Evan POV

Okay, as much as I don’t want to admit it, I learned a lot from Mia. I guess that’s to be expected since I don’t know a thing about foraging.

Mia was happily carrying a Basket filled with flowers, berries, fruits, nuts, etc. I didn’t even know there was this many edible stuff growing out here. Also, The basket? Mia made it herself by weaving some grass that she felt was strong enough, she taught me how to do that as well and I unlocked how to make various kinds of baskets with different materials. I tried to help Mia forage as well, and when I did that, I unlocked a skill called ‘Forage’ which gives me a percentage chance to get random edible plants or fruits when cutting grass.

And while I originally thought Free Food! It’s actually a pain since every different variety of plants or fruits each takes a different inventory slot, meaning my inventory will become full before I even realize it if I just go out for a walk and cut some grass along the way. I did hunt as well when Mia was foraging and managed to get about 3 bunnies with my bow and arrow. I taught Mia how to use the bow and arrow as well and she got one bunny as well. I was going to shoot the rabbits with the shotguns before but the noise would have scattered all the animals away from me, which I didn’t want.

Anyway, we both did a job well done as we headed back home. Mia was happy and started humming a song as she held the basket of fruits with both her hands.

“Looks like someone’s happy,” I said as we walked back home.

“hehe~ sorry, but I couldn’t help it. It’s been a long time since we've hung out together.” She started humming again as I started caressing her head.

'hang out' isn’t the word I would use but I guess this is what playing means for her.

“Well, I had fun too Mia.”

“hehehe~”

I have to make sure Mia stays happy from now on. She lost her parents after all, and… I mean there's nothing more devastating for a child than to lose his parents.

“Oh, we better go home fast. Those are rain clouds coming here.” Mia's words made me unconsciously look up, I saw the dark greyish clouds passing by us.

I started talking while looking up, “I don't think that would matter anymore.” I looked back at Mia and she was looking at me confused. I pointed upwards and said look, She looked up and a small droplet of water landed on her nose. She made a cute squeak before she cleaned her nose and started panicking.

“W-We better hurry back home or we’ll get wet and then sick!”

I started chuckling at how easily she gets worried about the slightest things.

“Don’t worry about getting a cold Mia, Emma would fix us up in case anything happens, anyway, let me teach you another thing, firstly, let me hold on to the basket.”

She was a bit hesitant but nodded in the end. Once she gave me the basket filled with a variety of fruits and flowers, I looked up and held my hand out to check how heavy of a rainfall it was. I did that for a few seconds and could only say that calling it a light shower was an overstatement but it was slowly getting heavier.

“Okay, Mia I want you to close your eyes now and feel like you're linked with nature.” It sounds weird, but this was the thing that kept my sanity in check whenever I felt depressed or felt like I couldn’t do anything. It’s mostly effective during rains, so if I can teach this to Mia, maybe, just maybe, It will ease up her trauma a little.

“Umm, Link myself with… Nature?”

“Yep, it will be a little hard to understand but I’m sure you’ll learn it pretty soon-” I stopped talking as soon as I received a notification from system.

Would you like to teach Mia 'Gaia’s Sentiment’?

Uhh, How the hell can I teach someone something that I, myself don’t know anything about? Well sure, I guess it’s worth a try.

Error!

Player doesn’t know ‘Gaia’s Sentiment’ skill! Teaching Failed.

Well, duh, it’s obvious, isn’t it? But why the hell was the option still there? Some kind of bug or something? I don’t know and honestly. I don’t care.

“Wait, Mia, give me a second and try not to make any noise.” I saw her nodding, so I closed my eyes and started focusing.

Darkness…

The small whistling of leaves playing around in the wind…

Some ducks quaking in the distance…

The sensation of cold water droplets falling on me…

Slowly, the smell of leaves, water and the sensation of wind hitting me kept getting stronger the more I gained focus.

After a few more seconds, it felt like time had completely slowed down, The feeling of nature around me had peaked and It felt like I could distinguish between each individual water droplet that fell on me or near me. Everything had slowed down, I could feel the water drops slowly bouncing off from tiny leaves to trickle down to either more leaves or wildflowers that were growing in the ground. Some birds were soaring through the transparent water drops which were floating down to the grounds.

The only thing I could say was that I loved this sensation. It gives the feeling of nothing else exists except me and the world around me. Once I opened my eyes, the illusion was gone as the rain started making its old pitter-patter noise again. Mia was staring at me curiously and I looked around to see a variety of Flora drinking the water satisfyingly. I didn’t even need to look at the notifications tab to know that I had unlocked the skill.

Skill unlocked: Gaia’s Sentiment.

Gaia Sentiment: Can be used to link with nature. Increases Max Mana by 20% and Mana Regeneration by 20%

Duration: 10 min

Cool down: 15 minutes.

Ohhh, a free magic skill, It’s just a buff skill but combining it with various buff potions… hehehe, I can make it into an overpowered skill! Sadly I don’t have a mage build at the moment.

“Brother?” Mia’s words brought me back to reality, I looked at her and she was a bit soaked, well, I was too but It didn’t matter. I finally smiled and told the system to teach Mia 'Gaia’s Sentiment’.

Please place your hand on the entity’s head.

My hand?

I looked at my hand while Mia looked at me curiously. I ended up patting her head in the end and she suddenly closed her eyes

*Teaching: 0%*

*Teaching: 48%*

*Teaching: 90%*

*Teaching: 100%*

*Teaching complete!*

The whole process only took about a few seconds and once it was done, Mia opened her eyes. She tilted her head in confusion while I was glad that there were no side effects like a headache happening.

“Alright, Mia. Do what I told you to do before.”

“Ah, yes!”

She closed her eyes as her breathing was steady, I waited until she finally opened her eyes about half a minute later. The rain was also getting worse, It’s at a point you can actually call it a rain now. But it didn’t seem like a problem for Mia, she just smiled and started talking quietly.

“That felt good, and I feel rejuvenated.”

I nodded, “Alright, we should go back home quickly since the rain is getting heavy.”

Mia nodded again as we both rushed back home. We both ran for a little while until we got home while soaking wet, Mia said she was going to change clothes while I went to put our harvest in the kitchen, once that was done… well I just un-equipped the armor I had on which was wet and re-equipped it which made it completely dry. I didn’t think it would work but somehow it did. Gaming logic is truly something else.

I finally had some time to kill, so I was thinking of reading some books that were in my archive and making some plans about what things I need to do that might help me either survive more in this world or bring me closer to getting back in my world. I went upstairs and headed to my room until I heard someone crying.

I got worried again, I helped Mia up a little but please don’t tell me that everyone else is traumatized. I hurried up and followed the noise to the room where Tania lives. I quickly entered the room and was bewildered but what I saw.

I stood there and stayed at the situation that was happening in front of me. I unconsciously put both of my hands together as if to pray but I put both my hands up to my mouth.

Elizabeth, the queen of all elves, the race which is regarded highly by everyone for their immense archery, secrecy, and magical capabilities, was on the floor in one corner, hugging what seemed to be two Short swords and sobbing quietly. Right beside her was my Mother Nezha who was trying to calm her down. On the other corner was Tania the Dryad, the protector of the forest, who was getting scolded heavily by a 16-year-old child called Luna. Helputt was also there, but he was sitting on one of the only two chairs in the room, and looked like he didn’t know what to do. I was so bewildered by the situation that I just noticed the many spiky green vines coming out of the floor and walls.

I took in a deep breath before I moved my hands forward yet still together like I was pointing at the situation in front of me and couldn’t fathom anything.

“Ten Flippen minutes,” I said almost angrily which grabbed the attention of everyone in the room. “I left you guys alone for 10 flippen minutes and this happens, would anyone mind filling me in on what exactly happened the last 10 minutes I wasn’t here?

Everyone looked at each other except Elizabeth who kept sobbing while crouched down.

“Umm, I’ll explain everything that happened.” Surprisingly, it was Tania the Dryad who said that. Luna looked at her angrily but looked away and sat on the other empty chair opposite of Helputt.

Tania walked up to me, her usual seductive acting was nowhere to be found but instead, she was acting like she was guilty of something.

“I’ll explain everything that happened and I’ll explain it as clearly as I can…”

*Flashback - Start*

Tifa POV

“Elizabeth… is your mother.”

My mind completely blanked when Tania said that my Queen was my mother all this time. All this time… you’re telling me she was my mother all this time?

I can’t think.

I can’t feel.

I don’t know what to do.

I didn’t want to talk, my voice quivered as I stared at her Highness who refused to look towards me. “Your highness… Is that true?”

I can’t believe that person the person I wished to meet was always with me this whole time. The person that made my entire life of five decades hell was the person I looked up to all this time. The taboo of Elf making mixed blood with a Human was the Queen herself and the one who had to pay for it was me.

A wave of deep anger that I hid at the very bottom of my heart started welling up and I couldn’t stop it.

“Why?” I tried to control my anger but I couldn’t as I started yelling unconsciously, “Why didn’t you tell!?”

“W-Wait, Tifa, think calmly, You’re becoming irrational” The dryad was trying to tell me something but I could not move my gaze away from my supposed mother.

She still hasn’t looked back at me which made me insanely mad. She just stood there trembling with her head held down as she took a deep breath in, “Tifa… Listen to me. I know I kept my identity hidden. But I did it to protect you.”

Lie.

“I didn't want you to go through what I had gone through.”

Lie!

“Tifa! Calm down, you’re not thinking!” I think the Dryad was trying to stop me but my mother still hasn’t looked back at me which vexes me insanely.

“I-I wanted you to go through your life being what you wanted to be.”

LIE!

“I… I didn’t have a choice-” My anger peaked and I couldn’t hold it in anymore.

“SHUT UP!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. Elizabeth shook by and then she finally turned to look at me. Were there tears in her eyes? No, there’s no way. From the very beginning, she has been playing around.

“Tifa! Calm down!” The dryad had grabbed my shoulders, but I shook her off as I gave my Mother a piece of my mind.

“YOU'RE JUST PROTECTING YOURSELF!” My vision started becoming blurry with tears and the only thing I could see was a silhouette of a woman who is my mother.

“IF YOU WOULD’VE ACCEPTED ME AS YOUR CHILD THEN YOUR ELIGIBILITY AS A QUEEN WOULD’VE BEEN GONE RIGHT!?”

“N-No! That thought never crossed my mind!”

“Again, with the lies! You have no idea what’s it like to make an enemy of your own kin and blood! To have your own caretakers to treat you as enemies! You don’t know what’s it like for your own home to despise you!

“N-No, I didn’t mean for it to go that way.” I couldn’t see the face she was making anymore, the tears completely clouded my vision and no matter how much I wiped my eyes, tears formed again moments later.

“You’re just like the rest of them. You never wanted me from the beginning, If you did I wouldn’t be at the orphanage.” My anger was at it’s peak as I suddenly remembered the Gifts I was given by the Mother I held dear in my heart.

I took out the two Short swords at my hip and threw them at the floor. The swords made a loud metallic noise while I yanked the golden hairpin from the back of my head and threw it down as well.

“Here’s the debt I owed you. Never look for me again.”

I ran away from that place as fast as I could, I heard my Mother call out to me but I didn’t care anymore. I didn’t care about anything. I just wiped my tears as I ran away wherever I could. I didn’t care how dangerous the woods are or if any monster would come and attack me. The only thing I could think of was to run.

After running for many minutes until I can’t run anymore, I finally realized that I was soaked wet, and it was raining around me. The rain was heavy it wouldn’t surprise me if lightning came striking down.

I leaned my back onto a wet tree as I cried under the heavy rain. I screamed and mourned as the strength from my legs went out and I sat down on the cold and wet mud.

I can't believe that I suffered all that time while my mother watched from the sidelines. And to protect herself, she denied my existence.

No. It doesn’t matter anymore, I’m not going back. Not to her or her hypocritical Kingdom. I have no home, It’s so stupid of me to think I ever had one.

I kept crying and screaming under the heavy rain. Until I heard the voice of someone familiar.

“Tifa! Where are you!?”

It was Sarah, my only friend. I wanted to call out to her but I couldn’t I didn’t know what to say to her or what would be appropriate. But I really feel like I should call her out.

It didn’t matter much because she ended up finding me, anyway. “Tifa!” She yelled out as she ran up to me.

“Tifa! What happened to you! Are you okay!?” There was only worry in her words yet I couldn’t face her.

“Sarah…” The moment I looked at her, all the emotions I was trying to hide came out. Tears started coming out again as Sarah unhesitantly hugged.

“Who did this to you!? Was it Evan!? I swear I'm gonna kill him someday!”

I shook my head as I tried to calm down, “No. It wasn’t him. I-I found out that my mother was our Queen! Queen Elizabeth is my Mother!” I tried to relax but I couldn’t and all my frustration started coming out. “Can you believe it? The person I've been looking up to and searching for my whole life was with me all this time. Watching me as I suffered time and time again!”

As soon as I told her what happened, she started acting suspiciously, “O-Oh. Um, Y-Yea that’s definitely horrible. L-Lets go talk to the Queen, maybe there’s a misunderstanding?”

“No! The Tania the Dryad was there! She told me everything!”

“T-Tania!? I thought she died!”

Sarah suddenly said something I couldn’t ignore.

“You… you knew about Tania?”

“O-Oh yeah, You just said that s-she was a Dryad right?”

She said Tania almost as if she knows about her, but that would mean that Sarah was there with the Queen… which would mean…

“Sarah…”

“Y-Yea, what is it?” I didn’t notice it before but she was scared.

“Please tell me you didn’t know about her being my mother, you didn’t… you wouldn’t lie as well, right? You’re my sister after all, right?”

She looked away, “O-Of course! You said i-it!” I could see the hesitation in her voice while she couldn’t even look me in the eye as she said it. She was always bad at lying.

“Why… after all this time… You knew about everything from the start.”

I thought she was my friend… but even she…

“T-Tifa listen to me. Whatever I have done up till now was to protect you.”

Lies, you weren’t always with me either, I’d rarely see you as well.

My anger peaked again while she was trying to defend herself, “Y-You can ask the Queen about everything else. You just need to calm down and It’s fine if we don’t go back to her immediately! Just try to calm dow-”

We heard the noise of an ear-splitting lightning strike as my hand moved on its own and I slapped Sarah so hard she fell down on the wet mud. There was a visible red handprint on her face as she looked at me in shock from the ground.

“T-Tifa.” Her voice was cracked, she was doing her very best to not cry, and it pained so much. I can’t believe what I just did but it didn’t matter anymore.

“P-Please!” I turned around and started running again, “NEVER LOOK FOR ME!” Sarah tried to call me back but I put both of hands on my ears in an effort to drown out all surrounding noises.

*Flashback - Finish*

*Evan POV*

“That was… surprisingly vivid.”

Almost as if I was Tifa myself.

I was still standing there next to the doorway, while Tania told me everything that happened, Mia was also here now but I told her to cook something since they’ll be hungry in a while, Luna and Helputt also followed her, I guess with nothing to do, they’d rather go anywhere but here. Which, I totally understand.

“By the way, how do you know about Tifa slapping Sarah if you were here with the Queen all this time?”

Tania looked a little bashful, “I, Um, I can tell the feelings of anyone I focus hard enough on and I can also tell whatever happens in the forest. Which is why I can explain everything so vividly even though I wasn’t there to witness it.

Everything? Even when I go to the bathroom? This might be… a little bad. Though its usefulness is off the charts, but I’m in a little fear for my private alone time.

“Well, let’s ignore that for now, I got another question for you, you had a life before meeting me? And you didn’t tell me this… because?”

“You didn’t ask me? We were all originally spirits so we obviously had a soul that went inside us and adopted the personality. Those spirits without a soul are similar to husks like Emma.”

Emma… She doesn’t have a soul? Well, that explains why she feels so robotic and as if she has no emotions at all.

“Now for the last question. Why did you break up the small bond the Queen had with her child?

“I-It wasn't my fault. Seeing one of my old friends just keeping all the suffering to herself is just wrong! I had to tell Tifa! She also deserves to know! I just didn’t expect Tifa’s emotions to overload like that.”

She told me that she’s been suffering more at the hands of other elves than their enemies for the last few decades. If you tell her that the Queen of all Elves had been her mother this entire time then not having emotions overload would be surprising.

The whole situation was a mess as I couldn’t help but place my hand on my forehead and point with my other hand.

“Okay, You’re in a timeout. Go to that corner and face the wall, also you can’t talk or move away from that until I say you can.”

“What! But It wasn’t my fault!” Tania started throwing a tantrum but I knew how to tame her.”

“If you don’t do what I just said in the next 30 seconds, then I promise you, I will make a house in the Underworld and put you there. I’ll also make sure to never visit you.” The second I said that, she moved so fast to the corner, it was almost as if she teleported there, and then she faced the wall before remaining quiet.

Alright, now that I’ve dealt with Tania, I gotta figure out my next move. I just wanted to read some books and do some planning but I guess that will have to wait for now… Was there anything else to do?

… Probably not.

*Meanwhile, at the Adventurer's Guild*

“Umm Sensei, do you think Shishou forgot about us?” Oswald who was tired of waiting asked Lucy.

“Obviously not! I think this is our next test! He's probably testing and training our patience next!” A hyper Lucy said with no doubts in her mind.

“Oh! I never thought of it that way! Alright, sensei I'll do my best to be patient!”

*Back to Evan*

I was thinking of what I should do until I finally realized who those two Short swords belonged to that were gripped hard by the sobbing Queen.

“Uh, Elizabeth… Are those Tifa’s swords?”

She nodded slowly while sobbing quietly.

“Ah, I see, which means right now Tifa is somewhere outside, it’s raining heavily which makes new types of monsters appear, for which, Tifa will have to handle them with her swords here?”

Elizabeth realized what I said and stood up quickly with a horrified face while still holding the swords. “I-I’m going to go look for Her!”

“You think she'll listen to you right now?” My words were a little harsh, but the truth as well. She started panicking while my Mother was trying to calm her down.

I couldn’t help but sigh, “Okay, you wait here and get a grip. I'll go look for her and try to calm her down. I'll bring her here once she’s calmed down. The only problem is that I have no clue where she is.”

“She's northwest from here. Around two kilometers away.” Tania responded from her corner even though I told her not to talk, I guess at the very least she’s smart about it. I wondered why she knew where Tifa was but then I remembered that she said she knew about all things that happens in the forest.

“Gotcha, you’re still aren’t allowed to talk but I’ll overlook it this one time. I’ll go look for her now.”

I quickly ran outside and the first thing I noticed was that the rainfall was really heavy now, I could see bolts of lightning striking down from the sky every now and the sky was dyed dark grey because of the clouds which also blocked some of the sunlight making this place darker. I opened my map and marked the place Tania told me about before I ran straight toward it.

I also had a backup Hunter’s potion, I didn’t make this one since I found it underground in my hunt for loot. I didn’t make any of these potions because their practical use is pretty limited, It allows you to see any creatures through any walls up to a certain distance.

I ran at full speed along with the use of the shield’s charge skill and my grappling hook. Needless to say, I reached my destination in a few minutes. I looked around and beside flora and trees, there was nothing else but the sound of the heavy rain and the darkness that was inhibiting my vision.

I tried calling Tifa out but there was no response, my voice probably drowned out by the sound of the heavy rainfall. I was gonna try searching for her but I suck at hide and seek and I can’t be bothered in this heavy rain. Surprisingly, I haven’t seen any new rain monsters like the flying fish or the rain cap slimes. Getting a rain cap now would be pretty good but the drop chance of that is, as all things are, pretty low.

My thoughts kept wandering around while I took out the Hunters potion from my inventory, what appeared in my hand was a flask of cubic shape with an orange-colored liquid inside it, I popped the cork out and drank all the contents in one gulp. There was no taste, but the feeling was similar to drinking water.

Woah.

As soon as I finished drinking the potion, an empty bottle appeared in my inventory and I could see all the creatures nearby, all the creatures had a yellowish outline and I could feel what it was, there were tens of caterpillars munching on leaves, there were some frogs hopping around further away, I saw ducks, birds, and even the flying fish I was talking about before. Some goldfish were also walking around further which was weird but it’s something that happens in Terraria as well.

I looked around and walked a bit until I saw the silhouette of a woman crouched down and hugging her legs a bit further away. It was obviously Tifa. I steeled myself up and started walking towards her.

Oh boi, now for the main deal. Looks like operation ‘get Tifa back’ is undergo.

… Please don’t mess up.