“This ridiculous, unfair misfortune shouldn’t permanently hold my friend back.,” Fanya said.
“Mm, that's exactly what I thought too,” Winnie affirmed with a nod.
Fanya turned her gaze toward Winnie, her golden-flame-like eyes flickering with a hint of surprise.
“People blessed by the goddess couldn't possibly meet with misfortune so easily, could they?” Winnie said softly. “Otherwise, how could they be called [Divine Attendant]?”
“Let's hope so.”
“It's certain,” Winnie smiled. “So don't worry, stop looking so troubled.”
“Mm, I believe you,” Fanya replied after a pause, her expression easing.
“Oh? Believe me?”
“You're the only remaining descendant of the Goddess and Her Holiness Saintess. If I can't believe you, who else can I believe?” Fanya said, her tone light yet filled with quiet resolution.
“Ahh? Fanya, didn't you always insist I was a fraud, an imposter pretending to be a descendant of the Varelis family?” Winnie teased. “Why have you suddenly chosen to believe me now?”
“After all, I don't have a single trait of the Varelis bloodline. My magic aptitude is only one star. I can only learn what ordinary people consider trash-class Soul armament. My entry into the Warlock Realm was purely due to low level soul armament aptitude and sheer luck.”
“Actually, those people's speculations aren't entirely baseless. Maybe I really am not a true descendant of the Varelis family,” Winnie continued, half-joking, half-serious. “You believe that too, don't you?”
“Winnie, I believe you are, and I hope you are,” Fanya said after another silence, her tone oddly profound.
“Oh?” This response surprised Winnie and made him curious, what exactly had happened during this vacation that caused such a drastic change in Fanya?
The two continued walking through the woods, vigilant to every movement around them, wary of monsters that might crawl out from the undergrowth.
“...There's the smell of blood.” Sharp-eyed Fanya suddenly stopped and declared.
“Blood? You mean human blood?” Winnie frowned upon hearing this.
If it was human blood, it meant their classmates were indeed here, and injured. Their situation wasn't good.
“Mmm.” Fanya nodded, then immediately dashed toward a certain direction.
Seeing this, Winnie followed. They pushed through an overgrown thicket with sharp thorns.
“What is this??” Deep within the thicket, the two discovered bloodstains and several monster corpses.
These humanoid monsters had heads resembling unopened flower buds, bodies entwined with thorny purple and feet like tree roots. Each stood over two meters tall.
“This blood isn't from these monsters.” Fanya slashed with her sword into one of the bud-headed creatures on the ground. A bluish, sap-like liquid oozed out. “It's definitely from one of our classmates. Someone from the academy is injured.”
“These are... [Light Cone Strike]?” Nearby, Winnie wasn't idle either. He examined the corpses and found traces of light-element magic attacks.
“[Light Cone Strike]??” Fanya moved closer upon hearing this.
[Light Cone Strike] was the name of a light-element magic. Any mage with a mage-type soul armament, who had reached the Artisan stage and had decent light affinity, could learn and master it.
Fanya examined the wounds and confirmed they were indeed left by [Light Cone Strike].
Since Fanya came from the Cassian family, a knightly order of the Church of Radiance, most of her friends and acquaintances had ties to the church. The majority used the [Holy Envoy] soul armament. Although she hadn't learned [Light Cone Strike] herself, she'd seen it used many times.
That Winnie could recognize the spell wasn't too surprising, after all, Carillian Academy had many light-element users. It wasn't a rare or restricted spell; Almost any mage-type soul armament wielder could use it.
“However, clearly these [Light Cone Strikes] didn't do much damage to these bud-monsters,” Winnie said, inspecting the explosive magic marks on the monsters' bodies. “They didn't even pierce the skin. These creatures must have some light-element resistance.”
“They didn't die from [Light Cone Strike],” Winnie continued analyzing.
Fanya opened her mouth, then quickly closed it, silently watching the serious expression on Winnie's face as he spoke.
“Found it.” After crouching and examining for a long while, Winnie scraped some powdery light dust from beneath one of the bud-monsters.
“This... should be the light residue created by [Singularity Burst],” Winnie explained to Fanya.
“[Singularity Burst]??” Fanya felt like she'd heard the name somewhere. “Is that a magic spell?”
“Yes. And it's a spell that only users of the [Holy Envoy] soul armament can utilize, only those with high compatibility with [Holy Envoy] and extremely high light-element affinity can learn it,” Winnie explained.
You might ask how he knew this? He'd seen this spell on his Virtue Skill Tree, complete with detailed descriptions and visual demonstrations.
“...How do you know all this??” Fanya asked, staring at him oddly.
Winnie's soul armament wasn't [Holy Envoy], and he didn't even have light-element affinity.
So how did he know so much about light-element magic? How did he know more than her, an actual [Holy Envoy] user??
“I've seen this spell before. But now's not the time to discuss it. The student who used this magic is likely in grave danger,” Winnie smoothly changed the subject.
“You said [Singularity Burst] requires high [Holy Envoy] compatibility and high light-element affinity to learn?” Fanya asked hesitantly.
“Mm. And judging from the traces, the student who cast it seems to have only recently learned it, they're not very proficient yet,” Winnie pondered.
“Then... it could be her.” Fanya suddenly lifted her gaze toward the blood-stained grass.
“Let's follow the bloody trail.” Fanya and Winnie stood and followed the bloodstains into another thicket.
But as they walked, the blood trail suddenly disappeared.
“What's going on??” Fanya frowned.
“Calm down, Fanya. Based on what we know, that student is most likely a [Holy Envoy] user. We're not the only ones tracking the blood, those bud-monsters are too. She probably realized this and used [Holy Envoy]'s healing magic to close her wounds,” Winnie reasoned.
“It doesn't necessarily mean she's in trouble, she might be hiding. Let's search around here. You go that way, I'll go this way. Notify me immediately if you find anything.” Winnie pointed to his designated area.
Fanya nodded in agreement, and the two clicked the nearby woods to search.
Winnie observed every clue on the forest floor. As he walked, he noticed some grass had been trodden upon, though the traces were faint.
He crouched down and examined them. The footprints were small, completely different from the bud-monsters' tracks.
Could the student have passed through here?
And judging by the prints, it should be a girl.
Winnie looked around, but the dense trees and thick undergrowth limited his visibility.
Finding the student will be difficult now.
As Winnie passed a large, thick-trunked tree, something suddenly caught his attention. He stepped back, turned around, hesitated for a moment, then approached.
Was there a thread hanging by the tree hollow?
Winnie moved closer and confirmed he wasn't mistaken, a white thread was indeed hanging from the tree hollow.
His eyebrows lifted slightly. He placed a hand on the hollow and slowly poked his head inside.
Bright light poured into the hollow, illuminating the girl's beautiful golden-silk eyelashes and her milky-white, flawless skin.
Staring at the girl lying inside, eyes tightly closed, delicate and beautiful like a porcelain doll, Winnie was momentarily stunned.
The sunlight in this world was distinctly cold and dull, yet upon touching this girl, it instantly felt warm and pleasant.
After a moment, Winnie realized the warmth wasn't from the sun, but from the girl inside the hollow: a doll-like girl with soft, creamy-gold curls and skin as white as cream.
This golden-haired girl was exquisitely beautiful, as if every feature of her face had been meticulously carved and polished by the goddess Varelis herself.
Perhaps because Winnie had never seen a girl of this appearance before, he froze for a moment.
She was as fragile as a delicate pale-yellow butterfly orchid, like a priceless porcelain doll that must be handled with utmost care. Just looking at her stirred an instinctive desire to protect and cherish her, a type of girl Winnie had never encountered.
Among the fated heroines: Aesphyra embodied the refined beauty of noble elegance, Mirexia the pure and innocent cuteness, Isatia the cold beauty, and Shikondell the lovable, airheaded cuteness. But someone like this, so doll-like and irresistibly protective, was truly new to him.
But soon, Winnie realized he was doing something inappropriate.
Why was he staring at a girl like this? And more importantly, was this really the time?
Quickly, Winnie climbed into the hollow. The girl wore Carillian Academy's uniform, clearly a classmate or senior.
But the hollow was too small. Carrying her out while holding her would be awkward.
Winnie thought for a moment, then summoned [Frost Armour], blasting a large opening in the hollow.
“Classmate, classmate? Are you okay?” Winnie crouched down and tried calling.
The girl didn't respond or wake up.
He checked her pulse, weak, but thankfully not life-threatening.
As he leaned closer, he noticed the girl's lips were slightly moving, as if mumbling something.
He couldn't hear, so he leaned in.
“Water... water...”
“Water??” Winnie heard clearly. He patted his pockets.
He didn't have any water.
But this reminded him, how long had it been since he last ate or drank?
He felt a bit hungry and thirsty.
“Tap.” By accident, Winnie touched something beside the girl. Picking it up, he found a bottle, still with water inside.
It must have been dropped by the girl earlier.
Winnie opened the bottle and gently brought it to the girl's lips, giving her a little water before closing it again.
Seeing the girl's condition stabilize, Winnie decided to carry her out. The hollow was too dark; he couldn't see where she was injured.
So, Winnie secured the bottle, slipped one arm under the golden-haired girl's back, and the other under her knees, encased in knee-high white socks, and lifted her out of the hollow, heading toward Fanya's location.
The girl's hair was very long, nearly reaching her knees, so as Winnie held her, his hands occasionally brushed against her silken, creamy-gold curls.
Besides that, Winnie also noticed that although the golden-haired girl was very petite, one particular area was definitely not small. The phrase “slender branch bearing abundant fruit” perfectly described this.
A busty golden-haired loli, just one glance confirmed she stood at a level completely unreachable and uncomparable to any silver-haired nutball. (1)
Encountered a stat monster in this department.
After adjusting his hold on the golden-haired girl, Winnie walked toward Fanya while calling out.
“Fanya, Fanya? I found a classmate, but she's unconscious.”
“Where?” Soon after, hearing Winnie's voice, Fanya emerged from the other side. Upon seeing the girl in Winnie's arms, her pupils contract.
“Amisa?!” Fanya rushed over to check the girl's condition. (2)
“Amisa? That's her name? You know her?” Winnie asked.
“Yes. Do you remember the friend I told you I was worried about?”
“This... is that friend?” Winnie was slightly taken aback.
“Yes. Her name is Amisa Meriver. She's my childhood friend and closest confidante, and a fellow candidate for priesthood. She's the girl I mentioned, the one designated by the White Robe faction as their successor,” Fanya explained, reaching to take Amisa from Winnie.
After all, it was an emergency, but a male student holding a girl for too long wasn't appropriate. So Winnie prepared to hand Amisa over to Fanya.
But to his surprise, he found he couldn't let go.
The reason was simple: the girl, at some point, had wrapped her arms around Winnie's arm and refused to release it.
“Uh...,” Winnie inhaled the sweet milky scent emanating from Amisa, hesitated, and felt awkward. “Um, Fanya, could Amisa be having a nightmare? Why won't she let go of me?”
“Amisa, Amisa? It's me, Fanya. Are you okay?” After a quick check confirming Amisa had no visible wounds, Fanya asked softly.
“...” Fanya received no response. Amisa remained with eyes tightly closed, clinging to Winnie's arm like a drowning kitten.
Winnie felt embarrassed. He was holding his friend's childhood friend and bestie. What if he held her too long and seemed like he was trying to take advantage?
Just as both didn't know what to do next, Amisa suddenly spoke. She gently moved her soft lips, nuzzling Winnie's sleeve, whispering in a sweet, soft, muffled voice. “Saintess... Saintess...”
“...Huh?” Both Winnie and Fanya stared blankly, utterly bewildered.
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1 - Should I change loli to something else?
2 - Amisa = raw äºç±³è, pinyin = Yà MÇ ShÄ, Literal Pinyin Translation= Amisa. So if anyone got any suggestions you can tell me.,