Upon returning to the scene where all the trouble started, Anna and Ron saw that the massive leech monster had been dealt with by the rest of the group. It was a tough fight even with Gobbles, the large troll, working alongside the others but they were able to come out on top. The now defeated leech monster was currently floating in the swamp water, the smaller leeches still persisted and lingered around the body. Everyone was huddled away from the water near Abe’s carriage.

  “I see that the big bad swamp monster is dead. Good job taking it out. We’ve also just got done killing an ugly hag of some sort.” Anna complimented the group, as she also looked at Gobbles, including him. “Thanks for helping out. I’m sorry about what happened with your friends though…”

  Gobbles grumbled, not wanting to think about the fate his brethren was given. “There is no need to be sorry for my loss. You were not the ones who took their lives, it was our carelessness that got us in trouble. Now I have lost two more friends…”

  The group felt remorse for the troll’s loss, maybe if they had acted faster than there might have been a chance for them to save his pals. Anna looked at the cave entrance under the willow tree, centered in the bayou. She remembered what Ms.Epple said before she engaged the hag, thinking that there actually might be some hope for Gobbles.

  “The hag me and Ron fought, she mentioned capturing a lone troll before we arrived here. She also might have done something to Barry who went inside to investigate. Maybe…all might not have been lost actually.” Anna reassured, as she prepared to go back inside the cave.

  However, Kat saw something moving far off in the distance towards them. “Wait Anna, look there! Isn’t that…Barry?” She pointed out, everyone then looked at where she was referring to.

  Surprised looks appeared on everyone's faces, especially Gobbles who was incredibly shocked to see some people he would not have thought to see again. “Mudflap!? A-And the others! They’re alive!”

  The tamafrogs that were with the group were astonished as well, seeing their lost friends being carried by the other trolls alongside Barry who was also carrying someone over his shoulder. Joy filled both the tamafrogs and Gobbles, once again finding solace. Barry’s group were glad to see Barry once again, as well as rescuing those kidnapped by Ms.Epple.

  They all rushed up to meet Barry halfway, his appearance looked filthy due to his time soloing his own leech monster in its domain of sludge and smaller leeches. If he had to say what was his disgusting challenge yet, this would be the one. Gobbles and the tamafrogs came up to check on their kidnapped friends while Barry talked with his group.

  Puck ran up to Barry with a smile, happy to see his best friend again. “You came back Barry! Puck glad you safe. But did you find another way out of the cave?”

  Barry patted the Kobold to reassure him that he was fine. “Of course I made it back, I’m too stubborn to put down. And yeah, there happened to be an entrance connected to the cave from where I came from.”

  He glanced at their own leech monster that was slain and nodded. “So there was another one, fuck those things. I hate their sludge attacks and vampiric bites.” Hearing Barry complain so casually about their new enemies lightened the mood. “Say, did you run into some hideous old woman? She’s the one responsible for abducting these guys.”

  “Yeah, me and Anna handled her a bit ago.” Ron replied. “Just attacking her was so annoying, she kept slipping away every chance Anna made to kill her. The hag wanted to have me as some sort of pet! I don’t even want to think what she was going to do to me.”

  “Don’t.” Barry told him, thinking about the torture Ms.Epple put the kidnapped people through. “She was basically using the leeches as a way to farm blood from her victims so that she could make blood candies and other shit. It was messed up down there.”

  After informing them of the hag’s hobby, his group found the truth very repulsive, especially Ron who had trouble stomaching the fact. Everyone watched as Ron began trundling away to get behind a tree, clenching stomach. “I’m gonna…I’ll be back…”

  Barry knew Ron’s constitution wasn’t all that great, and scratched his neck out of fault. “Probably shouldn’t have said all that with him around…”

  Wanting to change the subject, Luna wanted to point out the person that Barry was carrying on his shoulder. It was a woman dressed in rags of brown clothes. “Whose that? Are they dead or alive?”

  “I’m hoping alive because…” Barry then lowered the person off his shoulder, placing them on the ground. The unveiling was a shock to the group. “It’s an elf. I intend to get some answers from her once she wakes up from a lack of blood.”

  It was a young looking elf woman with ivory skin and long hazel colored hair that needed maintenance on, messy and uncared for was what it looked like. Scars and bite marks from the leeches feasting on her remained, a bit of her left ear had been cut off as well, presumingly Ms.Epple’s doing. Her eyes remained shut, her breathing slow and faint. It was clear that this woman must have been held captive for a long time inhumanly.

  “That bitch…” Anna balled up her fists, the sight of another person being treated so crudely brought her great anger more than anyone else. Just looking at them triggered some past memories that she hoped would never resurface again. The same could be said for Luna, the sisters maintained their composure despite this.

  “Is there any way we can heal her faster? I don’t know any healing magic, but maybe one of Sherry’s health potions might help.” Kat suggested as she pulled one out from her inventory.

  Barry shook his head with a hand raised to stop her. “I already fed her one myself, that didn’t work. She’s lost a lot of blood and needs time to recover naturally. Unlike all the other captives, such as the tamafrogs, the trolls were able to recover faster because of their high regeneration.”

  “Well then let’s get her inside the carriage where it’s comfortable.” Abe suggested, jabbing a thumb to their ride. “I also think our time here is done, now that the trolls and tamafrogs have been reunited with their lost pals.”

  Anna offered to bring the elf woman inside Abe’s carriage while the rest of them explained to the tamafrogs and trolls that they were about to head out. Ron returned back after puking a rainbow behind some cover, feeling much better now.

  The trolls had agreed to watch over the tamafrogs until the unconscious ones were awake and well. But there was one other problem that concerned the trolls, mainly Gobbles who could not get over the tragic thought of one recently made friend that had yet to be found…

  “So Kibbles was not there in the hag’s home, you say…” Gobbles was speaking with his brethren that had been trapped inside Ms.Epple’s home. “I fear that Kibbles might still be in trouble. I hope he hasn’t run into any vicious predators.”

  Ron and the others could not believe that Gobbles was still concerned about the illusionary construct that was Kibbles. And to be honest, Ron felt guilt inside for fooling the trolls into creating some sort of bond with Kibbles, albeit it being short. Awkwardness surrounded the group as they were the only ones who knew the truth.

  All eyes looked at Ron with interest of if he was going to bring them to light about the truth behind Kibbles not being a real person. The leering eyes of his group would inevitably cause him to do something about the situation, since even he couldn’t stand it. “Agh, yeah, okay, I’ll do something…this is so awkward…”

  An idea lit up inside Kat’s head, thinking of how they would be able to break the news to the trolls. She whispered to Luna first about her idea before letting Ron know what they were planning. He thought about rejecting it outright but gave it some more thought, agreeing to it since he felt it bad already. They approached the trolls and proceeded with their plan.

  “H-Hey, guys!” Ron said, the nervousness within him was rising already. The trolls gave him their attention. “I overheard you talking about a person named K-Kibbles. Care to give me a bit more detail about him, because that name rings a bell to me.”

  Gobbles replied in his usual deep voice with concern. “He was a short, tubby dwarf dressed in a funny green outfit. Kibbles had offered to track down our lost friend Mudflap here before he unfortunately disappeared off my shoulders. I don’t know how it happened but it did, I worry for his life.”

  Ron gulped and readied himself to provide them a reason for Kibbles disappearance. “A-Ah, that Kibbles! We actually have a friend with the same name, sounds like the same person too.” Gobbles and the trolls were surprised to hear of someone else being friends with Kibbles. “But if it is, I wouldn’t be too stressed. Y-You see, there’s a reason for K-Kibbles disappearance. H-He…He…”

  “He was summoned for an emergency!” Luna chimed in. “That must have been why he vanished all of sudden and you thought he was missing. Whenever someone is in trouble and needs to call for an expert, Kibbles is teleported away to where he is needed most.”

  “That’s right!” Kat jumped in to support their story. “Kibbles is a high in demand tracker that works at an agency. And when someone desperately needs his services, he’s summoned immediately, no matter where he’s at. His skill set is not cheap by the way, so it must have been very important.”

  Gobbles and his brothers were in awe at how amazing Kibbles was as a person, especially if he was kind enough to help them free of charge. It seemed like their story was believable which made Ron feel more at ease, providing him the confidence to finish up their narrative. “Yeah, it’s normal for Kibbles to disappear like that. Soooo I wouldn’t be so stressed if I were you guys.”

  “Well…it’s amazing now that we know we were in the presence of someone great like Kibbles. Even if we only met each other for a short time.” Gobbles said. Him and his brothers wished they could have at least said their goodbyes. “Humans, if you ever see him again. Please, give him our thanks, for he was the first to treat us as something more than monsters.”

  It was still weird for Ron to hear Gobbles think that Kibbles was a real person, but regardless, he’d agree to letting Kibbles know. “Sure thing, it’ll be the first thing I tell him when we see each other again.” Ron promised the trolls, his own group, thinking how silly their conversation was.

  Rummaging through their pockets and finding nothing, Gobbles and his friends were disappointed to find nothing. “Sorry, humans. We don’t have anything to give to you all. We don’t carry coin like you all, nor do we have any shiny trinkets to give.”

  “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.” Puck spoke for everyone with a cheery smile. “We good guys, we no need reward for helping others. It feels good to help others in need.” The trolls were pleased to have met such good people in quite a long, long time.

  Barry thought about the promised reward they were going to get via the system for helping the tamafrogs find their kidnapped friends. ‘Well, we’re about to get something as a reward regardless. I’d like to think it’s a good one for going through all this trouble.’

  The tamafrogs went up to the group, radiating positive energy around them now that they were reunited with their lost friends. They croaked in a happy tune, saying their usual phrase ‘Tama’. Abe was the only one able to understand what they were saying, acting as the mediator. “Of course, we’re all glad that everything worked out. Just happy to help.”

  They continued to chat for a bit longer, Abe waving his hands as if rejecting something. “No, no, you don’t need to give us anything. Just make sure to take care of your friends and look out for each other while you’re out here. Don’t need either of y’all getting into any more trouble.”

  Barry’s group watched as the tamafrogs huddled close, croaking for a couple of moments before disbanding and coming together. All next to each other, looking proud and exuding confidence, as if they were about to do something spectacular. Each of them cleared their throats before sounding off in what seemed like a musical filled with upbeat tunes and positivity.

  They all listened to the orchestra that was being performed in front of them, admiring the effort these tamafrogs were putting in. This was the tamafrogs way of thanking them for all they have done. Everyone appreciated their way of showing thanks, hoping that they would never lose each other again.

  Suddenly, the quest that was related to finding the tamafrogs friends popped up, notifying the group that their task had been successfully completed. The reward was as followed, despite it being a strange one:

  Everyone was fascinated by the achievement they had just received, with Luna deciding to test out the language of croaking herself. “This is ridiculous but *croak* fun at the same time.” Puck also began croaking in unison as well, finding it very amusing.

  The tamafrogs and trolls were stunned to see them croaking all of a sudden, but didn’t question it at all. While the team was getting used to using the language of frogs, Kat wanted to know what Barry’s thoughts were about everything that had happened. “So, Barry…I-I know that you didn’t want to help the tamafrogs at first because of how important it is for us to find the prisms. But I’m curious what you’re thinking right now, i-if you don’t mind that is…”

  “Mmm…” Barry thought about how the victims were held captive inside Ms.Epple’s home. The scene of poor souls restrained by chains and shackles while being farmed for their blood by leeches brought Barry immense anger inside. Kat sensed rage flowing inside him based on how deep in thought he was. Still, he let out a sigh and calmed down before giving an answer. “Good thing we were in the area. I’ll put it that way…I just hate what I saw in there. It pissed me off.”

  From Kat’s perspective, behind the serious and intimidating attitude that was Barry, she felt that Barry had a sense of justice underneath it all. Even if he tried rejecting those who needed help desperately, he would come around and do so anyway despite his best interests. She gave a faint smile upon hearing his response. “They're all very thankful for what we’ve done. We’ve also got a pretty good reward for helping them out, don’t you think- *croak*.”

  Placing her hands in front of her mouth out of embarrassment, Kat looked at Barry who had a brow raised. “S-Sorry, t-that came out of nowhere. S-So, what d-do- *croak*. Oh no, t-this is embarrassing. I-I can’t control- *croak*.” She then covered her entire face while turning away, her anxiety resurfacing.

  Barry tried their new ability himself, croaking a bit inside before letting it out. He found it silly himself, the feeling in his throat when doing so was really weird. “Tch, yeah, this is dumb. But I suppose it might come in handy later when meeting other frogs. The other effects of the achievements are pretty useful though. I’m happy with what we got.”

  This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

  Kat’s embarrassment slowly began to fade away after hearing his opinion, now looking back at him as he spoke. “Come on, let’s- *croak*. Gah, fuck! I think it only happens when we think about- *croak*. Damn it! Let's just go…” Barry said, keeping his mouth shut as he strolled back to Abe’s carriage.

  His reaction to their new ability made Kat feel a lot better, no longer ashamed of herself. “A-Alright.” She followed behind Barry, but not until after telling the tamafrogs and trolls goodbye. That was when everyone from the group decided to do the same before moving on with their primary mission of searching for the prism.

  The tamafrogs and trolls bid them farewell and the group went on their way. With everyone now back on board, Anna offered to give Abe directions and left, now that the rest of the group was inside the carriage to watch over the elf woman; who was resting on Barry’s usual couch he’d always sleep on. ‘That was my favorite place to sleep…’

  “Oh.” Ron said with a surprised look as he noticed the elf woman. He was puking during the time she was introduced to everyone else. “Is that the person you brought with you, Barry? I didn’t think it’d be possible for an elf to be captured outside their territory, let alone be by themselves.”

  “Yeah, I found her in the hag’s cells. You mentioned how rare it was to find elves outside their clans so I brought her with us.” Barry explained. “Maybe when she wakes up, she can tell us a story. I’d like to know if the other elves of this world are aware of the situation going on right now.”

  Kat had taken over Anna’s act of feeding the woman some soup and water, while Ron went over to observe the elf some more. “Hmmm…I never told you all this but…elves tend to take great pride in their looks and where they come from. She’s clearly lost quite a bit of her beauty after spending an awfully lot of time being imprisoned, some of it still there but still…”

  “But she’ll get better won’t she?” Puck asked with concern. “We just need to take care of her and make her healthy again.”

  There was a bit of pause before Ron replied, looking somewhat unsure himself. “She’ll get better sure, but if she returns back home looking like this then maybe…”

  “Huh?” Kat and Luna said at the same time, completely shocked by what he was insinuating. Luna went ahead to ask him what he meant. “What are you trying to say?”

  The illusionist fiddled with his hands, still wondering if what he was thinking might be a possibility. “Eh, uuuuh, forget I said anything. I’m thinking crazy thoughts based on some books I’ve been reading so-”

  “Out with it Ron.” Barry demanded, he wanted to know more about the way cultures and alike worked in this fantasy world. “I don’t care if all your knowledge comes from reading books without any personal experiences of your own. Tell us, what are you thinking might happen to her?”

  Hearing Barry express how trusting he was of Ron’s knowledge from his books, made Ron feel appreciated. But even so, Ron chose to keep what he was thinking to himself so as to not spread worry. “Ah, actually, I was thinking about something else. Sorry for getting you all worked up. Honestly, please forget I said anything.”

  Everyone remained silent for a couple of moments before going on to do their own thing. Kat remained by the woman’s side to care for her, while Puck and Luna decided to do some training in one of Abe’s biomes as a way to clear their minds. Ron simply sat in a chair to read one of his books to keep himself busy. The whole group was doing something to distract themselves from their recent discussion.

  With his favorite couch now taken away from him by the ill elf woman, Barry figured it would be hard for him to adjust sleeping on something else to do some personal training himself in his dream world. That was when a thought he had a while ago surfaced in his mind, he thought it would be a good time to bring it up to Ron.

  He walked up to Ron and pulled out the ‘Magic Mike’ book he had obtained inside Ms.Epple’s home, sticking it outwards to him. Ron put down his book about various different monsters and aberrations, glancing at Barry then back at the book. “Magic Mike? Isn’t this one of those books you give to Kat? Did you want me to read it?”

  Upon hearing the name of ‘Magic Mike’, Kat spoke while looking at them. “Oh, Barry found another one! They’re good for raising your Int & Wisdom stats up by 1 or 2 points, even if they are single use. Although, I can never make any sense of what they’re trying to explain. Something about magic, obviously. I still have the rest of the books if you’d like to read them.”

  Ron grabbed the book from Barry, feeling the texture of it all, from the hardcover to the ink. One thing was for sure, this book was made of high-quality despite it appearing incredibly old. “So you want me to read these kinds of books and summarize them for you. Is that what you want?” Ron asked, curious himself of what they were about.

  “Yup.” Barry nodded. “I’ve been seeing a lot of these around different places. This one was even found in the hag’s home, and I don’t think that was a coincidence. There must be a reason why I’m catching all of them wherever we go.”

  It didn’t take much convincing for Ron to agree to reading these types of books for Barry, but there was one thing that Ron wanted to know before doing so. “Alright, I’ll try to understand what these books are about and let you know. However, now that you’re asking me to do so, I’d like to know something from you.”

  “Alright, shoot. What is it?” Barry agreed, wondering what he was going to ask.

  “If these books boost your Int & Wisdom for the first time you read them, why did you give all of them to Kat and never to me? I’m curious to know your reason.” Ron had his arms crossed with a smug look on his face, thinking he knew the truth himself. Kat couldn’t help but pay closer attention to the reason herself.

  His question caused Barry to halt and think about his choice of words before responding, he figured he might as well be honest given how Ron seemed to know the answer. “Damn, alright, fine…it’s because Kat has more offensive capabilities than you do. The way I see it, boosting your Int or Wisdom won’t really do much since your main talents lie in trickery and illusions.”

  Kat had thought that was the reason why Barry had been investing a lot of these books into her, but hearing it from Barry himself made her feel more motivated to show her worth. Ron on the other hand, knew that’d be the case and wanted him to admit it. “Just as I assumed.” Ron said, keeping his smirk as he shook his head with disappointment. “So because I lack any attack spells of my own like Kat or Puck, I wasn’t good enough to read these books first. That’s crazy man.”

  Barry rolled his eyes and shrugged his shoulders. “Listen, I’m sorry if that hurt your feelings. I promise I’ll bring more of these books to you first so you can benefit from their effects first. You’ve taken down a fucking hag, although with help from Anna, that at least shows you’re more capable than what I’ve already thought of you.”

  “And what were you thinking of me before? Perhaps just someone who can use ‘party tricks’? Hmm?” Ron kept pressing Barry for an honest answer, having fun messing with Barry now that he needed him to research these Magic Mike books.

  It was clear that Ron was fooling him around, yet Barry allowed it since he really wanted to know the truth behind these books. “No, Ron, you want my honest opinion about what I think of you? Well here it is…”

  Ron wasn’t expecting Barry to give a serious answer to him as he listened to what he was about to tell him next. “I rely on you when it comes to learning things about this world…your world. I take your word for what it is without going against you, I might be a hardass when it comes to socializing with others but I’m not dense to neglect advice from others. That aside, your illusions are impressive, especially outside of combat which we’ve clearly seen. You’ve grown a lot since our first meeting and I’m glad you’ve chosen to assist me in completing this quest we’re on. So…thank you.”

  What he said to Ron made the illusionist feel valued inside, the way Barry spoke meant it was all true and that was how he thought of him. Ron wasn’t sure what to say back, he was so stunned to hear Barry show his appreciation. Barry felt awkward inside, maybe because it seemed like he spoke as if he was a friend when he really only saw his group as comrades or associates. One thing was for sure, Ron’s dumbfounded face made Barry feel like leaving and that’s what he did. “I’m gonna go now, get some training in or something. But read those books and summarize them for me when you can. Alright, bye.”

  Kat and Ron watched as Barry powerwalked over to Abe’s biome room and entered, shutting the door behind. Kat had been listening the whole time and was just as surprised as Ron. If Barry was able to give an honest opinion about Ron when asked, she was hoping to get one from Barry about herself as well. “W-Well that was…unexpected.” She commented. “And it was all good things too…what do you think Ron?”

  “H-Huh? O-Oh yeah, all good things…” Ron replied, still astonished. “But wow, it feels unbelievable to be complimented by him. I thought he was going to make fun of me, or say I wasn’t doing a good job.”

  “O-Oh no, no, Ron, I think he really meant it all when he said all that.” Kat reassured Ron before he questioned himself. “You’ve contributed a lot to the team and really shined with the stuff we just went through. Be more proud of yourself, I’m sure Sherry wouldn’t want you underselling yourself.”

  “You're right, I should appreciate my talents a bit more. Sherry wouldn’t like someone who isn’t confident, hehe…” Ron really hoped to improve himself on every one of these journeys so that Sherry could like him more. The thought of Sherry made him nervous, which caused him to quickly change the subject. “Um, can I get those Magic Mike books from you now? I should get started on them right away for Barry.”

  “Of course.” Kat then brought out all the books that were given to her. The amount of books passed on to Ron surprised him, he couldn’t believe how many stat points Kat must have benefited from them. After receiving them all, he sat back in his comfy chair to consume all the knowledge inside these mysterious books.

  The group's journey would continue on, with only a few more days of travel before reaching the vicinity of where the 4th prism would be at. They had just rescued a couple of victims from the wretched blood farming hag, resolving the case of the tamafrogs and trolls missing friends. A job well done for Barry’s group to accomplish while on their journey.

  However, despite eliminating Ms.Epple personally with the teamwork of both Anna and Ron, that would not be the end of the malicious kidnapper. For as the scene shifted back over to where Ms.Epple's inanimate corpse remained after being decapitated, something miraculous would occur that would continue the life of the wicked terror of swamps…

  Ms.Epple’s decapitated head remained still and frozen, the blood that had been pouring out of her head had nearly dried up and was being feasted on by flies and other buggers. Suddenly her eyes that were once lifeless and staring up at the beyond began to twinkle, color would slowly re-emerge, as her cold lips started to twitch.

  And in a matter of moments, a dry and exasperated cough was released from her mouth, despite lacking the necessary organs to do so. “Ack! Aaaagh! AH! I-I’m alive! Yes! Haha!” Ms.Epple’s now revived head cried out with joy.

  “I was hoping one of my new smuckers would save me from certain death. Those trolls sure do have a unique regenerative healing factor compared to someone fragile as me.” Ms.Epple experimented with Mudflap’s blood previously before being sabotaged and replaced one of her teeth with a solid blood version instead. The chance of it working like she had hoped was unclear since it would require her dying in order to find out.

  She glanced down at her body, intending to see if she could reattach herself back to it. Ms.Epple began gathering herself mana from the essence around her domain which was marked by her willow tree that also served to draw in magic essence around. It would take Ms.Epple about 10 minutes to gather just enough mana before she could utilize it to bind her head back to her body with summoned roots.

  But when she made the attempt, it did not work as she had thought. Her head would not reconnect with her body, meaning that the troll’s regenerative properties had only extended to her head and not her body. “Drats, well that’s unfortunate. I should have some more troll blood in my workshop, hopefully I can still make a solution for my headless problem. Hehe.”

  The hag spent a few more minutes gathering some more mana so that she could makeshift herself a couple of legs like a spider using roots. Once Ms.Epple did, she began skittering back towards her secret entrance aside from the cave under the willow tree.

  “It may take a couple of trials and errors with this troublesome head of mine alone, but I’m sure I can come up with a-” In the middle of her monologue, she stopped talking due to her body becoming frozen like a statue. “W-What? Why can’t I move?”

  Ms.Epple’s eyes darted around, her spider-like form appeared to shimmer a blue aura all over. ‘T-This is magic!? But it's not any kind I’ve seen before! Is this someone else’s doing!? I thought those brats would have been gone by now!’

  Suddenly, she began to hear footsteps come from behind. “W-Whose there!? Are you the one restraining me?” No response was given. “I can hear you stomping over here maggot! Who-”

  The next thing that occurred was watching her headless corpse being tossed out in front of her. “M-My body! What are you up!? You better not-”

  Flames of magic started spewing out from over her head, scorching and setting her wrinkly corpse ablaze in front of her to watch. “Stop!” Ms.Epple shouted out in frustration, watching her corpse getting burned to cinders was riling her up inside. “I SAID STOP!”

  The mysterious person did not do as she requested, rather, they amped up the intensity of the flames. Ms.Epple could only watch in place as her cherished body was reduced to nothing but ashes and smoke. After a minute or two, the obscured mage halted his magic. There was nothing left of her body remaining.

  “You…YOU FUCKING BA-” Ms.Epple’s mouth was shut tight before she could finish her rant. The mystical magic that was being used to put her in stasis began to lift her in the air, stopping at one point and turning her head to face the person responsible for incinerating her corpse. ‘W-Who are you!?’ She wondered with a look of surprise.

  In front of her was a person dressed in a blue-gold cosmic mage cloak with light armor equipped underneath. They wore a mask with glowing blue eyeholes that emitted wispy essence of magic out from them. Their arms were still concealed within their cloak, not needing any hand gestures to use their magic to manipulate something as simple as Ms.Epple’s current pathetic form. Upon meeting eye to eye now, Ms.Epple tried getting a read on them based on their magical aura but was shocked when she couldn’t. She could only assume that they were stronger than herself.

  Ms.Epple wanted to curse at the mage for destroying her body, yet couldn’t because of his foreign magic. The mage finally spoke, their voice being that of a man, firm and serious. The hag could only listen to what he was about to say. “You disgust me, old wretch.”

  Those few words alone infuriated her even more. “You thought you’d be able to escape death after what you tried to do. Only to cry in frustration for someone like me to crush your last hopes.” The mage seemed to be enjoying the mockery he was doing. “Go on, I’ll let you have a turn of exchanging a few words.”

  He then allowed her to speak, which she quickly took advantage of. “FUCK YOU! What business is it for you to come and stomp my second chance of life!? I was just doing what I enjoyed and-”

  Her mouth was forced shut once again, the mage found it very taxing to listen to her bickering. It also annoyed him what she said about stepping into her business…because it was.

  The magic that had influence on her head began to intensify, Ms.Epple started to feel her head getting tighter and tighter, as if it was compressing. He then spoke in a dark tone. “The elf. You threatened to lock him up and farm his blood. That's what you said. Right?”

  The hag recalled Ron, the one with orange curly hair that had tricked her before. She could not move her mouth, but was able to make loud muffling noises that gave him confirmation. “I was about to step in, had you not been dealt with. And trust me, I could have done a whole lot worse than what happened to you. You’ve already seen what I’ve done to your corpse, would you like for me to do the same to your head?”

  Ms.Epple immediately muffled an urgent ‘no’ in response to his question, she was hoping that there would be a chance of him being benevolent enough to let her live in the end. The mage was amused by how desperate the hag was, but hid it. “I thought so, and you know what, I’m glad nothing extreme happened to that elf. I’m sure you are as well, yes?”

  He allowed her to make slight nudges with her head, letting her give a quick nod of ‘yes’ in response. “Of course you are. I don’t care what would have happened to those other people, or those victims you imprisoned. All I cared about was that one elf. And since he was not harmed, I’ll allow you to live. Me burning your body was simply a cost of letting you live in advance. How does that sound?”

  Another nod was given from Ms.Epple, her second chance at life was looking brighter and brighter as their exchange continued. “Good. Then no hard feelings.” He then released his magical hold on her head, dropping Ms.Epple back on the ground with free will again.

  She looked up at the mage with curiosity, wondering if his promise was honest and true. Uncertainty was inside her, mainly because she could not get a read on his facial expressions or aura. “Go on.” The mage urged, flicking a hand away from himself. “You’re free to do what you please. No one else is here to stop you.”

  Ms.Epple took one last glance at the mysterious figure, slowly skittering back before eventually turning away to rush off to her home. ‘I have no clue who that person was, but that magic they were using to restrain me. It’s clearly unknown to me. But that doesn’t matter. I can now live as I always have!’

  Her spider-like form would soon stop in front of a boulder and began chanting a few words and some light taps on the rock. It slowly rolled over, unveiling a large entrance leading to her home inside. ‘Yes, ah, finally home. Now I can-’

  Suddenly, she began experiencing excruciating pain from all over her meek form, as if a thousand needles were puncturing all over inside. ‘W-What’s going on-’

  “Haha, it’s very comical for me to see such a face like yours after being let go. I love it a bit too much in fact.” The same voice of the mage she had just spoken was coming out of the secret entrance. His figure stepping out into the light in front of her. “I guess you can call me a fiend for lying.”

  Ms.Epple tried cursing out at him but couldn’t; It was not the mage’s magic that was restraining her this time. In fact, it was rather the result of multiple thin roots that had erupted from the ground beneath her that penetrated through her head all over. She was slowly losing consciousness as the seconds went by.

  “I was never going to let you live. I merely prolonged your inevitable death for both my enjoyment and to relieve my stress of finding that elf. So consider this a last act of mercy, while I see this as cutting a loose end.”

  His hand then stretched out towards the pitiful Ms.Epple’s and unleashed hell upon her. The sounds of Ms.Epple suffering in agony resonated throughout the area for a couple of moments before silencing completely. Her form no longer present after being whisked away to the afterlife.

  The mage next turned around and let out a heavy sigh before strolling off to continue his task at hand. “Ron you damn bastard. You’ve been gone for too long…”