Chapter 24: Horns

A little while after Farenna left the camp.

"Ugh… Where is this?"

With a hoarse voice, Gia opened her eyes while also touching her forehead. Her consciousness gradually returned, as she looked around and found out she was laying down on a layer of leather mattress. Her sight was still a little bit blurry.

"Took you long enough to open your eyes, Gia."

Gia stared at the direction where the voice came from. She spotted Lilith sitting in a seiza position to her right. Lilith's eyes were swollen, somehow.

"Chief? Is this your tent?"

Gia raised her body a little, and sat down while still holding her head.

"Ugh…", she groaned.

Seeing that, Lilith reached for Gia's chest and pushed her gently.

"Don't force yourself. Farenna told me everything."

Lilith smiled wryly.

"She did, huh?", Gia mumbled. "Where is she? She should be as shocked as I am…"

She tried looking around again, but no matter how she turned her head, she couldn't find Farenna there.

"Farenna brought you here and told me to take care of you."

"Where is she now, Chief?"

Hearing that question being thrown at her again, Lilith went silent. She didn't know how to answer that, more less telling Gia about her condition and where Farenna actually went. Lilith bit her own lips and made a troubled face. From that alone, Gia's face turned despaired.

"Chief…", Gia got up and forcefully raised her body. "Where is she?"

Drops of tears were running down her cheeks. Her usual cheerful face became full of anger and worry. She staggered right after.

"Why are you silent? Why don't you answer my question? Where is Enna!?"

"..."

"Answer me!"

Gia screamed on top of her lungs and grabbed Lilith by her horns. She didn't even know why she felt that way. She recalled the whole month she spent with Farenna, and every single one of the memories pierced her heart.

"Erm… Am I disturbing?"

Suddenly, a familiar voice could be heard from the tent's exit. There, Sue was standing with a face full of perplexion.

"Gia!? What the fuck are you doing!?"

Seeing Gia doing something so outrageous to the Chief, Sue then ran and grabbed her by the abdomen and started pulling her away from Lilith.

"Let go of her, Gia! Ugh…! Why the hell are you this strong!?"

With all her might, Sue was pulling as hard as she could while Gia didn't have any intention to let go of Lilith's horns.

"It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It huuuuuuuurts!"

Lilith groaned and screamed in pain while crawling in four.

"No! You gotta answer me first! I don't care if you're the Chief or what! Just answer my question!"

Gia's stubbornness only made the situation worse and worse. Even other residents started gathering outside the tent.

"You're being ridiculous! How can I answer your question if you're pulling my horns like th— Aaaaaaargh! It hurts as heck, damn it!"

Sue was doing her best to pull Gia from Lilith, while Gia was also doing her best to hold on Lilith's horns, and Lilith was doing her best not to lose consciousness due to the pain. It was chaotic. And…

Crack!

"Eh…!?", the three of them gasped in harmony, especially Lilith who was also making a terrified face.

"Noooooo! My hoooooorns!"

Lilith's scream of agony was heard through the entire camp.

***

"Ahem!", Sue cleared her throat. "So, what happened?"

In front of her, Gia was sitting in a seiza position while Lilith was crouching in the corner of the tent, rubbing her almost broken horns and sobbing from time to time.

"Chief didn't answer my question…"

"As if I could answer your question if you were pulling my horns like that!"

Lilith shouted loudly. Her face was bright red due to the extreme pain she was feeling. She kept rubbing her cracked horns gently.

"This is the very first time you are like this, Gia…", Sue crossed her arms. "What kind of question made you do that?"

Instead of responding to Sue, Gia only lowered her head. That alone made Sue aware of what question Gia asked to Lilith.

"If you're asking about Fare—"

Gia got up in an instant and grabbed Sue by the collar.

"Where's she?"

Gia's eyes were full of anxiety, showing how much she cared about Farenna. Sue, who had known Gia for a long time, was quite in shock to see her old friend becoming more and more mentally unstable.

"Let me go first and I'll tell you where she went."

Hearing that, Gia's eyes widened. She lost the power in her arms and fell on her knees.

"She went, huh? I can kinda guess where she's going to…"

Gia knew she wasn't being normal, starting from when Farenna and she found the human footprints. All the paranoias she had been holding started to resurface after that.

"Gia, look at yourself now. Is that how the Ace of our tribe should behave?"

Sue asked her mercilessly. That was one of Sue's tendencies, she sometimes spouted harsh facts without thinking it through. That was why she was always misunderstood by others.

"The current you is much worse compared to when you lost your sister.", Gia turned her body and started walking away. "I bet you're just overthinking that this camp got invaded or something, right?"

Without being able to answer, Gia only stared blankly at Sue.

"Don't look at me like that. Just how long do you think we've been friends already?", Sue stopped and turned her head. "Even I know what you're feeling about Farenna."

Gia was rendered speechless.

"You're seeing Shea from Farenna's eyes, aren't you?"

"No! I-I just…"

"Come on, just admit it!", Sue approached Gia again. "And you know what? Farenna misinterpreted that as a feeling of love."

Gia's face blushed. She suddenly recalled the times when she got embraced by Farenna from behind.

"Wait, don't tell me…", Sue covered her mouth. "Are you actually…"

Gia stared at Sue's face and nodded her head. She then covered her entire face with her hands.

"Damn, that little bitch…", Sue smiled wryly. "I'll be killing her if she's not coming back safely…"

Meanwhile, Lilith was still sobbing in the corner.

***

"Huachooooooo!!!"

[Did you catch a cold?]

"No. Someone must've been talking about me…", I tightened my grip on my spear. "How many more do you think I should hunt?"

Below me, a big pile of monster corpses was standing tall, and I, the cause of all this massacre, stood on top of it. I swung my spear forward and jumped down to have a good look at it.

"Whoa… I sure hunted a lot, don't you think?"

[You did. You almost reached level 20. If my calculation is not mistaken, with this kind of pace, you will reach max level in no time at all.]

"Hmm…", I placed my spear on the ground and sat cross-legged beside it. "Can I open my status now?"

[Affirmative.]

The next moment, the usual panel appeared in front of me.

———————

        Status

———————

Name  : Farenna

Race   : Lv. 19/30 Blood Nymph

Status : Sealed

Sync. Rate: 10.01%

———————

HP: 185/200    MP: 50/100

SP: 65/120

———————

STR : 22   LUK : 5

AGI  : 25   DEX : 20

INT  : 17    VIT  : 23

Unallocated pts: 60

Bonus pts: 20

———————

After looking at it and pondering for a good 5 minutes, I decided to distribute my stat points.

"Dea, allocate 15 points for STR, 20 for AGI, 15 for INT, 20 for DEX, and 10 for VIT."

[You are going to use the bonus stat points. Are you sure?]

"Yes, please."

[Affirmative.]

Just as usual, I felt a surge of power in my body.

[Would you mind seeing the status now?]

"Okay."

———————

        Status

———————

Name  : Farenna

Race   : Lv. 19/30 Blood Nymph

Status : Sealed

Sync. Rate: 10.01%

———————

HP: 190/200    MP: 55/100

SP: 70/120

———————

STR : 37   LUK : 5

AGI  : 45   DEX : 40

INT  : 32    VIT  : 33

Unallocated pts: 0

Bonus pts: 0

———————

It wasn't much but I definitely felt I got stronger. Well, my target was to evolve once before I started executing the plans I had been discussing with Dea.

"I wonder how strong I'll be when my stats reach triple digits…"

[You will stand on the top of the food chain. At least in the first layer.]

"Man, I can't wait for it…", I laid my body down and turned my gaze to the pile. "I still got one more thing to do… Wait, did you deactivate the automatic skill activation?"

[Yes, I did. You were living in the tribe camp for more than a month already and you only realized it now?]

"..."

[As always, I am appalled by your ignorance.]

"Ugh… Fine! Call me whatever you want!", I raised my body and approached the pile. "Devour."

Chomp!

The next moment, a load of notifications popped up inside my head. Well, basically each of them notified me about the materials I farmed from the monsters I just devoured.

[You got some Infernal Cores, would you mind consuming them now?]

I flinched after hearing what Dea said. My face felt a little bit hot as well.

[Your face turned red.]

"Shut it!", I crossed my arms and whispered. "... How many are they?"

[Infernal Cores x16. With that amount, you will reach max level for your first stage of evolution.]

I ceased my mouth from speaking for a brief moment before I started talking again.

"Dea…", I whispered in a very, very soft voice. "Can you find a cave or something? I… I don't wanna be seen by anyone when consuming those cores…"

[...]

"Dea?"

[Tsk. I got it. Scanning the area…]

She paused for a moment.

[8 places have been found to meet the criteria. The nearest one is up north.]

"Okay, please show me the way."

[Roger that.]

I followed Dea's guidance and arrived at a small cave and entered there. For a whole 30 minutes, a girl's heavy moan was continuously heard right after.