Jessica

After all the dangers had passed, the woman’s body slumped weakly. Arias quickly caught her before she could fall to the ground and helped her settle down under a nearby tree to rest.

“You…you can let me go, sir. I’m alright now.”

She said in a trembling voice, the way she addressed him became different from the first time they met. Her face went red with embarrassment. Since she was born, she had never touched any men before aside from her father. Normally, she would have been furious. But this young man was the one who saved her life and that created a complicated feeling inside her. Her heart was beating so erratically that it made her afraid that he was going to find out what she was thinking.

“You call this state you’re in ‘alright’?”

Arias did not let her go. Instead, he took the liberty of examining the wounds on her body. He found that there were several wounds that were quite serious and could not help but feel worried.

“This elixir will help heal your injuries. You wouldn’t want your beautiful body to be scarred, would you?”

Arias took out his one remaining Moon-bathed elixir and gave it to her. As she looked at him, she found that there was a warm smile on his face. The hood that had been torn amidst the fight made it possible for her to see his eye, albeit only one of them. It was gleaming with courage and determination, yet there was a hint of warmth in it. She could not help but stare at his eye for a moment. Though she could not see his face clearly, she thought that he was an impressive person.

She obediently took the elixir from his hand, then used her magic to inspect it for a little.

“This is…a high-level elixir!?”

She looked up at him again in disbelief. Who was this person? The person who appeared out of nowhere saved her life and even gave her a high-level elixir without much hesitation. She knew very well how valuable high-level elixirs were, and they were not something to be given to just anyone easily. Some people would even kill to get their hands on them, but this mysterious young man was giving one of those elixirs to her and he did not seem to mind it.

“Don’t worry and just take it. No matter what level, its purpose is to make you survive this. Your condition is quite serious, and one of your arms has been fractured as well. If we don’t treat it quickly it will have some effects in the future.”

Arias analyzed her condition with accuracy as if he could see everything inside her body.

“Who are you? And why did you help me?”

After taking the Moon-bathed elixir, the pain from the injuries started to subside. She finally decided to ask about the thing that had been on her mind since the beginning.

“I’m just a mage who happened to pass by here. As for the reason, I helped you…perhaps it was because I would’ve felt guilty until the day I die if I were to let a beautiful lady like you die right in front of me.”

Upon hearing Arias’ teasing words, the woman’s face turned red with embarrassment again. Her face looked even lovelier when she was flustered. Arias could not help gazing at her unintentionally.

“Now it’s my turn to ask. Who are you, and why are you all by yourself?”

Arias asked about the thing that he had been curious about as well. Why was this beautiful woman out in a dangerous place like this? It was the question that he could not find an answer to.

“My name is Helena. Uh…I got separated from my group and ran into these pyro foxes. I thought I could handle them on my own. But I didn’t think that there would be another one hiding. If you hadn’t saved me, I would have died a long time ago.”

The woman replied and looked at Arias gratefully. If it was not for this person who came to help, she would have been in a worse situation or even died long ago. If she had a chance, she would be sure to do something for him in return.

“Helena…what a beautiful name. I’ll remember it.”

Arias looked at her and raised a smile. Seeing that smile, she could not help feeling flustered once again, so much so that she had to turn her face away from it. Her heart was beating rapidly as if she had lost control over her mind. For the sixteen years that she had lived, this was the first time she ever felt this way. It was an indescribable feeling. The only thing she knew was that when she looked at that smile, she would be so flustered that heat spread all over her face.

“Is there something so scary about me that it made you turn away like this?”

It seemed like Arias had started to enjoy teasing her. He moved his body a little closer to the woman. The sight of one man holding a woman made it look as if the two of them were embracing each other.

“It’s not that…but you’re getting too close to me.”

Helena pushed Arias gently. Being this close to a man was inappropriate.

“Do you know that your face is bright red? Just rest and recover from your injury. The elixir must have started working already. I’ll have to excuse myself to go deal with the pyro foxes’ bodies.”

Arias laughed softly and moved away from Helena. He walked over and observed the three pyro foxes’ bodies. Arias summoned the Shadow Demon Sword again and used it to make a cut near the pyro fox’s heart. Then, he shoved his hand inside and pulled out something that looked like small quartz. All three foxes had these quartzes, but the one that came from the pack leader was a little bigger than the others.

The quartzes in Arias’ hand were called beastcores (or bestial cores), parts that accumulated power inside of beasts’ bodies. They were similar to human’s core of magic, but there were some differences. Though beastcores contained magical power that could be absorbed, this kind of usage was not very popular. They were often used as materials for weapon forging instead. They were quite valuable on the market, but the price would depend on the strength of the beasts. Pyro foxes’ bodies were valuable as well, but Arias felt that it was too much work to deal with the bodies, so he did not give them much interest.

“Take these. They’re yours.”

After he managed to take out the beastcores from all three foxes’ bodies, Arias offered them to Helena.

“I can’t take all of them. I only killed one of the foxes, but the other two were all to your credit.”

Helena only took one beast core from Arias’ hand before returning the other two to him. Arias was quite impressed by her attitude. She did not let herself be influenced by greed even for a little.

“Then I’ll only keep this one, from the pyro fox that left its claw marks on me.”

Arias smiled in reply and only took the core of the pack leader.

“That’s right. You’re injured as well. Why aren’t you taking the elixir to heal your injuries?”

Arias’ words reminded Helena that this young man had been injured as well. Moreover, there were some wounds that were left on his face too, so why did he not bother to heal them? Even her injuries which were quite serious had gotten a lot better after she took the elixir that Arias gave to her. The bleeding had stopped, and the wounds were slowly healing. The young man’s wounds did not seem to be very deep. If he took the elixir, he would be completely healed in no time.

“No need to worry about me. These wounds are not serious. As for the elixir, I sold them all already. The only one I had left was the one I gave to you.”

Everything he said was true. The wounds on his body were minor injuries. With his knowledge, he would be able to heal them without leaving any scars. But the woman’s wounds were quite serious, so he decided to give the elixir to her.

“Why would you…”

Upon hearing the answer, she was stunned and could only manage to utter softly. She did not understand why he was being this kind to her, but the only reply from Arias was a smile that he gave in return.

Arias restored his magical power and healed some of the injuries on his body while sitting beside Helena. Her injuries had gotten a lot better now. She should be back to normal after a few days of rest. All the wounds on her body had been healed completely as well. Helena was quite amazed by the effect of the elixir. She had used some elixirs to heal her injuries before as well but had never found any with a healing ability as good as this one.

“I think we should head back to the city. It’s not very safe staying out here. Maybe your group is already waiting for you in the city too.”

Continuing to stay here did not sound like a very good idea. Moreover, Helena’s injuries had become a lot better as well, so Arias offered to take her back to the city. As for the bodies of the pyro foxes, they left them as they were and did not bother with them anymore.

However, as the two were about to walk away, Arias turned to look behind him. He could feel that there was something moving toward them fast. Shadow Demon Sword was called into his hand as he shifted his stance and prepared himself for an enemy. Arias stared at the source of the sound intently. ‘Is that pyro fox coming back to avenge its pack? Good, I’m itching for a fight myself.’

But as soon as the body emerged, Arias found that it was not a pyro fox, but a woman about the age of twenty-seven. She was wearing knight’s armor that was white and decorated with beautiful patterns. The woman was holding a spear that radiated a strong aura. She was an eighth-level adept.

Her characteristics were like that of a graceful knight. Her eyes were full of bravery, unlike normal women. Her face was quite charming as well, but still, it was no match for the beauty of the woman standing beside Arias. Her expression was full of worry, but her eyes glared at Arias as if the two of them were mortal enemies. The woman even let out a murderous intent. However, those same eyes looked at Helena with concern, unlike the way they looked at him.

“Get away from Young Mistress or I will kill you!”