Ugly Bastard

Ten people in clad in full battle sets of gear armed to the teeth and ready for battle at any sudden moment state, moved through the forest to the sound of a river that they heard from the distance.

"Sir, don't you find it a bit strange?" Said cleric moving forward at the same pace as all the warriors with no indication that he is somehow outclassed in regard of stamina and endurance even after their day-long march from town to the depth of forest.

"What do you mean?" Answered the warrior following second after the rangers.

"That area. There is no other indication of pollution, except that area. As if the demon just appeared there out of nowhere. How could he leave no trace of any malign anywhere prior to coming to that place? This is unnatural."

"I am not very knowledgeable in this regard. It is my first time leading a demon hunt squad. Seeing a demon in these parts of the Kingdom is a rarest of occasions. If I may say it, then you are the most experienced in this regard even if what you know is mainly from the books of clergy. So what are your thoughts on this unnatural phenomena?"

"Summoning ritual." Said cleric. 

Warrior stopped for a moment at turn to look at him. He then proceeded to move forward again without any words, but there was a thoughtful expression on his face.

Soon they reached the river bed and came out of the forest's lush, to see the rangers kneel over some footprints on the ground leading directly into water.  

"What have you got?"

"It's quite fresh. We are gaining on it. The footprint though looks strange. It is a combination of two as if a human follows behind the beast. The beast has a paw similar to a wolf, yet bigger."

Warrior thought for a moment

"Is it someone that accidentally noticed the demon and followed it, or is it a summoner as you said traveling with him?"

"It does not make sense for a summoner to travel with a demon. Demons aren't the type to follow commands after being summoned, especially such strong. Usually they get contracts and make some bidding of the summoner, for example "Go destroy that nearby town in exchange for this sacrifice". It also does not make sense for a demon to stay in one place so long that it polluted the same area to this degree after it received the summoner's request, however these traces indicate exactly that. We did not travel so much from the area and we already gaining ground on it. What was he waiting for out there? Said the cleric thoughtfully.

"What if he was not waiting, but provoking someone to come after him?" Said one of the rangers. "If you remember well the lords of this labyrinth is the Dryad Queen. Dryad family would not sit still and not send their own powerhouses to deal with such a threat to the forest."

"You are saying it might be a distraction to call away the powerhouses of the Dryad family and lessen their defence?" The warrior asked.

"This makes sense," said another ranger. "If you look at it carefully this is a roundabout road, going to the side from any force that would travel either from the human side or deep forest side. Travelling here it probably avoided both forces and now changed course in this river to go to the area it targeted from the get go."

"If its target is the forest core then it makes kur choice of direction easier. We separate and travel in the forest core area direction from the both sides of the river bunk. If any of the team finds the trace, give the signal. If his target was to distract the dryad powerhouses then our help might be of use to them. In accord with hunting ground agreement we are bound to assist the Lord of labyrinth if its life is threatened by any outside force."

"I hope they don't start their tricky shit on us when we get there. These creature are fucking dangerous even when alone. Meeting a while swarm is an experience I'd rather avoid." Said one of the warriors

"We are on the mission and act on the rules of the accord. If they harm us they would be the one breaking the rules as we are there only for help."

"Still not the best experience to gain."

"We have no choice. Let's go." 

Two teams continued pursuit in the direction of the forest core. The choice of humans was the right decision for Noah.

*****

"Humans went the wrong way." Said one of the women standing on the knee at the edge of the river and holding hand barely above the water.

"They assumed their target was a demon."

"We ourselves are astonished that it is not. I still suspect it is a skinwalker type."

"We will find out with our own roots, what he is exactly. In any way he will be the finest nourishment for the forest."

"Appropriate end for what he has done in that part of the forest."

After a short discussion, they disappeared in the upstream direction.

*****

Noah ran through the river's water for quite some time before coming out in the bunk closest to the human town. While running he noticed one peculiar thing. He did not get very tired. With his untrained body it should feel like he was through hell training already yet he only felt sweaty and moderately tired. Is this thanks to all the consumed energy from the surrounding forest? He wondered. System did indeed mention that he most probably spent a few days with no food or water thanks to sustaining his body with the consumed energy. That time he did not put too much thought into it as he was quite preoccupied with other things. But now that he made a whole marathon run through an obstacle course, after more than two days with no food or water, this factor became well apparent.

"Well that's a cool perk, but unless I get a weaker modification of the skill, I doubt I'll use it anytime soon again. System we will have to make a research in the CS in any topic that might help us modify that skill"

*Understood* answered his system inside his head.

Oh yeah I should not always speak aloud to my system. After all, it's not common to get to talk to systems. People might think I am crazy. System? Can you hear me now?

*Yes I can perceive your thoughts well*

"Good at least I won't look crazy while walking in town"

"Thinking that you would be walking in town is already quite a crazy thought."

Noah stopped  as if rooted on the spot after hearing the woman's voice answering him

He looked around but saw nothing but the green lish of the forest. However he heard very weak laughter from an unknown direction around him.

"Who's there?!" Said Noah nervously looking around.

"Shhhhh, child" said a woman appearing out of nowhere touching his lips with a finger "no need to be so loud. You might wake up the whole forest." Noah wanted to jump away from her but she disappeared as suddenly as she appeared, leaving no trace of her existence. All that proved it was not hallucination was a warmth of her touch on his lips. 

Noah looked around again while holding his knife in a defensive stance and noticed other strangeness. The wolf has disappeared.

"No need to be so defensive." Said the sweetest voice he ever heard, while a tender hand touched arm and traced it down to the palm as if hugging him from the right side 

"There is no need to fear dear. No need to be afraid. This is a good place to take a rest" said another voice from his left side while a new gentle hand traced his left cheek."

"Relax your body sweetheart" said the third voice while two delicate hands traced both his shoulders from behind going over then and following to affectionately touch his chest.

"This is just a dream child. A sweetest of dreams. No need to resist its call. Enjoy it. Embrace it" Whispered soft voices in his ears as his eyelids fought to fight the drowsiness. His eyes were empty as if whoever was at the roll there had gone on vacation. Noah gently descended to the ground while held by the three pairs of the most wonderful and loving hands. He lay with his back on the ground while his head rested on the most plush lap pillow he could ever imagine. Three goddesses lulled him to sleep. What else would a weary traveler want? This was paradise. There was no way to refuse the dryads.

"Sweet dreams child"

"Happiest dreams child"

"Most wonderful dreams child"

In dreams you can be wherever you want.

In dreams you can be whoever you want.

In dreams you can do whatever you want.

Echoed sweet sounds in his head.

Open your mind.

Let us in.

We are your sweetest dreams.

Noah finally stopped fighting and closed his eyes. Forever.

Noah lay on the ground bound by the legs and arms with the roots protruding from under the ground. Near him uselessly struggled, bound in roots same as Noah, his wolf companion.

In his dreams Noah felt the softness of clouds under him and pleasure of heavens.

One of the dryads held his head in her lap, while the other two stood up and went away, waltzing through his mind as if in their own home.

Dream my dear in dreams you can have a perfect life. You can taste the perfect food. You can have the perfect woman. Lulled the voice making him sink deeper and deeper, while opening his mind to them even more.

"Bitch the only thing perfect in this world is Me" suddenly sounded the voice across the whole of the dream realm.

*Ding. Conditions have been met. Creating skill*