Ch. 22 - Threat Presence of Forest Spirits.

Novia immediately jumped into Lucia's dream world, after appearing in front of her. and at that moment, Lucia completely lost consciousness.

"It-this.. where is this? why is it so scary? a-is this the wilderness? is this what auntie's dream world is like?" Novia was immediately skeptical when she was inside Lucia's dream world.

Novia's spiritual form showed a face of astonishment because of the situation of the surrounding environment where there were only trees with large towering trunks and lush leaves covering the beautiful night stars.

The little girl walked through the wilderness with minimal light due to the cover of moonlight by the branches and twigs passing above her, Novia, who was too difficult to see, said a few words.

"It's so dark here, if only there was a lamp that could illuminate my path and my vision, so that I could walk calmly without worrying too much."

As soon as she said that, many fireflies came out from behind the tree trunk, forming colorful round lights with varying diameters.

The flying balls of light turned out to be forest spirits known as "Dryads", a fairy figure the size of an adult human's little finger for those who have lived for thousands of years, and those who are young are smaller in size like a toddler's little finger and are only a few centuries old. that's how Dryads look like if you take reference from the Order of Living Things System in the Subliminal Verse.

The Dryads came out of hiding when they sensed the presence of threatening energy in all of them who were not far from Novia's position.

"O child of man, who are you and what need do you have here?" An adult Dryad asked Novia shortly after Novia accidentally released her energy while imagining.

Novia, whose vision had been enlightened by the light of the forest spirits, said as one of them asked.

"Um.. I-I... just came here and I don't know where is this..." Novia replied very nervously, not because she was afraid of them, but because she was mesmerized by the beauty of the Dryads.

"Okay, so you just got here and you're lost, is that it?"

"Y-yes...!" Novia nodded in embarrassment.

"Well, then with respect, I ask you to get out of here and one of us will show you the way out." The adult dryad, who looked like the leader of the forest spirits, made a slightly anxious face and tried to repel Novia in a subtle way.

"Uh.. um. alright, sorry for the trouble." Novia said with a low tone and a hint of disappointment on her face.

Then one of the group of adult Dryads who had a very young appearance and looked dashing, flew over and whispered to the middle-aged Elf Dryad Leader with a white beard and a small-scale version of his burly human body with wrinkled skin in some parts of his body.

"Elder Silvanus, are you sure you're going to drive her away? Why don't we just ask her for help in driving away the old hag who's going to freeze our region's forests?" The adult Dryad seemed to make a suggestion after seeing the hope before his eyes, thinking it could be a solution to the current internal problems of the Dryads.

"What are you saying?! are you out of your mind??? this little girl wants you to help her fight that psychopathic old hag?!! that's impossible stup*d!!!" Silvanus snorted in annoyance and scolded the adult Dryad when he heard her suggestion.

"Look Aelfric, while every once in a while your thoughts are heard and can solve a problem that concerns our people.. but this time, your suggestion sounds completely absurd and too unchristian!" Silvanus whispered again, but this time he was pinching Aelfric's head.

Silvanus pulled Aelfric up and flew closer to Novia's face, then said.

"Little one, I and this one will be the representatives to escort you." The old elf smiled lightly as he pointed at Aelfric next to him.

"Please don't call me a child uncle, my name is Novia!" Novia said firmly when the old elf who was smaller than her called her a child.

As Novia's assertiveness emanated, her spiritual form again released a large amount of energy, causing cool breezes to gently blow in all directions.

Although all the Dryad Elves who were not far behind Silvanus felt Novia's extraordinary energy field, but they all did not realize that it came from Novia and only thought that it was just a passing breeze.

"Alright, Novia. I'm sorry, please don't get angry. Come follow us, we'll guide you out of this forest." Silvanus smiled stiffly and trembled slightly as he said this and tried to calm Novia down.

It seemed that this old little elf also ignored Novia's energy just now, he only felt scared because of Novia's serious expression.

"Alright, I'll follow you guys from behind."

Novia walked guided by the two forest fairies. now she can walk freely with a fairly bright and clear vision. like a lantern without bothering to hold it.

On the way, the two male elves flying in front of Novia began to discuss something.

"Elder Silvanus, that girl may be our only hope of avoiding the Ice Witch's doom...!" Aelfric whispered with an occasional backward glance and a pleading plea for his suggestion to be heard and approved by his leader.

"On what basis do you believe that girl can overcome that old hag?" Silvanus gave Aelfric a sharp glance and said with a serious face.

"I'm sure, because I felt a burst of energy in that human child and I think, her strength is comparable to that ice witch."

"Hmph! It seems your thinking is getting duller and duller as time goes by! I told you not to play feelings with the Dryna because it can make Dryen like you stupid!" Silvanus snorted in annoyance and sighed with a slightly disappointed face.

Dryna is the name for the Dryads (forest fairies) who are tasked with maintaining the vitality of the forest and are female like humans. Dryen, on the other hand, were male fairies who served as warriors to defend Dryad territory from outside attacks.

"Elder, it's fine if you insult me about my love story, but please don't underestimate my analytical ability to read and understand situations." Aelfric looked very serious as he said this.

That caused Silvanus to look a little pensive and glance back. Afterward, he looked at Aelfric and said.

"Well, this time I've decided to listen to you. So, what's your plan and how can I ask for his help?" Silvanus moved closer to Aelfric and put his arm firmly around his shoulders.

"Uh.. um, thank you elder! Alright, so here goes..." Aelfric explained his plan to Silvanus while enduring the pain in the back of his neck.

Novia who heard all the whispers from the two Elves also put on a grim face with a pose of walking like a lazy person. she thought in her mind and thought.

'What are those little fairies up to? How come I feel so bad?' As soon as she said that in her heart, she decided to ask them directly.

"Hello, excuse me.. you two, what are you talking about me?"

Silvanus and Aelfric made surprised faces after hearing the words coming from behind them.

"N-nothing, Novia. we're not talking about you.. hehe... if you don't believe me, just ask Aelfric next to me." Silvanus smiled bitterly and threw the problem to the strategist Aelfric next to him.

"Ah.. that's right, we weren't talking about you, we were discussing the problems that would occur if we left the center of the forest because it is sacred and it is a very important priority for us forest spirits to protect it." Aelfric said with an expression that changed from a faint grin to one that was flat and serious.

"Forest spirit? What is that? And that sacred place you're referring to..." Novia was pensive for a moment remembering.

"Is it a hanging root tree with a large trunk and a glowing red and slightly blue object in the middle of the trunk?" She had seen a very large hanging root tree in the distance.

and then the "red and slightly blue object" in her vision passed behind the forest fairies who were looking at her as if deliberately covered by the Dryads.

"Did you just see it? How could you?!" Silvanus said angrily and glanced sharply at Novia.

The reason was, the hanging root tree that Novia said was indeed the sacred place referred to by Aelfric.

Aelfric, who saw Silvanus angry, immediately tried to restrain him.

"Calm down elders, how could this human child see the sacred tree of the ancestors? considering that the sacred tree of the ancestors was given a pseudo-barrier seal, so that any creature could not know let alone see the translucent sacred tree of the ancestors. unless indeed the seal of the barrier has been removed..." Aelfric had not finished saying, suddenly he remembered Novia's words just now.

"Wait! Did you just say there was a slight bluish tint to the red object?" Aelfric immediately turned to Novia and asked in a hurry with a panicked face.

"Yes, that's right. I'm sure I remember correctly, if there's a little blue dot in the lower left corner of the red object..." Novia stared upwards while recalling her previous vision.

"Perhaps.. that was...!?" Silvanus and Aelfric looked at each other, then they both said in unison.

"Ice Witch!!!"

Along with the voices of the two, a sudden chill pierced from behind Novia which was also felt by Silvanus and Aelfric.

The three of them simultaneously looked behind them.

Instantly, all three of them were dumbfounded when they saw what was in front of them.

'Roar!'

A huge iceberg appeared amidst the dense trees and continued to grow larger and taller with the sound of the rushing wind.

'Swoosh!'

The entire wilderness was instantly filled with solid ice that spread out and froze everything in its path.

As the freeze approached the three of them, Silvanus and Aelfric could only stand petrified with their jaws about to drop.

While Novia, with her intelligence and quick response, swiftly turned forward and said.

"Quickly we have to get away from here or the three of us will freeze like that!" Novia said to the two forest elves and moved past the two. However, the two of them were still stiffly silent while their expressions had now turned very desperate.

"Ah.. let's escape quickly..." Novia grasped the two fairies in each of her palms as she spoke to encourage them to run away.

The two forest spirits were very fortunate to be touched by Novia who was in her Spiritual form.

Otherwise, Novia's real body would not have been able to grasp them like that, and would have simply pierced through both of them.

"Hihi-hihi-hihi-hihi."

Suddenly a sinister shrieking laughter rang out from behind Novia, who was running with her fists, holding the two fairies. and trying to get away from the pursuit of the fast-moving ice freeze.

"You won't be able to escape from here...hihi-hihi-hihi." a hoarse and very creepy voice reached the ears of the three, giving Novia a little chill, let alone Silvanus and Aelfric.

"That-that...there's no mistaking it, that must be the Ice Witch's voice." Aelfric said with great fear in Novia's hand.

"Granny dented! you.. don't tell me it was you who broke the seal of the ancestral Sacred Tree's pseudo-barrier?!" Silvanus shouted loudly despite being blocked by Novia's lithe and petite fingers.

....