Chapter 2 – Trip to El Nath

Just for your information:-

Dinah
Job: Bishop
Age: 15
Level: 155
Equipment: Black Bazura, Timeless Aeas

Ivan
Job: Shadower
Age: 18
Level: 180
Equipment: Black Garina, Reverse Pescas

Lea
Job: Bowmaster
Age: 20
Level: 160
Equipment: Red Armis, Timeless Engaw

Hanson
Job: Corsair
Age: 19
Level: 173
Equipment: Canopus Suit, Reverse Blindness

Kyle
Job: Paladin
Age: 21
Level: 190
Equipment: Reverse Taragon, Reverse Executioner

The five were ordered by their job instructors to meet at the Six Path Crossway, a little forest in between the five towns. Dinah was being punctual today. She waited nervously for her future 'friends' to arrive. She hoped they wouldn't be scary-looking and fierce. People often teased her for being so timid and tiny. She scoffed at the thought of that. Magicians were meant to be tiny. They were powerful too. In your face, suckers!

She snapped out of her silly thoughts as she heard the rustle of a bush. "W-who's there?" she stuttered, gripping onto her staff, "I-I…I can fight!"

The Shadower leapt out of the bush and revealed himself.

"Don't tell me YOU are the Bishop the Dark Lord mentioned." Ivan palmed his face a little and stared at her with a surprised look on his face. "What's wrong with me? Got a problem?" Dinah pouted at him and slightly turned her head away, "Hmph!" What an idiot, underestimating her for no reason.

"And don't tell me YOU are the Shadower Grendel was mentioning!" she suddenly piped up.

"My instructor even said that we have to get along. I hate you already." Ivan mumbled.

"Hey! I heard that!" Dinah yelled back, "As if I'd like you any better." They both scoffed at each other's remarks and turned away, their backs facing each other. Just then, the short-haired, boyish Bowmaster appeared before them. "Hello! You must be Dinah, the pretty-ass Bishop." She waved at the small magician and she blushed.

"Hi. Thank you. You look really cool." Dinah complimented back.

"Haha, gee, thanks, yeah?" Lea winked at her and petted Ivan on the shoulder, "And you must be Ivan the Shadower. Athena said you're really strong."

Ivan gave her a tiny smile and a soft "Thank you." Dinah wanted to vomit at that compliment. Instead of doing so, she walked over to Lea's side and smiled up at the tall archer. "You really do look cool. I want to be like you." She suddenly said, and that surprised Lea a little.

"O-oh, uhmm…really? Thanks! And aren't you the cutest thing ever?" Lea pinched her lovely red cheeks as Dinah smiled broadly.

Ivan let out a disgusted groan and the magician glared at him. Lea spotted both the warrior and the pirate walking towards them, talking as if they were old friends. "Ooh, I'll go greet them first!" she handed her bow to Dinah and motioned to her to hold it.

Dinah grabbed at the bow and as Lea let go of it and ran off, it almost brought her to the ground. "So…heavy!" Dinah whined as she struggled to keep her new good friend's bow from falling. It was so heavy…and huge, it was almost bigger than Dinah herself.

Ivan snorted and chuckled softly as he snatched the bow from the Bishop's hands and held it up against his shoulder as if it weighed nothing.

"Weakling." He muttered.

"Hey! If you've got nothing good to say, then don't say anything!" she snapped as the veins in her head popped.

That guy got some nerve. "If you can't even carry a light bow, how do you suppose you protect the whole world? What was your instructor thinking?" Ivan said lazily.

"I-I can! You underestimate me! I'm stronger than you think!" she quickly quipped.

"And you expect me to believe that."

"Shut up."

Dinah looked up and saw Lea smiling at the Paladin and Corsair. Both of them looked strong and well-built.

"OMG how cute!" the Corsair exclaimed as he ran towards Dinah and gave her a loose hug. Dinah, shocked, could smell burnt gunpowder on him but she found it rather nice. "Ermm…hello." She quietly said as he pulled away swiftly and grabbed her hand to shake it. "You must be the Bishop Kyrin was talking about!" he excitedly shook her hand roughly, "You're prettier than what she mentioned, though. I'm Hanson. I'm sure we'll get along very well!" Dinah giggled at his ridiculousness and nodded, "Nice to meet you. Dinah."

She smiled sweetly. Ivan rolled his eyes and switched his gaze on something else.

"Hey, Kyle! We got a pretty one over here." Hanson grinned widely.

The Paladin pushed past him and leaned down to kiss Dinah's hand. "Forgive me. He's really a playboy bastard." Dinah's face turned a light shade of pink as she giggled, "You all are so cool! I'm so jealous."

"Cool? She keeps saying we're cool." Lea laughed as she patted Dinah on the head, "We're all equal, y'know. You don't need to look down on yourself."

Ivan watched silently as the three praised the girl he hated almost immediately after they met. He shook his head in disgust and interrupted them, "Shouldn't we like…get going?"

"Ah, yes. Oh, I forgot to introduce myself." Kyle nodded politely and shook Ivan's hand, "I'm Kyle. You must be the Shadower. Ivan, right? Hi." Ivan smirked back, "Pleasure to meet you." They chatted for a few minutes while Hanson marvelled over the Bishop. Finally, they decided to make their way to their training hall in El Nath.

"Kyrin told me that my partner would be Lea. That means we must work together." Hanson suddenly piped up. Lea smiled, "Athena told me the same thing. I'm sure we would get along well."

"Yeah." The Corsair grinned back.

"Oh, yeah, speaking of partners…who's yours, Dinah?" Kyle gently asked her before flashing her a warm smile. The Bishop felt her face get warm. "Oh…uhmm…uhmm…this asshole." She said quietly, pointing at Ivan.

"WHAT? You must be joking! How do you suppose I take care of her?" Ivan widened his eyes in horror as she stomped on his foot. "Be quiet! It's not like I like it…" she yelled.

The four immediately hopped towards the station, climbing vines and jumping vigorously. Dinah followed close behind, clutching her staff and bunching up the ends of her Black Bazura in her hands. Even though they were knee-length and short as they could be. She didn't have the stamina like the others did and she slowly hopped up the platforms. Her height affected her speed as well. She was about a head shorter than everyone else.

As the others reached the station platform, Kyle grabbed the Bishop's small gloved hand and gave it a small squeeze, "Come on. I bet they're waiting for us already." "Y-yeah. S-sorry for slowing you guys down." She looked down, embarrassed.

"It's okay. No one's blaming you."

Dinah gave him a small smile. "How I wish Dances assigned you as my partner." He returned her smile and pulled her up onto the last platform.

"Thank you." She said, nodding appreciatively.

"My pleasure." He winked as they walked towards the rest. Lea flashed Dinah a smile and she turned red again.

Lea was like…the best older sister anyone could ever have. Cool, nice and awesome. As they boarded the ship, Ivan scowled at his partner, "You're so slow."

"Got a problem with that?"

"I'm older than you and I'm your partner, so don't answer back."

Dinah pouted slightly and sighed quietly, "Okay…sorry."

Ivan widened his eyes in surprise at her sudden change of attitude but shrugged it off. They sat at the side of the ship as they chatted. Lea was already getting along very well with Hanson. They actually looked cute together. They were having peace of mind until the whole ship shook violently and people screamed hysterically.

"I think we're being attacked by Balrogs!" Lea shouted, "Me and Hanson will try bringing the people to safety! Kyle, go guard the back! And Dinah and Ivan, hold them back at the front!" She made such a good leader. They nodded and ran around the ship.

"You better be able to fight." Ivan muttered as Dinah shivered at the sight of the scary Balrog.

"O-okay…" she squeaked timidly.

The monster closed up onto them and Ivan jumped into the air, sending multiple attacks at it. It groaned and charged towards Dinah, she shot holy arrows at it which made it stagger back and die off.

"Not bad." Ivan complimented.

"Huh?" she was caught by surprise and reached up to smoothen her hair before the next Balrog attacked her.

Again, Ivan began slashing it with his claw as it fell back and died. Very soon, they were surrounded by five or six monsters. "We're fucked…" Ivan cursed as he stood back to back with Dinah. "D-don't say that. It isn't very encouraging…" she stammered. "It wasn't meant to be." They charged towards the monsters as they attacked continuously. Ivan took down three Balrogs with huge difficulty as he heard Dinah cry out. "Dinah!" he spun around quickly and saw her clutching her arm tightly.

Blood trickled down her arm slowly as she cringed in pain. She continued attacking the Balrog, killing it with a few arrows. "Genesis!" she yelled as Ivan wondered what the hell she was doing.

All of a sudden, rays of holy light shone down from the sky, blinding and burning the monsters. They quickly died away. They both stood there in silence, panting for a moment before Dinah swayed on her feet, threatening to drop onto the wooden floor.

"Dinah!" Ivan quickly caught her and gently lay her down onto the floor. She fluttered her eyelids and winced as Ivan touched her wound.

"Don't! Touch!" she shouted at him and sighed as she leaned against the wall of the ship, "A-are you hurt?"

"Y-yeah. Just a bit." He said, pointing at the slash on his side.

"Oh, my…" Dinah suddenly got up and forgot about her injury, "It looks horrible." She poked his side and he yelped in pain. "Does it hurt?" she asked solemnly.

"Of course it does, idiot!" he smacked her hand away gently.

"I'm sorry. Here…" she apologized as she placed her small hands on his side and begin focusing hard. "W-what?" Ivan sat there in shock as the wound begin to stitch itself and close up. She fell back after healing him.

"What's wrong now?" he asked.

"Lack of mana…I'm just tired…other than that, I'm fine…" she squeaked weakly.

"You don't look fine to me. Here." He handed her a bottle of blue elixir. "Thanks…" she took it and gulped it down. "A-and…uhh…t-thanks for healing me." Ivan scratched his head and nodded. This was awkward, both of them being so nice to each other. "It's fine…" she shook her head and blacked out.

"Are you okay, Mister?" Lea gasped as she lifted a badly injured man and walked towards the ship's cabin. "I-I don't think I can make it…just…leave me here." The man wheezed, "Save my wife and children…"

"Hanson! COME HERE!" Lea shrieked as the worry-stricken Corsair came running towards her.

"What is it? What's wrong?" he quickly asked.

"Carry him to the cabin. We've got everyone gathered already. This is when we need Dinah the most. I'll go get her." She ordered as Kyle came running towards them.

"Coast is clear already." He reported. "Good. I'll go get Dinah and Ivan. You two aid the people first." The men nodded as Lea rushed off.

"Dinah! We need you to…God, are you okay?" Lea stopped in her tracks as she stared at the unconscious Dinah in Ivan's arms. "She passed out after killing off many Balrogs and healing me." He muttered, "Stupid girl. She doesn't even care about herself but others."

"That's what Bishops do, Ivan. You must understand, they risk their lives for others to live, you know." Lea shot him a hard stare as she made him follow her to the cabin. Ivan gently put her down against the cabin wall and panted. He was also surprised at how incredibly light she was.

"What happened to Dinah?" Kyle quickly snapped as he knelt down beside the Bishop and held her hand.

"She fell unconscious. It seemed she healed Ivan and killed many monsters. She must be really exhausted." Lea explained as she herself sat down. Hanson was too busy aiding the other people to notice that. Dinah's eyes fluttered open slightly.

"Dinah, you feeling better?" Ivan asked her softly. "Y-yes…" she squinted and suddenly sat up, "Oh my…look at all these injured people! I can't bear to see them like this." She struggled to get up to heal them.

"Wait! You shouldn't! You're seriously injured, you know!" Lea pleaded.

"I'm fine already. Let…me heal…them." She grabbed her own wound and staggered towards the people.

Ivan stared at his partner. He secretly hurt to see her caring so much for others but not for herself. Again, Lea reminded him, "Don't be so awed, Ivan. Bishops are like that. And they're usually the ones who die first…" she whispered softly but he heard her. He softly replied "But…I don't want her to…"