As the sun started to set, one human bard and one dryad finally came face to face. Alix stood her ground, unafraid as she faced the dryad witch, Boga. She looked human but at the same time__, not. Her skin was grey with like ash, and it bore tangled patterns of bark. Her hair was all waves, locks and leaves. She looked like a tree, a living breathing talking tree with a human face.
The earth thrummed with her magic, the trees shadowed her and the vines on the ground slithered around her like serpents.
Alix's mission was not to make the witch or the dryads happy, it was to kill the witch. She took a step back, activated her armor and put the flute to her lips. Just like that, the battle lines were drawn.
The dryad raised her arms and started chanting, weaving a spell that gave life to the vines. They rose up from the ground like an army and dove toward Alix, looking to pierce into her body. But she twirled and played a sharp note, severing them in two with her magic.
On her virtual screen, words like double KO, triple kill and more kept going around like fireworks.
She played the same note rapidly, whipping as many leaves off the trees as she could. At the same time, the dryad loudly chanted another incantation and trees started to merge, turning into giant trees.
Their branches, like arms dashed out and one managed to grab a hold of Alix's left leg.
"Note six." the system said, in her mind.
Alix rapidly changed her playing style, creating a cyclone around her. It's power was so strong that it shattered parts the trees and pulled them out from the ground by the roots. It sent them flying away, tossing them in different directions.
Boga frowned and raised her hands, once more, whispering another incantation. From some trees bark was torn away. It hovered in the air and formed five sharp swords which she was controlling.
From every direction, they attacked Alix, and tried to penetrate through the barrier which she was hiding inside. A few cracks formed in it and Alix realized that it would shatter soon. Keeping the barrier steady required energy and she was running out of that, fast. The fight needed to end quickly.
Alix disposed of the barrier and fell to the ground. She run along the ground as she played another high note.
Her playing made the dryad Boga dizzy and she faltered. The wooden swords she was controlling started to slip and fall to the ground.
Alix's concentration was on the dryad that some aspects of her environment went unnoticed, like the roots of the trees which were about to trip her.
"Jump." The system shouted in her mind.
She did not hesitate to do as it said, not just jumping but leaping and landing directly on Boga's body. She used her weight to send them both crushing to the floor and without a moment's thought, stabbed her flute into the part of her body where her heart was. She yelled loudly when she stabbed, and she twisted the sharp end of the flute in addition to that.
She retrieved her flute, pulling it upwards with strength and greenish brown fluid splashed onto her face. Once more, she plunged the flute into the heart of the dryad. She would not stop until the game notified her of her victory or the system did.
[Congratulations for slaying Boga the dryad witch. Retrieve her mangled heart and deliver it to the task hall to receive your reward.]
The notification came as soon as she thought about it, almost as if the game could read her mind.
Ding! Congratulations on accomplishing a hidden task; kill ten opponents in one fight.
Alix looked around in search of the ten opponents she had killed. That's when she noticed the trees which had fallen to the ground, victims of the fight. There were more than ten according to her rough calculation.
"Get the heart before the body vanishes." The system urged her.
She ripped open the dress of the dead witch. She traced her hand over the hard bark skin of her chest and then pushed her hand inside the dead witch. There was no trace of disgust on her face as she pulled out the green warm heart which had been stabbed right in the middle.
Boga's body vanished, turning into a grey ash that disappeared into the ground.
Alix's eyes of course stayed glued to the ground. When monsters died, good things were left behind. Where Boga had lain and taken her last breath were five green stones, a dozen green apples, armor made from tree bark and a seed.
"Solo tasks are really the best because I don't have to share my loot with anyone." She smiled like a greedy kitten as she looked at the stats of her loot.
[Pure luck enhancing green stones ×5]
[Sweet fresh apples ×12]
[Dryad vine armor ×1]
[Wisdom magic tree seed ×1]
She put everything in her backpack and stood up. Her initial exploration task had to be continued so she went further inside the forest.
This time round, instead of talking to the system, she placed the little dragon on her shoulder and player the flute as she walked.
In the morning when Casishen opened his eyes, his hand, head and eyes naturally sought out Alix first. He had become accustomed to waking up with her by his side.
When he felt the coldness in her side of the bed and noticed her absence, he sat up quickly.
"Where is she?" He asked himself. His eyes searched for her and then he called out her name. "Miss Lin."
Meow!!! A sound came to his ears.
Rather than an answer from a human, a cat responded. The cat sounded agitated to his ears so he carefully left the bed and went to search for Alix.
He found her sleeping on the floor, her head was sharing a spot with Baby on her cat bed and in her hands was a tightly cuddled Majesty.
There was an open laptop on the ground at her feet which was producing some musical sounds.
His conclusive thought was that she had been working all night.
"She works too hard." He mumbled.
But, why didn't she come to bed and inconvenience the cats? Baby certainly didn't look happy about having to share her bed.
Majesty on the other hand was fine cuddling like a baby.
"I should let her sleep some more." He mumbled to himself.
He turned his wheelchair around and headed to the bathroom.
Meow!! A surprised baby cried out. Isn't he taking the bed invader away?