Twilight Forest

Elizabeth kept descending the stairwell. She lost all sense of time as she walked down the damp, barely lit stairs. One day became two, and two turned into four. She lost track of how long she'd been walking.

The deeper she traveled, the more mental demons she faced. As soon as she defeat one, another mental demon would take its place. Her mind was being tempered beating demon after demon.

She defeated demons who told her she was a bad wife and a bad mother. The most difficult demons involved her children. Scenes of her children dying were particularly difficult to defeat.

Yet, she came out of challenge victorious with greater mental fortitude.

"How much longer," she asked. She had run out of food and water yesterday, and only sleep about three hours a night.

Well she thought it was night. The stairwell had no windows. So, it was difficult to tell time of day.

Finally, after what felt like a week. Elizabeth saw the bottom of the stairwell. But, it was guarded by skeleton soldiers.

Seeing the exit Elizabeth wanted to cry tears of joys, but her body lacked enough water to make tears.

Hiding behind the last spiral, on the stairwell. Elizabeth cast [Purification]. Killing on soldiers and injuring three others.

Due to her constant casting of [Purification] against the mental demons, he advance her spell's strength.

After three more cast, the skeleton soldiers were dead.

She opened the stairwell only to find it full of skeleton soldiers.

Elizabeth sighed, but moved forward. She began purifying the undead soldiers.

Unlike Will who constantly focused daily on increasing strength, after learning the hard way that might makes right, Elizabeth had stopped practicing magic after graduation.

Growing up the daughter of a Duke and king' niece meant she was immune to many of the fighting Will faced.

After she cleared the corridor, she turned a corner to find another corridor with a big floral door behind what looked like a guard captain.

Before fighting again, she took a brief rest. Elizabeth was exhausted, only by shear Will did she move her body forward.

Never, had she gone this long without a bath or being waited on hand and foot by her servants.

She realized how helpless she was. She had zero useful skills. Yet, all she could depend on was her self.

After here mana regenerated, she poked her head out and looked around the corner.

Thankfully, all the skeleton soldiers she faced here meme. If she faced off against ranged or caster undead soldiers, Elizabeth was confident she die.

Looking down at her calloused hands, he harkened back to when her body was soft and smooth.

Now, her clothes were ragged and bloody. Her lips cracked l, and her hands and feet callous. She looked more like a scullery maid than a noble lady.

Readying herself, turned the corner and began casting [Petrification] over and over again. The low level soldiers quickly died, but guard captain ran out attack.

Elizabeth just barely killed it as it was bringing it was be sword down in a chop.

The guard captain disintegrated leaving behind a short sword and knife. Elizabeth picked up the knife, figuring she needed a suitable backup weapon.

With he reduced strength, she pushed with all her might to open the door. She only managed to crack the door open a bit, but that was enough for Elizabeth to squeeze through.

To her surprise on the other side of the was a beautiful forest. The forest was dimly lit. Elizabeth thought The twilight forest was eerily beautiful.

But most importantly, there was a stream. Elizabeth rushed to the stream and dunked her had in the water. She filled up on water until she was full. She quickly bathed and prepared herself for the next task, finding food.

After filling her water flask, she picked up her knife and began searching for anything edible.

It didn't take long until she recognized some berries. She ate until her stomach stopped complaining. Before she left she stored some berries in her Elven spatial ring.

She stumbled down the riverbank until she heard singing. Elizabeth could tell it was a sad song. As she walked closer she did her best to walk stealthily, but accidentally seemed to step on every branch as she walked.

When she finally was able to see the clearing, she saw two nymphs a Dryad and Naiads signing a duet.

"Are you the one our mistress asked us to wait for, human? the Dyad asked.

"I-I don't know what is your mistress' name?"

"The Goddess Persephone. This is her garden," said the Naiad.

"This looks more like a forest than a garden!" Elizabeth gasped in astonishment.

"I'm sure it looks like a forest to mortal, but to a god this is merely a garden," laughed the Dyad.

"I see. The Goddess Demeter asked me to find Persephone," Elizabeth said not sure how much to devolve.

"Fine, the matron has asked me to bring you too her. I know you have walked quite a distance, why not sleep safely here. It's safest at the edge of the garden," the Dyad making a bed of chrysanthemums for Elizabeth.

"Thank you!" Elizabeth said falling asleep at once.

In the morning, the Dyad served Elizabeth breakfast.

"Thank you for the meal and serving as my guide. May I have the pleasure of knowing my guides name?" Elizabeth asked.

"Oh how silly of me. My name is Chrysanthemum. Goddess Persephone brought me here as a seed. Now let's get going. We have to cross the forest undetected to make it the goddess' residence," Chrysanthemum said.

"Then I shall depend on you!" Elizabeth curtsied.

"No we shall depend on each other! Hades, Persephone's husband, has filled this forest with miasma to repel humans from wondering in.

He's also tasked his undead minions to keep an eye out for unwanted guest. You'll need to dispel that miasma to reach the mistress," Chrysanthemum explained.

"Wait, I must kill more skeletons and repel miasma? Is there not a more indirect route?" Elizabeth asked worriedly.

She had heard of miasma but never seen it. Elizabeth knew miasma was made by evil magic. In her academy classes, she knew miasma consumed the life force of the trees, eventually killing them.

She also knew inhaling miasma led to magic poisoning, making the forest dangerous for any living being. Worse miasma wasn't immediately fatal, but caused excruciating pain if someone was exposed to it for a long period of time.

"That is the indirect route, unless you want to have stronger foes?" Chrysanthemum asked.

"No, your route is fine," Elizabeth said scared what might horrors may await here on the direct path.

They two woman began walking through the forest.

"If the forest has miasma in it, why hasn't it deteriorated?" Elizabeth asked.

"Some parts have, but the Goddess Persephone can regrow the garden. Hades creates miasma and Persephone extinguishes it. This garden is in a constant state of dying and rebirth," Chrysanthemum explained.

"Eh?" Elizabeth said surprised.

"Why are you surprised, death and decay, rebirth and growth are the cycle of life?" the Dyad asked.

"I can't imagine having such a long quarrel with my husband," Elizabeth elaborated.

"I imagine you chose your husband. My mistress was stolen from her family and forced to live here against her choice," Chrysanthemum explained Persephone situation.

"How awful! Husband is a tyrant!" Elizabeths snapped angrily as they headed toward the forest.

On the outset, the forest looked calm and peaceful. Elizabeth closed her eyes and enjoyed the gentle breeze.

She was thankful to finally have someone to talk too. After walking drown the spiral staircase, she immensely enjoyed the company. She also enjoyed listening to birds chirping, and trees rustling in the wind.

As they walked along the bypass, Elizabeth was amazed at how friendly the forest animals were. The squirrels, deer, rabbits, and birds scampered up to the Dyad and Elizabeth.

When a goose with a broken wing walked up, Elizabeth cast [Heal]. She was happy to use her mana to heal the forest animals. By her own standard she was proficient healer. But, admittedly, she was lacking proficiency with her other light spells.

But after dealing the demons and undead she wanted to find a way to increase effectiveness? Or probably reduce the mana usage?

As Elizabeth walked, she unconsciously placed her hand on the trees. But as she walked, she began to realize she could feel the life force in the trees. This caused her to experiment. She began seeing the life force in the animals and plants.

The kept walking until, Elizabeth noticed the verdant trees they passed were now turning increasing brown and browner. The further they walked the gloomier the forest looked, and the less animals scampered up to them.

"Beyond here lies the miasma and undead. Do not coddle the animals for they see you only as food. From here, I'll depend on you for support," Chrysanthemum said.

Elizabeth walked in front purify the forest, as Chrysanthemum pointed the way. After half a day of walking they rest on a decayed tree stomped.

Elizabeth looked toward the expansive forest filled with miasma.

'If only there was away to use purification on a wider scale instead of object by object?' Elizabeth thought to herself.

"How does the goddess Persephone purify the forest?" Elizabeth asked Chrysanthemum.

"That's a good question. I guess the answer depends on what her purpose. I've seen her cast [Purification], [Mass Heal] or [Heal] on some undead animals, sometimes she'll cast [Holy Aura], [Restoration], or [Dispel Evil] to clear the forest of Miasma. But her favorite spell is [Sanctuary]. I think that's spell we forest dwellers like the best," Chrysanthemum said.

"I've never heard of [Sanctuary]. What's that?" Elizabeth ask curiously.

"It's like the spell [Holy Aura], but it defensive spell that creates a protective array, and makes us feel safe and secure, while inhibiting evil creatures from attacking us," Chrysanthemum explained.

"What's Holy Aura then?" Elizabeth asked.

"Holy Aura is an offensive spell, that creates divine light around the mistress. Imagine casting purification several meters around you. Miasma and lower ranked undead disperse on contact," Chrysanthemum informed.

"Then if I want to purify a large area of the forest I'll need to learn both spells," Elizabeth said excitedly.

Elizabeth was excited to learn of the two knew spells.

Sitting on the stump Elizabeth began contemplating how to cast the spells.

"When you meet the mistress, I'm sure she'll be happy to teach you [Holy Aura] and [Sanctuary]. That way you can try to purify bigger undead. But, that must wait until you could learn them," Chrysanthemum advised.