Rastel woke up blinking as he registered the blinding noon sun. His body felt sore and tired but very much alive! He was just about to raise himself up when he suddenly saw a huge shadow cover him from above.
The glowing white eyes of Amba showed slight concern as it looked at his face over for any signs of pain or discomfort, Rastel cheekily smiled up.
"Hey..... you actually love me don't you?" he muttered in a sing song manner.
Amba grunted as if in indifference and leaned back. Rastel slowly raised himself up and looked down at his waist where he was stabbed. The knife had torn a big hole in his shirt adding another hole to his set of beginner gear, the skin underneath had a small scar just barely noticeable under the light.
'What or whoever healed me must be really high level!' he thought as he saw the wound. Such nearly flawless healing could only be achieved by mana potions which were incredibly expensive or a medium level light priest at the very least, anything lower would leave obvious scars.
'Wait….. light priest?' that was when he took his attention to the girl that was sleeping peacefully on Amba's lap.
Amba was using his body to shadow her from the sun and she looked almost fairy like with a peaceful aura surrounding her as she slept through the day.
This girl who he saved from the village hall was wearing priest robes. She should be the one who saved him but…..
Rastel looked at the girl with the fairy like aura again as she slept peacefully, she was incredibly young! No matter how you looked at it, a girl this young should not have that level of skill.
He was just starting to think into it when he remembered that he should be in a hurry. There was suspiciously no one he could notice but that didn't mean there weren't people spying on him from the forest. The surroundings were clear of any dead bodies and only the damage left behind was proof that a fight happened here yesterday.
He was in possession of a golem, a power that typically only players of peak level strength in the game right now can interact with. And it was in the hands of a beginner village player! Even if someone wasn't greedy, this was a temptation far too great to ignore. If they could get their hands on the golem or only just its core, it would be worth the trouble.
Amba stared at him as he stood up suddenly, the golem first looked around into the foliage as if it could see the hidden threats then grunted at Rastel.
"No buddy, if we should try attacking, they would probably just flee and wait for reinforcements. The best thing to do here is to run" Rastel stretched as he replied the golem's suggestive look.
He then bent down and gently woke the girl up, she had saved his life and he would at least get her to safety before he made a quick escape.
The girl's eyelids fluttered for a bit before they opened and she stared at Rastel's crouched form with dazzling blue eyes. She paused, then raised her head from Amba's lap before rubbing her eyes and yawning.
"...aved … life.....we....ven" she muttered under her breath as she turned her face and rubbed at her eyes furiously.
"What?" Rastel didn't hear a word she said.
"…..saved...life…..now…..we.....even" she muttered a bit louder as she rubbed her eyes with more vigor
"I really can't hear you" Rastel was at a loss.
'She's shy?' he figured it quickly.
The girl stopped rubbing her eyes as her hands fell to the sides. She slowly turned her face to look at him and her eyes seemed to glitter as she spoke in a soft mellow voice that was as childlike as it was soothing.
"I saved your life so now we are even..... my hero knight" she smiled while a huge blush covered her face as she said those words.
Rastel found himself unable to speak or think as he stared at her, she really had a fairy aura, and those eyes, he had never seen eyes so beautiful in his life.
"Ehn...." He slowly regained his sense of thought.
"Wait what? Who told you I was a knight?" his brain finally latched on to something after being disoriented for a while.
"Ehn? You aren't a knight!?" the girl seemed confused as her blush seemed to grow deeper dying her rosy cheeks a deep red.
"Of course not! I'm a mage! A mage you hear me? It's hero mage! Wait why am I insisting on this?"
"But big sister said... wait….. I was sure I got it right" the girl now seemed flustered as she turned around in embarrassment and flung herself into Amba's arms
The golem looked at him disapprovingly like a disappointed mother before proceeding in trying to comfort the girl.
Rastel smile wryly at the scene as he felt wronged. He was the successor! Why was this golem treating the girl much better than him? All he got was cold glances and grunts.
After a while the girl peeked a look at him and said. "So you are a mage?"
"Yes but don't worry about it, call me hero knight as much as you want" he answered her with a smile.
"No I'll call you mage, it is only proper" the girl replied him immediately.
The girl seemed to think for a while before suddenly muttering under her breath. "But big sis said only knights can be heroes"
"I don't think that's how it works but okay" Rastel laughed at her statement, his sharp ears picked up her mutterings.
He extended his hand to her for a handshake as he formally introduced himself.
"Call me Rastel, I am grateful to you for saving my life from such a hopeless situation" he smiled at her.
She looked taken aback as she saw his hand and hesitated for a bit before receiving the hand shake.
"It was my honor, please call me Myra, nice to meet you." She shook his hands with a small blush.
Amba grunted in the background as if gesturing that it was here, Rastel laughed at its antics before introducing it.
"I'm sorry I forgot about you buddy, thanks for saving me back there, really grateful and all that" Rastel took an exaggerated bow to show his thanks.
The golem nodded as a show of acceptance before Rastel introduced Amba to Myra. After that, he explained the potential threat to Myra and the reason they had to hurry out of there. She seemed frightened a bit but after seeing Rastel's undisturbed face, she calmed down.
Rastel patted Amba a few times and expressed his thanks before taking the golem back into his inventory. He had noticed his mana was slowly draining as the golem stayed unleashed and since they were in a hurry, Amba would only slow them down.
After doing that, he asked Myra to get on his back which she did without much hesitation, after making sure she was secured tightly, he took off into the forest.
After going through a few stops to regain his stamina, he found himself at the outskirts of the forest. He took a large detour to see if he would be able to shake off a few players but alas he couldn't, especially with the extra weight.
He was at the edge of the forest not far from where the gate was, the entrance was thronging with players far more than the usual amount and there were green arrows bopping over heads everywhere.
'Shit! This is a problem' he grimaced as he saw them. He had hoped there wouldn't be that many and he would be able to use his golems to clear a way to drop Myra to safety before taking off himself. He was confident that with a muan's agility in climbing, he would be able to escape most of the pursuits in the forest.
He suddenly heard movement from the back and turned around, several of his pursuers had decided to show themselves, he was already cornered and had no place to run. The players at the gate seemed to have already been notified as numerous groups suddenly began moving over.
"Hey brother, why don't you come over here for a second let's talk?" one of them gestured.
"Don't listen to him, come over here! My guild would like to have negotiations with you, you better agree or else...." another one threatened
"Hero?" Myra seemed terrified by the sudden amount of people after them.
Rastel clenched his teeth as he suddenly decided, it was now or never.
"Hold tight now Myra, it would be bad if you fell off while I run" he laughed as he urged her.
She suddenly relaxed her tense nerves as she heard him laugh and tightened her hold on him.
"Okay, let's go!" Rastel suddenly yelled as he went into a sprint!
He dashed full speed as fast as he could towards the groups approaching from the gate. In his right hand, he held only one golem figure, Amba! He had full trust in this golem as it directly told Rastel to call it out when he needed help after hearing the situation, he had gained the golem's basic trust.
Rastel could see the fastest players were already approaching and some archers were already nocking arrows to bows, there were a few level 20's among the players which signified that high level players were already present and more were probably on their way.
'Let's hope this would work' he muttered a silent prayer in his heart as they got closer.
He was just prepared to throw Amba into the charging group when all of a sudden, a massive wave of water suddenly roared behind the approaching group!
"Dafuq!?" Rastel yelled as he immediately forced himself to a halt before dashing to the left!
The huge wave of water smashed down with powerful rage as it swept down on the players and smashed them towards the forest into the ambushing players approaching from within.
Those caught unawares or with slow reaction were smashed to death by the waves while a few suffered injuries or were knocked unconscious as the wave wreaked havoc.
Rastel and Myra watched with eyes wide in awe at the power of the wave and they both gulped down at the sight. They were still wondering who unleashed such a skill when they heard a voice call out.
"Hey boyyo! What are you staring for? Do you also fancy a bath?"