Erika pressed forward along the unpaved road. Her progress was continuously stalled, as she rescued little blobs from the clutches of evil Waterfloras.

At one point, Erika’s motherly efforts backfired. She successfully chased a Water Blob away from a Waterflora, only to lead it toward a Windflora which blasted the baby to shreds.

It was clear at that point. The Scumbag Flower Sect was bent on destroying everything that was dear to Erika. Mortified by the fact she led a blob to death, Erika delivered revenge onto a few Windfloras in order to repent.

As the road went on, a distant city was in sight. They were still about five minutes of walking away, but they steadily closed onto their destination: Zelin City.

The scenery undergone small changes as they progressed. Glittering puddles became more scarce, until there were none in sight. Instead, a new type of mob became part of the environment.

【Drainer Bee】

It was a big bee, about half the size of an adult’s arm. It nimbly flew around, despite being so oversized.

“Ew...”

Erika jerked at the sight of the giant insect. Bees were more “disturbing” than “disgusting” by the way she rated insects. Therefore, bees were normally “alright” as far as she was concerned. However, the huge size of the Drainer Bee took “disturbing” up to eleven.

The bee was cartoonified to look more round and less repelling. There was hair on the bee’s upper body, which resembled a fur coat and nearly passed it off as “fluffy”.

Nonetheless, the Drainer Bee wasn’t eye pleasing and it certainly wasn’t cute. It was somewhere out there in the uncanny valley, as its insect traits clashed horribly with other body parts. Especially, the paper-thin limbs were at odds with the otherwise chubby body.

“A-ah!”

Vivi exclaimed when she noticed the Drainer Bees in the field. She hid behind Erika and cautiously picked over the shoulder.

“My, what’s wrong, Vivi? Are you scared of bees~?”

“S-scared!? H-hmph! Like, the great Vivi doesn’t even know the meaning of ‘scared’!”

Vivi pressed hands against her waist and stepped out into the open. However, she immediately changed her mind and hid behind her meat shield.

“Hmph! Like, these idiots are too lowly to be basked in the great Vivi’s divine presence!”

Vivi put up on an iron face, but there was shaking emote beside her. She probably had a bad affinity with Drainer Bees and couldn’t best them in combat.

The game must be hinting me to keep Vivi away from the bees.

Same as the rest of her cheeky personality, Vivi was very picky about combat choices. She stood neutral when Erika fought Windfloras, she greatly helped against Waterfloras and now she hid from Drainer Bees.

At first glance, these actions portrayed Vivi as a moody brat. However, Erika realized that, in fact, Vivi was smart and cautious. Vivi didn’t engage in battles which could endanger her.

Blasting Waterfloras and Water Blobs was fun for Vivi, for she had complete dominance over these enemies. The same didn’t apply for Windfloras, who could probably counter or withstand Vivi’s deadly gusts. Therefore, Vivi avoided combat with them.

When she just started playing, Erika was disappointed by how little combat support Vivi provided. Now, after she better understood Vivi’s reasoning and watched the pixie nearly drown to death - Erika was relieved. She preferred that Vivi stayed safe and sound, avoiding putting her life on the line.

Can I beat these bees by myself...?

Drainer Bees were different from all the enemies Erika faced thus far. They could fly and they were nimble, two elements which none of the previous enemies possessed. With Erika’s child avatar, it was impossible to even reach the bees unless they drew closer.

All Windfloras and Waterfloras grew a fair distance away from the main road. However, Drainer Bees freely approached the road, as if oblivious to its existence. This forced Erika to stay alert on a path which she previously considered safe.

Luckily, the bees didn’t attack Erika, not even in close range. They were way more polite then the vicious flower mobs, who attacked anybody in range. Drainer Bees must have been the type to attack only after they were threatened.

On top of that, Erika began to develop respect toward the Drainer Bees. The same way that flowers bullied Water Blobs, the Drainer Bees killed flowers.

Whether it was a Windflora or a Waterflora, the Drainer Bee didn’t care. The bee snuck up to the flower and thrust its stinger deep into the prey’s head. The flower shook and tried to fight off, but it shortly wilted and perished.

It was a bit similar to the real life relationship between flowers and bees, at least in the sense that bees collected materials from flowers. However, the similarity ended right there, as real bees didn’t harm the flower and definitely didn’t sting it. It was an odd game designing choice, but Erika loved it.

Serves you right.

She watched the wilting flowers with scorn and satisfaction. Finally, these sadistic flowers received a taste of their own poison; justice was served.

Erika’s good opinion about the Drainer Bees came to an abrupt end when Vivi shouted an SOS.

“A-ah! G-get away from me!”

Vivi fired wind gusts and retreated away. A stray Drainer Bee snuck up to them and tried to sting the energetic pixie.

“Don’t you dare touch my little Vivi!”

Erika drew out her knife and threatened the bee. However, the bee ignored Erika and continued to aim its big stinger at Vivi.

Curses, I can’t reach it like that!

Erika brandished her trusty knife, but her short arm didn’t intimidate the bee. It may have been the first time in her life that Erika wished for a taller body.

“Take that, you idiot! Like, you have no idea what it means to mess with the great Vivi!”

Vivi fired and fired, but the Drainer Bee didn’t fall down. The bee was quick to dodge and none of Vivi’s attacks landed smoothly.

Unable to fell the opponent, Vivi snuck behind Erika and waited for the enemy to approach. In order to hit Vivi behind the meat shield, the bee had to descend from its high ground. This put the enemy within Erika’s striking range.

The bee was 100% focused on Vivi, it didn’t pay any heed to Erika This was the perfect chance for strike. Erika thrust her Silver Knife into the bee’s yellow abdomen.

Tch, too shallow...!

The nimble bee dodged to the side, turning Erika’s thrust into a poorly aimed slash; she merely grazed the bee’s abdomen, nothing more. The Drainer Bee used the same maneuvers against Vivi’s bombarding as well, never allowing anything to land perfectly..

Now that Erika clearly declared herself as the enemy, the Drainer Bee switched its target. It flew toward Erika and shoved its stinger into her face.

“Agh!!”

Erika’s eye was speared through, she staggered backwards and covered her eye. Rather than a bee’s stinger, she felt like she was pierced by a rapier.

“Eh...?”

When Erika opened her injured eye, the world was hazy. She suspected that the stringer had poison in it, though she only felt weariness around her eye.

While Erika was dazed, the Drainer Bee drove its stinger into her face yet again. Her left arm quickly reacted and soaked the damage.

“Ugh... what...?”

The injured arm became heavier and partially numb. It was as if the bee drained energy from her veins. Worse yet, the faint stab mark Erika left on the bee’s abdomen now turned gray and almost entirely disappeared.

There was no question about it. That bee was sucking Erika dry, same as it did with the flowers. It was indeed a “Drainer”, as the name implied. If Erika couldn’t wrap this battle quickly, then all her energy would be sucked out. Then, she’d wilt to death just like the flowers she despised so much.

Curses, I can’t properly counterattack against it...!

Erika became frustrated by her clumsy thrusts. Most of her attacks landed on the bee, thanks the guidance of the Combat Aid. Alas, none of the hits was a smooth stab and none of them dealt significant damage.

On the other hand, the bee enjoyed its high ground and poked Erika at ease. Her arms, face and chest were all heavy and numb. She turned dizzy as her body’s vitality was drained out.

Erika couldn’t do this alone. She needed something to distract the Drainer Bee in order to efficiently strike it down.

“Curses... Vivi, could you please shoot the bee as well?”

“Hmph, fine! Like, you’re so pitiful that the generous Vivi feels like landing you a hand!”

Vivi aimed her tiny palm at the bee and shot a blast of wind. The Drainer Bee smoothly shifted its body and dodged most of the damage. However, that excellent maneuver rendered it impossible for the bee to evade a follow-up attack.

Erika sliced through the distracted bee, leaving a burning injury mark across its body. The bee faltered after receiving this damage; the attack worked perfectly.

Vivi sniped the bee again and Erika stabbed it chest, digging deep into its body. It was a deadly combo attack.

【Defeated Drainer Bee. Obtained 8 [Absorption] pieces and 1 Windflora Pollen.】

The slain bee bursted into azure particles, same as other mobs. In addition, an odd, yellow cloud erupted from its corpse and latched onto Erika’s skin.

“Ew! What’s this?!”

Erika waved her arms, trying to block the yellowness that creeped toward her. She thought it was icky honey that exploded, but she didn’t feel anything when it contacted her skin. Rather than a physical material, the yellow smoke seemed like an aura. It equipped itself on Erika and radiated from her.

At first, she assumed that the vitality, which was drained from her, was returned to her body. However, she didn’t feel any healthier. It may have been poison that the bee spread as its last resort, but Erika didn’t feel sick either.

In fact, Erika didn’t feel anything at all from this aura. There weren’t any system messages either. She decided to ignore it and instead celebrated the victory with Vivi.

“Ahahaha! Serves you right, you idiot!”

Vivi grinned widely as she watched azure particles vanish into thin air. Of course, she acted as if the puny bee was never a threat for the the great Vivi to begin with.

“My, aren’t we a great team, Vivi?”

“Hmph! Like, I could totally bust that idiot myself.”

Vivi crossed her arms like a snob. Nonetheless, there was an unusually joyful emote hanging above the pixie’s head. Vivi must have been extra happy to overcome a strong foe.

Perhaps, somewhere deep inside, Vivi was even grateful for Erika’s help.

“Like, you should thank the generous Vivi for not letting a bee kill a useless idiot like you.”

She was definitely grateful... somewhere deep, deep inside. While Erika giggled at Vivi’s cheeky words, she didn’t notice the approaching swarm...