Single Mother of a Werewolf Baby novel Chapter 308

Chapter 308: Hedious!

While Eleanor gazed up at the majestic tree, awe mingling with a flicker of fear, a voice blossomed within her mind. "Do not fear, child. Touch a vine that resonates with you. I will send you to your trial."

"Th... thank you, Lord Yggdrasil," Eleanor stammered, hastily choosing a vine near her right hand... one that trailed down from the towering branches above, glowing with a gentle white light.

The instant her fingers brushed it, the vine stirred. Countless thread-fine tendrils unfurled, shimmering as they drifted outwards and wrapped around her with the tenderness of a mother’s embrace. Her body was cocooned, enveloped in an ethereal radiance of soft white.

She felt Yggdrasil’s presence seep through her consciousness, her memories laid bare as though her life were a book held open before the ancient tree. It no longer seemed as if she stood at its roots; instead, she was reliving her own past while Yggdrasil watched over her, silent and immense.

Just as she began to grow restless... feeling she had lingered too long within those memories, the voice returned. "Your trial will begin now. You have the ability to play a significant role in our struggle for balance. Do not squander your potential. Survive for the next thirty days. Yours will be more difficult than the others’ because of the little friend in your head. I hope we meet again, Eleanor Elizabeth Brontes Lychos."

The words struck her like a thunderclap. Questions surged through her mind, but before she could voice even one, weightlessness seized her. A heartbeat later, gravity yanked her down. She crashed through a tree, snapping branches as she went, before striking the ground head-first.

"It hurts," Eleanor muttered irritably. Her strengthened body hadn’t broken from the fall, yet pain flickered through several joints, and her head buzzed dully. She pushed herself upright and sat on the cool earth, momentarily blank, the reason for her presence slipping from her mind.

A few seconds passed before clarity returned. She was here for her trial. "So, I’ve arrived in Vanaheim. I need to be alert. The noise from my fall might draw chevage beasts. I must leave this place quickly," she thought.

Eleanor’s studies of Vanaheim resurfaced at once. The realm was steeped in demonic corruption... its air and soil tainted, its natural order twisted, its creatures reshaped into aberrations. For any Midgardian, the land itself was a threat.

As these facts rushed through her mind and she pushed herself to her feet, she realised she stood within a dense forest. Towering trees encircled her, their sheer size blotting out all but fragments of the sky. The only comfort she found was the golden sunlight touching the canopy far above.

"I need to get out of the forest before nightfall. Forest means more beasts. I need to avoid them and find somewhere safe before sunset." With that thought, Eleanor surveyed her surroundings with care. The trees were vibrant and unnervingly alive, their leaves a shade darker than ordinary green... almost black. Clusters of shrubs clung to the bases of the massive trunks.

Seeing no clear sign of a safe direction, she chose one at random and began to walk, stepping as lightly as she could to avoid drawing unwanted attention. Remembering Professor Jiro’s lessons, she stepped mostly to firm soil or fallen leaves, leaving as little trace as possible.

After more than half an hour of cautious movement and steering clear of any suspiciously large bushes, she realised she was no better off than before. The same colossal trees hemmed her in, cutting off all sense of direction. With a quiet sigh of frustration, she chose the largest tree nearby and began to climb.

It took her nearly ten minutes to reach the top branch. When she finally emerged above the leaves, her jaw dropped. To one side lay the endless sweep of the blackwater sea, not far from where she stood. Opposite it rose a vast mountain range. The remaining two horizons were nothing but forest... an ocean of trees stretching as far as her eyes could reach.

Eleanor felt a powerful urge to curse her luck aloud, but she swallowed it quickly in fear of attracting unwanted attention. Brooding wouldn’t help her now. With no temple or city in sight, she simply had to choose a direction and commit to it.

There was no sense heading towards the sea. On either side, the forest stretched unpredictably, and she had no way of knowing how far it reached. The only reasonable option was the mountains. It was still morning; the sun had yet to climb overhead. If she could reach some elevated ledge along the range, she might find a safe place to pass the night. And from a higher vantage point, she might spot a nearby temple... if fortune finally decided to favour her.

With that plan fixed in mind, she climbed down from the tree and set off towards the mountains at a brisker pace. She had no idea how long she walked or how far the mountains truly were. The only thought repeating in her mind was that she needed to escape the forest before nightfall.

Suddenly, Nora’s voice chimed in her head. "Master, you are deviating from your direction."

"This must be the legendary eyeless mole Professor Jiro mentioned," Nora said. "They live underground and move through soil as easily as fish through water. They sense the world through vibrations alone. Their teeth are sharp enough to cut steel."

"I know," Eleanor murmured, already considering her options. "Lightning hardly works on earth-type monsters while they’re underground. And I forgot to make even a basic weapon... Professor would be furious if he heard that. I can’t let those teeth touch me, so a direct fight is impossible. My only chance is to draw it out of the ground and hit it with a lightning projectile."

"True. But a large lightning sphere will be loud. It will attract other beasts. Smaller projectiles won’t kill it instantly; you’ll need more force. I suggest Internal Feasting Phantom, using lightning needles as your weapon."

"Fine," Eleanor whispered, agreeing. She tapped her toes lightly on the earth.

As expected, the mole shifted immediately. It moved towards her... slowly at first, then with a sudden, terrifying burst of speed that would outmatch most surface creatures. When it reached her feet, it erupted from the soil, revealing rows of razor teeth and a gaping mouth far larger than its body should have allowed.

Eleanor was ready. She leapt aside, narrowly slipping past the creature’s explosive lunge. At the same moment, she released her Phantom, sending a cluster of lightning needles straight into the mole’s head. The attack struck from the side, not dead-on, but it achieved exactly what she needed. The beast was hurled further away, crashing to the ground. Lightning tore through its brain, and it writhed across the earth in frantic, spasming agony.

The creature was nearly three feet long, half of that taken up by its grotesquely oversized head. Its skin was an uncanny, bleached white. There were no eyes, no ears, no nose... only a cavernous mouth lined with rows of sharp, porcelain-coloured teeth. A small tail, matching its corpse-pale skin, protruded from its back. Not a single hair marked its body.

Only one word formed in Eleanor’s mind: HEDIOUS!