Chapter 8: Cupid's arrows

The Mage knew that there was little chance that he could fight off two punks and an archer skeleton all by himself.

"Go back!"

"I wont leave you here!"

"'I'll hold them off with fire wall...but it won't stop the archer skel's arrows...Get out of here now!"

Malene shook her head and aimed an arrow at the skeleton.

"Not a chance."

She released the arrow at the skeleton, hitting its arm. The arrowhead shattered the bone, rendering it unable to attack. She shot another arrow, this time penetrating the neck bone, separating the head from the shoulders. The empty sockets seemed to bore into her very soul as the body fell from under it. The skull clattered on top of the pile of bones a second later.

She listened carefully. Punks were quiet, but they did emit a slight moldy odor which became easy for her to target. She searched for a silver arrow from her quiver. She quickly released it and reached for another arrow, but something stopped her.

"What element are those things?"

"I...think they're...wind! They're wind."

"Are you sure?"

"I spent a year alone researching about the monsters here. I'll be damned if I can't remember their elemental properties."

She slipped the silver arrow back into her quiver and fingered a random arrow, and, after confirming in her mind that it was a stone arrow, she fired it at the first creature. It screamed in pain as it fell to the floor. Meanwhile, the other one was half dead from trying to get through the fire wall that the mage had cast.

"Napalm beat!"

It didn't have the desired effect of killing of the monster, but the firewall was able to hold it back long enough for the mage to attack again.

"Uhh...Napalm beat!"

The punk, who was almost barbequed by the fire wall, fell prey to the powerful ghost attack.

"Why didn't you use fire bolt?"

The mage sat down on the steps, out of breath.

"I didn't have enough energy left...hehehe"

The Huntress took a seat beside the mage, who was breathing quite hard. This surprised her, since she thought that he would be able to handle something like that. But he answered her question before she had a chance to ask.

"I'm allergic to moth dust...fighting even a dustiness will drain me quickly."

The two sat in silence for a couple of minutes before Malene had even thought to say anything.

"Um...since we're it seems that we're gonna be hanging out together, could I please know your name?"

She held out her hand to engage the boy in a friendly handshake.

"My name is Malene Surculus, top hunter of this year's batch."

"Helios Celestite, super mage who is pushing himself to learn more spells than his peers. Pleased to meet you."

"Why did you decide to train here if you're allergic to moth dust?"

"Probably the same reason that you're here."

"I doubt it. I was supposed to go to Glast Heim with the rest of the new graduates...but that priest...he warped me here. It's unlikely that your alibi is the same."

"You'd be surprised."

The two smiled at each other. They knew that this was the start of what would become a beautiful friendship.