[Flashback - A few hours before Sol entered Forest of Silence]
The sun was about to hide below the mountains, turning the evening into night.
Lumine, the elf slave, was quietly watching the setting sun. The silence reminded me of how I had ignored her once back in the market. Since then she has been giving me a silent treatment.
'Look at this old hag! Just because she is an elf doesn't mean that she can act like a child when she is already over a hundred years old!'
The person sitting opposite to me suddenly turned her head and stared at me. Her voice as she spoke sounded a bit threatening.
"Did you just insult me?"
I blinked slowly and looked out of the window. My back became drenched in cold sweat. How did she know!?
When I didn't answer, Lumine continued to stare at me, or at least that was what I felt she was doing behind that mask. Her heavy accusatory gaze wasn't going to let me go until I answered.
Suddenly, Lumine jerked. She swiftly turned her body and peeked out of the window, searching for something.
"What are you doing?"
She didn't answer immediately and instead focused on her scouring. This wasn't the first time today that Lumine suddenly started searching for something outside the window.
"No, I felt the presence of a spirit." Lumine said with some hesitation. Her demeanor changed every time she spoke depending on the situation, making me wonder about her actual personality. "But spirits rarely leave the elven forest, and this one is quite powerful. Maybe I'm imagining things."
"It is there. But ignore it and act as if you can't sense it." I sighed lightly.
A spirit, huh. It seemed that bringing along Lumine was a good choice. Now, I was at least aware of the surveillance that the Daemons put on me.
"Okay" Lumine lightly nodded while returning to her childish demeanor. "So, what are those pieces of paper in your hands?"
"They're cards."
"Cards? What is a card?"
Her excitement was practically oozing out of her. I again, of course, ignored her previous question and gave her 6 summoner cards.
In my right hand were 5 summoner cards with baby tarantula inside them, while the card in my opposite hand was empty.
"Sneak these 5 cards inside Varnish's belongings when he enters the forest. As for this card." I raised the empty summoner card in my hand. "When it disappears, I need you to enter the forest and find me."
…..
….
…
..
.
[Back to present]
pαndα,noνɐ1,сoМ "You're late." I muttered weakly. The amount of blood I had lost was making my head light while intense dizziness assaulted me.
"It was hard to track you with your method."
Lumine swiftly helped me sit back against a tree. She then forcefully removed my cloak along with my shirt and upper garments.
Normally, it would've taken days for Lumine to find me inside this large forest. However, I had a special method.
I was being followed by a Daemon.
As a Saint rank elf, Lumine has a high sensitivity towards spirits. It was the racial trait of elves. They could sense spirits easily, and the stronger the spirit, the easier it is to sense them for elves.
Daemons were practically like suns. Even if they tried to hide their aura, Lumine could sense them if she concentrated.
She took advantage of this fact and searched for the Daemon inside the forest. And since the Daemon was monitoring me, locating Daemon led her towards me.
"This…" She sucked in a sharp breath.
Of course, anyone would do so when they saw my injury. She brought a green fruit out of her robes and tried to feed it to me. "Eat this."
"Huff…huff… what is this?" I held her hands firmly and didn't open my mouth.
Lumine's voice turned sharp at my actions. "It will heal you faster. And I wouldn't have come with you if I was going to betray you here like this."
'You never know who can backstab you and I don't trust you yet.' Those were my thoughts, but I didn't speak them aloud. It would harm the friendly affinity that was sprouting between Lumine and me if I was to doubt her anymore.
I took the fruit from her hands and ate it by myself. She didn't say anything this time.
The fruit melted as soon as it touched my tongue. A warm feeling spread towards my abdomen and enveloped my whole being.
My rate of healing miraculously doubled. With this, I was out of immediate danger.
Coughing, I soon stood and walked towards the unconscious Baratos.
He didn't wake up even after I tapped him repeatedly. 'She took him out with one word. As expected of someone who received Dev profession, her abilities are too fearsome.'
Even for Saint rank, defeating a Grandmaster with one word was borderline impossible. Yet Lumine did just that with room to spare for more.
'It should be here.'
The dizziness hadn't disappeared and neither had the pain. Amidst the onslaught of those unfamiliar yet familiar sensations, I continued to rummage through the belongings of Baratos.
'Endure it, the pain, the dizziness, and the shame for the disgraceful defeat in a victorious fight. Endure it and remember that I'm alive only because someone else helped me.'
'Carve it in your bones so that something like today never repeats. Improve with every failure. All for a future where I can live like a King.'
Maybe some would laugh at my motives for pushing myself hard today, a leisurely future .
But for me, who lived a shitty life in my 2nd life, it was my sole dream. A future where I lived unbounded by rules, where I was the apex. I was going to do all that it takes for such a future.
'Found it!' I took out a bottle of pills hidden under Baratos' armor. It was the Mana Overlord Rectifier Pill. 'Where is the baby griffin?'
"Are you searching for him?"
Lumine walked towards me while holding the baby griffin. The child was sleeping blissfully over her plentiful bosoms, unlike how it had been pecking at me constantly when I held it. Must be my imagination.
I stood up by using the tree as support. Lumine opened the baby griffin's mouth and I popped one of the pills inside its mouth. It was even better that Lumine wasn't asking questions because I was too tired to even speak.
'The baby should be healed in a few hours. Now, I only need to go and save Griffin.'
My breathing was becoming laborious by the minute. The injury healed thanks to the healing bandages and the fruit that Lumine fed me. However, my stamina had hit rock bottom.
"You should rest. If you continue to move, you'll faint."
I gritted my teeth and opened Shop for a solution. But the price of stamina pills was over 50,000 Coins.
Lumine tried to hold me down and make me sit.
"Healing doesn't restore stamina. It conversely weakens the body as healing potions and fruits use nutrients inside the body for rapid regeneration. You won't recover the lost nutrients in a day or two. So, you should rest. In this condition, let alone fighting, even walking is too dangerous for you."
She was speaking softly. Her concern was transmitted to me.
However, I shook my head.
Witnessing an adamant refusal, Lumine dropped a bomb on me. "The inner section of the forest is already enclosed by inextinguishable magic fire. Even if you want to, you can't leave. Rest is your best and only choice here."
