40 Oh, The Things I Do For Love

(Morgan Pov)

Sorry guys, normally I would be the one who would take charge and make sure everything goes smoothly. However like the saying goes, "Man proposes, God disposes." I don't want to leave you guys, but I have to do this for my own peace of mind.

I wanted to be that person you guys can come to, to depend on, the one you can talk to. But like most other things, I think I went too far. I became that pillar like I originally set out to do, now I realize that I have been making things too easy for all of you.

You guys are starting to become too dependent on me, what would happen if I am gone. All of you need to learn how to function in my absence. It will be rough, but we are in luck because there is just enough time to fix this problem.

The first thing that needs to happen is the selection of a new leader, someone you believe you can rely on. It doesn't matter who you guys choose, I will help them with what they need to know or do. After that, we will try to replace the other roles I currently have.

Not sure if it will work, but it's better than nothing. Enough of that, I should focus on my current objective. The adults of the tribe set up a test for us, they want to see if we are ready to consider us adults. Our tribe has a rule that only adults are allowed to come and leave the tribe.

I'm part of the reason why this test was pushed ahead of schedule, I was planning to leave the tribe sooner or later. The other factor was the fact that as a group we were already very well prepared to take this test. So things worked out for the best on that end.

As a handicap of sorts, we also have to take care of seven children while finding a way to manage a campground without any help. It was a way to justify the shorter test length, and I of course got the blame for it. I didn't really care, I needed this test to happen before I could leave.

As for what I am doing now, I was given a separate test by Hassar before he will let me go with his blessing. I have to prove to him that I have the power to survive out there alone. I don't even know how to do that, I mean I have one idea on the table.

It's a really fucked up way of getting the point across, but I don't know what else I can do to show him ready for the world. The only problem is the witness or rather someone who can back up my claims. I'll worry about that later, I should get ready for my patrol of the area.

I love this vanish spell, I always loved the idea of stealth and doing things unseen. In my last life, I was a big dude very noticeable and not at all suited for traditional stealth. So I instead found ways to be crafty, that would help me out in my job later down the line.

I'm still a tall bastard, but thanks to magic I can now do stealthy things with relative ease. I just need to be calm, quiet, and careful. That sounds easy and simple enough, but I fucked it up a lot in the past. All that time I spent hunting has prepared me for moments like these.

The best part of the vanish spell is how cost-effective it is. The vanish spell lasts for about 3 hours and at half of the cost of a normal combat spell. Right now I can cast offensive magic about 25 times.

Not a bad number all things considered, but that's only at the lowest level. Right now my magic is only powerful enough to cast at the base level. That limits my options by quite a bit. I could cast more, but that would be sacrificing a lot of the power in the spells.

That's enough rambling for now, I have a job to do. Alright, take a deep breath and focus. I need to push my senses to their limits and try to get as much information as I can. I am going to use another spell, I can't risk channeling magic into me.

Using a spell is not effective as channeling, but it's a lot harder to detect. As the magic is coming from within me and not the world. They would have to be extremely close to me to catch even the slightest trace of my magic. I'm skilled enough to ensure no catastrophic leaks happen.

Knowledge of magic is harder to come across in Sacae. So the odds of running into someone who knows magic is relatively low. Even lower for someone having the skill to be able to detect that minuscule amount of magic. Still, it's always better to be on the safe side.

Burning a full spell, I need every advantage I can get. I'm going to boost my sight, hearing, and olfaction. Fuck me, this going to be so disorientating. My body already has trouble keeping up with my mind, this surge of information will just make it worse.

If I were to make a comparison, a normal person pushing their mind to the limit would be a 10. My default is at an 11 and casting a spell will bring me to a 15 in an instant. I hope anything I spot is far away from me, I need time for my body to recover from that sudden jump.

I see a group of ten getting closer, let's see what I can discern from their clothing. I recognize some of the patterns on their clothes. Some of them belong to tribes we are allied with, but what is concerning is that some of the patterns belong to tribes that are enemies with each other.

They are also armed, which is not unusual out here. Still, it is something I need to make note of. I don't want to jump to any conclusions, let's see if my nose can't pick anything up. Their clothes look clean enough, but I can smell human blood on them.

That is a scent I can never forget, given the amount of times I had to deal with it in my previous career. Fuck, they aren't making much noise either. Shit, I can't get any more information from them. Then again, their silence is a clue itself.

There is a good number of them and they are making an effort to not be heard. Even with my enhanced hearing, I can barely hear them getting closer. Judging by how good they are at sneaking, they must have had a lot of experience doing this.

It's looking very likely that these guys are bandits of sorts. They're not the strongest people I have seen on the plains, but they are still a threat to the group. Roughly 4 of them are out of our league, we would lose in a straight-up fight against them.

Unfortunately for us, there are 6 other people we have to deal with. The power of cooperation is deadly and I have no idea what they are capable of. They are still alive, so that means they are very competent at the very least. Who is the strongest looking one out of the three?

I don't want to take any chances, too much for me to lose. I can probably get 3 free attacks off before the spell wears off and they notice me. And I can get a couple of more potshots when they try to get closer

Fuck it. I'm taking the shot.

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(Lyn Pov)

I didn't think it would be this hard to select a leader. At the start, everyone was too scared to volunteer for the job. We started to talk and things slowly got worse as we started to argue with each other.

We all want the best for the group, but we all have different ideas for what the best is. It doesn't help that we aren't the best at talking. We were having a hard time trying to convince each other to take our side. I wonder how he does it, he makes it look so easy.

At some point in our discussion, I started to sense Morgan moving strangely. I don't know why, but I got the idea to sneak off and go check on him. Thinking back on it now, what I am doing is very foolish. It's not safe to leave without telling anyone and to move alone.

I just have a bad feeling about what he is doing and I can't help but worry about him. In the beginning, I started to hear the sounds of fighting off towards the direction he was in. What is starting to scare me is getting a lot more quieter the closer I get.

I see him, but what happened here? The first thing I see is Morgan taking a strong stance, I see magic flowing out of two of Morgan's fingertips. I know it's magic because it looks unnatural, it looks like a shimmering black light. I never saw his magic in this color, it looks very ominous.

As I stop looking at Morgan and look more at my surroundings, I see another man here. He is tall, hairy and he looks like a strong person with all of those muscles. I don't know what happened, but I can tell he is not a friend.

After taking a good look at the other man, I noticed 3 things immediately. The first thing was his anger which I not only saw on his face, but I also felt. The other things I noticed were his axe and the way he was standing.

He looks like he is ready to strike at any moment and anyone with eyes can tell he wants to kill Morgan. Morgan is the first one to notice me and he immediately steps to the side to block me from the other man's vision.

The man can't see me and I can't see him now, but that doesn't mean I'm completely hidden from him. He definitely noticed me and I know he did because I felt him direct all of his anger to me as Morgan was taking that single step. What did Morgan do to make him so angry?

What happened while we were having our meeting? All I know is that coming here alone was a mistake and it isn't safe here at all. What do I do now? Should I go get help?

"Damn it!"

As I was lost in my thoughts, Morgan yells and before I know it he is diving on top of me. As we were falling to the ground, I heard something moving through the air. I think he was trying to throw his axe at me. I messed up again, I should have paid more attention to my surroundings.

Morgan got up before I could, but by that point, the stranger already got too close to us.

"DIE!!"

"Damn it!"

After I hear him shout out loud, I immediately hear a disturbing sound. The sound of metal tearing into flesh and then a faint cracking sound. But Morgan doesn't make a single sound after getting struck by the axe. All he does is move his left hand behind his back.

*Snap*

A light suddenly came out of his fingers and I had to close my eyes because of how bright it was. I then hear a loud popping sound, and then it is silent. No one is making any noise, so I have no idea what is going on. I have to wait until I can see before I can learn anything new.

I didn't see where Morgan got hit, but I know at this moment he has an axe buried in him. Why would he waste his time blinding me?

"Damm it, I really liked this shirt too. Haaaa, I should really get some gloves. Oh well, what's done is done."

When I open my eyes, I just see Morgan standing there alone. The other man is nowhere to be seen. Can magic make people disappear?

"Where did he go?"

"Don't worry about it Lynlyn, I took care of the problem. Are you okay? Did I hurt you when I jumped on top of you?"

When Morgan turned to check on me, I got a clear view of his wound. His shirt is just soaked in his blood. I also see him crossing his arms, but he is clenching his right hand. He doesn't want me to see his right hand or his wound.

"Why are you asking me if I am okay? You're the one who is bleeding out!"

"Well, you're very small and light. I am very big and heavy. I ran as fast as I could and then jumped on top of you. You could have easily gotten hurt from that. Don't worry about me, it's just a scratch. I'm a doctor so I can treat it later on."

"I can still see the blood coming out of your wound! Move your arms. I want to see how bad it is."

"Okay, it's a deep scratch then. But you still haven't answered my question."

"I'm fine! Treat your wound immediately! Why didn't you dodge the axe?"

"I saw how slow you were to respond to that axe that was thrown. I knew you wouldn't be able to respond in time if I dodged that attack. Even if you were fast enough to dodge, I still wouldn't take that chance. It was better for me to take the hit and ensure your safety."

"You could have died!"

"I'm okay with that."

"Wha-"

"I had the choice between my life and yours, I chose yours. That doesn't mean I'm throwing my life away. It just means that I'm more comfortable risking my life for yours. I knew what I was doing. I had a higher chance of surviving the hit and taking care of the enemy afterward.

I just needed him to get closer to me, close enough so that he couldn't dodge my next attack. Even if I couldn't finish him off, that would have bought you enough time to escape and weaken him. I was fine with whatever happened, that's why I was fine with risking my life."

"You could've thought of a better idea! No, I know you came up with more than one plan. You didn't have to use this plan."

"Like I said, I wanted to ensure your safety. I did not want to take any risks, so I chose the plan that got me the best result."

"I knew it! You're crazy! You didn't want to take any risks, I don't believe you. You used a plan that got you wounded, a plan that could have gotten you killed. What you did doesn't make any sense to me. Why? Why did you feel like this was the better plan?"

Morgan is not the type of person to do something as foolish as this. There must be a reason as to why he did this. My instincts are telling me this has nothing to do with getting the best result. I think it has to do with how he felt at that moment. I could be wrong, but I don't care.

I just want to know.

"Death is not what I am most afraid of, far from it. I hate being useless far more than I fear death. I'll be honest, I stopped thinking properly the moment he threw that axe you. I acted on pure emotion and did all of that without thinking about the consequences.

I used the first plan I thought of to not waste any time. I don't have a problem risking my life, especially in a situation like that. I love everyone in our group and I love everyone in our tribe. It didn't matter who came up to that fight.

As soon as they were in danger, I probably would have done the same thing or something just as foolish. I don't think I'm crazy for risking my life to protect my loved ones. Isn't it normal to do everything you can to keep them safe? But I will admit, I'm not exactly like other people.

I know for sure I'm not normal, but something I have to accept. This event made me realize there isn't much I wouldn't do if you just asked me to do it. I mean look at what I just did, I willingly killed a person, and to be honest I didn't feel anything about it.

I could probably do worse things than that and I will probably not regret it all. I don't really need a good reason to do those kinds of things. I know I love all of you and that's all I need to know. When I was killing that man, I was more concerned about what you would see.

That is the reason why I blinded you, I cared more about not scaring you than killing a person. I even hid the body with magic just to make sure you don't feel uncomfortable."

That's why I can't find the body, but now I have another question. How did he kill him so quickly? No, I shouldn't be thinking about that. He's still bleeding out, why doesn't he care about this as much as I do.

"Please treat your wounds now."

"Hold up, now I have something to ask you. Don't tell anyone else about what happened here. I won't treat my wounds until you promise not to tell the others."

"Why?"

"I hate making people worry about me and that's the last thing I want. I don't want them to waste their time with me, I want them to focus on their tasks and pass this test. I also don't want them to feel any guilt for not being there to help me.

Judging by how long I was out here patrolling and how only you showed up after all that time passed. You all still couldn't come up with an answer you all agree to. The last thing they need is the guilt from not making a decision fast enough."

"You got into a fight with a random bandit out in the plains. You don't have to hide that."

"I have another confession to make, the situation was a lot worse than you think it was. If you look more closely, you'll find 9 more bodies out there. I'm not going to lie to you, all of those bandits were stronger than us.

If I didn't have magic, we probably would have gotten killed by them. Ideally, this would be something we would take on as a group. But I had to take care of it on my own, you can see why the others might start to feel guilty.

I got a severe wound while they were not making any progress, you can see why they might feel responsible. That's how I would feel in a situation like that, but the truth is it's no one's fault. I still want to avoid that problem altogether if I can, so please don't tell them."

"You're still crazy."

"No, I'm just dying. Please promise me you won't tell them about the fight or this wound. Wow, this is a lot more blood than I was expecting. Oh boy, I think I'm about to pass out from blood loss soon."

"I promise! Just take care of yourself now."

"Thank you Lynlyn. This is going to hurt me a lot, so don't be too scared if I start to scream in pain. I am going to clean the wound. I'm starting to lose some strength, I might need your help later with bandaging it."

"Shut up and just do it already!"