Volume 1 Chapter 40: From Seed to Sprout

"Step back! Or I'll kill her, ya know!" The bald macho shouted hysterically at the lizardkin who was approaching him step by step.

He had a short-haired girl in his arm begging for her life. Although she did not know the girl, Melon decided to stop moving.

However, the macho was still quite nervous.

He had no idea how he was hit into the air. The approaching lizardkin girl, though without any visible weapon or armor, instilled a type of instinctive fear in him.

S**t! What the h**k did the m****rf****r do!? Ain't it just one hit! One f*****g hit and my armor was gone! It cost a d**n lot!

What the h**l is she!? She ain't even takin' any d**n weapon... S**t! Ain't it supposed to be an easy peasy? Slaughter some silly folks, scare a black-hair gal's pants off, and wait till Boss to save her? Now what's that b***h doing?

She a soldier? Nay, Boss took 'em away already. Boss said that we should only worry about the Father and those adventurers! But why the h**k is there a lizard-a*s?

How did Boss get the intel wrong!? He is the heir of the du...

His thought was interrupted by Melon's disappearance from his sight with a small "Bang."

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" ... Strange. Somehow my sight turned to the right... What's that funny feeling in my left arm? And why is there a leg at that d**n arm? As if ... as if it is kickin' me off ...

And so he has been launched into the air again.

Melon landed like a nimble bird, holding the shivering hostage in her arms. "Ah," she sighed as she saw a shop tumbling down because of a funny landing by "someone."

That kick might have sent the person in the wrong direction... Melon sniffed at the shop with her sensitive nose. Hmm, at least there aren't any people. Correction - no innocent people.

Suddenly, some wracks of the shop started to shake.

"Er...Grah...," the bold guy rose up from the wracks, supporting himself with his axe and cursing continuously. He had a "Lifesaver" at his hand, but it was broken into pieces.

Without this nifty item, he could have kicked the bucket.

"Hmm... Still conscious?" Melon commented in surprise. To keep her opponent alive until interrogation, she fought with her boots on, and didn't have other equipment; however, to subdue him, she did kick quite hard.

It seems to be a good example that in other places there is always someone stronger. Well, thanks to the upgraded training for two years, a common beast would be defeated immediately.

If that's the case, then she has no choice but to use it.

"May I have your name?" spoke Melon to the frightened girl whom she held in her arms.

"Eh...? Deanne, Deanne Vissara...," replied the little girl.

"Don't worry, Ms. Vissara. You are very safe right now."

"Ah? Thank ... thank you very much, em..." Before the girl could finish, Melon already disappeared with a small bang.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Pow!

The ground was cracked, and the sand flew up in the air. Before the bald guy could react, the lizardkin girl who was standing quite far away suddenly landed at a closed distance.

Disregarding the pain in his body, his fear drove him to swing his axe toward Melon.

And then he started to spin with his axe, moving forward with the help of centrifugal force. He danced with the axe, and turned himself into a tornado!

"[Boiling Blood]!" As he shouted, the reflection from the gigantic axe turned red, "[Axe Spin!]"

Seeing this, Melon didn't try to duck or dodge. She opened her palm and swung it toward the axe.

The enchantments in the scales of Melon's right hand were: "Fire Aspect I," "Knockback II," "Protection IV," and "Sharpness IV."

"Protection" protected Melon's hand from the damage, and then "Fire Aspect" plus "Knockback" turned the axe into a flying fireball once Melon touched it.

With the weapon fling in the opposite direction, what was waiting for the bald guy was Melon's specialty - fist to fist.

Those relying upon their weapon would not stand any chance before Melon.

The big guy raised his right fist, but ended up with his right arm broken; he tried to kick with the left leg, and then his ankle was crushed by a tramp. And then, before he could scream, Melon chopped at his neck and made him pass out.

…

…

Meanwhile, at a distance from Melon and the axe user, Grace was dealing with the magic force of the "bandits."

She was in a very, very, very foul mood.

"Over there!" shouted the leader of the mages, "Area attack formation 3!" A fire wall appeared upon the summons of six chanters, and it pressed towards Grace.

"...So that's the mages from other places," commented Grace, who had taken off her glasses and appeared behind her enemies with her shiny purple eyes , "... a bit disappointed."

While the mages turned their sights to Grace in surprise, her pupils kept shining in an unnatural purple color.

"… , , - [Shadow Spear]," chanted Grace as she raised her staff. Dozens of shadow spears appeared from nowhere and surrounded the foes.

The spears targeted the lower parts of the bandits - to avoid hitting vital spots. Surprisingly, the spears were stopped before they reached the targets.

"Defence formation!" Six mages chanted the same spell at the leader's order. A hemispherical barrier constructed by the spell blocked the shadow spears. The six continued chanting to maintain the barrier even after the spears were gone.

"...A new spell." The chance to learn made Grace feel a little bit better. Just a little bit.

A hemispherical barrier with the thickness that could block "Shadow Spears" ... Though it was new to Grace, she still felt it was really plain.

Set up a loop, place a condition, separate and divide the appropriate amount of mana. Hmm ..., what should it be called?

"... , - Barrier Ball." It only took Grace a few seconds to reproduce a mini-version of the barrier.

Grace's action got ants in the mages' pants. What they saw was totally beyond what they expected.

They were supposed to rampage around the village with the berserker baldy, and make a girl crap her pants, so that their Boss can become her hero.

And due to Boss, the girl had black hair, a pair of glasses and purple eyes ... seemed to be the one who was making them crap their pants.

It was astonishing that she summoned a "Small Anti-Beast Barrier" on her own. What's more, the shadow spears did not stop attacking for even a single second.

Apparently, she arranged a complex of spells without paying much attention. By the looks of it, it took nary an effort. Realizing how mighty she was, her foes couldn't help but think that she was already an advanced mage, despite that she was still in her teens, and that she lived in such a remote place.

In contrast, the better ones in the team just passed the intermediate-level exam recently. They certainly felt that the fight was unfair.

While the mages analyzed the situation in despair, Grace disappeared from their sight. Soon they noticed some falling purple petals in their barrier.

"... For you, a stick will do." When the men heard these words, there was already no enough time for them to do anything before they were knocked out by strikes from behind against their heads.

…

…

In the very same demolished streets, problems had been solved.

The unconscious mages were stacked arbitrarily, and a paralyzed strong man was dragged toward the reunion party.

"...Over?" asked Grace.

"Over," replied Melon. She stood still and tossed the macho on the ground and said, "Here's their leader. He's ready for interrogation."

As Melon suggested, she stamped her foot on the man's back. This made him scream and spring up, but he could not even support his body well because his limbs were all broken.

"...Why, did you invade our village?" questioned Grace.

"I-I'll tell ya everything! Please don't kill me! Please! I was bribed! I was told by Aif..."

However, the man could not finish his confession due to the common sense that a person with his neck impaled by an arrow cannot speak. The macho's frightened expression was hence preserved forever.

When Grace and Melon gave up making dead men speak, they heard a sound of trotting horses. And then, they saw cavalry rushing into the village. These cavalrymen were the disappearing troop, lead by Neolla, the heir of the Duke.

Neolla halted his horse in front of Grace, jumped down, and ran to her.

"Grace! Are you alright? Grace?" he asked worriedly, attempting to get a hold of Grace's hand.

"...I'm good. Thank you." Grace backed off, staying away from Neolla. "...I need to go. Bye."

To avoid any further conversation, Grace grabbed Melon's hand and ran away. Neolla stared at their backs and did not follow them.

…

…

"M'lord, the plan..."

"Yeah, failed. Take CARE of those rats."

"M'lord, how about ..."

"That's enough for today," and then the voice paused for a moment, "but I will NOT give up. I WILL marry her - no matter what it takes."