Elisia stood in front of Tevanny's house, holding her pendulum. Somehow it kept emitting heat without asking. The girl tried to stabilize it, but the heat didn't go away. The girl walked into the trees while still thinking about how to dissipate the heat on her pendulum.

“I know this is Fire Pendulum, but this thing can burn me,” Elisia muttered.

Gray followed Elisia while barking. The girl surprised and didn't want the dog to be exposed to her body heat.

“Gray, stay home! You can't come near me,” Elisia ordered.

Tevanny saw their behavior and approached. “Is there a problem, Elisia?”

“Miss Tevanny, can you bring Gray back home?” Elisia asked.

Tevanny lifted Gray's body. “Is something wrong?”

“Eh? Oh, nothing! I just want to take a walk by myself.” Elisia replied nervously.

“Okay, but don't go too far!” Tevanny returned home with Gray.

Elisia walked to the trees. Her body temperature was hotter than before. She didn't know what to do at this point. Elisia couldn't hold the pendulum, which was getting hotter. Her body also felt weak to the point of difficul moving. A hot air enveloped where Elisia was. Some leaves looked burnt. Unexpectedly, an explosion occurred.

Tevanny heard explosions from outside the house. She ran out of the house immediately and saw smoke rising high. Gray was also barking incessantly. The woman walked over to the source of the explosion to made sure. She also remembered that Elisia was away earlier.

Tevanny walked through the bushes. She saw some scorched leaves on the tree. The smoke of the fire greeted her. Tevanny tried to penetrate the thick smoke until a silhouette blocked her. The woman couldn't see its true form, but its reflection looked like Elisia.

Tevanny removed the smoke that was blocking her view. “Elisia, is that you?”

The silhouette appeared to coughing from smoke. Her voice had convinced Tevanny it was Elisia. The smoke dissipated, and silhouettes appeared. It was Elisia. Her clothes were black with scorch marks in some places. Her hair is messy too. Tevanny immediately approached her.

“Elisia, are you okay?” Tevanny asked.

Elisia coughed. “Y-yes, it's just that I feel like exploding.”

“It seems so. Look around you!” Tevanny showed the explosion marks to Elisia.

The girl surprised. “Huh, I did all this?”

Elisia couldn't believe that her pendulum caused the explosion. She didn't understand what was happening right now. She checked the stats.

Elisia Naumann

Level 5 (50/1000 exp)–Vanguard

Max HP : 678/714 (restores 0,5% per second)

Stamina : 560/560 (restores 5 minutes per stamina)

Skill Point (SP) : 100/118 (restores 7 minutes per SP)

ATK : 370

DEF : 186

RES : 10,2%

Agility : 45

.

Skills

1. Molten Flame (level 2 (50/500 exp)

SP Requires : 44

ATK +40% and every attack gains 40% chance to ignore 20% Enemy Def

Duration : 27 second

2. [Unknown]

3. [Unknown]

4. [Unknown]

5. Sixth Sense (level 1 (0/400 exp)

Can see the level of other characters, including their enemies

Duration : Passive

6. [Unknown]

.

Equipment

1. Wool Jacket (equipped)

2. Dublin Spear (saved)

3. Flame Pendulum (equipped)

4. Book of Hex Aegis (not available)

5. Monstra, Book of Monsters (not available)

.

Elisia didn't understand what had just happened, but she lost some of her HP and Skill Points. Nothing seemed to have changed about her, but she worried that the explosion would wake Forgotten, given her position not too far from the monster's lair.

“I don't know, but do you see a change in me?” Elisia asked as she spread her arms.

Tevanny's eyebrows rose to the side. “What are you talking about? Only your body charred. That’s all.”

Elisia looked at her body again. Some parts of her clothes charred and torn. The woman was right, nothing had changed about her.

“You’re right.”

“Let's go home and check your body!” Tevanny walked to the house.

Elisia followed the woman to got an examination. Elisia still curious about what happened earlier. If nothing had changed from her, why did she have to explode? If she was holding the [Hex Aegis], Elisia could definitely find the answer to this incident.

Suddenly, something fell on Elisia's head, causing the girl to fall. Tevanny turned around and immediately helped Elisia. The girl tried to sit up while holding her aching head. Her eyes searched for the object that made her head dizzy. Among the leaves, she saw something brown. Elisia felt familiar with the color. She took it and immediately taken aback.

“Hex Aegis!” Elisia exclaimed while hugging the book very tightly.

Tevanny surprised to see her friend's behavior. “Is that your book?”

Elisia nodded. “Yes, this is a book that helps me learn to control my abilities. I'll tell you more later.”

“Okay, now we have to examine your body. I'm afraid there will be burned.” Tevanny continued on her way.

Elisia stood up and followed Tevanny. She didn't expect that Hex Aegis would appear in front of her, even if she just thought about it. With this book, Elisia could learn the reason she radiated so much heat that it triggers an explosion. Tevanny should examine her for burn marks on her body.

Arriving at the house, Tevanny asked Elisia to sit on a wooden chair. The woman walked to the shelf to get medicines. While waiting, Elisia noticed the modest decoration of the house and the interior filled with wood. Tevanny's efforts to build this house that looks solid stunned the girl.

Tevanny returned with forest herbs and some leaves. She saw some coconut shells that seemed to contain medicinal concoctions. The woman sat opposite Elisia with a leaf that had been holding.

“Take off your clothes!” Tevanny ordered.

Elisia followed Tevanny's words. All the clothes attached to Elisia's body removed. Elisia's body was noticed by Tevanny. The girl felt embarrassed at being seen by others, but she couldn't do much. Tevanny surprised. There were no burn marks.

“Elisia, are you sure it exploded?” Tevanny confirmed.

“I don't know, but seeing the surroundings makes me think it's true,” Elisia replied.

Tevanny examined the slender body once more. There was still no wound other than a stone stab wound that was showing black protrusions. The woman touched the part. Elisia immediately screamed. Finally, she closed the wound again.

“Okay, I have completed the examination. Now you can wear your dress again,” Tevanny said.

“Is my wound okay?” Elisia asked.

“There are no injuries other than stone stab wounds. I just bandaged it again because it grew a strange lump that was hard.” Tevanny cleaned up the equipment.

It surprised Elisia to hear that. Looked like the words that Upgrade said had happened. It would cover the wound with stones. Elisia's heart was beating faster. However, she tried to calm down and accept this situation.

Suddenly, a voice called out to them from outside. Tevanny peeked through a small gap in the window. There were two men standing in her yard. Elisia approached Tevanny, but the woman forbade her and asked her to return to her seat. Tevanny opened the door a bit slowly, then popped her head from behind the door.

“Sorry, can I help you?" Tevanny asked.

“Are you the owner of this house?”

“Yeah, I'm the only one living here. What’s wrong?”

“We heard explosions nearby. Did you do that?”

Elisia felt familiar with the voice. She walked to the door and peeked. Turns out, it was two people she knew.

“Risk! Dao!” Elisia ran out of the house.

The two men shocked. “Elisia!”

They hugged tightly. Finally, Elisia could meet her friends again. The girl was so happy that tears came out of her eyes.

“Elisia, we finally found you!” Risk said happily.

“Dao feels good to see Elisia again,” Dao continued.

“Yeah, I'm also glad to see you guys again.” Elisia turned to Tevanny. “Oh, I want you to know about Miss Tevanny, Mr Tivet's older sister!”

Risk and Dao looked into Tevanny's face, then they bowed. Tevanny nodded her head.

“Thank you for taking care of Elisia. Introducing, my name is Risk, and this is Dao,” Risk greeted.

“Greetings! My name is Dao, ready to help!”

“My name is Tevanny. As Elisia said, I'm Tivet's older sister. I heard you guys are wanderers who stopped in my village and offered to help defeat Forgotten,” Tevanny replied.

“You’re right. Elisia must have told a lot about us,” Risk respond.

“Not really, I just told a little about you guys,” Elisia said.

“I'm sure you tired. Just sit there and I will prepare food for you,” Tevanny asked.

Risk and Dao sat on a large log in Tevanny's yard. Elisia approached them to ask a few things.

“How did you guys get here?” Elisia asked.

“It's a very long story. The point is a request from an Upgrade,” Risk replied flatly.

“Dao and Risk entered this forest to look for you. Then Dao heard an explosive sound. Risk immediately chased that until he found this house,” Dao explained.

“Did you make the explosion?” Risk asked curiously.

“You could say, yes. I accidentally emitted too much heat to trigger an explosion,” Elisia said, chuckling slightly.

Risk noticed Elisia's clothes, slightly torn and charred. The man concerned. Then, he saw a leaf stuck to her right arm. He wanted to pull that away from that, but Elisia forbade him.

“What's that leaf stuck to your arm?” Risk asked.

“This leaf? This is to cover my wound,” Elisia replied.

“Wound?”

Elisia was silent. She didn't want Risk and Dao to know about the infection she got. Her eyes glanced everywhere. Risk's expression grew suspicious of Elisia.

“I don't know how to say that, but I hope you're not surprised,” Elisia replied.

“What's that?” Risk asked.

“Actually…, I am infected with Kryptida.”

Risk's expression didn't change after hearing that. Instead, he smiled a little. It astonished Elisia at her mentor's expression. She glanced at Dao. Dao just shrugged.

“Oh, I see. I'll tell Upgrade later,” Risk said casually.

“Eh, you're not mad?” Elisia suprised.

Risk took off his black cloak. He rolled the sleeves. He showed a bunch of small stones growing in Risk's right hand. Then he showed the Krytadium stones growing near his eyes. Elisia understood Risk's meaning.

“So you're infected too?”

“It's a long story. I purposely hid it from you so you wouldn't be afraid of me,” Risk said.

“Risk had this disease for a long time. Upgrade took care of it so well that the infection was harmless. We believe he can neutralize your infection so as not to harm your body,” Dao explained.

“On the other side, your abilities will definitely get stronger because of the energy from the stones growing in your body,” Risk said with a relaxed face.

“Energy?” Elisia didn’t understand the meaning of their words.

“We'll explain later,” Risk said.

Tevanny served food in front of them, mushroom soup with a slightly clear sauce. Elisia immediately ate the soup without hesitation. Tevanny's food is very good, as was the dish this morning. Elisia looked at the food again.

[Mushroom Soup]

“If Dao and Risk may know, how long has Tevanny been in this forest?” Dao asked, who didn’t eat.

Tevanny stopped eating. “I don't really remember, but I think I've been here for over a month.”

“Tivet told us that monster kidnapped you. How did you escape from there?” Risk asked.

“That monster is a nocturnal being. I ran away from its nest while it was sleeping,” Tevanny replied.

Risk turned to Elisia. “Are you doing the same thing Tevanny did?”

Elisia nodded. “In the cave, there are bodies that have hardened into stone. I found a skull overgrown with Kryptadium.”

“Dao thinks Upgrade is right. We might have some hope of killing the monster while it's sleeping.”

“I doubt that. Even when it was asleep, it could still pick up on the surrounding movements. It could wake up before you guys finish it,” Tevanny argued.

“That's right, as written in Monstra. But I think that creature has lost that ability,” Elisia replied.

“What makes you sure about that?” Tevanny couldn't believe it.

“When I tried to escape from it, my position with the creature was quite close. It didn't wake up even though I accidentally dropped some pebbles on my steps,” Elisia explained.

“It means that our hope is getting bigger to kill it easily.” Risk moved from the tree trunk. “But I prefer to defeat it when awake.”

“Dao doesn't really agree, but Dao likes a challenge.”

“I think you should spend the night here. It is getting dark. Maybe we can talk about plans tonight.” Tevanny bring the dirty dishes home.

Elisia went to get [Hex Aegis] inside the house. She turned to the next sheet, about signaling presence. In its explanation, there were several ways of signaling whereabouts so the party could find the others. One of them is like what happened to Elisia this afternoon, namely blowing herself up. With that explosion, Elisia could find her position and her party could find her.

“Hmm…, what a strange way of signaling,” Elisia muttered.

Elisia turned to the next page on how spear weapons worked. The girl discovered something about the spear's striking range that could reach a far target, as well as having a balanced weight in various conditions. She could use the weapon as an attacker or as a barrier. When combined with her abilities, the spear could be a deadly weapon.

“I've used various moves that I combined with my [Molten Flame] ability. There seems to be another more complex way,” Elisia muttered again.

Suddenly, she remembered Risk's words about the increase in ability from her infection. She came out of the house to meet Risk, who was practicing swordsmanship alone. Elisia wanted to use a different way to get his attention. She took out a spear and directly thrust it at Risk.

With his reflex, Risk blocked the attack and jumped back. His expression changed to one of surprise and became serious.

“What are you doing?! You want to duel again?” Risk annoyed.

“I want to ask for clarity about what you said earlier," Elisia said.

“Which of my words?”

“About infection and strength,” Elisia replied.

Risk smiled. “Keep your spear! I'll tell you at Tevanny's.”

Elisia put her spear in. Risk stepped over to the large log they were sitting on. The girl moved and followed by an untied Gray. It jumped up and down as if it wanted to invite Elisia to play. Risk turned to the dog, and his expression looked displeased.

Risk sat casually in a tree trunk. “Looks like you have a new friend.”

Elisia looked at Gray. “Yeah, it’s a stray dog I found in the forest. I don't know where it came from.”

“Fine, I'll put it simpler. The Kryptida infection in your body can emit an energy which, when close to Kryptadium rocks, will drain additional strength into your body. Your current abilities may be stronger than before,” Risk explained.

“That means I have more power?” Elisia digested the explanation.

“Yeah, especially if you use skills. I'm sure we can test that ability when we fight Forgotten,” Risk replied.

Elisia looked at her palms. Soon, these two hands would produce even greater abilities. Maybe that's why the pendulum emitted a stronger heat energy.

“What about Dao? Does he also have an ability increase?” Elisia asked curiously.

“Dao is not infected, and cannot infect,” Dao said from behind the girl.

“Huh, cannot infect?” It surprised Elisia to hear that.

“If you were wondering, Dao are not human like us,” Risk replied in a whisper.

“What?!” Elisia surprised. “But he's like a human.”

Risk turned to Dao and nodded his head. Dao stretched out both his hands. Dao's skin seemed to have green streaks of blood flowing out, plus his skin also slightly exposed. The ropes came out of it. Elisia was astonished to see it.

“So Dao is…”

"Yeah, he's a robot created by Upgrade to be his travel partner,” Risk replied, “You should have noticed if you saw him not eating.”

“Dao doesn’t eat because Upgrade doesn’t equip Dao with a mechanical digestive system. As a source of energy, Dao can absorb sunlight. That's why Dao likes to work in the fields,” Dao continued.

Elisia really didn't expect her friend to be like that. There's a lot she didn’t know, including the robotic technology or electronics from Upgrade. Meeting with Risk's party opened up her knowledge.

“What's the matter, Elisia? Does Elisia dislike the true Dao form?” Dao asked rather glumly.

Elisia shook her head. “Eh, no! I like the Dao as it is. After all, we're travel buddies.”

Dao's face looked flat. “Dao feels good hearing Elisia's words. Dao promises to protect Elisia as long as the energy is still flowing in this body!”

Elisia embraced Dao suddenly. His body that was hard because of having iron bones made it difficult for Elisia to hug him, but she still did it to make Dao happy. The brown-haired man returned Elisia's hug while stroking her head.

“So, are you guys ready to talk about a plan to defeat Forgotten? Tevanny is already here.” Risk glanced at Tevanny, who was sitting beside him.

Dao and Elisia let go of the hug. The girl's face blushed with embarrassment and sat far from Dao. It could embarrass even Elisia from the robot.

“What plan will you use to defeat that creature?” Tevanny asked.

“The same plan we used when Forgotten attacked the village yesterday, but this time the key to the main attack is on Elisia,” Risk said.

“What?”