Chapter 41: Silvia Forest Song

Chapter 41: Chapter 41: Silvia Forest Song

Both of them tightened their grips on their weapons, keeping their eyes glued to the bear as they cautiously backed away.

The giant bear ambled toward them. Its massive frame exuded an overwhelming sense of oppression; with a casual scrape of its paws, the bushes were crushed into dust.

"Pip thinks it doesn’t really want to let us go. If I’d known, I would’ve downed a couple more mugs of ale before we left."

Being stared down by the beast, the short guy felt his life flashing before his eyes.

Lorin had no time to entertain Pip. He was busy searching for weak points on the giant bear to increase their slim chances of winning. Its nose and eyes were definitely weak spots, but landing a hit there would be incredibly difficult. Those two forearms were thicker than his waist, and its attack range was bound to be massive.

He wondered if he should let Pip create an opening, but feared the short guy would simply be swatted away with a single slap. Perhaps he could use the Shadow Step provided by Midnight Touch to teleport into the Shadow beneath its body and deliver a vicious strike with his sword. However, a single strike likely wouldn’t be enough to kill it, and he would almost certainly take a slap in return. He wasn’t sure if his Fine Steel Breastplate could withstand the blow.

While he was lost in thought, the giant bear took another step forward. Its gaze darted back and forth between the two, its nose twitching in the air as if hesitating over who to attack first.

As Lorin’s mind raced with calculations, his foot snagged on a rock. He stumbled a step, the soles of his boots crushing several dried leaves on the ground.

CRUNCH...

His heart instantly sank like a stone. "Crap!" he cursed inwardly.

"ROAR!—"

A thunderous roar erupted from the giant bear’s chest, shaking the snow off the surrounding tree branches. It pushed off the ground with all four limbs, its massive body keeping low as it charged forward like a speeding dump truck.

"You beast! Come taste your daddy’s Warhammer!" Pip instantly entered a combat stance. With a loud shout, his Warhammer lit up with a faint glow, and he charged head-on toward the giant bear.

"Pip!"

By the time Lorin tried to grab him, it was already too late. He shifted his focus to the Midnight Touch on his feet. In an instant, his entire body turned into a Dark Shadow and vanished from his spot, only to reappear in the Shadow beside the giant bear.

"Hah!"

Rusted Throat slashed toward the giant bear’s flank like a bolt of lightning. He had been practicing Continuous Slash constantly over the past few days, and by now, he was thoroughly adept at it. In the heat of battle, he could execute it entirely on muscle memory.

But Lorin’s hand couldn’t move a single inch further. Countless tiny vines and branches sprouted from the ground, wrapping around his body as if they were alive, pinning his hand firmly in mid-air. In the blink of an eye, a coil of slender green vines had slithered all over him. Their vibrant emerald hue felt completely out of place in this dreary, gray season.

Trapped alongside him were the charging giant bear and Pip. Although the vines were only as thick as a finger, they possessed exceptional Tenacity. They forcefully halted the giant bear’s Charge, trapping it in place so it couldn’t budge another inch.

"Tara."

A cold female voice echoed from the treetops, tinged with a hint of helplessness.

The giant bear immediately let out an aggrieved whimper, a rumbling sound echoing in its throat as if trying to defend itself. But as the vines around its legs tightened a fraction more, it simply twitched its nose and gave up resisting entirely.

Lorin looked toward the source of the voice. On the branch of a nearby pine tree, a woman with pointed ears had appeared out of nowhere. One of her legs was bent with her foot resting on the branch, while the other dangled down, swaying gently in the air.

She had long black hair woven into a thick braid resting over her shoulder. A few loose strands were blown against her cheeks by the wind, accentuating a face of almost surreal delicacy. A suit of gray-green Leather Armor wrapped around her from her shoulders to her waist. The waistline was pulled exceptionally tight, tracing a curve so slender it could be clasped with two hands, before fanning out below into overlapping leather skirts that stopped just at the top of her thighs.

"I am Silvia Forest Song. What are you doing here?" the woman asked coldly.

Lorin’s gaze landed on her pointed ears and the tips of her hair. He lowered his head slightly to conceal his surprised expression.

[Wood Elf hair, female, age approximately two hundred to two hundred and fifty years, ￥#]

This was his first time seeing an Elf. She looked to be in her early twenties, yet her true age was actually over two hundred. He had to admit, being part of a long-lived species had its perks. But what was up with the garbled text representing her emotions?

Hearing her introduce herself, Lorin knew the two of them were most likely out of danger for the day. He slowly sheathed his sword, withdrawing any intention of launching an attack. "We wanted to harvest some Fire Oil Grass, Lady Silvia."

The Wood Elf gave an imperceptible nod, her voice flat as she spoke. "Tara harbors no ill will. She was just woken up by you and got a little cranky."

Her brown eyes shifted to the Longsword in Lorin’s hand, looking somewhat intrigued. "A Caster adept at using a Longsword. Are you a descendant of a Combat Mage?"

A Combat Mage? What the hell was that? Lorin could only recall the Sword Singer that Hiv had mentioned, so he asked, "Are you referring to a Sword Singer?"

Silvia shook her head, looking somewhat disappointed. She didn’t answer Lorin’s question, simply saying, "It appears not."

"Then do you know anything about Sword Singers?" Lorin seized the chance to ask. It wasn’t every day he ran into an Elf, so naturally, he couldn’t let this golden opportunity slip by.

After learning that Lorin was not a Combat Mage, Silvia grew even colder. She said, "You would be better off asking the High Elves that question."

"Apologies, my lady." Lorin had no idea what taboo he had just violated.

"Beautiful Elf Lady, you don’t look like you want to hurt us, so could you please untie Pip? Pip’s Warhammer is about to smash into him." Lorin then noticed that the short guy had been holding his Warhammer above his head this whole time, and his arms were about to give out.

Silvia swung her leg slightly before dropping down from the branch, landing almost completely silently. At the same time, the vines binding the giant bear and the two men quickly receded, retreating back underground. She reached out and patted the bridge of Tara’s nose.

The giant bear grunted and shook the snow off its fur. Then, she settled back down, resting her head on her front paws and half-closing her eyes.

"Food is scarce in winter. Tara often doesn’t get enough to eat, but she also suffers from severe insomnia," Silvia explained. She glanced down at the giant bear lying by her feet and reached out to scratch the thick fur behind Tara’s ears.

"Insomnia?" Lorin asked in surprise. "Bears get insomnia too?"

"All intelligent creatures can suffer from insomnia," Silvia said coldly. "Winter is too long. She always dreams of when she was a cub, huddled in a tree hollow with her siblings. But when she wakes up and realizes they aren’t around, she refuses to go back to sleep."

Before Lorin could speak, she reached into a leather pouch around the bear’s neck, pulled something out, and tossed it to him. Lorin hastily caught it and looked down. It was a small bundle of Fire Oil Grass. At a glance, there were at least seven or eight stalks.

Silvia sat cross-legged and said softly, "Leave. Tara needs a quiet environment."