Coming from beyond the trees, their voices could be heard.
Pleasant and feminine.
Cheerful and inviting.
The splashing of the water they bathed in.
Their laughs and giggles.
Half a dozen women swam in the water.
Naked and carefree.
They splashed each other and ran away from one another playfully.
The sun was shining.
And they were beautiful.
"Hmph! You don't have to stare that hard." Elisa whispered as she rolled her eyes.
"I'm not staring." Mark denied.
"Sure you are. So that's your type, huh? With you having white scales, it makes sense."
"They're too pale for me."
"Oh, is that so? But with them being naked, you can't keep yourself from staring, huh?"
"I guess so..." Mark whispered as he scratched his chin while staring at the women in the distance. "Still, it's weird."
"It's weird that you're staring. Let's go see-"
"No..." Mark raised an arm to the side barring her route.
"What? Oh..." She noticed his right eye shining under the bandage hiding it. "Anything?"
"Their Mana is really similar."
"That's to be expected."
"They also look alike."
"So?"
Mark thought silently for a bit.
"Can you shoot one of them? With an arrow?"
"HUH? Why would I do that?"
"Just to make sure-"
"I'm not doing that."
"Fine." Mark said as he suddenly extended an arm towards the faraway group of women chuckling and giggling in the water.
The Fire Ball which appeared in front of his palm quickly turned red, before being condensed to a smaller size.
"Are you serious?? Stop that-"
The attack was fired.
'They have a slight blueish hue. It's hard to notice but... Surely-'
Mark started doubting himself as the attack remained unnoticed even though it was getting closer and closer to the group.
The Fire Ball eventually came into contact with the closest woman, and the group immediately froze.
The attack, having been Condensed to a great degree, went through the woman's arm and only exploded after it was underwater.
"See? Now we have to apologize!"
The frozen group of women immediately turned their gazes in Mark's direction.
Their anger was more than obvious due to their facial expression.
The same facial expression.
"What are they?" Mark asked.
"How should I know? Nymphs, Water Spirits, anything is possible!"
"Mmm... They're not moving. Not hiding or getting out of the water."
"That's because you attacked them while they were in their house! Maybe!"
"Huh..."
"Anyways, let's get closer and-"
"No." Mark grabbed Elisa's wrist as she started walking forward. "Let's wait a bit."
"Wait for what?"
It only took a couple of seconds for bubbles to start rising all over the area on which the women stood, submerged to their waists.
The next second, they were pulled down underwater.
"See?"
"See what? They're hiding-"
The next second, something raised a large amount of water as it emerged.
"Uhu." Mark nodded as he stared at the rising Monster.
"Ugh... A honey trap, really?"
"Well, this is the Border between Lust and Sloth. Lust, Elisa."
"Yes, yes... I guess it's in the name."
"I'm more worried about the water."
"Mm. Doesn't look like a lake."
"More like a sea."
"The sea, huh? I've heard about that."
The emerging Monster seemed to wait for something as the two stared and talked.
"Think it can't go on land?"
"Maybe. Can't count on that though."
"With the... Sea... Being that wide, there might be a lot of them."
Only the top portion of the Monster's body had left the water, the rest remained submerged.
As only part of it could be seen, it was assumed to be a toad-like Monster.
Its pinkish eyes stared as it remained unmoving.
The way its eyelids moved seemed awkward.
"Doesn't do well in the sun."
"Then Fire Magic?"
"Probably. I don't like the fact that it's just staring though."
On top of the gigantic toad-like Monster's head, six long and limp tentacle-like body parts were hanging to the side of its head and remained under the water.
"So you want to wait for it to throw the first move?"
"Well... I'm not waiting for it. I'm hoping that it won't."
Mark rolled his eyes.
"This is the Monster Realm."
"So?"
The toad-like Monster's head rose a bit more.
It moved in a way that made it rather obvious to guess that it was,
"Drinking the water?"
"You mean sucking it in? I'm pretty sure I've seen this one before." Mark said as he placed a hand on the Moonlit Feline on his shoulder and started moving to the right.
Elisa nodded as she started moving to the left.
Just as both had expected, a stream of compressed water was shot their way.
The stream easily cut the trees on its way in half as the Monster rotated its head towards Elisa.
Crash-
Cut-
Crash-
Trees were cut one by one as the stream got closer to her.
And suddenly, the stream stopped moving.
The Dark Elf had disappeared out of nowhere.
Left confused, the toad-like Monster could only stare in bewilderment.
"It threw the first move. Okay to fight now?" The white-scaled Monster teased.
Elisa, who had just rejoined his side, rolled her eyes as she remained crouched on a tree's branch.
"Sure."
The white-scaled Monster took a couple of steps forward before swaying its arms as if warming up.
'Let's try that one again. I think it might turn into a Skill with enough practice. I can feel myself getting better at using it every time too.' Mark thought to himself as he extended his arms forward.
Elisa stared expectantly.
'Just like the Fire Spirit... Just like the Fire Spirit... Explosive, but controlled... Explosive, but controlled... Wild, untamed, but directed... Wild, untamed, but...' He repeated to himself internally.
The gigantic toad-like Monster, unable to find the enemy that had disappeared, turned towards him.
Mark held his palms vertical to the ground, and about forty centimeters apart from one another.
'Get as much Fire in as possible... Straight away.'
Immediately, the red flames that had appeared between his palms grew wilder and wilder.
'A bit more...'
The pressure was enough to make Mark's arms tremble.
Nevertheless, his fingers connected.
Thumb with thumb.
Index finger with index finger.
Only his middle fingers remained apart, leaving the only space for the condensed fire to go wild.
'Even stronger...' He smiled nerveously. 'Than it was before!'
