129 Endora

{AN: I have already finished writing this Volume with 16 more chapters to the end in my patre.on. Oh and sorry for not writing anything last week for the information, the examen went quite well, but now I'll need to wait 2 weeks before knowing the results. I'm quite busy this days so I will lower the chapters to 3 this week, sorry for it. If I am able to reach 450 powerstones, I'll post a new one on sunday}

Allen closed her eyes immediately, heightening her senses to their maximum, focusing specifically on her hearing. She could hear the howling wind and the sound of the flowing river in great detail, too great in truth, feeling as if it was easier and wider now.

Suddenly, her sharp senses caught something. "There!" she exclaimed as she kicked the ground, her long hair fluttering with the air as she propelled herself with a jet of water as she soared over the river, revealing a hydro mimic in the form of a duck hiding amongst some plants.

Without wasting any time, Allen plunged her sword into the water beneath the duck, causing a powerful wave to push the creature out of the river and onto the ground.

Dealing with mimics was always a tricky affair. Despite their limited attack power, they were highly resistant to physical damage and could only be easily defeated with elemental damage. Furthermore, they were capable of regaining their health by absorbing water, making them even more challenging to defeat. Ironically, Allen's Delusion made it harder for her to deal with mimics, as despite typically being a great boost in other combat situations, using Cryo was far better than an overall improvement in physical abilities.

"Now I'll need to take my time to finish him" Allen prepared to attack the hydro mimic, knowing that they were highly resistant to physical attacks. She readied her sword to take her time and strike the creature with precision. However, before she could start, a bubble appeared out of nowhere, swallowing the duck and disappearing back into its origin, Endora. The Oceanid had consumed the mimic in a flash, leaving no trace behind.

"Now Endora did it well, right?" Endora asked giggling her body happily.

"Yes, you did great," Allen replied, trying to keep a straight face as she looked at the cheerful Oceanid.

"Yay!" Endora clapped her wings together. "Did Endora help you, Allen?"

"Yes, you did help," Allen nodded. "But, Endora, can Oceanids like you see or somehow know about what their summoned mimics see?"

"Uhmm, I don't know," Endora tilted her head. "But I got all the information from the duckie! Nobody else has it!"

Allen was a little taken aback. 'It seems that by absorbing them you can gain the information, so the other Oceanid shouldn't be aware.'

Moreover, it seemed that Endora's intelligence was limited to what she had direct access to, being like a little child. Nevertheless, Allen decided to ask another question.

"Endora, can I trust you to keep this a secret?" Allen said, turning to the Oceanid. "Nobody else can know about me changing form."

"Sure, Allen!" Endora chirped. "Endora won't tell anyone, Endora promises!"

'Luckily, it seems that nobody has witnessed her transformation.' Allen thought. If there has been other witnesses, she might have been forced to deal with them. She preferred to avoid killing if possible, but if it was necessary...

'No witness except Endora.' Allen thought 'She seems quite innocent, so better treat her as a little kid. I doubt that she will tell something with malice, but she could still be tricked.' Allen smiled at Endora. "Thanks, Endora! You did great"

Receiving the praise, Endora was overjoyed and giggled uncontrollably.

In the end, Allen decided to spare Endora for now as she wanted to learn more about the situation, especially about the reason behind her forced transformation as she couldn't really let it happen again.

"Endora, could you explain me what happened to you? Why were you so weakened?" Allen asked with concern.

"Of course, Allen!" Endora nodded eagerly and explained, "Endora was born in Fontaine about a month ago. I felt something pulling me, something that I needed to follow, but I was unable to leave, trapped in that pool. Then some days ago, thanks to some contaminated water, slimes appeared and I was able to escape and ride them to get here."

"What were that Pool and contaminated water? What do you mean?"

"The Pool is where we are born. And about the contamination..." Endora shook her head "Endora doesn't know, but it made me feel strange, but it was the only way to leave" Endora explained "In my way, Endora was found and attacked by Rhodeia. She made the water bitter! The bitter water is bad for Endora, weakening Endora!"

"And Rhodeia is?"

"Rhodeia is one of the strongest Lochfolk! Endra really respected her, but she attacked Endora" She said sadly.

'So the Oceanid's name was Rhodeia, I really could not remember that'

"Luckily Endora found you!" She cheered "You were where Endora needed to go!"

'Could she have been attracted by my Delusion?' Allen took out her Delusion and showed it to Endora "Could it be this what attracted you?"

Endora looked at it intensely "It is?" She answered as in a question "But, it's also all of you!" Endora rubbed herself over Allen's cheek, expressing her affection "Endora really likes you!"

'Let's try one thing' "Come, follow me for a moment" Allen brought Endora to a near cave, making it impossible for anyone to see them, before focusing on her Delusion withdrawing her transformation and returning to his male self.

"How do you find me now?" Allen asked.

"You don't have any water!" Endora said scared and worriedly "Are you okay, Allen? Please don't die!" She started crying, the water surging from her eyes.

"Calm down Endora, nothing has happened. I'm completely fine" Allen tried to stop her.

"Are you?" Endora looked with doubt and tears "Aren't you trying to lie to me? Aren't you dying without water? No water means death!"

"I'm not lying" Allen activated again her Delusion, this time tying her hair with it "See?"

"Allen is fine!" Endora cheered, recovering from the shock and rubbing against Allen again.

"I have two forms and I am fine in both" Allen explained "Could you sense that feeling in my other form?"

"No!" Endora shook her head vigorously. "But now I can!"

'I see. When she must have born when I fought against Aether, detecting me at that time' Allen deducted 'The contamination of water could be one side-effect of the Abyss Pillars.'

"And how were you able to recover?" Allen asked with curiosity.

"You are a water source! The best water source ever!" She said cheerily as if the best compliment ever.

"Could you drink this?" Allen twirled her index finger, concentrating the water around and forming a bubble.

"Why?" Endora tilted her head in confusion. "Endora is already taking the water around you. There's no need for more."

'Yes, I did not use any Hydro ability at that time, so it should be something about my aura. Quite interesting.' Allen thought 'It's clear that it's related to the Delusion, so better learn the most of it.'

"Let's go see Rhodeia" Allen proposed "Let's try to make her return to normal the water. You can't always be around me."

"Why? Endora likes being next to you!" She exclaimed.

"I can't always stay like this, Endora" Allen tried to convince her "And we need to return the water to normal or it will become a big problem for the animals and humans. Do you know the reason why Rhodeia attacked you?"

"No" Endora shook her head.

'Endora has just been born, so her information is quite limited.' Allen nodded in understanding 'If I remembered right, Rhodeia thought of Endora as an enemy from Fontaine that's why she attacked. But I am curious of what more she knows and see how will Rhodeia react to me.'

"I'm sure that it will be a misunderstanding, let's try to convince Rhodeia to return the water to normal" Allen decided.

"If you say so..." Endora nodded.

Endora floated around Allen as they made their way up the river, taking care of every mimic in their way by swallowing them. Finally, they reached Bishui Plain, and Allen dashed over the water, reaching the platform that she remembered from the game.

She could still remember how much she hated this boss, being considered for her by far the worst.

For starters, even if you have a good combination of characters, level and strength, it was the slowest one, needing to wait quite a time between each summon.

Then, at that time when he wanted to upgrade Barbara, he did not have many characters. No Cryo usable as he never leveled Kaeya, a hydro healer that needed to useless attack with her normal hydro attack to heal the team to not die.

And finally, for some reason the Geo constructions did not work and he usually used Albedo at that time. So it was thanks to Fischl that he was able to pass through it with difficulty.

*BOOM* A jet of water surged from the lake around the platform, the Lochfolk surging from it in all her splendor, similar to Endora but far bigger and with different decorations.

'An assassin from our homeland? Or a fool who trespasses upon the waters of Qingce?' Allen waited for her phrase, clearly remembering her opening phrase that so many times she had heard.

Rhodeia turned over Allen, her gaze fixed on her showing shock "What is the meaning of this, Focalors?!"