Chapter 53: Respite

Alleria noticed even if she did nothing, she was safe and sound. Being protected around was a good feeling but Sena's intervention made her a little dissatisfied. She wasn't weak to be guarded like a damsel, although the same damsel was in distress earlier. With some opportunities, she managed to get hold of the dagger and fought back. After a bit of struggle, she was confident to kill the despicable troll, who tried to die alongside with her. When the troll's eye turned red, the sudden transformation confused her, and she became wary. But his snarl shocked her soul, causing a slight second of stillness and that scum took advantage nearly defeating her. Before she was capable to move and counter-kill this troll, Sena ended his life. Alleria was unwilling to let her merit slip by her hand only for a moment.

"Well, you should at least say something to me, right?" Sena came in and patted her shoulders. "It's okay this grappling happened and it wasn't your fault. Everyone does experience this at some point where they least expect it. Alright, stop looking around. Your missy is fine with me here. Clear out the area around! Chop! Chop!"

Sena clapped her hands and spread her subordinates across the field. Seeing Sena beside Alleria to placate, everyone was relieved and went out to continue their job. Some were reluctant and wanted to apologize for their failure but were glared at by their captain. Sena never thought they had failed during Alleria's duel, because soon someone would realize what to do next even without her involvement.

"You know, I don't really need your help. I could still have killed him." Alleria muttered dissatisfied while she attempted to stand up. She was still lying down on the soil, dirty from rolling over a lot during the fight. Putting pressure on her hand, Alleria raised her body but was helpless as she was drained of energy.

"I'm not taking any chances. I already give you around a couple of seconds and you still haven't solved it. Not to mention, I didn't even see what you were doing at the moment." Sena shrugged not bothered by Alleria's discontent with her help. Knowing clearly deep inside the heart of the young lady in front, her dissatisfied comment seemed unconvincing to Sena. She also discovered Alleria's arms shaking when trying to get up from the ground. This process went on several times, always ending with Alleria exhaling a large amount of air in displeasure. She was definitely in no good shape, prompting Sena to stretch out her hand.

Alleria saw her hand and paused a moment. She said: "But thanks for saving me and I've learned my lessons. At least, you're not annoying as I thought. I expect you to laugh at my situation after your rescue. I guess I'll owe you now."

Alleria reached out and clutched Sena's hand tightly, who pulled her out of the embarrassment, and allowed her to lean on Sena's shoulder. It was challenging for her to even stand by herself.

Sena never lost her balance even with an extra weight, but the girl's spoken words caused her lips to twitch. Couldn't she simply mouth her gratitude without antagonizing her simultaneously? If not for being the daughter of her beloved Lireesa, she had already overthrown her from her shoulders in irritation. Be calm and composed, you're an adult. Don't compare yourself with an underage, she soothed herself.

"You owe me none. I'll do the same for any of my comrades and you shall too." Sena said while she walked to the clean place with Alleria's arm over her shoulders. "And I believe your mother will be proud of you today because what you did was what we couldn't succeed in or we never dared to try at your age. Yet here you are standing as a victor."

"More like a pathetic wimp in a groundfight." Alleria murmured shaking her head in denial.

"The process isn't important. The final result is. Who has the last laugh and remained living is the key." Sena cut in to cheer Alleria up. "No matter how dishonorable or shameful your fight appeared to be. You stand tall to spit at the troll. That's enough. Honor is second to me, being alive and well is the first. Besides, no one in our guards looked down on you."

Alleria rolled her eyes in secret, no wonder her mother previously forbade her to learn from Sena, whose thoughts weren't wrong in the chaotic world, but Lireesa was different because she regarded honor and principle as everything. Even though Alleria agreed with Sena's opinion related to her fights, she still held the belief Lireesa taught her since young. She wasn't going to throw that character away because of just one struggling battle. As Sena resumed her persuasions with more life morals stories, Alleria interrupted to a new topic, lest her upright principle became crooked.

"I'm puzzled why the troll suddenly transformed in the middle of our duel?" Alleria voiced her doubts and sought the reason from the veteran like Sena, though she grasped lightly what actually happened, she needed confirmation. "The sudden gain in strength and the beastlike behavior. His sanity's gone but to kill regardless. I know even undangerous animals can bite back when cornered, but isn't this troll a bit overexaggerating."

And what Sena said next confirmed her guess: "I wasn't expecting this too. But you're a bit unlucky to face the rare class among the troll's profession. Or should I say you're lucky. What you dueled with was the berserker class. I say unlucky because they were renowned as the fiercest and rarest professions. I say you're lucky because the berserker has many spells to utilize and trouble the range unit, but he seemed to underestimate you and nullified himself. What happened there was he used the berserk, where his strength, speed, and thinking increased with the advantage of feeling no pain. A berserker can even gnaw living things to recover themselves quickly. His roar could stun everyone around for a split second and that's the reason you were on the ground. But he was indeed level 7 not long ago. Otherwise, your opponent as a berserker could really get you killed."

After hearing Sena's explanation, Alleria signed out in relief with a bitter expression. She really was fortunate, but she was confident Sena could eliminate this troll before he threatened her. But when her heart focused all during the duel, she forgot she still had a companion and fought to survive, especially at the moment when Alleria was squeezed to death. Thinking she was all alone, scared, and helpless, but not willing to die just like that. She forgot Sena and forgot everything around, just the troll and her. Who survived was the testament of her will. Her struggle was meaningful and she really turned the whole situation around. For her, it was a life-and-death scenario. For others, Alleria didn't shame the surname and won the duel albeit in a dangerous way.

Sena supported Alleria near a big tree and lay her down with her back on it. Alleria was exhausted and even felt a little sleepy. Noticing her eyes wavering and losing concentration, Sena realized what happened wasn't alarming yet mustn't be careless. She already checked Alleria since she got her up from the ground and now to assure herself from mistaking, Sena once again inspected Alleria from her head to toe to find any injuries although she wasn't sure about the internal wounds. Alleria was squashed. Okay? Even if nothing happened, she needed to thoroughly examine and test Alleria's body.

Now that the precarious moment had passed and Alleria's adrenaline dipped. She became lethargic and the pain soon flared up in her brain. The hormones available during her fight decreased with the passage of time. She no longer could neglect her pain. The agony was excruciating but it wasn't to the brink of danger. It was mostly because she used too much energy that her entire body became weak and prone to outside hazards such as the weather, especially at night. She heard a crack beside her ears and found Sena pinching her fingers to produce such a sound. She was awake in an instant and realized her own situation

Sena wiped out the sweats off Alleria's skin ignoring her complaining eyes because she wasn't definitely wiping with her own but Alleria's. Her whisper echoed beside the nearby rangers' ears and called them for help. She asked them to pick up the torch thrown away by trolls during the initial panic and bring it to her. The rangers did what she told them and came back to her. With the torch, Sena discovered Alleria feeling more comfortable from the heat and ordered the rest for a respite similar to her. Soon, Sena saw many behaving in the same way and gathered together in separate groups around the fire source.

Whenever Alleria wanted to sleep, she was forcibly shaken by Sena. If not for her caring look, Alleria would already be pissed. Alleria had no more strength to move and she needed a quick rest. That's why she wasn't worried about sleeping since her opinion believed such respite was in fact good for her but she had no idea why Sena disagreed. Perhaps noting her unconvinced appearance, Sena explained: "It's for your own good. You can sleep but not now when you still haven't recovered the ability to move even. Talk with me, how you're feeling?"

"Not very well, especially with your 'care'. A nurse who didn't even allow a patient to sleep." Sena ignored Alleria's sarcastic remarks and glanced around. Her eyes constricted to get a better vivid view of the sky during nighttime. A dragonhawk rider was coming and she would soon know the summary of the whole battle.

Sena replied back, "It's not so simple to sleep especially when you're at the weakest point. The vulnerability to external factor will increase if you did what you desire. If you really slept, you're susceptible to illness that will come and drag the whole group. You wouldn't want that, Alleria?"

Alleria shook her head since she already agreed with Sena but she just wasn't used to being tacit with her. It felt like something missing when the two didn't bicker. After the duel, she wondered if her opinion had greatly changed whether affected by a near-death experience and she wanted to investigate. Since Sena began to show her concern and tend to her without complaints, Alleria saw her from a new perspective, feeling Sena wasn't bad to be part of the family after all. She was responsible and liked her mother which Alleria had no idea how long had she been, until discovered recently. Well, her thoughts changed after hearing what Sena spoke next.

"How's it? Am I not suitable to become another mother for you and your sisters? I'm very compassionate and willing to fulfill my obligations. I even tried hard now not to throw away you, nasty girl as your elder." It really killed the mood brewed a short time ago. Alleria's head twitched from her cheeky braggings. She lost the energy to even voice out her arguments and closed her eyes to stay away from her mother-want-to-be elder.

Gratitude was there but she was absolutely not selling Lireesa. If not for saving her, she would keep a distance from this eyesore. She sensed the wind was stronger than before and heard a rumble. Opening her eyes, a dragonhawk rider came down from her mount in her view. The rider strode to Sena and reported everything back.

All the elements succeeded in their ambush and no casualties at the moment. Many trolls escaped but the majority were already dead. The short operation was a success and what they were anticipating was the troll's reaction to their forceful annihilation of the troll's vanguard. But the rest of Windrunners were listening and waited for more but couldn't help but notice the slightly twisted face of the rider.

Sena asked worried, "What happened? Anything that causes your concern?"

The rider was speechless for a moment and said: "We may have a situation."