Fear

Lyrica rolled over the ground, the remains of the bush that was blown away are stuck all over her school uniform and hair.

"That was one powerful blow..." Lyrica maximized the resolution of the hologram screen by staring at it. "Damn it, my HP falls to 90% because of it."

Clash! Clash! Clash!

The fight between the two white rabbits continued, exchanging thunderous blows using their durable horns. Each collision would send powerful gusts all around them.

"Impossible..." Lyrica tried to stand on both feet while trying to keep the strong gusts from pushing her back. "Are they really just Lv. 8 monsters?"

While watching the two bunnies fight, Lyrica noticed the remains of the bush stuck on her black blazer, stockings, and her jet-black hair. Lyrica tried to brush them off, however...

"Huh?"

The things she thought were the scattered remains of the bush, suddenly attached themselves to her uniform using dark-gray strings that came out of them.

After giving one a closer look, a text appeared right before Lyrica's eyes.

[Green-winged Long-legs - Lv. 1]

At that moment, the same tiny text appeared from the others. Her face gradually transformed from confusion, to utter horror.

"Aaaaahhh!!"

The Forest of No Return, the biggest forest in Alteria, is also the world's biggest biodiverse ecosystem.

One can find different species of plants, as well as different kinds of strange, but also wondrous creatures in the forest.

One of many plants that can be found in the forest is the giant tree known as the higantes. A kind of tree that can reach up to 90 meters tall and above, a perfect material for making houses and other structures.

On the way deeper into the forest, Lyrica encountered two of the many inhabitants of the Forest of No Return. The white rabbit and green-winged long-legs.

The white rabbit is an animal with snow-white fur and a horn identical to a unicorn's sticking on its head. They are extremely agile, aggressive, territorial animals. Approaching them carelessly is the least thing a foolish person should do.

The green-winged long-legs, or just green wings for short, is an arachnid with eight dark-gray long legs and green wings. They are often mistaken for a bush whenever they gather around due to the color and pattern of their wings which are bearing similarities to that of a real green bush leaves.

Anyone oblivious of their existence would be fooled easily. Just like Lyrica.

Yes. Lyrica dived into a cluster of green wings without her knowing. And the result was her squealing in utter horror which resonated throughout the forest.

"Get off!"

Lyrica's strength is now beyond a normal human. But with her thoughts being clouded with fear, the only thing she could do is to move about restlessly.

The green wings have a surprisingly strong grip, but they do not stick around in places bereft of silence. Eventually, the spiders flew away on their own accord.

Lyrica fell to her knees, and a pool of tears formed in her eyes.

"I should have told you when I had the chance." The voice apologized in a fearful tone.

"So you knew about it," Lyrica replied whilst wiping her tears with her hand. "I guess you really did peek a bit too much."

Lyrica feared spiders more than anything. The voice apologized, not because she couldn't warn Lyrica in time. The voice apologized because she didn't warn Lyrica even though she knew about her fear from the beginning.

The voice inside Lyrica's head can do a lot of things. Such as bringing someone into another world, healing others, conversing using telepathy, and looking into someone's memories.

The voice peeked into Lyrica's mind, but she failed to see everything because of her big mouth. Even so, the voice managed to learn several things. Including Lyrica's height, and her fear of spiders.

The voice wanted to warn Lyrica so much about the arachnids, but she feared that helping Lyrica any more than she already did would not do her any good.

In the end, the voice kept her mouth shut. The white rabbit's clash revealed Lyrica's fear right before her eyes, giving her the biggest shock of her life.

"Are you all right?" The voice asked.

Lyrica wordlessly stood still in the same spot. The two white rabbits, whose fight got interrupted by Lyrica's scream, started growling at her. The girl, however, did not faze one bit. It's almost as if she didn't hear anything, at all.

Taking Lyrica's wordless response as a mockery, the white rabbits dashed forth.

'They're coming!' The voice uttered in her thoughts.

She watched over Lyrica in total silence as the white rabbits closed in on her. But at that moment, the girl spoke.

"You're asking if I'm all right?"

The voice felt bad watching Lyrica flailing about helplessly because of the green wings, she regretted not saying a thing to the girl. But after that ordeal, that feeling transformed into fear.

"Lyrica..."

There's a reason why there's fear in the voice's words.

Again, the voice can look into someone's memories. Through this, she's able to learn about Lyrica's fears. But that's not all. The voice also learned how Lyrica would react to it.

Whenever she gets frightened, Lyrica doesn't bawl just like anyone would. Instead, she would get genuinely pissed.

"I'm all right."

Without warning, Lyrica ran toward one of the white rabbits.

With great precision and timing, Lyrica grabbed the white rabbit by the horn.

Drag!

It may have pushed her back due to the force and speed of the creature, but other than that, Lyrica did not suffer any damage.

The other white rabbit attempted to retreat after seeing the girl's strong grip on its fellow white rabbit's horn. But the momentum it created for dashing with such speed dragged itself right in front of Lyrica.

Grab!

The white rabbit shrieked in fear as Lyrica grabbed it like a stuffed toy with no life.

Without wasting a moment, Lyrica front kicked the white rabbit like a soccer ball, hitting the goal that is the Higantes in the distance.

[You Have Defeated A White Rabbit - Lv. 8!]

[You Received 800 EXP!]

This is what the voice feared–Lyrica's genuine anger. Lyrica would only show it by going rough with the white rabbits, but the voice is certain that the girl is mad for not telling her about the arachnids beforehand.

The voice is afraid that because of what happened, Lyrica might decide to call off the agreement.

Lyrica can do that. There was nothing that can stop her from dismissing the deal, not even the voice. In the first place, Lyrica should have been in the kingdom come, not in a world where she only gets troubled just as much as she was on Earth.

The voice remained silent as Lyrica threw the white rabbit she grabbed to the same higantes tree.

[You Have Defeated A White Rabbit - Lv. 8!]

[You Received 800 EXP!]

After that, Lyrica called the voice out.

"What's wrong? Are you thinking about me brushing off the deal?"

The voice flinched over Lyrica's accurate guess. At that point, the voice thought it was only a matter of seconds until Lyrica would finally call off the deal.

"I am true to my word."

"Huh?"

"As much as I want to avoid trouble, I won't back down on my promises. When I said I'm gonna do it, I will do it."

But contrary to what the voice had in mind, no agreement was cut off.

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't get mad for not telling me about those things," Lyrica added. "But you said helping me out wasn't part of the deal, so I guess it cannot be helped."

"Lyrica..."

"If anything, I should be grateful that you healed me the first time, you taught me about the world, and how my magic ability works."

The voice watched Lyrica as her left hand reached for her right arm. Lyrica's head leaned down, trying to hide her embarrassment.

"This may sound cringy or whatever, but I'm truly grateful for your help... Thank you."

Lyrica's words of gratitude sent an overwhelming feeling of relief to the voice. So much that she can't even utter a word in response to the girl.

"So you're not gonna say anything, at all? Talk about rude..."

"Sorry, I lost my composure there."

Lyrica's shy demeanor soon disappeared as she return to her usual straightforward self.

"Well, whatever. I already said what I wanted to say. Feel free to speak whenever you're ready."

Soon after expressing her appreciation for all the help she received from the voice, Lyrica resumed on her journey further inside the forest.