Another hour quickly passed, and Statiw finally marked the exact locations of the three Horsetails on the drawing.
"Alright, let's go quickly." Mirajane, who was standing behind him, saw that the exact locations had been marked, and without another word, immediately wanted to enter the forest.
"Wait, it's already getting dark. We should at least go back, eat our fill, and then enter the forest." At this moment, Statiw first put away his drawing board and other items, then called out to her and suggested this.
"No need. There are many animals and plants to eat in the forest. We can just find something to eat directly in the forest." Mirajane didn't even consider his suggestion and pulled him directly into the forest.
As they stepped into the forest, the light inside became increasingly dim. Before they even reached the location of the first Horsetail, the sky outside had completely darkened, and the forest became so dark that they couldn't see their hands in front of their faces. At this point, Statiw had no choice but to use his magic again, turning the torch he had previously drawn into a physical object to illuminate their surroundings.
Feeling the light from the torch, Mirajane looked at him in surprise and said, "I didn't expect your magic to be quite convenient."
"Of course. In a place where you can't see your hand in front of your face, it's simply too inconvenient to move around without light." Seeing her surprised expression, Statiw thought she was very astonished and chuckled with a hint of pride.
"What are you so proud of? We're not ordinary people." Mirajane saw a proud expression on his face, pouted, and reminded him, "In such a dark place, you just need to channel your magic into your eyes, and you'll be able to see clearly as if it were daytime. Having a light source just makes things a little clearer."
Speaking of this, she suddenly remembered how Statiw stumbled when he first entered the forest, and instantly realized, "You mean you never knew?"
"What's so strange about not knowing? I've never heard anyone talk about these things." Statiw, who was completely ignorant of this, immediately canceled the torch in his hand upon hearing her words and channeled his magic into his eyes. Sure enough, the pitch-black darkness, where he couldn't see his hand in front of his face, became a bit brighter. Although it wasn't as clear as she said, like daytime, he could at least make out some outlines of the surrounding environment. Experiencing the sight of channeling magic into his eyes for the first time, he exclaimed with novelty, "So magic can be used like this! I've really learned something new today. But it doesn't seem very clear; it's completely different from what you said about it being like daytime, isn't it?"
"Is that so? Maybe your strength isn't enough, or perhaps your magic isn't suited for these things." Hearing his last words, Mirajane turned her face and carefully looked at his eyes.
"What do you mean?" Statiw was already confused by her words. He could understand not having enough strength, but he found it hard to comprehend that his magic wasn't suited for these things.
"It's simple. Everyone's magic is different, and in reality, their magic power is also different. Things that my magic can easily accomplish would be very difficult for you. For example, Erza can't see things in pitch-black environments like I can." After saying that, Mirajane even crossed her arms and let out a few extremely arrogant laughs.
As the two chatted, they quickly arrived in front of the first Horsetail. Just then, a venomous snake suddenly shot out from the Horsetail, baring its fangs and biting towards Statiw, who was closer. By the time he noticed the snake, it had already been caught by the head by Mirajane, who had completed her Take Over. Only at this moment did Statiw react, feeling a wave of lingering fear, and a fine layer of sweat beaded on his forehead.
At this time, looking at the Horsetail on the ground, which was identical to ordinary weeds, Mirajane held the snake and shook it vigorously, asking with a bewildered expression, "What's going on? Didn't the Horsetail we saw in the drawing this afternoon glow? Why does it look so ordinary now?"
Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead and calming his emotions, Statiw then said with a helpless expression, "It looked like it was glowing in the drawing because when I used magic, I set the plant that looked like a horsetail to glow, to make it easier to find. But that only happens in my drawing; how could it be like that in reality?"
After listening to his explanation, Mirajane looked a little disappointed with an unhappy expression and said, "Seriously, it looked quite beautiful. I was planning to find two more and dig them up to plant after the mission. If that's the case, then forget it."
Statiw, who was about to step forward to pick it, unconsciously breathed a sigh of relief when he heard her words. Just as he was about to pluck the Horsetail, she suddenly pulled him aside with a displeased expression and said, "What are you doing? Stop it."
"Of course, I'm picking the Horsetail. What's wrong? Is there a problem?" Looking at her in surprise, Statiw didn't understand what she wanted to do.
"I remember telling you that we needed to find a type of bird that lives near the Horsetail, right? Did you just ignore what I said?" With a gloomy face, Mirajane glared at him and asked.
"Aren't there three of them? We can totally pick two first, and then wait for the bird at the last one. If we reduce the first two in the entire forest, the chances of that bird appearing at the last one should be greater, right?" Statiw didn't feel he had done anything wrong and stopped to tell her his thoughts.
Mirajane heard this and stood there, carefully considering the pros and cons. He could only stand by and wait for her to make a decision, otherwise, if it didn't align with her wishes, with her current temper, that girl would really hit someone.
After a long while, she thought it over and over and felt it was safer to wait here. So she directly rejected his idea, saying, "We'll wait here. If there's nothing here, we'll go to the next one. I feel this is safer."
"In that case, you go get something to eat, and I'll start a fire. We can't spend the night hungry, can we?" Since she had already made her decision, Statiw naturally had no intention of objecting.
Mirajane threw the venomous snake, which she had already played to death, onto the ground, and then went deeper into the forest to hunt. Statiw, on the other hand, carefully collected some dry branches nearby to build a campfire, and then once again materialized a torch to light the bonfire. Immediately, the firelight illuminated the surrounding environment, a warm aura enveloped him, and at the same time, it dispelled the heavy humidity in the forest…