They were almost to the destination, but they weren't quite there yet.
As everyone rode their horses, the theme lacked any sort of conversations. The only source of noise was the blowing wind and the trampling footsteps of all the horses.
Sapphire's mind strayed off into a cloud of thought where she pondered every issue up to date.
She still had to do everything and make sure her world was protected from further monster attacks. Next she had to help clear each of the legendary-rank dungeons. But was she capable? She had already failed the last one. Then there was the drama of the dark mages carrying out a monster attack in the kingdom of Therngo. It wasn't 100% confirmed yet but they were most likely behind it. After this, came the issue of the dark mages abducting Emi to force Amaya/Sapphire to meet with them in the kingdom of Ashetira. Now that she was so close to solving that issue, then came along the Ammiel who sealed her stats away.
It was too much, leaving Sapphire to let out a dramatic sigh.
'Is my bad luck really gone? Or was removing it just a lie?'
Even if Ace's eyes were focusing on the path ahead, we were still able to pick up on Sapphire's low mood.So Ace went on and gave a few words of inspiration.
"I don't know everything about your life. However, I can say this 'Things will eventually work out in the end' Never give up because hard work will bestow blessing upon you. Well, that's what I think, anyway."
"And how will they sort out?" Sapphire asked.
"One way or another, fate will find a way. The best you can do is play your part and take things one step at a time." Ace replied.
Maybe he was right. Fate might just find a way to sort everything out. But what if he was wrong. Sapphire didn't want to imagine a future where everything gets worse with her life having a bad ending.
"I guess worrying won't do anything. I suppose I'll just have to stay positive."
"That's right. Stay positive." Ace nodded.
The horses whined and creamed as they all came to a rough stop.
"What's going on?!" Ace asked.
A good number of trees had fallen over and stacked on one another, blocking the path through the forest.
"It's nothing too big of a deal. It seems there's some trees blocking the way. I'll deal with it." said Jean.
She hopped off of her horse and walked over to the fallen trees.
One of the knights went on and asked "Are you going to cut them apart with your sword?!"
Jean shook her head and looked at the trees with a bold look.
"I don't need a blade to take care of something this simple."
Jean placed her palm on one of the fallen trees and let out a breath.
Swoosh!
The wind quaked as An invisible force blasted forward. The fallen trees splintered apart, turning into chips of wood that gently fell through the air.
All of the knights were surprised. Just by thatg demonstration, they knew why she among the few with the title of 'War Knight'
Jean jumped back on her horse's back.
"The path is clear. Let's go"
Everyone advanced and continued on the path.
Sapphire had seen much more amazing feats of power, but Jean was still somewhat impressive.
'So that must be the work of one of her skills'
[You have used 'Analyze']
{Jean Gallagher: HP:18,789 | Mp: 1,678 | Atk: 2,123 | Speed: 667 | Endurance: 891
Skills: Goddess's Blessing of Wind, Passive skill, Sharpen}
Looking at someone's stats and skills felt almost like invading someone's privacy. Sapphire felt somewhat guilty by this, but in the end, curiosity got the better of her.
'Goddess's Blessing of Wind? First time I heard of a skill like that.'
Ten minutes had passed as everyone stopped their horses.
They were pretty much at the destination, they just had to go a bit further to leave the forest. But, Jean seemed to be hesitant.
"What is it?" Ace asked.
Cautiously, Jean got off from her horse and peeked out into the open area.
" That burned down church is our destination, right?"
Not being able to see from Jeans angle, Ace nodded.
"Yes, that's right. Why do you ask."
"It looks like this area also had the attention of other enemies." Jean stated.
Over by the crumbling church, figures with white masks seemed to be searching the area for something. By their facewear, they were most definitely dark mages.
Jean faced back at the other knights and nodded.
"We will engage in combat shortly. The dark mages are also enemies of this kingdom and we will not spare any of them."
Sapphire's eyes lit up.
'Dark mages? They're here?' It was both good and bad news.
She found them but she couldn't make contact and reveal herself as 'Amaya' Not while other people such as the knights were around anyway.
'This would've been a good time to talk to them and get Emi back. But, I can't do that while I'm around these knights.'
It pained her much, but Sapphire would have to wait another time to reach out to the dark mages.
Jean had 17 of the knights by her side as well as Ace, ready to run out into battle.
"While we go out and fight, I'll be leaving the other knights here with you, Sapphire. This shouldn't take us long." said Jean.
After seeing Sapphire nodd in understandment, Jean led the others out into the open towards the dark mages by the ruined church.
Tmp. Tmp. Tmp. Tmp.
Within seconds, Sapphire was able to hear the sound of clashing metal and the sound of magic blasts. Even if she wasn't able to see the fight go down, it sure sounded like a big deal.
The knights that had stayed behind with her were all relaxed.
"That sound of battle really gets my blood pumping. What about you?" the knight asked Sapphire. But, the knight quickly spoke again before Sapphire had a chance to reply.
"Well, I guess not. Women don't take too kindly to combat. I suppose their place is in the kitchen and all."
His remark made Sapphire want to give him a bonk at the top of his head.
"What about Jean? I take it that she accels in combat. I wonder how she would feel if she heard you say that." said Sapphire.
"W-wait. I didn't mean to be offensive. It's just that not all women are as talented as her. Sure, some are blessed with high stats for combat. But, most of them wouldn't survive without them because they don't really have a whole lot of skill."
Instead of getting mad, Sapphire took it easy, replying " I suppose that's a little true."
After all, she's had overpowered stats for a long time. But now that they were sealed away, it showed how useless she was without them. She wasn't all that smart, so she wasn't good at strategy. Even so, Sapphire had good coordination when it came to melee combat, but she had gotten rusty due to her always relying on her OP stats.
"Ah, I'm glad you didn't get too upset by that." the knight replied
A part of Sapphire was a bit grateful that he had brought it up. She needed to realize that there are other things that can make a person powerful, such as experience, knowledge and timing.
"Of course. It's something I needed to hear. Thank y-" Sapphire froze in place. Her eyes widened as her pupils shook. The knight that she was just speaking to, no longer had a head while a fountain of blood squirted up.
Thump!
As the knight slowly fell over on the dirt, Sapphire saw the other four knights were deceased, laying in puddles of their own blood. Sapphire's eyes panicked as they constantly scanned the area. There weren't any attackers in sight. So, what had killed them? Was she next in line?
A warm breath touched the back of her neck as a girl's voice spoke.
"It's good to see you, Amaya."
Sapphire jumped back and turned to see who the person was.
It was a girl with long purple hair and cold white eyes. Her mouth was covered by a black mask.
"Who are you? And why are the dark mages here?" Sapphire asked.
The girl stayed silent.
"Why don't you say anything?" Sapphire asked.
The girl finally replied in a weak toned-voice.
"As a servant of the dark king, it's not my place to answer your questions. I was only ordered to come here and escort you back to one of our many hideouts. I was also ordered to eliminate anything that may get in the way of that. So I apologize for killing those five knights by you."
It was the absolute worst time to go meet with the dark mages. BEing weak, Sapphire/Amaya had no good way of fighting if necessary. First, she needed to kill Father Ammiel and unseal her stats.
"I'm..not ready to go yet."
An invisible force grabbed both of her arms and held them with insane strength. Sapphire tried to move but, whatever holding her felt like an immovable force.
The girl went on to explain something.
"I apologize. It's not a choice that you have. We know about the situation with your stats. As a result, you're not in any condition to fight back."
It felt unfair, the dark mages were taking advantage of her weakness and taking her by force.
'So the first time was by choice because I was strong. But now that I'm weak I don't have a choice.'
Still, it wasn't all that bad. Sapphire hoped Emi was okay, at least.
The air slightly vibrated. As it did, monsters were revealed by Sapphire side. They were the forces that were holding her arms.
Two beams of light blasted through the creature's apart.
Blast! Blast!
Sapphire fell to her knees, being able to move again.
Ace dashed behind the girl, cutting her down. Quickly, he shouted.
"Jean, take her away!"
Jean jumped out from one of the trees and grabbed Sapphire, lifting her away in the other direction.
As they quickly sprinted off, Jean explained the situation.
Tmp.Tmp..Tmp..
"I'm talking you away from here! We need to get far!"
"What? Why? What about the other knights?" Sapphire asked.
Jean grinded her teeth in frustration.
"They're dead. The dark mages were't our only problems. There were spirit's."
Spirit's were naturally invisible, making them overwhelming opponents. Without sensing-type skills, there was no good way to fight them.
Jean continued "I used wind to sense their bodies and sense the position. When I did, I realized that they were catered all across the forest in great numbers."
"Who was that girl with the purple hair?" Sapphire asked.
"She's the one controlling the spirit's. Her name is Isla and she's why we have to get far from here?"
"Is she that powerful?"
"She's strong. But what makes her a great threat are her many lives."