Surprise

Despite her still childish naivety, Dria absorbed new knowledge quite rapidly. Because she had skipped the middle rank, her knowledge was scarce — yes, she knew, or rather, felt when spirits were evil, when they were good. On an intuitive level, she avoided dangerous places, whereas it's precisely at the middle rank that spirits gradually begin to question their surroundings. Here, though, you could see a pure white sheet that had yet to be filled with colors.

Just being near such a generator of positivity, it was hard not to succumb to the same mood — this was exactly what was needed after battles. And it would be doubly painful to learn if something happened to her. To reduce the chances of a tragic outcome, I decided to tell her everything I knew about the Spirit World and its inhabitants, and strictly asked her not to mess with "very evil and strong spirits."

Especially for her, at first I had to simplify some words and expressions, but as she communicated with me, she began using more complex words in her speech. After all, there was some knowledge base in her that seemed to be inscribed in the spirit itself, and now Dria was "unarchiving" these packages. Or maybe it was the influence of the Spirit Tree's energy? Who knows — the main thing is that it's good that such a thing exists.

It was interesting to see what abilities she possessed. Seeing no secret in this, she demonstrated her newfound powers without concealment. As soon as she briefly closed her eyes, the grass and trees around us began to stir, as if nature itself had responded to her call. In the next moment, tree roots grew from under the ground, which began to writhe and nuzzle against Dria herself — it seemed they were very happy to be near her. The grass that had been calm began to grow vigorously, stopping its growth only when it reached my waist.

Running my hand through the grass, I was amazed by its strength. Such grass could easily stop an enemy's advance while dealing some damage, but all her techniques would only be effective in a suitable environment, or maybe not... I looked with some apprehension at the spot where green slime had just landed, released from a bright and colorful flower that had grown from her hand right before my eyes.

Yes, she herself was a walking weapon! Dria could be called a nature spirit, and her body was a full-fledged ecosystem that could produce what she needed by itself. Right now, unable to reach her back with her hand, she easily extended her arm, which now looked more like a vine.

It seems I was worrying too much — if she managed to survive as a lesser spirit and live for some time until becoming a full-fledged higher spirit, she'll definitely manage. But I think just in case, I should take her to a safer place with a heightened nature background, and then I can drop by the dark water spirits for one round.

Finding such a place wasn't difficult — the harder part was parting with Dria herself, who absolutely didn't want to be left alone.

"But why can't you stay with me? Do you want me to talk less? It's because of that, isn't it?" she asked tearfully, clinging to me like a koala.

It seemed like I wasn't to blame for this situation, but I felt like the worst bastard who was leaving a child alone in an adult, alien world.

"No, you're doing great," I said with a sigh, stroking her head. "I just can't stay here too long, but no tears," I continued, wiping away her tears. 

"It feels like you'll never see me again. Look at all this from another angle — what were the chances of us meeting again? But such a meeting happened, so don't hang your head," I finished with a small flick to her cute nose.

"Then why can't I come with you?" asked the now slightly calmed Dria.

"Uh, you're still too weak for that," — nothing bad would happen if I said it exactly like this, right?

 "I live in the human world, and as you know, only very strong spirits can get there," — it seemed like now she would definitely accept the situation, since I had also told her about the barrier.

"I understand," — too joyful an acceptance of the situation, I thought she would be saddened.

 "I just need to become strong enough to go with you! Well, watch out — next time we meet, you won't get away from me!" From the overflow of emotion, she even started pointing her finger at me.

Of course, I didn't expect such an effect, but her idea looked even better. Not too much time would pass before she became a higher spirit and could pass through with me at the solstice — the main thing was to find her next time. Though I think fate will bring us together again...

"Now that's the spirit!" I exclaimed with a smile.

 "Then hurry up and get stronger! And don't forget to avoid dangerous places, also try to find the baboon spirit Wong — he'll be able to help you."

"You've already said that a million times, I already understand everything," — Dria said. "I'm not some kind of child, after all — I think I'm already a hundred and twenty years old?" — well, I shouldn't tell her that this age among spirits is like a human child who still goes to daycare.

"Well, alright, I'm going," I said with an awkward smile, spreading my arms to the sides. I never liked saying goodbye.

"You be careful too," - she said, already in my embrace. - "There, now I've remembered you even better," — Dria said after inhaling several times near my neck, just like a little dog...

After a few more warm words, breaking the embrace, I set off further. By my calculations, about four hours remained until the end of the winter solstice.

This place amazed with its inconstancy. Each time I moved away from the lava river, I memorized all the water sources I encountered. Right at the place where I was now standing, there had been a small lake that should have soon become a swamp, but now I saw an entire mountain range here...

Rising to a height and squinting, I could make out the beginning of an ocean beyond these mountains. That's exactly where the water spirits I needed should be located — well, that means I'll have to fly around these mountains.

Carefully flying around the mountain peaks, I thought about testing my strength in battle with a higher spirit. Thanks to a whole arsenal of various techniques, I should be able to hold my own in a draw, but that wasn't certain. I think the risk was worth it — the residual energy of a higher spirit should allow my source to make a good leap. Besides, I could always flee from an unwanted battle — the water platform had shown itself well in terms of speed.

At the moment when I was flying over another mountain, my sense of danger howled. Without thinking for a second, I flew a great distance away from the mountain, which began to shake.

Pressure descended on my shoulders, from which even the water platform began to gradually collapse. The cause of all this was a gigantic stone giant that had previously blended with the entire mountain — in size, it was no smaller than a five-story building. [ image ]



Speak of the devil, and here he is! Of course, I assumed that Wong was hiding part of his true strength well, but only now did I realize the real difference between a middle and higher spirit, and I didn't like it very much...

Before the platform completely destabilized, I decided to descend. Especially since I would need all the water I had here.

"Aaahhhhh!" the giant roared loudly. Having finally freed himself from the mountain, he ran straight at me. His speed wasn't impressive, but with his steps alone, which shook the earth, he significantly reduced my speed as well. Uncomfortable — I felt like I was wearing weighted training gear.

"You said you wanted to test your strength?" — sometimes I get carried away, I won't do it anymore, just take this machine away from here! Alright, enough panic — it's not even known yet who will emerge victorious.

Concentrating on water, I created a gigantic water drill in the shortest time, which I launched straight into the center of his body. Watching with all my eyes as the technique, crashing into the spirit's body, cut it in half, and immediately after that it crumbled into elemental energy. [ Image ]



At least I expected such a good outcome, but a higher spirit is a higher spirit. As soon as the drill exited his body, the remaining cut from the technique began to heal at a speed visible to the eye.

"Alright, first pancake is always lumpy, but I'm definitely sure you have some weakness too," I thought.

But now I didn't need to worry about water — with his rumbling, he had brought down tons of snow that had previously rested peacefully on the mountain peaks.

Continuing to retreat, I didn't stop sending new techniques at him, but the stone giant, not even trying to defend himself, went straight ahead. It seemed to me that as long as he stood on the ground, he had an unlimited supply of his element. The earth under his feet constantly moved up along his body — it turned out he could regenerate indefinitely, while my supply wasn't unlimited.

Sharply dodging his fist, I once again thanked the universe for making these creatures so slow. I shouldn't have mentioned his low speed... Running from him became many times harder, because he began literally sliding along the ground. With this movement, he now matched my speed.

Such dancing could continue for quite a long time — there was no point in continuing this fight, I had already understood everything for myself. First, in favorable conditions for a higher spirit, his energy supply was almost inexhaustible. Second, the quality of a higher spirit far exceeded the same property in middle spirits — too much power.

"Great," I didn't even whisper, but hissed. This bastard started budding! Seriously, new spirits of middle and lower rank were falling from his body to the ground.

Ho-ho, they knew something about battle tactics too. The new spirits didn't rush to attack — they only circled around me, enclosing me in the center of a circle. They didn't even give me time to transition to the human world, which meant I needed to create such a pause myself!

I needed to run further away. Creating a film of water, I ran with all my might in the direction opposite to the spirits. So now the main thing was concentration.

"Bomb number three, I choose you!" — heh-heh, what nonsense comes to mind in the middle of battle...

Creating my most powerful waterbending technique at the moment, I immediately sent it toward the spirits running at me.

Covering my ears with my hands, I curled up in a ball on the ground, knowing exactly what would follow this technique.

From the power of the explosion, my entire body was thrown a whole meter into the air. There was an incomprehensible noise in my ears. Vietnam flashbacks surfaced in my memory, which shouldn't have existed... I had the same situation when I was playing some old game about the Vietnam War — Private Anderson was shell-shocked from an explosion that happened right next to him.

Coming to my senses a bit, I took control of the nearest water and gave myself a kind of cold shower, which quickly brought me to my senses.

Carefully peeking out from behind a more or less intact tree, I began looking for my ill-wishers. At the impact site, only a huge crater was visible. Everything seemed clear — had I really finished them all off with that attack?!

"Well, you bastards, how do you like that?!" I shouted, still coming down from the battle high. The echo hadn't yet reflected off the surrounding mountains when I heard rustling in the earth at the attack site. "How is that possible?!"

A small version of that giant surfaced from the ground. Only now the spirit had a metallic shine all over its body. Probably this was its main body, something like a core... Next time I need to find it right away and hit it.

Looking straight at me, it began assembling into a "transformer" again. Stones began bursting from under the ground, which under the influence of its energies attached to its metallic body.

So, I had bought some time — while it was gaining mass, I should get out of here. Everything was great — I'll drop by for a visit again sometime. This time panic served me well — concentrating on the transition was much easier.

After about forty seconds, I was about to fall into the barrier space when, on pure intuition, I created ice claws on my hand... which cut through a middle earth spirit. Such an unexpected gift had been launched at me by the now whole and healthy giant.

Everything would have been fine, but... this spirit's energy began absorbing into me!

Immediately saturating my body with all the energies I had, I ran straight at the barrier. It seemed that seeing such impropriety, the barrier let me through much faster.

Already in the human world, I collapsed onto the snow and began waiting for the earth energy digestion process. Now I could definitely pass out.

"Good surprise, situation so-so, but it was fun," was the last thought before sending my consciousness to rest.

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