Anya POV:
After we explained everything to the Talta Village residents, they were obviously taken aback by what we had to say. We told them of my origins and what Nene had done to all of us, the magical powers we possessed, the many giant monsters we had slain without breaking a sweat, and even about the Mural Town that we encountered in the Mural Valley.
"My word... you have had quite the long two days, guys. I think you need to rest a bit after doing all of that running around and battling," Jiro's mom smiled warmly.
"I couldn't agree more, mother. But once daylight breaks, we should proceed off to Jibral Castle Town. Our group will handle any monsters that try to attack us, don't worry," Jiro smiled at her as he then dusted off his knees and went into the tent they all shared.
"I think it's time we head to bed too... but someone needs to stay on guard," Kluke said.
"I'll do it," I said, taking the initiative for everyone.
"Don't you need to sleep?" Maro asked me in confusion and concern.
"No, that is yet another perk that being partly machine gives me. I only need about one night's worth of rest each week. I can operate for quite a long time without needing to recharge in sleep mode. And with my advanced hearing, I will be able to defend your village from any monsters without waking anyone up," I smiled in honesty.
"Is she being truthful? Because, if so, then that sounds quite scary to have someone like that with us," said the voice of Landon, who was sitting next to his wife who held her squabbling baby girl in her arms.
"I am not meant to scare others. I was born with the desire to defend others. I am a guardian. That is my way of life, much like yours is to defend your family, Landon," I smiled at him with calmness in my heart.
"You really are quite wise, Anya. Would you mind telling us how old you are?" Kluke asked.
"I am actually 34 in age. I was 24 when Nene kidnapped me, which is why I still look as young as 25. My body was unable to age due to the modifications that he made to my body... my heart isn't even real. It's an Eternal Engine, like that mural in the storytelling room of Mural Town... would you like to see it?" I asked, the group looking at me with confusion.
"Uh... I guess so," Shu said.
"Okay... opening chest cavity," I said as I then lifted up my shirt and my torso, though covering my boobs, opened up in my stomach area to reveal a large cube brimming with magical energies. "This is my heart. My Eternal Engine... before I had it inserted into me, Mystic Mermaid promised that she would stay within my soul even if my heart was not my own. She has found a way to modify the Eternal Engine so that she has an unlimited use of magic so long as it remains in my body," I smiled as everyone gawked at it. It shined with a light blue brilliancy and it even rotated slightly at the mere touch of Marumaro's fingers.
"Maro, don't do that. It might hurt her," Kluke frowned at him.
"Do not worry. Only a magical blast of overwhelming intensity can destroy my Eternal Engine, and only if it manages to go through my armored body... closing chest cavity," I smiled, my torso then returning to normal and my Eternal Engine being hidden by my metal-laden skin once more. "Trust me. I speak the full truth and nothing but the truth when I say that no monsters will harm you during your slumber," I smiled at them warmly.
"Okay. We're counting on you, Anya," Shu said to me. I smiled at him as they all went into their tents and I looked out to the north and placed my hand inside of my ear. I pushed a small button within to heighten my hearing and did the same with the other ear. I then listened intently for anything out of the ordinary. I heard some sounds of snoozing nearby, which I knew were the villagers. I also heard some wolves howling in the distance, far to the west. And then I heard what sounded to be small roars to the north. The tigers were speaking to each other before going to bed.
"I wonder what they could be planning," I frowned as I continued to stand guard until 1 AM, which is when I heard scuttling from the north. A Fat Pack Rat appeared from that area, so I simply conjured a spike of earth to skewer it from the bottom and out through his brain, the rat not standing a chance and there being barely a sound.
I then made sure to take the rat and bury it under the earth so that it wouldn't attract anymore tigers. I had to conjure earth to trap it in a ball of mud and dirt before then opening a hole in the ground to drop it in. I then repaired the ground on top and sighed afterwards.
"Hah... haven't done that for the longest time," I smiled at my powers. I kept thinking about what kind of power that Shu and his friends could gain if they could reach Corporeal status and be independent from Nene's soul. But I had to keep vigilant, which I did for the rest of the night, having to defeat two more rats and one Steel Eating Tiger before the dawn broke.
And once dawn broke, I proceeded to wake everyone up while still having my hearing up to detect any monsters. Though, one person was kind of hard to get up. "Shu! Come on, wake up! Oh, come on, how can you sleep despite me talking in your ears? Hey!" I groaned as I kept shaking Shu and he refused to wake up.
"Is he dead?" Marumaro asked.
"Let me try something," Kluke smiled. "Oh my, look at this. So many donuts!" Kluke smiled, Shu immediately jumping out of bed at that.
"What the? Who the... wait... where are the donuts?" Shu groaned, I just laughed so hard at that.
"Works every time," Kluke giggled.
"Ugh..." Shu groaned, me sensing that he still had warmth in his heart towards Kluke.
"So... did you two talk yet?" I smiled at them.
"Well, we did. We agreed that we would wait until we were both 18 before we did anything intimate, but we would be considered as more than friends starting today," Kluke smiled.
"Well, I'd say it's about time," I smirked, both of them blushing at that, though Shu still looked annoyed. "Come on, we need to help the villagers pack up so we can head off to Jibral," I said.
Shu POV:
Once everyone packed up, our group was in charge of handling any monsters or obstacles that impeded the path to Jibral. We had to take care of a ton of Fat Pack Rats and at least 3 different groups of Steel Eating tigers. We also had to get rid of some boulders blocking the path before we finally had a clear way of passage... but then something awful happened. We had apparently angered the Steel Eating Tigers because we had gotten a whole army of them blocking our path to Jibral and our path back to the Coast Road!
"We're completely surrounded! Even with my finger bullets, this is going to be very tough," Anya said as she pointed towards the back.
"We'll help fight to the very end, if we need to," Jiro said as he and Anya let out their shadows.
"I won't give up! I'll never give up!" I exclaimed as I let out my shadow and, just as soon as Anya let out a shot, we gasped as we saw a bunch of arrows start to rain down on the tigers! And when we looked up from where they came from, we all were amazed to see a bunch of soldiers on horses with archers and swordsmen mounted on them. But Anya gasped at one of the swordsmen.. er... woman on horse back.
"So... that's where the Killer Bat went..." Anya gasped as the archers then fired some more shots before the leader gave the order to charge, attacking the tigers with his soldier companions. Some of them were swiped down by the tigers, but the female was extremely quick and powerful with her sword strikes.
"Wow!" Marumaro gawked in amazement as I got a good look at her. She had a bandanna with a skull mark on it atop her long, silver hair. She had very sharp eyes and a very buxom body, obviously around the same age as Anya before she was converted into a robot. She also wore fingerless gauntlets, a blue bra that hugged her breasts tightly, a pair of green shorts that were quite short, a long blue sash around her waist and a belt around that which contained the sword she wielded with deadly accuracy. And on her feet were long boots that were made of leather.
Then one of the horsemen approached us and looked at us with seriousness. "Are you folks alright? And from whence do you come?" he asked.
"We're alright, thanks for the assistance, sir. We come from Talta Village," Kluke said politely.
"I am King Jibral, ruler of Jibral Castle. We will assist your village in reaching Jibral safely," he said with seriousness in his voice.
"We'll protect them too!" Anya said as she let out her shadow and we let ours out as well.
"So, you have magic powers too?" the woman asked kindly.
"And your shadow is the Killer Bat. I can sense it and the fact that it has given you such incredibly speed," Anya smiled.
"Mm... I am Zola, Captain of King Jibral's Blademasters," Zola said as she let out her shadow and I finally saw why it was called Killer Bat. It looked quite fearsome with giant ears, sharp fangs, enormous arms, and a giant pair of wings attached to its back. And it had a fearsome cry on top of that.
"WOW! You are so awesome! It's Loooovvveee!" Marumaro exclaimed, Anya having to giggle and pick him off the ground.
"King Jibral, you should escape with the villagers. We will defend the back line," Zola said.
"I am counting on you, Zola," the patriarch said.
"Sir," Zola smiled as she bowed politely and quickly, Jibral and his group having a clear way now that most of the tigers were gone, same with our villagers.
"Let's deal with these bastards!" Anya exclaimed as we all let out our shadows to face the 4 different tigers. Anya immediately started by shooting one of the tigers directly in the face, her fingers red hot, as she had been shooting other tigers to get the way cleared beforehand. "Damn! My finger guns are overheating! Gotta rely on you to take these baddies out, Mystic!" Anya said as she then sent forth a Groundus spell at the opponent, doing quite a large amount of damage to all of them.
"I shall answer with an attack myself," Zola said as her Killer Bat shadow attacked one of the tigers quickly and effortlessly. After one spell of Water from Kluke, all of the tigers were annihilated and we then rushed after the caravans and managed to get into the castle gates along with them just before they closed.
"Hah... hah... we made it," Jiro panted as well as Marumaro, myself, and Kluke. Anya and Zola were the only ones not tuckered out.
"Yeah... we did," I smiled as I gave Jiro a high-five.
"You're all incredibly skilled. Especially you, miss. Honestly, I never expected that a human could have guns in their fingers," Zola smiled.
"Well, I'm not really human... see," Anya smiled as she removed her arm and Zola looked at this with a frown.
"So, you've been converted into a machine... let me guess... it was an old, purple man with a green frog on his shoulder, right?" Zola asked.
"I knew it!" Anya exclaimed as she placed her arm back in her socket.
"Knew what?" Zola asked.
"You were the one that sneaked onto Nene's airship and made off with the Killer Bat shadow! I've always wondered who would've done that, but now I finally know!" Anya smiled.
"With all due respect, I have no idea what you are talking about. I found the light sphere containing the Killer Bat just outside of Jibral's gates," Zola said, Anya gasping.
"Hmm... I sense that you are being truthful... okay... apologies for jumping to conclusions," Anya said with a worried expression on her face... but then Marumaro did something.
"Maro call you Lady Zola!" Marumaro smiled.
"Uh... 'Lady' Zola?" I asked.
"Okay? Okay? Okay, Lady Zola?" Maro smiled with enthusiasm.
"Um... sure, I suppose so," Zola smiled.
"I think I've heard about this before... Devee are fascinated by things that we'd normally view as scary, such as bats. Also, I think he admires her strength, speed, and how cool she looks," Anya smiled.
"I think that you should all take a look around Jibral Castle Town. I'll meet with you again, I'm sure," Zola said as she was about to walk away... but Anya soon stopped her.
"Wait! I still have questions to ask you! I want to know everything about you and I want to know how far along your shadow is in the Assassin class!" Anya said.
"Um... okay. You can follow me to the castle, then," Zola said.