No.4: Dangers of the Night

[Attributes Description]

{Spirit Pulse: Restores Stamina and Mana in Fairies.}

{Golden Touch: Accelerates growth in plants.}

{Flora Echo: Allows user to see sound through plants.}

{Nectar Drain: Absorbs tiny amounts of Mana from nature.}

{Hollow Wing: Enables short bursts of speed while gliding or floating.}

{Mirage Mist: Releases a faint enchanted mist capable of distortion.}

{Hallow Pods: Releases tiny, floating, multipurpose pods.}

{Grain Gemini: Creates duplicates of seeds in contact with. (Limit: x100)}

******

Having more Attributes than most was actually one of the major reasons Felix had stayed for this long, hoping that maybe he would eventually be able to level up his attributes and grow stronger. Thinking that it was simply extremely difficult to level up attributes as an F-Rank, rather than impossible.

A thought that didn’t end up being true, eventually leading to the current turn of events.

Reading the descriptions of his Attributes, Felix felt like even his system’s explanations were also F-Ranked.

It wasn’t until after he had experimented with each of them to see how effective they truly were that he realised just how vague the system’s descriptions actually were, making him wonder if his assumption about its descriptive capabilities being F-Ranked was true after all.

The ‘Spirit Pulse’ Attribute, for example, though limited to Fairies as the system described, was capable of fully restoring the Mana reserves and Stamina of a weakened Fairy at the cost of completely depleting his own.

Not to mention, it could only be used once every twenty-four hours.

Whereas the ‘Golden Touch’ Attribute wasn’t just capable of increasing the growth rate of plants. It could also force them to full maturity in a single use regardless of the state they were in beforehand. But similar to the first Attribute, it also consumed an insane amount of Mana. However, unlike Spirit Pulse, it could be used multiple times a day.

The system’s description of ‘Flora Echo’ was probably one of the vaguest of all his Attributes, as it functioned more like a sort of echolocator, enabling him to ‘see’ things through plants and spot danger ahead of time once in contact with a plant.

This Attribute was exactly why he had been allowed to join the group in the first place, as they had been searching for someone with a Scout- or Tracker-based Attribute.

Though his Attribute couldn’t cover as much distance compared to actual scout-based abilities, the range was still significant. Coupled with the fact that Scout- or Tracker-type Attribute wielders were extremely rare and difficult to find, the group eventually agreed to let him join despite Hans’s initial reluctance due to Felix’s age, stating he was too young to be risking his life.

Before he could finish mentally reviewing his Attributes, Felix’s attention was drawn toward Hans, who had stood from his resting spot.

“Alright everyone. Time to keep moving. It’ll get dark soon, and we need to find a suitable place to spend the night before then.”

Groaning silently in protest, the group reluctantly rose from their resting spots as well. Secretly displeased that it hadn’t even been up to an hour since they started resting after trekking such insane distances, most quietly grumbled to themselves in frustration at not being given enough time to fully recover before continuing. Yet, they followed his instructions nonetheless.

Despite their reluctance, they knew Hans was right. Being out in the open when night came simply meant they would become easy prey for the creatures of the dark.

Not to mention, they were aware that Hans himself wasn’t tired from the journey and had only stopped out of consideration for them, waiting roughly half an hour while maintaining a manageable pace so as not to overexert them.

Unbothered by this, Felix got up and prepared to resume the journey as well.

Having already fully regained his Stamina a while ago, he didn’t particularly mind the haste. Though he would still end up being the first to get tired again due to his low Stamina, Felix wasn’t too bothered, as he could simply recover it again, after resting for a bit.

......

A few hours later, the sun had fully disappeared, enshrouding the world in a veil of deep shadows as the moon hung peacefully in the sky, faintly illuminating the darkness in a cool teal glow. Surrounded by thousands of tiny glistening stars sparsely scattered across the night sky.

Having left the open fields a while back, the group had made camp within the safety of the forest. Setting up a small campfire as they rested in rudimentary sleeping bags nearby to escape the night’s cold.

The night breeze gently swept through the forest trees, quietly rustling against leaves and branches.

The area surrounding their camp was mostly covered by over a dozen thorny overgrown shrubs that fluttered softly as the wind brushed against them.

The night remained serene and quiet, disturbed only by the occasional whistle of the breeze or the faint chirping of insects and birds hidden within the forest.

This continued until...

*Shrish!*

A rustling sound slightly heavier than usual briefly travelled through the night. Everything still appeared normal, other than the overgrown shrubs that seemed to have shifted slightly closer to the group’s camp.

*Shrish!*

*Shrish!*

The sound quietly pierced through the night once more. Each time, the shrubs drew closer and closer to the camp until they were only a few feet away from the sleeping group.

Upon getting close enough to the defenceless humans, the details of the overgrown shrubs finally came into view.

Dimly illuminated by the warm glow of the campfire, as well as the teal moonlight spilling through the dense forest leaves, the figures of multiple tall, husky wolf-like creatures emerged. Each possessed a long pair of thorn-like branch for horns, with leaves growing from each of them, alongside pairs of sinister crimson eyes, gleaming greedily at the sight of the ‘free snacks’ before them.

The creatures moved in a coordinated formation, inching closer bit by bit so as not to alert the sleeping humans.

Having stalked them for a while, the creatures had patiently waited until the humans were deeply asleep before making their move, unwilling to ruin the hunt with their impatience.

Upon reaching the nearest sleeping human, a young boy with striking blonde hair and delicate features, the wolf closest to him slowly opened its jaws to bite down on him.

Its massive frame, easily towering over the sleeping boy lying on the ground as its jaws neared his neck, ready to snap shut and silence him before he could even make a sound.

The sickening sound of teeth digging into flesh travelled through the forest.

But instead of the gurgling sound of someone drowning in their own blood after having their throat ripped open, what followed was the pained howl of the creature as a sudden agony assaulted its legs.

Glancing downward, the creature was shocked to find multiple illusory snake-like beings coiling around it, their bodies completely engulfed in flames. Or rather, their bodies themselves were made entirely of fire.

The wolf-like creature dropped dead shortly after as molten red vein-like markings rapidly spread toward its heart from the point of contact, killing it on the spot.

Alarmed, the other wolf-like creatures immediately glared towards a spot where light footsteps could be heard approaching, growling angrily as they did.

Casually stepping out from the bushes with a light smile on his face, Hans rested his peculiar sword across his shoulders.

His left hand pocketed in his leather trousers as he approached them.

“Oh, come on! Don’t you know it’s rude to visit unannounced?” Briefly pausing, his smile widened as he observed their slightly panicked demeanour. “But don’t worry, we prepared a special welcome party just for you.”

Realising their ambush had been foiled, the creatures immediately prioritised escape, intending to regroup and attack another time.

Running in the opposite direction from Hans, the creatures maintained a semblance of their initial coordination as they retreated, but were slightly surprised when they noticed Hans didn’t give chase.

Before they could understand what was happening, the two wolf-like creatures leading the retreat were suddenly relieved of their heads as a swift object sliced through the shadows and decapitated them instantly, forcing the others to halt in alarm.

Emerging from the shadows itself, a lone figure materialised, his curved blades dripping with reddish-green blood.

Glaring at the remaining wolf-like creatures, his eyes gleaming with a cold and dangerous light, the Vice-Leader casually flicked the blood from his blades with a swift motion.

Cornered, the remaining wolf-like creatures found themselves trapped between Hans and the Vice-Leader.

Still lying on the ground, his palm pressed lightly against the ground, a knowing smile appeared on Felix’s face as he whispered.

“Got ya!”

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