Am I hallucinating before death? How pathetic.

As my consciousness wavered, the girl stepped closer under the sunlight, her cobalt-blue eyes fixed unwaveringly on me.

A faint, fresh fragrance cut through the heavy scent of blood.

I instinctively tensed and backed away, but the girl reached out, gently pressing her hand against my throat and arm, whispering softly.

A cool, soft sensation spread across my skin, jolting me back to full awareness, making me realize that everything around me was undeniably real.

Moreover, my wounds immediately began to heal at a visible speed.

I recognized the runes the girl was constructing... it was healing magic, she was using basic runes, yet the speed and efficiency of her construction were almost divine, achieving an incredible effect.

Compared to her, the magic of most mages in my town could only be described as mere tricks.

Who was she? And why did she appear in the forest?

As I was lost in suspicion, the girl smiled and said:

"Don’t worry, you’re safe now."

Her voice was gentle and clear, and just hearing it made me feel as if the pain had vanished in an instant.

I suddenly felt like crying, and my expression probably turned rather unsightly.

The girl seemed to mistake my reaction for fear and said:

"There’s no need to be afraid, i am Sylvia, a spirit of this place, and I am not allied with those magical beasts."

A spirit, huh.

Now that I thought about it, the noble had indeed mentioned during his idle chatter that a new spirit had appeared in the forest and was, for some reason, in a state of slumber, he had intended to form a contract with her but, upon actually awakening her, found her to be extremely fierce and completely impossible to communicate with, he advised no one to approach.

Wait.

Could it be that I was in grave danger, caught in some kind of trap?

No, that was just the foolish noble’s one-sided account, she had genuinely saved my life.

I needed to properly thank her.

"Tha... thank you."

But my throat hadn’t fully recovered, and all I managed to utter were a few unpleasant syllables.

Still, Sylvia continued to smile warmly.

She tore off a piece of her sleeve and handed it to me.

"Use this to wipe your face, what’s your name?"

"Adam."

The girl took a piece of parchment from her waist, covered densely with writing.

As she scanned the parchment, she said:

"That’s a good name, Adam, actually, I..."

Halfway through, her expression suddenly changed, her gaze focusing intently on a specific part of the parchment.

"What’s wrong?"

"Nothing. Can you stand up?"

I cautiously reached toward the ground and found that my injured arm had completely healed.

I stood up from the ground, glanced warily at the girl, and bowed my head to her.

"Truly, thank you so much, if it weren’t for you, I would certainly..."

She smiled again, picked up the small medicine box I had dropped, and handed it to me.

...

"Don’t mention it, it was just a small effort, this is yours, right?"

…

I took the medicine box and glanced inside, the herbs were still intact.

Well, there was no reason to linger here any longer.

I needed to leave.

...Should I ask her if she needs anything? Could I help her in some way too?

No, forget it, this kind of self-gratifying assistance would only annoy others.

She was a powerful, independent spirit, i was a pitiful soul who could be turned into a corpse by a single magical beast or a mere accident, having this brief interaction was already something of a miracle.

Damn it, she just said a few caring words, and I’ve already conjured up all these sticky, sentimental thoughts, why am I always so disgusting?

I pushed away the swelling dark thoughts and bid her farewell.

"Yes, thank you once again, i’ll take my leave now."

Even though I was being serious, Sylvia’s eyes curved into crescents as she smiled.

"How formal you speak, be careful on your way, i can’t go too far, so I can only watch you leave from here."

I knew this. Spirits could only move within areas rich in magical energy; otherwise, they would rapidly weaken.

Behind Sylvia stood an ancient tree that looked highly magical, she probably couldn’t stray too far from it.

If there was a chance, maybe I’d come back next time I gather herbs... Stop.

I nodded to her, picked up the medicine box, and walked away without another word.

After about a dozen meters, I passed the headless corpse of the magical beast. I couldn’t help but pause slightly and glance back, only to see Sylvia still watching me.

She smiled faintly and waved at me.

Embarrassed, I immediately turned to run away, however, the girl’s expression suddenly shifted to one of shock and urgency, she quickly raised her hand to her mouth as if about to say something to me.

But before her voice could reach me, the "corpse" of the magical beast rose to its feet once more.

The surrounding magical energy surged into the headless body like a vortex, it emitted a strange, piercing shriek, its body swelling, deforming, and wrapping itself in malice so thick it felt tangible.

Huh? What’s going on?

Its head had definitely been severed, it had definitely lost all its magical energy.

Why could it still move? Why could it stand up again?

"Come back!"

Sylvia’s shout rang in my ears, i snapped out of my daze and sprinted toward the girl.

—And then, once again, I tripped over a stone on the ground and fell heavily.

The ground trembled as the magical beast drew closer step by step.

Pain shot through me, and my heart raced wildly, i pushed against the ground, struggling to get up.

Just as my vision swayed and lifted, a chill spread from my ankle, i lost my balance and fell, looking back.

The lower part of my left leg, from the ankle down, was gone, the beast had crushed my severed limb into a pulp of blood, swaying its headless form as it approached me.

And so, death shifted from a "premonition" to a "certainty."

I retched and began to laugh.

...Ha. Haha. Hahahahahaha!

What is this? It’s all so utterly meaningless.

What a laughable, meaningless way to die—fitting for a fool like me.

Was I meant to be a clown all along, surviving just for this moment?

Belated agony washed over me, and I couldn’t stop the tears from streaming down my face, i propped up my upper body and began to crawl forward futilely.

I looked toward Sylvia again, the distance was at least ten meters, an insurmountable chasm.

The girl was no longer anxious but instead sighed as if giving up.

My heart clenched, and my arms lost their strength, at the same time, the magical beast stepped in front of me, blocking her from view.

The next moment, a flash of silver light streaked through the air, a dark, bubbling blood surged from the beast’s right shoulder, then, its upper body slowly slid off and crashed to the ground.

Dark red blood splattered everywhere.

Her body.

Amid the rain of blood, the girl stepped over the beast and crouched down in front of me.

Her face was as pale as paper, her chest heaving violently as a massive amount of magical energy flowed out of her at an astonishing speed, i said in disbelief:

"You can’t possibly..."

Her hand.

Sylvia still wore a gentle, confident smile and reached out to me.

"A few minutes won’t render me immobile yet, but my magical energy is almost completely drained, come, let me help you over there."

A grotesque sound of grinding bones and flesh echoed, both of us turned to look and saw the beast, now only its lower half, moving once again, muscles and bones at the severed section grew explosively, rapidly regenerating its original form.

I was paralyzed with terror. The girl muttered, "Oh, come on," wiped the blood seeping from my face with the parchment, and said:

"Sorry, do you have a lover?"

"...No? Why do you ask?"

"That’s great."

Before I could grasp the meaning of her words, she suddenly leaned in and gently kissed me on the lips.