Birch winced, the magical glow of the moonlight leaving her hands and enveloping her bloodstained feet.

My friend flinched, and I watched curiously as her body regenerated her lost toenails. Then, after a while, the nails will also grow back. My roots, through her flanks, felt the strangest changes within her body as it healed and regenerated at a most unnatural rate.

- What a strange thing, magic.

She sat there for a moment, and then, at last, opened her eyes again.

Hello, Birch.

I miss you.

Are you ready to continue our adventure?

I am. I feel like it's time for us to do that.

Birch wiped his face clean, then rolled over and fell on top of me.

- She fell asleep.

When we sit on a high place, the wind surrounds us.

Very good.

I guess it's fair for me to let you rest.

But we'll leave tomorrow, right?

I'm so eager to see more of the world.

Putting my friend to sleep, I covered her limbs with my roots to keep her body warm.

(Sunflower) used: (Flower Resonance)

Since she was resting, I decided to lure some spiders for her to eat.

They're not Birch's favorite, but she needs energy. She hadn't eaten in days. In the worst-case scenario, I would help her eat and press nutrients into her intestines.

- An interesting idea.

Maybe it's the best of both worlds?

I listened to the commotion of the dirt and 10,000 feet bounced towards our hill.

As we walked, Birch hiccups his stomach while holding his arms. My rude friend covered his mouth with his hands and flinched at the thought of something.

- She doesn't know about spiders. I don't think I would have told her.

"That scorpion must have screwed me up," Birch said, blinking vigorously as he walked. We walked silently, step by step towards heaven. She looked back. "Thank you for saving me all the time," she said.

Birch, of course.

After all, isn't that what friendship is all about?

-[Sunflower]-

You are bathed in the sun

+ 1 exp

Experience Points: 102/450 EXP (Birch): 204/240

My friend seems to be much more stable now after a long break. It's amazing how many simple things can get energizing.

Sleep, deep.

Food, nutrition.

Water, pure.

Sunny, bright.

These are the only things the body needs to sustain its life.

As for the soul, well...

-We both went west, to the place where the sun set, where everything was good, warm, valuable.

What the spirit desires is just as simple.

(Birch) Use: [Ambient Energy Wave]

Soul: 18/23

(Birch) damage (Goblin Chaser) is {09 Play DMG with her [Ambient Energy Wave]

Name HP Soul

Birch : 23/23 : 18/23

Sunflower : 19/19 : 15/15

(Yokai Seekers): 02/11 : 06/06

(Yokai Seekers): 11/11 : 06/06

(Yokai Seekers): 11/11 : 06/06

The ugly goblin staggered to its feet, trying to keep its balance while also struggling, trying to wipe away my friend's magical burns.

Two more men came past us, and Birch fell to the ground, fingers stuck in the dirt.

(Sunflower) use: (Su

kiss)

Soul: 12/15

A strange pulse of energy radiated from us, and now that I had time to think about it, I realized that it was the same as Birch's own magic. It hit the goblins, and they teetered. The one that Birch had just hurt fell to the ground and died.

(Sunflower) deals {damage 08DMG and its (Su.) to (Goblin Chaser).

kiss)

Name HP Soul

Birch : 23/23 : 18/23

Sunflower : 19/19 : 12/15

(Yokai Seekers): 00/11 : 06/06

(Yokai Seekers): 03/11 : 06/06

(Yokai Seekers): 03/11 : 06/06

Birch raised his hand.

(Birch) use: (small pulse)

Soul: 17/23

Another one fell off his foot and Birch seized his chance. She lowered her head, clasped her arms, and rushed to the last person still standing. In a strange moment, I regained my clarity and saw that her attack was similar to the one that had been chasing us many weeks earlier.

I realized that my friends were always learning, not just learning from me. Also from the world we have experienced.

The youkai flail, trying to pluck out of her new, thicker bark.

She raised her hand to its roaring face, just as she did with the big male in the city.

(Birch) Use: [Ambient Energy Wave]

Soul: 12/23

(Birch) damage (Goblin Chaser) is {09 Play DMG with her [Ambient Energy Wave]

Name HP Soul

Birch : 23/23 : 12/23

Sunflower : 19/19 : 12/15

(Yokai Seekers): 00/11 : 06/06

(Yokai Seekers): 00/11 : 06/06

(Yokai Seekers): 03/11 : 06/06

The last creature rushed towards us, its sword held high in the air.

(Sunflower) used: (heavy pollen)

Soul: 06/15

Application Status: (Confused)

Yellow dust flew around us, like chrysanthemum snow blown by a washed spring tide, falling in the air.

In the poisonous mist, my friend glided, with a knife in his hand, and stabbed the last goblin in the stomach, just as she had learned from the scorpion.

(Birch) for {stabbed to death (Yokai Chaser)}02} DMG!

Application Status: Bleeding[1]

Name HP Soul

Birch : 23/23 : 12/23

Sunflower : 19/19 : 06/15

(Yokai Seekers): 00/11 : 06/06

(Yokai Seekers): 00/11 : 06/06

(Yokai Seekers): 01/11*: 06/06

It fell and could no longer fight.

Magnificent.

Struggle for survival. Scratching, biting, gnashing teeth, I think that's the most wonderful.

Birch unloaded her backpack and placed me on the chest of the dying goblin, leaving me to nourish myself with the rest of its life.

(Bloodmeal)

Thirst: Quenched Minerals: Supplemented

+ 08 years of experience

Experience Points: 110/450

The sun adds brilliance to us with its divine presence. The wind, calm and serene, blew away the sweat of our troubles. The soft grass provides a resting place for the yokai, who have also experienced many arduous and long years.

-That's great.

It giggled when it died.

-[End of battle]-

(Goblin Chaser) (Goblin Chaser) (Goblin Chaser)

Dead.

+ 36 exp

Experience Points: 146/450 EXP (Birch): 240/240

Level up!

Congratulations! You are now a level {06}!

- [Bu

ch] -

Health-Poi

ts: 30/30↗↗↗ Soul-Poi

ts: 24/24↗

Level: 6 ↗ Experience: 0/310

Class: Druid Subclass: Not one

Race: Human Opel: 000

-[Statistics]-

STR: 09 Dexterity: 13

Wisconsin: '09 INT: '09

Lu: 09 years Value list: 08 ↗↗

new

-[Solo Predator] {Passive} -

Increases all melee and Nature damage by 33% against targets with larger antibodies than you.

Animals vary in appearance and behavior, and so do people. However, due to the druids' ability to observe these creatures from an outside, objective perspective, they were able to grasp certain specific ways of behaving and develop an intrinsic connection with the magic in their natural environment, and were able to use it themselves.

My friend is an apex predator in the savannah, and she screams a few times as she smashes the skull of a dead youkai under her feet, just as she learned from her freed captives in the city.

While I don't mind the noise and the fact that she is unnecessarily aggressive on a calm, blissful day like today, I decided it would be best to let her live the life she sees fit.

- After all, I am a sunflower.

Birch is Birch.

These are two different things, so, of course, we have two different mindsets.

However, maybe that's the problem? After all, that's how symbiotic relationships work. Two very different entities come together and benefit from their exchange of resources, each of which can only be collected by using their unique personalities.

A birch tree and a sunflower go farther than two birch trees or two sunflowers, and also go further than a sunflower or a birch tree.

Maybe that's what I've learned myself?

The rolling prairie, after weeks of trekking, has finally come to an end.

What we have in front of us is something completely new and amazing.

- Sand.

I never knew there would be so much sand in one place.

It went on and on, and on and on, and on and on as far as the eye could see, and I think it would go even further, just beyond the distant horizon.

I trembled.

It's magical.

Captivating.

What more can the world give me?

What secrets and spectacular spectacles await you?

The huge sandy beach was right in front of us, and I couldn't help but think that a place so dry, so arid, that the nest of a thousand birds whose sun had long since set, was not far from here.

- After all, why else would it be so hot and dry?

Heaven is closer than ever.

It has to be.

Birch stepped into the huge sand, her bare feet slipping and sinking under the soft sand.

We continue westward, towards heaven.

We're close.