Amaya was surprised by how quickly and easily the man handled the demon. She didn't even see his movements, only the aftermath.
The man spoke.
"Demons are rare to find. Mainly because they live far away in their homeland where most monsters and demons originate from.They are pretty strong so I wouldn't recommend looking for them. Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. The name is Ezume."
Amaya stood up, also introducing herself.
"My name is Amaya. Thanks for the help. I really almost died."
Ezume humbly replied, "You don't need to thank me. I did what any good War Knight would do."
The term 'War Knight' caught Amaya's attention. She's heard of normal knight's but never 'War Knight' Whatever that was.
"War knights?" she asked.
"That's right. I was off duty today so I got bored and came to walk through the forest. Thankfully I did."
Amaya pondered her actions, leading up to almost dying. She was so eager to test out her weapon that she didn't realize how strong some monster's would. Not only that, she wasn't even aware this was reality until one of the wolves bit her.
"I'm sorry. I should've been more carfull."
"Don't go beating yourself up about it. No one would have expected a demon to be around here. This forest is mainly filled with low level monsters." said Ezume as he patted Amaya on the head.
He continued speaking,"But seriously, you should be a bit more carfull. Even in a low level area like this, you should have a group with you when traveling."
Amaya nodded, taking his advice.
"Noted."
A new wonder started to run into her mind. What was Ezume's strength? If he was strong enough to beat that Demon like nothing, his stats had to be high.
['Analyze' has activated]
(Ezume: Level:880 Hp:11,000 Mp: 2,500 Atk: 1,250 Speed: 200 Endurance:500 Exp:1,000/8,800)
Amaya couldn't believe her eyes. Her own personal stats couldn't even compare to his.
Ezume placed a bottle of green liquid into her hand.
"Here, drink this, it should heal your injuries since they don't look fatal. I have to get going, stay safe."
"Don't worry, I'll be more cuatious."
When Ezume left from sight, Amaya was left to reminisce.
'I could've died earlier if Ezume didn't show up. I got lucky this time but next time that might not be the case. I have to get stronger if I want to survive in this world.'
And maybe, she would even be able to save a life or two. She had two new goals in mind.
"That sounds like a nice goal, get stronger and save lives. Hopfully that doesn't make me sound like like a wannabe hero."
Amaya drank the green liquid from the bottle. A shiver of sourness shook her jaws.
"This stuff...it's really sour."
Other than the nasty tatse, she felt the pain in her body fade as her wound healed.
She tossed the bottle over into a bush.
'I know he told me to only travel with a group, but I think I'll push myself to the limit by fighting solo instead. Maybe that'll make me stronger somehow, if I don't die first.'
___________
After walking for a good while, night fall had full covered the sky. Amaya's eyes had already adjusted to the dark, so it wasn't too hard to see the path. But there was still some dark areas she was blind too.
Her ears picked up on a cry in the distance.
'What was that?'
She stood still, trying to hear it again, but there was nothing.
'My imagination?'
About to continue her walk, she froze again. this time, she heard the cry loud and clear.
The cry of a little girl somehwere.
"Stop! Don't eat MEEEE!!"
Amay wans't even sure what a little girl was doing deep in the forest, but she wasn't going to ignore it. She sprinted towards the cry, until she finally arrived at the source. Amaya peeked out from behind a bush and saw what was happening. A small girl was trying to crawling away from a large monster. It looked almost like a bear, but it's skin was like a shadow and it's claws were like mini swords.
Something about this monster looked odly familiar.
'Where have I seen this before?' Amaya thought to herself.
Her eyes widened as she remembered.
'That's it! That's the creature I punched earlier! Who knew I would run into that thing again.'
Her eye caught sight if the monster's Hp indicator.
(Shadow Bear: Hp: 397/400)
It still hadn't healed from the damage Amaya did to it earlier, even if it wasn't much.
'Yep, that's definetally the one I punched earlier. I think I have what it take to beat it now.'
Amaya hopped over the bush where she was hiding and charged at the monster.
With a thrust, she stabbed her dagger into it's back.
The bear let out a devilish roar and slashed at Amaya, but she quickly ducked under.
Again, the monster swung it's claws and missed, shredding a tree instead.
"Wow! that was close!" Amaya was aware, if she had been hit by that, she wouldn't be breathing at all.
It had been so long since Amaya was fighting this intensly. She still had the muscle memory from the martial arts she practiced in her childhood, but she was rusty now.
Narrowly evading the monster's claws over and over, Amaya couldn't find a chance to strike back.
'Come on Amaya, remember.....the flow of fighting. If not, you'll get tired and eventually be cut apart by that thing's claws.'
She took a deep breath, and convinced herself that she had what it took.
The monster's claws missed Amaya's face by an inch. She jumped into the air, slamming her foot into it's jaw. The bear was stunned for a split-second, enough time for Amaya to take a stance.
Her fists swiftly stuck it's stomach 3 times, but the damage wasn't enough to win.
(Shadow Bear: Hp:192/400)
'Of course that's not enough.' Amaya thought, disapointed in herself.
The bear lifted both it's arms and threw them down. Amaya was able to see this out the corner of her eye and leaped out the way.
Smash!
Amaya tripped as the floor nearly split apart.
She wasn't able to recover wasn't enough while the monster swung with the back of it's paw.
'I can't dodge this one! I'll just have to block and hope for the best.'
Amaya did the only thing she could, she raised her arms, sheilding herself form the strike.
Wack!
She was sent rolling and rolling through the dirt. She had blocked but her breath was knocked out and she sustained tough damage. Wit her body aching and her skull hurting, she didn't want to stand. But, she knew if she didn't, there was alot more than her life on the line.
Taking a breath, so jumped on balance.
'My attacks aren't enough on their own. I need to get my dagger form it's back. I need to find the perfect moment.'
The Shadow-bear's claws grew twice in size, now looking like short swords.
Amaya stuck her tounge out, tauntingly.
"You're a sad excuse of a monster."
And like she predicted, she struck a nerve.
The monster let out a screech and ran at her in a tackling motion. Amaya simply waiting for it to come close enough then slid between it's legs. Her hand yanked the dagger form it's back.
The bear's eyes tracked her quickly. Amaya jumped into he air away from the monster's claws.
On her way down, she raised her dagger and smiled.
'Monster or not your brain won't survive this.'
With the combined effort from both her arms, she swung the dagger through the bear's skull.
Swsh! Shnk!
Like a falling tower, the monster slowly tilted, eventually hitting the dirt.
Thump!
[You have leveled up]
Amaya breathed rapidly, staring at her achomplishment.
'Ha...haha..I did it! I won. First time beating a bear in a mele fight.'