Alistair watched in horror how Melina ran towards the near-invisible monster, her hands lifted for a throw. Barrett restrained the beast to the best of his ability, but with injured hands, he couldn't hold his grip for long. The monster broke free and Melina threw the smushed-up feyfruit at it.

She missed. The feyfruit fell on the ground with a sad splat. However, when she tried to close the distance between herself and the monster, she stepped on one of the black vines, which wrapped around her legs like a snare and began dragging her along the forest floor.

"Melina!" Alistair called and rushed after her into the darkness. Unlike Remi who used the dagger to keep the vines from dragging herself away, Melina had no weapon on hand. "NO!"

He began to panic, imagining the invisible bug monster striking at Melina while she was struggling with vines. Sienna let out an angry, desperate roar as she rushed after her master into the dark, illuminating the surroundings just enough for them to be able to keep the girl in sight.

However, Alistair quickly realized that he had once again underestimated Melina. Instead of screaming and panicking, she pulled herself up enough to reach the vines tangled around her legs. The moment she did, the plant let go of her as if it had been burned and retreated into darkness.

"Are you alright?" he asked, pulling her up to her feet.

"I'm fine! Don't let your guard down, the nightstalker is still nearby," she said, not bothered by various small bruises on her hands and face. "Everyone, stay close to Sienna."

Sienna let out an angry snarl as she shielded most of Melina's body with her own. Illitran and Remi quickly positioned themselves on opposite sides of the wyrm. Barrett and Leon followed after them, however, both of Barrett's arms were bleeding heavily. It was likely that he couldn't even hold a sword.

"Over there!" Melina yelled, pointing into a dark patch in the forest near Barrett. Alistair reacted to her words as if on instinct, activating <Lightning Dash> and rushing at the location she pointed at with sword and shield ready. He collided with the nightstalker, producing an audible crunch as the impact's force cracked its carapace.

The creature let out an agonizing screech and a distorted limb shot towards him. He probably wouldn't have even seen the attack if it wasn't for a tiny bit of shimmer coming from it—the little bit of feyfruit that Melina managed to get on the creature. Alistair intercepted the attack with his sword.

[Skill <Unyielding Blade> activated. Each consecutive attack with a sword will be stronger than the last.]

He didn't wait for the monster to jump back, instead slashing at it in quick succession. It felt awkward, trying to hit the near-invisible nightstalker. However, its camouflage was starting to waver. He could see the imperfections of the cracked carapace and aimed at it, creating even deeper injuries. Nightstalker let out another anguished cry and retreated into the darkness.

"Watch carefully! It should be possible to spot it now," Alistair commanded. He was counting on the fact that the monster was agitated, making it far more likely for it to make mistakes.

"Let's see how you like this!" Leon called and pulled out his wand, pointing it upwards. A cloud-like mass formed above him and then dispersed in every direction. Snow began to fall on the nearby area.

Sienna let out a dissatisfied growl when some of the small, cold flakes settled on her body, but Melina put a calming hand on the wyrm. "Watch the forest, Sienna. Snow will help you see."

Alistair scanned the area in front of them and noticed how in the location close to Barrett, the snow seemed to fall in an arc. As if something was blocking its path.

"I see you!" Remi exclaimed, releasing an arrow at the suspicious place. It collided with nighhtstalker's carapace, not doing any real damage. However, it startled the monster for long enough for Illitran to close the distance and strike with his sword.

Alistair, on the other hand, used <Lightning Dash> to position himself behind the bug, cutting off its retreat path. Thanks to his skill, his attack chain wasn't broken and he kept slashing at the tough carapace of the monster, watching how with each hit the cracks grew ever deeper.

"Get back!" Illitran suddenly yelled, putting distance between himself and the monster. Alistair hesitated for a moment—he was one hit away from finishing his attack chain. That moment proved to be crucial as he felt a strong limb collide with his unprotected side. The hit wasn't strong enough to get through his armor, however it was followed by another and another.

Alistair couldn't react in time, only barely managing to protect his chest and head from the hits.

"Sienna!" Melina commanded.

The wyrm jumped straight at the nightstalker. Alistair was pushed away from the impact and fell some distance away to the ground. The spot where the nightstalker initially hit him, really hurt—he suspected a broken rib.

"Don't let get it away!" Melina said in a voice filled with anger, staring at the spot in the ground where Sienna had pinned down the monster. The wyrm's body flared up in hot flames, instantly melting all of Leon's conjured snowflakes and also burning the nightstalker.

It screeched piteously as the fire burned at its hard exterior. The monster became more clear in shape, its shell no longer pristine and reflective. The wyrm then began pulling its limbs off one by one, mauling it to death in a matter of minutes. In the end, all that was left of the nightstalker was broken bits of carapace and viscera.

Alistair, no, everyone stared at the brutal sight in shock. But what shocked him the most wasn't Sienna's destructive power. He had witnessed it before. What shocked him the most was the cold stare in Melina's eyes as she watched the scene unfold. It seemed mismatched on the face of such a young girl.

[You've assisted in defeating <Nightstalker – Level 32>. You've gained + 160 exp.]

The moment notification appeared, Melina snapped out of her cold trance, shock marring her expression as her eyes seemed to linger on what Alistair assumed to be a System notification.

But before he could ponder it, sharp pain erupted in his head forcing him to clutch it. It felt like somebody was trying to split it open from inside and he barely managed to hold himself back from screaming.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Alistair! Alistair!" Melina ran up to him.

She inspected his body for injuries. Their eyes met for a moment and suddenly he saw a completely different scene.

Melina stood strong and tall, older and dressed in rich mage's garb. Her outfit was so distinct that he recognized them as the traditional archmage's robes worn by the head of the Mage's Guild. They had been altered to match her small frame, but despite her size, she looked more powerful than anyone he had ever seen.

Her eyes were cold as she was staring at a bunch of drow who looked bloodied and battered, barely able to keep their heads up to look at her. Alistair stood next to her, sword drawn as he looked at the drow. He felt himself pitying them for some reason.

The vision blurred for a moment and the scene changed.

There were more drow on the ground in front of them, and Melina's eyes were filled with cold rage. "Were you merciful when you killed our people? When you dragged the women out of their homes? When you pulled children out of their hands?"

"Die you damned Church dog!" One of the stronger drow jumped to his feet and ran towards Melina, dagger in hand. She did not even flinch.

[Your skill <General's Echo> has ranked up. It is now Rank D.]

"Potion! Bring me a potion!" Melina called in a panicked voice as Alistair slowly came out of his stupor. He's never had such a long and clear vision before. But no, it didn't feel like a vision. It was more like a…

Frankly, I don't know what it was. It felt like a memory, but how could someone young appear older in a memory? No, that made no sense. Was it a vision of the future that could happen? It felt like it could be. Melina had somehow stabilized the passageway using magic. But that drow called her Church's dog. That didn't seem likely at all—she was actively trying to avoid the Church.

Alistair looked at Melina. The cold expression from before was completely gone, leaving behind only worry and panic. But he also saw something else in those clear blue eyes—the same strength that he saw in Melina from the vision.

"What?" She asked in confusion. "Are you alright? Can you hear me?"

Alistair let out a soft chuckle. Melina, the all-powerful mage. The image seemed comical. He would have dismissed it as a complete delusion, however, the girl he initially dismissed as an unimpressive baker's apprentice turned out to be a System user. Who knew what other mysteries she was hiding?

"Oh, no! I think he hit his head," Melina was in full panic now, likely interpreting his laughter as a sign of madness.

"I'm fine. I didn't hit my head," he said and tried to reach out for her when sharp pain erupted in his side and he crumpled back to the ground.

"You're not fine at all!" She shrieked and hurriedly grabbed a potion Leon had pulled from his bag. "Where are you hurt?"

"A broken rib, I believe," he said, watching her fuss over him. Meanwhile, in the back, Remi was gently pouring a potion over Barrett's hands. He winced in pain, but his expression relaxed as his wounds closed.

"Broken rib… That could be bad…" Melina muttered to herself as she uncorked the potion and held it for Alistair to drink. He took slow sips of the pungent liquid feeling how its restorative power spread through his body. The pain in his side lessened significantly, but a gentle throbbing remained. "Can you stand?"

He took the hand she offered and got up. Thankfully, the injury proved to be simple enough for the healing potion to fix. If the broken bone had been too damaged, then he'd likely need to seek out a priest.

"It still hurts a little, but I think I'm fine," he said, tentatively moving his torso from side to side. It was a bit unpleasant, but not outright painful.

"Thank the System," Melina exhaled in relief.

"Tell me about it! What was that nasty, invisible bug?" Remi shuddered as she poked the charred remains with a stick.

"A nightstalker. These monsters like to dwell in dark places and hunt while remaining unseen and unheard. Perfect ambush predators," Illitran said mechanically as if he were reading a definition from the dictionary.

"Unseen and unheard. That's just cheating," Remi complained.

"I shudder to think what would happen to anyone who travels alone," Leon said, keeping surprisingly close to the wyrm, who was licking her scales clean. Judging from her scrunched-up snout, nightstalkers did not taste good.

"I'll clean you once we get home, okay?" Melina said consolingly to her familiar.

"But what is that damned weeping I'm still hearing? Are there more of these things? I thought the nightstalker made that noise to creep us out," Remi complained, as she looked into the surrounding dark.

"I don't hear anything," Leon said.

"Neither do I," Barrett agreed.

"Those are weeping sapmelons," Illitran explained.

"Melons?"

"They are small fruits that grow in places littered with carcasses. Most likely these are coming from the den of this nightstalker."

"Since it's already dead, we might as well go get them. They could be useful," Melina said, already nudging Sienna to move forward.

"Wait, that's dangerous! What if there are more of the nightstalker things?" Alistair grabbed her by the shoulder gently.

"Unlikely. Nightstalkers are highly territorial. They would not allow another nightstalker anywhere near their territory," Illitran explained.

Melina gave Alistair a knowing look and pointed forward. "See, it's all good. We'll just get the melons and then go straight home."

Alistair begrudgingly agreed and they fell back into their formation. However, he couldn't shake the feeling that Melina knew that there wouldn't be more of these monsters around. But how could she know that?

I'm overthinking things because of that damned vision. I seriously need to figure out what those are and why I am seeing them. I hope I get a reply letter from Gilbert's friend soon. It is running a bit late.

They didn't have to walk long before they found the source of the weeping. As Illitran had said, the fruits grew in the creepy den of a monster. There were bones and carcasses strewn all over the shallow cavern near the rocky tree forest. It was hidden behind one of the swaying seaweed bushes, but the weeping of the melons made it easy to find.

The melons themselves were rather bizarre. They were smaller than actual melons, just slightly larger than apples and they had a weird glowing sap coming out of them.

"Ew, yuck! We aren't actually taking these are we, Miss Melina?" Leon asked.

"We are definitely taking them!" She said enthusiastically and plucked one of the melons, not at all bothered by the sap that quickly covered her fingers. The weeping sound stopped as soon as the fruit was plucked from its stem.

"Really? These slimy things that grow on corpses? You're going to put them into pastries?" Remi asked in disbelief.

"I will certainly try. It can't be worse than my last attempt," Melina shrugged, then stuffed the melon into a cloth bag she had stashed in her pocket somehow. Unfortunately, the sap instantly began to pool and ooze through the bottom of the bag. "This might be messier than I thought."

Remi poked tentatively at one of the melons with her fingers and recoiled. "I am not touching that. Sorry, Melina, but you're on your own here."

But as everyone prodded and poked at the weeping melons, laughing at their grossness, Alistair couldn't shake off the vision he had seen before. He couldn't forget the image of Melina as a mage. Frankly, it seemed unbelievable that the girl who was trying to shake off the melon ooze from her fingers could ever exhibit such power and authority.

"Miss Melina, please let's leave the melons. I am certain you can't make these into anything tasty," Leon whined.

"I won't know that until I try. Even if they can't be used in food, they could be useful for something else," Melina insisted. "Guildmaster commanded to bring back any useful resources."

With a lot of groaning and complaining, they continued collecting the oozy melons.

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