmistakable conviction.

A moment later, the fairy stopped spasming. She looked up to see Elise and got back on her feet before flapping her wings to fly and speak to her at eye level.

“You... What did you do?” She asked.

“I kind of just metaphysically put myself in between you and the voice, so I could act as a barrier.” Elise replied.

“Ahhh... Ehh...” The fairy didn't seem to know how to respond.

“Regardless, I think we should start things over. My name is Elise, what's yours?”

“I'm... Nalia.” Was the fairy's answer.

“Ah, the dew in the morning. That's a nice name.” Elise commented.

“Do you actually understand Efilem tongue?” Nalia asked.

“Not as such, but I can understand the meaning your soul puts into the word.” Elise replied “But that's not what's important right now. I just got here after being teleported from very far away, so could you explain to me where this is and what is going on?”

“Well... Let's see... I think it all started around twenty-six days ago, when a few of the smaller animals in the territory neighboring my village moved towards our territory without explanation. We didn't really think it was important, but after that...” Nalia started telling the story.

Elise soon realized that the fairy intended to provide every single scrap of information she possibly could, making a report that was detailed to an almost excessive level.

She paid attention to the story, but also took the time to examine Nalia more closely now that the fairy was flying right next to her face. The tiny girl had silvery-blonde hair that fanned out at the bottom and seemed to move subtly as if floating independently of her actual head.

Her face had a slightly elongated quality, but her features were perfectly sized and placed for it, her eyes were golden-brown, her nose was thin and pointed, her mouth was a wide arc that seemed made for smiles and her chin was more rounded than flat.

And while her head wasn't too weird from a human perspective, her body definitely was. It could still be considered humanoid, due to having a torso and four limbs roughly analogous to the arms and legs of a human, but that was where the similarities ended.

The torso was segmented into three parts, each of them a slightly different shade of the light blue that was the color of her skin, but instead of having a lot of empty space around the joints like an ant, those parts were “completed” by a red shell-like material to form more of a tube instead of having thinner sections.

All that could be seen because while Nalia was wearing clothes, they weren't the all-covering type, instead being more like separate strips of cloth put around her body at various angles, with the end result being somewhat like a person wearing torn up clothing. Still, it seemed like a deliberate aesthetic choice, given that the exposed parts seemed to be highlighted and enhanced by the surrounding colors.

Her arms and legs had the same style of clothing, but were very different otherwise, with the former having doll-like spherical joints connecting two segments of flesh, with the arm equivalent being more rigid, while the forearm seemed more stretchy, and ending in hand analogues with six fingers that could also stretch, and had a much wider range of motion than human ones.

As for the latter, the joints were more like a half-sphere that could open and close similarly to a mouth, but capable of much more extreme angles. The thigh equivalents were noticeably thicker than the leg ones, and the gaps on the clothing revealed tattoo-like designs that blended perfectly with the rest of her. And aside from being thinner, the leg equivalents seemed sharper, as if designed to cut through the wind, and ended in “feet” that were more like very complex bird claws, capable of grasping things just as well as the hands.

Finally there were the wings. They were four in total, spreading out from her back in the diagonal directions, and were very unique looking, having the appearance of sharp-pointed leaves. But the most notable aspect of them as that each of the wings seemed to be made of countless layers of shimmering matter that were stacked together to form the illusion of a single object. The subtle shimmering of them revealed their true nature, but also the exceedingly complex markings on each piece, that formed an ever-changing design of black inside the white wings.

Elise thought that Nalia looked pretty, but she supposed that people who hadn't grow up surrounded by a variety of body types could find her appearance unsettling.

It didn't take very long for Elise to make those observations, so Nalia still had quite a lot to talk about by the time the human girl had returned to focusing completely on the fairy. Still, Elise didn't mind hearing it, as Nalia's voice had a mysterious melodic quality to it that could make even a dry recitation of facts seem pleasant to the ear.

All in all, what Nalia was saying ultimately boiled down to there being some sort strange influence in the forest. That influence started very subtly, but soon it began causing more and more problems, and the fairies had tracked down its origin, but Nalia was the only one who had managed not to run back to the village due to the voice.

After she finished speaking, Nalia looked at Elise in a way that the girl was unable to quantify. She had never seen such an expression from her older sisters. That was exciting! Such a short time after leaving home, and she was already seeing new things.

“Is there anything weird with my face?” Elise asked, which was her best guess about what Nalia's look could be about.

“No! Ah... I mean... Eh... Could you... Maybe help?” Nalia replied.

“Ah... So that's what you meant.” Elise clapped her hands together in understanding “Sure, I came here for an adventure and that sounds like one, let us go together.” She smiled.

+0+

And so it was decided, and the two started making their way towards the source of the forest's problems. Elise decided to use that time to ask Nalia about her capabilities, the spells she could cast and everything else, which the fairy was more than willing to answer.

Nalia was just as Elise had expected from the information gleaned by her eyes, a caster with a large library of spells but none of them particularly powerful or developed.

Still, it was inevitable that they would encounter other types of resistance eventually, and Elise was the first one to notice when that happened. It couldn't be any different given that Nalia needed Elise's help to block the influence of the enemy, and thus could not expand her perceptions too far, as that would easily lead to her being hit by that influence once more.

As it was, the fact that Elise managed to detect a sense of danger suddenly coming from one of the many rotten fruits fallen on the ground they were passing by on that part of the forest (which were watermelon-sized) was the sole reason Nalia managed to avoid death.

“Dodge up!” Elise shouted, in an ordering tone that left no room for opposition.

Before the fairy could even think about what was going on, her body had already moved, her wings flapping with magical power, making her move in a way that looked like a jump.

Mere moments later, a living arrow pierced right through the area Nalia had just been. It flew at such a fast speed that neither of the two girls were able to see it as anything more than a blurry shadow at the corner of their sight. And even if they hadn't actually seen it, the incredibly loud noise it caused by displacing the air in its path would have made its existence clear.

The thing stopped after its attack run, though, letting the two of them clearly see what it looked like:

It was a huge beetle, as long from top to bottom as Nalia was tall, but its length from side to side was a little bit more than triple hers. It was colored something between black and brown, and it had a wicked-looking central horn that seemed to have been sharpened akin to a blade.

However, perhaps its most distinct feature was that instead of wings, what sprouted from its back were four fleshy tubes which almost looked artificial. A second look would also reveal that it had no legs. All in all, it seemed less like a living being and more like a weapon, albeit one made of flesh.

The two girls weren't exactly stunned by its appearance, or by being suddenly thrown into a dangerous situation, but it was the first time either of them had ever been in a fight, so they were not prompt in deciding what to do next, so the beetle had more than enough time to straighten itself out and prepare for another attack run, this time pointed at Elise.

“Careful!” Nalia shouted, before finally realizing that this was the sort of situation where she should use some magic.

The fairy quickly ran through the shortest magic incantation she had that could potentially be helpful, one that would produce as offensive fire-type spell. To put it simply, it was a fireball spell.

However, even that shortest incantation wasn't quick enough to finish before the beetle attacked again, once more launching itself like some kind of rocket-propelled javelin.

It missed once again. Just before the beetle shot forward, Elise had stepped to the side in a single, quick motion. This time the missed attack hit the corner of the trunk of a tree behind the girl, opening a fist-sized hole on it. It was quite clear that even a glancing hit would lead to severe injuries.

Elise stumbled due to the air disturbance caused as the beetle passed by her side, but she quickly straightened herself up and spoke:

“This thing is fast, but it takes a while to prepare for a launch, and it's obvious where it is aiming. Without a surprise attack, it has no hope of hitting us.”

In fact, the beetle had taken a whole second and a half to prepare its attack after aiming. Elise had also realized that it couldn't home in at all.

Nalia nodded in understanding before throwing the fireball (which had just formed and was hovering over her hand) at the enemy.

She didn't have a straight line of sight to the beetle in its current position, but her fireball could curve slightly, so the fairy did not need to change her position before firing.

The fireball flew much slower than the attacks of the beetle, but it was still a respectable speed for that kind of spell, a bit faster than a thrown stone.

Her aim was true, but the attack failed to hit as the beetle moved like it had been hit by an explosion and the two girls heard a sound that was like a small-scale version of their enemy's attack run.

“Tch, that thing can dodge by forcing out air from those tubes at any moment.” Elise realized “It's not enough to reach attack speeds, but it doesn't need that much for evasion.”

Nalia had already started chanting another fireball spell upon seeing that the first one failed. Yet she was not fast enough to do it before the beetle turned to aim at her and charged for an actual attack run, so she had to interrupt her preparation, instead doing a quick dodge downwards.

The beetle pointed at Nalia again, but then had to execute another emergency dodge to avoid a rock Elise threw.

She had only done that to help keep up the pressure, since she could easily tell that a casually thrown stone wouldn't do much more than annoy it, but the monster had done its excessive dodge anyway, that told Elise that it was unable to tell how dangerous an attack was.

And if it wasn't smart enough to tell that, then perhaps it would also be unable to perceive a more esoteric means of attack as an actual attack. Elise saw that it was now pointing at her, so she shouted to Nalia:

“Make it rain! As heavy as possible!”

That was a spell she knew the fairy had, and she thought that it was exactly what they needed.

If Nalia thought it was weird that Elise was asking her to do such a spell, she didn't let it show in her actions. The fairy immediately started casting. This spell wouldn't take much more time than a fireball spell, but it was still not fast enough to be completed before the next attack run.

Elise had not taken her eyes off the enemy, so when the attack came, she rolled away with time to spare, specifically going towards a point in the ground where she had seen another good-sized stone.

She grabbed it and stood back up before quickly scanning around to find the beetle again. It was still focused on her, so Elise waited until it had aimed at her before throwing the stone, trying to delay the next attack run as much as possible.

As expected, the enemy dodged again, and Elise kept it in her sights, wondering if that had been long enough.

It had. Nalia finished casting and released her magic to the air. It created a cloud below the leaf cover of the trees, it was not a big cloud, only covering the immediate area of the battlefield, but as Elise had requested, it was quite dense, very dark and very obviously full of water.

It started to rain, and more than heavily enough to merit the description of a downpour. And barely a moment passed before the beetle activated its emergency dodge again, confusing the rain for an attack.

There was a sound like a thousand mini-saws cutting into something, and the beetle fell into pieces on a wide area, its fluids briefly staining the ground before being washed away by the rain.

Nalia looked at Elise for a moment, not understanding what had just happened, but then she belatedly canceled the rain spell. Both girls were already soaked.

The fairy flew towards the other girl, already chanting a spell that would help dry them both, but she really wanted to know, so she asked:

“What happened?”

Elise smiled and began talking:

“That thing was using air manipulation. And not just to go fast, but also to protect itself by circulating the air around it.” She stopped to let out a sigh of contentment as Nalia used some magic that quickly warmed up her clothes and began to dry them.

“When attacking, it focused everything in front to give it piercing power, but it couldn't quite do that when dodging. It still used the air as normal, but there was too much water around, so that got picked up too.” Elise shook her head “The water was too heavy for it to circulate together with the air, and it wasn't smart enough to compensate, so it lost control of its protective shell and ran into the rain drops fast enough they became deadly projectiles.

“Or perhaps a better analogy would be that it was the projectile, hitting several hard walls in a row and breaking apart.” She giggled.

Nalia was so astonished by the explanation that she had almost stopped using her drying spell. It took a few moments for her to manage to speak again:

“And you thought of all that so fast, in the middle of the fight? Amazing.” The fairy praised her.

“You're also amazing.” Elise replied “Without the help of your spells, I wouldn't be able to do anything to it, even knowing all that.”

Nalia smiled in response. There was a companionable silence as she finished performing her drying spell. Then the two stepped forth again.

They had managed to get through the first actual obstacle to their objective, but that also meant that there would be more afterward. They were still far from done.