12.) The Ice Elf Rin

"Dawn!"

Kris called out Dawn's name but got no response back. Finally, he stood in the spot where she was falling, and the heavy impact of her body landing in his arms caused them both to crash to the ground.

"Dawn! Damn it, Dawn, open your eyes!" screamed Kris, placing his ear over Dawn's chest. He could still hear her heartbeat, but her eyes remained closed.

By the time the petite girl opened her eyes again, the first thing to greet her was thin lips pulled into a soft smile that pulled Dawn's heartstrings. Glistening in the light under the sun was snow-pale skin, free of any blemishes. A set of sharp icy blue eyes made contact with her, framed by thick silvery eyelashes.

"Mistress, you're awake!" The ice beauty greeted her with a smile so stunning that Dawn knew she had entered the gates of heaven.

"So sleeping beauty has finally decided to open her eyes again." A familiar voice snapped Dawn back into reality. Sitting up, she saw nothing but green forest trees and turned her head towards Kris.

"What happened while I was out?" asked Dawn as the boy took a seat next to her and released a sigh of relief upon seeing that the brunette had awoken and explained just how long she had been unconscious.

"You were out for two days straight, and our new friend here, after I cut him down from that mountain, has refused to leave your side."

Kris pointed to his left, where the beautiful creature with a veil of silvery-blue hair sprawled over his shoulders and down his back sat, eyes displaying utter adoration aimed at Dawn.

'He's even more beautiful in person! Score!' excitedly cheered a mental chibi version of Dawn, but she still kept her outer appearance calm.

"After witnessing your bravery, I wish to serve you with my full heart, mistress." The ice-elf bowed his head, making it hard for Dawn to believe that such a being could be a cold-hearted sadistic killer.

Opening her system, Dawn was bombarded with messages.

{Congratulations! You have defeated the Flame Griffin!}

{600 coins have been deposited to your account}

{Rank: Lvl. 6 Pawn > Lvl. 10 Pawn}

{She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named has decided to bestow upon you a bonus of 300 coins for your bravery and success!}

'Wow, so this is the reward for defeating the Flame Griffin!'

Dawn happily stared at the total amount of coins that she had, which equaled the amount of 1400 coins. When it dawned on her what the existence of both the ice-elf and Flame Griffin signified.

'But why am I the only one who's aware of what has happened? Could there be others just like me?'

This revelation only brought on more questions that she decided to ponder on later. Plastering a smile on her face, she reached for the ice-elf's hand. Ice elves, despite their heartless and cruel nature that craved violence, were extremely loyal to their benefactor.

A fact Dawn picked up from the webtoon. This was how another character in the book snagged himself a female ice-elf as both a companion and a member of his harem.

"My name is Dawn, and this guy here is Kris! What's yours?" introduced Dawn. The warm-hearted smile on her face caused the ice-elf's cheeks to blush pink, bashfully staring at Dawn's small hands that were holding his before answering.

"It's Rin!"

"Great, nice to meet you! If you don't mind me asking, would you like to join us on our journey?" Dawn's question immediately earned bewildered expressions from both Rin and Kris.

Kris leaned over and began whispering in her ear.

"Are you crazy?! It's a freaking ice-elf! From what I read up about them, they are a heartless and cruel race of monsters who get off on killing and torturing their foes!"

Dawn had already known these facts, but Kris did not know that ice elves were nothing more than loyal puppies when it came to their savior. This was why Dawn wanted to recruit him, as ice elves were a powerful race of intelligent monsters.

"Wait! Where's Neko-chan?" Dawn noticed the presence of their third companion missing, ears perking up when she heard the rustling of leaves, and was greeted with an image that had her racing to her feet.

"What the heck happened to Neko-chan? Why is she so big?!"

The adorable kitten that could fit in the palm of her hand now stood large and resemble a tiger, giving off an intimidating aura that made the others second guess themselves before approaching.

Even Dawn felt herself take a step back when those fierce-looking eyes turned to her, and the giant cat took off running in her direction. Dawn closed her eyes, waiting for the impact, only to feel something small and soft in her arms. A small fuzzy warm head nuzzled against her cheek.

"So you can change forms!"

Opening her system, Dawn saw that Neko-chan's power rank went from {Lvl.2 > Lvl.10}.

"After your battle with the Flame Griffin, she took on a new form and, since then, has been scouting the area for us," Kris explained, warmth entering his eyes as he watched the scene between Dawn and Neko-chan unfold.

When Kris saw Dawn falling from the sky and straight to her doom, he was desperate to save her. Yet even after he saved her from falling, Dawn's eyes refused to open and only murmured about saving the stupid ice-elf, which he was reluctant to do, but since she asked this of him, he did it anyway.

Thinking of the ice-elf, who called himself Rin, Kris fixed his eyes in the monster's direction, and what he saw nearly gave him chills.

Rin had his eyes fixed on Dawn, but how he saw her was through a completely different filter. In his eyes, only Dawn existed, and every bit of her was perfect.

Mentally, he captured her every action, such as the twinkle of happiness in her eyes and the giggles that escaped her lips each time Neko-chan nuzzled her face. He saved these images to adore later.

'Oh, how I wish to slaughter that stingy cat and be the one basking in Mistress's arms~!'

Adoration with a hint of malice poured from Rin's eyes, already harboring murderous thoughts that Kris could sense.

'I rescued a freaking psychopath!' As though he could read the elf's mind, Kris frowned, once again questioning Dawn's brain cells.