Chapter 15
Well it's day 29 of my training program with Lilith. We're at the end of august, I'm thankful by the way that the calendar was the same as my old world, if it was anything different I might probably lose track of my days here.
Anyway. Today was another day of training for me and Lilith. We were doing our daily runs through the forest harvesting beasts along as collecting our quest requirements.
I looked at Lilith walking beside me.
She noticed.
I turned away quickly.
"What is it?"
She asked while tilting her head with a cue expression.
"N-Nothing…!"
Seriously what is wrong with me…
Before anything else I hear sounds of footsteps headed our way.
"Zach?"
"Quickly hide!"
I grab her arm and pull her about 20 feet from our position and hid in some vegetation.
"Eh!"
Once we settled in, our mouths stayed shut as we waited for the approaching sound to pass by our vision.
"Gorroab. Gororb. Gragro"
"Graror Grcoro"
"Orgarrd Grogroa Gorroc"
We peeked behind the vegetation, in our sights was a large group of stubby green goblins each of them armed with their own weapons.
"3...7….10….20, around 30 of them. 3 of them wearing better gear than the rest, platoon leaders."
"30!? That's too much! W-What are goblins doing in the safe zone; shouldn't they be somewhere in the inner areas of the forest?!"
She's right. This is unfortunate and peculiar. There were 5 platoon leaders as well as one that looked like the leader, a troop leader to be specific. We aren't anywhere near most of the area's they camp at, there have been many reports these last few weeks that the sightings of goblins have grown to concerning numbers catching the eye of the higher ups of the guild. What are they doing away from their usual area. There's no time to think of this now, our safety comes first.
"There's a lot of them...! W-What should we do?"
"We need to pull back immediately, and report this back to the guild. Walk slowly…"
*Snap!*
As soon as I said that Lilith took a misstep and snapped a twig.
"Gruh?"
"Grock!"
Alerted to the sound they looked in our direction. They spotted us, one of the leaders gave shout.
"GRAAAHH!"
"Run!"
As soon as I called out both of us immediately started running in the direction behind us. We ran through the vegetation pushing and dodging anything the best we can. The Goblin's quickly followed with their higher agility. I made sure to secure the rear, but Lilith is still lagging behind me, they're closing the distance fast!
I halted my movements letting Lilith pass me and pulled out my sword and made a slash to the Goblin just right behind her stopping its charge and stabbing it. Fresh blood spilled upon my blade as it pierced the goblins green skin.
"Zach!"
"I'll buy some time, keep running find somewhere to hide! I'll be right behind you!"
Two of the goblins begin closing in on my position.
"Graah!"
I dodged its swing and swept my blade along its upper abdomen. The other Goblin tried to make slash, I parried and immediately stabbed my blade through the creature's torso. Another Goblin was coming to attack me from behind.
Tsk!
I took a hold of my sword with both hands and ran it through the goblin's torso making an arc to reach it, trailing a deep red line up until its face. It rived in agony as it held the bleeding wound on its face. I meant to finish it, but its allies were not far behind.
"GRAH!
"GROAC!
"Shit!"
I kept on running hoping to lose them. I finally stopped somewhere, thinking I've lost them. My stamina is low, but I gotta find Lilith before anything happens to her.
I then feel a familiar feeling rang in my head… it feels like Lilith...but she isn't around here. I get it, magic perception! I look where the feeling is coming from, it feels like a trail… really this girl still has to learn how to control her magic in times of crisis, it's like she's a leaking jug. But I can't be more happy that she's still doing it. I should be able to track her down with this, let's hope she's safe.
I rushed through the trail's path trying to move cautiously through the forest environment. After a few minutes of following the trail searching, I eventually found its source.
The magic it's starting to grow stronger and I'm starting to feel the same fluctuating magic levels I felt from her! It's being emitted around that bush, that must be Lilith!
I quickly approach it to find a shriveling girl holding onto her staff for comfort.
"Lilith!"
"KYAAA!" She shouted of guard, attempting to use her staff to hit me in fright.
"Hey! Relax, it's me!"
I exclaimed catching her staff mid swing.
"Z-Zach? You're alive! I'm so glad!"
"We can rejoice about it later, keep it down they might still be-"
I then see a few green midgets appearing from the direction I came from.
"Get down!"
"Eep!"
I pull her back down into our cover and took glances at what's happening behind it.
"It looks like they're still searching for us, they must've followed me and heard your scream."
"S-Sorry!"
"Were far too deep and away from our usual path to get home. Other than that we're surrounded on almost all sides. I guess we're gonna have to go with plan B"
"Plan B?"
Confused she asked nervously.
"The only way we can escape is killing every single last one of these guys. Other than that if these guys are left here, they'll disrupt the ecosystem of the safe zone, along with their numbers… who knows how many more there will be if we let this troupe be."
"?! I understand where you are coming from… But their numbers! W-We can't take them-"
"I didn't say "we" I mean to fight alone. If I do it correctly we should be able to get out of here alive."
Her expression changed upon hearing my decision; she was shocked and perhaps a bit frustrated hearing this.
"W-Wait! I can-"
She tried to force the words which I dreaded her to say and cut her off before she could finish.
"No you're staying right here. You'd only get in the way. Your safety is one of my priorities as of the moment, so please stay put while I deal with them."
I notice her anger and confusion which radiated of her expression as she heard me.
"But I've grown haven't I?! I can help! Not even you with your talent and skill as of the moment can get you out of this one. You need me!"
True she has and there's no guarantee if I can pull it off, but… if she gets hurt because I let her fight, it's going to put a large burden on me as her partner and leader. I don't want to see that happen! I… can't allow it…!
I continued to stay silent as I struggle to find the right words.
"I know you want to protect me and that you don't want to see me hurt. Despite everything I've done to burden you, sure you get mad, but you don't seem to want to abandon me…"
I say nothing to reject her statement. She continued to speak with consolation in her voice.
"I'm sure you have you're reasons and the fact that you like me have secrets that well in your heart. I don't expect you to tell me anytime soon or at all, but for this, please trust me to have your back as your friend and partner."
The look in her eyes… brave, confident, strong… really this isn't the same Lilith I first found one month ago, over the course of this month I've seen many sides of her and have really gotten to know her… sure, I wanted to protect her, but that was because of her lack of ability to even defend herself from the least dangerous of things or survive for that matter. Sigh… I guess all birds leave the nest after all. Wait… that's something only parents should say… wow, I sound old… did I really think of her as a kid that much?
Put that thought off for another time…
I look back at her with her head strong attitude.
"Okay, I trust you. Let's make a plan, but if I tell you to run without me, you run!"
A relieved smile appeared upon her face.
"Mm!"
"Let's see… since there is a huge difference in numbers, we are quite limited on our options of strategy here."
What are our options? Full on attack is out of course, an ambush would be good, but only if they were apart; traps are an idea too, but take time to prepare them; as of this moment we have nothing we can use to fight them… my eyes darted around for anything that can give me ideas, but to no avail.
"I know it's late and ironic to say this, but this is practically a suicide mission for the both of us…"
"Eh? That's not like you, usually you always find a way!"
"Through logical and reasonable means, survival is our main objective. I suggested exterminating them, but realizing now we don't stand a chance against those numbers, we can't face them on our own. I should have known it was a dumb idea from the start to begin with."
Her expression dipped as she heard my explanation and reasoning. I felt my expression sadden a bit as well as I balance out our odds.
Our best chance is to watch for a window of escape and get this information back to the guild as soon as possible. It's the most rational thing to do in this situation. Before I was about to announce our decision my eyes then caught glimpse of Lilith's book of spells. Hold on a second! Maybe just maybe!
"Lilith! You said you had other spells in there didn't you?"
"Y-Yes! W-Why?"
She jumped slightly at the tone of my voice.
"Read me through each one of them, there might be a spell in here that could help out our situation.
After a few minutes I looked through all the spells she had available in her arsenal as of the moment. There were many spells, but I only focused on the ones that held any practical use in battle. There weren't a lot to go through, but luckily we found just what we needed...
All of the spells she had were of the fire element, but each used it in a different way from their added explanations. Though I would love to make an exposition of their explanations utilizing modern day knowledge and science, but now is not the time to go into specifics.
"Alright you know the plan?"
"Yes, are you sure this will work though?"
"Not sure. I would prefer if there was at least one more with us for this to have a higher chance of success."
"Eh?! T-Then shouldn't we-"
"We don't have a better plan than this, if we stand by it's only a matter of time before they find us."
"B-But-"
Sounding hesitant, I made it clear to her.
"If you don't think this plan will work then I'll make sure you escape and do the job alone. This is your last chance, I won't shame you for running; it was my decision after all."
She paused and gripped her robe and raised her head with brave eyes.
"No! I'll stick with you till the end!"
I don't know whether I should praise her for her bravery or scold her for her irrationality; heck I should be telling that to myself. I was a bit conflicted as to how I should respond.
I gave her a gentle smile and rubbed her head. She was used to my sudden gestures at times, but still gets confused as to why I do them.
"Don't get hurt out there okay?"
"I-I won't!"
I gave Lilith a determined look to ease the tension and she did the same. We both knew our roles, now let us commence.
What other choice do we have left? What might happened to others if we don't act now? Can't we just run from this for now and let someone else take care of it? Some questions that circle in my head in these sorts of moments, but it's even more serious now due to the current circumstances.
I can feel my heart beating faster and sweat dripping down my face. Usually a smile will come after, but there wasn't any… What took its place was a solemn expression painting my body with all sense of worry.
In my circumstance who wouldn't be? But all I can do is put my faith in our plan and hope for the best.
I opened my stat window and placed another 3 of my attribute points into agility while 2 points went to dexterity. After finding out how much of a boost these numbers had practically, I hope these extra points will be able to do some work for me even if they're not too much.
We threaded through the forest lightly as we located the platoons of goblins split from the troop. Both of us were ready with our weapons out and fully focused on our targets.
"Ew…Did we really have to do this…?"
Lilith complains as she struggles to cope with her outer layer of mud covering most of her body and face. It was a last minute precaution that I issued just to make sure they wouldn't detect us as we snuck by them.
"Goblins have better senses than humans, they're sense of smell is not one a that should be doubted."
"I know…, but do we really have to cover ourselves with mud?"
"It hides our scent especially you who uses cologne."
"Oh you noticed? I could use it if you want me too?"
"Let's put the topic of cosmetics aside for now…Also no, stop using it, it doesn't help us nor does it smell nice."
"Aww…"
"Shh! I hear something!"
It was one of the platoons.
"Ready?"
"Ready!"
Lilith prepared her spell positioning it just in the line of their path just ahead of them.
I circled around them to my optimal position. Once I was set, I gave Lilith a gesture giving her the signal to release her spell.
"Magic that surges within me. Set my enemies ablaze beneath their feet. Red Eruption!"
The ground lit up under the feet of the goblins. Before they could even question the mysterious light, the platoon was covered in fiery explosion. The explosion was ignited right in the middle of their formation giving each of them a burning coat.
They squirmed around panicking from their wounds; this was our chance!
"Move to intercept them!"
"Yes!"
My sword was unsheathed cutting down the goblins with ease as was Lilith giving scorching explosions from her flame arrows. After about 2 minutes there was only silence and bodies on the forest floor.
"That wasn't tough!"
"No kidding, I didn't think it would be this easy to just light up an entire platoon of goblins. Now I really wished you opened that book up."
"Me too. Red Eruption could really be useful even outside of ambush tactics."
Out of the spells we found in Lilith's book, we found a spell called Red Eruption. This was the most useful spell in our situation. It's a spell which gathers fire magic onto a certain position and is triggered to explode to a maximum in a 3 foot radius with an almost immediate reaction; which is also adjustable depending on the magic power, sounds like land mine; but is different when looking at the details. The spell requires its caster to have a exceptional practice towards magic constitution as it requires to be held in place and triggered by the caster itself and is practically undetectable to those who cannot use magic. Just what we needed, I guess this is the cliche last minute save...
The spell sounds good and all, however there is still a problem, it was the fact that it needed to be held in the desired position and the magic consumption to initiate and the time to prepare the spell would be a formidable challenge for any newbie magician, which included a 3 verse incantation to cast. Lilith doesn't have a lot of magic despite her improvement to do simultaneous castings, the best she could do would be to say the incantation quietly to prevent detection; and also to limit the blast radius by half and to cast one at a time; while taking some breaks in between to regenerate her magic quickly enough to use the spell and be active in combat.
"Alright let's keep moving, wouldn't want them to catch up."
"Yes!"
We wanted to keep moving and ambushing them at different locations, if we were to just camp at only one, they'll begin to get suspicious and most likely be prepared.
We headed away from the site of the ambush to a location just near enough for us to see what was happening, but far enough for us to remain undetected.
The entire force came running from all directions whilst maintaining their formations. Their eyes squabble around the scene of the crime as they see their comrades burned to a crisp and slashed all over.
They were clearly enraged by this sight as their cries travelled through the surrounding area.
Their leader one with the significantly better armor even than the platoon leaders stepped up and shouted to silence their panic.
"GRRAAAOORRRAAAHHH"
He reorganized them, gave them orders in the form or sounds and grunts and sent them off to search again.
"He seems to be important, smarter too than most of the leaders I've seen."
It seems rank is determined by one's leadership and equipment in the goblin hierarchy.
"Should we take his group out next?"
"Perhaps, clearing of the small fry should be our priority, even if they do get away, their forces will have some damage and their plans setback. Besides I'm intrigued what he'll do next"
"I see. So we'll follow one of the others then?"
"Yes, has your magic regenerated?"
"Mmm!"
"Then let's get a move on."
We stalked the other group and repeated the same process of our earlier ambush. We lied and waited then tracked them down again. We did this series of attacks once more, they didn't suspect a thing.
"This is easy! If we continue doing this this then we'll win in no time!"
"Let's not get ahead of us just yet, we still have 3 more platoons to take care of. Are you ready?"
We lied and waited to ambush them again. But this time only one group came.
"Eh! Only a single platoon came?!"
"Yes, it seem so…"
I looked closely, I didn't see anyone with better equipment than the other. So the platoon leader wasn't with them. And it just so happened I was hearing a lot movement through the nearby shrubbery. Interesting...
"Whatever we'll just kill them of like the rest, c'mon Zach let's-"
"No. Don't... Do not attack them or alert them in anyway."
"Eh? Why?! They're out in the open!"
"They're trying to bait us out."
Lilith looked confused so I elaborated my assumption.
"They sent in a platoon without a leader to act as bait for us to reveal our positions. When we attack they'll ambush us. They're probably around here somewhere waiting us out."
"I see, so what shall we do?"
This is interesting, it's not a complicated strategy, but it's a smart move. So how should we go about this… we can't move otherwise we have a chance of coming across one of them through the bushes and risk reveal our positions to the spies.
"Zach? What do we do?"
"Hm… cast the spell."
"I thought you said…!"
"Do it."
She did as was told without pause and casted the spell. Once it was casted, we didn't move a the other hand, our enemy did; once seeing the flame that engulfed their comrades.
Cunning but still stupid. We continued to watch them. They prepared their weapons waiting for us to jump out keeping their eyes towards their surroundings, when there was no sign of us coming they resumed more relax states. The leader then turned his eyes to his burning men, the others did the same.
They watched as their fellow goblins slowly burned from the flames, they screamed in agony was the pain settled in within their flesh and bone and finally dropped dead onto the floor.
Hmm, this is new, from what I have seen, goblins are a species of self-preservation that would not only protect themselves, but also help others of their kind when needed. But these guys just watched without a shred of care for them. Maybe it was too late, or maybe they were afraid of the fire spreading to them, perhaps orders from their troop leader or some other reason.
These little midgets though regarded as peanut brain cannon fodder still surprise me despite my knowledge of them.
"How cruel… even for goblins that's a bit…"
Even Lilith was shocked to see this while holding her hands over her mouth to keep quiet.
They were all together seemingly organizing themselves. The leader stood tall surveying the area around him. His eyes stopped in one direction, mine; they widened. He screamed as he pointed in my direction.
"GRRRRAAAAAHHHH"
"Oh no."
"What should we-!"
"Shush, they only spotted me. Lie low and don't move!"
"B-But don't you need support?"
"Only if you could manage!"
"Hey over here you green midgets! Come over here!"
They charged forward on command from their leader. I was going to run in the opposite direction to drive them away, but a voice came between my decisions.
"Flame wall!"
A wall of flame obstructed my line of sight. Before the goblins reacted to the wall of flame in their path, they had already dived head first into the fire. 2 of them went through while others were mystified by the sight.
They screamed just before allowing my blade to cut them down. I looked back at the source, Lilith. She wore her new found determination and bravery in her gaze with all desire to be in the fight. It wasn't hard for me to understand what she meant with it. I smiled and nodded back.
"Let's go, we need to find a more open space!"
She nodded quickly and stood up from her spot. I grabbed her hand and both of us began running in the opposite direction away from the wall of fire. When the goblins finally came to realize what they should do we were already at a considerable distance.
"GRRAAAAAOOOAAA!"
A loud scream came from behind us, signaling their advance. Before we knew it we heard the sounds of grunts and shouts following our tracks.
"They're coming!"
"Keep running, place down flame walls to slow them down! Focus on the power not the duration! But, only do it when they get close!"
"Yes!"
The goblins were fast approaching, jumping around the trees and through the underbrush, it wasn't surprising they caught up to us.
One of the Goblins was on our tail, reaching its green hand at a chance to grab us.
"GRUH, GruH, Groa!"
He made sounds showing its struggle, however wasted as a new flame wall was erected right in front of him.
Melting his face off along with a few others. However, it wasn't like the first time, once seeing the wall they knew well enough to go around and not through or even stop without a second thought.
"Some of them are avoiding the walls!"
"Doesn't matter just keep them at bay! We're almost there!"
"Okay!"
We kept running, while I was leading the way, Lilith was casting waves of walls to stop their path significantly reducing their numbers, however a good number of them survived and were still in pursuit.
"Zach, I don't think we can keep this up much longer!"
Though I could obviously keep going and reach the area in time, Lilith couldn't much more so while maintain magic consumption.
"It's fine, it's just ahead! Cast one more time, make the length and height as long as you can!"
"Okay…!"
She took a deep breath and stabilized her magic levels to cast her spell. She then shouted her single verse incantation.
"Flame wall!"
Another wall of flame appeared this time, it was 5 meters tall and 7 meters wide making a high and long wall even the goblins can't just measely go around.
"Good that'll hold them, let's get to the spot!"
We heard multiple loud cries behind the wall. Probably the goblins venting out their frustrations. We continued running until we found the area I was talking about. It wasn't anything special just another clearing, even though we had a map, it didn't really point out specific area of no value, so I did my own mapping to remember strategic choke points in situations against a large of high number of enemies.
"Zach, I'm getting a bit dizzy…"
"I know. We're here anyway."
I took her to some dense shrubbery to hide her.
"You rest here and regain your magic."
"But won't you need help!?"
"It would be easier if you were with me, but you need to rest."
She turned her head down in self disappointment knowing that she wasn't able to assist me. I placed my hand along the side of her face turning it upwards.
"I'll be fine."
I gave her a smile of assurance and went back out and prepared myself for the onslaught.
I unsheath my sword and formed my stance. Out of the forest came 10 goblins. 4 normals, 5 platoon leaders and 1 troop leader. I'm not only out numbered, and by advance units at that. Well… this is going to be fun. I say that in my head with all honesty with a bit of sarcasm as well.
There sights locked onto me. Raging shouts poured out from their lungs as they took out their weapons.
I smiled with my sword anchored by my waist and narrowed my eyes, ready.
The four regular goblins came first with their weapons high in the air ready to butcher me.
"GRRRAOOOAAA!"
The first of the bunch came into my strike zone. I issued a horizontal slash to its abdomen and immediately followed it up with a thrust. The goblin was toppled back and fell over with ease. The other three took its place.
They swung their weapons in sync to have a higher chance at hitting me. From my perspective their swings were slow, I took a few side steps to dodge the incoming weapons.
They looked around to see where I was, but I was already behind them. I anchored my sword at shoulder length and was at close enough range to attack. I performed my technique [Round Accel] and cut through the necks of two goblins while slightly missing the third. He fell to the ground catching himself with his hands to the forest floor, but was greeted with a powerful stab to the back, ending its life. The forest grass was already teeming with goblin blood draining into the rocks and crevices.
It seems I'm seeing the fruits of my training and the effects of the attribute points to my stats. My body feels lighter, my attacks feel faster and not to mention stronger too. At this point I think I can go to the deeper parts of the forest, once I get permission from the guild.
I pulled my sword out of the goblins back and turned back to the bystanders. I pointed my sword towards them, whipped to my side and used my opposite hand to issue a taunt.
They growled at me. Their leader looking at his subordinates commanding them to step forward. Does he mean to continue testing me acting as if he's worthy? Or does he mean to tire me out for the final battle?
Either way… I'll cut them down just like the rest!
They charged in unison similar as a platoon would. I took my bolases out and started throwing them one after the other at my enemy. The little green midgets dodged them, laughing and sneering. It's expected, they do have higher attributes in speed anyway. I still have some time, better just waste them with the distance we have.
Two of the goblins suddenly stopped together side by side, seeing the chance I threw two bolases at them. However it seemed my continued underestimation of their species has led to me seeing more surprises. The two goblins behind them used their bodies as stepping blocks and jumped high in the air to clear the remaining distance and leaped over my head.
I see… so it's meant to redirect attention while at the same time act as a way surround the enemy. So when they charge from the top to pushing from behind, the others would briefly forget about the ones that have stopped to continue charging. For there size and build, it's a good strategy I must say, but…
The two behind you have already been caught by my bolases.
I turned to face the two leaders, they swung their weapons in the same angle attempting to harm me. I placed my sword in their weapons trajectory and had them in a sword lock.
I felt a sudden chill down my spine as I took a peak behind me. Another goblin was sprinting towards my direction ready to stab me with its dagger.
Shit! I forgot about that last one! My back is wide open!
It's bloodthirsty blade almost made contact with my armor, but the goblin was soon seen hit by an explosion and had his flesh burning away.
The goblin leader seemed stumped wondering what had just happened to his plan.
I grinned at my opponents. Now I can focus on you!
I retracted from the sword lock and kicked them away spartan style and aimed for their soft spots. For a minute we continued to trade and evade slashes and swings, only they were the ones receiving the damage.
They began panting, barely able to even hold their weapons from all their wounds and lost stamina. I turned my back to them. Thinking this was an opportunity, they made maniacal grins and soon reared in their weapons for the attack.
Soon after they were lit ablaze by explosions.
I then turned to the two goblins still tied in bands. They sneered at me revealing their jagged teeth, not that it's gonna do them any good. I held my sword with a hammer fist and plunged my sword into them, slashing and hacking at them until there voices were no more. Red lines revealing their innards were everywhere along their bodies, but not to the point where they would look butchered, only enough to make sure they're dead.
Once I made sure there was no longer any movement, I began looking around for my final target.
Where is he? Did he get scared and run away or something? I guess being the only one left has that kind of effect. Or does he plan to ambush me?! I looked around drastically for any signs of him.
Where could he be…?
"KYAAA!"
"Lilith?!"
I looked to where her scream came from; and found Lilith and the Goblin holding her with a blade at her neck.
"Zach save me!"
Damn it! Why must this happen now!
The goblin gave a smirk knowing he'll harmse her if I make even the slightest moves.
I was conflicted what to do next… I could throw a stone, but it'll reach too late! I can run towards them and make an accurate strike, but I can't gauge if my bladereach in time. Crap what should I do!?
I look wwww them again, then I noticed, Lilith wasn't yelling for help, she wasn't in panic more so worried. Her, magic levels… they're stabilized…? Aqwêww
I looked closer and saw a gaze of confidence within her eyes. You really have changed Lilith…!
I played along, I dropped my gear to the floor all except for a dagger I took from one of the goblins hidden in my back pocket just in case. I know he can't understand my words, but he'll at least understand a sign of surrender.
He grinned widely. Pointing his sword towards me and flipped his wrist upwards, telling me to come closer.
I walked slowly, watching, not at the goblin or the weapon, at Lilith. The same look hasn't vanished since. We don't have a plan, all we could do was trust that we'll do the right thing and that all goes well.
I nearing closer only about a few more meet away, around the same length as the blade he was holding. His expression was one of victory, he doesn't even think we could do anything to him now that he has us in a corner. That just makes it easier for us…
Lilith made a quick nod signaling her attack.
"Magic Flame Arrow!"
Arrows of flame quickly formed just behind the goblin. Startled, the goblin was about to run his blade along Lilith's throat; however, the arrows came first and contacted with scorching explosions not even his armor could protect him from.
It screamed in pain and his grip on Lilith loosened as well as dropping his blade. Lilith slipped out and dropped to the floor, once I confirmed she was out, I tackled the goblin sending him to the ground. Confused on what has happened and no clue what to do next, he did nothing to counter me as I pressed my body on top of him, took out my knife and rammed it straight through its ugly face.
"GRAAAAAHHHH!"
Still screaming?! Let me silence you! I took the dagger out and continued to stab its head until there was not a single breath in his body.
I took the knife out of his disfigured face. I looked back at Lilith and made an expression of relief as I hugged her.
"Z-Zach?!"
"Thank god you're safe…!"
"You're usually calm, you're out of character don't you know?"
Realizing what I had just done I broke away immediately with a flushed expression.
"I-I'm sorry… I don't know what got into me…"
"H-Hey why'd you let go? I don't dislike it, you… can hug me more if you want…"
"N-No it's fine."
We were both without words to say to each other. I spoke up first to break the silence.
"I'm sorry. I didn't protect you well enough."
"What are you talking about? I'm the one who should be saying sorry, as always I'm the one that's hindering you and making you worry."
"I'm your senior it's natural, I don't want my juniors getting hurt, even if we are technically in the same rank. Other than that you shouldn't worry about that. All that matters is that your safe."
"I see…"
Her face blushed and realizing what I just said I felt slight heat spread across my face too. I quickly changed the subject to avoid the atmosphere.
"A-Although I don't think I'm gonna do much of that anymore."
Lilith made a confused expression to respond.
"Eh? What do you mean?"
I looked at her with a slightly annoyed expression.
"Don't you get it? Your training is finished, I don't think you need it, looking at you now."
A wide joyful smile appeared on her face.
"R-Really?!"
I nodded with a short smile in response. I then felt her magic levels go unconcentrated, before tackling me.
"Yay! Thank you, Zach!"
She pressed her body against mine disregarding we were still covered in mud. Her arms wrapped around me pressing her breasts against my body.
"H-Hey calm yourself!"
It didn't seem like any form of communication would calm her. She's that happy huh? Can't blame her.
But then the cheerful atmosphere was immediately broken with Lilith's next sentence.
"Now I'll be able to go… alone from… now on…"
Hearing that, both of us had a sudden realization. Silence filled the atmosphere. I tried to change the subject.
"Well that depends on how well you are with what the knowledge I've given y-"
"I'll have to go alone from now on…"
But it didn't work. What is this pain in my chest that I'm feeling? I turned to Lilith who's face was tilted downwards.
"I can see what you want to talk about, but first let's head back to the city. We can talk about it there okay?"
I said in consolation for her, but it didn't seem to do any good.
"Sure…"
She said softly trying to hide her expression and tone from me.
It seems we're going to have to talk about this… why do I suddenly feel… sad
We then went on our way back to the city bearing the same thoughts in our minds…
END OF CHAPTER
Zach's stats
LVL: 9
HP: 55
MP: 20
SP: 73
STR: 16
FRT: 12
DEX: 20
AGI: 19
INT: 16
END: 0.06 SP/s
VIT: 0.007 HP/s
MS: 5
MC: 4
MR: 0.001 MP/s
Points: 7
STATUS: Normal.
Skills
Active
Straight Sword Arts
Cross Slash
Lunge
Round Accel
Passive
Hand to Hand Combat Mastery LVL: 3
One-Handed Dagger Mastery LVL: 1
One-Handed Straight Sword Mastery LVL: 6
Support
Language Comprehension
-English LVL: MAX
Mathematics
-Simple Math LVL: MAX
Crafting
Recipes: ~
Skills: ~
Cooking
Recipes: ~
Skills: ~
Harvesting
Skills: ~
Special
Awakened LVL MAX
Magic Perception LVL 1