Our travel for the third camp didn't last long both us were once again crawling under the bushes. It was starting to get old but luckily for us this camp, while being bigger and more organised, had less members. Maybe they have started to migrate over somewhere else or maybe our job wasn't as fruitless as I thought. Still I expected more than mere 8 members. How did they even manage to build his mant fences and a honest to Barbatos wooden shack all by themselfs. I didn't wast any more time on these thoughts though and and pointed the fences to Bennett who got what I meant pretty fast and crawled towards it, touched his palm on it with a small flash of crimson light fire was ignited. He quickly crawled back towards me. As Hilichurls panicked and tried to stop the fire. It proved enough distraction for us to jump over our hiding spot and fence itself to them and eliminate two of them. Three of them was on my right and the other three was on Bennett's side. We didn't wasted time talking strategy this time and went offensive against our enemies and while my back was turned to Bennett 's battle I could feel the heat coming from that side as he used his vision.

I focused on archer and two club wielding ones in front of me. Archer was the most dangerous yet closest one to me. I lunged towards it with a over head slash, unfortunately missing it as it slipped from my attack, not metaphorically it did actually slip on the grass and only lost its bow instead of its life. Not that it lasted for long as I swung my sword back up as soon as the momentum of previous attack faded and this time striked it under it's chin and splitting open its skull. This action however left me blind to other ones as one of them striked my left side with it's club. Metal clanked and wood creaked but both didn't shatter. My armour tanked the hit. I turned on my feet and striked my new enemy, managing to catch it on torso and giving it a deep gash and damaged lungs. It collapsed backward with a scream as I also fallen down after my feet also managing to slip on the grass. I however, unlike the bow wielding hilichurl, wasn't a mindless brute and went for a roll and dodge the strike aimed to me from the remaining monster. I got back up on my full height when my roll ended and went for a straight thrust with my sword. Hilichurl raised its club in a defensive manner , attempting to block my sword as it sailed towards it face. Sword stabbed through the wood and it's tip went out from the other side of it but failed to go any further, successfully turning the battle into one fully relied on our arm and back strenght. Unfortunately for the hilichurl however I , Knight Flynn , never skipped a day of training with my fellow Knights of Favonius and ripped the club free of it's hand as I pulled my sword aside with it. Hilichurl still stunned by my great show of strenght didn't see my left fist coming towards it's head. I grabbed the club with my left before hilichurl recovered from the punch and ripped my sword free. It didn't had any chance to defend itself as sword striked it's neck and decapitated it. A quick glance to Bennett showed me he also handled his enemies and once again reminding me burned hilichurls didn't smell nice.

"Well it seems our work is done. We can turn back to Mondstadt and report this as a job well done." I said as I leaned the wall of the shack, wooden wall groaned under the weight of steel armour and a man in his 20s but still held. I however couldn't help but grimace as it kinda ruined the cool posture I was trying to have.

"So it seems. No complications neither. We can take some food for the road and be in ... our ... way..." Bennett trailed off as his eyes widened in shock and his hand went to the hilt of his crimson handled dark sword. I didn't have any time to process his actions as something solid broke through wall and impacted my left. Last thing I managed to see before I impacted the ground or perhaps a tree, i was hard to guess what I impacted going by the pain alone, was Bennett's flames lighting up the face of a giant black figure. Bennett was unlucky after all.

Pain. All I could feel was pain. My stomach, my ribs, my right arm, my head. All hurt to various degrees but I couldn't feel pain in my left arm. Well I couldn't feel my left arm from shoulder down at all. I wondered why I couldn't see my surroundings then I realised my eyes were closed. Silly me. I forgot to wake up. I opened my eyes. I think. Everything was rather blury and kind of darker. For some reason they also lacked , how to say this, depth. Yeah it seemed like depth was wrong. It was harder for me to judge the distance between objects for some reason. I shook my head to clear my thoughts and almost passed out again . Not doing that one again. I tried to raise my body up but bile rose from my stomach as soon as I tried. I barely managed to sit on my knees before violently vomiting. It was red.

I tried to get back up again. The urge to vomit was still there but there wasn't much thing to left to vomit. I managed to grasp a low hanging branch of a tree near me and used it to pull myself up. My headache got much worse. It felt like someone was squeezing it from both sides, trying to pop it like a balloon. I saw my sword a few meters away. By complete chance it didn't fly away and just plunged directly into the dirt staying there like a monument. It reminded me a story about a king chosen by a sword. I walked towards it with trembling legs and grasped the handle. It took more effort than I would like but I did pull it out. My trembling lessened as my pain started to become a background annoyance. Holding my sword reminded me what was my job, they days and night I poured over learning how to fight. Yes. I did spend more time using sword than I spent for ... for...

A man stood in front of me with a sword in his right hand. I could only see his back as I was behind him. He had a mighty figure. His head was turned to side, barely enough to glance me over his broad shoulders, I could see the smile on his face and the remains of monsters laying for as far as I could see. He opened his mouth to say something:

I couldn't remember. It felt important but useless in this situation. I had a job to do. Yes. I was here to slay a hilichurl. Yeah. My vision got a bit less blurry as I managed to focus on the fight going on. Bennett was there. Clearly tired and lightly wounded. But still going strong. His opponent however was barely even winded. A hulking mass of dark muscle, a mane so big and bright a hilichurl mask over its face along with horns of a bull a Minachurl. Not an unarmed one too. It wielded a giant shield made out of wood, and swung it with enough force to make my hair flutter. Bennett barely ducking to dodge it and somehow managing to slip and fall. Now he was in the complete mercy of the Minachurl as it raised its shield over. Clearly intending to crush Bennett with it. A loud "Hey." it as I ran towards it with a new found strenght in my body. Bennett capitalised this chance to jump back on his feet and quickly put distance between him and the beast.

I don't know why but at that moment a smile crept upon my face. Minachurl cocked it's shield carrying arm back and thrusted it towards me. Despite my wounded body's screams of agony I jumped to air just before it struck me and landed on the rectangular great shield. Creature was suprised enough to let me throw my body forward, towards it's face, with a mighty push. I barely managed to not lost grip on my silver sword as this actions pushed my body to it's upmost limits. I slashed upwards, cracking the mask of the overgrown hilichurl and taking it's left eye out. It screamed in agony and started moving wildly. I managed to jump back before a giant fist passed through where I was a few seconds ago and while I would like to claim I landed gracefully , I just fallen down on ground and rolled for a few meters before managing to get back up. Minachurl stopped it's wild movements and glared with me with it's good eye as blood poured from the other one. The smile on my face and the excitement I felt only increased more when I saw him lunge towards me with a great leap that sent dirt and gusts of wind just by his sheer strenght.

My body screamed more as I leaned my right to dodge the shield Minachurl thrusted then screamed some more when I jumped over it as the thrust turned into a swipe. Minachurl swung and thrusted it shield without any technique, yet the sheer strenght it had behind every attack was enough to create winds that could pass as a weak anemo attack. My body broke down at every dodge, at every movement and at every swing of my sword. I couldn't even take a step before yet another cracking sounds came from my body but every successful strike from me and every strike I managed to dodge from it only made me feel happier. I was doing it. This was what I wanted to do when I become what I am now. Glee shining like sun from eyes I jumped forwards, dodging a strike from the Minachurl and plunging my sword deep into its guts. Unfortunately for me however its non shield arm struck where I was standing with a strong fist. I had to jump back up, leaving my sword stuck where it was. It glared me with eyes,well eye, promised murder. Bennett showed up when all the hope was lost with his sword burning with power of his vision, both figuratively and literally. He did a wide slash as Minachurl raised its shield to block it. Sword slashing through the wood albeit not a deep one. He followed up with another horizontal slash in reverse direction. This time curving the shield up much more. Without a break he jumped up and brought the burning sword over his head ended the attack with a vertical slash of fire which somehow managed to blow up and send Bennett backwards as his knees scrapped on the ground as he tried to stop.

Our collected attacks seemed to take its tool on the beast as smoke dissipated. It stood on its legs still however it breathed heavily. It's once great mane covered in dust and grime, body covered with bruises and burns, shield in his arm breaking down as it burned and lastly it's left eye and abdomen bleeding heavily. It responded our stares with a great scream.

"GRRRAAAAAAAH"

I could feel it damaging the unruptured organs if I had any left. Bennett finally realised the smile on my face since I still had it. He was a little behind me due to his rough landing. He asked me.

" How are you still smiling, everything that could go wrong went wrong. We might as well die here."

I responded him as I turned my head to side to look at him with a smile.

"Because this really feels like the stories I heard as a kid." He looked at me with a puzzled expression. So I elaborated.

"I feel like a knight right now."

"I am a knight right now." A memory flashed in my head.

I didn't wait for his response as I rushed forwards once more. Running and suddenly going for a slide to dodge the punches if Minachurl. My leg managing to contanct it is leg. I used it as a springwood to throw myself up and grabbed my sword from its guts as I rose up. I swung my sword with all the strenght I had and all the momentum I managed to gather towards his head. Blood flew everywhere but not from its head. It barely managed to raise and use the remains of the shield. Only letting me cut through its arm. Despite the amount of blood it was not a deep wound. Not deep enough to render the arm useless at least. It swung the now shieldess shield arm and threw me away, making me skip on the ground as if I was a rock someone skipping on a lake. Barely holding on to my willpower to not pass out I saw Bennett slide in front of me and sheath his sword and the Minachurl drop all four, looking like an overgrown bull. Bennett's knees bended as he cocked his right arm back.

"Yeah forgive my previous assumption, this really feels like we are knights from a story." Bennett said with a smile, his right fist glowing violently along with the vision on his belt. Crimson light almost drowning out the sunlight itself. Minachurl sprung into action, intending to use its superior weight and crush us. Just before it struck Bennett he moved faster than I could follow, punch loudly colliding with beast's forehead. I hoped the cracking sound came from the mask it wore instead of Bennett's forearm and hand. They seemed to be equal in strenght as Bennett managed to stop it on its track. Before crimson light shined brightly and a explosion of fire consumed both of their forms. Before I managed to understand what was happening Bennett's form appeared from the flames, flying over my head to a tree behind me. I dreaded as I saw the hulking frame of the Minachurl walk outside the flames, Bennett also probably doing the same from the tree branches he got stuck. It took a step forward and collapsed to ground face down, not even breathing anymore.

"Holy shit it worked!" words came out of the Bennett's mouth, making me look at him with a unreadable expression. He smiled sheepishly before the branches he was barely hanging on broke down and crashed to ground face flat. He quickly rose back up but blood was pouring out of his possibly broken nose.

"Damn Bennett, you are actually unlucky huh, hahha coughcough " I attempted to joke only to cough a mouthfull of blood along with one of my tooth and a tree branch.

"Snnrght hahahahahaha"

"Hahahahahhah" Bennett and I started and kept even as we both collapsed to ground due to fatigue until an adventurer found our broken bodies and carried us to Mondstadt for treatment.

Laughing with broken ribs really hurts though.

AN: Rather rushed chapter but it was fun to write.