Published at 24th of December 2020 02:53:39 PM

44 The Forest Childrens Guidance

Aro is finding it a bit difficult to move her newly evolved body. As a result, Ive put off resuming our exploration and am watching over her.

It looks like that her earthen body is tricky to move in. Each time she moves her joints, flour-like dust drops.

Shes D-rank now. Thats the same rank that the ball rabbit got too. Raising her level in one go is going to be difficult now. Personally, Ive come as far as I have both because I got double experience, and because I had an objective I pushed myself to near death for both factors are important. Even with unlimited healing, its going to take some time.

Though saying that, going from E to D, she suddenly went from bone to (earthen imitation) flesh. [Revaana] long for a body of flesh, Gods Voice said. Shes on the right path for an undead to become more human, I think. That is me being optimistic, though. I would be happy if C rank puts her in a form even closer to a human. Its a bit hard to imagine what B rank would do though.

Ah Ah, oh

While Im lost in thought, I hear a hoarse voice. Breaking off my train of thought, I break I look towards the voices owner, Aro.

Through her creaking joints, shes gradually gotten used to moving, it seems. I think shes finally become able to walk without discomfort. After confirming she can move adequately well, we resume our travels.

We give the Lithovar village a wide berth, heading in the direction the manticore fled. The dragon-gods miko, Hibi, said something along the lines of it went in that direction, so itll be fine.. So she had some idea of where manticore was going.

Which means its probable that it ran in a straight line, without turning. If I walk in that direction, I should be able to find it.

I walk, feeling around with [Presence Perception]. Because of the grass, there arent any footprints for me to see, and all the trees have too many cuts on them already. All Ive got to go off of is [Presence Perception] in the end. Only knowing its rough direction is tough. But I think I should be able find it this way all the same

I walk around for a while, but dont pick up on any signs of it. I try sniffing the ground, but theres no smells that remind me of the manticore. At best, all I can make out is soil and pollen.

As we continue to walk through an unfamiliar area, I gradually lose my sense of direction. Now that its come to this, should I turn to my last resort, [Flight]?

However, searching for the manticore was only ever meant to be a bonus to do while grinding Aro. If I cant find it, then I cant find it. Should we head home now? Hibi asserted that the manticore wouldnt be a problem. Theres no need to carelessly spread [Dragon Scales] around.

Its also true that I have no idea how to catch it even if I do find it. Its speed cant be underestimated. If I mess up, I could end up just forcing it into human habitation again.

I pause and take a look around. My eyes meet Aros, whos been laboriously following behind me. Traces of my passage trail behind us. Its mixed with other monsters, but by combining it with my memory we should be able to go back easily enough.

I examine Aros expression. I dont know if its because of her earthen flesh, but her facial expressions hardly change. Shes nervously looking back the way we came and to the sides of the path.

Though incomplete, I think Aro has some memories left over from her past life. Could it be that she remembers something about this placee? Though it is quite far from the village. There are monsters about, so I dont think its somewhere theyd let children come freely. Aro wouldnt have come here before, I dont think. Its a bit hard to imagine.

Should we retrace our steps? Go back? As Im fretting over what to do, I notice three lumps of clay sitting in the branch of a tree. Theyre forest children, rarans. They really are present all over the forest.

One of the threes eyes meet mine. To be precise, it doesnt have eyes so much as eye-like features It gestures, scratching its head. Its actions make it clear that its aware of me. It stands up, clasps the branch it was sitting on in its hands, then dangles beneath it.

Visit readel.me for extra chapters.

Wh-whats it doing? Its strange behaviour, but the other two dont seem to pay it any mind.

It swings twice, three times, then drops straight down. A small cloud of dust raises where it lands. When that clears away, I see the raran recovering from its failed landing. It then starts walking in the opposite direction from me. After taking three steps, it suddenly disappears.

While Im looking in the direction it was walking, the two that should have been on the branch still also disappear.

I get the feeling it was telling me to follow. No, thats not quite right. My impression was that its attitude was more along the lines of If youre coming, then come.

I kind of want to take a look. It felt like the Lithovars were keeping something a secret, so Im a bit anxious. I want to dispel my distrust.

I head in the direction the raran went, but it doesnt show up again. Just as Im wondering if they werent just running away from me, Aros footsteps suddenly stop. I turn around to see her stopped, observing the surroundings. It looks like she is cautious of something.

I focus on [Presence Perception], spreading out its range. A good distance away, I pick up on a human presences. I dont know if theyre a traveller from outside, or a Lithovar. Theyre fairly tall. Probably over twenty.

Though saying that, there shouldnt be any Lithovars here. Were quite far from the village, and besides, the manticore fled this way. I cant imagine anyone from that village would come all the way out here just to hunt. If theres some sort of ritual that needs doing out here, then it cant be helped, but if there was an altar or something then Hibi wouldnt have said its fine.

But a single person, huh. I can detect tension from their presence, but they dont seem to be injured. Theyve got to be a completely unrelated traveller, I think. Id like to take a look, but I cant exactly let Aro be seen.

As Im wondering what to do, I pick up on another person through [Presence Perception]. As Im trying to make sense of it, the person multiples again and again.

In the end, I detect a total of five people with my [Presence Perception] radar. Theyve split up into two groups of one and one group of three. Th-this doesnt feel like just a traveller. Have they split up to search for something? It seems like they know the lay of the land

The group of three suddenly stops, then one of them takes the lead and heads straight towards me. This is bad, they found me. They must have some sort of perception skill as well.

Sh-should we run away? No, shouldnt we check who they are first? If they know the lay of the land, then theres a good chance that theyre Lithovars, in which case they wont attack me on sight, probably. Id like to hear why they came all the way out here. Of course, Ill need to hide Aro somehow