Volume 2 Chapter 56: New Encounters

*** Author's Note ***

Volume 2!

New characters to encounter and new adventures for Cloud to embark to!

Are you ready? Let's go!

***

"Lilya. We should go back. It is getting late. Father might be worried." A voice can be heard behind me.

Brushing a low branch off my way, I replied. "This is why I told you not to come with me, Miya. You can go ahead and go home. I saw a bright light coming from this direction and I will not go home before I know what caused it."

"You know I can't do that." Miya sheepishly replied, still on my trail. "Father will have my head if I don't come home with you. Mother is gone. Both Daniel and Mathew have been drafted by the army months ago and we haven't had news of them since. If something happen to us just to slake your curiosity, I don't think father' will be able to bear it. Could your conscience take that? Our father's life for your wishful thinking?"

The memory of our father getting his heartbroken after mother died from sickness and our brothers get taken away to fight for a war we didn't ask for flashed in my mind. But still… "I know that it is a sign! I prayed hard to the Goddess Luna day and night to save us from our troubles, and last night, she finally answered! I know that it is selfish. I know that it might be wishful thinking…" I feel a trail of tears run down my cheeks. "But could you blame me? For months now, both the Army and the Rebels have come to our farm and forced us to give our tributes of our harvest. Both of them demanding more every week, and when we couldn't give them what they ask, they took our brothers as payment. I have pleaded to father that we leave the farm and start anew to the south, or the east, or even to the Elven territory if they accept refugees. But father won't even consider doing so. Now we also have bandits banging at our door to extort us." I face my elder sister as I replied.

She looked at me with a sad expression, she then spoke with a soft voice. "I know how you feel. Do you think I also don't pray that they return our brothers back to us? I also wish for the Gods to save us from all this hardship, but wishing and praying won't solve our problems."

"Then tell me how to solve it then?" I yelled at her. Seeing that she is not answering, I continued "If you have no answer then either stay follow me and stay quiet or go home. Let me hold on this sliver of hope I have for a bit longer." I turned around and continued to walk towards the direction where I saw the bright light.

I know what she meant. I know that praying and wishing for something to get better is just wishful thinking. But I don't have any option left. Not only are we literally going to starve this winter from all the food that we give those bullies, I am also afraid of how those men look at my sister and me. We both tried to convince father to leave our farm, but he just won't budge. He was devastated on not being able to keep his promise with my mother before she died of protecting us siblings that he keeps holding on to whatever memento she have left him, which means my sister, me, and our house and farm. I fear that if we stay any longer there, that those savages will do something to us. Where else would I put my faith into if not in the Gods? If what the legends says is true, the Gods came to our aid and saved us from our previous doomed planet and placed us into this new one, it so, then saving a few people would be no problem to them right? If the Goddess Luna is the Goddess of mercy, wouldn't she look upon us and the hardship that we face and save us?

I try my best to keep what little hope in my heart as I continue my journey. I can hear the footsteps of my sister just behind me. Even back when we are little, my elder sister Miya have been my closest friend although she is 3 years older than me. I am close with my brothers too, but since we are both girls, I am closest with my elder sister. When my father was distraught by the loss of our mother, my sister was the one who kept us all together. She cooks, clean the house, and keep us all siblings in line. When my brothers were taken for draft, she comforted me and make me feel that everything will be fine. We started to help with father in the field, and although it is hard, I have never seen her cry or whine on how hard our life has become.

But strong as she is, I've seen her starting to look exhausted these few weeks from the stress from both working the fields, keeping the house, and dealing with the armed men who comes to take the fruits of our hard work. If this continues, our whole family will soon…

My train of thought was interrupted when I saw something in the riverbank. "Look! I see something there!" I said to my sister before running off.

"Hey Lil! Don't run so fast! Wait for me!" I hear my sister say behind me.

As I close in on the thing that I saw, it became clearer what it is. It is a man! I stopped running and stood there staring at the unconscious man lying on the bank of the river. After a few seconds, my sister finally caught up to me.

"I told you not to run. What if you tripped and hit your head? What would I tell father then?" My sister said in concerned voice. Then she finally noticed the unconscious man. "Is that… A man? Is he alive? What is he doing lying unconscious here?" My sister asked.

"Look who is curious now?" I teased her. "Well, we will get no answer just standing here. How about we go ahead and find out?" I started to slowly walk towards the unconscious man. As I move closer, I notice more of his features. He looks to be at least as tall as my brothers, a little more than 180 cm. He have messy black hair that reaches up to his shoulder and his beard… I've seen bandits who have a neater beard than his. His clothes were all in taters and is covered with… Is this blood? But I don't see any wound on his body. Blood of his enemies' maybe? Is he also a bandit?

"Lil… Why are you stopping? Aren't you going to go check on him?" I hear my sister say. She is now beside me.

"But…" I stammer as look at the blood stained clothes of the man.

"I know what it looks like. But we cannot just leave a man like this. The Goddess Luna will frown upon us." She looks at me with a gentle smile on her face. "How about we take him to a safe place and tend on him. May he be a soldier, a rebel, or a bandit, a man will be thankful to us for saving his life, will he not? Also, the Goddess Luna will sure bless us for this act of mercy." She explained, then she chuckled. "Who knows? He might be the answer to your prayer?"

How could a dirty looking man who looks like a bandit be the answer to my prayer? Oh well. "Okay. Let's carry him under that tree first before we check for injuries. Maybe after we start a fire to warm his body, he will regain his consciousness." I see my sister smile at my answer. We then both put his arms over our shoulders and started to carry him under a nearby tree.

Heh. That's my sister. Even when she thinks that my ideas are crazy, she is still there to support me and help me see it through.

**

Ughh!!! My head hurts… What happened? Where am I? Why it is so dark? All that I can remember was fighting that demon in one on one combat. I used all of my Energy to deliver one last blow at the demon and…

Oh right. My attack caused an explosion that threw me off a cliff. As I fell, I hit all the branches of a tree and even hit my head hard.

This cold feeling. Am I dead? I know that I am not in the Void, for if I were then I wouldn't feel like shit right now.

Wait… Now I am feeling warmth… So comfortable, this warmth…

I groaned in pain and started to slowly open my eyes… At first it was blurry. But soon I was able to see things clearly, and the first thing I laid my eyes upon was a woman who is staring right at me. Her face was only a few centimeter away. Seeing that I have opened my eyes the girl was surprised and fell on her behind.

"Oh! You surprised me. I thought that we have to leave you here behind for it is already getting dark. But you wake up quick." The woman said as she stood up and brush away the dirt on her clothes.

She is about 165 centimeter tall. She have flowing red hair that reaches up to her waist. Her eyes brown eyes are tantalizing and full of curiosity. From what I can see, she has a slender figure although I am not that sure because she is wearing a dress that village girls in video games wear. Her face is pretty, although not at the level of the Elves. Her fair skin and freckles doesn't take away from her beauty, instead, it makes her more alluring.

Noticing her shy away, I may have been gazing at her for too long. "Sorry if I have made you uncomfortable. I haven't thanked you yet for saving me but here I am, gawking at your beauty." Gawking at your beauty? Smooth Cloud. Just smooth. I turn my face away as I feel my face turn red at the thought of my embarrassing pick up line. I turn my gaze back at the woman and saw that she is more uncomfortable than before. Damn it! I know that I am not the most handsome man in the world, but at least don't look disgusted at me. I feel like I could die right now. I try to stand in order to introduce myself. But my legs feel weak and I failed. "Ugh! Sorry, I would stand and introduce myself if I could. But I feel weak right now so if you don't mind, let me introduce myself while sitting. Hi! My name is Cloud Alistair. From the looks of it, you have saved my life. Thank you very much!" I said while bowing.

"Oh! Ummm… Don't worry about it. I… erm… We are just glad that we could help someone in need." She said in a meek voice. "I am Lilya Ingvild. That is my sister, Miya Ingvild." She pointed at a woman who I didn't notice earlier. Lilya's sister look much like her, only with short hair that reach up to her shoulder and she doesn't have freckles on her face.

"Miss Lilya, Miss Miya, again I would like to show my gratitude for saving my life. I don't know what would've happened to me if you hadn't save me." I bowed once more at the two sisters.

"No need to bow Mr. Cloud. If I could ask, how did you end up washed up in the river? There are not much human in the forest so it is a surprise to find one unconscious in a riverbank." The woman named Miya asked.

How should I explain this? They look so curious so I don't think I could dodge this. Should I lie? Even if I tell them the truth, I don't think that they will believe that I fell from a cliff and survive. Noticing that I have left them waiting for a minute, I answered. "Erm… I got lost in the woods and was climbing a tree to scout the area but lost my footing and slipped. When I fell, I hit my head on a branch and lost consciousness."

"I see…" Miya ponders. "What about your clothes? What happened to you that it got your clothes torn this much? Also, what about the blood stains on it?"

For a woman, Miya is asking such straight and sharp questions. "I am stuck in the forest for months. Through those months, I've been attacked by wild animals. Mostly predators. My blood stained torn clothes are the result of my encounter with them." I answered.

"Poor guy." I hear Lilya whisper. "I am glad that you are okay. By the way Mr. Cloud, you said that you are lost. Where are you from?"

Shit… I don't know a name of a single place in this damn planet. I need to think of something… That's it! "Ahmmm… I am from the Monastery."

"Monastery? Where's that? A city here in West Krishna?" Lilya tilts her head in a cute way and asked.

"No… It is somewhere in the East. Far East." I answered.

"Is that so? That means you come from somewhere far. Why did you come here in the west Mr. Cloud?" Lilya asked once more.

"Uhm… I am just travelling around. Learning everything I can about the world before returning home." Nice save… I just hope they bought it.

I look at Lilya and look like it worked on her. Although, looking at Miya, she looks like she is suspicious of me.

"What do you feel about the Kingdom and the Rebels Army?" Miya continued to ask.

What the hell? Am I being interrogated right now? Because I feel like I am being interrogated right now. I don't think that these women are fighter. Even in my weakened state, I don't feel like I would lose to them. Although, I have met women that are crazy strong in this world. What if they are just hiding their strength? Lulling me to a sense of safety, and when my answer is not in their taste, baam! I get socked in the face. Or worse.

Better not think too hard or they might become more suspicious. I will just tell them what I honestly feel based on my experience dealing with both factions. "They are both awful." I answered.

"Is that so?" Miya said. There is a hint of smile on her face.

Did I answered correctly? I mean. Both of them are headed by sibling princes. Kaizer sounds and acts like a dictator who do as he pleases. Everyone dislikes a dictator right? Arthur on the other hand is a spoiled brat in my experience. Last but not the least, they both tried to kill me. So they are both assholes in my book. Glancing at the sisters, they don't show any negative reaction so I might be in the clear.

"So Cloud. If you are not with the Krishnan Army or the Rebels, are you a bandit by any chance?" Lilya asked.

"Lil. If he is a bandit, not that I think you are Mr. Cloud, do you think he will answer your question truthfully?" She admonish her sister.

"No need for scolding. To answer your question Miss Lilya, no I am not. I am but a wanderer who got lost in the forest. To be honest, this is the first time I've seen a person for three months. Not to mention two kind hearted ones. The Gods truly are merciful." I told the two.

"No need to be so formal Mr. Cloud. Just call me Lilya." Lilya smiled.

"True. We are not but lowly commoners, no need to be formal. You can call me Miya, Mr. Cloud." Miya also smiled. Which is unnerving because I can feel that behind her smile, she is still scrutinizing me. As if she is trying to find out if I am a threat to them even after I try to be the nicest that I can.

"If we are dispensing formalities, then you can also call me Cloud." I smiled. "Could you wait for a minute? I feel weak and need to meditate a bit." After seeing them nod in approval, I closed my eyes and Visualize. Everything seem to be in the green, so that means that I am uninjured. The feeling of weakness I am feeling right now seem to be caused by lack of Energy. I observed the Ki that is encircling my body. I try to draw from the outside to increase my recovery, but it doesn't work. Maybe it is because I don't have any Void energy left in my body.

If that is the case, then how do I recover Ki faster? Just let it flow through my body?

Since I don't have anything better to do, I tried doing just that. First, I closed all the Ki nodes in my body to prevent any Ki leak and then I let my Ki circulate my body. It starts from my core right in my stomach and flows through the channels in my body. My chest is next, then it flows to my limbs and head. Then it returns to my chest and back to my Core. After one revolution, I felt slightly better, like the Ki increased by a miniscule amount but it is better than before when I am almost empty.

I felt someone tug my arm and I opened my eyes.

"Cloud! Oh you're finally awake. Thank the Gods. It is already dark. We tried to wake you up from your meditation after a minute passed but you wouldn't wake up. Me and my sister is about to leave you here if you still didn't wake up. I am glad that you did." Lilya said with a concerned look on her face. "So how was it Cloud? Do you feel better?" She asked.

"Yeah. I am better now. Thanks for waiting." I answered. I tried to stand once more, this time I succeed as strength is returning to my limbs. I still feel weak, but at least I could move now. Damn. Just how long did I meditate? An hour or two? Just for a single revolution? It has only been a few hours since I regained consciousness and I already miss Void Energy. With it I could recover in an instant. Sigh… I guess I am stuck recovering energy like a peasant now.

"I assume that you don't have somewhere to stay the night?" Lilya asked. "If not, then how about you stay in our house?"

Miya then jumped in, "To be specific, you will sleep in the barn. But compared to camping out in the forest, the barn should be an upgrade right?"

Lilya looks at her sister with a frown but Miya doesn't look like she will budge. Not that I mind. A barn really is an upgrade compared to sleeping in hard, cold ground of the forest. Not to mention I might get attacked by wild animals if I sleep in the open.

"It's fine. If you don't want to impose. Huh?" I was then interrupted when I sensed something approaching.

Rustling sound can be heard and light from a torch can be seen piercing through the darkness. After a few seconds, two men appeared from behind the trees.

"Lookie here Gus! We have two pretty young'uns hangin out with an old man!" A scruffy looking man holding a torch says. He is wearing only shirt and pants. No armor. On his hips is a short sword. I failed to sense them until they got this close. Maybe there is something wrong with me? Thankfully he don't look and feel strong.

"Yeah Jes. They also be pretty. How bout it lassies? Leave the old man and play with us? We be young bucks and be a better ride than an old foggy." The man who I assume is Gus says with a lecherous look in his face. His gear is much like his friend, only this one seem to prefer clubs rather than a short sword. He also don't look and feel strong to me. Compared to the ones I have faced before, they are garbage. Although my strength has greatly diminished from my fight against that OP demon.

What's more, they called me something that I can't accept. Old man? Do I really look old you damn fucks?

I glanced at the girls and see them visibly shaking. Seeing the scared look on their face stirred something inside me.

I started to walk towards the two scoundrels. "Sigh… My body is still stiff. Some stretching is in order."