Scattered information about the world and the situation in WinterHord.

I must have stared at the Slime Staff for a good five seconds, not because I didn't understand what had happened, but because it was frankly surprising.

I looked at the Slime Staff for a few more moments before approaching and examining it more closely.

It seemed like just a normal wooden staff with a bit of gel on the tip... No Runes, no Mystical Symbols...

"How does this thing work?" I scratched my chin as I pondered.

I doubted there were no runes involved, especially after seeing the mansion's protection, so the runes must be something invisible, which was a possibility, or carved internally in some way, which was also a possibility.

Taking my eyes off the Slime Staff, I looked around the room, observing. It was basically a child's room, which was frankly strange in this situation.

Shouldn't this mansion be inhabited by slimes? Why were there human plushies and toys? Why was everything so... Normal?

Ignoring that everything was pink, from the bed to the plushies, even the carpet, it was a normal room, well, something normal for a princess's room from a fairy tale, but still normal.

Was I missing something here?...

As I thought, the Slime Staff glowed again in the corner of my vision, making me look at it; a few moments later, the tiny slime had reappeared on the bed.

I managed to look at the slime's features better this time.

She, well, I'll assume it's a "she" since the room was feminine, had a light green color and, in some places, a dark green color that seemed like small dots.

She must be at most ten centimeters in diameter, as her body was circular... She was like a little green ball.

Interestingly, she just stood there, completely still, to the point where I couldn't see any ripples in her body, just "looking" at me without moving.

I did the same. Our "staring" game must have lasted a few minutes before the slime was the first to "blink," or in this case, slightly tremble her whole body as if relaxing her "muscles."

"So... Do you understand me?" I asked, seeing that the little slime didn't seem to want to run away... That or she had given up and was waiting for me to kill her.

Frankly, I didn't know what I was expecting, but the upper part of the slime's body deformed and turned into a human hand giving a thumbs up certainly wasn't...

"Alright..." I said hesitantly not knowing how to continue.

The slime seemed to know how since the hand she had created deformed, forming the words:

"Are you one of Aunt Alice's guards? Or are you one of the baddies Mom said were attacking us? You won't kill me... will you? Put me in a soup and eat me?" She seemed scared, or in the case of slimes, she trembled as if scared, making the words tremble too.

Okay... she could write in Terrarian, even though it seemed kind of old for some reason I couldn't explain since I only knew how to read because of the stream...

Ignoring the fact that the slime actually wrote the three dots (…) the question marks (?) and even the accents on the words. This short sentence had given me several pieces of information.

First: Alice, who was the Queen of this place, was this slime's aunt, or at least she considered this Alice something equivalent to an aunt.

Second: this Alice was a Terrarian, or at least had Terrarian guards, since as far as I remembered and could see my body, I didn't look like a slime.

Third and last: "Baddies" and "Attacking us" were the exact words she had described, or molded in this case.

This island was being attacked by someone, or the place where they were before was being attacked by someone, and Queen Alice and this slime's mother went to fight, leaving this slime here, where it was safer.

I'll ignore this information for now, first...

"I won't kill you or eat you, I don't eat slimes, don't worry..." I said, stopping my speech when the slime molded more words using her own body.

"You didn't say anything about not killing slimes..." I could barely read the words with the way the slime's body was trembling.

"Only the baddies who attack me and try to hurt me and melt me." I spoke quickly since I didn't want her to go back to the Slime Staff. "I swear." I said as I took a step back.

Interestingly, this was true, as so far, this tiny slime in front of me had been the only slime that didn't try to jump on me and melt me at first sight.

This seemed to calm her down a bit, but she still looked scared, as I could see her body still trembling slightly.

"I'll trust you for now..." The words above the slime changed quickly. "...But don't try anything! If you do, I... I'll hit you!" She transformed the words into two small fists and punched them forward a few times...

If that wasn't the cutest thing I've ever seen in my life, it was close, very close.

"Thanks for the trust..." Even though it was strange for her to actually trust me, but I suppose in this case, she didn't have much choice. "...My name is Devas, by the way, and yours?" I asked.

She seemed to hesitate before trembling slightly, as if waving to something invisible, and shaping her body into words again.

"My name is Mil'li'a-io Kr'yo 'Li'ja Jou-sk. Nice to meet you!" She trembled slightly before retracting her body, disappearing with the words and returning her body to its normal ball shape.

... No way was I going to call her that, what the hell kind of name was that?

"Nice to meet you... Millia. Can I call you that? Your name is a bit complicated..." I asked, nodding. A bit complicated was an understatement; I've seen easier tongue twisters.

She jumped a few times before deforming the upper part of her body into words again.

"Of course! Aunt Alice and Mom said that slime names are kind of difficult for Terrarians to pronounce, you can call me Millia, I don't mind!" She changed the words after a few seconds.

"How is your name written?" She asked, changing the words again. "Daeva? Devas? Daivas? Dievas?" She molded the variations quickly.

"Devas, D-E-V-A-S." I spelled for the slime, who nodded quickly, seeming to calm down and get excited. "Nice to meet you, Devas!"

Even the point on the Mini-map that represented her had changed to the green color...

... And my one hundred percent dungeon completion, in, stream? You don't want me to kill a child, do you?... Especially this one that is literally one of the cutest things I've ever seen in my life...

If it really was the only option, I would throw away the one hundred percent completion.

I might have come to terms with killing, whether Humans, Terrarians, or any sentient being, even if I didn't like it, I knew it was necessary and wouldn't dwell on it, but in the context that they were my enemies.

I won't kill a child just for personal gain, even if this child is a cute little green blob... I draw the line here and now.

While I had my little mental standoff, Millia went to the Slime Staff and picked it up, sticking it to the top of her body like an antenna made of wood. The size difference just made everything funnier.

"Shall we go then?" The words shaped on the top of Millia's body, next to the Slime Staff.

I blinked confused. "Go where?" Was she really trusting me like this?

"Where else? Outside, silly." She changed the words quickly.

"Mom said that if she didn't come back in three hours, I should go to Aunt Alice's realm! I've been waiting for two days!" She jumped a few times as if she couldn't stand still before continuing.

"You're not a fairy, but you're a Terrarian, who are nice too, Aunt Alice even had some in her castle as guards! Can you take me there?" She asked excitedly.

... A... fairy?

"Your Aunt Alice... wouldn't she be the queen of fairies? would she?" I asked hesitantly.

"Yes! Although at this point, I think her realm is big enough for her to be called an Empress, but she is the queen of fairies! She has very beautiful wings that shine!" The little slime molded the words quickly, not realizing the expression I was making.

Damn. The Empress of Light was this little thing's "aunt"?!...

Ignoring the shivers running up my spine, I nodded calmly. "Alright... I really don't know where the fairy realm is... So it's kind of hard for me to take you there..." Even if I knew, damn it! I'm not going to that place. I have more than enough examples to know that Fairies, Fae, or any variation of those things were just trouble.

"How not! :O" She seemed shocked by this fact. "It's the biggest realm in the world! how can you not know it?" She hesitated as if finally realizing something.

"Actually... How did you get into this garden!" She hopped back a few times while shaping the words into others. "The garden is in the forest next to the fairy realm and has various protections!" Millia then created a small hand again and pointed her finger at me.

"You're not a thief, are you?... Did you come to steal Aunt Alice's plants?! I won't let you, she likes those plants! >:C" She accused me before jumping forward, shaping two little arms, one holding a sword and the other a shield; "Stealing is wrong!"

Interestingly, the little blob that represented Millia on the Mini-map was still green. She still considered me an ally; she just didn't want me to steal from the garden...

"Millia. I'm not a thief..." I ignored Stark's messages accusing me of lying and continued. "I just came up here out of curiosity, and I can assure you there's no forest below this island." I asserted. "Not beside or anywhere close by."

Did the stream steal this garden to make the dungeon?... Damn, was this island supposed to be in Terraria by any chance?

"What! :O." Without hesitation, she jumped out of bed, shaping the lower part of her body into four small wheels and speeding out of the room.

I followed the little slime calmly, even though she was going fast, the mansion was big, and it was hard for her to run faster than me.

Interestingly, she didn't even try to look for anyone in the mansion, as if she knew there was no one else here. Was she alone before I showed up?

I took advantage of this little walk to read the (CHAT).

[(MOD)RedHuntressLive]: DEVAS! CAN WE KEEP HER?! PLEASE!!!!! SHE'S SO CUTE! (Little Red Riding Hood emote with puppy eyes).

[(MOD)GeniusBillionairePlayboy]: I know Terraria and Earth laws probably wouldn't apply to slimes, but wouldn't it be kidnapping? She thinks and everything... (Iron Man emote reading a book that says "Laws").

[YellowHuntressLive]: Ruby, we can't go kidnapping children! Not even slime children! It's wrong! (Yellow bear emote sighing).

[WiseWizardGleam]: Fairies exist in Terraria too? I don't remember you mentioning them before?... And by the way little Millia spoke about the fairy realm, we should have heard about them before, shouldn't we?... (Old wizard emote scratching his chin).

[TohsakaHeiress]: I don't know how they compare to the Fae from my planet, but if they're at least half like them, I would recommend staying away... The legends and stories don't paint a good picture... (Chibi Rin emote shivering).

[AdvocateOfGenderEquality]: Are you all going to ignore the fact that the tiny slime knows the queen of a realm? And that her mother is probably friends with that queen?... From what I know of royalty (which is almost nothing) they tend to only associate with those they consider equals... (Generic guy emote asking "Slime Princess?")

I shook my head amused at Ruby's message. Stark was right, it would be kidnapping.

Dumbledore's question, on the other hand, was very good. By the way Millia talked about the fairy realm, I should have heard about it already, or read about it somewhere... But I haven't even heard of anything close to that.

Damn, I hadn't even heard about the fairy race, let alone seen one...

The warning in Rin's message had been appreciated but unnecessary; I knew the... potential, let's say, that fairies and fae had. I didn't intend to get close to any of them if possible.

Kazuma also made an excellent point. And from the way Millia referred to the fairy queen of all things, his theory was probably right...

I followed Millia for a few minutes as she ran out of the mansion and across the island to the edge, looking down and seeing the vast plain below.

The view seemed to be enough to make her believe that I was telling the truth, which was good. The downside was that, moments later, she started trembling, and then crying.

It started out of nowhere, tiny drops began to trickle down her body and drip onto the ground, but without melting or burning it, just lightly wetting it.

The way she had curled up into an even smaller ball and trembled slightly while trying to look for the fairy realm that should exist on the horizon, where she was looking, just made everything worse...

Millia then turned and "looked" at me, shaping the words: "Where... did everyone go?..." Before I could respond, the words changed. "I... want to sleep a little... Can you carry me... please?..." She asked, just before shining and disappearing into the Slime Staff.

"Damn..." That had been a sad scene to watch.

I walked slowly to the Slime Staff and picked it up. The moment I touched the handle, the stream updated the dungeon completion message.

-//-

[Dungeon completed! (100%)]

Do you want to exit? Yes/No

-//-

Frankly, I should be happier at this moment, but after witnessing that scene, I wasn't in the mood to celebrate.

The island and the mansion were too big for me to pull them into the inventory, so I didn't even try.

I'll ask Millia later if I could take some things from the mansion and the island afterward... For now, let's get out of this place. With one last look at the island, I sighed and accepted to exit the dungeon.

[…]

POV: Dylan Oakwood.

"Did my mom ask you to come on this mission with me?" I asked my "cousin." We might not be bound by blood, but I considered her as such.

Funny thing is, for a while, our mothers had tried to marry us off; we even got engaged for a bit. I thank the heavens to this day that it didn't happen.

Ignoring the fact that she liked the same thing as me: women. If I really married this gremlin, I'd probably die before thirty. If it wasn't for some experiment gone wrong, a machine that exploded, or burned the house down, it would likely be from the stress of having to live with her.

"You don't seem happy to see me, Dylan. Don't you miss your 'cousin'?" She teased me. "Come on, give a hug to your 'favorite cousin!'"

"Don't come near, woman! The last time you hugged me, I got electrocuted!" I took a step back, avoiding her embrace.

The damn audacity to look embarrassed at my words. "It was a small miscalculation; I've fixed my armor, look!" She pulled up her sleeve, revealing a part of the mechanical skeleton she had over her arm. "Come on, I guarantee it." She opened her arms, calling me for another hug.

"Selina, my last twenty years of life have taught me that your words aren't trustworthy." I sighed after those words.

As much as my instincts told me it was a bad idea, I still took a step forward to hug her.

Without hesitation, she pulled me in and hugged me as tightly as she could... Which, considering she was wearing exoskeletons on both arms, hurt quite a bit.

"Let go, you lunatic!" I shouted, feeling the air in my lungs being expelled, and my back begging for mercy.

Was she trying to kill me or something?

I took a deep breath when I finally freed myself. I knew this was a bad idea!

"Oopsie..." Selina raised her arm to her neck and scratched it lightly. "Sorry, I forget how strong my darlings are," she lifted her arm and showed the biceps.

The audacity! She weighed freaking fifty kilograms and had fewer muscles than a teenager!

If it weren't for those exoskeletons on her arms, I wouldn't even feel her hug! That's what I wanted to scream, but I was too busy trying to fill my lung with as much air as possible.

"But I see you've got some muscles. Are you working out, Dylan?" She asked me after a few seconds.

"I am..." I managed to say between breaths. Devas had helped me, creating a workout routine for me to start getting in shape.

As much as I could have figured it out on my own, using the information I had, asking for advice was never a bad thing.

I had started working out not long ago since I was bedridden, but I could already see some effects, thanks to the medicinal baths I was taking to recover after training and the nutritional pills I had bought.

Being rich was a joy sometimes.

"Hmm..." Selina hummed while looking at me. "Has a woman finally won the heart of my dear 'cousin'? Are you finally losing your V-card?" She teased me. "Or is it a guy? No judgments here; I always suspected you might be gay..."

"W-what?! No!" I blushed slightly as I shook my head denying. "And what's this about you suspecting I'm gay?" I yelled.

What the hell? I liked women! The only reason I hadn't gotten a girlfriend yet was that I had focused on my studies!

"Nothing... Just a random thought." She brushed off my question with a light whistle and smiled again, asking me, "But what about you? Is it a woman or a man?"

"Neither!" Did I have to want to date someone to start working out? "I just want to get stronger, here..." I tossed my guild emblem to her. "Joined the Guild."

"Wow!" She exclaimed. "Bronze rank already? My dear Dylan, the book nerd has talent to be a contractor?" She asked cheerfully, tossing the emblem back to me.

"Said the machine nerd." I grumbled as I put the emblem away.

"Bleh!" Selina responded with all the maturity she could muster, sticking her tongue out. "But seriously now. Your guess is correct; Aunt Helena asked me to accompany you." She explained.

Without me opening my mouth to speak, Selina continued.

"Before you say it's not necessary or that you don't need a babysitter, when Aunt Helena came to talk to me, she and my mom practically gave me an ultimatum." She sighed as she sat on the couch.

"If I didn't go on this mission with you, I would have to go on another mission, to the coast... What's going on, Dylan?" Selina asked me worried.

I shook my head as I massaged my forehead. "I don't know, tried to find out too, but my mom kept her mouth shut. From your question, was it the same on your end?" A simple nod confirmed it.

"I just know it's something serious." The understatement of the century, but it didn't matter now. Rescuing Melissa was more important in the short term. "Well, welcome aboard then. You're the fifth member of the group, just so you know." I stated, enjoying Selina's slightly shocked face.

"What? Did you think I'd be mad because my mom put you to follow me? Nah!" Ignoring the fact that I was already used to it, having someone else help us rescue Melissa was great.

Devas said we could invite a few people to the group, as long as the number didn't increase too much, as it would become disorganized.

Now he just had to show signs of life so I could inform him that we had a new member in the group. Where did this guy go?

"You've really grown..." Selina murmured. "If it were the Dylan from the past, he would have gotten mad about this. What happened?" She asked.

"I just decided it's better to focus on what really matters." I replied briefly before continuing.

"If my mom doesn't trust me and treats me like a child, what's the better way to act: Getting angry and upset like the child she thinks I am? Or getting stronger and showing her she's wrong?" I asked.

"The second option..." Selina commented as she got up and went to the window. "I'm glad you think that way. It's a good change, a good thought." She looked at the moon in the sky for a while before asking.

"You said I'm the fifth member of the group. Who are the other three besides you?"

"Besides me, as you said." I began. "We have another archer. Gilbert, a retired contractor who came back. A gold rank."

The old man being a gold rank was surprising, but not that much. I had seen him shoot in the battle against the goblin army; he was good, and as he liked to show off all the time, he had a fit body too.

Selina whistled impressed. "A good start, and the others? Any women?" She asked raising her eyebrow suggestively.

"Gilbert's daughter, Robyn." I affirmed before continuing. "She's not a contractor, but she has high physical strength and several summons." Well, her store animals, in this case.

"She owns the animal shop next to the Guild," I added, remembering that piece of information.

"Ah!" Selina clapped her closed fist into her other palm. "Knew I recognized that name. Never been to that shop, but some friends said she sells the best low-rank animals."

Robyn had some fame? Who would've thought?...

"The team so far looks good. We just need a melee fighter." Selina started talking, pointing to herself. "I'm a mid-range fighter." She tapped her arms, where the exoskeleton was.

"You and this Gilbert are archers. Long-range fighters." She pointed at me before continuing. "And Robyn, who's a summoner, and since you said she's not a contractor, I imagine she won't throw herself into the middle of the battle." She asked me.

"Yes, you guessed correctly." As strong as Robyn was physically, she lacked experience in fights. It would be foolish to throw her into the front line, and we all agreed on that, including Robyn herself.

"Don't worry about the front line; our leader is a melee fighter." I affirmed, making Selina look at me with a slightly puzzled expression.

"Leader? Aren't you the group leader?" She asked confused.

"No, I'm the second in command." I affirmed. Gilbert had practically thrown that position on me, saying he was the treasurer and merchant.

Since Robyn wasn't a contractor, and Devas was our leader, the responsibility fell on me, but Gilbert said I could seek advice anytime, and he would help.

"Devas is the name of our leader." I answered before Selina could ask. "He fights with various weapons, but from what he told me, his main weapon is a halberd."

"Hmm... He must be strong then, to be the leader where there's a gold-rank contractor and the son of a duchess. What's his rank?" Finally, the question I was waiting for...

"Bronze rank." I affirmed.

I couldn't help but laugh when I saw Selina's shocked face.

"What?... Is this a prank or something?" She asked after recovering.

"No, I'm dead serious here; Devas is a bronze rank. I can confirm it, and his emblem says the same." Which was quite amusing, actually.

Devas was a bronze rank only because, after the Jille fiasco, he hadn't done any more missions. Neither had I, by the way.

The reason was simple: there were traitors in the Guild, which is what caused Jille's mission to happen, after all. So his explanation was that it was better not to attract too much attention.

"Okay, I'm not an idiot to believe you when you have that sarcastic smile on your face." Selina affirmed, throwing herself onto my bed. "I'll check out this so-called 'bronze rank' myself." She made air quotes with her hands. "I will."

"If you mess up the bed with oil, you'll clean it." I'm not having the maids do that.

"I won't, you wuss." She affirmed, yawning. "When are we going on the mission?" She asked.

"Hmm..." That was Selina's only response before she covered herself, trying to sleep.

A nudge with my leg, pushing her out of my bed, was enough to wake her up.

"Rude..." She muttered, looking at me with a pout. As if I would fall for that!

"Wipe that pout off your face and head to your room!" No way I'm risking sleeping next to her; she had the incredible habit of hugging in her sleep, which, with her using the exoskeleton on her arms, only had one ending for me: a painful death.

"It's the same room as always; you know the way." I pointed to the door, ignoring the "Tsk" she made when she realized her pout had failed.

After kicking Selina out of the room, I locked the door and flopped onto the bed. It didn't take long for me to fall asleep since the past few days had been hectic.

My last thoughts before drifting off were about the mission and how I hoped my sister would be safe...

A few moments later, I fell asleep, my consciousness sinking into a deep slumber with calm and serene dreams...

[...]

POV: Melissa Oakwood.

"Came here to check the barrier again?" I heard a voice ask behind me. I didn't even need to turn to know it was Darnell. "Is it fun to stare at a white screen?" He inquired.

"Yes... to the first question and no to the second." I muttered, looking at the barrier surrounding the city. It was transparent, but the snow and ice covering it made it appear white. "We need to stay vigilant; if the barrier falls, we have only a few minutes before the entire city dies from the cold..." The window of time to react was very small.

"The barrier won't fall, thinking like that will only stress you out." Darnell walked over and sat beside me on the watchtower, wrapping himself in the blankets I was using. "Annabel is moving as many people as possible to the shelters, but it's a slow process." Well... even with the barrier, the city's cold reached minus thirty degrees... I didn't even want to imagine the cold outside it...

"Don't say, WinterHord has over a hundred thousand people..." I murmured sarcastically. "Sorry, I shouldn't take my anger out on you." I apologized immediately.

"Don't worry, I understand." Darnell smiled and waved off my apologies. "It was lucky that Annabel isn't an useless noble..."

"Like her father?" I asked with a slight smile.

"Hey! I didn't say that; you said it." He put on a serious face before laughing.

The previous Count, responsible for this region, was useless. It was fortunate that his daughter, Annabel, wasn't like that. Even though I had known the girl for a short time, it was enough for me to see that she had a good head on her shoulders.

"The mana stones should last about a month with the barrier being assaulted by the cold like this..." I let my thoughts out as I spoke aloud. "That's if it doesn't fall sooner because of that thing..." I murmured.

As if on cue, a scream echoed through the city, not even the barrier and the huge storm outside able to muffle it.

▃▄▇███████▅▇██▅██▇██████

I felt the hairs on my body stand on end, and a horrible shiver ran up my spine.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that Darnell was in the same situation.

The scream lasted only a few seconds, but those few seconds were horrible. It was as if something was trying to corrupt my mind, making me hallucinate, driving me completely insane.

"Damn... I'll never get used to this thing..." I heard Darnell murmur. "Is it the fifth scream in three days?... This thing is going to find us..." He said with regret.

"Yeah..." Neither Darnell nor I knew what this thing was, but it was something evil... Just the screams of it left everyone in the city tense, frenzied, insane.

The worst part wasn't the insanity itself but the fact that the hallucinations caused by this insanity could affect the body.

In recent days, dozens of residents died out of nowhere, their bodies torn apart by invisible monsters that only existed in their minds... Shapeless nightmares that could affect reality.

The only good part was that this insanity wasn't permanent but rather something temporary... At least the insanity caused by the screams of this thing...

I didn't even want to know what would happen if we got close to it...

"We're going to need to fight, you know that." Darnell stated with a dark look on his face. "We're the only ones who have a chance to fight back... Fighting in the cold outside the barrier..."

"Yeah. And we're going to die, you know that too." I said back. "We have little Purification Powder; we won't stay sane until the end of the battle... That's if the cold doesn't kill us first... Or that thing doesn't kill us..."

I sighed resignedly. What a shitty mission...

If Alalia were here, it would be something simple. She would blast that thing away; even Mom could fight against it with her arrays...

"Come on, I'll see if I can contact Mom again." I said as I stood up. "If we can warn her of WinterHord's condition, she should send help." We needed to warn her about that thing too...

"Yeah, send more food to that thing..." Darnell muttered with a sarcastic smile.

"Thinking like that will only stress you out." I replied back, using the words he had said minutes ago. "We'll get out of this alive." I held his hand, squeezing it gently.

Darnell didn't respond verbally; he just squeezed my hand and walked by my side, descending the watchtower.

"It's going to be shitty to sleep tonight, you know, right?" Darnell asked, stating the obvious.

It was shitty to sleep the past few nights. This one wouldn't be different... Damn nightmares and hallucinations...