Fighting once more

('I changed Elwyn's destiny with that gift?') Ron concluded after reading the message. He nodded reading it further and was happy he changed her future for the better with that gift. ('However I didn't get anything from what I gifted Goblin Slayer or Machio, were they already well off?') It seems there had to be some hidden condition that had to be triggered.

"Seems like something good happened after all" Scarlett said seeing Ron's mood change. Ron just nodded and then turned to Scarlett "So how about you?" "You want to go home too?" It was a simple question yet held a double meaning. Did she want the same as Elwyn?

Scarlett was silent for a few seconds before shaking her head "No, I do not wish to return home, Although I will admit there is some trauma left for now it's not important" She said earnestly.

"And besides who's gonna whip you into shape?" She said while looking at Ron.

"Well thanks I'll make sure to eventually punch you in the face before you leave here" Ron said back to Scarlett.

A small moment of silence was left before Ron asked Scarlett a question that's been on his mind for a while. "Scarlett, be honest with me, how strong are you really?" Ron still didn't know the true extent of Scarlett's power.

"You really want to know that huh?" She smiled mysteriously. "Well too bad I'm not gonna tell you anything, and no it's not because I just like messing with you. It actually has a real reason for it." She explained.

"So what is the reason?" Ron asked, skipping over her jab at messing with him.

"Well for one there are tons of martial arts, seeing mine at the peak will only influence your own and muddle it" She stated. "What I mean is everyone is different, the way you evolve your martial arts is also different from everyone else" Scarlett explained.

It didn't really make much sense to Ron but he chose to believe her. Maybe there were different reasons for it. "Okay, I understand what you're trying to say," Ron replied.

"So what do you want to do now?" Scarlett asked. She was going to tag along for the time being so she had to know what he would be doing.

"My plan was to go north and follow the river a bit before going to the cave in the west, this way I'll mark off the rest of the markers before seeing if the villagers are still there" Ron explained his plans.

Originally this was the plan to maybe earn some more wish points and then train for an extended period of time, now with the extra wish points he could train and travel.

"Sounds great I'll just follow along" Scarlett said before telling Ron something else. "One more thing, I'll not be saving your life if you get into danger you can handle" She warned Ron.

"What do you mean 'I can handle'?" Ron asked frowning a little, was she just going to let him die if he picked a fight with someone or something he couldn't handle on his own?

"It's exactly what it sounds like, If you pick a fight you can't handle I will not jump in and save you. I will only jump in and save you if someone way above your league wants to kill you or if they interest me personally" Scarlett further explained her reasoning. "People grow stronger with danger. Me taking out all the danger for you will not make you grow."

It seemed obvious and stupid in the same way, it followed the same logic of 'what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger' yet at the same time why wouldn't someone save the life of a friend?

"I won't pretend to fully understand your reasoning, but I will keep it in mind" Ron said ending the discussion.

Ron and Scarlett set out to the north to follow the river, they decided to go to the nearest marker which was halfway to the river. Ron and Scarlett decided to not train until nightfall to get to their destination.

After a 3 hour trek they reached the first marker, and Ron was immediately on high alert as it was a pack of wild hyena's. It was luckily only 3 of them but why mark this small pack?

"Perfect timing, want to kill this pack?" Scarlett asked Ron nonchalantly. Did she really expect Ron to kill them?

"Do I have to kill them?" Ron asked, a little hesitant, these were full fledged hyenas and there were 3 of them.

"You don't have to kill them, hell you don't ever have to kill anything, however if you keep avoiding fights you'll never grow stronger" Scarlett said giving Ron advice.

"You really think I have a chance?" Ron asked with some hesitancy.

"Ron there are always chances, don't underestimate yourself, and remember if you get in trouble I will not save you but I will get revenge for you" Scarlett explained her stance on the situation.

"Good to know they'll be close behind me if I die again" Ron said with a little enthusiasm.

Deep down he knew Scarlett was correct, he knew he needed to get stronger and fighting life and death battles were often ways of getting stronger all points of fantasy and even in real life, boxers and mma fighters continuously fight stronger and stronger people only to become stronger.

"Fine, I'll do it" Ron eventually said, gaining a small nod of approval from Scarlett.

"Good luck" Is all she said to him. He just nodded back and calmed his nervous breath and took a deep breath. Ron had been practicing the meditative state Elwyns taught him every time they fought. He felt he could slip into it easier and easier every time he did and also longer.

*huff* He took a deep breath and focused, focused on the hyenas and only on the hyenas. Slowly he started to emit a certain pressure on the environment. It didn't take long for hyenas to notice the shift in tension as all three of them suddenly looked in Ron's direction.

Ron started to walk out not noticing Scarlett's small smile as she watched, she was indeed happy that Ron hadn't taken the easy path out; it wouldn't have been a good sign if he did and would've been a very bad habit to begin with.

The hyenas now also began to spread out and slowly began to circle Ron. The pressure Ron emitted made them wary as usually they would only hunt the weak, old or young prey however they hadn't eaten in days and were starving.

Suddenly the hyena that was behind Ron sprinted towards him wanting to kill him. Ron picked up the footsteps with his enhanced hearing and quickly sidestepped causing the hyena to fly by him.

The hyena in front of Ron decided to tag in and rushed after Ron. Ron saw this one coming and readied a punch at his side, once it was close enough it jumped at Ron wanting to bite at his face. Ron sidestepped once more and punched out straight into the side of the hyena.

*Crack* He felt something breaking and could guess it was the hyena's ribs. Before he could celebrate he felt a sharp pain in his leg and saw the third hyena taking a bite out of his left calf. The hyena wasn't done however as it started to shake its head violently wanting to rip off the piece of meat in its mouth.

Ron grabbed the hyena and wanted to pry it loose but it had an iron grip and wouldn't let go. Ron with no other choice quickly stabbed his thumb in the hyena's eye wanting to rip it out to which it howled and quickly let go of his leg. Ron took the chance to throw it away at the first hyena that started to sprint at Ron once more.

Ron's left calf was half ripped off and was bleeding heavily. On the other side one hyena was spitting up blood and was limping around while the other two were just getting back up, one of which was blind in one eye.

('They're faster than the boar but also less durable') Ron concluded after the first clash with them. ('They've hindered my movement by going for my legs and working together to create an opening') One on one was no problem for Ron yet there were three of them which caused him to fall slightly behind.

All hyenas only walked in a circle one was limping as they all watched Ron, it didn't take long before Ron caught on their plan ('They want to bleed me out, I can't wait anymore') Ron suddenly made a dash towards the one that was limping wanting to finish it off.

The pain in his leg hurt however he persisted and ran at full might. The hyena that was limping was a bit off guard that Ron was still able to run at them. It wanted to run away and stall yet its side caused it way too much discomfort to even walk normally.

Ron caught up easily with the running hyena and decided to soccer kick it once more on its side. More cracking could be heard and the hyena coughed up more blood as it was sent flying laying on the ground twitching.

Ron quickly turned around and saw the other two hyenas closing in on him. His left left gave out from the stress and he began to buckle. The closest hyena began snapping at his torso yet Ron still punched out and hit it square in the forehead stunning it. The third hyena was the blinded one and managed to bite at Ron's extended arm.

Ron quickly poked in the other eye, also pulling it out. Now the third hyena was thrashing and running wildly blind. The second one was still stunned as Ron suddenly began to grab it and choke it from behind.

He squeezed as hard as he could and slowly the hyena went limp as he gave it one violent twist and broke its neck. Slowly getting up and breathing heavily he went to the blind hyena and also choked it out. After killing the second hyena he limped over to the third hyena completely drained as he went for the third kill.

Suddenly the third hyena shot up and wanted to bite his neck as he went for a chokehold. Ron didn't expect it and tried to grab its mouth with his hands, a hyena weighted approximately 50 kilos and so Ron was pressed to the ground quickly. Its mouth closing it on Ron's throat the fishy smell of its mouth was revolting yet Ron had to do something to survive.

He kneed its stomach, he knew its ribs were cracked and this must be painful for it. Blood spurted out its mouth onto Ron but he kept kicking. Slowly it got weaker and weaker, Ron gave one final twist of its neck using everything he had left and broke its neck.

The hyena laid limp on his chest he slowly pried it off and began breathing heavily. His vision began to blur, he had lost a lot of blood he knew he needed to treat it. His body wouldn't listen to him however. Just when he seemed to lose hope he heard footsteps closing in. ('Did I miss one?') Ron thought as he heard a voice coming from above him.

"You look like shit" The voice was that of a woman who was very familiar to Ron. ('Oh right Scarlett is here') he thought as with his last breath he asked her a question.

"Care to help me?" And with that Ron's vision blacked out and he became unconscious. Trusting Scarlett completely.

"How can I say no to that" She smiled as she watched the entire fight, it wasn't one without mistakes however recalling the words of Goblin Slayer she couldn't help but agree with him on this one. He did his best and won.