Compensation
"It's fine… I'm used to it," Arana said.
When Lynne heard that line, she felt even greater guilt for accidentally destroying the person's home
Just by looking at the person's expression, it was clear that the beautiful woman was NOT fine. Or rather, she was used to being devastated by the destruction of her home.
But just how many times had her home been destroyed for her to utter such words?
Before Lynne could speak a few words of comfort, she suddenly made a startling discovery upon a closer look at the beautiful woman. The person had black eyes and red pupils, something a normal human should not have.
But to begin with, there shouldn't be any normal human living this deep within Extreme Misty Forest.
'Be careful, child! This person is dangerous. She's a Paragon!' the Divine Ice Phoenix Empress warned.
Initially, the Divine Ice Phoenix Empress intended to let Lynne deal with everything on her own and only intervene when necessary. However, the person before them was far too dangerous.
She might not even get the chance to intervene if Lynne was careless.
Nevertheless, after Lynne heard her master's warning, her eyes widened with shock, and her guilt was quickly replaced with nervous tension.
She just destroyed the home of a Paragon. So the person should be angry, right?
"No need to be afraid. I won't kill you. It's been a while since I came across another person I can talk to in this forest," Arana coolly said.
Shortly after, Arana crouched by the twig building ruins and started collecting the twigs for reconstruction.
At the same time, Lynne watched the person silently.
Although the person said she wouldn't kill her, the person didn't say she could leave either. Even so, the person didn't seem unreasonable.
Nevertheless, Lynne's guilt resurfaced after watching the person for a while.
"If you don't mind the cold, I can construct a new building of ice as compensation for destroying your home," Lynne offered.
Arana immediately paused her work and glanced at Lynne with scrutiny. She understood that Lynne was genuinely apologetic and wanted to compensate her.
"It's even better if it is cold," Arana said after a brief silence.
"Great!" Lynne's eyes lit up. The sooner she compensated the person, the sooner she could get rid of her guilt and move on. "Do you
'Don't get too close to that Paragon. She might have awakened a Devil Soul,' the Divine Ice Phoenix Empress warned.
'I understand, Master,' Lynne nodded.
Nevertheless, Arana didn't have complex instructions for the building design after Lynne raised the question.
Arana simply said, "A big palace, grand and pretty."
"A big palace, grand and pretty, huh?" Lynne muttered. She didn't know any palaces beside the one she had seen in the capital.
However, the Divine Ice Phoenix Empress shortly shared her memories with Lynne, allowing her to see several grand palaces.
Shortly after Lynne picked the prettiest palace, she accessed the surroundings.
"I have a design in mind, but the palace will be quite big and requires space. However, there are some trees in the way. So I will need to—"
Before Lynne could finish speaking, Arana waved her hand. In that instance, sharp thread-like webs shot out of her hand and lacerated the surrounding trees into pieces.
The area was cleared of all obstacles shortly after.
"Is this enough space?" Arana coolly asked.
Lynne nodded with a gulp.
As expected of a Paragon, her strength was unfathomable.
Nevertheless, Lynne proceeded with her promised and constructed a grand and pretty palace using the ice power of her True Permafrost Divine Art.
Thanks to the rich water vapor in the forest, Lynne received a constant supply of energy and did not exhaust herself.
Even so, it still took three days to construct the ice palace.
"It's done. With my ice ability, this ice palace will not melt under normal circumstances. I hope you like it," Lynne informed. Then, she sought the person's opinion, "What do you think?"
Arana glanced at the magnificent ice palace. Not much emotion could be seen from her expression, but she was clearly impressed.
Although she had seen the progress over the past three days, the feeling was different when she finally looked at the final product.
"Your name," Arana uttered.
"Hm?" Lynne tilted her head with confusion.
"What is your name?" Arana questioned.
"Ah, Lynne. My name is Lynne," she answered.
"Lynne, is it? I will remember you. And you can call me Arana," Arana said coolly. Shortly after, Arana entered the ice palace to explore it.
It wasn't just the outside that had details. Even the interior had its details. For example, the rooms all had functioning ice doors.
Arana felt like she was walking through a work of art.
Although the ice palace was sturdy to the point that it could resist her level of strength, the ice palace was certainly sturdier than all the buildings she had come across.
Arana exited the palace several minutes later and glanced at Lynne with approval.
"I am pleased with this ice palace. Take this as a sign of my appreciation for what you have done," Arana tossed a white dress over. Lynne quickly accepted it.
Even so, Lynne could help but glance at the white dress in her hand and ask curiously, "What is this?"
"A dress, made from my spider silk. It won't protect you from shock damage, but it is at least resistant to tier-4 sharp weapons. May it be of some use to you if you intend to venture deeper into the forest,' Arana coolly stated.
Lynne gasped with surprise.
She quickly understood from Arana's words that Arana was not human. Instead, Arana was of arachnid origins.
"Thank you…" Lynne said shortly after. However, she quickly furrowed her brows and added, "But you didn't have to do this… I was compensating you. If you give this to me, it won't make us even."
Arana stared at Lynne silently for some time. Then, she broke the silence by saying, "You can visit my ice palace any time. You will be welcomed."
"Ah? Oh, thank you…"
Lynne couldn't guess Arana's train of thought, but she felt like they had become friends or something.