Ervin’s frustration

Inside the Forest

I watched on as a vortex of flames erupted in front of a human-sized goldfish-like monster.

The monster had all the features of a fish except instead of its fins, the damn thing had wings-feathered wings. The scales of that fish shone like gold and I was pretty sure that it was valuable but since the fish was flying I didn't have many ways to attack it.

The only way I could think of was to use <shadow step> when they were near a shadow but if I used the skill too many times then I would fall unconscious.

Hence, right now I stood in the background, protecting the princess while Arya roasted the fish to her heart's content.

"Hey don't damage it too much, those scales might be valuable" I screamed hoping to get as much profit out of them as possible. "You are hopeless" I heard Lily say but hey it's money! I can't let her damage it too much.

Arya looked at the roasted fish and scratched her head saying, "Sorry Junior, it's thoroughly cooked."

Damn it, I wanted to curse but then caught a glimpse of one more goldfish appearing from behind the trees.

Perfect. Just what I needed.

It moved at us, wings flapping frantically, and I didn't waste time. As soon as it neared a shadow I grabbed my dagger and used <shadow step>.

I learnt my lesson, I won't let Arya use her flame spell again! Appearing from the shadows, with a quick breath, I swung my dagger at the goldfish's shiny scales with all my strength, expecting the blade to sink in. Instead, the dagger slid off its slick, golden surface like it was made of steel, leaving no mark at all.

My eyes widened in disbelief as the fish, now furious, swung its large tail towards my face. Sending me crashing back to the ground. Pain rushed through my head as I collided with the ground.

Blood gushed out from all over my body and I felt my vision blur. Gritting my teeth I looked up only to find the goldfish hovering above my head. It opened its mouth, spraying jets of pressured water towards me.

Fortunately, I managed to <shadow step> away towards my teammates before the water could hit me. The water jet slammed onto the ground with a loud 'boom' and caused the ground itself to cave in.

"You idiot, why did you rush out like that!?" Lily screamed while catching me and muttered <solar heal> while Arya used <flame vortex> to kill the goldfish.

Fire surrounded the fish and started to burn its scales. The goldfish screamed in pain and fired a pressured water towards Arya.

Before the jet could reach her, Lily muttered, <Solar dome> causing a dome-shaped shield to surround us. The shield surrounded us and weakened the incoming water Jet making it easy for Arya to defend herself with the help of her <fire beam> skill.

The fish tried to attack once more but the hot flames killed it before it could do anything.

Looking at them dispatching the fish with such ease made me a bit frustrated. I closed my eyes trying to suppress my emotions when Systie's voice rang in my head.

'You moronic human! What were you thinking rushing out like that!?'

Her screaming definitely didn't help calm me but I endured it 'Hey don't blame me, the fish looked valuable and I had no idea it had a high physical defence?'

'What are you talking about? That fish has a weak physical defence, its main stat is its magic attack' Systie said while looking perplexed.

'Huh, stop messing with me you stupid cat. My attack didn't even scratch its scales! How can it have a low physical defence?' I screamed at the cat, startling it.

'Hey, why are you screaming at me? Did you even use your <poison stab> skill?' the cat asked and I shook my head.

'That skill takes an hour and a half to kill why would I use it if just a normal slash would do the job much faster?' As I thought that Systie dropped a bomb(not literally)

'Human, why do you think there is something called physical attack and physical skills? It's because normal slashes and punches can't do anything to a high-level creature. Stop thinking that you can kill anyone with a normal slash and use your head'

It chided me a bit more causing me to huff, 'whatever!' I said before going silent.

If I think about it a bit more, what the cat said makes sense. If slitting a person's neck with a normal skill would kill them, then what's the use of having such a high level and HP? Taking a deep breath I calmed myself and looked towards the cat.

'So you are telling me, as a person levels up, their body becomes sturdy making normal attacks useless!?'

The cat nodded 'thank god you started using your single brain cell again. I almost thought you even lost that because of your head injury' it said irritating me more.

Why does this stupid cat find irritating me so funny? I groaned but the little talk helped me calm down a bit.

I smiled towards the cat, thankful for the help but suddenly a doubt popped into my head. If something dangerous approaches the cat, then will any of my skills help me defeat it!? I already knew the answer to that. No! My skills would be useless to help, my only attacking skill takes hours to be of any use and my other skills are non-damaging. Compared to me Arya could do tons of damage and Lily can heal. 'Am I useless right now!?'

As that negative thought started taking root, Systie spoke in my mind again, 'Stop thinking all that nonsense human. You already helped me once while fighting against the creepy priest and also your class specialises in assassination, meaning, if you level up a bit more, you will get some great physical attacking skills'

That statement cheered me up quite a bit.

While we were talking Lily's skill did its job, healing me up and Arya cooked the fish.

"Who wanted to eat," Arya called out while placing the cooked meat on the ground.

"No! You burned all the scales, they are valuable" I screamed but then felt Lily glaring daggers at me.

"Did you rush to attack the fish because you wanted money? You idiot! Value your life a bit more" she shouted, and Systie decided to join in, her tiny paws hammering on my head. 'Stupid human!' she yelled in my head, her punches doing little more than annoying me.

"Attack any more monsters, and I swear I'll hang you upside down and beat your ass," Lily finally said before sitting down to eat.

Arya just grinned sheepishly, "I like your suicidal habits Junior but next time, invite me too"

"I have no suicidal habits" I huffed but all the other gave me a disbelieving look before laughing out loud.

I just grumbled like a granny while chowing down. Half an hour later, we let out loud burps finally full. The fish tasted great.

I then pulled out my map, the magical one I got from the goddess after discovering that creepy mutated rat dungeon. It worked like a GPS, showing me exactly where we needed to go.

I zoomed in on the forest outside Chandola, my eyes narrowing as I spotted a mist-covered area not too far from where we were. "Thirty minutes away," I muttered.

"Is this the right place?" I asked Lily, just to be sure.

She nodded, her eyes scanning the map. "That's it."

With that, we packed our stuff. While packing Arya peeked at the map and asked, "Hey Junior, can this map help in locating a specific person?"

"No" I replied, shaking my head "It can help with location but won't work on moving people"

Arya looked disappointed for a second, but she quickly shrugged it off, her usual cheerful self returning. "Alright, let's get going," she said, taking the lead toward the misty forest.

**************************

Meanwhile, back in Chandola's noble district,

In the lush garden of a grand mansion, Hestia sat on a chair, her expression clouded with worry. A paintbrush was in her hand, and she was trying to distract herself by painting, but no matter how hard she tried, the anxiety in her heart didn't fade away.

With a sigh, She set her brush down and pulled out a small letter from her dress. The letter already had a message on it.

<Hi Mom,< p>

Don't worry, I'm doing fine.

I met a strange boy today—he had a black cat on his shoulders. I read his surface thoughts and found out that the cat's name is Systie.

I believe the cat is actually Systie-sama, the goddess of information (ya you read it correctly). I don't know why she's following him, but if they ever approach you, please help them as best as you can.

Also, Arya went out in the middle of the night. Please stop her from doing anything reckless.

Love you both.>

After a moment of hesitation, Hestia spoke softly to the letter. "Son, I need your help."

Far away, in the elven continent, a red-haired boy, her son—Ronan—was crouched behind a thick bush, observing the activities of a group of elves near the entrance of a natural dungeon. Suddenly Hestia's voice rang in his head, he immediately activated his <interact > skill.

Back in Chandola,

The message in Hestia's hand changed. The letters rearranged to form a new sentence.

<What happened? Did my sister do something stupid again?>

Hestia smiled and after making sure no one was around, said

"Yes, she is doing something stupid. A few days back some adventurers came in contact with a thick mist in the forest outside Chandola. All those adventurers later suffered from Plague symptoms. The guild did some investigation and found out that there were Plague spreaders in that mist"

<Don't tell me! She went after plague spreaders!? Ugh, how does she even plan to damage those things? They have <ghost body> ability unless she shuts that ability down, she can't do anything. Please stop her mom, it's too dangerous>

"Believe me, son, I really wish I could stop both of you from doing these dangerous things" Hestia sighed. "She already left some time ago, Lily is with her too. They plan to use purification spells to shut down that ability. Son, can you do something to help?"

There was a brief pause before Ronan responded.

<Just a second…Forgive me, Mom. I am in the Elvan continent. did write few blood messages just case but think monsters inside forest have already destroyed those messages. can't help directly pretty sure that Plague spreaders bypass barrier skill. If you can send someone with skill, would be lot of>

Hestia nodded, she did hope that her son might be able to help personally but the information he provided was more than enough. "I will do just that, thank you and take care, son."

With that, she closed the letter and summoned her butler. She quickly scribbled a note, sealed it, and handed it to him. "Take this to William at the church on the outskirts of the city. It's urgent."

The butler bowed and hurried off, leaving Hestia to sit in the quiet garden, praying for her daughter's safety.