Night had long since fallen, and the silence of the forest, occasionally broken by the faint song of insects, cloaked the camp in an eerie atmosphere. Each person lay beneath their blanket, exhausted from the day, but none slept deeply. They were still in unfamiliar territory. Isolated. Without bearings.
They had taken turns keeping watch. It was now Samuel's turn. Sitting against a tree atop a small hill overlooking the camp, he gazed at the stars, his sword within reach, and the forest — red by day, now violet in the night — rose before him, silent and oppressive.
A noise to his left pulled him from his thoughts. Reflexively, he placed a hand on the hilt of his weapon. But when he turned, he recognized the approaching figure.
"Ah, it's you..." he breathed, releasing the tension.
Relia approached, dressed in a simple white tunic — probably the one she wore beneath her armor. Her long blond hair was loose, falling freely over her shoulders. She sat beside him without a word at first, then said in a soft, almost sheepish voice:
"You can't sleep either ?"
"Not really. I'm on watch... Actually, I was just about to wake you up. It's your turn."
They sat in silence for a while, side by side. A kind of tension settled between them — not hostile, but delicate. Eventually, Relia spoke again, seemingly to fill the void:
"Still sorry... for attacking you. And for having you arrested. And sentenced to death, incidentally."
Samuel gave a faint smile.
"You forgot the part where you had me kidnapped... and locked up."
She gave an embarrassed little laugh.
"Yeah... that too."
"Don't worry about it. You're with us now. And you already proved we can trust you... by cutting off one of your finger."
She looked at her hand, where the ring finger was still missing. The scar had healed well, thanks to the healing slimes, but she had kept it bandaged — just in case.
"By the way," she began, turning toward him, "why did you keep my finger ?"
Samuel sat up without answering, rummaged through the bag beside him, and pulled out a small cloth. He unfolded it. Inside, Relia's finger — still perfectly preserved thanks to the slimes — lay intact. He picked it up between his fingers and, without saying a word, thought very clearly:
— I kept it for this.
Relia startled slightly, then burst into laughter.
"Wait... so on top of sensing emotions and thoughts, you can also speak into people's minds ? Seriously ?"
"Yeah," Samuel replied. "And when I'm holding your finger, you can speak to me the same way."
"What? You're kidding, right?"
She focused, furrowing her brows, her eyes locked onto Samuel's.
— Samuel? Can you hear me? Can you hear me?
He exhaled through his nose, amused.
"I can hear you just fine."Then Samuel put the finger back into his bag.
Her eyes widened, amazed.
"That's such a cool ability, seriously! By the way, what level are you?"
"31," he said, checking his status.
"31 ? Wow... So I got beaten by someone six levels below me..."
"Yeah. Actually, come to think of it, the closer we got to the capital, the fewer monsters we encountered. So we leveled up slower."
Relia suddenly stood, looking resolute.
"Right, let's start over from the beginning."
She stood facing him, straight like a soldier ready to take an oath.
"My name is Relia Luminus, I'm twenty-six years old, level 37. Class: Paladin. Element: Light."
She extended her hand.
Samuel, amused, took it and stood up.
"Nice to meet you, Relia Luminus. I'm Samuel Butler."
Then, with a tilt of his head, he pointed to the camp.
"I'll leave you to keep watch, then. I'm going to sleep a bit before sunrise."
"Good night, Samuel."
He walked away, and Relia settled into his spot. She exhaled slowly, savoring the relative peace of the moment. She raised her head toward the trees...
And that's when she saw it.
A being emerged slowly from the shadows, advancing through the forest. It towered over the treetops. Its size rivaled that of a bell tower, but its body seemed unstable, almost sickly, as if it couldn't bear its own form. Its skin oozed burnt-orange hues, veined with deep blue, pulsing as though some liquid horror flowed within.
Its head wasn't set upon its shoulders. No. It floated above its chest, suspended several meters high, upside down, like it was hanging from overly stretched nerves. That face had no mouth. Only a multitude of eyes — human, monstrous, and others still... as if gazing straight through dreams.
From its back sprouted multiple arms — long, thin, with oversized, clawed fingers — tapping the air in rhythm, like a spider playing an invisible keyboard. Its torso was a black, glass-like cage, within which a curled-up human form could be seen, bathed in a bluish glow. Was it a victim? Was it herself?
It moved slowly, silently. The trees brushed its knees.
And yet, despite its size, it made no sound. No breath. Nothing.