A red haze filled my vision. It was a rage I had never known, a raw, burning fury that screamed through my mind, eclipsing the serene calm I had worked so hard to cultivate. The pain was still there, a sharp, stabbing ache on my side, a phantom wound where Ember had been struck. It wasn't a simulation, a mere status update on my Interface. It was real. I could feel his keening whimper, a low, guttural noise that sent shivers of pure grief through me. My friend was hurt. My peace had been broken, and now a price would be paid.
I dropped from my perch, landing soundlessly on the mossy forest floor. My heart hammered against my ribs with a frantic, animal beat. The adventurers, frozen in a mix of awe and terror from the fireball, were still trying to process what had just happened. All of them, that is, except for Korvin. She was already reloading her crossbow, her movements quick and efficient, her gaze sweeping the forest, now fully expecting the unexpected.
My previous plan was to simply scare them away, to make them fear the forest so they would never return. But that plan died the moment that crossbow bolt struck Ember. This wasn't about scaring them anymore. This was about retribution. This was about protecting my family.
I gave the mental command, and a new wave of attacks began, this time with a single-minded ferocity. Mossy, who had been a camouflaged shadow, erupted from the ground. He didn't use his Vine Whip to snatch a map this time. Instead, thick, gnarled roots, under his direction, shot out from the ground, lashing at Brutus's legs. The big man was caught completely by surprise. The roots, hard as ironwood, wrapped around his ankles, tripping him and sending him sprawling into the mud with a great, furious yell. His massive sword clattered to the ground, sinking slightly into the soft earth.
Korvin, with the agility of a trained hunter, spun and fired a bolt at the moving roots, but they were too fast, too numerous. She managed to sever one, but two more were already wrapping around her legs, tangling her.
Bubbles, my ever-loyal little bubble of a friend, wasn't just using his Adhesion skill to trip them. He flowed from the undergrowth, his body a shimmering wave, and splashed onto Felix's armor. Felix, still recovering from the frostbite in his fingers, cried out as Bubbles, with a new purpose, began to seep into the cracks of his armor. The water seeped into his chainmail and the joints of his plate, making the metal feel heavy and slick. I focused my will, and Bubbles used his Adhesion to form a thick, gluey layer over the joints, effectively locking Felix's limbs in place. The young adventurer was trapped, stuck fast by a tiny, blue blob.
Brutus, meanwhile, was struggling. The roots were pulling him deeper into the muddy bog created by Mossy, and he was sinking. He thrashed and swore, his face a mask of primal fury, but he couldn't get a good foothold. His sword was just out of his reach. He was helpless.
"Get off me, you damned weeds!" he bellowed, his voice choked with effort.
"Brutus, don't move!" Korvin shouted, still trying to free herself. "It's not weeds, it's a creature! It's alive!"
The sheer helplessness of the situation was finally dawning on them. They were not fighting a beast; they were fighting a coordinated force, a silent, invisible enemy that used the very forest against them. They were defeated, caught in a series of traps that seemed designed for this very moment.
With them incapacitated, I finally emerged from the trees. I didn't hide anymore. I walked with a deliberate step toward Ember, who lay crumpled on the ground, a puddle of red goo with the cruel iron-tipped bolt still sticking out of his side. I knelt beside him, my heart aching as I saw the terrible wound. The Interface that hovered over him was now a sickly, pulsating red.
Name: Ember (Fire Slime) Level: 7 Status: Critically Injured
I gently touched his form, and a fresh wave of pain coursed through me. My hands, which had only known how to nurture, now shook with a desperate kind of urgency. Ember pulsed weakly, his body trembling, a small sound escaping him that was half whimper, half sizzle.
"My friend," I whispered, my voice rough with emotion. "I will fix you. I will not let them harm you."
A sound behind me made me turn. It was Felix, who had finally managed to free one of his hands. He was staring at Ember, his eyes wide with a mixture of fear and something I hadn't expected to see on a human's face: pity.
"It's... it's just a slime," he murmured, his voice cracking. "It's not a monster. It's… it's hurt."
Brutus, still stuck in the bog, roared with frustration. "Who cares what it is! It's a beast that was trying to kill us! Get up, Felix, and slay it while you have the chance!"
I ignored him. My gaze was fixed on Korvin. She had finally freed herself from the roots, and she stood there, her crossbow still in her hands, but lowered now. She was looking from me to Ember, her sharp eyes taking in the entire scene: the defeated Brutus, the helpless Felix, and me, a young man kneeling over a puddle of red goo, my hands glowing with the faint, warm light of my mother's stone.
"You're not a mage," she said, her voice quiet, a stark contrast to her partner's booming rages. "You're a summoner." She took a step closer, her eyes on the small, glowing pebble I held in my hand. "A rare one, too. The mana trail… it's from your slimes, not your magic. It's beautiful. But why… why are you protecting them?"
I didn't answer. I just held out my hands, and two more slimes, a small, crystalline Ice Slime and a hulking, rock-like Earth Slime, emerged from the forest, their forms shimmering with a silent rage.
Korvin raised her hands in a gesture of surrender. "Wait! We don't want to hurt them. We didn't know. We thought… we thought it was a trap. We can help you. We have salves and bandages. We… we can try to heal it."
My gaze hardened. Heal him? After what they had done? The anger was still there, but beneath it, a tiny seed of doubt had been planted. I had a choice. Trust the very species that had cast me out as an infant and just hurt my friend, or let Ember suffer. My mother's stone pulsed in my hand, a warm reminder of her last words: It will find you friends where others see only monsters. Did that mean humans, too?
I looked at the crumpled form of Ember. He needed help. And I, a strategist, knew I had a weakness. I had no healing abilities. I could only nurture and watch them grow. If I let my rage consume me, I would lose my friend. I slowly stood, my eyes never leaving Korvin's. It was a risk, a terrible risk, but it was one I had to take.
"You will help my friend," I said, my voice barely above a whisper. "Or I swear, you will stay here, in this bog, until you become part of the mud."
My trust in humans was zero, but my trust in my friend was absolute. And if helping him meant putting my faith in the enemy, for just a moment, I was willing to do it.