Chapter 4: Witch of "Envy"
- Chapter translated using my poor knowledge and DeepL
My First Save Point
That was my first thought upon waking up, aware that I had spent the night at the Elf's house.
The Elf woke up early, and I decided to follow her to see what she would do.
We left the house together, but before doing anything else, I climbed onto the Elf's head and stayed there.
"What are you doing?" she asked, surprised.
"You're faster than me. Hate to say it, but I can't keep up with you," I explained.
I could actually fly, but I just want to be here.
After thinking for a moment, the Elf shook her head and decided to speak.
"Fine, but don't mess up my hair," the Elf pouted.
"Understood," I replied.
The Elf began her morning routine, cleaning the frozen elves and making sure they were free from anything that might have fallen on them overnight, especially the elf that had tried to assimilate me.
"I could help you clean them all, you know? Although I guess you don't want me getting near them," I offered, though I knew what her response would be.
"You assume correctly, I don't trust you," the Elf replied.
However, considering she had allowed me free access to her house and we had even slept together, she was forced to change her phrase. "At least I don't trust you for that," she added, coughing a little.
Those words brought me some amusement, and jokingly, I replied, "Well, then take all the time you need." I added a hint of annoyance at the end, but it was all in good fun.
Then, around noon, the Elf walked into her house and took out a map and a small pickaxe from one of the drawers. We went out together again.
"Is it a map of the forest?" I asked curiously.
"Yes," the Elf replied.
"Are you preparing for when the elves wake up?" I asked.
The Elf simply nodded repeatedly and then looked in a specific direction, changing her course.
Finally, we arrived at the trunk of a fairly large tree and saw a hole inside it.
The interior of the trunk was illuminated by a soft blue light. The Elf crouched down and stuck her head into the hole.
Inside the trunk were several shining blue stones, which appeared to be precious materials.
"Wow... What is that?" I asked excitedly.
"I trade it for food when I go to a nearby village," the Elf explained.
"Oh, I see," I replied.
The Elf didn't say anything else and continued carefully removing the crystals one by one.
"Hey, let me help you with that. I'd rather spend time on other things than watch you pick up stone by stone," I said, jumping into the trunk.
"Wait, you have to be careful with the stones," the Elf warned, pulling her head out of the trunk.
"Don't worry," I reassured her.
Returning to the inside of the trunk, I expanded my body and gathered all the stones without any complications.
"I have the stones inside my body. When we get home, I'll give them to you to prevent them from getting damaged. How does that sound?" I proposed.
"Really?" the Elf couldn't believe that I had collected all the stones in a matter of seconds. She stuck her head back into the tree trunk to check.
"Wow, that's really helpful," the Elf whispered.
"It is!" I exclaimed, feeling proud of having been of assistance.
"Well then, let's keep walking. There's still a lot to explore around here," the Elf said, taking the lead and lifting me in her arms, just as she had done the day before.
Has it always been this easy to form a bond with someone?
I settled into her arms.
* * *
One or two hours passed, and the Elf and I continued walking through the forest.
"There are many places I haven't explored in this forest. It's too big," the Elf commented.
"I've noticed," I replied. Although I didn't venture too far into the forest and always returned the way I came, it never occurred to me to cross it completely because of its immensity.
*RHOOOOAR*
As we continued talking about anything and everything, we heard a roar in the distance.
"Hmm?" The Elf quickly turned in a specific direction and started running fast.
"Whoa!" I was impressed by the Elf's speed. Not because she was incredibly fast, but because I didn't know she possessed those physical abilities.
We quickly arrived at the source of the roar. We both saw how the Yeti was terrorizing a family.
It was a woman, a man, and a little girl.
"A Snow Blight..." the Elf whispered.
"Hey, let me fight it. I've never seen one before," I confidently commented.
The Elf narrowed her eyes and turned to look at the family. I guessed her thoughts and recomposed myself.
"I'll make sure nothing happens to the humans," I whispered.
Upon hearing my words, the Elf hesitated for a moment but eventually nodded.
"Alright, thanks!" I exclaimed as I transformed into a white winged rat and flew swiftly towards the Snow Blight.
The terrified family watched as another Mabesti approached from a distance. Even if it was a white winged rat, it was still frightening.
Before touching the ground, I transformed into a Guiltylowe.
*GASP*
The family gasped as they saw the Mabesti change form.
The Snow Blight noticed my presence and covered itself in response.
*WHAAP*
The sound of a whip crack resonated through the forest.
I had tried to harm the Snow Blight with a single strike, but it wasn't effective.
*RHOAAR*
The Snow Blight roared again, and its skin turned red, but before it could do anything else, I lashed out with another whip strike.
A torrent of water surged from my tail, transforming into a blade that pierced through the Snow Blight's defense and neck.
I approached the Snow Blight's corpse slowly and, without changing form, absorbed it into my body.
<[Analysis complete. Abilities acquired: Super strength and color change.]>
Nothing new.
<[You can now mimic the Snow Blight.]>
Better, I guess.
Although I still had the form of a Guiltylowe, I turned my head to meet the eyes of the family in front of me. My red eyes glowed, but what radiated was misunderstood as the embodiment of a Mabesti's evil.
This is a different kind of superiority.
The man's face reflected the thought, nearly wetting his pants as he watched me. The piercing gaze of my Guiltylowe form faded when the presence of an Elf became visible to the public.
"No need to wor-" the young Elf couldn't finish her sentence as she saw the expressions of terror on the faces of every member of the family.
"A silver-haired Elf, violet eyes, pale skin..." the woman from the family whispered.
"W-Witch, stay away from us!" the girl screamed.
"No, I-I..." the Elf tried to explain, but the man didn't want to hear a single word from her.
"Stay away, Envy Witch!" the man shouted, full of fear and anger.
I felt uneasy seeing the Elf's expression and remembered some stories I had read with similar situations. Then, I made a drastic decision.
The Guiltylowe grotesquely changed its appearance.
My body transformed into a bipedal form, reaching a height of at least three meters, with massive muscles. I now looked like the Snow Blight, but with the addition of horns protruding from my head and two snake-like tails.
The magical power I had gained from consuming various Mabesti began to emanate from every part of my body. Magic itself has no color, scent, or taste, but the presence of this magic was different.
An intense smell of sulfur dioxide spread through the air. Its pungent aroma conveyed a sense of danger and death. Normally, this would have left anyone paralyzed, but instead, the man screamed and fled with his family.
My intention was to scare them away to prevent them from continuing to hurt the Elf and causing her any kind of breakdown.
I felt a deep sadness seeing the Elf's gloomy expression.
After the man and his family fled, dropping some belongings, including a hooded coat, I approached her in my Snow Blight form and picked up the coat.
Carefully, I handed it to the Elf, who received it with trembling hands and covered her face with it, letting a few tears slide down her cheeks.
"We should leave this place," I said softly.
Transforming back into the Guiltylowe, I wrapped the Elf with my snake tail and placed her on my back.
She didn't have time to react before I began walking toward the forest. Although she couldn't express it in words, I felt her gratitude.
Slowly, we distanced ourselves from the place...
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone