'Then I suggest you hurry and complete your task. Goodluck young berserker'
The old guy faded away leaving Esmeralda to her frantic thoughts.
This has got to be some sort of mistake!!
A rustle in the bushes to her side cut off her train of thought.
She gripped the scythe tightly, hands trembling slightly but ready to swing when suddenly Vincent stepped out. Esmeralda huffed, annoyed at his sudden appearance
"What the heck?! I could've killed you!!"
"Wow, somehow I don't doubt that you could actually do that" Vincent mumbled then paused to get a good look at her outfit "love the
Whole Amazon warrior thing you got going on, I never knew miss stick in the mud actually has feminine curves under all those baggy trash you wear to school evryday. This suits your personality "
Esmarelda sent him with a dry look"Haha, wiseass. Sweatshirts are comfortable. Anyway, I chose the berserker, you?"
"Warrior of course, it's the only thing that depicts my awesomeness" Vincent struck a pose, his sword held high. Esmeralda scoffed
"So that's why you look like a wannabe knight Sir Neanderthal?" Esmeralda mocked in a fake sweet voice, blinking her eyes innocently and gesturing to the scanty pieces of armour he had on
Vincent gasped, a hand on his chest, looked behind him and turned back to face her
"Oh, it can't be me you're talking to shortie"
Esmeralda raised her scythe, she stilled for a few seconds before lowering it as if rethinking her decision to maime Vincent
"I don't have time for this, we need to find the mortal asap, so we can leave this crazy place"
"Well you're right about that, for once. I think there's a map in the menu"
Esmeralda watched as Vincent called up his menu, selecting the map. It unravelled to show that they were close to a village called Kalosyni. Esmeralda trudged forward, turning back to glance at Vincent
"Looks like it just up ahead, let's go dead weight" he grumbled but followed her father into the forest.
They had gotten halfway to their destination when five small puffballs rolled out of the bushes into their path. They both froze in their tracks. Esmeralda glanced at the furry balls suspiciously as they remained still
"What do you think they are, any chance of them being normal woodland creatures?" Vincent whispered beside her, careful not to jolt the strange creatures
"Heck if I know, nothing here actually screams normal now does it?" Esmeralda whispered back, her gaze still trained on the puffballs.
She picked up her scythe and proceeded to poke one of them. She paused halfway, conflicted before stretching the weapon all the way to keep a safe distance between them.
"Ahhh!!" A few centimetres away one of the balls of puff suddenly latched onto the scythe, making Esmeralda swing it wildly in an attempt to shake it off. Vincent drew his sword and slashed at it. The puffball erupted in a cloud of smoke.
Ding!
Vincent lit up a green colour as the words 'level up' appeared over his head. Esmeralda smiled, an idea forming in her head as she slashed one of the puffballs with her scythe
The level up appeared over her head as well. She swung her scythe once more, the force killing two more puff balls and denting a few trees in the process
"Woah, I got stronger!!"
"Yeah, me too princess. Let's go!"
.....
"There's no end to this! I'm exhausted " Esmeralda griped, panting. Her body littered with a few cuts and bruises. the more they advanced in level, the less they seemed to be improving fighting their fluffy enemies. all it seemed to be doing was tiring them out. She glanced at Vincent who didn't look any better that she did.
"We have to fall back into the forest!" Vincent huffed as well, panting and exhausted
Caw!!!! Caw!!!!
At the strange sound, the puff balls suddenly stopped attacking, Esmeralda and Vincent took the initiative to retreat further into the forest.
They ran deeper until they reached a clearing beside a lake. Vincent dropped down, gasping for air as Esmeralda surveyed their surroundings, leaning unto her scythe. the big space consisted of varieties of flowers that looked groomed, almost like they were being catered for by someone. it wasn't until vincent grabbed her arm and tugged that she finally realized that they weren't alone in the makeshift garden.
a little bit further to their right stood a young girl. her shabby clothes showed she was a villager, and not a wealthy one at that. the girl flinched, shying away when esmarelda straightened herself, eyes darting frantically to the scythe she carried. esmarelda looked from the girl to her weapon and back, connecting the dots.
"hey there sweetie, its okay i won't hurt you" esmarelda slowly placed down the scythe as a way of showing she was harmless and slowly reached out towards the girl, almost immediately she turned away and darted into the forest
"hey!!"