Shadow parasite

“Let’s rest, tomorrow there is work to be done,” said Gorn after returning.

It was already getting late. During the cover of the night, the wilderness was multiple times more dangerous, a fact that made most of the peaceful creatures take cover in diverse ways and places.

Everyone settled down close to Gorn. With his presence, they could rest with more peace of mind. Frightening, and unknown sounds could be heard from deep within the mountains, remembering them that they were still in a dangerous location.

Gorn closed his eyes. He steeled his resolve in case that peculiar situation happened again. He was adamant in handling such an occurrence with calm, no matter the outcome.

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.

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His eyelashes trembled, and Gorn opened his eyes. The darkness was already fading away, a clear sign that it was early in the morning. Whilst he dreamed about some stuff, this time, there were unmistakably just dreams.

Gorn exhaled in relief. ‘I hope that kind of situation won’t ever happen again.’

The girls were still asleep. Mara and Nora were in each other’s arms, while Elisa and Ella were also close to one another. Rebeca was the only one slightly more to the side. He waited patiently for a few more hours.

“Rise and shine!” said Gorn while getting up, and stretching his body. It was high time they started to do something.

The noise he made was loud enough to wake everyone up. Yawning, Rebeca raised both of her hands above her head. “I slept like a log!” For the first time, she could sleep without fearing that Elisa or Ella might attack her.

Everyone slept well, and it showed on their faces. “Warm up a little. Then we will go look around the area.”

No one protested against his words. As a matter of fact, they were itching for this since some time already. Soon, the girls also started to stretch their bodies. It was quite the show since everyone except Ella was fully developed, and possessed very attractive body figures.

Gorn’s gaze stopped on Nora. Her legs were slightly spread apart while her palms were touching the ground. She did that with ease, apparent that her body was very flexible. Seeing him look at her, Nora blushed while adverting her gaze.

When Gorn wanted to look away, she saw Nora turning with her ass towards him and bending even further.

Gorn grinned.

“Alright, let’s move out. If anyone falls while climbing down, don’t worry, I will catch you.”

These words were more valid towards the twins than anyone else.

“Alright, we can do it!” said Nora while looking at Mara.

Slowly, they started to climb down the tree on their own. Before long, all of them safely reached the ground. The twins were all smiles. This was an incredible feat for them. Possible thanks to their hard work. A small part of the credit went to Gorn and Ella, but the thick of the results were thanks to them entirely.

All kinds of birds, and small insects flew around happily, making the atmosphere very lively. It was surreal how such a beautiful place could be so deadly.

“Good work!” Gorn applauded the twin’s progress. He was proud of them.

“Thank you!” Being praised brought even more happiness on their faces.

“Let’s go. I want to show you what you can eat in this area, as well as bring you to a source of water.”

Ella jumped next to him, excitement visible on her face. “If monsters appear, can I deal with them?”

“Yes, but only after I give you the permission.”

“Understood!”

Between the enormous trees, there were also smaller ones. Some of those smaller trees had edible fruits that grew periodically. At the same time, there were also a multitude of berries and mushroom. Part of them were, however, poisonous and hard to differentiate.

“Look at these blueberries. What do you say, are they edible?” asked Gorn all of a sudden.

“As far as I know, they should be edible,” answered Elisa.

“They are indeed edible. But these are not simple blueberries, but a mutation out of the original ones. If you look at the base of the bushes, you can notice some white marks. If you eat too many of them, they can be dangerous, so be careful.”

“Oh…”

“Does power level matter when it comes to eating something potentially dangerous?” asked Rebeca while coming closer to see the white marks.

“It does. The more powerful you are, the smaller the risk of food intoxication or dying due to poison. Despite that, a good number of the poisonous stuff here is very potent even for someone with a high power level. So try to avoid them if possible,” explained Gorn.

“I see…”

While the girls weren’t clueless about the wilderness, their information was only at a basic level. Gorn knew far more than them, thanks to the time he previously spent at the guild’s library.

“Prepare yourselves, a group of five reapers is headed towards us,” said Gorn abruptly.

Soon, five monsters appeared from the nearby dense vegetation. He quickly checked them out. They were some of the weakest reapers, so Gorn stepped back.

“Each one of you will deal with one reaper. If any problems occur, I will step in. Don’t be afraid, they are weaker than you.”

“Can’t I kill them all?” asked Ella with anticipation.

“Not this time.” Gorn wanted to see how each one of them dealt with an enemy.

Clenching the weapons tightly, the girls assumed a battle position. They were scared, but did not lose their cool. The monsters attacked as soon as they saw them. It was a little chaotic since the reapers weren’t going for a one on one fight.

Whereas chaotic, the monsters were ultimately defeated. It wasn’t the cleanest fight, but decent nonetheless.

“Very good! Especially Ella. Now collect the monster cores, and we can be on our way.”

Strangely enough, Ella was the most skilled and efficient among the group. On top of it all, she had no fear or hesitation.

‘What a talented girl,’ thought Gorn.

While they were taking out the cores, Gorn said: “After gaining some experience, everything will be much easier.”

He had an advantage in abilities and power, but at the end of the day he was also at the start of the road. Not that long ago, he was as clumsy as the rest.