Chapter 163 – Vivian’s Servant
2014-12-31
Author: Floating Tower
Glug! Glug!
A series of bubbles rose from the clear bottom of the lake, and then a small figure emerged, first a wet little head, followed by a princess dress clinging to her body. Vivian seemed to come up as if she were drunk, then walked on the water with a wobbly gait. She seemed a bit dazed, and after staggering a few steps, she suddenly raised her small hand to cover her mouth in surprise.
“Um!… Ah!…”
The little girl widened her eyes in astonishment, looking at the surface beneath her feet, which rippled slightly. She walked on it as if it were solid ground. Without using any spells, she walked effortlessly on the calm lake surface. Feeling uncomfortable with her wet clothes, she snapped her delicate fingers, and soon her whole body became clean and dry. The little girl curiously walked a few steps on the water and then started running, her petite figure lightly leaping above the water, like an elf from the lake.
“How amazing!… Um!… When did I become so powerful!…”
The little girl tilted her head in thought, and a series of memories flashed in her mind, possibly because she suddenly zoned out.
Splash.
She stepped on an empty space and fell back into the lake.
“Bah bah bah!”
The wet little head surfaced again, and the girl spit out a mouthful of lake water, then climbed up out of the water like crawling on a wall, standing once more on the calm lake surface. Now she didn’t dare to run around, and after drying her soaking wet clothes, she walked cautiously toward the lake’s edge, her small figure appearing a bit timid, as if afraid of falling in again.
She still couldn’t swim.
After stepping onto solid ground, Vivian patted her little chest with her hand, seeming to breathe a sigh of relief as she said, “Now I’m safe!…”
“But where am I now?”
The little girl tiptoed to get a better look at her surroundings, but her short stature made it difficult to see far. Helpless, she could only jog up the nearby hillside, trying hard to bounce and look at the surrounding environment, which looked very amusing. Even though she was trying her best to jump, she was only able to leap a little higher than usual. However, she managed to see the scenery around her. In front was an expanse of wilderness, next to a very large lake, dense forest on the left, and a tall mountain on the right.
There was no sign of human activity, indicating she must be near the wilderness.
“Oh no.”
The little girl suddenly pouted in distress and mumbled, “That silly Lilian!… Actually said I’m an idiot; she’s the idiot!… What’s the point of running this far? Now look, I’m going to get lost…”
Perhaps she felt that this tone of speaking was a bit unusual.
The little girl quickly rubbed her cute little face and murmured, “Not good! I’ve been influenced by that guy! Even my speech sounds a bit like her now! I can’t let her out next time!”
Vivian muttered to herself like a jumbled thought, then took out many small items from her exquisite embroidered dimensional bag. First, she tied her hair back with a pink headband, turning it into a pretty ponytail. Then she took out a pair of deer skin boots to replace her slightly heeled shoes and used a strip of cloth to tie up her white socks and pure white pants, looking a bit like Soren preparing for a journey.
“Sister Gloria said that in the wilderness, one shouldn’t wear too much finery. Those things look nice but are very troublesome.”
The little girl seemed to be talking to herself, looking around cautiously, then crouched down and crawled into a patch of grass. When she came out after a while, her princess dress had vanished, replaced by simpler clothing. If it weren’t for her pretty face and silky long hair, she would look just like a tomboy.
Of course, she still looked like an eight-year-old.
“I wonder how Sister Gloria is doing? I hope she’s okay!”
By the time the little girl completed all this, quite a bit of time had passed, and she looked around in confusion, mumbling, “Which way should I go?”
The little girl had no clue.
In the end, she could only take out a Gind and casually toss it. Then she set off toward the southwest. Behind her lay a vast forest; Gloria had warned her about not casually entering the dense woods. She didn’t know how far she had teleported, but it was evident that she had left the Northern Region, and it was much warmer here. In Vivian’s heart, there was still a bit of fear, but she was also a very strong little girl. Her experiences in the slums had taught her to be sensible from a young age. She understood that in moments like this, she needed to encourage herself.
Since her brother wasn’t by her side, she could only rely on herself.
“First, find a place with people.”
Vivian’s tiny body moved forward in the grass, and her speed wasn’t slow because she had cast a spell on herself. She looked up at the sky and murmured, “There are many monsters in the wilderness; being so small, I would definitely be easy to bully, and those monsters would surely want to catch me for a snack. I can only find a city first and see if I can hitch a ride with a merchant caravan to find my brother and sister.”
“Sister Gloria said there are a lot of bad people outside!”
“Goddess of Wealth! Please bless me to meet some good people!… I will definitely work hard to earn lots and lots of money in the future!…”
The little girl didn’t quite understand faith yet.
But she believed that since the Goddess of Wealth was in charge of wealth, if she made a lot of money, it would surely be a good thing for her. Thus, she would have money, making the Goddess of Wealth happy.
In fact, the little girl had been taught by Gloria that witches must learn to earn money, as a witch without money wasn’t a powerful witch; a wealthy witch was a powerful witch. So, for the first time, the idea of believing in a deity arose in the little girl’s heart. After seriously thinking for a long time, Vivian finally chose to believe in the Goddess of Wealth, becoming a generic follower of the Goddess of Wealth, which meant she would just shout occasionally but wouldn’t seriously pray, typically only when in urgent need.
This situation is quite common.
After all, devout believers pray every day and often have the deity on their lips; most people in the world are generic believers.
Walking like this, it was almost dark.
Vivian felt she had become much stronger than before, and even though she had walked a long way, she wasn’t tired at all. However, the fact that she couldn’t see a single person around made her a bit anxious, for her courage wasn’t very great. Many people her age tend to be quite timid, fearing the dark, being alone, and empty houses – they only feel secure with adults around.
Awooooo!
In the distance, it seemed a pack of wolves howled, prompting her to quicken her pace.
Suddenly.
The little girl seemed to see something and hurried toward the nearby woods. She noticed a puff of smoke rising; it was close to the wilderness path and might belong to other adventurers. Wilderness creatures rarely light campfires, and they generally wouldn’t do so near the road. Gloria had taught her a lot of useful knowledge.
“Who!?”
A vigilant voice sounded ahead, and then a figure flew out.
Vivian, who was advancing, suddenly stopped because she saw the person in front of her. The strange sight of the other party made her feel a slight fear.
It was a man, accompanied by two men and three women.
The male had an eerie countenance, while the females were quite alluring. They looked no different from ordinary adventurers, except that they bore a hint of allure in their appearance. However, what Vivian saw was different; she saw that each person had two faces— the first was human-like, the appearance most others would see. The second face was a blurred shadow; these individuals had silver scales emerging from their faces, their pupils turned into eerie pale yellow slits, with sharp fangs at the corners of their mouths, and their bodies covered in tiny scales.
These were Serpent People.
A race that had been hidden among humans, an evil and dangerous breed.
They possessed natural shapeshifting abilities, capable of disguising themselves as humans in front of ordinary people, mostly being half-blood Serpent People, with occasional encounters with very powerful pure-blood Serpent People.
Vivian had seen descriptions of such creatures in books; they were heartless and ruthless beings.
“Eh?”
One of the half-blood Serpent People showed a look of surprise, seemingly unable to imagine why a solitary little girl would be found in the wilderness, looking as if she might not even be ten years old. Yet the adventurer’s alertness caused him not to lower his guard; he signaled behind him and slowly approached Vivian.
Without a thought, the little girl immediately turned and ran.
The wicked-looking woman, who seemed to be the leader, furrowed her brows and coldly commanded the others, “Catch her!”
Several figures darted out.
The little girl, with her short arms and legs, ran slowly, and in a blink, she was almost caught.
Just as the enemy was about to seize her, Vivian suddenly screamed, raised her pale little hand, and pointed forward. A slight spell light flickered, and five arcane missiles shot forth. The nearest male Serpent Person trembled as he lowered his head, and a huge gaping wound appeared in his chest.
Splash! Clang!
One of the half-blood Serpent People collapsed, and the others immediately drew their weapons.
Vivian seemed to be a bit frightened, almost instinctively tapping her fingers in succession, unleashing a barrage of arcane missiles, turning the four other Serpent People in front of her into a mass of injuries, one by one bleeding and collapsing.
The original commanding female Serpent Person was left dumbfounded!
When she saw Vivian’s gaze turn toward her, her face filled with fear, she suddenly fell to the ground, burying her head deep into the earth, trembling
