Lily collapsed as soon as she got into the clearing, Moku settling into her lap as they watched how Adam ’handled’ the situation.
He literally threw rocks and then name dropped. It was inelegant, primitive and honestly a little childish. Maybe it was the reason why it worked almost perfectly.
Luna hefted her axe onto her shoulder as she glared at Adam.
"Which hand?" She stated with a deadpan tone.
Adam flinched at the look in her eyes, finally clueing in that throwing a rock at her head may not have been the best approach.
He asked in faint hopes that she was asking him something different than what he thought.
"I said which hand? What hand did you use to throw a rock at me?"
Adam swore when his hopes were mercilessly dashed.
"What are you going to do if I tell you?" He askef after a moments hesitation.
Luna then smiled sweetly and tilted her head in a cutesy manner. If it wasn’t for the massive threatening axe resting on her shoulder, she could pass for a sweet innocent angel.
However, she was anything but that as her voice was cold and laced with anger.
Adam blinked, trying to process her words, but the weight of her tone wasn’t lost on him. The clearing grew unnervingly quiet for a few moments as the sounds of the forest seemed to fade into the background. Even Moku, who had been lazily curled up in Lily’s lap, lifted his head and stared at Adam with something like a warning.
Luna’s smile widened, but it didn’t reach her eyes.
"Which hand, Horo?" she repeated, more patiently this time, though her grip on the axe tightened ever so slightly.
"Cutting it off is a bit extreme don’t you think?"
Luna shrugged in indifference "You can reattach it after. Who cares."
Adam grit his teeth and pointed at himself.
"I care! I may have regeneration but it still hurts ya know!"
Luna gave him a flat look.
"Maybe you’ll think twice next time before throwing a rock at my head."
"It was a distraction!" he shot back defensively. "I was trying to help!"
"You have a mouth!" Luna snapped. "You could’ve said something!"
"And since when were you someone who listened to others words when they are angry?"
Adam shot back, crossing his arms in defiance.
Luna blinked at him, her expression flat. Then she gave a slow, exaggerated nod.
"...Fair," she admitted.
Adam exhaled in relief.
Then Luna took a step forward and hoisted her axe.
"Still cutting it off though."
Adam leapt back, barely dodging the suprise attack. His feet slid across the ground, heart pounding in his chest.
Luna, please!" he shouted, stumbling toward the edge of the clearing. "Can we not do this here? In front of the child?"
Moku, nestled in Lily’s lap, tilted his head and gave a confused little whine, ears perking up at the sudden shouting. His tail thumped once, then stopped, sensing the tension.
"You threw a rock at my head," Luna snapped as she advanced, axe dragging slightly against the ground.
"I thought we were past this!" Adam yelped, ducking behind a mossy stump. "You said ’fair’ two seconds ago!"
"Fair doesn’t mean forgiven," she growled.
While Luna was taking slow but heavy swings at Adam, who continued to duck and scramble with increasingly desperate yelps, Rachel knelt at the edge of the pond. She cupped some water in her hands and took a sip, only for a faint ding to ring in her ears as a translucent window materialized before her eyes.
[Congratulations! You have found the Lucky Instance: Pond of Desire.]
[Reward Value Increased]
[Warning: Effects are unpredictable.]
Behind her, Adam let out a startled scream as Luna’s axe buried itself in a tree inches from his head.
"I said I was sorry!" he shouted.
"You said that after you ran!" Luna snapped.
Rachel, ignoring them completely, tapped the air to expand the notification.
Would you like to make a Wish?
The Pond of Desire grants a single randomized effect per person.
She leaned down and took a small sip from the crystal-clear water cupped in her palms. It tasted faintly like mint and lightning. The moment she swallowed, a flash of blue light sparked in her eyes, and another chime rang softly.
[Effect Granted: "Thread of Intent." Passive skill acquired.]
[You can now perceive the trajectories of physical projectiles and attacks directed at you within a 10-meter radius.]
Rachel blinked. Her pupils shimmered for a moment as faint lines of light laced through her vision, briefly outlining Luna’s axe swing even though she wasn’t looking at her directly.
"Ooh...that’s kinda sick." She murmured as she tried to test it. It worked even with her back facing to them.
Turning back, she shouted "Luna! Horo! Stop fighting and drink from the magical pond~!"
Luna paused, mid-swing, her axe raised as she looked over her shoulder toward Rachel.
"What did you just say?" she asked, voice still sharp but now laced with confusion.
Rachel grinned and pointed behind her with her thumb.
"There’s a magic pond. I drank from it and now I can literally see where things are going to hit me. It’s wild. You two should try it before one of you loses a limb."
Adam peeked out from behind the mossy stump. "Wait, are you serious?"
"Dead serious," Rachel said, lifting her hand and wiggling her fingers in front of her face
"The taste was pretty odd and it’s definitely not for everyone. It was Super weird but kinda cool."
Luna narrowed her eyes at Rachel, then at the pond, and then finally lowered her axe. "A magic pond?"
Rachel gave a casual nod. "Yep. Said something about wishes and effects being unpredictable. Oh, and it’s called the Pond of Desire. Sounds like a bad romance novel, but it works."
Adam hesitated, slowly stepping out from cover. "So you just... drank it? And it gave you powers?"
"I didn’t ask for anything, if that’s what you’re worried about," Rachel said with a shrug. "It just gave me something. Passive skill. Kinda like a perk drop."
Luna walked toward the pond, suspicion still etched across her face, while Adam trailed behind her like a wary dog.
"I swear," Rachel added, grinning. "If one of you turns into a frog, I’m gonna laugh so hard."
"I’m already regretting this," Adam muttered.
"You should regret throwing a rock at my head," Luna said without turning around.
"That was ten minutes ago," he complained.
"Exactly. I haven’t forgotten."
Luna reached the pond and crouched beside it, staring at the still surface. Her reflection looked back at her, distorted slightly by ripples.
It truly sounded unbelievable but so had a lot of things that happened to them in the last few days