"Nasi, let's go."
After standing up, Colin called out to the little elf, who was lying unguarded on the side of the Sacrificial Stone Platform.
"Okay, giant..." Nasi rubbed her eyes, sat up, and looked at Colin, who was getting ready to leave. She realized what was happening and couldn't help but ask another question, "Are you really going to the mountains?"
"Yes," Colin nodded, his expression calm.
He couldn't tell if it was an illusion, but he always felt that Nasi, the little elf he was seeing now, seemed more powerful than before, even her red hair and wings appeared glossier.
'Could it be because she's back in the Elf Kingdom, or because she's been staying on the Sacrificial Stone Platform these past two days... or perhaps it's because of the Ancient Tree Heart...' Colin silently speculated.
"Alright then..." Nasi looked at Colin's expression, then glanced at the Sacrificial Stone Platform again, hesitated, and said, "Then little Nasi will go with the nice giant."
With that said, she flapped her emerald-like red crystal wings and flew towards Colin's head with practiced ease.
But upon approaching him, Nasi suddenly changed direction.
"Nice giant, may Nasi stay here?" She pointed to the hood behind Colin and asked.
"Yes," Colin had no objections and nodded.
"Yay!" Nasi heard Colin's words and happily swooped into the gray hood.
Her weight was so light that Colin barely felt any increase in the hood's weight; he paused for a moment, then turned to walk towards the tree hole's exit.
Swish, swish—
Sounds rustled from within the hood, Colin's ears twitched slightly, and he instinctively extended his spiritual power backward.
'Is Nasi... making her own little bed?'
He was surprised by the image that his spiritual power sent back to him.
Nasi had suddenly produced several seeds from somewhere, and a pale green glow emanated from her tiny palm. The seeds immediately sprouted, swelled with the wind and quickly formed a little bed... or rather, what looked like a sit-basket.
Tiny vines snaked through the gap between the Wizard Robe's hood and where it connected to the robe itself, firmly fixing the little bed with its railing inside. Soft, moss-like plants covered the little bed, which looked so fresh and green that one could tell it would be very comfortable to lie on.
But that wasn't the point...
Colin watched the little elf's actions, his brow furrowing slightly in his mind.
It wasn't because of the little bed she'd made... The bed would neither affect his movement nor his safety; he didn't mind that.
It was just that this entirely red little elf, Nasi, was now demonstrating abilities more akin to those of a plant elf.
A red plant elf... Colin was somewhat puzzled in his thoughts.
However, looking at the forest in front of him, which was originally green but had now turned a dark red, he felt it was quite normal.
Nasi was probably green at first, but then she was affected by the mysterious pollution in this Different Space and turned into this bright red color.
And considering the distant mountains, that peak which had not yet been completely polluted and still retained a hint of green...
Colin's heart suddenly sank a little.
If the depth and whether the color had completely turned red represented the depth of pollution, then the originally pale green plant elf was now entirely transformed into a bright red...
Nasi was probably... deeply polluted.
"No... that's not right!" Colin shook his head again. Although Nasi's memories were somewhat confused and blurry, she showed no other abnormalities... nowhere near as severe as the color suggested.
After pondering for a moment and coming to no conclusion, Colin buried these thoughts in his heart, ready to leave.
But in the next instant, as if thinking of something, he turned his head back toward the Sacrificial Ancient Tree, his figure pausing slightly.
"Nice giant, little Nasi is all ready; why aren't we leaving yet?"
Nasi stood up from her self-made bed, asking eagerly.
She couldn't wait to try how her hand-crafted little bed felt when flying!
The little bed was extremely intricate, customized just for her size. Now that she stood up, the edges were just right at her chest level, convenient for her to lean on for stability.
But from an outside view, one couldn't see the little bed, only Nasi's little head suddenly popping up.
"Little Nasi, did you finish the sugar gems I gave you yesterday?" Colin looked at the Sacrificial Ancient Tree in front of him, glanced down at his Pocket Watch, and suddenly asked.
"Yes... I've finished them!" Nasi paused for a moment, answering nonchalantly while subconsciously touching her chest.
There, she had a very intricate pendant, her treasure box!
With his spiritual power vision, Colin did not turn around. He gave a wry smile but did not call out Nasi's lie.
Perhaps it was her nature, or maybe it was her life experience that made Nasi like a squirrel who loved to hoard things and was also very frugal.
The Ancient Tree Heart that he'd given to Nasi at first, if he hadn't been insisting that Nasi try to open the door to leave the Different Space, and hadn't needed to supplement the consumption with it, it might still be in Nasi's treasure box.
"Nice giant, little Nasi is good at listening to you, eating the sugar gems whenever I'm hungry."
Seeing his silence, Nasi quickly added.
"Yes, I know." Colin nodded slightly.
Though Nasi might secretly stash away the Ancient Tree Heart, she still firmly remembered what he said.
Click.
Colin put away the Pocket Watch and walked towards the trees nearby.