White Flower, Black Feather

Cold Season

Brenna managed to learn the basics of a language, causing some changes to occur on the screens she could see. When that happened, the Helper decided to start the magic training and continue with the language, in slow moments after learning magic. Which according to her Helper, she was making incredibly fast progress with, and after some time…

‘Ia Imbue Beak!’ she managed to concentrate in her “Inner Sea” and used the “Liquid” she found, for the simplest spell she could do…

Ding

‘Ia Stop!’ even if the glow on her beak only lasted for a moment, before she had to stop due to how tired she was getting ‘Ow… is this emptiness normal…?’

-Congratulations!-

-And yes, it’s normal! It might be called “Sea” but very few people (Or creatures), reach the point where their magic reserves look like one-

‘Thanks… ugh…’ Brenna leaned against the older brother, she had grow quite a bit, but he still covered her ‘That was tiring…!’ she didn’t minded it, because the weather was quite cold

Before she could see her Status, the other brother arrived. Leaving her with a moment to see the giant tree that appeared suddenly not long before the snow…

/////

Eventually she woke up, still falling asleep after meal time, more often that not…

‘Ugh…’

-Hi again! You can keep sleeping if you want-

‘Thanks… but I don’t want to forget about checking… my alerts again…’ Brenna chirped a yaw… rubbing against the bigger bird for heat ‘Status’

‘Wow…! That’s a lot of points…!’ even if she was happy with what she was seeing… ‘Aren’t I leveling too slowly…?’ the slow progress there, worried her and distracted her from the shop…

-Nope! That is a perfectly normal level to be at your age! Very few omnivores can be faster at leveling that you! Not even Miriam should compare to your leveling speed! Since she is a snake!-

That comment, caused a screen to appear…

-…? Did she messed with her metabolism…? Snakes don’t eat that fast!-

‘So… I am slow…?’

Chirp!

‘Stop shipping us…!’ it wasn't the first time she got a message like that… and like always, she got another one with “Never!” written on it after answering it, but before she could get in another discussion with the goddess…

Caw…

Brenna felt the older bird shuffling a bit…

‘What is wrong…?’ and she had no idea as of why… but she could tell, he got annoyed by something

/////

Seeing the leaves of the trees, growing from the snow covered branches, had been a big surprise for Miriam the day after it started to snow. Mostly because of how tall the fake foliage had to grow to get out of said snow…

Still to the south of Sunny’s main body and near her winter home, Miriam was practicing her ability with the sword before sunset. On a wide spot she had flattened with magic while pulling more dirt on top of it, and kept it heated with her creations, she had also made some channels to make sure the melted snow, moved towards the river. Forming some ice around the square of dirt and rock

At the time, she was using a two-handed earth sword…

‘Ow… idiot…’ a bit annoyed with herself, because she didn’t let her most recent food, cool enough before eating it ‘Ugh… my throat…’ giving her the snake equivalent, of a burned tongue…

Buzz!!!

But the alarmed buzzing coming from Sunny, made her ignore that, and made her turn on the direction of the ladybug. Almost releasing her aura…

Caw!

But the black corvid, that landed on the snow and ice at the edge of the spot she had cleared, made her hesitate… the bird had crossed one of the Terror Stones she had hidden… and…

‘Singer…?’ Miriam had hope…

Buzz!!!

-No, this one wants to fight you…- that didn’t lasted for long…

‘Wha-?!’ as if waiting that message, the raven spread his wings creating a transparent dome, that covered the whole space that Miriam had cleared and both of them ‘Sunny!!!’ pushing the little thing out of it, without damaging her

Sunny tried to get back inside, but could only push against the barrier while buzzing angrily

At the same time the younger raven started to float without needing to flap his wings, not looking away from Miriam…

HISS!!!

While she released her aura focusing it against the bird, with every feather on her body bristling… not making him react at all…

Caw~

Other than a mocking flap of a wing towards her

‘IMBUE!!!’ creating a visible blade of wind, that she barely avoided

Crackle!!!

Wind that twisted slightly, to cut part of her weapon and magic like it was paper… before exploding against the barrier that surrounded them

HISS!!!

Spears made of dirt just turned to dust, not getting close enough to the raven. The dust then started to orbit the creature in a diagonal ring-

‘Venom Dart!!!’ even Miriam’s most reliable projectile failed. By freezing into a chunk of ice between the two of them ‘…!!!’ and firing back towards her, at an incredibly speed, that she didn’t knew how she managed to dodge it…

Feeling the biting cold from it, as it passed next to her head… feeling it form some ice on her feathers, even with the many Heating Stones around her…

Caw~

Another mocking gesture, and the ring around the raven condensed and solidified. Splitting in two blades that shoot towards Miriam, one toward her front…

‘IMBUE!!!’ that she barely managed to destroy with her broken sword

And the other, faster than the first, aimed towards her back in an arc-

CRACK!!!

That one, would have hit her at the same time she destroyed the other, if she hadn't barely managed to block it, with a spike growing from the ground

‘AH!’ just in time to see the raven making a small stone float while it was glowing, having just enough time to make a wall-

Boom!

‘Ugh!!!’ that couldn’t shield her from the whole force of the impact, flinging her back a few meters. Hissing and glaring to the raven, reshaping her sword while Imbuing her tail, doing something she was planning to start doing while she fought

Miriam covered her tail fully with the ground around her, and made a pair of blades attached to it, similar to the ones she used before getting her thumbs… but didn’t charged forwards yet…

HISS!!!

Ever since she obtained her first skill, Miriam had trained with it… with the hope of lowering how much recoil she suffered from it… she hadn't got much progress with that… but this time, as she Imbued and raised her weapon, she focused on the feeling of activating the skill…

That instant of clarity before losing control…

[Sword Wave]

Firing the magic on her weapon with a diagonal swing towards the waiting bird, mimicking the blade of wind he had used against her. Her sword shattered, by the strength she used during the swing. Snapping some of the muscles on her arms too, causing a pain she struggled to ignore…

Caw~

Seeing her using that skill, the raven meet it with another wind blade, overpowering her attack after making an X in between them for a second

Miriam didn’t tried to block it once it was moving towards her, instead she swam underground towards the bird. The ground was still mostly rocks, but she managed to find a path forwards, with the blades attached to her tail out of the ground as she moved

HISS!!!

Making a sword out of ice, once she got out near the waiting raven. That sword shattered returning back to being snow, before it could make contact with him and started to orbit him for just a moment… and when he saw her trying to use her tail for an attack, he flung the snow to it

Crack!

HISS!!!

Confusing him, because the tail broke off, making Miriam scream in the middle of making another sword, the confusion didn’t last-

Crack!

Because Miriam’s tail, came out from another spot in the ground behind the floating bird, with another blade attached to it. Realizing that the tail he broke was fake, he pushed the tail with wind, destroying the weapon without hurting her-

[Boundary Break]

Having to block the other sword Miriam made, directly with his wing. Not a single one of his feathers was damaged, but that was enough for Miriam, and she disengaged from the clash getting some distance between them, and out of the snow

‘HAHAHA!!! I can reach you!!!’ nearly going berserk by then… ‘Now I just need to cut you-!!!’ she coughed some blood from the effort, and got ready to-

(Sleep)

Fall-

/////

The younger raven dropped to the ground and hopped towards Miriam, ignoring the threats he was getting from Sunny

(If you do throw one of your lightnings towards me, you are going to hit her too…) he dismissed the barrier, and proceeded to ignore the ladybug hitting him, while buzzing obscenities

-Seriously…? Sunny! You really need to chill… Miriam is fine!-

(Ah! I was wondering why you were so quiet…) the younger raven cawed and waved to the message that appeared above Miriam

-Ugh… sorry, even with the trick that Sunny uses… my communications skills are severely limited right now… only when she is unconscious, is that I can talk normally… and even so, I only have Sunny to talk…-

Buzz!!!

-Ugh… sorry about her attitude, could you do that, please…?-

(Yes, I’ll do it… but this young one really has bad manners…)

Guided by an angry Sunny, the younger brother made Miriam’s body float, but before getting her inside the shelter, Sunny made him do the chores, that Miriam would have done, in her stead

Flipping the right stones, fixing the training spot, lifting the stones from the ground so she could see where they were in case it snowed again…

-That’s enough, thanks-

Sunny would have been giving more orders, but didn’t wanted to get in a discussion at the time. Not when it was about to get colder…

(No problem, after all, this was me wanting to test her strength) he was ignoring the path on the ground made by the Heating Stones, preferring instead to hop on the snow, liking the crunching noises

-I’m surprised she managed to touch you…-

(I wasn't trying too hard…) Sunny buzzed angrily, colliding against him one more time (Fine… I’ll do admit, that I almost got scared, when I “Cut” her tail, the lack of blood made the trick obvious, tho…)

-Not the worst wound Miriam would have got in this life…-

Caw!

The raven laughed while Sunny buzzed sadly, and they moved Miriam’s body inside the shelter and to the opening in the middle of the ground, he had no problem with using magic to open, or closing, the earth that formed the “Door” of the place

(I noticed!) he started to pay attention to the inside of the shelter, not bothered by the lack of light (She used [Boundary Break] after all…)

Miriam had reinforced the structure with four arcs, instead of the three she originally thought, because the heat coming from the stones caused the place to make cracking noises, thankfully it held and eventually the stone stopped making noises. Both entrances were blocked with earth walls, leaving Miriam having to use magic to get in and out, but she didn’t forgot about ventilation

An earthen tube came from the outside and was heated by two rows of ten Heating Stones inside the shelter, if the air became too cold for the stones, she could just use magic to extend the tube, making the route around the stones longer, before it reached a “Fireplace” open to the room. From there, the air moved up along a chimney that used one of the gaps between the slab making the roof, as an exit

The other end of the tube, extended above the natural slope to the river, where a Terror Stone and a few Heating ones, kept snow from blocking that opening, and creatures from stealing the heat sources. Miriam had made far more Terror Stones than expected…

The raven didn’t found out about the underground fridge, he was more interested in looking inside of the jars near the entrance, and the pot that was starting to cool

(What are these?) he smelled the liquids (Fish soup…?)

-Some have meat soup, the ones to the left of the entrance are filled with water, the ones on the right are her cooking attempts-

(They smell better than my brother’s…) the younger one thought carelessly…

(Excuse me…?) making the eldest send that question, while he was quite annoyed waiting on the nest

-Oh! Good! You are here too!-

Only because the younger raven had to act as an intermediate between them, was the reason the… discussion… got delayed

(Glad to know you are fine… before getting here, we got information about…) the older raven had difficulties thinking about how to talk about Absorb

-Yeah, it’s dangerous, but as long Miriam doesn’t hates me, I should avoid damage from that…-

Buzz!

-I know… but what is going to happen, when Strain Resistance maxes, again…?-

Sunny couldn’t answer that question, and just flew landing on Miriam’s wings

Once the younger brother relayed the information on the message, he caused a chunk of fish and its liquid, to float from the pot. Becoming condensed in a small sphere, that he swallowed while Sunny got outraged

(What? I’m bringing some for Brenna. Judging by what Lulu is saying, Miriam isn't going to mind)

(You could have asked…) the older brother chastised him a little

-I don’t mind, this idiot shouldn’t realize it anyways…-

Buzz!!!

-She gave me permission of calling her that! And I’m older than you!-

Sunny buzzed again, making the younger raven laugh again with what she said

-That makes no sense!-

The message got ignored, and Sunny buzzed to the raven

(Eh? Brenna…? She is the girl that died with her…?) he pointed at Miriam with a wing (She might have a bit of a hard time, fully accepting that she is a girl… but…)

-Ah… what happened there, it’s that we only know her as “Singer”-

(The gods haven't told her about Brenna…?) the older raven asked, once he was told the content of the message, it took a moment longer that normal, because the younger brother didn’t liked what he saw…

The Helper took an even longer moment to answer… and to the younger brother, the next message, felt like was made while sighing…

-She hasn't been told “She is alive now” I would like to assume, that she doesn’t needs to know… but is more likely that she hasn't been told yet, because she is liable to go and meet her (In this fucking weather…), so I’m not in a hurry to see that…-

(She sounds… like a handful…?)

As an answer, the screen tilted while Sunny buzzed happily… but the ladybug stopped suddenly, before the sound of thunder reached the shelter a few seconds later…

(That came from the nest…?)

(Yes… one of those Dolls got disintegrated…)

Buzz…

(Oh! I didn’t realize we were under your protection!) the younger raven mimicked a bow towards Sunny (You have our thanks, we are only allowed to hide Brenna. Not to purge the world of those idiots…)

Buzz~

That last thing made both the raven and the Helper to worry…

-Why do you want to meet Brenna…?-

Buzz!

-Damn it Miriam…- the message got a questioning buzz as an answer, before changing -Sorry, force of habit…-

(I don’t mind… but…) before he could talk more another message appeared

-Can it wait…? Talking like this, is good for my mental health…-

Sunny had to agree, they had time and she could see where the nest was from her main body, so they could talk for a while. While Sunny planed when to visit…

-Oh, why do you sound like that?-

(Oh, you noticed? We usually take the form of ravens, and she is a crow. So we choose to change a bit of these bodies to alter how we sounded, so she didn’t got suspicious about what we were…) he hesitated

-But…?-

(But her own System Helper, told her anyways…) he gave a resigned caw

-Oh! Whose…?- that message closed before another one appeared -That’s good… she should be learning magic, right?-

He cawed, his feathers ruffling with pride

(She can already Imbue her beak~!)

Buzz?

(W-what…?) Sunny repeated what she said (Tasty magic…?) after another buzz from her, he got his head out of the shelter (Is her magic really that tasty?!) and asked that to the trees around

Rustle!

They dropped a lot of snow from their branches while answering. He could only got back inside and give Miriam a concerned, but curious, stare after hearing it…

-Welcome to my world…-

Not long after that, the younger brother had to leave for a moment to feed Brenna, but that didn’t took too long and soon he was back, making the conversation last until sunrise got close…

/////

The nest shook for a moment a few minutes later, but the larger bird didn’t reacted to that

‘Eek!’ even if Brenna did ‘What was that…?!’ the only thing that happened was that the brother fixed her position a bit, before covering her

-If he isn't worried, we shouldn’t be either!-

‘So… it wasn't a quake? Or one of the Rulers…?’ the brief moment she was exposed to cold air, made her rub against the brother a bit more than normal

-Like I told you before: other than the screaming one, the Rulers of Death prefer to be left alone in their territories- the screen shook for a moment before adding -I don’t know anything about the fourth one, but we are safe: the brothers are really strong!-

That relaxed Brenna, but she had other questions

‘You mentioned that they were evolutive dead ends before, but to what…? Why is the forest trying to get everything to evolve?’

-That is another thing I can’t tell you… but between a humanoid form and raw power, they choose their current form, and got stuck. A shame really… they could have become so much stronger as humanoids…-

‘Hmm… I don’t like you hiding stuff from me…’ she stretched for a bit while the message showed an apology ‘It’s ok… teach me about magic…?’

The screen showed all the colors for a moment before showing her anything else

-Currently your magic reserves are very small, so in order to avoid a Magic Drain you should keep using Imbue, on every body part that you might use in a fight. Repeated use of magic will train you like it’s a muscle- another screen appeared -Remember that resting is part of training! And we can use that time for languages!-

Brenna nodded and the screens merged

-A spell requires: the ability to use magic (You have it~), a mental image of the desired effect, enough magic stored to cause the effect, declaring your intent to use magic (The Ia part), and a series of instructions detailing the path you want the magic to take (You can add indicators about intensity, and other factors here, just in case you want to use the same spell for different things)-

‘And if anything doesn’t follows the rules?’

-It makes you waste magic, but a good enough mental image, can overcome bad instructions and vise versa (But forcing a spell, by not using Ia, or the instructions, it’s really wasteful), Imbuing body parts also make them appear in the EP Shop, as focus for magic, those also help a lot with spells (To the point were forcing a spell, becomes viable!)-

That message made her open her shop, remembering now, the message she saw before

‘Oh… expensive… should I get the fountain now…?’

-I’m… not sure yet… it should have appeared much later… and it isn't where it should be, compared with the rest of the options… and by how it works, it’s not going to do anything yet… it shouldn’t do anything yet…-

The first time she opened the shop, Brenna obtained a similar answer, and a message from the Trickster saying that, it wasn't the weirdest thing they had seen…

-But… maybe… maybe it’s because it was there, with the options that had me…? I still suggest to wait until level 10, before buying something… but…-

She didn’t liked to make rushed decisions, even with the dress it had taken her weeks to accept to wear it… but in that case, Carmen already had started preparing for her to wear it, since she got the idea anyways…

‘It can help me get stronger…?’

-Not yet… eventually: YES!!! But now…-

‘I’ll do it…’ she wasn't sure about it… but she had the feeling that Miriam had already done a lot, and was extremely ahead of her… ‘Eh… Buy Fountain of Knowledge…?’ the Item went away…

…

‘That’s it…?’

-I told you it wasn't going to do anything yet!-

Brenna closed the shop

‘AH?!’ and saw it ‘Why is there?!’ focusing on it didn’t do anything…

-That is where it goes. Like I said before, it’s a special thing that should have appeared later, some of those blanks parts are for other things, that might or might not, even appear for you-

‘Like what?’

-For example: to the left of it, is where Skills will appear if you ever get one-

That word appearing, made Brenna want to cheer

‘Like in a videogame?! How do I get those?!’ she had played some of those in the orphanage, so together with the Levels that had appeared on her Traits she was getting happy…

-I don’t recommend that…- the beginning of the message, hurt her a bit… -The one that I can teach you right now. Cuts massively your lifespan, and learning it might just kill you until far later, after you evolve a few times…-

But the rest of the message chilled her more, than the wind around the nest…

‘Are… all of those like that…? What if I learn one as a humanoid?’

-Not all skills do that, but I can’t teach you those. As for humanoids… you would need to go on a leveling spree of… about 15 to 20 levels, to outset the “Damage” you’ll get… as a creature you just would need to evolve… once would clear about… 70% of the damage that learning the skill would do to your lifespan… so… two or three times…? It depends of how physically focused your body is!-

Another message appeared next to the previous one

-But again: you aren’t going to survive it right now…- as if hammering that point…

‘All right… I get it… so I should just stick to magic…?’

-That would still make you powerful… so! Yes, please…! I still will tell you when would it be safe to learn the skill, if you want…-

‘Please do… I don’t needed it right now, but maybe in the future…?’ Brenna nodded and started to train like the Helper told her, by Imbuing her beak, until she ran out of magic

Only stopping when the other brother returned to feed her

‘Ah…’ leaving her too tired after eating to continue

/////

-ing

‘Aaahhh-?! Eh…?’ Miriam jolted, looking around after Imbuing her eyes, really confused for a moment, until she saw Sunny sleeping next to her ‘Ugh… really…? Now my brain is doing the “Falling in your dreams” thing…? Stupid brain…’

Not seeing anything out of place once she got out of the opening in the ground, she moved to the pot to eat her cold breakfast. Feeling her body a bit stiff, but attributing that to the weather, she just finished her food and drank some water

‘I still should have… five fishes in storage…?’ she considered checking, but was more interested in trying what she remembered from her dream ‘Later…’

Miriam got her head through the entry wall and looked around, she didn’t saw anything our of place… but still couldn't remember going to sleep the day before

‘Some snow fell at… night…’ the falling temperature made her shiver, while the fins on her head shook trying to not harden

Using some magic she removed some snow, flipped the Heating Stones she had placed nearby, and waited for a moment before going out fully, once she started to hear the water moving on to the channels she made on the ground towards the river

It was still dark, so she left a hole in the wall for Sunny to use and removed the snow that fell on top of her second pot, leaving the engraving visible

‘This should have absorbed enough heat yesterday… maybe…?’ one of the things she had found out about her engraving, was that the duration of the things was about one to one, lasting more or less the same amount of time giving heat, as they had been exposed to the sun… ‘I’ll just use more Heating Stones, if it doesn’t boil the water fast enough…’

The heat that they could release, on the other hand… Miriam had noticed how some of the stones were better suited for the task, and quickly had made a list of her favorites, but… it was a good thing she could make so many of them…

But she didn’t thought much about that… what she had seen in the dream, still hounded her mind and she wanted to test it, regardless of the cold… the temperature was delaying her test a bit: she had to wait for the snow to melt

Soon, before first light, she made a wall grow in the spot she liked to use to train, and had a glowing one handed sword ready… in the dream she was using a bigger one, but she didn’t wanted to accidentally hit a tree

[Sword Wave]

‘Hahaha-!!! Ow…!’

Hiss…

The wave from her skill, wasn't as big as the one she saw on her dream before, but still managed to leave a deep cut in the wall she made…

‘Ow…!’ just like the dream, her sword broke and she snapped some muscles from her arms ‘Haha… ow… not as… painful as I thought- ow…’

Miriam used magic to heal her arms, and fix the wall, before creating and Imbuing her sword again…

‘I feel… like I can do… I’ll eventually do this… without Imbue… hahaha-!’

[Sword Wave]

‘Ow!!!’ the wounds she got were the same kind she had gotten before… ‘M-maybe… after I stop… breaking stuff… ow… in my body…’ as she healed her body again, a colder breeze ran through the forest slowing her…

Making her wait until sunrise…

Buzz!

So Sunny got out of the shelter, and towards her

‘Good morning Sunny… check what I can do now~!’ before she could show her, Sunny buzzed again

-The water in the shelter is freezing…-

‘Ah…’

That, and the snow that started falling a few seconds later, stopped Miriam for getting more injuries that morning… but she did had to do some work getting everything to normal, while it was snowing once she sealed the shelter again…

/////

Brenna on the other hand…

Chirp!!!

‘What is this!?’

-Oh…? Where did he got that…?-

‘Why are you stealing food?!’

Chirp!!! Chirp!!! Chirp!!!

She got angry as soon as she woke up, she didn’t liked the idea of either of them, taking that kind of risks for her… and not matter what the older brother tried, she wasn't calming down any time soon…

/////

But that wasn't the biggest surprise she would have that day…

Caw

At night the brother moved once she was done with her magic related exercises, exposing her a bit to the cold air, but still covering most of the nest with his wings…

‘Ah…? Oh! Cute!’

Buzz!

But she managed to withstand it, to see a ladybug made of wood… right on the edge of the nest…

-AH!?-

‘What’s wrong…?’ both of the brothers were there, looking between the two of them, so she wasn't worried by the cute thing in front of her… she didn’t recognized the stone the younger brother was holding with his beak

-Hello…!-

Buzz!

‘…?’

-Ah… yes, I heard you…-

‘Are… you two are talking…?’

-Yes… eh…-

The screen closed and opened a few times… to fast to read, until a blank message from the Trickster appeared. While that was happening the younger brother placed the stone nearby, causing the air to warm up

-Oh…! All right… Brenna…?- the message from the Trickster went away

‘Yes…?’ she was torn between the ladybug, the sudden warm, and the screens

-The giant tree is called Sunny, the ladybug you see here, is a secondary body that she can control at a distance…-

Brenna nodded

‘That is a cute name!’ Sunny buzzed and started to walk to, and on top of Brenna

Chirp!

Accidentally tickling her a bit…

-She is also the daughter of the Fourth Ruler of Death…-

She still managed to read that message, freezing out of sheer terror once she did… flinching a bit once Sunny buzzed again

-Sunny wanted to say “Hi” and to meet you-

‘H-hi!’ Brenna managed to think that… ‘N-not sure w-what I can do for you…?!’ but still was very nervous…

What the Helper has shared about the Rulers had been… mostly, about how dangerous they were… so having the daughter of one walking on her body, was…

-Nothing yet… oh… how do I…?- another godly message appeared and went away -Ok. Sunny might ask you to do something before you can meet Miriam-

‘Ah…? They know each other…?’ that name managed to calm her. Knowing that she was involved somehow, managed to make her feel safe…

But she would never admit that… the Lady of the Forest, already was getting on her nerves with the shipping…

-Yes- Sunny buzzed again, having finished her exploring and moving in front of her -SHE WHAT?!!!-

Chirp!

-Ah… sorry…- the sudden shaking of the message nearly made Brenna jump -Miriam suffered a Magic Drain-

‘Oh, no!’ she looked at Sunny ‘What did she lost?!’ more buzzing

-You’ll see it once you meet her…?-

-Why…?- another blank message appeared, and Sunny buzzed with it -Oh…-

‘Don't I deserve to know…?’

-It would take too long to explain…- Sunny opened her shell and Brenna saw fascinated how she flew to the edge of the nest -What Sunny wants for now, is that you keep that knowledge in mind-

Brenna nodded towards Sunny, and she buzzed

‘Ah?!’ making the tree rustle a bit ‘W-what?!’ moving a branch that was holding-

-A Terror Stone?!!!-

The Helper’s message shook violently, before closing and opening a few times, too fast to be read, before going away…

‘What is that…?’ Sunny buzzed at her question, but she didn’t knew how to interpret it…

-Just the most effective creature (And monster) repellent in this world… that is the only thing I can explain about it…-

‘Can I make one…?’ the drawing on it looked simple…

‘Ah, gotcha…’ but that message buried that idea…

Buzz…

-I didn’t knew it was there! And why are you calling me that?!- Sunny gave another buzz -Oh… Miriam has a Helper too… that explains a few things…-

Buzz~

-Brenna…- by then the tree returned to a normal position…

And for some reason that message made her shiver, even with the warm air around

‘Y-yes…?’

-I’m going to turn you into an Archmage… NO! I’ll train you so perfectly! That Archmages are going to beg you to train them!-

‘Ah…?’ she got confused for a moment ‘S-sure!’ but she started to feel a bit competitive ‘I’ll be even stronger that Miriam!’

Buzz~

That sound, she felt like she understood it…

‘At the very least I shall be her equal!’ she got it wrong… but…

‘Gah!!! Are you two are messing with me, because you can’t mess with her?!’ was distracted…

‘Ugh…’

Buzz

-Eh… Sunny? Brenna is a baby creature right now…-

Buzz!

-Oh, all right: Sunny will talk to the other trees, to give you a few missions once you evolve, to make you complete the Deed: Friend of the Trees-

Chirp!!!

‘DON’T!!!’ her distress didn’t lasted for long

‘Good…!’

Buzz~

‘Are you mocking me…?’ Brenna forgot for a moment, that Sunny was the daughter of a Ruler…

-She isn't… she has a foul mouth, but she isn't mocking you…- Sunny made a long sound at the time -Ah… I see…-

‘Yes…?’

The screen became multicolored for a few seconds then it split into a few messages

-There are three main types of special trees in this forest: Sturdy Wisdom trees, Watcher trees, and Guardian trees-

-Sunny is neither, but acts like a Guardian tree, meaning that monsters and Undead can’t get too close to her. Guardian trees can choose to destroy, or just block the passage for monsters and Undead (But Sunny prefers destroying them). Sunny will protect Miriam, if she faces anything too strong for her to kill. Once, she isn't allowed to do more than that…-

-If you complete the missions and the Deed, then Sunny will protect you like that too… but she still can only do that, once. Sunny will destroy most monsters and Undead in range, so if you face against either, and they are too strong for you, go to her. This won’t count as Sunny’s limit, but if you are facing a creature, it will-

-Fleeing is a viable strategy! Don’t get cocky!-

Reading the messages, made Brenna wonder, what did Miriam do to get that protection, but she didn’t expected an answer for it…

‘This protection includes an attack from the fourth Ruler…?’ the two brothers had their feathers ruffled when she thought about that, but couldn’t understand why… ‘You are their daughter…’

The silence that came after that, felt… tense… but eventually the ladybug gave an answer…

-The fourth Ruler will keep moving south in spring, there aren’t any signals that they might go north-

‘Oh! Good! Having you act in that situation would be awful!’ Brenna got a buzz, without new messages as an answer ‘But… what do you mean by “Most monsters and Undead…”? There are things you can’t kill…?’

There was another long silence with that…

Buzz

‘Ah…? W-what happened…?’ Sunny buzzed again

-There is… a special Undead in the forest… that is a waste of time for Sunny to try to destroy…-

‘But why would Miriam go there…? Can’t any of you tell her to not go…?’ she looked at Sunny, not waiting for an answer ‘How about you? Or does this counts as protecting her…?’

Ding

‘Ah…? Status?’

‘Eh…? Oh…’ Brenna didn’t reacted like Miriam to that Trait… ‘That… sounds useful…? I mean… in case I want to use it, then I suppose that…’ at first…

Chirp

‘Use it for what…?’ not realizing when she started chirping…

Chirp! Chirp! Chirp! Chirp! Chirp! Chirp! Chirp!

‘Use it for what?!!!’

Nor realizing how she was flapping her wings while trembling, unsure of what she was feeling…

She also didn’t realized how endearing she was looking to the brothers and to Sunny…