The Mysterious Black Magician

They arrived at where the creaking sounds originally originated.

Yman hid in a big chunk of rock, looking ahead of them, they saw the bees. All of them were facing a stone? Yman's initial thought when he saw the thing in front of the bees. But he changed his mind when he had a clear view of it.

(No!) It was a statue! A statute of a feral looking bird. It was spreading its wings that seemed ready to attack its enemy.

It was on top of what seemed like a stone that looks like a giant mug. Inside it, he noticed the mysterious water dripping in it. 

The feral bird statue looked like it was scaring anyone who wanted to come near it.

Because of the night vision he could not come up with what color it was.. But he guessed that the statue was emerald in color.

Anyway, the bees were surrounding it. Yman who was peeking from the chunk of rock was wondering what they were doing. And why his scout bee was together with them. Everything was surreal!

As he was watching he noticed the bees were staring at it warily. And he also noticed some cracks on the statue of the feral-looking bird.

The scout bee for some reason dove and landed on the edge of the giant stone mug.

But after it did it, the statue broke and the shattered pieces of its stone body scattered everywhere.

The bees and his scout bee flew away, trying to evade the scattered pieces.

Then it was followed by, "KYAWWWW!!!" A wail that reverberated inside the cave. After the wailing voice, A semi-shockwave came next.

"A guardian?" He muttered and took the piece of paper in his position that was handed to him from Prof. Ronnie. He was trying to find if there were some details in it regarding the cave and about the statue.

But when he read it, he found nothing aside from the list of herbs he was about to gather.

He decided to store it back inside his Cyber Storage and returned his eyes ahead, to the bees and the statue with a puzzled face. Curiosity rose inside him.

There he noticed the bird statue turned into a living bird! Its gaping beak could easily gulp the bees if it wanted to do so. And its squinted eyes were in reddish color. Its claws were gleaming in sharpness.

It hovered on top of the mug-like stone. Then it flapped its wings and rose upward. It stopped in mid-air and stared at the bees below it.

Yman noticed his scout went to the front like a main character in the novel or movies.

He was wondering what his scout bee was doing. Still puzzled towards it.

The other bees hoarded behind him. Now it looks like his scout bee was protecting them. He didn't know what to feel at the current situation. It seemed like he was watching a movie.

Yman did not interfere and just silently watched them.

The feral bird did not waste time and immediately rushed to using an aerial attack. Its target was his scout bee. The other bees flew away while the scout bee glided to its right and evaded the attack, but an invisible force hit the scout bee and was thrown away.

Its body flipped and spun away, but it managed to spread its wings before it crashed on the ground. It didn't waste time and sent a sting attack to the feral-looking bird.

The bird's eyes gleamed. Then it opened its beak and sent another wail.

"KYAAWWWWWW!!!"

The pressure caused by it was able to divert the sting trajectory. Because of it, the sting attack was not able to hit the target.

But the scout bee didn't lose its hope and it spun in rotation around the feral-looking bird.

The speed of it was very agile. After all, it was an enhanced fire doll.

However, the feral bird wasn't an ordinary enemy as well. It seemed like an intelligent being. Must be a guardian of the place.

It flew away.

Maybe it perceived an unusual plan coming from the scout bee. As expected the scout bee was trying to rotate while trying to use the tactic of hitting the enemy while maintaining distance from it.

It was useful against slower and melee type enemies. Yman was gawking while watching their aerial fight.

As expected, the feral bird wasn't the type of enemy to be a good target of this tactic. It suddenly quickened its movement and even used its wings to generate a mini gust of wind towards the scout bee.

The scout bee dashes in and out to evade the gusts. The scout bee was losing the momentum of the fight before even their battle had started. The guardian feral bird was noticeably stronger compared to it.

Yman was so amused watching them.

<Partner, are we not going to help?>

He heard Sistela's voice.

"No, we don't even know what the fight is for…" he wanted to know the reason first. He had so many questions about what was happening.

The fight against his scout bee and the guardian feral bird continued. Although the scout bee was clearly at a disadvantage, it managed to escape in a little margin all the attacks that might end its existence. 

Once it successfully evaded, it immediately followed with a sting attack.

<Master, don't let it die! Let's help that guy. If you don't want to do it, let me pilot your body!>

Sistela started to make a fuse. She must be worried about the scout bee. Seeing it struggling against its enemy, a feeling of familiarity might have risen from within her towards it. Perhaps, she couldn't stomach watching her comrade being beaten in front of her. Or maybe because it looks like a valiant hero who tried to shoulder the responsibility of protecting its alleys. Yman thought with Sistela's reaction.

But her real reason was that they could get some information from it. And she was afraid that if the scout bee was defeated, it would disappear and it would be a waste of information.

Really, he could not deny the fact that his scout bee looked like a gallant knight main character at the very moment. But Yman was still waiting for the right timing. He wanted to see the extent of this scout bee's intelligence.

Woosh!

The guardian feral bird hovered higher in which the scout bee followed after it. Seeing the weird looking bee at its tail, the guardian bird made a sudden turnover. Then it used its large wings to fan the scout bee using the wind pressure.

The scout was hit by it and was sent away towards the mug-like stone.

"Splash!"

The scout bee was sent flying directly into the dripping water inside the mug-like rock.

An exclamation point appeared on top of Yman's head when it happened.

He wondered what would happen to the scout bee after that.

The other bees sent a sting attack as well towards the guardian bird. It then flew while dodging their attacks.

Then used its wings to generate another stronger pressure wind. Some of them were sent flying. And even some of them crashed onto the ground and walls.

Then it chased the others. Yman speculated that the guardian bird was protecting the water. But why didn't it have any reaction after the scout bee was sent into it?

The water in the mug suddenly glowed, which stopped the guardian from its onslaught against the other bees.

Then all of them glanced at the magnificent looks of the water. 

A moment later, a pair of golden wings were surfacing from the water.

Then it slowly went up. Yman gawked at what happened. "It evolved!!?" He thought. But he shook the thought a second later, because he noticed that it became colored gold not because it evolved but because the water inside the mug-like stone wasn't made of ordinary water!

A holographic display as big as a monocle glass appeared at his right eyes when he attempted to use the appraisal ability of Sistela.

<Heavenly Water>

•Rich in Magical Energy.

•Rich in Life Essence.

•Can Heal Minor damages to all the living things.

•etcetera…

A list of information appeared in his vision after the appraisal ability able to gather information regarding it.

"H—Heavenly water?"

Yman said slowly. His voice had a tinge of hard to believe tone. After all, this water wasn't easy to find. And it was very expensive to buy.

He needed it for his Sister! Who would have thought that he could find it here. Yman almost couldn't believe it. But the information of the appraisal won't lie. So it was the real Heavenly Water!

<Heavenly Water? One of the ingredients to make the medicine?>

"Yes, My Deity, it was the major medicine that we needed in order to synthesize the medicine for her!"

<Really? Then what are you waiting for, partner! Let's get it very quick.> Sistela beamed in excitement upon hearing him.

After hearing him, Sistela immediately asked him to get it.

Yman narrowed his eyes. He knew that if he could acquire it, it would be easy for him to complete the medicine for his sister.