Friendly Fire

****(POV)

This nap was truly necessary. It took me a whole night to recover my mana. For one such as I, that timeframe is insane.

I have always had higher mana regeneration than others. For the first time in a while, this ability failed me. Not only did it fail me, but I almost committed a serious mistake.

I shudder just remembering about that horrible creation of his. Thinking back on it there is no way I should have lost my cool. At all.

It is usual to trash talk while fighting. This is all with the goal to disrupt the opponent's mental state. A single moment of distraction is enough to end a fight. Except that this time I couldn't ignore it.

I still don't know why. I still don't know how that is even possible. It isn't logical, yet it happened. This scares me.

Losing a fight is something I can deal with. I have tried fighting Yggdrasil once in the past. Needless to say, I ended up swatted like a fly.

Still back then, the reasons for my defeat were evident. I lost fair and square. This time around I got pushed to my very limit by ….

I'm still not sure how to call that thing. A spell made by a beginner that somehow turned that terrifying.

Wait. Before I reminisce, there is something I need to do. Right now!

I carefully head back to the courtyard. There it stands. It is perfectly intact, even after everything I threw at it. This is monstrous.

I slowly approach it. I am ready to run should it show the slightest sign of life. 1 step, 2 steps, 5 steps, then I am close enough to touch it. I circulate mana in it, once, twice, a few times. No reaction.

*Sigh of relief*

I let go of the breath I was unconsciously holding. This spirit is gone for good it seems. If it was still there, I would have given up on this courtyard altogether.

Then I would have coordinated with all the other guardians to get rid of the issue. Quite impressive to think that this newcomer alone almost caused a disaster. Involuntarily at that.

I guess this is only normal. He was sent by Yggdrasil himself after all. It would have been suspicious if he was normal instead. This is all extremely disconcerting yet reassuring at the same time.

How odd. Uh?! Something definitively just happened. Most of the magical alarms around my domain disappeared.

There is an intruder. Yet, there is no ringing. There should be some sound heard, but there is nothing. Whoever is invading is good. Removing all sounds is no easy task at all.

They did forget that I'm a spider, however. Placing webs around my lair remains my specialty. Is this an assassination attempt? No creature in this forest would sneak around in this place. They all know better.

Time to act. As they say, the best defense is attack. Yggdrasil himself is the one that taught me that. I carefully exit and find a nice ambush spot. I can't hear my target but I still know roughly where it is. The home-ground advantage is giving me an edge.

3…2…1…Take that! I throw a fireball filled to the brim with as much power as I can manage. Let's go for a one-hit kill!

Then my opponent turns the corner. I can't help but grin seeing it fly towards its face and….

What the hell! Why is that dumb bear here?! Why is it sneaking around?! Why?!

His eyes are opened wide. His jaw is agape in a silent scream. It seems he realized he is about to die. He starts frenetically moving its paws around. This is a futile effort.

Goodbye, my furry goofy friend. I will give you a proper burial for sure. One that will be so well hidden that no one will ever find it. That kind of defies the purpose of a grave, but I'm sure that is what he would want.

For sure the more difficult it is to find the better. Rest in peace. My vision gets obstructed by the glowing spell. Then it hits.

*BOOM*

Intense energy radiates. The earth trembles. The heat is extreme. The air itself gets vaporized. There is no way he could have survived that.

*Sigh*

The end result is a crater of destruction. The ground is completely charred and… Wait…is that movement?! How?!

Oh my god! This glorious beast! He wasn't waving his paws for no reason. While the death sentence was coming his way he dug underground.

That is so damn impressive considering how sturdy everything in this forest is! He evaded the entirety of the attack! All of it! Not only did he manage to bury himself in the ground instantly, but he also closed the opening behind him!

This is genius! Truly the work of an insane genius! One insanely hiding-obsessed one! There is no way a bear should have these capabilities. No way in hell! Then again is there any normal being in this forest?

There is a reason we all congregate around Yggdrasil. Any normal individual would have died way before reaching here. The heart of the forest is sacred after all.

Still, I am truly glad he is alright. It would have left a bad aftertaste in my mouth if I had killed an ally. There is one thing I am wondering. Why didn't he announce his presence beforehand?

"Hey there, what brings you here?"

"…"

What?! What kind of game is he playing with me right now? Is this a guessing game? Sure I'll bite.

"Are you here to practice your stealth techniques?"

"…."

He keeps waving his limbs around but stays mum. This is hard.

"Are you practicing not making any sound to make sure even in your sleep or during battle you remain silent?"

*shake*

He seems to be denying it, then the next moment he starts pondering. Why am I getting the feeling he is trying to figure out the feasibility of such a training method?

"Are you here because you lost a bet?"

"*shake*"

He seems to be denying that one too. What is it then? Ah...he seems to be signaling me to follow him.

"You need my help with something? Want me to come with you?"

*Nod! Nod! Nod! *

"Alright!"

He turns around. That's when I see it. The hair on his butt is completely burnt and fell. It seems to be forming a heart shape too!

"PFFTTT!"

He looks at me inquisitively.

"*Giggle* Nothing. I just remembered something funny!"

This is hilarious!

Still, I wonder. Where is he bringing me?