Chapter 253 Refreshing



'You seriously need to lose some weight. Tsk...'

With Mark's arm over her shoulders, Elisa walked silently.

'Wonder if he's so heavy because he just ate the whole-'

She stopped suddenly for a bit.

'Since when did that become normal?'

Elisa shook her head and continued walking.

'Trapped in that same Dungeon, but for a different reason... Test to exit... The Demon Lord sensed him entering his Territory and sent a Commander... Huh.'

With her hand around his wrist and an arm assisting the rest of his body, she walked while staring at the ground.

'A friend of Pride and an enemy of Sloth? Why would that be...? Mm. I guess the easier thing would be to ask. Don't think he'll want to tell though. Tsk, he sure is heavy though.'

Her gaze turned towards the Moonlit Feline walking by her side.

"Wanna switch?"

Nod- Nod-

Krista took on her Lioness Form and Elisa roughly put the white-scaled Monster over the Lioness' back.

She pushed Mark's body around until it settled on Krista as if a large bag of rice.

"This is becoming too common an occurrence..." Elisa whispered to herself as she stepped back.

The two continued walking.

'Alright. Where were we... Mm. Protected by Pride from Sloth. Hidden away from Sloth...? Or hidden away in general? He was supposed to make it out since that Vampire let him. But... They did seem close to... Or rather, they wouldn't have minded killing him. Hm...'

Elisa let out a sigh

'I really have trouble focusing on him. All I can think of is...'

The gaze moved towards the floating words in front of her.

[Your Title "Elven Princess" is looking at you.]

Elisa scratched the back of her neck as she blushed lightly.

'I'm getting it back. My Title as Princess... My place in this world... And my people.'

She closed her eyes as she took a deep breath.

'I'll get them back. Even if that means forgetting about my revenge. That's...' Elisa glanced at the passed-out white-scaled Monster. 'What I'll focus on. What I want.'

Half an hour passed as they walked.

From time to time, Elisa would talk to Krista, but she was silent most of the way.

It seemed she had a lot to think about. Until,

"Is that...?" Elisa whispered as she stopped.

Krista came to a stop too and turned to look at her.

She followed Elisa's gaze, and found, in the distance, a swarm of Beasts.

They seemed to stand in a circle around something, but Krista couldn't be sure.

Elisa immediately took out her bow and aimed a Wind Arrow at the sky.

It rose and rose before diving. And once it hit the lowest point of its trajectory, 

Boom-

Thump- Thump- Thump-

The Beasts immediately scattered away.

Krista's eyes widened with surprise as a dozen tiny rainbows appeared in the distance.

"Let's go... Let's go...!" Elisa's voice was muffled by the excitement.

Mark slowly woke up.

"Tsk. Seriously?" He muttered after yawning and pushing himself off Krista.

"Scared?" Elisa asked playfully as she turned around.

"Another damn Forest...?"

"It's not as dense as Yarnha's Forest."

"Yeah but... Still-"

"Scared?" Elisa repeated.

Mark stared at the trees in the distance.

They weren't as tall, and seemed to be the tropical kind unlike those in Yarnha.

"You're damn right I'm scared."

"Pfahaha! Good. You should be."

"How do you know it won't have another Spirit? Or maybe the same? If the forests are connected, then we might actually end up finding Yarnha in there."

"True... I never said there wouldn't be a Spirit in there. But we can check now."

"We can?"

Elisa stared silently for a bit, a mischievous smile on her face.

"Oh, right." Mark realized. "I'm guessing if there is a Spirit, this is going to sting."

"Yeah, probably."

The white-scaled Monster stood up and stopped relying on the Moonlit Feline for balance.

He tapped the Lioness' head gently a couple of times, thanking her for carrying him.

"Alright..." Mark whispered as he brought a hand towards the piece of cloth hiding his right eye. "Let's try it."

The Eye had remained closed even after waking up.

He pulled the piece of cloth away, and only opened that Eye a handful of seconds later.

His eyelids moved, and a peculiar Eye was revealed.

The iris was of a deep green. Motifs that he couldn't know were Elven Motifs were drawn on that iris and his pupil.

First, he stared at the ground for a bit.

It stung, but the pain was bearable.

'Even on the ground, I can see... Footsteps? That's what they look like. Residue... Or traces of Mana, huh?' Mark moved his gaze towards the ground behind Elisa. 'Her footsteps... I can see them clearly. That's the color of her Mana then?' He moved his gaze again. 'And that's Krista's? They're completely different in color and... Something else. I can't tell exactly what it is.' 

The thought of looking at his own footsteps passed through his mind, but he decided not to do it. Mark wasn't sure why, but the idea didn't seem pleasant to him.

He sole rose his gaze into the distance and towards the forest.

'Looking with this Eye...' Mark stared with his left eye shut. 'It doesn't seem that far. The Mana doesn't look much different from the one on the ground, except for its color. They're similar though. The Mana contained in the tall grass covering the ground and the one contained in those trees.'I think you should take a look at

"So? What do you see?" Elisa asked expectantly.

"I'm guessing that if there was a Spirit of the Forest in there, everything would have looked different."

"How so?"

"Tsk." Mark clicked his tongue. "You know how so."

"I know. But do you know?" 

"What are you, my teacher or something?"

"Well," Elisa sighed. "Someone has to be."

"Ugh..." Mark rolled his eyes and she chuckled. 

"So, tell me. What would you have seen in there?"

"Much more Mana for one."

"Mhm." Elisa nodded.

"And also... Those vein-like things through which Mana passes."

"Those can only be seen in living organisms."

"Trees are living organisms." Mark said as he shrugged.

"Well, yes but... Mm. Flora doesn't count. Alright?"

"Are you sure?"

"I am."

"Can you see them too?"

Elisa scratched her cheek for a bit.

"No. But I used to know people who could."

"I see..." Mark muttered.

The two remained silent for a couple of seconds.

"Continue."

"Even if those can't be seen in... Flora, you can probably see them if there's a Spirit."

"Why is that?"

"Because they're... Like Links? And the Spirit is what keeps the Forest together, I guess. Keeps it as one organism, in a way."

"Aha." Elisa nodded. "Looks like your encounter with Yarnha wasn't a waste."

"Meh... I guess I learned some things. Nothing you didn't know though."

"You didn't know enough to even ask about those things."

"True enough... Anyways, with those Links, the trees, ground, and bushes would be Linked together. Maybe even... Linked to the Spirit."

"That would make Yarnha much easier to find. It would make it harder on her to hide." Elisa noted.

Mark slowly brought a hand to his cheek as she talked.

Scratch- Scratch-

"That it would..." He whispered to himself.

"Mm?"

"Nothing. So, no Spirit in there." Mark said as he lowered the piece of cloth to cover his right eye.

"No Spirit. And now that you're awake..." Elisa smirked mischievously.

"What?"

The next second, she started running away.

"Huh?"

Both Krista and Mark stared at each other for a bit, before turning towards the running Princess.

Without really knowing why, they started running too.

They followed the Princess, as she seemingly ran towards the tropical forest.

But just as she was about to enter it, the Princess took a sharp turn to the left.

The two followed and Mark glanced at what lay beyond Elisa's path.

"Oh... Is that-"

His thoughts and brain shut down as the Princess jumped into the air.

It didn't take a second.

She didn't need a second.

That's how fast she was.

Or perhaps, how motivated she was.

With one swift motion-

Or was it? Was it really one motion?

It looked that way, but how could that be the case?

Mark wasn't sure.

Still, he stared as Elisa's hands took hold of her clothing.

It took less than a second for all her clothes to be removed and thrown aside.

With her arms extended to her sides and the clothes she was previously wearing floating in the air,

Splash-

It was cold, but clear.

Clean as it could be.

Elisa spent a couple of seconds submerged, before rising.

Her wet hair drew a half circle as she emerged, creating a dozen rainbows under the sunlight.

"So refreshing...!" Elisa whispered as she held some of the clear water between her hands.

Splash- Splash-

'A pond?' Mark asked himself.

She glanced at him, and he looked away.