Reaching Merkley

The sudden dash of the two had surprised Rena. Their running ability had a strange power, and both of them were moving at an unnatural pace.

Each step they took had the ability to defy physics and as if the ground below them were moving for them.

"Chicken King! This bad boy is a legacy of the Wind God. And the wind is just a step away to Time and Space." Dyne began to narrate.

Rena was slowly getting used to the sudden speed, and they began to move faster. The apes that were chasing them could not catch up, and soon, Dyne and Rena had disappeared from their sight.

With the Chicken King's power, Dyne and Rena ran towards the village Merkley's location.

"But the drawback of this ability is that it only works when we are running away from an enemy. But we can use it to travel from one place to another quickly. So I'll attack whatever monster, and then we run away. Just keep holding my hand, Big Sis. Can you keep up?" Dyne asked.

"Stamina Boosts!" Rena shouted as their entire bodies became lighter, and it was as if their breathing became easier.

"Amazing, Big Sis! This magic practically helps me improve my breathing!" Dyne was amazed.

"You're very funny, Little Brother. In this world, it's a common spell for Light Mages like me." Rena explained.

"Oh? Light Mage, huh?" Dyne noted this Mind Cultivation Path. He could not help but recall Brigandine.

Soon, a lone Goblin was found. Dyne ambushed it and slapped it. He was careful to minimize the strength of his slap not to kill it. After that, he ran away as the Goblin grew mad. This allowed them to move towards the exit of the forest quickly.

They would attack a monster when they found one. Thanks to Dyne's amazing Soul Cultivation, Dyne could roughly sense the location of the nearest enemies.

"Amazing! This speed! We might even catch up with the villagers who left earlier!" Rena exclaimed as they had traveled further and further out of the forest.

"Yeah. But I'll be rushing back inside, Big Sis. I need to check out the place of the Kong Apes. I'm looking for a powerful energy source that will awaken another Soul Weapon that is ten or twenty times stronger than Grim. If I awaken it, then all your problems are solved." Dyne explained.

"What? If that's the case, I'm coming with you!" Rena urged.

"I thought you'd say that. That's why we're rushing outside of this forest. So you can settle some things." Dyne chuckled.

"What things?"

"The villagers leave the forest, and you are not with them. They make the announcement that you are dead. What will your adoptive parents do?"

"You're right! They'd be horrified and try to enter the forest!" Rena realized this.

"So we are going out of the forest to show them that you are alright, and you talk to your parents and prove that you are alive," Dyne explained.

"But wait… How did you know that they are my adoptive parents?" Rena realized something peculiar in Dyne's statement.

Dyne nearly froze. He had slipped his tongue and said something about Rena's past that was similar to the Rena in the game.

"Erm… Your magic. It feels different from the Light Magic of others." Dyne explained.

"Oh… So that's it. Right. Even I don't understand how I can perform healing magic. That is why I was supposed to be trained as a Light Mage in the Temple of Light in the main kingdom. But… when the meteors came, I decided to stay here for my parents."

Dyne sighed in relief. His blunder in assuming that this Rena was similar to the Rena in the game was true.

Dyne was silent and decided to say one of the plot points in Star Ocean 2.

"Light magic isn't that rare. But In this place, and after seeing the other villagers, I can tell that you aren't among them. You could be from a lineage that is far powerful than these villagers. But this is just my guess. My master taught me a lot, after all. So I know that there are races who can heal."

"So that's why Little Brother wasn't surprised at my healing spells!" Rena chuckled.

"Yeah. Anyways, it looks like we're moving out of the forest." Dyne pointed.

The pair reached a wide clearing where thick grass grew. But Dyne also noticed that after the thick grass was a desolate, sandy region.

"Oh? There's something special with this forest?" Dyne wondered.

"Yes. Even before the meteors, this forest had a powerful Earth energy. The Kong Apes usually have Earth Kong Apes. But when the mysterious rock fell, that's when the Fire and Ice Kong Apes appeared."

"Oh! The villagers!" Dyne pointed out to the distance.

"Little Brother. Remember, the villagers are very…"

"I get it. They are stressed, they are angry, they are jealous, whatever. I shouldn't show them my cool weapons. Otherwise, they will try to take them away from me. Big Sis. As I said, I may be young. But in Legaia, the whole world was trying to kill me!" Dyne laughed. He recalled the workings of Fate and how it adamantly tried to kill him.

"I can see that you are an amazing fighter, Little Brother. But these villagers hate me. But I can't bring myself to hate them. I understand their hatred. Killing me is one of the things they can do to ease their anger. So, please… if they ask, just pretend that you saved me, and we managed to run away from the Apes."

"I think they'd be afraid if I told them that we killed those Apes. Why should I try to hide my strength like those weird MC's in those cultivation novels?"

"What?"

"Look. At this point, it doesn't make sense for me to keep it low-profile, Big Sis. I don't' want them to bully you or your parents."

"Little Brother, I know you are strong! But if you reveal all those weapons you have, it will draw attention! If they can't get the weapon from you, they will report it to Trithefert! You will draw endless aggression, and ultimately, it will bring harm to me! Do you understand?" Rena explained.

Dyne sighed and then nodded.

"Unless you are strong enough to face a level Six Martial Novice and the entire village without those weapons, don't ever dare of showing off!" Rena warned.

Dyne glanced to the ground and began kicking the soil like a child who was being punished.

"Say you promise!" Rena urged.

"I promise, Big Sis."

"Good. I can explain things to my mom and dad. We will then go back to the forest."

"Well, you better hurry, Big Sis. With my Soul Cultivation, I can see that the villagers are shouting at a middle-aged couple."

"What?!" Rena was startled and began to run towards the village.

Near the entrance of the Merkley, a devastated woman and a very angry man kept arguing with the villagers.

"I'll tell him that you killed her!" The man shouted.

"You've hated her since that incident! You wanted her dead! You idiots! She was one of the reasons why Trithefert didn't already send us out to war with those apes! It was her!"

"We didn't kill her! The apes did! We noticed the apes, and we began to retreat! We didn't notice she wasn't there!" An angry woman argued back. This was the same angry woman who stood with the leader of the villagers.

"That Rena was stupid! She was obsessed with fallen rock and nearly killed us all!"

"If she said there was a rock, there was a rock! She was doing everything to help this village! She could have gone with Dominic, but chose to stay here! We would have died ages ago if Rena didn't protect this village!"

"You act as if Dominic is a saint! He killed a lot! And that Rena deserves to die just as he deserves to die!" The angry woman argued.

"You said those words! We will tell Dominic everything you have said!" The man shouted back.

"Tell Dominic? Are you siding with that madman, Lucas?" A lean and tall man asked angrily.

"Trey, Hershley. Detain Lucas. No, wait! Cut off his tongue. We can't have him tell that madman that we killed Rena!" The lean man wore an evil smile.

"STOP! I'M ALIVE!" Rena shouted as she ran towards the group.

The villagers were stunned to see Rena.

"Rena!" The devastated woman leaped up as if she had regained her life.

She ran towards Rena, and the two hugged each other.

"Rena!" The man also followed and rushed to hug Rena as tears began to flow down his cheeks.

"Mom! Dad! I'm alive! I'm alive!" Rena explained.

"You should've told us! Don't act on your own!" Her parents began to chastise her.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Rena was so afraid at what she heard as she approached.

The villagers began to murmur, and some were even cursing as they saw Rena.

"Hmph. So you're alive? I tried calling you to get back, but you didn't listen. It's good that those Apes didn't eat you." The lean man cursed.

"Boaz! We've been friends for years. How can you say such cold-hearted words!" Rena shouted as tears filled her eyes.

"Friends, don't make the village go on a wild goose chase leading to an ape patrol! Who knows? You could have been trying to please Dominic by getting some of us killed and fighting with those beasts! You're definitely that madman's fiance! You two deserve each other!" The lean man answered.

"Boaz! That's not true! How can I-"

"Shut up! Dominic's whore!" The angry woman shouted, and the villagers began to hurl curses at Rena and threatened to attack her.

"Look!" One of the villagers suddenly pointed to an area.

Behind Rena was an innocent, lost, and slightly dirty ten-year-old walking towards the village.

"It's a kid?" Boaz was stunned at what he saw. No one traveled alone in this place. Much less a ten-year-old boy!

The villagers were stunned at what they saw and observed the innocent march of the kid heading towards the village.