Looking at the little creature flying toward them, Lohan and Lisa got ready for possible combat, even though the little creature showed no malice toward them.
But unlike the other creatures they had encountered, this little girl didn’t seem to sense their distrust and continued to advance desperately.
"Wait, please wait... huff... huff..." She cried out between gasps for breath.
The little creature’s voice, which sounded very much like a little fairy, was sweet and gentle, like that of a child.
Lohan looked at the little girl with his suspicion diminishing a little. Although he remained alert, he noticed that the way she acted did not seem like she was pretending, or even prepared to fight as he had feared.
"Can I help?" Lohan asked through the mental link Lisa had formed.
This was a dynamic they began to use quite often.
As Lisa apparently did not like direct social interactions very much, preferring to remain quiet in the corner observing and analyzing the conversation, choosing to only interfere when necessary or to warn Halon of something she noticed, the Slime became the one who conducted these interactions.
Hearing that voice in her own mind, the little fairy showed no concern, just slowed her flight and rested her hands on her knees as she panted. "Are you guys planning to invade this dungeon?" she asked.
Lohan saw no reason to lie and confirmed. "Yes, we were about to do that, why?"
Hearing that, the little fairy’s expression lit up. "That’s great! That tree was overrun by these insects several months ago until their presence formed a Dungeon Core inside... Elle’s brother was captured by the Beetle Queen of that dungeon and was never able to return... could you help Elle save him?"
Honestly, if this had happened three days ago, Lohan could have trusted this little fairy and accepted this "mission" without hesitation, but after what happened with those frogs, he didn’t want to accept it just like that...
Lohan looked at the little fairy with his senses on high alert, discreetly activating [Instinctive Perception Lv 15]
"Lisa, try to sense her spiritual energy..." Lohan sent through the mental link. "I don’t want to be anyone’s ’snack’ again."
Lisa, maintaining her posture, narrowed her golden eyes as white bursts of her Mana floated around her paws. "Her spirit seems frantic and genuinely weakened, Halon. I don’t sense any dark static of malice that I noticed in the toads... but I can’t guarantee that I’m perceiving everything."
Knowing that it would be difficult to discover the truth from this alone, Lohan decided to speak openly.
"I’m sorry about your brother." Lohan replied mentally to the fairy, keeping his body steady on Lisa’s back. "But we just dealt with an entire village of ’helpful beings’ who wanted to digest us alive. Why should we trust that you’re not just trying to lead us into the jaws of your Queen?"
The fairy, whom Lohan now noticed had wings that resembled wilted flower petals, lowered her head, and small spheres of light, the equivalent of tears, fell from her face. "I understand... I don’t know how to get more help... no one in the fairy village wants to help Elle, saying that Elle’s brother must already be dead and that I should give up. I even tried asking the noble fairies for help, but no one sympathized with me... I have nothing else to offer but this."
She held out her trembling hands, and an item floated toward Lohan.
[Item Detected: Basic Life Seed (Rarity: Rare)]
[High compatibility with [Magic Core Lv 10] detected, possible fusion unlocked...]
Upon seeing this notice, Lohan was completely shocked.
’This item can generate a fusion evolution with my Magic Core? Just like my exoskeleton evolved with the obsidian scales?!’
This was an incredible discovery! He had never encountered items capable of triggering this kind of thing, which showed how rare it was!
Lohan felt his [Magic Core Lv 10] vibrate in resonance with this item.
Feeling this, most of his hesitation disappeared, so he explained to Lisa what was happening.
Hearing his explanation, even the fox was shocked, as she saw how much more powerful he had become with the fusion of the exoskeleton.
"Halon, let’s accept this mission from her!" Lisa spoke to him immediately.
Lohan formed a small blue hand and wrapped it around the seed, isolating it in an internal membrane without digesting it immediately. "Tell us your name, little one. And tell us exactly what’s at the top of this tree. I guarantee that by accepting your reward, I will do everything I can to bring your brother back if he is still alive, but if there is any sign that you are leading us into a trap, you will regret it."
As he said this, Lohan released some of his aura, which, considering the number of evolutions he had undergone and how many monsters he had already killed, was at a decent level.
The little fairy swallowed hard, her trembling wings flapping slowly as she tried to regain her composure in the face of the "oppressive" aura Lohan released.
She realized that despite the appearance of a simple Slime, she was facing a predator who wanted to invade the nest of the monsters she was terrified of, right after killing 3 beetles with ease!
"Elle’s name is Elle..." she began, her voice still wavering. "Elle is not a fighter like you."
"Elle’s role in Petal Village is to take care of the vital balance of the flora. I am responsible for painting the colors of rare flowers and ensuring that the morning dew touches the right roots so that the Mana of the forest flows without interruption. We are the invisible gardeners of Mythlorien."
She lowered her gaze, remembering the reason for her pain. "Elle’s brother, Pip, was always... different. He was lazy and preferred to sleep under giant mushrooms rather than do his chores. He had delayed polishing the seeds of light for almost a week. That night, he went to the flowers near the base of this fossilized tree to try to make up for lost time, but he never returned."
Elle wiped away a tear of light that insisted on falling. "I investigated on my own. I saw the metallic tracks of the beetles’ paws and the light marks from his wounded wings... Elle is sure they took him up. When I asked our elder and the noble fairies for help, they just ignored me. They said Pip was a burden and that no one would risk their own wings against such a powerful dungeon for someone who didn’t value the work."
Lohan listened carefully, analyzing her every micro-expression to make sure what he was hearing was true, and even though he wasn’t a professional at it, he was still confident in saying that she seemed to be telling the truth.
"And what’s up there at the top, Elle?" Lisa interjected, her fox ears alert to any noise coming from the openings of the fossilized tree.
"The top is the domain of the Glass Queen." Elle explained, pointing to the twisted spirals that glistened like metal under the Elysium sun.
"She has turned the tree’s old observatory into an incubation chamber. She doesn’t capture beings just to eat... she drains the life essence from her captured creatures to harden the carapace of her elite guards so they level up and become stronger. If Pip is still alive, he must be trapped in a Mana cocoon, being drained every second."
Looking back at the tree, a flash of curiosity arose in Lohan’s mind.
Listening to Elle’s explanation, he felt that the Beetle Queen’s digestion ability seemed more and more like his own digestion?!