After half an hour or so, Lyria and Livy walked out of their tents fully prepared for the day.
They wore simple gray cloaks like Eric. Lyria had made plenty of such simple robes, so they don those over their Tier 1 outfits.
After walking out, both Lyria and Livy's eyes instantly lit up as soon as they noticed their King Eric.
Both swiftly charged and sat on either side of him on the log.
Before they could speak, Eric pulled out a long table, and then they all had their Elven breakfast.
By now, they had tried numerous dishes, yet they still hadn't covered all of Elven cuisine. Each time, another new dish kept appearing, and they were always blown away by the new flavors.
After breakfast, Eric grinned and beckoned Lyria toward him.
Lyria arrived swiftly, her face blushing as she knew what Eric needed her for.
He enveloped her in his mana, took a deep breath, and Blinked.
They reappeared only a meter away—both wide-eyed with shock.
It worked!
Eric tried again two meters away, and it worked seamlessly!
Both started laughing loudly.
Lyria was happy for Eric's success. Eric was happy he had finally succeeded after so many tries. Riya's guess was indeed correct. Now he needed to check if he could do it with both Lyria and Livy together.
"Congratulations, Brother Eric! I always knew you could do it! I am next, right?" Livy asked excitedly.
Lyria snorted, "Since he can do it with me, he can do it with you too. No need to try."
Livy's anger flared up, and just as she was about to lunge at Lyria, Eric coughed. "Actually, I wanted to see if I can Blink with both of you together. Liv, come here." He beckoned with a helpless expression. He didn't know if both were really some sort of unique perverts or not.
After numerous tries and practices, Livy had progressed greatly with her Mudskipper ability. She no longer dodged when either Eric or Lyria touched her, even if she was unaware.
It was a major step forward—previously, Livy would skip even when someone or something was about to touch her without any harmful intent.
Eric took another deep breath. With his own constant practice and improvement, he covered both girls in the blink of an eye and Blinked.
All three widened their eyes in shock and delight.
It was a success!
Eric tried a few more times before letting go with a satisfied smile.
With this, he could relax much more. As long as it wasn't an extremely swift enemy's ambush, he could now rescue Lyria and Livy from dangerous situations.
Livy and Lyria smiled at Eric over his success, then turned to glare at each other for some reason that was beyond him.
He thought for a moment and decided to try out with his other ability.
"Let me try again with my Disappearance ability."
His Disappearance also made his clothes vanish, so theoretically it should work. But unlike Blink, he never felt capable of doing it. Still, he had to try.
Lyria and Livy suddenly lost sight of Eric, however, he instantly reappeared—still gripping their shoulders—which canceled the ability.
Eric let out a disappointed sigh. He felt this ability, though similar, followed completely different rules than his Blink.
Riya offered her guess: "Maybe if you 'Level Up' this ability, it might work—or maybe not. We'll see if it ever happens."
Eric's eyes immediately lit up. He had forgotten their abilities could also improve. Sadly, Riya couldn't figure out the requirements, nor did she understand how these abilities worked in depth, as they were hidden within their Mana Space—not just in one point, but spread out, almost like a natural part of them.
He didn't find Riya's explanation strange. They experienced their abilities as intrinsic parts of themselves. So, this 'evolution' might be more than just growing new 'arms.'
Either way, Blink was far more useful than Disappearance. Since it worked, there was no need to worry or feel impatient about the latter.
"Beautiful ladies, take these new Health Potions I've made. These are for extreme situations, as they're made with some Tier 3 ingredients. Keep them in a separate 'room' inside your rings." Eric passed them the potions and explained their workings in detail.
This improved potion could be applied externally or ingested just like other health potions. Riya had already tested its effects in the Mind Space, so they didn't need to recheck.
Of course, Eric never mentioned his foreshadowed death—it probably wouldn't happen anymore. It was better if Lyria and Livy remained unaware. He just hoped they wouldn't lose their sanity if something like that ever happened in the future.
After packing everything up, they hit the road toward Everwood Village. They should arrive by the next day.
---
The next morning.
"Brother Eric, are you sure this is the place? Why does it look even more abandoned than Whisperwood Village?" Livy asked while slowly pushing open the village gate, which was completely covered in spiderwebs.
All three knew it was the right place—the stone walls and tall wooden gate suggested that this was a sizable village. Yet, the entire place gave off a weird vibe. It was too silent, as if no one inhabited it.
Eric's mouth had twitched multiple times as they approached the village. Like the previous one, there was almost no recent human activity. However, he had found traces suggesting that people had been around a few weeks prior—yet in the last couple of weeks, they had silently vanished.
The chance of all villagers relocating was nearly negligible, as most mortals couldn't endure long journeys or would willingly leave their lifelong homes without any good enough reason. This village's location was also ideal for thriving settlements.
Overall, the situation was very strange. The likelihood of a mana beast attack was high, so they had remained cautious as they approached the village. Yet, they found no blood, bodies, or environmental destruction—no signs of battle outside the village.
Had the villagers really abandoned such a nice place? Or were they hiding somewhere inside?
They were very curious but also hesitant, as the place somehow had a very creepy vibe. Though that, in turn, made their desire to explore rise.
Once Livy opened the gate, gazing at the sight in front of them, they felt cold chills running down their spines.
The visible buildings that they could see all seemed well taken care of, unlike how it was at Wisperwood Village. However! What truly gave them the chills was that these buildings, from top to bottom and from various angles, were all covered with extremely long spider webs!
They were densely covered. The sheer volume of spiderwebs was too unnatural. No freaking spider could produce that much!
Livy, Eric, and Lyria slowly stepped through the gates... not so confidently.
They also couldn't flee, as they believed they were now qualified monster hunters. Just because this place was constantly giving them creeps and goosebumps didn't mean they could disrespect their past contributors—whether it was some ghostly women, an oversized panther, a bear, or a fish.
The architect of Everwood Village was superior to Whisperwood's. There were wooden houses, stone buildings, and some three to four stories high. The village was as wealthy as Ringwood Town, if not more. The streets were properly constructed with cobblestones and were clean and orderly.
Livy touched a thick strand of webbing on a nearby building and frowned. "I have a bad feeling about these webs. They're far thicker and longer than any normal spider could make."
Eric and Lyria nodded repeatedly, as if saying she was too slow to notice the obvious.
"And..." While still frowning, Livy scanned the area with her sharp gaze.
The entire place was devoid of any humans, birds, animals, or even the slightest noise; even the wind was eerily silent.
"I feel we're being watched... by too many things. Am I being overly cautious?"
Livy rubbed her fair hands as she felt her hairs standing on end from goosebumps. She felt like she was being stared at by countless unseen gazes, yet no one was visible in her sight.
Eric and Lyria shook their heads repeatedly. They were feeling the same, however, no matter where they looked, they couldn't find anything. Even ghosts weren't this stealthy! Yet that sensation of being watched was indeed true, so for now, they decided to proceed with utmost caution.
The deeper they ventured, the creepier it became. Leaving aside the complete silence and even the absence of wind, the spider webs were far longer and thicker than those on the buildings closer to the gate. Even two-story buildings were completely wrapped by webs that looked like white silk curtain, they were that densely covered.
They didn't enter any building and silently followed the cobblestone street while observing the surrounding white prisons, which strangely looked as beautiful as they were creepy.
As they were walking by a stone building, they stopped and turned to look.
It resembled a tavern, similar to Ringwood Town's. It wasn't covered with webs and stood out among the neighboring buildings. Though, what truly caught their attention was that they felt a very weak Mana Wielder presence coming from inside the building.
The presence was very thin, almost unnoticeable, but with their senses, they could feel that the Mana Wielder was somehow 'active.' It was their first time feeling such a weird sensation, but they were certain that it was definitely a human Mana Wielder.
They exchanged glances and nodded. They needed to figure out what had happened to this village, and perhaps this Mana Wielder who was hiding could provide them with answers.
Eric, Lyria, and Livy silently and very cautiously moved toward the door.
Lyria gathered her courage and pushed the door open. She had the highest defense among them; she could quickly defend with her abilities if something jumped at them.
Eric and Livy also braced themselves to welcome any jumpscare.
However, they never expected...