Chapter 35: Nymphs

Chapter 35: Nymphs

The two Nymphs stood glaring at us with their sharp, pure-white eyes. They were clearly awaiting some sort of response.

“Um,” I said, hands up so as to show no harm, “we just wanted some water.”

The two Nymphs looked at each other, weapons still bared, and started speaking with each other in their own language.

“Do you think we could survive if they attacked?” Erani muttered sideways to me.

“Probably not,” I said. “Last time I had a run-in with a Nymph, it killed me in one hit.”

“It killed...?” She said, looking confused, but then seemed to remember what I meant. “Oh, right.”

“Yeah. I still don’t have Time Loop back, by the way. I will in a few hours, but not now. And my Health is still only 44.”

“We need to convince them we mean no harm. Do you think they understood you?”

“If they aren’t speaking our language, they probably don’t understand it, either.”

Erani looked around, and then began slowly making her way to the river. The Nymphs watched her, weapons still ready, and Erani seemed to take care to move carefully and without doing anything threatening. Once she got to the river, she showed the Nymphs an exaggerated motion of her drinking from it.

It seemed to get the message across that we were just there to drink and rest. I was sure that the Nymphs had tons of monsters and animals come through to drink from the river, too, so us doing the same probably wasn’t a stretch of the imagination.

Eventually, the two Nymphs seemed to reach some sort of an agreement in their discussion with each other. They walked away, keeping their eyes trained on us, and sat at the makeshift table that was carved from the tree stump.

“It looks like they’ve calmed down,” I said to Erani, who was still looking at them with caution.

“Yeah. Let’s get out of here while we still can.”

I stopped and thought for a moment. “Actually, I don’t think we should.”

“What?”

“Last time I was stuck in the wilderness with low Health, like we are now, one of the ways I stayed safe while waiting for it to regenerate was by sticking around a Nymph. Their two-way empathy calms down nearby monsters, so if we sleep here, they’ll protect us.”

“Didn’t you just say that they could kill us in a single hit?”

“Well, it doesn’t look like they’re going to, does it? If they decided not to earlier, I don’t see why they would now.”

“I don’t like this. Sleeping right next to something so dangerous...”

“In this forest, we’ll always be sleeping next to something dangerous, whether we know it or not. This way, we’ll at least be able to see that dangerous thing.”

Erani set her jaw, chewing on her tongue as she thought. “Okay, sure. You’re the expert, I guess.”

I sat down and leaned against a tree near the river, and Erani did the same, sitting next to me. By this time, darkness had overtaken the forest. The Nymphs were close, though, so we could still see them for the most part. The two of them were sitting on their rock chairs around their tree table, discussing something with smiles on their faces.

It was strange, coming right after they threatened our lives, but seeing them chatting so carelessly made me smile, too. I could tell that they enjoyed each other’s company, and their positivity radiated out, improving my mood, as well. At the very least, I was happy that not all hope had been lost. If all the cities and settlements in Koinkar had truly been taken over by Demons, it was reassuring to see that at least some of the monsters were still happy.

“It’s nice to have a bit of refuge, huh?” I asked Erani as we rested together.

“Yes,” she laughed. “Today was a little hectic.”

“Do you want me to take first watch?” I asked.

“Do I look that tired?”

“I just know what it’s like to practice for so long when you’re not used to it. I sure as hells looked forward to sleeping every night,” I laughed.

“Well, it certainly wouldn’t hurt.”

Obviously growing more and more frantic, Erani eventually settled on simply ripping a strip of cloth from the sleeve of her shirt. She tied it into a hasty knot, forming a bracelet out of the tan band of her sleeve.

She presented it to the whip-wielding Nymph. It looked just as surprised as Erani did when she got her gift. Hesitantly, it took the band and put it around its thin wrist. The bracelet hung somewhat loose, but not so much that it would fall off. It smiled at the gift, and waved at Erani before turning around and walking off with the taller, clawed Nymph.

With that interaction seemingly over, Erani and I headed off.

“Why the bracelet made of shirt?” I asked Erani.

“Don’t tease me, I didn’t know what to do,” she frowned. “What would you have given it?”

“No clue. I mean, I don’t know why it gave you the necklace in the first place.”

“Neither do I. I mean, I got bored during my turn on watch, so I started drawing pictures in the dirt to pass the time. The two Nymphs came over and looked at what I was drawing – they were curious, I guess. So maybe that had something to do with it.”

“What did you draw?”

“Um, nothing. It isn’t important.”

“Seems important. Apparently it motivated two monsters to craft a hand-made necklace of flowers for you,” I laughed.

“W-well, I was just drawing the things I saw around me.”

“Oh, like the river?”

“Um, no. Just, y’know, other stuff.”

“Such as?” I smiled.

“Uh, just stuff like, um,” she turned away and muttered something I couldn’t hear.

“Hm?”

“...You.” She said before hastily clarifying, “You were just the nearest thing, and I’ve been meaning to practice drawing people anyway, so I just thought. So, it’s not like, um, nevermind. I also drew other things, but I just...”

She was cut off by my laughing. “I saw your little portrait of me when we woke up, you dork. Apparently I look pretty cute when I’m sleeping on the ground.”

“I– you ass!” She lightly punched my shoulder, laughing along with me now.

“Don’t worry, don’t worry. One of these days, I’ll draw my best portrait in the dirt of you. That way, we’re even.”

“Somehow I don’t think that makes us even.”

“Yeah, whatever,” I chuckled. “Hey, your Mana is full now, right?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“You know you’re supposed to cast a Firebolt every time your Mana’s full. So, you better get casting.”

She groaned.

It was about six hours of walking before we arrived at where the Stripek territory should have been. Erani’s headache had returned, unsurprisingly, so I let her take a break about an hour away from our destination. That way, she wouldn’t be hindered by it when we started fighting the monsters.

Speaking of being hindered, my Health was still only at 116/160, so I wasn’t exactly in peak fighting condition, myself. But we couldn’t wait around for it to regenerate. The Demons were searching for us at all times, and the longer we waited, the better their chances of finding us. The only reason we were still in this area to begin with was so that we could get some extra Levels before traversing the dangerous wilderness.

We’d killed some of the smaller monsters on our way to the Stripeks, too. In total, I’d gotten an extra 36 XP, bringing me up to 107/350.

Once we were finally where the map told us to go, we started looking for signs of Stripeks. The tracks that the monsters left behind were obvious to spot, and weren’t just footprints. Stripeks had long, bladed claws that they would constantly sharpen using anything nearby, leaving cuts in logs and trees as they passed. The more of those cleaves you saw, the closer you were to Stripek territory. They also left behind random, deep impressions in the dirt. These were from when a Stripek used its powerful legs to kick off and dash toward its prey. The speedy monsters specialized in attacking and killing quickly, doing their best to attack before their prey noticed, and kill before their prey could even feel pain.

And, of course, we were walking right into their home.