Chapter 18 - Finding the Green Crystal Flower

"Hehehehehehehe... You are going to protect me, then. I suppose, that you are going to become my knight in shining armour now," said Julieth as she smirked and cheered up a little.

"I am much stronger than you think ugly girl," said Nerun feeling indignant and puffing out his cheeks.

"I'm sure you are strong," Julieth said half-jokingly, and couldn't help but pinch Nerun's cheeks. Oddly enough, the little boy's promise succeeded in calming her down.

Nerun felt a little annoyed. Suddenly he saw a shadow approaching fast through the trees. Elijah jumped down from the tree as soon as he felt the movement and stood in front of Nerun and Julieth, ready to attack. A small blue-haired Direwolf, about a metre tall, with a white tuft on its forehead, and big eyes appeared in front of the three of them and charged at them. It was a small Magical Beast of rank 1, though quite agile.

Elijah was about to strike at the beast, when Nerun stepped in front of him, saying, "Stop, Big Brother. Don't attack."

Elijah was distracted by Nerun's words and missed the opportunity to attack. The wolf arrived in front of Nerun and lunged at him, knocking him to the ground. It was too late, they thought the wolf would attack and hurt Nerun when they were stunned to see that the wolf was licking Nerun's face very animated and happy.

"Hahahahahaha, stop it Whitey, stop it. You're tickling me, hahahahahaha, stop it," said Nerun as he hugged the wolf and rolled around on the ground with it.

Elijah and Julieth were dumbfounded, not knowing what to say.

"Big Brother, ugly girl, this is my friend, Whitey. Whitey this is my Big Brother I've told you so much about," Nerun said smiling as the wolf sat down next to him, watching the other two people around him. Apart from Nerun, he had never met other humans before.

"I met Whitey while playing in the forest last year. He had gotten a thorn in his front paw and I helped him remove it. We have been best friends ever since. Whitey is also quite young, we are the same age and he has taught me many things about the Rando Forest. He's the friend I've told Father about," said Nerun happily, as he hugged the wolf's neck.

Elijah and Julieth recovered quickly from the surprise, and Julieth fell in love with the wolf. It had beautiful, glossy blue fur. He looked quite dignified, and the fur looked soft and velvety, so she approached it and wanted to pet it with her hand, but Whitey immediately got down on all fours and started growling and barking at her, scaring her. Although he was a friend of Nerun's, he didn't trust strangers very much. Julieth was frightened and backed away, giving a little yelp.

Nerun calmed him down, rubbing his head and telling the wolf, "Whitey, don't be like that. They are my brother and a little girl I must protect. They won't do anything to you." Whitey looked at Nerun, and although he did not speak, his eyes implied that he understood what Nerun was saying. The intelligence of Magical Beasts was definitely quite high, and the higher the rank, the more it resembled and could even surpass that of humans.

"Wow, I didn't think you'd get a magical beast for a pet. Sell it to me, and I'll give you all the money you want for it," Julieth said, once again, somewhat haughtily. Although she had come clean with Nerun previously, she was still used to getting whatever she wanted no matter what.

However, Nerun looked at her coldly and replied "Whitey is not my pet, he is my friend. I have no rights over him, and what's more, friends are not for sale".

Julieth was a little annoyed, but she kept quiet, not knowing what to say. True, it was a bit rude of her to ask to buy Whitey, but he was a magical beast, not a human being. At that moment, a voice was heard shouting, "You brat, are you bothering the Young Miss? Even if your brother helped us with the serpent yesterday, don't think I'll allow you to take liberties to trouble the Young Lady." It was the sub-captain with the sinister eyes. When he looked at the wolf, he was taken aback but quickly composed himself. He was about to lunge at Whitey with his knife when Elijah stepped in the way. He stopped immediately, and though he wanted to attack, he knew he would get nothing out of it.

"What is a magical beast doing here and why hasn't it been killed?" he asked. However, no one answered him anything, which only made him angrier.

"Mariuz, stop it. Nerun wasn't bothering me, we were just talking. The Beast is a companion of theirs. Let's head towards the camp, it's time to move on." Julieth said. She got over the uneasiness of the fight for Whitey, and looking at Nerun she said: "I hope you keep your promise", as she winked and giggled at him and continued towards the centre of the camp with Sub-Captain Mariuz at her back.

Nerun didn't know what to think and said to Elijah as he pulled his hair a little, "I definitely can't understand girls. One minute they're crying, the next they're screaming, the next they're calling you names and then they're winking at you."

"Hahahahaha... If you can understand them, you might become a real hero of the continent". Let's go to the camp as well. It's better if we don't cause misunderstandings. Tell Whitey that you won't be able to play with him today. He'd better go home."

Nerun understood that the road could be dangerous, so he promised Whitey that he would come another time to play with him, and ran off with his brother towards the camp. Whitey stared at him and half-turned and ran back between the trees.

At the camp everyone was ready, so Elijah, in the lead, led them deeper into the forest. This time they went at a more leisurely speed, and no one complained about the delay. Along the way, they dodged several Magical Beasts thanks to the guidance of Elijah and Nerun. They still had two encounters with Beasts, one of which fled when it saw the entire convoy and another which attacked them. It was a Swamp Lizard, a level 2 beast, but this time, they all worked together until they wounded it, after which it fled. Although they wanted to capture or kill it, it was very difficult given the terrain of the Forest, as well as the lizard's great natural agility.

Shortly after noon, they finally reached a lake in the middle of the forest. There was a gentle mist that made the place almost picturesque. Many reeds adorned the edge of the lake, and the water of the lake was almost transparent blue in colour. The lake was of moderate size, extending at least 10 square kilometres. All the guards were mesmerized when they saw the lake and the beautiful scenery.

"Very well. We must look for the Green Crystal Flower. It usually grows near this lake as young Elijah told us. Since we don't know where in the lake it might be found, my recommendation is that we split up. I will go with part of the guards on one side of the lake edge, and the others will go on the other. I don't know if anyone has any other views on this." Captain Roger said. All the guards thought it would be a good idea, though they turned to Elijah to hear his recommendation.

"I know you're all a bit anxious about the time, but I would still recommend that we all go together. It is easier for me to investigate the area for the possibility of the presence of magical beasts that way, otherwise, it would be very dangerous if we split up and approached any of the nests of dangerous creatures. There are many magical beasts living near the lake, and the most dangerous ones are the Shadow Macaques and it is very easy to enter their territory unnoticed." Elijah commented.

"I understand your concern young Elijah, but how about this? It will be myself, one of the sub-captains and only 4 of the guards. You would come with us. Although we are a small group, we are quite strong and agile and can easily escape and seek support, should we encounter any situation. On the other side will be the rest of the guards with the Young Miss and Mr Menke. They have Nerun, who is also an excellent guide and will not stray while searching for the flower. The other group is strong enough to face most of the dangers they might encounter," replied the captain.

'Is it about to start?' Elijah thought to himself.

"Very well, captain. It will be done as you have said then. Nerun, lead the rest of the group, and remember that safety is the priority," Elijah told Nerun. The rest of the guards stood in a group and began to plan their formation, with the other sub-captain in charge. He was a taciturn, tall, stocky-looking man. He had hardly opened his mouth during the entire trip and was known to be a quiet man who rarely gave his opinion, except for things of the utmost importance. His name was Dennis, and he had armour similar to that of Mariuz. Mariuz, Captain Roger and 4 of the Captain's chosen guards also gathered and began to discuss their own plans quietly.

Elijah withdrew a little with Nerun and began to give him some recommendations of things to watch out for on the lake. He was still talking loudly with Nerun, however, while no one was looking, he was making hand signals to Nerun. The two of them had made a plan of their own and Elijah had just confirmed one of the prerequisites of that plan.

Finally, when they were all ready with their preparations, they split up and started to skirt the lake in opposite directions. Elijah checked the direction, and chose a path that skirted the lake, but was slightly separated from it by many trees.

Nerun took the lead of the other group and began to guide them. Ricard, the soldier that Elijah had saved, stood beside him and asked him questions about the people of Radem, about his life, as well as about the Forest. The attentive guards were surprised that Nerun, despite his young age, proved to know a great deal about the forest and the characteristics and habits of many of the beasts. This made them feel much more at ease and they understood why Elijah had decided to bring his brother to the Forest. Moreover, as time went on, they realised that Nerun was not only meticulous when exploring the forest, but that he was even able to visualise two small nests of nearby beasts long before the beasts could sense them so that the group was able to avoid them in plenty of time.

They travelled several kilometres around the lake when they spotted a 10-metre-high rock formation at the edge of the lake. At the top of the formation, they found it. There were 4 lustrous-looking plants, resembling carved emeralds, with long thin leaves and an associated bluish-green flower, which had 6 petals. The group was very excited when they saw the plants. These were precisely the plants they were looking for, the Green Crystal Flower. And there were 4 of them. Everyone was happy because they had achieved their goal without any major setbacks.

The Green Crystal Flower was a rank 3 plant. Although its rank was not very high, its value could go up, even being higher than plants and materials of level 5 or 6 on occasions, because although it was not very rare, it was a very sought-after plant and was often sold out in the market. On the one hand, it was a very beautiful plant and many noble houses loved it for the decoration of their mansions. On the other hand, this plant had a rather peculiar effect. A Pill Master could use the plant to boost the effect of a pill almost by a full rank, as long as it was lower than rank 7. This made any Green Crystal Flower almost impossible to find in auction houses, and they usually fetched prohibitive prices. The demand was simply too high.

Everyone was greatly enlivened, but still, led by Sub-Captain Dennis, and Mr Menke, they checked the surroundings to make sure there were no beasts nearby. When they saw that the coast was clear, Ricard climbed the rock formation and gathered the plants, storing them in a jade container that Mr Menke had prepared in advance. They were about to celebrate when suddenly they heard a great roar a few kilometres away and a deafening noise began to approach their position. Everyone could not help but turn pale as they caught sight of what was approaching.