Chapter 21 - Master and Servant

"Beatry!"

My voice reached deaf ears as I saw the little red-haired child collapse from exhaustion. Two gobs caught her.

One was carrying a shield with him and the other had a shortsword with numerous nicks on the blade's edge.

"This is quite a bad scenario..." I mumbled in annoyance.

A simple few fireballs should do the trick but I fear that Beatry would be harmed in the process.

Or I could just outright freeze them with an advanced ice spell.

Tink!

Before I could weigh the pros and consequences of using fire or ice spells, the goblins had laid down their weapons and determinedly gazed at my direction.

My... This is utterly strange...

Goblins were known to be ruthless and cunning savages but they never do submit to anyone unless that someone is a very powerful monster.

And goblins would rather die than to submit to humans. They deem us after all as prey and women as mere toys.

With furrowed brows, I visualized a ball of flame igniting behind me and drew upon my vast pool of mana.

A simple controlled fireball should kill these two.

Kjurant!

They uttered something while prostrating before me. How peculiar but no matter.

Since you had the gall to try and capture Hados daughter who in turn was essential to my own interests.

You shall die.

GKHGRANT!

With great difficulty, the goblins uttered out my servant's name. The fireball who nearly flickered into existence halted.

I froze.

From what Beatry had told me earlier and these gobs had said, then that means my little servant should have gotten himself into trouble again.

"Damn it Grant..." I cursed before rushing to Beatry.

Her pulse and breathing are now stable. No signs of mana deprivation nor any form of damage could be found on her body.

Since I cannot determine what had happened to you then it calls for one thing.

Appraisal!

-----

[Beatry Shadowsong] (50% Halfling 50% Fey)

Lv 5 (Rogue) [I]

HP: 500/500

MP: 2250/2250

Stamina: 13/200

Current State: {Exhausted} {Unconscious}

Attributes:

Str: 435

Dex: 568.75

Cons: 405

Int: 1500

Wis: 1500

Agi: 568.75

Skills:

[Nimble (I) Lv 6] [Perception (I) Lv 3] [Stealth (I) Lv 4] [Dagger Proficiency (I) Lv 3] [Light Steps (I) Lv 5]

[Acrobatics (I) Lv 2] [Intimidation (I) Lv 1] [Exceptional Voice (II) Lv 2] [Daughter of Heaven (Max)] [Light weight (Max)][Cooking Lv 7]

Skill Points: 0

-----

A prodigy in magic!

What a waste! For her to take the rogue class was a huge blunder!

A soft sigh escaped my lips as I gazed down on the fallen child. She was suited for magic but what was her reason for stubbornly choosing a nonsuitable class?

I doubt that Hado's words of her wanting to be like him is the true reason for Beatry's choice.

These skills and attributes. Such a high level for a small 15-year-old child! No wonder Hado warned us that finding and catching her would prove to be a struggle.

If it wasn't for Grant tracking him and doing whatever he had done, I alone wouldn't have found her within a small span of time.

I snapped my fingers and a small glass bottle of viscous green liquid came from my storage ring.

"You two are Grant's pets I presume?" The goblins cringed before nodding.

This is quite troublesome... What could be putting Grant's life in danger?

"Hide the girl and await my return..." It has been a while since I've used my ice magic or my water one.

Whatever it is that that boy had run into, its sure to be strong.

ROAR! An enraged shout echoed through the forest. My body froze under that scream of pain and agony.

Beatry running with Grant's gobs and then that roar. A roar that came from a dragon.

"GRANT!" Damn it!

That stupid boy!

Mana surged strongly towards me, and the air from the surroundings slowly turned frigid. Hasty steps brought me deeper into the forest that even I dreaded when night falls.

The overgrown plants thickened over time and worry started eating me away from inside.

He's in too deep! Even if he was strong being too far inside the forest of shadows was enough to kill him! Especially since he had just recently been summoned.

I have yet to even fully orient him about the world of Terrunn. The bits of pieces of knowledge he possesses isn't enough to guarantee his safety.

Chaotic cries of battle echoed from afar. A mix of pained howls, anguished screams, and constant toppling trees greeted me.

And right before my eyes, a tree's broken trunk came whistling towards me.

Hastily visualizing a wall of ice forming between me and the airborne object, mana gushed out of my body only to be hastily refilled once more as if it was nothing but a drop of water found in the ocean.

A magic circle flared into existence and my spell immediately took form.

Crash! The deadly trunk collided with the wall of ice, essentially saving my skin from harm. Not that it mattered much as my mana barrier would've taken the full brunt of the impact and still I wouldn't be harmed.

I need to be ready. I might be a strong magus that was only a few dozen steps away from becoming an adept magus, a dragon is no mere joke.

If its a baby it would be easy to kill. And if it was a juvenile...

I'll just try to buy Grant enough time to escape before vanishing using invisibility magic.

My head started hurting just by thinking about Grant. What a troublesome fellow, this elder sister really does not know what to do with you.

With furrowed brows, my long slender legs brought me nearer and nearer to the source of chaos within this forest.

The scent of blood welcomed me, my eyes squinted at the toxic miasma that ebbed and flowed through the field.

And then I saw him.

His lone heavily wounded and battered figure standing atop hundreds of corpses. He breathed raggedly with no regard whether or not he was taking in the poisonous miasma that I had to block out with my mana barrier.

Grant was surrounded by what was left of the once numerous army of monsters. The only ones to live and make it to the last stages of the battle was him, some hobgoblins, a few rock ursas, and a juvenile green dragon.

Stella could feel a major headache brewing inside her head.

-----

The battlefield became a ground for slaughter. Blood dyed the soil a deep shade of crimson and the scent of blood defiled the once peaceful part of the forest.

Broken trees, crushed boulders, and cracks riddled the area. Ragged breaths was the only thing that could be heard within the silence that overtook the surroundings.

With half of my vision turning blurry and unclear, I looked at my shaking hands. They had seen much better days compared to their now torn and nearly broken state.

The tendons on their back are visible to the air and my left arm had a huge claw mark running down it diagonally. It reached the bone which stung a little but the rush served its purpose on keeping the pain minimal.

I was dead tired. My stamina bar was strutting dangerously low for my taste and the same could be said for my Hp. But that thing kept me going.

The smooth and relaxing energy continuously flowing into my body as I stood there, surrounded by the vestiges of that damned dragon's horde.

Deck had already fainted from mana exhaustion and he did his part amazingly when I had fought, some goblins would fall from exhaustion and be crushed under my strength effortlessly.

And when a dangerous blow threatened to seriously harm me, they were weakened before they could even reach me.

Thank you deck... A shame I couldn't hold out till the end and win this for you and me.

Cough! Blood spewed forth from my mouth and an open wound somewhere atop my head dyed my right eye's vision red.

I really am going to die huh? Well, not really but Damn does my body feel like it is going to fall apart any moment now.

My eyes met with the green dragon's and it closed its eyes before nodding at me. A shame that it was you who stood victorious.

Not that it mattered anyway. I could smell her despite the poisonous fog that burned my nose and my lungs.

She was here. And I would be able to fight again after she heals me.

Aren't I right? My beautiful Master?

"Grant you dumb brute!" Her soft melodious yet overly loud shout drew the attention of everyone present. The dragon looked at me one last time before narrowing its eyes at Stella and spewing a mouthful of extremely poisonous compressed mist.

I was hit by that recently and it hurt like I was hit by a truck. The sheer force slamming into you was truly not a golden experience.

Shiin~ The sound of howling ice came and like a sharp blade, a large ice spike headed for the dragon, breaking through its poisonous breath and freezing said poison.

It had to evade and I witnessed walls of Ice spring forth to encase me and her who was avidly rushing to me.

"What took you so long?" I chuckled. With a tired look, I gazed at her.

Seemingly finding comfort with her presence here, my body lost its strength and I started falling forth. My eyes shut halfway and my senses dulled a small bit.

If nothing was there to catch me my face would make contact with the hard ground.

'Ahh this is going to hurt.' I thought but luckily, I was caught.

My face landed between two big and soft things. They were warm and super comfortable.

I could hear and literally smell all of Stella. She was holding me anxiously in her bosom. Torn between anxiousness of a man using it as their pillow and between the worry that she held for me.

I was tired but I couldn't faint yet. I can't faint yet. It is not yet over.

Ah... Master...

Please hurry up and heal me.

And please stop holding me close to your things. I am not yet ready for this type of thing...

Though... I could get used to this given enough time.