Clara poured some soup into a bowl and passed it to the next person in line, before turning to the pot again. Unlike last time, the morale was down, and many villagers ate slowly, as if still processing the events of the day. Clara wasn't much different, as she slowly looked through her status screen. She tried to fiddle with some of the newer skills to distract her and it sort of worked.
It's weird. When those two died, I got exp from both, and I jumped up to 75. But it feels weird. I mean, if they just kept reviving, would I keep getting levels? Or maybe they have to relevel every time they revive? But they died before we got there and revived. Maybe they had exp stored away somewhere?
Either way, I unlocked a new knife, so I can't complain.
Refined Unobtanium Knife
abilities locked equip bonus: "S Float Knife"
special effect: g-force nullification (medium)
mastery level: 0
I can now summon a second floating knife, and then use the 'Change Tool' skill to change them both to anything. If I swap them to one of the boss cleavers, I can hit things from further away. But I don't have the SP to keep up two float knives at the same time for long, though having one single floating pot over a normal fire isn't too bad either. Or using Heated Grounds with one pot, but I'll run out of SP if I try to raise the heat too much. Maybe if I get more SP and skills, I'll have a portable kitchen!
Clara smiled at the thought, and was about to call Reiya over, but once she glanced back at the ghost girl, her mood fell again. While her injury healed, the ghost girl still didn't feel well, and complained about the injured area being sore. She was currently laying down on her side and slowly drinking another SP potion Laura gave her. Clara herself wasn't at 100% either. Once the adrenaline wore off, her leg began to hurt from the cut and her arms were aching from blocking so many hits. But everyone was tired or injured, so she couldn't exactly complain.
She passed down another bowl of soup, receiving a quiet 'thanks' in return, as the villager walked away from her and to a nearby table.
Well, if anything, having these two knives out will at least raise their mastery levels. Come to think of it, I barely used these since I got them. Well, I might have more uses with Change Tool, so I'll have to experiment later.
"Welp, that's the last of them. How are you holding up?" Goron asked. He was bandaged up and standing over her with a ladle, one hand in a cast.
"I'm… alright. What should I do with the rest of the soup?" Clara deflected, turning away from Goron and bringing his attention to the floating pot. Goron didn't say anything for a moment as he continued to look at Clara, but then he sighed and pointed to the table behind them with empty plates and pots.
"Just clean one of those pots and dump it in there. The villagers will use it later," he said, walking out of the makeshift kitchen. "After that, go take a break. Go check on Reiya and relax. I think we could all use a break after what happened."
"Yeah… thanks," Clara mumbled, tossing the soup into some empty pots and desummoning her skills. She glanced at Reiya again, who was now sitting up and staring in the direction where villagers began burying the dead. Clara took a deep breath and walked up to the girl, startling her out of her trance.
"How are you feeling?" Clara inquired, pulling a few things out of her weapon's inventory.
"Hm? Oh, I'm almost back to full strength. I'll be able to help out with the repairs in no time!" Reiya replied, transforming into the mushroom knight for a moment and flexing her muscles. Clara smiled and hugged the ghost mushroom girl tightly.
"Miss Clara? Is everything ok?" she asked, transforming back.
"Yeah, it's just… I'm so glad you're ok. When you got hurt it just… I didn't know what I would do if you weren't there anymore."
"You won't have to think about it, cause I'm not going anywhere!" Reiya exclaimed, smiling brightly and hugging Clara back.
"Thank you," Clara whispered, leaning onto Reiya and letting out a sigh of relief.
"But please keep yourself safe. I was so worried when you got hurt and I couldn't help you!" Reiya said, pulling Clara away for a moment. "I know you want to protect me, but I don't like to see you hurt either."
"I… yeah. I'll try to stay safer from now on. I actually wanted to stop by the blacksmith's shop to get a new pot for defense. And we can get you something too!" Clara suggested. "Then we can both be much safer."
"Great! What color do you think I should get?" Reiya asked, but her attention suddenly shifted back to the funerals. Clara turned back and her heart fell again as she remembered what transpired.
Reiya got up and began to walk over to the different graves, staring at something in front of her. Clara didn't see what she was looking at, but Reiya seemed to have tuned out everything else around her, like in a trance. Clara looked solemnly over the fresh graves, as people paid their respects to the dead.
If only I got here sooner. How many more could have lived?
"We are gathered here today," a man said in the middle of the graveyard. "...to honor those who have fallen while defending our village."
Clara looked down at the ground under her feet, trying to avoid any glances she got from the other people at the funeral.
"May the gods in the sky be merciful to their souls as they take the fallen into their embrace," he continued. Clara looked at some of the tombstones and felt her heart skip a beat. Written on one of the graves just a few inches away from her was a year difference of barely six years. Clara's blood ran cold as she realized that just six feet under her very feet was a child, not even six years of age. Someone with a whole life ahead of them had died today because of the attack.
"But their deaths were not in vain as we shall remember them as heroes who laid down their lives so that we could live," the man explained as he began to talk about the different people who passed away today. But Clara couldn't hear him over the loud beating of her heart.
Clara's eyes darted around the cemetery, looking at the year difference between the date of death and date of birth. With every age she saw she felt her stomach twist and her heart beat louder and louder, silencing out any other sound.
Her eyes fell to the last gravestone, where the number made the world around her freeze.
17.
It was another girl, the same age as her, that was now laying several feet underground. A girl just like her, who could have just as easily been her, was just a few feet of dirt away.
Clara turned away and began to walk as fast as she could, covering her mouth to keep her sobs from being heard. Her walking turned to running as she escaped into the forest, quickly making her way out of sight of the villagers and into the dense forest.
She didn't know how long she ran, but once she stopped, she was so far from the village that she couldn't even see it from in between the trees. She let out a choked sob and curled up under a tree, hiding her face in her arms.
Why couldn't I be there earlier? I should have left a portal knife after the wave! Or just stayed an extra day just in case. Maybe I could have saved more people then. But I can't be everywhere at once. What should I do?
Clara raised her head and her teary eyes fell on the knife on her hip.
Am I failing as a hero? Wouldn't someone else be better suited for the job than me?
The knife's gem shimmered for a moment, but nothing happened. Clara sighed and lowered her head again as she continued to cry.
It took a bit of time before she managed to finally calm down, her chest lightening up a bit. She glanced up and turned her attention to a nearby bush.
"E Float Knife," Clara called out, summoning her knife. "Erst Throw."
The floating construct, however, didn't seem to respond. Clara sighed and raised her own knife and used the skill again, blowing up the bush without a problem, sending bits of slime gloop flying away. Clara let out another sigh and attached her knife to her hip again.
I need to get stronger than this. I guess I can keep this one floating around for now to raise its mastery. When we stop by lunar and solar islands, I have to spam skills again.
Well, and try to use my weapons a bunch as well. But those can level up when I cook things, so those will strengthen themselves in the background. I wonder if it'll be faster if I swap the floating knives to knives to raise weapon mastery?
I should also get more knives and unlock the equip bonuses. Man, I need to visit the blacksmith's shop to get more knives. There is so much to do! I need to make a list later.
Clara groaned and leaned on the tree with her eyes closed, the stats and possible plans making her head spin.
Jim would have already made the most optimal way to grind stats… I wish he was here with me. Then maybe this journey would be kinda fun.
"Hey, there you are," Laura said, appearing above Clara. The girl jumped up in surprise and reached for her knife before she realized who was in front of her.
How does she do that? I couldn't even sense her coming! I have heat sense from my we- oh, she probably blocks that too.
"Well, your reflexes got better," Laura smiled, dropping down from the tree. "What's on your mind?"
"Just thinking of how to get stronger. You know, trying to distract myself from… things," Clara mumbled, glancing down at the ground. Laura smiled and sat down next to Clara and patted the ground. Clara sat down and leaned back on the tree, looking into the forest ahead.
"You know… you did pretty well," Laura began. "You didn't panic, you assessed the situation, and you seem to be getting the hang of the different skills and abilities of your weapon. I say you made a lot of progress over these few weeks."
"Yeah… I guess," Clara nodded in agreement, but her mood didn't get any better. Laura picked up on this and placed her hand on Clara's shoulder.
"Clara… I know this will be tough to hear, but you won't be able to save everyone. That's just part of life," she stated. Clara looked up at her and opened her mouth, but Laura continued. "It's not something you can stop, even if you're a hero. That's just something you have to accept."
"But why! Didn't you guys summon me to save everyone? If I can't do that, then why was I even chosen?" Clara asked, tears once again appearing on the corners of her eyes. Laura looked at the girl with a look of sympathy and concern.
"Clara, you aren't expected to save everyone. That's not something we expect out of you. That would be an impossible task for anyone, even a trained soldier or a superhuman," Laura began, wrapping her hand around Clara and bringing her closer. Clara hugged her legs and leaned on Laura for support. "We know at best you can minimize the damages from the waves. We're ready to support you in order to raise our own chances of survival. No one expects you to do this by yourself."
Clara wiped away the tears and nodded.
"I know… but… so many… some were younger than me! I just wish I could have saved them."
"Clara, look how many people you did save! If you didn't come with me, I would have had a much harder time trying to take both of those guys down," Laura explained, trying to cheer Clara up.
"But you took down the giant in seconds. Me and Reiya struggled with the lizard guy for a long time," Clara argued.
"True, but those seconds could have been several more lives that the second guy could have taken. Lives that are still here because of you," Laura insisted, poking Clara in the chest with her free arm. "You saved them by holding back an enemy stronger than you."
Clara paused for a moment before slowly nodding. "Yeah. I guess I did."
"And no one expected this attack. Hell, we summoned you to help us fight the waves. We didn't expect an attack on a village, and you weren't expected to protect us from it. Yet you did! So this isn't you failing to save a couple of people, but you saving a bunch of people from an unforeseen attack."
Clara thought about this for a moment and a small smile appeared on her face. Her heart felt a bit more at ease.
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Clara finally said after a long pause. "I needed to hear that."
Laura smiled back at her and patted her shoulder.
"Of course. If you need someone to talk to, or want to hear more embarrassing stories about Hol getting drunk, feel free to come to me."
"Thank you. I will," Clara smiled brightly. Laura patted her one last time and stood up.
"Now let's go. The ship is almost here. I know you can teleport, but I have to return the boat back to the docs so I need to get going."
Clara stood up and took a deep breath as she followed, feeling lighter and calmer than before. She knew she would still need to get much stronger than before, but she felt like just maybe, maybe, she could manage to get through this.
As Laura and Clara returned to the village, Clara noticed some villagers gathering over near an empty container and murmuring about something. Clara turned to Laura with a questioning look.
"What are they talking about," she inquired, gesturing to the gathering.
"They're still worried about the disappearance of the Dragon's Heart," Laura replied.
"What's the Dragon's Heart?" she asked.
"It's a piece of the dragon core. Long ago heroes of the past fought the Beast Emperor, one who supposedly controlled all monsters, in a battle for the world. In the end, the three heroes won the battle and shattered the core into many pieces, which were scattered across the world," Laura explained. "One is actually next to the hourglass in the royal palace, though it was also borrowed to make some weapons for Hol's and Ellis' team."
"Wow. Are they any good?"
"Oh definitely. Some of the best weapons were made with the shards of the Dragon's Heart. Though they were removed after the mission was done and either returned to the village it came from, or put into another weapon. Some were passed down from generation to generation. Oh, I remember Hol absorbed one, really pissing off one of the representatives because he absorbed a chunk of the core that belonged to that island representative's family for generations. Fun times," Laura smiled, remembering the memory.
"I see. You think I can get one of the shards added to a set of armor? Maybe it'll make me stronger. Or maybe give an accessory with one to Reiya, and have her get a boost to magic!" Clara rambled on.
"Maybe. I can ask the queen for you and she can get in touch with the few owners that are left. Actually, if those guys from earlier are after the fragments, then having one by you might not be such a bad idea," Laura mumbled, quickly pulling out her tablet. She began to rapidly tap away and walk away from Clara, closer to where the ship was begging to land.
"Miss Clara," Reiya piped up behind her, a tired look on her face.
"Is everything ok? You look exhausted," Clara asked in concern. She wasn't gone for that long, right?
"Oh, it's nothing much… it's just, some of the spirits wanted to say their final goodbyes… so I…" she mumbled, before stumbling forth and into her arms.
"R-Reiya!" Clara exclaimed, reaching into her pockets, but she came out empty handed as she remembered she still didn't have any SP potions.
"I'm ok… just sleepy," Reiya mumbled, before fully collapsing in the girl's arms. Clara wrapped her arms around her and opened her status.
"Laura, I'm gonna teleport back, see you on the ship," Clara yelled to the woman who was still on her tablet. Without waiting for an answer, Clara opened her status and selected a destination point, quickly teleporting away.
In the next moment, the two were in their bedroom. Clara gently laid Reiya down on her bed and turned to walk away, when she felt a weak tug on her sleeve.
"Mhn, don't… it's cold," Reiya mumbled, tugging Clara closer to her.
"Wait, Reiya, I still have t-," Clara began, but then her eyes locked with Reiya's half open and tired eyes. The two stared in silence for a moment until Clara relented and lowered herself onto the bed, laing down by Reiya's side. Reiya smiled weakly and snuggled closer to Clara, warming herself up. Clara wrapped her arms around Reiya as she gave into her own fatigue.
Well, it's getting late anyway. Everything else can wait until tomorrow.
"Goodnight, Reiya," Clara whispered, closing her eyes. A weak groan came back as a response, with Reiya already being too far asleep to answer.
As the light from the sky faded away, the two girls fell asleep in each other's arms to recover from the events of the day.