⚔8:An Intense Fight

Another month has passed and winter is already approaching. And I'm really excited for winter. From where I came from, we don't experience winter and autumn. There's only rainy season, summer, windy season and of course the typhoons that always come and go as it please.

I still have those weird vivid dreams with shadow people and sometimes it's just Helshyre chasing and roasting beasts in the ruins. I'm pretty sure that mountain was corrupted but I didn't see any monsters except that ugly dog. Helshyre probably roasted it all.

Speaking of which, can I do it too? Now that I'm Helshyre, I can probably manipulate fire too right? I guess I'll have to try it later.

"Mayumi, time to learn." Chase shouted from downstairs.

"Coming!"

The kids took turn in teaching me the Terravean Alphabet. They speak a mixture of modern and old English here but with different characters for their alphabet. It's a bit hard sometimes since there are some terms that don't exist here and some terms I'm not quite familiar with.

"Shall I make ya some snacks kids?" Hezborn asked, peeking at the door.

Iriya's face lit up. "Yes please!"

"I won't say no for a delicious meal." Julius answered.

Hezborn was the one who taught me at first but he later let the kids teach me so our bond can grow stronger.

"Mayumi, you mixed up V and J again." Chase said as he's checking my paper.

"My bad, they look kinda similar though." I said and took my paper back to rewrite the contents.

"Kind the?" Iriya asked in confusion.

"You mean candy? But 'candy similar' sounds weird. I guess we have to pay attention to your vocabulary next." Julius said.

'So they don't use 'kinda' here too?'

"No, I mean 'kind of'."

"You really say strange words sometimes that you're starting to sent shivers down to my spine." Rykan said, rubbing both of his arms.

"No offense Mayumi but with the way you talk and act, I sometimes think you're a Heavens-knows-what pretending to be a child." Julius added.

'More like a teenager pretending to be a kid.'

"Don't say that. You're making her feel uncomfortable and an outcast. It's not her fault she grew up in the mountains." Chase told them off.

I really do admire Chase's mindset and maturity sometimes although he's only aiming to impress me most of the time.

"I'm sorry Mayumi." Julius apologized.

"Yeah, me too. I didn't mean it that way." Rykan said.

"Whatever, let's just get this over with. I'm starving already." I said handing Chase my revised paper.

Julius and Rykan are very opposite from each other. If Iriya is a ray of sunshine, Julius is the sun himself. Meanwhile, Rykan's like that depressing dark clouds that cover the whole sky on what supposed to be a bright day. He really could get annoying sometimes. Chase on the other hand is like a puppy hungry for compliments and head pats.

It's a bit overwhelming living with them specially when they shower me with too much attention. It even feels awkward interacting with them sometimes. I guess I haven't adjusted well in this new life yet. I even find myself treating them as mere NPCs sometimes.

It makes me guilty but what can I do if it's really what I truly feel? I can't still get a grasp of my new reality yet. I don't know if it's because I still have attachments from my previous life or if it's because deep inside, I'm afraid that once I accept this life as my new reality, I'll just come to my senses and realize it's only an illusion.

"You sigh as if you're carrying the burden of the whole world." Iriya said with her eyes closed.

"Oh I just missed my beast friends on the mountains." I humoured her.

Iriya got up from the bed and looked at me with wide eyes. "You befriended those ugly monsters?!"

'No, Helshyre roasted them.'

"Yes, they're ugly but aren't they delicious?"

Iriya put her fingers on her chin. "Indeed, it's more meaty and juicy compared to the regular ones."

Speaking of which, I wonder how these people discovered those hideous beasts are edible.

"How did you guys know that they are safe to consume?"

Curiosity got the best of me.

"And girls too. Anyways, corrupted beasts are considered poisonous until a hundred years ago. It was when the Kingdom in Indamano suffered from drought which ruined their what supposed to be a bountiful harvest. A lot of their people died due to malnutrition and extreme hunger. The King's advisor proposed trying the beasts' meat as a final resort. The King never ordered or paid any men to try the cooked meats, instead, he tried it himself despite his men's pleas. After a week of eating the meat, a doctor, no, several doctors and mages across the kingdom came to check his health but they found no issues. And just like that, the beasts' meat were declared edible and safe."

"Wow" I muttered.

"So all type of beasts are edible?" I asked.

"No, just those edible even before they were corrupted. Some dared to try those inedible ones and ended up dying."

'How can she say such sad story with a smile on her face?'

"You know what, let's sleep." I said covering myself with the blanket.

'Could she be a psychopath?'

.𖥔 ݁ ˖

'Another one of those dreams?'

I looked around.

'Where am I? This place is unfamiliar.'

There are houses but I don't see any people around.

I looked at the direction of the footsteps. It's Helshyre, a grown up Helshyre. She's probably around 14-15.

'Gosh, she's really pretty that comparing her to a mere doll would seem like an insult.'

'Wait, what's wrong with her eyes?'

Her pupils are crimson red and both of her sciera are black. It's unsettling to look at.

Helshyre stopped right beside me.

'Oh?'

I have to look down to look at her.

'Am I in my original body?'

I tried patting her head but my hand just went right inside her head like one of us is just a hologram.

'Nice try I guess.'

Helshyre extended her right hand and held her arm with her left hand. She then twisted her right hand. As soon as she twisted her hand, huge flames engulfed the houses infront of us.

'Holy cow! That was cool as fuck!'

Helshyre has a sullen look on her face.

"It was such an awkward and kinda embarrassing pose but it would be cool to try it again don't you think?" I said.

"Still not over that silly pose?" A deep voice said from behind us.

As I looked back, it was yet another shadow person. He's wearing a black robe with a hood that covered his head and a black mask that covered half of his face. There's also what appears to be a sword's handle on his back. He's even wearing gloves. I can't see his mouth so he looks just like a talking floating clothes. His height is probably around 170ish cm. He has a nice build too. How can a floating set of clothes be this hot?

'Man~ Why do bad guys always have such nice bodies?'

Helshyre looked at him with a poker face. Flames suddenly emerged from the ground right below the hot guy but he quickly dodged it.

'Where did the hottie go?'

"You should try harder." Said the hot guy who's now standing on top of a burning house.

"You dodge the flames only to stand on top of a burning house? Are you perhaps a klutz?" I said.

A crimson red smoke suddenly appeared on Helshyre's palm and took the form of a sword.

'Cool!'

The hottie snickered. "Well, you asked for it. Ebris!"

A dark energy enveloped his body. And without a warning, Hershyre lunged towards him attacking him with her sword at an incredible speed. However, he only dodged it effortlessly.

"You're out of yourself again today. Did you remove the necklace again?"

The hottie unsheathed his big sword and countered Helshyre's attack with a strong blow. Both Helshyre and her sword flew away due to the impact.

'Man, I was rooting for her.'

The hottie jumped from the rooftop and landed next to Helshyre.

He pointed his sword at her. "Give up, Master don't like having her sweetheart bruised."

Helshyre just smirked. The hottie swiftly jumped away as flames surrounded Helshyre.

'How are their clothes not burnt? Are those fireproof?'

Helshyre's sword on the distance suddenly disappeared and reappeared on her hand. It grew longer and longer.

'An insanely long sword that behaves just like a whip? Helshyre you're really cool.'

Helshyre started attacking the hottie once again but this time he's having the hard time dodging and blocking for he doesn't know which direction the attack would be. To his dismay, the weapon is now enveloped in flames, burning up everything it touches.

Once he saw an opening, he quickly lunges towards Helshyre. But before he can even come close, he was welcomed with flames. Helshyre then quickly attacked him with the sharp blazing whip, cutting every part of his body.

I guess those dark energy that enveloped him acted like some sort of a shield since he only received some cuts. His clothes were partly destroyed too, now I can see the shadowy skin under those garments. His mask was removed too but too bad I can't see his face just like those other shadow people.

Helshyre stepped on his chest, so hard that he coughed up blood.

"E-Egris, ultima-"

"Stop!"

I looked at the direction of the deep voice that cut the hottie off. It was the same bandage man from my dream not so long ago.

"M-master..." the hottie mumbled.

Bandage man put a necklace on Helshyre. It seemed to calm her down since those black and red hue on her eyes started to disappear.

"I left you alone for a moment and you're already at each other's throat." He said helping the hottie up.

"Helshyre, heal him. We can't let him die just yet."

Helshyre who seem to have come back to her senses just nodded.

"Hui, tell Egris to go back." bandage man ordered.

'So he's Hui but who's Egris?'

"E-egris...go...b-back."

The dark energy that enveloped him disappeared. Helshyre placed her hand on his head. A faint yellow glow emanate from her hand. I can't tell wether the hottie's wounds were healed but the bloods stopped dripping.

"Helshyre, you still can't take off your necklace until you can fully control him. And you Hui, I told you countless times. Don't hurt Helshyre. She's too precious." He told them both off.

"I'm sorry, Master." they both apologized.

.𖥔 ݁ ˖

I yawned, 'That was hella cool. It felt like watching an action movie.'

Anyways, what a miracle. None of the kids woke me up today.

"Good morning Mimi~" Iriya greeted when I got up.

"Morning, what are you doing?" I asked as I saw her basically raiding her closet.

"Oh, just picking some nice dress." she answered, examining some of the dresses.

"What's the occasion?"

"My birthday!" she answered with a grin.

"Oh, Happy birthday!" I greeted with a smile.

Iriya giggled, "No, not today. On 81st."

81st, today's the 79th day of Autumn so that would be overmorrow.

"We'll be celebrating it on the town at my mom and dad's house."

'Are they alive?'

I badly wanna ask that but I guess we'll just see. We're going there anyways. It's probably fine to assume they're going to take me with them too right?

"That's great!" I answered.

"I can't wait to introduce you to my older brothers." she said excitedly.

"Oh, you have older brothers?" I asked.

"Yes, I have three of them. There's big brother Aizen, brother Aiden and brother Aidan. They're really cool." she chattered.

I guess she's close with her brothers.

Me and my siblings had the usual sibling relationship. Occasional banter and fights here and there. I had two older brothers, an older sister and a younger sister. Among them, it was my younger sister I can't stand the most. She was very spoiled and disrespectful.

'I wonder what they're up to now. Well I just hope they're taking good care of my cats and dogs.'

I peeked at the boys' room and saw them packing up some of their belongings inside a wooden luggage.

"Hi Mayumi." Chase cheerfully greeted when he noticed me.

"Hello"

"Have you done packing yet?" Chase asked.

"I don't have to. I don't have any belongings with me anyways." I answered, sitting on Chase's bed.

"How about your clothes?" Julius asked as he's struggling to close his luggage.

I already have a lot of clothes since Hezborn brought me a lot and the boys gave me those they can't wear anymore.

"How many days are we staying there?" I asked.

"Hezborn said 15 days at most." Chase answered, sitting next to me.

'Wow, that long?'

I guess I should pack some clothes too. But I don't have any luggage though.

"I'll start packing tomorrow then."

"But we'll be heading off tomorrow morning." Rykan said.

'Iriya never told me though.'

"Then, do you have some luggage I can use?"

"I'll get you some later, after we have some breakfast." Chase said.

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'My goodness...'

I was studying earnestly in my past life to avoid farming but here I am, squatting on a farm under a scorching sun.

"We should probably pick some apples too. Hezmyrr's apple pies are to die for." I heard Hezborn said in the distance.

"Hey Mayumi, what color is this?" Rykan asked as I was digging for potatoes.

I looked up and saw him point at his handkerchief.

"Purple" I answered and went back to my task.

"Wrong. It's magenta obviously. Aren't you reading the book I picked for you? It would be a pity if you grow up not knowing anything about colors."

Rykan no longer do some childish antics and say some awful words to me but I really don't like how he speak sometimes. It feels like he's subtly ridiculing me.

"Whatever, go away smarty-pants before I stuff these potatoes in your mouth." I threatened him.

"Look at you, now that everybody's doting on you you're starting to reveal your true color." he mumbled.

I smiled and held out a big potato, Rykan slowly stepped back before running towards Hezborn.

"Old man! Mayumi told me she'd stuff a potato on my mouth." he complained to Hezborn.

"What? But I just wanted to show you the big potato I dug up." I said, putting on an innocent look.

"And she's a liar too! Old man, don't be fooled by that face."

Hezborn laughed, "It's nice seeing you two getting along."

"What? You called this getting along?! If I was the one who did it you'd say I'm being mean. This is unfair." Rykan sat on the ground and sulked.

"Here" I said handing him the big potato.

He immediately hugged Hezborn's legs. "Look Hezborn, look how evil she is."

"Idiot, I'm giving this to you."

"See! She just cussed. You heard her right? She just said idiot!" Rykan kept on tughing Hezborn's pants.

"It's because she learnt from you." Hezborn answered, picking up Rykan.

"When did I ever... T-that's...I..."

Seems like he recalled those times where he called me with ridiculous names and cussed me out.

"Doesn't feel so good right?" I teased one last time before placing the potato inside Hezborn's pocket.

'Winning a banter against a kid feels really good.'