"Sister Nimue! Sister Nimue! Come here quickly! It looks like one of our kin is here, and she's lying on the ground motionless. Is she injured?"
"That's impossible, Shalin. Logically speaking, didn't the Elder only send us to this area? How could there be another clanswoman?"
"How could I lie to you! Come see for yourself and you'll know!"
'Ugh... who is speaking...'
She currently felt her consciousness was a void of darkness, with only stray sounds managing to filter through.
After a short while, the originally muffled voices gradually became clear; she could feel the owners of these two voices were right in her vicinity.
"There really is a clanswoman here. And the Aura of Death surrounding her is so terrifying."
"See, see! Shalin wouldn't lie to you. But what should we do now, Sister Nimue?"
"I will go back to the clan to inform the Elder. Shalin, you watch over her first. By the way, be careful not to—"
But before Nimue could finish, Shalin suddenly interrupted her.
"Sister Nimue, wait! She seems to be waking up."
At this moment, she, who had been in a coma, began to stir as her consciousness cleared.
She slowly opened her eyes. The first thing she saw were two girls with long, silver-white hair.
Their appearances were exquisitely beautiful; even for someone like her who had seen many beautiful girls (including herself), she couldn't help but stare blankly for a few seconds.
Their skin was snowy white, even possessing a translucent quality.
What caught her attention most was that their ears were not the rounded shape of humans, but rather pointed.
Combining their beautiful looks with the mentions of "Elder" and "kin" from the previous dialogue, her first reaction was—
These two are elves.
At this time, the system's notification arrived as scheduled.
[The host has successfully pulled the fourth gold light. Unlocked character: Castorice.]
[The host has obtained all the powers of this character.]
[Please continue to earn more Stellar Jade to unlock more characters!]
"Cas... torice?"
She subconsiously muttered the name. As her consciousness fully cleared, the system's notification panel expanded clearly within her vision.
Next, she looked down, her gaze sweeping over her own body.
What entered her sight were her breasts wrapped in bandage-like white fabric. On the right side, several lifelike pinkish-purple flowers were artfully placed, adding a touch of softness and mystery.
On her right arm, a magnificently styled purple-and-white butterfly armlet sat snugly against her, the edges of the butterfly wings seeming to shimmer with a faint light.
Further down was a complex and elegant white-and-purple evening gown. The hem spread out like flower petals under moonlight, beautiful beyond the mortal realm.
Watching this scene, Shalin had a look of curiosity in her eyes.
Initially, she had become wary upon seeing Castorice wake up.
After all, although the person opposite looked like an elf and even seemed to belong to their clan, the Aura of Death radiating from around Castorice made her feel somewhat uncomfortable.
However, when Shalin saw Castorice stand up and open her eyes, she only stared at them for a few seconds before her gaze went blank, looking entirely harmless.
Shalin's gaze shifted from initial wariness to curiosity.
Thus, she leaned in close to Nimue's ear and whispered:
"Sister Nimue, she... she seems a bit dazed? She's just sitting there and not saying a word."
"Shalin!" Seeing this, Nimue chided in a low, helpless voice, then gently tugged Shalin's arm. "Don't be so rude! It is very discourteous to discuss someone right in front of them!"
Though she was lecturing Shalin, the gaze she directed at Castorice also carried a sense of inquiry and a hint of obvious tension.
After all, the Aura of Death lingering around the other party—which made them instinctively shudder—acted like a Formless barrier, making them hesitant to approach easily.
Shalin's words and Nimue's lecture reached Castorice's ears clearly, causing her to fully snap back to reality from the information provided by the system and within Castorice's own body.
She took a deep breath, looked at the two beautiful elven girls before her once more, hesitated for a moment, and then slowly spoke:
"He... hello?"
"Ah? He... hello!"
Shalin seemingly didn't expect the other party to take the initiative to greet them. She froze for a moment before reacting, her face immediately breaking into a purely friendly smile.
Nimue appeared much more composed. She nodded slightly, her silver eyes carefully scrutinizing Castorice, her voice gentle but carrying an inquisitive undertone.
"Hello, I am Nimue, and this is my sister Shalin." Then she paused, her gaze sweeping over Castorice's magnificent clothing—which clearly didn't belong to human craftsmanship—and the lingering Aura of Death around her. Her brow furrowed slightly. "May I ask... what is your name? And why are you here alone? Where are your kin? What happened to you?"
"My name is Castorice..."
Castorice gave her name, then fell into a brief silence regarding Nimue's other questions.
Did Castorice have kin? It seemed she didn't? She only had one sister.
Thinking of this, she replied:
"As for kin... I... shouldn't have any kin."
"No kin?" Nimue's brow furrowed even deeper; this answer was entirely outside her expectations.
"Could she be... the descendant of kin who were captured by those evil humans in the past?" At this time, Shalin's imagination immediately became active. Hearing Castorice's words, her eyes widened as she deduced a result she considered reasonable. "And then she escaped from the human kingdom? That's why she doesn't know about her clan."
Shalin's tone carried a hint of sympathy and indignation, as if she were certain of her guess.
But soon, Nimue poured a bucket of cold water on her.
"She doesn't... look like it."
Nimue rejected Shalin's guess.
Her gaze landed on Castorice's exquisite and pristine gown, and she said thoughtfully:
"The clothing on you... is very special. It doesn't look like something one would carry during a hasty flight. And..."
She stopped there, clearly referring to that unsettling Aura of Death.
"Um..." Castorice, feeling the confusion and curiosity in their gazes, offered an apologetic smile. "Actually... I don't know how I got here myself. When I opened my eyes, I saw this forest... and you."
"You don't know? Could it be amnesia?"
Hearing Castorice's explanation, Nimue and Shalin looked at each other; this situation was more complicated than they had anticipated.
"Sister Nimue, now... what do we do?" Seeing this, Shalin looked toward Nimue somewhat helplessly.
Although their elven race was kind-hearted, they were not entirely without defenses.
An individual of unknown identity, strange power, and who claimed to have amnesia—despite being a fellow clanswoman (at least in appearance)—made it impossible for them to completely drop their guard.
After a short silence, Nimue took the lead in breaking it.
"I will inform the Elder first. She looks very much like an elf of our clan. Since we've encountered her, we cannot simply sit by and do nothing."
As she spoke, she quickly plucked a lush green leaf from the low-hanging branch of an ancient tree nearby.
Then, a faint moonlight-white glow condensed at her fingertips. She held the leaf to her lips and began to softly chant in an unknown language.
Castorice listened for a while and found she couldn't understand it at all.
Accompanied by Nimue's chanting, fine silver runes began to emerge on the surface of the ordinary leaf.
A beam of bright moonlight followed immediately after the runes were fully formed; as if guided, it pierced through the layers of dense tree canopy and precisely enveloped the leaf.
Instantly, the runes began to glow with silver light.
A moment later, a gentle yet authoritative female voice came clearly from the light-infused leaf:
"Nimue, has something happened? Why have you suddenly used moonlight magic to contact me?"
"Elder Maria," Nimue replied respectfully, then explained at a clear pace. "We have found a... very special elf at the southern end of the forest near the Sighing Stream. Her physical features are extremely similar to our Moon-marked Clan, but..."
Next, Nimue described the current situation as detailed as possible:
The state she was in when found, the strange and magnificent clothing, and the Aura of Death surrounding her.
The name "Castorice," and the most crucial points: "having no kin" and "arriving here upon opening her eyes, suspected amnesia."
"...The situation is complicated and unclear. Nimue did not dare to decide on her own, so I could only contact you via moonlight magic. Shalin and I are currently maintaining a distance from her."
After reporting everything, Nimue quietly waited for a reply.
The other end of the leaf fell into a short silence after Nimue finished her report, as if Elder Maria was also digesting this somewhat bizarre information.
Then, that gentle voice sounded again, its tone carrying a hint of gravity:
"I understand. I have already sensed your location. You two watch over our fellow clanswoman first; remember to stay vigilant. I will set out immediately."
"I obey your command, Elder."
Nimue replied respectfully.
As her words fell, the runes on the leaf gradually faded, letting the leaf return to being an ordinary one.
The moonlight that had pierced through the canopy also quietly retracted.
Castorice watched this scene without offering any opinion. She simply stood in place quietly, waiting for the arrival of the "Elder" they spoke of.