Chapter 45 - Battle worms
It wasn't long after they'd entered the enchanted forest that the next swarm of [Restless Blot-Sprites] appeared, but despite being numerous they were all quite squishy. A wall of intense fire in their path—surrounded on both sides by smaller walls of water to lessen the risk of the nearby trees catching fire—was enough to char almost every single one of the little creatures to death.
Everybody except Rosa stared at her with surprise after witnessing it.
"You're a mage?!" Allyssa exclaimed.
"Nominally? No. However, I can replicate some of their feats," Scarlett said as she scrunched her nose at the smell that wafted into it. Ok, it might be an effective method, but it certainly had its downsides. "I would have thought you to already be aware of this."
"Kat never mentioned it," Shin said. "She just said you could be crafty sometimes."
Scarlett arched an eyebrow at him. Crafty? She felt like Kat had some weird priorities over what and what not to share here. "Anyhow, now you are aware. I am quite limited in my abilities, however, and will still require your protection, so do not grow complacent."
Allyssa gave a sure nod. "We won't. You can trust us."
"Good," Scarlett said.
Allyssa gestured to the defeated creatures. "Are we just going to leave things as they are?" She looked around at some of the plants around them. "I'm not sure about these fairies, but some of these plants look really interesting. It might be worth bringing some of them with us."
Scarlett shook her head. "Leave it be for now. We cannot carry it all with us, and my pouch is limited in its capacity. We will handle any gathering as we make our return."
"Ok. If you say so," Allyssa said, though there did seem to be some reluctance in the young woman's voice as she looked at an oddly-shaped plant.
As they began to delve deeper into the forest they continued to be accosted by swarms of [Restless Blot-Sprites] every ten minutes or so—the critters were certainly annoying, the way they didn't seem to care for their own self-preservation—but they weren't a real issue with Scarlett handling them quickly each time.