"Don't underestimate this chilly wind, Jane. This is not natural wind." replied Jade sternly.
"Hmm??" asked Jane back.
"Because of the monster horde last time, some miasmas are rooted deep in this land. It will only become worse during the night."
"Although the miasma is too thin to affect the army, it is still a miasma. Make sure to monitor anyone, be it physically or mentally. I don't want any mishap to happen when we enter the war." explained Jade.
"Yes, Father." replied Jane respectfully.
Jane knows her father rarely makes trivial talk, especially after his breakthrough towards the seventh grade. If her father mentions it, it means this is something important to look out for.
On the way to her personal tent, Jane finally notices the windy night is more chilly than usual. Combined with the tension before the war, the atmosphere in the camp looks more somber.
'It is like the whole camp is struck by a curse or something.' thought Jane solemnly.
Meanwhile, a flash of silver light could be seen not far from the Heart kingdom's camp. Unfortunately, the silver light is too fast for any nearby guard to notice. After moving for a while, the silver flash stopped at a certain area before inspecting the ground.
This silver flash is none other than the Homunculus Lily, inspecting the whole ground and searching for a clue about the unknown tentacle beast in the Humnia Grassland.
In fact, Lily is actually trying to watch the fight between Nergal and Heart, especially the battle between Jade and Andvari. For her, the fight between seventh grade is exciting.
After her awakening, she found her life became too mundane. She slowly loses interest in everything. The only thing that arouses her interest is when it is related to combat and fighting.
When she is fighting, she feels alive. Unfortunately, she knows it will be against her father's wish to fight the others and cause a lot of trouble.
For a certain period, she didn't know what to do and suppressed her obsession with fighting until she met Angus at Sunset City.
As a master of martial arts, Angus couldn't help but notice her inner struggle. He knows this will be a significant bottleneck for her.
After getting some advice from Angus, Lily decides to take it slow and no longer suppress her inner desire. Still, she also didn't let it loose and controlled herself.
'Master Angus's advice really works. I feel completely free from all the invisible burdens and shackles.' thought Lily while enjoying the chilly night wind.
Since her body is made artificially, she is not affected by cold wind or the thin miasma in the air. After enjoying nature, Lily hears a whisper not far from her. Instantly, Lily stands on guard, ready to fight anything while silently casting various enhancement spells on herself.
This action is not because Lily is paranoid, but it is her habit after thousand years of fighting. No matter what the situation, Lily could always react instinctively to combat.
"Help.. Help.." a soft voice heard through the chilly wind.
Noticing that no one is nearby her, Lily decides to use large-scale detection spells to find the source of the voice. This big movement was also detected by some people from the camp. But, the soldier decides to ignore it since they recognize Lily's mana signature. freewebnove l.com
They know Lily is investigating nearby and decide to leave the homunculus alone. Although Lily looks like a human, her strange behavior and her doll expression often put everyone on their nerves. She is also famous for her bluntness toward brutal action.
As Lily casts a large detection spell, she finds it weird since she still can't pinpoint the voice source despite already covering the whole 10 km in her surroundings. Intrigued by this voice, Lily decides to pursue it.
Using her rapid speed, she travels dozens of kilometers away before finally noticing the source of the voice. In front of her, she finds an upside-down turtle with its shell on its back.
Despite looking like a regular ground turtle, the turtle can talk in a common language.
"Ahh… Finally!! Please, help me turn me over!! I will die if I stay in this state." pleaded the turtle.
"Beastman?" asked Lily while tilting her head.
"Beastman?! No, I am just a turtle. Please help me." pleaded the turtle again.
Seeing the helpless tone in the turtle, Lily decides to do what everyone should do. She decided to kick the turtle and send it flying a few dozen meters away. *BAM*
"AAAAA!!" screamed the turtle while flying away.
On the other hand, while following the flying turtle, Lily still has her usual expression until the turtle suddenly makes a series of a backflip in the air and lands on its two feet.
"Huft… I thought I was gone for a second there. Anyway, thank you for the help… err.. What is your name again?" asked the turtle.
"Lily." replied Lily shortly.
"Ahh… What a beautiful name, like a flower. My name is Abanor Melkas Firion O Cho Tema. You could just call me Ate." replied the turtle humbly.
Lily didn't respond and was still putting her guard against this mysterious turtle.
"This is the first time someone didn't react after hearing my name. Anyway, I am really grateful for your help." said replied Ate.
"I just happened to be in the area." said Lily.
"Nonono… You are truly a lifesaver. We turtles will die if we stay in that position for a long time. I know how to give you some of the stuff I collected over the years." said Ate.
Suddenly, the turtle Ate took out a few things after his hands entered his shell for seconds. While still putting her guard, Lily observes something thrown by Ate on the ground. She recognized some of them from her father's personal book.
Although Ate is casually thrown on the ground, she knows all these items are precious. Seeing this, Lily couldn't help but put more guard on the turtle. She may not have many social interactions with others.
However, she is fond of reading conspiracy stories, especially between nobles. The story is similar to combat and war.
There is no way an unknown turtle appeared out of nowhere in this desolate grassland before casually throwing many rare natural items at her after she kicked it harshly.
Noticing Lily's silent response, "Ehh… Did all of this not to your liking?" asked the turtle anxiously.
Before Lily could reply, "Then, how about this? I hear some other female race is fancy at shiny stuff." said Ate before taking a lot of marble.
Lily immediately recognized one of the marbles. In a split second, her supercomputer brain goes frenzy and calculates hundreds of possibilities. Most are thinking about how to kill the poor turtle most painfully and effectively.
Despite this, her expression didn't change as she noticed the difference in the marble with the thing that had been in her body for a thousand years.
"Where did you get that thing?" asked Lily while pointing at the dark red round marble.
"Ohh.. Are you interested in this? It seems the rumor is true. Other female races like shiny stuff like gem-like. Anyway, I find this in the middle of barren land. Honestly, I don't really like this gem. Sometimes, it will release a creepy howling sound."
"However, I think it must have some worth. Since it looks so smooth and round. Anyway, you could have all this if you want." said Ate with a genuine smile.
After thinking about various scenarios and observing Ate's behavior, she decides to let this poor turtle go after taking everything, including the round marble that the turtle threw on the ground.
Seeing Lily store everything in her storage tool without saying anything, the turtle couldn't help but grimace a little bit. All the precious collection he gathered over the year is taken by the silver-haired girl without even saying anything.
"Urgh.. Well, I guess this is fair since one couldn't measure the price of life." said the turtle Ate.
After robb… storing all the precious items, "What brought you to this wartorn area?" asked Lily.
"Ehh… There is a war here?!!" asked Ate in surprise.
"Yes. A big battle between two strong nations could happen anytime in this area." said Lily casually.
"Oh no!! What should we do? This is bad. I am just a turtle. There is no way I could survive a war between two." replied Ate anxiously.
At this point, Lily doesn't know if Ate is truly stupid or just acting. Although the strange turtle is not human, she can still read all its subtle movements and expressions. She knows the turtle is genuinely worried about his survival, but she also knows the turtle is powerful.
Her previous kick is enough to heavily injure any ordinary fifth-grade combatant. Yet, the turtle is fine without a scratch.
"Little girl, should we hurry and escape from here?! A little girl should not stay in a wartorn area. Wait… Where is your parent? We need to warn them about the war." said Ate in a hurry.
Ignoring the worried Ate's remark, "You still have not answered my first question. Why are you here?" asked Lily once again.
"This… I understand. Don't worry. I am not a bad turtle. Living in the wartorn area is hard, but you should not lose hope yet." Ate misinterprets Lily's condition.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺