Far deep in the forest, in the year 1612, there was a tiny cozy house, in which a boy sleep inside its only room, above a single bed, covered by the moonlight coming from the bedside window. *Slam!* Yet silence suddenly broke away. The door was violently opened by a girl in a white dress, using nothing but her foot. “Hey, Staas! Wake up! You promised to accompany me.” The sweet sound of her grumpy voice loudly called and took the boy away from his dreamland. “Eh…? Promised?” He raised his body from under his blanket, glaring at her with his sleepy eyes, after rubbing it clean with his index fingers. “To gather the dawn herbs, remember?” The girl walked closer and with a change of a warm smile, she answered. Her twilight green eyes gazed at him brightly, while her long brown hair with the color of tree bark was blown away by the passing wind, which came uninvited from the wide-opened door of this room. Hearing her words Staas tu

A scream broke, piercing the air with its screech and pressure. It was a desperate warcry. The knight came running towards Staas, but with all the loud noises and burdens in his mind, the boy was still stricken in shock, unmoved while his whole body trembled in disbelief. Yet all of the sudden, the number of footsteps grows. There's another one that came rushing towards him. It was Gytha, and hastily she grabbed the absently Staas, pulling him away from the knight as fast as she capably could. But it's all too late, she must use a desperate means to protect the boy from that icy blade. In such critical moment, she turned Staas’ body, putting herself between him and the knight, covering him as a meat shield from the incoming attack. *Slash!* And the knight struck his sword, cutting deeply into Gytha's back, immediately taking away her consciousness from the tremendous pain he caused her. The wounded girl brought Staas back to reality. A

After a long walk through the forest, the boy finally arrived at his destination. He carried Gytha right below his chest while strapping a vine of a plant he grew with his newfound power to his back, and a spear he stole from the knights was attached to it. In front of him stood tall a lone gate, covered in plants, shrooms, and mosses. From a naked eye, the gate leads to nothing. It just remained there in the middle of the forest resembling some abandoned stuff that humans left. But for the nymphs and Staas, that gate will guide them to the keepers of this forest, entities that have outlived many lives for hundreds of years, some even more than a thousand. “I stand before the greatest judge! The law of existence itself!” As he shouted the spell, the gate began to tremble. Then clack! The sound of a lock being unlocked. The gate opened its door, and from it crawl out bright light, along with white mist which slowly creeping through the air. What can be

". . ." Gytha found herself awake with her head lying to a solid bed at the center tree of the Spirit Grove. Before her, he saw Nymfrik's body lying down motionless above it, falling in his deep slumber. "Ah... of course." The girl let out a weak smile filled with sadness. "Oh All-father, I just had the sweetest dream a girl could ask." She stood with her arms raised high, going all excited. "It felt so real! you were awake and we spend so much time together! learning... playing..." "I should've known better..." She sat next to him on his bed, glumly looking at his face. "I wish... we could meet soon..." Tears started dripping down. "I miss you... I wanna play with you just like how we did in my dream!" She can contain herself no longer, her face was wetter than rainy days. Then in her sobs, a warm hand suddenly wiped the tear away from her eyes. "Huh...!?" He saw Nymfrik warmly smile at her while gently caressing her red cheek. <

From the very front of the entrance, the chief brought the two into the center of the hall. There lay a giant round table with nothing on top of it, not even a tablecloth. “Right here, Your Grace, we’ll be planning on handling the matter at hand with the invading humans.” Said the chief from the top side of the table, while Staas and Gytha stood right across him. Gytha realized what they were about to do or discuss. She quickly walked to the chief to tell him a couple of advice. “Mr. Chief, I know this is a strategy meeting… but can you please make your words easier to understand? Staas isn’t fully recovered yet, and he has as much vocabulary as a child. Although his understanding is somewhat amazing.” She said with a low voice so Staas won’t hear it and get offended. He probably won’t. “Understood, I’ll try to not make it complicated.” Replied Nightfall as he grasp the situation. “Thank you~” The girl then went back to Staas’ side with a smil