I opened my eyes, prepared to see something terrifying. A dryad, the mother of an entire forest. I half expected a golem made of trees, dirt, moss, bushes and leaves to stand before me. But I could see nothing, it was black, not pitch black I could still see something vaguely resembling... fur? And the tingling and warm feeling on my face and on the rest of my body supported that guess, I was pressed against something furry. I tried to move but I felt like something was really not a fan of the idea of me moving.

"Not yet, just a little longer," a female voice said.

She sounded like a mother that had just seen their child again after years and years and years. I was confused... but decided to comply, feeling the power the dryad had. She was holding me against her own, furry body with enough strength to easily break all the bones in my body if she wanted. After a while, she finally decided that it was time to let me go.

"Alright sweetie, you can move now. But make sure not to strain yourself. Except if you want me to heal you again," she said.

I slowly got up and got a better look at the dryad. She had the body of a deer. Brown-red fur with white dots, a white belly, a short, fluffy looking tail, long slender legs and black hooves that shone in the sunlight. The thing that differentiated the dryad from a normal deer was the fact that where its chest should have been was a humanoid body instead. It began right at the hips. She had abs and fully exposed large voluptuous breasts. Her arms were fairly thin but still managed to look muscular. Long orange hair fell down her shoulders and stopped right around her waist. Her emerald green eyes pierced me. She had a beautiful face with fine features which were only elevated by her freckles and... and the wooden-looking antlers growing from the top of her head.

Unlike the antlers that grew from the forehead and curved slightly, these grew from the side of her head, from above her pointed ears, and they grew fairly straight. They also looked more like twigs than antlers. But they also had the same effect on me that wood elven antlers had. I found them... attractive I guess. The fact that she had antlers was also the only thing that made me not burst forth and drive my fist through her human face. That and the fact that the feeling she gave off was not disgusting but, pleasant, really pleasant, even more so than the feeling that M had given off.

Incidentally, he was sitting on the dryad's right antler, studying me with his black eyes.

At least he made it...

We were in a small glade with a pond a few beautiful, but at the same time, strange-looking plants. Like the one... flower, that grew a metre tall and had multiple yellowish, glowing orbs instead of flower petals. Trees surrounded us on all sides, trees without the blue orbs hanging from them. There was only a small opening that let in sunlight. Or rather, right now, it was moonlight.

The dryad rose from the ground, gracefully. Her hair was swaying in the wind, which didn't carry any voices at the moment. She was beautiful, there was no denying that. And she didn't feel like a human at all, she didn't feel disgusting in the slightest, rather, I felt at peace around her.

"Welcome sweetie, to my glade!" She extended her arms outwards. "My name is Elvia Marlavius Eldara Okaril Nimarus Averaliunara Serias Kirals Uvals Esaldi," the dryad said. "But just call me Elvia." She winked at me.

It took me a few seconds to process that overly long and complicated name.

"I-I'm Altair... Altair Oberon Lyrius," I said, feeling strange having such a short name compared to her.

"Oh my, what a lovely name," Elvia said as she approached me.

I also noticed that I felt completely fine...

She did say that she healed me.

"Ehm... thank you for healing me," I said.

"Oh sweetie, don't even mention it," Elvia said with a smile on her face.

For a few seconds, there was an awkward silence.

"So, why are you here?" she eventually asked.

"Huh?"

"Oh, I doubt you would have found me on accident. There must be a reason you came to me? Or maybe you came to me to get healed... you did look pretty bad. I mean, your body was filled with poisons that even a wood elf can't fight off. And on top of that were the anti-mana particles that practically had a field day within your body," Elvia said.

She chuckled, hiding her mouth behind her hand.

"Ah... yes. My reason. You see. There's this beast in the forest," I began.

"Any you want me to get rid of it?" she asked, raising one eyebrow. "No way!"

She sounded angry.

"No, no, no, no. I'm not asking you to get rid of him... I ask of you to grant me magic... so that I can beat him myself..."

Was that the right choice of words?

"So you want me to grant you magic? Just so you can kill that... beast, as you call him," Elvia said.

"Y-Yes."

She tapped her chin for a few seconds and then smiled.

"And what will you give me in exchange for that magic?" she asked, her smile becoming wider with each word.

I swallowed.

"Everything you ask of me," I said, determined.

The smile on the dryads face became even wider and she tried to hide it behind one hand. She did a terrible job. Her eyes lit up with joy as well, almost as if she was looking at a cute pet or something like that... as if I were no more than a puppy... which I may as well be to the mother of a whole forest.

"Well, there is really only one thing that you can do for me..." Elvia said.

I swallowed again and just stared at her, following her with my eyes as she gracefully and confidently strode around me. She studied me with her emerald green eyes. They pierced into me. With one hand she went through my long ponytail. I didn't think about it a lot but it was already close to reaching my waist.

Maybe I should cut it.

Suddenly I felt her feeling my back and arms and then my stomach. Once she was done she positioned herself in front of me again and gazed at me with the joy still not having left her emerald green eyes.

"Yes, there really is only one thing I want from you," she said while smiling at me.

She was enjoying the anticipation and the slight worry on my face.

"If you want me to give you magic..."

If I want magic from you...

"Then you will..."

Then I will...

"Be my child!"

Be your chi- What?!