The high human went around a sturdy feline, one and a half meters tall, and continued on his way, followed by the stare of the powerful predator with completely black fur. Immune to most poisons, it had been devouring a half-meter long worm that it had plucked from the ground, and that was toxic to other predators.
It wasn't interested in a new prey, but it distrusted possible competitors who could covet its meal. When the strange being moved away, it returned its attention to quickly devouring the corpse. While there, it was vulnerable.
Eldi had no interest in hunting animals. On the contrary, he watched the huge cat with admiration, wishing he could study it closely, but knowing that he couldn't approach without provoking it.
He preferred to minimize battles in that dense jungle, where he could easily be attacked in the middle of a fight, as had happened a few days ago. While he had been facing something that looked like a dinosaur, only a meter tall, but very fast and with powerful claws and jaws, a huge lizard had attacked them by surprise, expelling a toxic cloud destined to end the two of them.
He had needed to rely on Feline Response, Cure Poison and Regenerate to escape and recover. Unfortunately, Bat's Hearing isn't very useful in the middle of a fight, since it makes difficult for him to concentrate, being constantly alerting him, so it was deactivated. The dinosaur, whose feathers were efficient in defending against metal weapons, had fallen shortly after, poisoned.
Then, he had to face the lizard, whose slippery skin allowed it to partly deflect the attacks from the weapons. Unfortunately for the reptile, Frozen Blast had the effect of hardening it, breaking like glass after the impact from an axe. He had obtained two bodies for his assistant to dismember, and found out, once again, that he couldn't be distracted even for a moment.
The feeling of being watched persisted, and had even intensified, but he had decided to ignore it. However, that feeling suddenly disappeared when he approached a small lagoon that seemed out of place in that jungle.
Suddenly, all warning coming from the Bat's Hearing vanished, as if that place were alien to the dangers from the jungle. In fact, the density of vegetation had strangely decreased, allowing the sunlight to shine there. Even the birds were perfectly visible, because they no longer hid. Somehow, it was like finding an oasis in a desert.
On the shore of the lagoon there was a seated figure, apparently talking with some small squirrel-sized animals. She turned slowly and looked at the newcomer with a smile, signaling him to approach.
The high human had no doubt of the identity of that being. She was a limnad, a type of aquatic nymph, a being that belonged to nature and close to dryads, although it had more affinity to water than these, and less to plants.
He approached the beautiful and seductive figure from which an aura of peace seemed to emanate, as it seemed from the calm surface of the water. Her body was only covered with leaves, although normally she would have been completely naked. However, someone would have gotten mad if she had.
"So you're Eldi Hnefa. I'm Bolbe," she introduced herself, looking at him with the innocent and curious eyes of a little girl.
"Do you know me?" he asked, surprised.
"Let's say I've heard of you," she laughed, ignoring a small plant that, for some strange reason, had become entangled in her finger, squeezing it for a moment.
"Do you want something from me...?"
"No, I was just curious. And you? Can I help you with something?" she offered, with a look full of innocence, and an imperceptible mischievous glow.
"Do you know anything about a dryad called Melia? How is she doing? Where can I find her? Could you send her a message?" Eldi asked nervously, speaking so fast that he almost lacked air.
He knew that dryads and limnads are different types of nymphs, that they are like sisters, so he was hoping to get information about Melia. Bolbe smiled tenderly, like a mother at her son.
"Melia is fine, but it's all I can tell you. If you want to see her, you'll need to keep looking for her. Maybe one day you'll be lucky. Drink a sip of water and leave, your journey must continue."
Eldi looked at her strangely, but obeyed. In the game, nymphs had always been allies, and it was impossible to get more information from them than what they wanted to give. They were honest, straightforward, and sometimes prankish. After drinking, he left, looking once more at Bolbe, who smiled and said goodbye, waving her hand happily.
Only when the high human disappeared beyond the invisible barrier that covered the place, the limnad spoke again, looking towards the water, as if she could see through it, her gaze being drifted off far away from that place.
"He's cool. Maybe I could keep him for myself."
A plant then moved in a way that seemed totally impossible, giving her a gentle whip on her buttocks.
"Hahaha. You get jealous too easily, little sister," she laughed, although there was no one else in that place.
Far from there, a dryad pouted after being attacked by a sudden and inexplicable stream of water, which had emerged from the small pond beside which she was sitting. Although, in reality, far from being angry, her heart was pounding, after ascertaining again that he was still thinking of her.
Meanwhile, Eldi looked back, checking that the lagoon had disappeared and there was only jungle left, being the danger again around there, although without too much intensity. He retraced his steps to make sure that, as in the game, one can't re-enter a nymph's domain once she had made you leave.
It had been a brief and somewhat strange encounter, but he had received some important information that made impossible for him to hide a huge smile. He still didn't know how or where to find her, but at least he knew Melia was fine.
What surprised him most was that she had made him drink the water. He hadn't noticed any effect, although, after a while, he thought of looking into his stats. There, he found a line just below "Unicorn's Blessing." It said "Nymphs' Favor", and its effect was unknown. It took some time to realize that the amount of experience he needed to level up had decreased again.