We rode into the cold morning air. As we went, I was handed all the supplies the others had been holding for me—especially Jen, who'd kept most of my clothes and the gear for Sable. It quickly filled up the majority of my storage device. Milo also gave me twenty-five gold, which I was pretty sure was more than I was supposed to have, especially after how much I'd spent back in Divinmere.

I didn't question it. Milo even admitted he'd probably short-changed me earlier and said he'd check his notes when we stopped for the night to make sure I was paid correctly now that I could carry it all myself.

Micca was doing far better on horseback than I had on my first day. Honestly, it looked like she had plenty of experience with riding. I was jealous.

It took us several days to travel from Greenstone through the forest, but without a wagon to slow us down, our goal was simple—speed.

Which brought up a very important question.

If I could make food that gave us speed buffs, and we knew it worked on creatures like Lily, then surely I could make something similar for the horses. At the very least, a dish that gave them stamina.

When I brought up the idea to Milo, he got excited and immediately started brainstorming with me. The only grass-based food we knew of that gave a speed buff was the lemon tea, but there was a real possibility it'd be too sour for the horses to want to eat it.

We figured we'd need to mix it into their usual feed and, if possible, disguise the flavour. The only other speed-related ingredient we knew about was Thunar—but the horses wouldn't touch that at all.

Milo pointed out that if we ever ended up getting Drakhals like Sarah's group, they'd absolutely eat thunar, since they were known to eat both grasses and meat.

I decided I'd experiment tonight and see if there was anything I could do with the horse feed. If it were possible to buff them like we did ourselves, it might make a big difference.

We didn't stop for lunch that day, just chewed on some jerky and a fresh roll while riding. As we moved through the forest, we passed two caravans who mentioned increased activity in the area—but said the threats had been minor. So far, we hadn't seen anything of note.

Hari must've been playing things cautiously, because when anyone asked, he told them we were headed to a dungeon in the southwest. With the mountain pass down, the smartest route was via the southern road to the coast, then turning west.

By the time we stopped, the sun was already low on the horizon. The dense trees around us made it feel like night had already fallen. Milo quickly set up a structure, and I took the opportunity to use Arcane Foraging, spotting a few interesting items nearby.

With Jen's support, we ventured into the forest. We still hadn't seen anything hostile that day—but it wasn't the first time that had happened, and something about it felt off.

I was curious whether our suspicions were correct.

So, I decided to run a test.

"Lily, are you watching?" I said aloud.

Jen jumped, eyes going wide like I'd just summoned a demon.

"Did you see something?" she asked, worry creeping into her voice.

"No, sorry. I was just thinking... it's strange we haven't run into anything all day, especially when both caravans said activity was higher than normal. Also, I can see what looks like a carcass off in the distance," I explained.

"It's probably best you don't cal—" Jen was cut off by a rustle to our side.

Sure enough, there sat Lily, watching us.

I hadn't brought food for her, so I had to quickly come up with a plan.

"Sorry, Lily! I didn't mean to disturb you. We're just heading into the forest to look for ingredients. I'll have food for you tonight!" I tried to sound cheerful at the end, but Lily just tilted her head at me like I was a complete idiot.

Jen was still staring wide-eyed at the situation. But an idea struck me—and yeah, I knew Jen would probably tell me off later. That was a later problem.

"Uh, Lily? Before you go... you wouldn't happen to know of any particularly potent magical plants or food ingredients nearby, would you?"

But Lily's attention wasn't on me anymore. She was fully focused on Crisplet.

She reappeared closer, eyes locked on the little elemental, and gently tapped him on the head with a paw.

Crisplet immediately responded with a Disruption Flare.

I stared in horror.

Had Crisplet just attacked Lily?

But Lily just sat there, blinking a few times before calmly returning to her inspection of him—completely unbothered.

Then, without warning, she turned and looked off into the distance before beginning to walk. I didn't know if she was leaving or leading, but when she stopped, turned back to watch me, and a spark from Crisplet hit my shoulder as he scampered after her, I got the message.

She was leading us somewhere.

"Come on, Jen. Let's go see what she has to show us!" I said, practically buzzing with excitement.

"I don't know if this is the best idea, Trev," Jen said, her voice edged with concern.

"We'll be fine. Lily is here," I replied.

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I probably shouldn't have sounded so confident—at any moment, she could vanish and leave us completely alone in the middle of the forest.

"Ugh, fine. Let me mark the way so we can find our way back," she said, conceding.

We followed Lily for at least twenty minutes. I was running Arcane Foraging the whole time; I ate a shard of candy to maintain my mana. It worked brilliantly for this skill.

We passed plenty of things I would've loved to collect. I swear I spotted several Mana Truffles, clusters of mushrooms, and more than a few Dilwater bushes. I made a mental note to grab them on our way back.

But Lily kept leading us onward.

That's when I saw it—the bright blue, giant, glowing melon-shaped thing…

I didn't know if it was actually a melon, but it certainly looked like one. And it was huge.

Were we really this close to the spot where we'd first encountered Lily? Or was this just another of the same kind?

I wasn't sure, but it didn't take long for us to get closer. I heard it before I saw it clearly—a deep buzzing hum filled the air.

When it finally came into full view, I realised what it was.

A beehive?

No... not just a normal beehive.

The comb was red, and the bees were massive. The sound was almost overwhelming, a heavy hum that felt like it vibrated through the trees.

Before I could even react or ask Jen what we were going to do, a dome of ash formed around us. I barely had time to realise what was happening.

Through the haze, I could make out movement outside.

A cloud of ash was drifting toward the hive. It reached the buzzing swarm, sending the bees into the air in a thick, swirling cloud. Many hovered above, agitated but not attacking.

Then I saw the comb falling, as it was removed from the tree.

Before it could hit the ground, Crisplet formed a bed of soft ash beneath it, catching it like it were made of glass.

A moment later, Lily padded over, carrying the entire red comb. She placed it gently on the ground in front of me—one giant, glowing piece.

"Thank you, Lily!" I said excitedly, reaching out to store the comb before the bees had a chance to return. They were genuinely worrying; each one looked larger than my fist.

Would you like to store [Rare] Glyntar Honeycomb for 5 mana? Yes/No

"We'd better get out of here before the bees turn hostile," I said, glancing upward.

"Agreed," Jen replied, eyes filled with concern.

"Uh... Lily, could you lead us back the way we came?" I asked hopefully.

Instead of turning around to lead us, Lily nudged me gently with her head.

Instinctively, I reached out and scratched behind her ears.

I wasn't even thinking.

The moment I realised what I was doing, I froze in horror—only for Lily to push her head more firmly into my hand.

The feeling was so strange. It wasn't like fur at all—it was cold, like a solid form of a cloud or thick smoke. After the scratch, I quickly opened my storage and pulled out several of the jerky pieces I'd made, especially the larger ones, and offered them to Lily.

She took them happily, chewing as she began walking off in the direction we'd come from.

Jen whispered, "What the hell was that?"

"I don't know! It was instinctive, and then when I tried to stop... I couldn't!" I whispered back.

"I thought you were about to lose an arm," she muttered, letting out a nervous chuckle.

On the way back, I made a short detour past the Dilwater bushes and collected as many berries as I could. The mushroom patch turned out to be Death Caps again, so I took all of those too. As for the truffles I thought I'd seen—there wasn't much I could do without Milo, so I had to leave them behind.

Once we heard the sounds of camp in the distance, Lily turned and glanced back at us.

"I'll have food for you soon," I called. "I'll shout out when it's ready, if you like."

But Lily didn't vanish. Instead, she just sat there, watching.

I shrugged and started making my way back toward camp—only to realise she was following us.

Jen gave an awkward glance over her shoulder as Lily padded along behind us, Crisplet walking in sync at her side.

"Guess we'll prioritise some food," I said with a chuckle.

No one was outside the structure Milo had set up, and when I stepped inside with Jen right behind me, I was met with Milo calling out, "Find anything go—"

His sentence was cut off. I could only assume Lily had walked in behind us. She wandered over to one of the alcoves holding the bedrolls and laid down, seemingly settling in for a nap.

At this point, everyone was just staring between me and Lily.

"Long story," I said with a nervous chuckle. "I'll explain later. I'm going to make dinner! Crisplet, do you mind making me a large grill?"

Crisplet launched himself into the metal campfire basket we'd gotten from Curtis, and I quickly provided some wood. I decided to go with the scraps this time—it was a bit of a risk, but the woods hadn't been dangerous so far. I gave Crisplet Storm Pine, the last wood I had yet to use.

Given our unexpected guest and the windfall of mushrooms, I decided to make Buvul steaks again. This time, I planned a mushroom and cream sauce to go with them. I also prepped a Drake steak, which looked comically large next to the Buvul—at least ten times the size.

I seasoned all the steaks the same way, with Fire Salts and pepper, then placed them on the grill Crisplet had crafted out of ash. While they cooked, I got started on the mushroom sauce. First, I purified the mushrooms—then remembered to purify the Drake as well.

I sliced all the mushrooms and tossed them into my pan with some butter and Garlic Grass, adding a bit of salt to help pull out the moisture faster.

Once Crisplet gave the signal, I flipped all the steaks. To my surprise, despite the huge size difference, they all seemed to be cooking at the same pace. Crisplet's control was incredible.

With the mushrooms cooked, I added some cream and, remembering what Martin and Geo had taught me, tasted the sauce as it simmered. It needed a bit more seasoning, and unfortunately, the cream wasn't thickening well.

Then I remembered Geo's trick.

I pulled out some root starch I hadn't used in ages.

I was about to add it when Crisplet let me know the Buvul steaks were ready—but the Drake still needed more time. I set the Buvul steaks aside to rest and stirred the starch into the sauce, which thickened quickly. I made a generous batch since I planned to serve it with Lily's meal as well.

I pulled out six plates, and Milo crafted a platter-sized one for Lily. I plated the steaks, ladled on the sauce, and used Infuse on each dish individually—my mana buffs still active from earlier in the forest.

A moment later, Crisplet signalled that Lily's steak was ready too. I carefully removed it from the grill and placed it on the stone platter. As I did, I noticed Lily open one eye to watch me work—though she still didn't get up.

I poured the last of the mushroom sauce over her steak and used Infuse. I also chose to extend the buff duration for hers. I figured the small stat boosts probably didn't make a huge impact for her—but if she was planning to go hunting after this, the longer the better, right?

In an instant, Lily went from pretending to be asleep to sniffing the steak.

As I handed out the rest of the meals to the others, I gave everyone a roll to go with it. I'd always loved wiping the plate clean with bread.

Sitting down to eat my own, I glanced over just in time to watch Lily take her first bite—almost tentatively. Then, in the blink of an eye, it was all gone.

"That's all for tonight. I can make you more tomorrow night," I said, watching her. "If you want to help, everything you attack while buffed gives me experience, so—"

I didn't get to finish the sentence before she vanished. All I saw was what I swear was a pout.

I just sighed.

Cats.

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