After a 2 day break Lena finally gets to go questing although this time she is just a luggage carrier.
She arrived at the spot listed on the request 10minutes before the promised time, but instead of waiting she finds the requester already there and waiting for who knows how long.
There sat down at a bench that miraculously didn't break under his weight. A tall man tall enough to make Lena seem like a shrimp, with a huge 2handed sword almost as huge as him, and an armor so bulky it could probably withstand a castle breaking on top of it. Even with an armor almost twice his size the man didn't have a helmet on, his face was gentle with a smile aiming towards Lena as soon as he noticed her. He quickly got up and walked towards her to greet her.
The closer he got to Lena the more she could feel his overwhelming presence whether it be from his strength or his overwhelming build it still intimidated Lena, but his actions said a whole other thing as soon as got close to her he raised his right arm for a handshake and introduced himself.
"Good morning, you must be Lena right? I'm elstat. Oh and I just arrived so don't worry about making me wait haha..." elstat said awkwardly while scratching the back of his head with his other hand.
"ah yes, I'm Lena pleasured to make your acquaintance mr elstat." Lena said feeling as if its the first time looking up to someone.
Elstat gave a slight grin to Lena's response.
"So anyway, Lena, do you have the full idea of what we are about to do?" the man asked as he straightened his posture.
"I have a general idea, but nothing specific so if you can fill me up I would be grateful." Lena said as she fixed her back.
"Ahh. I should've detailed it more on the request my bad. Sure, I will tell you all the details on the way, it's going to be quite the long walk so prepare yourself." The man said as he picked up his bag.
"Sure, but please give me your bag, that's why I'm here after all." Lena said as she tried pulling his bag away from him.
"huh?" for a second elstat gave a confused response which he quickly fixed.
"oh yeah, right, that's what I asked for. Yeah yeah go ahead, but if it's too heavy you don't have to burden yourself I can carry a bit" elstat said as he handed his bag to lena.
"Don't worry about me sir I can manage." Lena said as she fixed the luggage to make it easier for carrying.
They then started moving as elstat started explaining everything to Lena.
"About a week ago, a farmer noticed something fly into the side of the mountain next to him. According to what he said the silhouette fully resembled that of a dragon, and that even though it flew right into the mountain no crash happened but instead just silence as if it has done many times, so people figured the dragon is most probably nesting in a cave up there. It's going to be for almost a week journey going there and then coming back. Unless you can walk for full nights then we can skip a night's sleep for walking, but I leave the decision up to you Lena."
Lena just kept silent as she listened to the man talk.
4 hours of moving later.
"So Lena, how much do you know about dragons?" Elstat asked out of the blue.
"huh? ah, not much really, But I have seen a dragon get slayed once." Lena replayed surprised by the sudden question.
Elstat while walking turns his head to lena with his eyes fully opened surprised by the nonchalant replay.
"you witnessed the slaying of a dragon?" Elstat asked again to confirm his ears.
"yeah." Lena replied
"Oh, I'm sorry then this must be hard for you." elstat replied with saddened eyes.
"What? What do you mean?" Lena asked confused.
"Well excuse me, but if you have seen the slaying of a dragon it must have been quite the gruesome scene right?" Elstat asked.
"Yeah, I guess so. It did make me feel a bit bad for the dragon." Lena said.
"For the dragon? What about the people who died fighting it? Don't you feel anything for them?" Elstat asked.
"what? No one was hurt, and there was only one person fighting it in the first place, it was pretty one-sided so it made me feel bad for the dragon." Lena replied.
"One man? One-sided? Are you sure it was a dragon?"
"Yeah it was even rampaging over a noble's land which is why he helped him for a big sum of cash"
"ha...haha...hahahahaa" elstat laughs at the ridiculousness of such a story.
Lena doesn't understand why he is laughing so she minds it no mind and just keeps following him instead.
After laughing for a bit he says.
"And you Lena? What were you doing at that time?" elstat asked.
"me? haha... ironically I was also carrying luggage." lena replied with a giggle.
"haha... truly ironic." elstat replied.
"Then what about that "he" what do you know about him?" elstat asked lena truly intrigued.
Lena eye's widen at that question.
"Nothing." Lena replied.
"Yeah, I guess that makes sense. No way you would be here if you knew someone as amazing as him personally."
"amazing huh..." lena said in a very quite voice.
They continued moving on till the sun finally came down and the moon reached its peak.
"So can you keep moving or should we camp for the night?" Elstat asked Lena as he put his sword down.
"I can keep moving no problem." lena said as she pushed the luggage on her back back up.
"I'm surprised you payed attention to the "skilled" part huh..." elstat said wanting to compliment lena.
"haha experience does wonders." Lena said.
"Sure then if you're okay with it we can keep moving." elstat said as he picked up his sword to keep on moving.
They proceeded to move all night until the next night.
"Let's camp for tonight. We are already basically there so let's rest before heading into our fated battle." elstat said as entered the cave in a mountain path's side.
"the dragon should be at the top of this path, it would take us about an hour or 2 to reach there so we can make it tomorrow morning for now lets rest here." elstat explained to lena.
Lena nodded and start preparing for their camp night.
After around an hour or two Lena started preparing for dinner. Elstat came and sat next to her as she cooked.
"So lena, Got any fun stories you could share with me?" Elstat asked lena as he sat down while crossing his legs. he had taken his armor off and put it to the side next to his huge 2handed sword.
"wouldn't it usually be you, the person with the higher rank, that would have better stories?" lena said with her attention staying at the food she was cooking.
"haha... you're right, but I'm very interested in your past after hearing about that dragon story." elstat said.
"Sure, I guess I got a couple of stories." Lena said as she started recalling.
She kept going for a while, A long long while. The stories were each very different from the other. going from simply defeating monsters to living out a night in a cannibalistic village, but in all of them one thing was common, "he" was always there. The man she called Octan. In midst of all that Elstat suddenly asked Lena a question.
"Lena. Can you tell me what makes a an orc and a sea monster different?"
"well one stays on land while the other in water?"
"Then how about a sea monster and a dragon?"
"Isn't it the same?" lena asked while tilting her head.
That is when Elstat understood. Sure this girl has seen a lot, with some being stuff a child should never see, but even then she was sheltered. Because "He" was always there, even though in her stories it makes it sound like "He" didn't treat her well. "He" was always there when all hell broke lose, and whenever he had to make choice, Even though it was to his benefit himself, he would end up with her. Maybe it was all a coincidence and that "He" is truly a terrible guy, but even then it doesn't get rid of the fact that Lena doesn't understand. She doesn't understand the difference between strengths in monsters.
Aside from stuff that is obvious all she sees is a monster. That "he" has ruined her vision, after all seeing all monsters get taken out in under a minute makes you underestimate them. The fact that she has even lived up to this point as an adventurer is pure luck. One unlucky turn and she would have been dead. The reason she even came here in the first place was because she doesn't understand what a dragon is. All she will see when we first meet it is a winged huge lizard.
As Elstat slowly pieced it together Lena handed him a bowl with the food she has just finished cooking.
"it's hot so be aware." Lena said as she started eating her portion.
Slowly elstat began to eat, and as soon as he took his first taste of lena's cooking he gulped it down in an instant.
"th-thi-this-THIS IS AMAZING!" Elstat screamed.
"PLEASE TELL ME YOU MADE ENOUGH FOR SECONDS! NO ENOUGH FOR THIRDS! FOURTHS FIFTHS! FOR ALL THE NIGHT!"
"shhhhhhhhhh.... calm down. I've made enough so eat as much as you want." Lena said calming the man down.
"ah... yes sorry haha...." the man sat backdown with an awkward laugh.
They enjoyed a delicious dinner.