3

The source of the commotion was not in view yet, so I used this time to free my spear of its burden and pressed my body against a nearby tree. If I was lucky, I could avoid being spotted.

The footsteps drew closer.

I held my breath, readying my spear in case I was forced to fight. Instead, the small girl from earlier stumbled by, her body swaying lethargically. Her left arm dangled uselessly by her side as she made her way towards the beach only a few steps away. Parts of her hair appeared to be matted with blood. Clearly, those men had caught up with her, but failed to catch or kill her - I wasn't sure which was their goal.

The girl almost reached the beach when she collapsed forward onto the ground.

I waited silently, frozen in place, not daring to move a muscle. I wasn't sure if she was still conscious, nor if she had managed to lose those men.

After a few seconds, I noticed her right elbow lift. She pushed her battered body forward - right towards the carcass of my latest kill.

'She wants to steal my food!'

A myriad of emotions welled up in my heart as I realized this. The first thing I felt was sympathy. Then anger. And finally, curiosity.

'She must have been drawn by the smell of the crab?'

They did release quite a strong smell after being stabbed.

At first, I thought I was just unlucky to run into her once again. But thinking deeper, I decided it was unlikely. She had to have been drawn to my location by something. Given her current actions, I determined it was the crab. But what kind of ridiculous sense of smell is that?

She finally managed to drag her battered body to the carcass… and her face slammed down into the exposed underbelly. More precisely, her mouth slammed down onto one of its legs.

With a sickening crunch that I could hear even from where I was hiding, she bit the leg right off its body.

A few crunchy bites later, she swallowed, and stopped moving.

Several minutes passed.

'She's definitely unconscious…'

Cautiously moving around the tree, I peered deeper into the forest from the direction I assumed she came from. There was no movement.

'Did she lose the men? Or did she fight them and win?'

I preferred the first option. If she fought them and won, that would make her quite the formidable little girl. And if that was the case… I should probably leave her and run.

Despite the fact that she struck me earlier, I didn't plan on taking advantage of her condition to seek revenge. I wasn't that petty. She was just a small girl after all.

That being the case, I decided to be benevolent this once.

'I'll leave her this crab then.' I thought, satisfied with my generosity.

The moment I started to leave -

Ding!

[Quest received. Assist the Shal'Ir slave. Reward: 500 EXP]

'Fuck.'

My steps paused.

Looking over at the battered body of the strange looking girl, I hesitated.

On one hand, I really didn't want to get involved. But something told me Orion wouldn't give me a quest without good reason. The mystical green words lingered in my vision for a couple seconds before fading like usual.

'What does it even mean by "assist" her anyway?'

I didn't have bandages, medical knowledge, or anything what-so-ever to help her.

With a troubled expression, I walked over to the girl and kneeled down to inspect her injuries. At first glance, the gashes looked pretty deep, somehow there didn't seem to be much bleeding. I guessed she either lost too much blood, or something else managed to stop it from leaking.

'Well, at least she won't die, right?...'

Her eyebrows were scrunched in a grimace. The skintone of her face was notably lighter than I remembered.

Probably due to blood loss, I deduced.

Her position was extremely awkward, so I carefully shifted her over onto her back. As I moved her arms into a more comfortable position, I noticed something fall from her hand.

'What's this?'

It was thin and appeared to be a folded piece of paper - but the paper was different than any I'd seen before. It was thicker and a shade of pale gray - at least where it wasn't smeared with dry blood.

Curious, I unfolded the paper. When I opened it and saw what was inside -

Ding!

[You have discovered a Spell! Do you wish to learn it?]

'A Spell?!'

Images of meteors falling from the sky and blizzards summoned from thin air instantly came to mind as my heart thumped with excitement.

I looked at the lines written on the gray paper, but couldn't understand any of it. They looked like complicated runes, though I could see a few patterns and repeat characters indicative of a complex written language.

'But, what sort of spell is it?' I frowned. 'Maybe I can…'

'Inspect'

[Spell of Minor Healing.

Restores: 60 health.

Cooldown: 1 minute.

Cost: 10 mana.

Invoke method: Within 10 meters, aim your palm at your target and recite the required Vir'il.

Vir'il: ******]

'Vir'il? Everything else seems straightforward, but… what is Vir'il? Words? Do I have to learn the local language to use this?'

My excitement died down as the spell wasn't anything glamorous and I couldn't even use it.

'Either way, no skin off my bones. Yes, I wish to learn this Spell.'

Ding!

[Spell of Minor Healing has been learned.]

I refolded the paper, careful to make sure it looked the same as before I tampered with it.

I looked back at the girl, ready to stuff it back in her hand, and froze.

Her eyes were open, and she was staring at me… with hostility.

'Uh oh… She looks mad. Was I not supposed to look at that?'

"Uhh… I was just looking at this… Really… Here, I'll give it back." I quickly stuffed the paper back in her hand, grabbed my spear, and stood up.

Backing away, I continued, "I'll let you have that crab as an apology. Not to mention you hit me earlier too! Just look at how swollen my cheek is! We'll call it even, okay?"

I pointed to the crab, then to my cheek, and finally her hand.

The girl pushed herself off the ground with her good arm, into a seated position. She raised her eyebrows in a mixture of anger and confusion at first, but as she saw me pointing, I think she understood.

But understanding is one thing, agreeing is another. The hostility in her eyes remained.

'Now that I mention it… Her eyes…'

They were like nothing I had ever seen before: A size too large for her small face, dull yellow irises, with small threads of red twisting about within to create a beautiful pattern. Her pupils were also different. They reminded me of snake pupils… Or maybe a cat's?

In any case, it wasn't time to get distracted. My first instinct was to flee, but I pushed that thought away when I remembered the quest.

'Maybe she knows the Vir'il?'

I stopped backing away after about ten steps and kneeled. I gently placed the spear on the ground beside me and looked calmly at the girl. I was certain if she wasn't injured so badly, she would lunge at me again. But it seemed it was all she could do to support her weight as she stared at me with open aggression. If looks could kill, I'd be dead ten times over. In fact, if I didn't know any better, there was even something more in her eyes…

'Hate?'

The revelation was both shocking and disturbing.

'Why would she hate me? I've never…'

Then it clicked. Images of the humans chasing her. Her "slave" title in my quest. I felt bitter. Extremely bitter.

'That's right… I'm a human.'

But I still had a quest to do.

'The Spell is a healing spell, and I have enough mana to cast it. I just need to get her to teach me the Vir'il.'

With that in mind, I put both hands up, trying to show my peaceful intentions. I stared at her for a moment, then gave her the kindest smile I could muster given the circumstances. After holding the smile for a few seconds, I used my right hand to point at her hand. The hand that was both holding her weight, and the Spell.

"Can you teach me the word for that?" Despite guessing that she couldn't understand me, I still asked.

She glanced down at her hand, then back at me.

"Nuk Dajatlh?"

She spoke.

Ding!

[New language detected. Turn on auto-translate?]

'Yes!'

[Auto-translate enabled.]

I sucked in a deep breath, thanking whatever god… actually, thanking Orion - for blessing me.

"Can you say that again?" I asked carefully. My words sounded strange coming out of my mouth. Like English and whatever language they spoke in this world were superimposed over each other.

She frowned, "I said… What are you saying?"

The fact that she understood me this time registered, and her frown deepened.

"If you spoke Shal'Iri this whole time. Why were you speaking those strange words?"

'Shal'Iri? So that's the name of her language.'

I rubbed the back of my head and thought of a quick excuse, "Sorry about that."

Okay, it wasn't an excuse. I just hoped an apology would placate her.

"Can you teach me the… Vir'il… for that Spell?" I wasn't sure how to pronounce Vir'il.

The superimposed languages had faded at this point, which I quietly thanked Orion once again, as it now felt like I was just speaking English with the girl.

"Veer'eel? You mean Vir'il?" The I's were soft and short, and she flicked her tongue as she pronounced the R.

"Yes, can you teach me the… Vir'il… for that Spell?" I repeated, this time carefully pronouncing the word similar to the way she did.

"You read it didn't you? It's not a secret. More importantly, why can you speak Shal'Iri? I've never met a human that can speak my tongue." Her voice was pleasant sounding in general, but her tone was full of suspicion and wariness.

'Oh boy… Auto-translate might be a little too powerful… How odd is it for a human to speak her language? Bah, no matter. It's too late now. In that case…'

'I'll just dismiss it!'

"How I learned your tongue doesn't matter. But if you tell me how to speak the Vir'il for that Spell, I can heal you."

She blinked a few times, then laughed in contempt.

"You think you can learn a Spell just by learning the Vir'il? HA! And I'm a Dal'Shargoth!" She paused, "Are you some kind of idiot?" Her voice was laced with ridicule. It was as if she heard something both comical and incredibly naive, or insulting even.

The corner of my mouth twitched as I fought to keep my friendly smile. I lowered my hands to rest on my legs.

'One last try… Then I'm out of here. Quest be damned.'

"Let's make a bet then. You teach me the Vir'il for your Spell, and I'll perform it on you right here and now. I know it's a healing Spell, and it looks like you could benefit from a bit of that, right? If I can't do it, then my spear is yours. What do you have to lose?"

It was the only thing I had to offer.

'Wait… Why doesn't she heal herself if she has the Spell?'

As if she could hear my thoughts, her next words answered that very question:

"Even if I teach you the Vir'il… This Spell is incomplete. Did you not notice the entire method of Mana manipulation is missing? Not only that, but even if it was there…" She looked contemptuously at me, like she was looking at a complete idiot.

'So that's why…'

She spoke of these things like they were common knowledge.

She shifted her gaze down to my spear and smiled cheekily, "But a deal's a deal! Listen up 'cause I'll only say it once! The Vir'il is… Min'hel."

Ding!

[You have learned the Vir'il for Spell of Minor Healing.]

I smiled when I saw the notification.

Not wasting any time, I aimed my palm at her and quietly recited: "Min'hel."

Beginning in my chest, a cool sensation sparked. It swiftly passed through my body, down my arm, and arrived at my hand. A second later, pale blue light gathered into a faint little orb hovering a few inches in front of my palm. The orb didn't linger for long. Instead, it immediately shot towards the girl and disappeared into her chest. Shortly after, her wounds started glowing with a similar light. A second later, her deep gashes became progressively more shallow, and eventually ended up as small cuts.

The entire process seemed to take about three seconds.

[Health restored to ???: 72.

Mana -10]

When the mana left my body, it left me feeling exhausted. I suddenly had the urge to lay down and take a nap.

Fortunately, my excitement and situation at hand kept me lucid… barely.

'I cast a Spell! Magic! Me! Ha!' As tiring as it was, I still felt great.

There was something I was curious about though… '72? Not 60?... 12 extra…' I had an idea where the extra health came from, but it would require further testing.

Ding!

[Quest complete - Assist the Shal'Iri slave. Reward: 500 EXP]

Ding!

[You have leveled up! You grow stronger.

Function unlocked! Spellbook, Keyword: Spellbook]

A familiar warmth spread through my body, filling me with satisfaction. Not only that, but I felt my fatigue ease a bit as well.

The girl's mouth fell open as she looked down at her legs where the nasty looking gashes were now shallow cuts. Even her arm that had been dangling uselessly just a few minutes before seemed to have regained its ability to move.

"Y… y… you!" She stuttered and balled her hands into fists.

Rising quickly to her feet, she stumbled backwards several steps onto the beach. It looked like she was thinking of running.

"H-Human! Why can you… use Mana?!?!"