"Run, you three!" Kale's voice rang through the forest, he ducked a swing that black monster made as he swiftly jabbed his sword into its leg.
The black monster screeched, its neck and face contorted as it receded back to the rest of its body. There it reached for kale, its long arms almost centimeters from his body before he quickly stepped backwards, slashing at its arm.
Its blood spilt over the snow ground, the black monster countered with a massive swipe that caught Kale off guard, having him flying to a nearby tree. He quickly recovered from it but the Snow from the tree fell on him. The black monster screeching again.
Is kale alright? I can't see any of the snow moving, I think he was knocked out. This is not good, not good at all. I stood still as the black monster now had its eyes on us now. The owl-like eyes didn't blink as it twisted its head towards us. Slowly taking steps towards us.
"I have no time to play games, children…Pass me the prince…" it coldly said.
"Kota, run!" Lilith yelled. Using her free hand, she gripped my cloak and pulled me. The force she pulled choked me as we swiftly tried to make a run back where we came from.
"H-hey, what about Kale!" I asked, Lilith grunted as she tried to hastily make our escape.
"He should be fine! If we stay here, we're just going to be in his way!" Lilith looked back at me and her eyes darted to the black monster.
"Kota, do something with your magic!"
"I can't!"
"You got one good arm!" She yelled back at me, she took a glance at where kale was and shook her head.
Shit, she's right. Magic doesn't need both hands. Looking at the black monster, I saw that it was walking towards us. It lowered its head as if preparing for something. Holding out my staff with my right hand, I casted a earth spell. Underneath the black monster, a large pillar of the ground sprung up and smashed into its underbelly. I believe the University called this spell Earth Pillar? Usually this spell was used as a defensive spell to block paths or to build defenses. But now it's being used offensively. The black monster flew into the air, twisting in the air as it.
Lilith stopped and looked back, letting me go as she did. Chris held on tightly to Lilith, gripping around her shoulders.
"D-did you get it?" Chris nervously asked, the boy peered over liliths shoulder. I could see him trembling in fear as Lilith patted his hand in reassurance. Lilith was unnervingly calm in this situation. She then gave me a sharp glare as if telling me to focus.
I looked back at the black monster as it seemingly floated in the air, contorting. It was so weird looking at this thing, it didn't act like anything I've seen before. I wonder if all the demon continent monsters act like this? How'd even one get here?
It suddenly spread its wings in the air, its head twisting before snapping to us. Flapping its wings, It dove towards us at a dangerous speed. Lilith immediately maneuvered out of the way of its path, Grabbing me before I could react. This Monster crashed where we used to be, Tumbling through some trees, smashing them before slowly recovering from it. Lilith let go of me and grabbed me by my cloak, Looking quite upset.
"Stay Focus, Kota! Here!" Lilith was lifting Chris towards me. Lifting him off her shoulders with ease which caught Chris by surprise. "Take him, Go find Kale and make sure he's fine!" She tossed him to me, Which I feel should've been thought Through since I couldn't use both of my arms. Having me and Chris fall to the snowy ground as Lilith took off her Cloak, tossing it to the side and revealing The clothes she had underneath. A long sleeve white coat along with black ends, Along with her black boots that were all the way below her knees, she wore black long leggings as well. I saw her dressing up this morning, but seeing her make such an entrance gave me chills as she drew out her black short sword and stood before the black creature. Chris quickly sat up, Sitting on top of me as he pointed a finger at her.
"H-hey, watch where you're tossing people!' Chris yelled, But Lilith paid no mind to him as looked at me. Chris seemed very irritated, But he still sat on top of me. Probably a good choice as the black monster finally recouped from its tumble, Staring down Lilith.
"Hmm…Curious…You wish to challenge me?" it spoke, it tilted its Owl head seemingly out of curiosity. "You cannot stop me, The man could not…How could y-" The black creature was interrupted by a swift kick made by Lilith as she doubled down and sent another kick to its head.
She made that much distance in such a short time it seemed like she blinked. The black monster's neck contorted and wiggled from the kick's impact, Lilith landed on the ground and went straight for another attack, Swinging her sword at its chest at a blinding speed, almost comparable to kale's speed. It left a deep gash in its chest as it backed off. The black monster held its head down, looking at the gash.
Lilith shot me a glare, Her eyes were still normal so she hadn't activated her eye. This is just her normal self…No, something else was happening. She was using a Magic cloak! No wonder she was able to move exceptionally fast, Kale must've taught her! But that glare wasn't for nothing, it was her signaling me something. I had to find kale and make sure he's fine.
"Alright, Chris! Let's go!" I pushed Chris off as I stumbled my way onto my feet. Chris made an audible yelp as he fell onto his head. I quickly made haste to brush the snow off him before grabbing his wrist with my good hand and rushing to where kale was.
"Hey, do you know what's going on? That thing suddenly grabbed me when I came out here!" Chris was making questions right now? Questions I didn't even know? Maybe I'll hit him with some of my own questions…
"I have a question, Why is the prince out here on his own? How'd you even get out here?" I looked back at him as we ran, The boy gave me a shocked look before scratching his head.
"H-how'd you know i was my fath-Er, I mean the king's kid?" I'm not sure what he was trying to actually say, But he failed completely.
"Nevermind, That man we were with? He works for the king, And he knows about some of the things you do. Like leaving the castle." I heard a gasp that came from Chris as we finally made it to where kale was. Looking back at where Lilith was, It seemed that she was having a conversation with the black monster, which threw me off until Lilith began to attack it. The black monster caught her sword but was unable to block her kick that she followed up with, A solid kick right to its head again.
Looking away, I saw the large pile of snow where kale once was. I quickly ran to it, Digging through it. Chris watching and looking at Lilith and the black monster with intensity.
Come on, kale! You got to be under this snowy pile! I kept digging until I felt something grab my hand, Which freaked me out. Suddenly, I heard a mumble underneath the snow. This was kale! But he was very cold to the touch. I couldn't use my fire magic right now since that would actually harm him. So I kept digging as quickly as possible, hearing the monster scream and the clanging sounds of Lilith's sword. Soon, I dug out Kale's face. It was deathly pale, but he was breathing. He must be suffering from hyperthermia. I swept off most of the snow from him, Seeing that he had a piece of a branch actually Impaled into his left leg. Not Good.
"Kale! I'm giving you a healing potion!" I wasn't sure if he was able to respond, but I saw his eyes move to me.
Chris noticed that I shoveled the snow off of Kale, and sat next to me. "Hey, It's kale! My father's Bounty man!" Chris gave a wave at kale, I don't think chris really understood that kale was unable to respond at all. Actually, I don't think Chris was taking this seriously at all.
Popping the health Potion in my pouch, I opened it and Poured it right into Kale's mouth. I could see kale gulping it slowly, Which was a good sign. I poured about half of the bottle before Kale's hand stuck up and grabbed mine.
"Er, Cough…Kota.." He mumbled out, The healing potion seemed to immediately work as usual. I could feel the warmth from his hands slowly growing as he struggled to get up. Chris watched in curiosity as Kale grabbed the tree branch in his leg and quickly yanked it out, Blood spraying onto the snowy ground. "W-Where's Lilith?" Kale looked around before seeing Lilith as she tumbled in the snow.
The Black monster had tossed her, sending her flying amongst the trees before tumbling back in the middle of the open area. She quickly got up, holding her sword firmly. As I turned to see what had happened, I noticed that her eye was activated now. When did that happen? I don't recall seeing it activated when she started fighting it. Maybe it just activated?
None of that mattered as The black monster raced to the center where Lilith was, It too had been given some heavy damage. Its head had a gash on the left side, Blood dripping from it while its chest area received some more gashes that were deeper than the first one Lilith gave it. Whatever Lilith was doing, It was working well as it screeched in anger.
"Such a Child should not have this Power!" It growled in a low tone as it looked at her. "You…Are just like him…But so Different from what he spoke of…" Lilith gave him a stare back as she Gritted her teeth in what seemed like anger. Maybe this had something to do with her conversation with the Monster.
Kale weakly got to his feet, The wound on his leg still healing as he got up. The pale face he had was somewhat gone, but there was a smile on his face as he saw his apprentice take on this monster. "Well I'll be damned. She's doing more than me…"
Chris watched Lilith with interest as well. He examined her before nodding in agreement. "Yes, Kale was it?" Chris looked at Kale who looked at him. "This is your apprentice, I'm assuming? My Father has talked about how you got a new toy to play with." Kale squinted his eyes when he said that. No master would approve of their apprentice being called 'toys', But Kale gave Chris a nod.
Chris stroked his chin as he looked at Lilith again before nodding to himself. I wasn't sure what he was thinking. Is he showing interest in her? Not that I would allow it, She is above his level by a large margin.
Looking back at Lilith, I saw that she was tumbling again. Seemed that the monster had struck her. Maybe we should help her, She could possibly handle this monster on her own. But that's too risky. There's gotta be a way for me to help.
I then ran towards the center, paying no mind to Kale's orders. The black monster did not seem to notice me. I'm not sure how resistant it is against magic, But my Earth spell did a bit on him. Holding out my staff, I charged up an absurd amount of mana. More than what I used for my Earth spell as I was now casting a Fire Spell. To be more Specific, A Intermediate Fire spell called JetFire. I felt the heat arise from the end of my staff as I concentrated on it. The snow around me melted as the end of my staff had a blazing fire spewing from it.
"He can Silent Cast!?" I overheard Chris yell, Which caught the attention of the Black monster who was surprised to see me.
"Another one of you…You Seem different as well…" it spoke.
I grunted as the heat from the magic started to envelope the surrounding area. Oddly enough, I didn't feel any of it. Usually the magic would affect my hand, But since I had the gloves on, I felt nothing. It must be the gloves' effects that stopped the magic from harming the user. But focusing on the task at hand, I finally casted the magic. The Fire seemingly blew out of my Staf, a roaring fire hit the black monster, Causing it to screech as I circled around it. Lilith saw me and moved out of the fire's way, running behind me as I scorched the monster. It seemed to do a number on it as it fell to its knees. The fire surrounded its body, Leaving its owl-like head only visible.
"You…two!" It screamed out, Its low voice was replaced with a high pitch one. It glared at me for a moment before chuckling. "I understand now…haha…it'll all come together in the future for us all…"
"Shut up!" Lilith yelled at it, She seemed extremely mad at the black monster, what the hell did they speak about?
"Hush Child, You will not….hear from me again…But you will hear from Emi-"
In an effort to shut it up, Lilith jumped at the black monster. Plunging her sword deep into its head. Blood spewing from it as it shook violently. I kept on using Jetfire, Spewing out Fire as its body slowly Charred, The Blackness around it revealed itself to be just feathers.
So this Monster was just a really creepy looking owl thing? Nice. Not really.
Lilith dug her sword as far in as she could, The tip of her sword appearing below the monster's jaw. The Monster Moaned as it's head to the ground, lilith hopping off and yanking the sword out.
"Er….ady Rika.." it tried to speak, But it was incoherent. "Failed…uo…" it said its last words before finally dying.
I stopped my magic and watched as the fire still kept going, Lilith was wiping the blood off her sword when we heard Chris.
"That was amazing! Do i-" Kale smacked the kid in the head before he continued walking to us, Limping. It seemed his leg hadn't fully healed.
"W-What was that for?!" Chris yelled, rubbing his head.
Kale turned around and grabbed him by his shirt. Shaking him. "Because of you! You ran out of your home and almost got yourself killed! You're lucky any of us were out here to help you, Otherwise you'd be dead! And after all that, all you can do is ask for it to happen again and not say thank you!?" Kale yelled in anger. "Brat like you should turn a new leaf after this!" He tossed Chris to the ground, Who was stunned at his response.
Kale turned to us, and folded his arms. Sighing in frustration before giving a weak smile. "Sorry, Kid got on my nerves…Actually He's been on my nerves ever since I joined king lucian, Who will hear about this!" Kale said louder, Which prompted Chris to gasp. "You two…I didn't expect this day to end up like this…But I'm somewhat glad it did happen…" Kale looked at the corpse of the Black owl Monster. "I can bring this up to King Lucian, If lady Marika is really looking for Chris. We have some issues."
"Er…Who is Lady marika?" I asked, Lilith looked at Kale with similar curiosity.
"Lady Marika is…or was The queen of the Demon Continent before The King was killed. She's been looking for a new king ever since…And I guess Chris is amongst the list."
"Isn't he…a little young?" I looked at Chris who was cleaning himself up. He was about our age, Why would she want him?
"To make a new king, and since it's chris…Probably a way to pave her continent into this continent…" Kale gave the Black monster another look before sighing. "anyways…We'll need to bring this up to the bounty hall, then I'll tell King Lucian about this. Hopefully the body here doesn't disappear. You two did great today as well." Kale walked up to Lilith and put his hand on her shoulder. "Especially you! Activated that eye twice today, That's pretty good! And that magic cloak you used! Impressive!" Lilith blushed at his words, and Kale then looked at me. "Kota, Good quick thinking, also…Nice magic, I'm sure Tera would be Impressed."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Nice after battle compliments, can we go home now? I'm sure my father will be very worried about me." Chris nonchalantly said as he walked past us all. "Oh, and I'll be making notes of you two…" he pointed a finger back at us. "You've piqued my interest, especially the girl..Heh." I swear I could see that grin form on his face when he said that. I almost ran up to him, but Lilith stopped me by grabbing my shoulder.
"He isn't wrong though, we should head back. We got what we wanted. My leg should be healed up well, so we should be fine…let's just make sure Chris doesn't get caught at the goblin nest…" Kale trudged past me and Lilith and yelled at Chris to slow down, forcing him to slow down and have Kale take the lead.
Still gripping my shoulder, Lilith looked at kale and chris until they were at a safe distance, she then looked at me with confusion. "Kota…we need to speak about something…Something that Monster thing talked about." Her Left eye was still activated, which scared me. "He spoke about my Father." Her voiced trembled. "He's in the Demon continent!"