6

My eyes gleamed. 'I finally found them.'

From what I could see, both parties still seemed to be alive for now.

[Active Quests:

You possess a great secret. Silence the men who discovered it. 6/7 Reward: 500 EXP]

'Now that I think about it, why does the quest not include the girl?'

I wasn't sure I wanted to actually take a life in the first place, but it still struck me as strange that Orion would condemn one and not the other.

'6/7. Should have thought to look here sooner.' I noted, confirming the identity of those unknown corpses I spotted earlier.

'I need to hurry.'

I stood at the edge of the forest, a step away from its shade. There was probably only two or three hours of daylight left.

'It's only half a mile… It should be fine, right?'

From what I could see, there didn't appear to be any signs of the Arkos.

Taking a deep breath, I stepped into the shade.

Thankfully, I had a meal earlier and was able to replenish some energy - because I was soon sprinting. Just because I didn't see the Arkos, didn't mean it wasn't around. At least I wasn't convinced anyway.

Heart pounding, I sprinted east along the river just inside the shade of the forest for several minutes. It wasn't long before I heard the clanging of armor and shouting over the sounds of the river.

"...Give it back!!!"

The first shout I was able to make out was from the little demon. Soon, I was close enough to see them clearly. She was lunging at the man repeatedly, trying to keep her distance while targeting the item in his hand. They were fighting in the center of a small patch of bare earth near the south entrance of the bridge.

The armored man was laughing gleefully with a twinge of insanity mixed in. He held his hand out tauntingly and dodged the demon girl's lunges with ease. His other hand held a long dagger in a reverse grip, but he made no attempt to use it against the girl. At least not yet.

I stopped at a particularly large tree a couple hundred feet away to catch my breath.

'He's got the Spell.' I noticed, looking at the folded gray paper in his outstretched hand.

I wondered why she would be fighting the man this time when she had only fled before. The answer seemed obvious now.

'Something about that Spell is special to her.' Why else would she be so desperate?

"Here! Come get it!" The man taunted.

The girl screamed in frustration. Yet despite her mental anguish, she was still thinking, plotting. Having thought of something, she changed her plan of attack this time. Shortening her lunge, she targeted a very… special… part of the man. She balled her fist and struck him square in the family jewels. He may have been wearing armor, but it wasn't infallible.

I cringed, 'Demon…' My evaluation of her further cemented in my mind.

"Stupid filthy Shal'Ir! I'll kill you!" The man screamed in pain, hunched over.

'Shal'Ir? Is that her name?' I wondered.

But the damage was done, his mobility sealed. She wrestled the paper free from his hand and jumped back just in time to avoid a swipe of the man's dagger. Almost. The dagger found purchase across her chest from shoulder to shoulder, a spray of blood shooting out in a wide arch as she collapsed to the ground.

Seeing the girl fall to the ground unmoving, the man hunched over once again, rubbing his nether region.

'Now's my chance!'

I gripped my spear and moved forward, darting from tree to tree until I was only thirty steps away. It was as close as I could get before I would be completely exposed.

I grimaced in hesitation at the thought of what needed to be done.

I needed to kill the man.

'He would kill me too if given the chance.' I told myself. 'It's for the quest. He's evil. Any human that could harm a little girl, isn't human.' Nevermind my own intentions towards the demon.

Convinced, I braced myself to sprint forward. Then I saw it.

Running towards us along the left parapet of the bridge was that creepy cat. Two sets of eyes and ears, long fangs protruding menacingly from its mouth, and a coat of metallic-looking black fur glistening in the Sun. Despite the oddity of its features, they seemed to exist in perfect symmetry. I found it strangely beautiful.

Other than the fact that it was looking at the armored man with hunger in its four eyes, that is.

'He doesn't know it's coming!'

Without thinking, I stepped out from cover, pointed at the bridge, and yelled, "Watch out!"

Surprised, the man turned his head and looked in my direction. Seeing me pointing at the bridge, he snapped his head in that direction just as the sleek feline neared the end of the parapet.

It jumped.

Soared, really. It was probably thirty feet from the parapet to where the man was standing, and it looked to be covering that distance with ease.

The man barely had enough time to react before the beast was upon him. Jaws open wide, the giant cat bit down directly on his head.

Ding!

[Quest complete! You possess a great secret. Silence the men who discovered it. 7/7 Reward: 500 EXP]

'Fuck.'

The man was dead.

The feline stood over the corpse of the last armored man in triumph for a moment, before turning to look in my direction.

'Oh shit.' I stepped back.

I was about to turn and run when I noticed the beast stumble. The handle of a dagger was sticking out from the underside of its chest. In his last moments, the man had plunged his dagger into the feline's body.

The beast wasn't dead though, just hurt.

It roared in pain. Blood was now visibly leaking from the wound.

'Did he hit the heart?' I hoped.

The beast opened its mouth and bit down on the handle of the dagger in a feat of impressive flexibility. In one swift motion, it ripped it out - and released the metaphorical floodgates as blood gushed from its wound. It may have been smart enough to track my movement up the river, but the 'stick' in its chest was causing unbearable pain, it had to go. Unfortunately for it, that meant releasing the blood the dagger held back.

The giant black cat spit the dagger to the ground, took two steps in my direction, then collapsed in a pool of its own blood.

'Well damn! Finally some good luck!' I celebrated.

I observed it for a few minutes then jogged towards the black feline.

'Inspect.'

[Paruven Tiblafel - Tiblafel are cunning creatures who prefer to live in solitude. They typically only hunt prey who they deem far below them.]

Reading the system message, I couldn't help but look at the dying black cat in anger.

It had been hunting me, after all.

"So I was supposed to be dinner, eh?" I looked down at the beast a few steps away. It still had one eye open, a low grumble rumbling from its throat.

'Well, I better end its suffering, it's only right.'

I aimed my spear at its eye, gathered my strength, and plugged the spearhead into its skull.

[Damage dealt - 42. Critical Hit!]

Ding!

[You have slain a Paruven Tiblafel! EXP: 100]

I raised an eyebrow at the new system message. 'Critical hit?'

'Maybe because I stabbed it in the head?'

I wasn't even sure if it would count, since the beast was almost dead anyway. Still, I welcomed the new discovery and the EXP that came with it.

'Only a hundred EXP though?' For such a ferocious beast, the reward didn't seem adequate.

I thought of the Arkos, wondering how much EXP that thing would give.

'Gotta be at least ten thousand.'

Shaking off my random thoughts, I yanked back my spear and walked around the beast's body towards the bloody dagger.

'This dagger is lucky. I'm keeping it.' I reached down and picked up the dagger to inspect it.

Ding!

[You have obtained - Guard Captain Jaq Darkheart's family heirloom.]

The dagger was long and had an obsidian-like surface. The blade had a single sharp edge that curved ever-so-slightly towards the tip. Three-quarters of the way down the blade, the edge extended an inch and back towards the handle before reversing again and completing its final sharp curve to the tip.

'Inspect'

[Guard Captain Jaq Darkheart's family heirloom - Crafted generations ago by an unknown blacksmith, this dagger has stood the test of time. Enhancements: Increased durability. Low chance to penetrate any defense. Increases damage dealt by 27-29]

'Nice!' I thought, 'Even better than my spear!'

I walked over to the Captain's body and stopped to inspect his corpse. Looking at the headless body, I couldn't help but get a little queasy. I wasn't used to seeing such things.

Taking a moment to collect myself, I used the cloth his pants exposed below his armor to clean my new dagger's blade. Sighing ruefully at the design of the armor, I almost felt sorry for the man. If it wasn't for the wide gaps in his lower armor, he may have lived.

I removed his belt and the sheath attached to it before fixing it around my own waist; then stood up and slid the now-clean dagger into its sheath.

'I think I'll rehome the dear Captain's armor too… But first…' I turned to look at the body of the demon girl.

The rags covering her body were bloody. From the rise and fall of her chest though, I could see she was still alive.

My desire for revenge seemed like a distant memory.

Between the happiness of acquiring so much gear all at once, and the anguished cries of the girl as she battled to retake her stolen Spell, I had lost most of my animosity. Whatever her story was, I was now a bit curious.

She was laying there holding her Spell against her heart with trails of tears running down her face. I felt a sincere pang of empathy in my heart.

Sighing, I walked over to her and kneeled down. Reaching out, I recited: "Min'Hel."

Beautiful blue light formed in front of my palm before shooting down into her body.

[Health restored to ???: 73.

Mana -10]

I felt the Mana leave my body, and although I felt exhausted it wasn't nearly as bad as last time.

'One mana seems to make a big difference.' I noticed. Furthermore… 'It's 73! I knew it! Intelligence increases my healing!' The revelation was exciting.

Last time I healed the girl I had eleven mana, leaving me one remaining after casting the spell. This time, I had twelve.

'Perhaps the closer to zero mana I get, the worse the fatigue?' If I hit zero, would I just pass out on the spot? Or worse?

Luckily, Orion seemed to work within the laws of its own system, and was not unreasonable. It didn't seem like it was going to force me to commit suicide anytime soon.

The wound across the top of the girl's chest slowly etched itself back together. It didn't look like it was going to heal completely though.

I furrowed my eyebrows as I sat back, watching a certain line on my status screen.

'Status'

[Name: Abel

Race: Human

Level: 3

Health: 120/120

Mana: 2/12

Strength: 14

Dexterity: 12

Intelligence: 13

Vitality: 14

Unallocated Stat Points: 6

EXP: 695/1000]

A few seconds later, one of the numbers changed.

[Mana: 3/12]

My fatigue eased.

'Sure enough. It's like that.'

I kept watching.

5 seconds later:

[Mana: 4/12]

'One Mana per five seconds? That's actually pretty good!' I exclaimed internally.

Forty seconds later, I was back to full Mana.

Moving forward off my butt, I kneeled over the girl again.

"Min'Hel."

[Health restored to ???: 38.

Mana -6]

This time when the blue light gathered across her chest, the wound closed completely. Only a long red streak of blood betrayed the former damage that had once been.

I smiled as the girl's pained expression eased. Though I felt conflicted, it still felt like the right thing to do. It would have haunted me if I had left her to die.

I stood up and turned to walk back and start salvaging the Captain's armor.

I had taken two steps, when a soft, lethargic voice called out from behind, "Wait…"