After a few hours, the group rested near a river. For Leo this was like a salvation, he marched with the soldiers while his friends rode on horses. He had never walked this far, his heavy armor made him lose his stamina faster. His plan to make friends with the soldiers fell completely flat. For them he was only a weakling, who was balast. When they wanted to continue their journey, they heard a distant cry, a soldier was missing. Arriving at the river, they were again shown the danger of their journey. A huge crocodile with a fin on its back was about to devour the soldier. Almost devoured, one last agonized cry for help was heard before finally his head also disappeared into the monster's mouth. A loud crack was heard, and in the next moment blood poured from the creature's mouth. Luke and Marah froze at the sight, though Luke quickly became nauseous and managed to control himself. Blade and Adrian just gritted their teeth as they stared at the monster.
"Damn it, wake up, we don't have much time before it attacks us too. Take your weapons and hold the position, we'll limit ourselves to defense".
The beast caught the sounds of the group and swam through the river directly toward their shore.
„You have practiced this scenario a hundred times so show me, yourselves and the soldiers exactly what you can do and who you are. There is no place in this world for your fears and panic. You are the chosen ones who are capable of much more later. Soldiers, protect them with your lives. You four listen to my command, is that clear?"
Leo, who froze for a moment, moved into position. When he saw the blood in the water, he felt nauseous and dizzy for a moment, but Grae's words brought him back to his feet. Trembling all over, he waited for the monster with his short sword in his hand. When it jumped out of the water, Leo also became aware of Grae's plan. Adrian was already in position in the trees waiting for the creature. When it was close enough he dropped a tree on the creature, it cried out in pain. Blade was responsible for keeping it away from the group by scaring it off with fire. As it walked towards the soldiers, Luke shot water at the wall of fire, smoke billowed out and the crocodile's vision was obscured. Actually, Grae's plan was to attack head-on with Marah, but when he saw her trembling in fear, he ran alone. He took one of her daggers and jumped through the smoke. Next he threw the dagger directly into one of the monster's eyes. It roared and flailed around in all directions. At that moment, Grae gave his signal to Adrian and Blade, drawing his sword and running straight at the creature. Just before its mouth, Blade shot a fire projectile at Grae's sword, which fusioned with the flames. In that time, Adrian had placed a stream of air in front of him. Grae used the airstream as a springboard and flew over the crocodile's mouth. At the level of its head, he lunged downward and drilled the fire sword directly into the creature's skull. It swung back and forth in agony, but Grae did not let up with the sword. After a few seconds, the creature's sounds ceased and it fell over motionless. Leo could only watch in amazement at what his friends were capable of. When he turned around he saw Marah on her knees with tears in her eyes. The soldiers cheered loudly and praised their heroes. Leo could not understand it, they had won the fight, but there was now one less of them. To him it looked so natural that despite the death of a comrade, everyone broke out in a cheer. He realized what the battles must have done to the soldiers. After the baggage was packed, they marched on. Late in the evening, they arrived in the village. The villagers greeted them solemnly and entertained their visitors.
"Leo, I need to talk to you for a minute. For you, all this must seem very strange, but you'll get used to it, or rather you'll have to get used to it. There's a problem that only you can help me with. When you see Marah, try to calm her down, she is having a harder time than I thought. That's why I'm counting on you, we need her strength in battle."
Grae went back to his squad and continued to celebrate with them. Luke was about to be shown around by the residents, as usual he couldn't refuse an offer. Leo saw that his smile was fake. Blade and Marah were not in their tents and looking for Adrian would take an eternity. As he searched around the village he heard loud thumps. Blade was punching against a tree, his knuckles began to bleed.
"Shit, what was that today? We're supposed to defeat fuckers like that with no effort, ridiculous.
Damnit! I need to get stronger, much stronger. For me and the others...none of us will die here!"
Leo was amazed but relieved at the same time that he wasn't the only one who thought that way.
"Must have been pretty tough for you guys, I'm not much help but if you need anything just ask me."
"What I need you have the least. And how should a weakling like you be able to help me....Sorry, I didn't mean it that way, I'm just really confused right now.
"I mean, you're right. As far as the fight is concerned, I'm no help, Grae's tactics worked perfectly too. If the beast had gotten through to us I would have been the first to get eaten....
I know I'm weak as hell but I'm working to make sure none of us die.
"Hmm, at least you have the will and the right attitude. If I ever need to be massaged, I'll gladly accept your help...I'll be on my way....
"Hmpf...Blockhead..."
He felt good about this conversation, especially in this situation cohesion was very important. Blade went back to the village and slept in his tent. Leo continued to look for Marah, but even after searching for an hour, there was no sign of her. He started to worry and decided to wait for her outside the village. When he looked up at the sky, he noticed that although it was clear, there were no stars to be seen. Again he sank deep into his thoughts.
"Will I ever become strong? I can't rely on Luke, Blade, Adrian and Marah forever. But what happens after we return? What will become of me...as I am now I am no help...the only thing I have is my brain. But what good is it if no one listens to me...I have to prove myself somehow...I have to come up with something."
Lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice someone approaching him.
"Seems like you're worried too, you're not the only one who's weak. I was completely useless, couldn't even move because of fear. If it goes on like this I will only end up dead...please help me Leo".
Marah sounded very desperate, she had tears in her eyes. Leo knew how she must feel. She still couldn't come to terms with her friend's death. And today's scenario reminded her again that she would soon have to kill many people and creatures as well. The Chosen One's prodigy had the hardest time accepting this reality.
"...it reminds you of Clara, doesn't it? No matter what happens, the thought will haunt you for a long time. Coming to terms with it must hurt a lot... we are more alike than you think Marah. My parents also moved many times...nothing worked out...i had to take of myself...but no matter how many times i tried i still failed. Believe it or not this world was my only way out to escape my past. I still find it hard to block out the thought, nowadays I just try to ignore it. It's not a way out...just a temporary solution. It was very brave to tell me all of this back in the castle. It helped me aswell, more than you'd think. I know you must be damn curious about my words now but I won't say anything...I swore myself to take it to my grave, be it in my world or this one. Look at me, I'm super slim and can barely keep a sword straight for more than a minute, but you have unimaginable skills that will help you. Although the others don't show it like this, they also rely on you, you have to protect each other so that none of your friends die anymore okay. I know it is quite selfish of me to ask such a thing, but can you protect me until I become stronger?
Marah listened carefully and swore to fulfill his request. After the conversation, they both went back to the village.
Early in the morning, a training session was held. This time, the soldiers and the chosen ones, now called the elite troops, were separated. This time Leo could hardly keep up with the other soldiers but this time he forced himself to complete the whole training. Completely exhausted, he was about to go wash up when suddenly one of the scouts rode into the village and warned the troops. A portal had opened to the south in the direction of the cornfields. The whole troop immediately marched to the destination, the villagers hid in their houses. When they arrived at the cornfield, they saw the red portal that roared like a fire. They got into position and waited for their opponents. It took a few minutes for the first creature to appear. The sight of it sent a shiver down everyone's spine. It looked like something out of a horror movie. Its upper body was that of a lizard while its lower body consisted of human legs. From his belly you could literally see the intestines, on its arms it had huge claws. Directly after it, more and more of these lizards came out of the portal and charged towards the troop. Grae gritted his teeth and gave his orders.
"Blade, block their way with your wall of fire and have your sword ready. Adrian as soon as one of those critters breaks through take the bow and shoot a wind arrow right at its head. We need you at long range, remember what we practiced earlier. Luke stay on call, you're our shield. Soldiers, fall back for now, our priority is the residents. Marah, you attack with me, we'll surprise them from behind. No shadow magic yet, it isn't fully completed so we won't take the risk. I hope you finally got some clarity.
Grae looked at her determinedly, both nodded to each other and started with their plan. Leo walked in front of the field with the soldiers and watched the fight. Grae's plan seemed to work, the creatures ran through the wall and caught fire. Adrian shot most of them down, his arrow working like a small vortex that drilled through the creature's skull. At the sight of the blistering head, Marah pulled another frightened face but this time she continued to follow Grae. The two of them placed themselves to the side of the portal and lured away the monsters still emerging from the portal. They charged toward the two, their mouths tipped with razor-sharp teeth. Their decisive weakness was that they had no cover at all. As if possessed, they ran head-on at their opponents, which made them very vulnerable. The lizards were fast but were nothing compared to Grae and Marah. She followed Graes every move, slaughtering one after the other. With each kill, she completely blanked out her mind and let her survival instincts take over. Even without a shadow weapon, she slashed enemies with her daggers without any problems. Blade's wall of fire had little effect on the lizards and Adrian's mana was rapidly decreasing.
"Grae, the wall isn't helping, they just run through them and our mana is almost empty too, Luke is still in place. What's the plan."
Grae and Marah pulled out of the fight and ran back to the three of them.
"Shit, I didn't expect so many. Seems magic has no effect on them. We have no choice but close combat. Adrian and Blade, grab your swords and give them hell, kill the burning ones first, they're more dangerous. Luke, you keep your distance. As soon as one of you is hurt meet up with Luke, his healing magic will patch up light wounds in no time. Soldiers, we're moving out, slaughter these beasts.
Leo was shaking all over and moved out with the troop of soldiers. There were about 40 warriors consisting of archers, spearmen and swordsmen. Leo was in the front line together with the swordsmen. In front of him stood one of the monsters attacking him, at the last moment he dodged to the side and fell on the ground. He tried to slash one of the legs, but he had too little strength. Just as he was about to be trampled, the monster was killed by a spearman. He yelled at Leo to pull himself together. The next moment the soldier was bitten in the neck from behind, blood splattering onto Leo's face as he saw him getting decapitated. The sight took his breath away, behind him was already the next monster. This time he was saved by Grae, who told thim to wake up. Blade slaughtered one after the other and got more and more into it. He got so angry that he lost control of his mana. Suddenly his sword ignited and burned for the entire fight. The lizards he couldn't kill were now more dangerous again. While Grae was in a blood frenzy, he saw the portal disappear. He sped up even more and killed them with one blow. Leo ran towards one of the burning mutants, with a sword slash he actually managed to slash the monster's burning chest. As he was about to smile, the chest ignited and the monster exploded in front of him. Leo was thrown backwards a few meters, he crawled on the ground and could hardly see anything. He could no longer hear any sound, his arm was bleeding profusely. As he rubbed the dirt from his eyes he saw more explosions in front of him. Arms and legs flew in the air, the soldiers were literally blown apart. He could only explain it by the fact that there was some kind of gas inside the lizards, which was explosive and made them living grenades. Grae saw his soldiers being blown up and ordered the retreat. Blade nearly froze when he saw that his fire was eventually claiming the lives of the soldiers. The only explanation why he and the others were unharmed was that they only attacked the creature's head, one false move and that could've been them laying on the ground without their limbs. The flammable cavity must be in the chest, as if the mutants were prepared for this situation. Completely stunned and confused, Leo saw that Marah's opponent had a large scar on his chest. Fire burned from his legs towards his chest. Large amounts of adrenaline flowed through his body and he ran towards them. As Marah was about to attack him she saw Leo coming towards her. She looked into his frightened face as she was knocked over by him dodging the beasts attack. In the corner of her eye she saw the bright light, which ignited a short time later and caused a huge blow. When Marah saw Leo lying lifeless on the ground, she froze with panic. One of the lizards ran toward her attacking her, but she remained motionless on the ground. Just before the creature could bite her, Grae severed its head and saved them both. Leo opened his eyes one last time, he saw that the fight was over, and then passed out. When he opened his eyes again everything was dark, he couldn't move. Suddenly he heard voices that he had long wanted to forget.
"Why didn't you die instead of your mother Leo? It's your fault, you killed her! Just throw him ayay, no one will miss him...
Oh,why am I saying this? Because he is a murderer, useless and a disgrace of a son.
Such a child must not become the family heir, rather he should die!
Oh Leo,Leo,Leo, haven't you learned anything?
You think you can change, you can become stronger? You will never escape me no matter what you do. You will always be a WEAKLING!
The next moment he fell into an infinite depth, all his memories burned into his brain and he screamed out loud.
It was an accident, okay!? I'm sorry, I-I'm sorry, please stop hitting me. I can't breathe. I'll do anything, just please stop hitting her. I'm the one responsible, it's my fault...all my fault...maybe I'll be better off if I die....please end my pain...