"Call me Auden," Auden answered. "I'm an adventurer and I'm here for a quest."
The knight's finger at the sentence and tightened his grip on his sword. But only for a split second. His whole demeanor seemed to change and Auden felt him staring coldly at him.
"Why did you sav- help me?" He asked, changing his word quickly mid-sentence, which didn't go unnoticed by Auden.
"I couldn't just leave a person to die." He replied truthfully. He was confused as to why he was having to explain this in the first place. Wasn't it normal to want to help out someone? "Why? Was I not supposed to save you?"
"No, I didn't mean it that way." The knight seemed surprised at his answer, before seemingly changing his tone of voice. "You have my thanks, even though I would've survived anyway with or without your help."
"You would've been meat-sticks for the beasts." Auden was indignant. He had just wanted to help and didn't care about rewards or gratitude. However, was this how Imperial Knights treated their savior? They had way too much pride or their own good.
"I was doing just fine even before you showed up!" He snapped.
"Your armor wouldn't have lasted a second longer."
"Those are just dents, they have nothing to do with my strength."
"I'll admit you're far stronger than most guys I've met. But not even a fully trained man could win against all those without killing the Dreg Roots first."
There was a short silence as the knight stared at him. "I'm a girl." He said blankly.
"WHAT?"
"I'm serious." Reaching up, he- no, she lifted her dented helm to reveal her face. She shook out her long pale blonde hair from her armor and it cascaded down to her shoulder like a stream of golden water. She had fair skin and looked to be about Auden's age, perhaps a tad bit older. Her ocean-blue eyes glared at him defiantly with a hint of annoyance- no, hostility?
Auden stared at her in confusion and disbelief. He had noticed that the chest plate area was quite bigger than the usual armor but didn't think much of it, assuming it was just a design flaw. He had to admit, she was quite pretty despite her arrogant personality.
"I didn't know that- Sorry," Auden apologized. Naturally, from her reckless fighting style, he had assumed she was a guy. Most girls tend to become either Mages or Sorceresses since they were more skilled in magic than guys. It was undoubtedly surprising for Auden to see a female knight. Though Master Dunehal had taught him well about combat, he was still very much naive about the outside world.
"Hmph." She spat with a displeased glare, catching his gaze. "Pervert."
Auden restrained himself from snapping back with a retort. "My point still stands, you wouldn't be able to fight back against all those monsters on your own."
"Then maybe you shouldn't have saved me."
"Well, maybe I wouldn't have bothered if I had known you'd be this ungrateful!"
"I've already said thanks!"
"Fine, have it your way." Auden bit back another remark and decided to stop. He was exasperated at this girl's stubbornness. He would get nowhere, arguing with someone like her. He sighed defeatedly, before asking in a calmer tone of voice. "Why were you fighting those monsters alone anyway?"
She narrowed her eyes at Auden before replying, "I HAD a team. I came here with a party. Hired adventurers." She explained. "Fat lot of good they were. They ran off after attracting the attention of the magic beasts." She stabbed a dead boar aggressively with her sword. It clanged as it struck the ground under the boar. "And I'm willing to bet they did it on purpose."
"Ah." That explains why she was so hostile towards him when he said he was an adventurer. "Why would they do it on purpose?"
"You seriously have no clue?" She narrowed her eyes again, this time in skepticism. "They probably planned to snatch belongings after the monsters made short work of me."
"Oh." Auden said blankly before understanding clicked in place a second later. "What?! They would do such things as that?"
"Don't talk like you aren't the same. Adventurers. They're all just made up of rogues and thieves looking to make more money, all the while going about freely under the guise of adventurers."
"That's not true! I'd never stoop so low!"
"Then why are you here? Come to think of it, you must be in cahoots with them too, aren't you?"
"Can you stop jumping to conclusions? I'm here on a quest to find a lost child. I had no idea there were other adventurers here."
"Likely story."
Auden shot her an aggravated look. She was really hard to deal with. "Believe what you want. What's an Imperial Knight like you doing here then?"
"I'm not an Imperial Knight, I'm under the Caelan Knights But I'm still here on the king's commands. You have heard of the Caelumio Order, I suppose?"
"The Caelan Knights..." Auden mused. 'So that explained the other symbols on her armor. She was not only a knight from one powerful order but two?'
Though he might not have much knowledge about the world, he would have to be deaf to not have heard about the Caelumio Order. "That's the knight order of the Caelumaian Church, isn't it?"
The Caelumaian Church was one of the main religions in Ergaldia, if not the only. They worshipped the 6 Divines and were one of the most influential powers in the kingdom aside from the Imperials.
The Caelumio Order was just as the name stated, a military order of the Caelumios. They were called Caelan Knights, or Caelans since the full name was a nightmare to pronounce. One could say they were similar to Knight Templars, only that Templars didn't exist. But one thing was for sure, Caelans weren't people you could mess around with. Just like Imperial Knights, Auden weren't really fond of Caelans either.
"That's the one." The knight nodded. "Looks like you do have an adequate amount of knowledge... Unlike most." She added with a stiff expression.
'Most?' Auden thought to himself. This girl was really hard to read. "So you're a Holy Knight?" He asked, hiding his thoughts.
"Yes. I'm currently here to investigate the increase of monsters. You did see the groups of beasts just now too, right?"
"Well... They usually come out in droves like that." Auden said, thinking hard. "But not like this. Not with these kinds of numbers. It could even be close to a stampede this time."
"Right. Lately there's been an unnatural increase in monsters in other parts too. I'm trying to find out where they are coming from." The female knight looked at him with a sour expression and Auden almost flinched again but managed to keep his posture. Perhaps it was because she didn't have her scary helmet on anymore. "This is highly guarded secret information by the way."
"WHAT?" Auden blurted out in alarm. Was he going to get hunted down by the Caelan Knights now for finding out secrets? He hadn't wanted to get entangled in the mess any further but now he had just stumbled upon something possibly dangerous. "Why the blazes did you tell me then?"
"I see no harm in telling you." She replied , disregarding Auden's panic. In fact, she seemed a bit amused even. "You've already seen the horde of beasts for yourself. You would've been able to put two and two together."
Again, she looked at Auden with a questioning gaze to which Auden reciprocated long enough for her face to redden a little. "And I was wondering if you knew anything about this." She said stonily, narrowing her eyes to hide her embarrassment.
"Do I look like I know anything that's happening right now?"
"Hmm... You're right. You don't seem to have even the slightest clue."
"You don't have to be so forward..."
"Hmph." She jerked her head over her shoulder and pulled her sword free. "Well then since you don't have anything useful, I'll be leaving. What's that?" As she turned away, one of the beasts that escaped had returned and was charging toward them.
"A Spiked Boar? Why is it coming back?"
"I don't know but it hasn't made a good choice." She said and sprang forward. "I still have a score to settle with these brutes."
Bam! She brought down her shield on the boar, separating its head from its body like a badly cut vegetable. The sight made Auden flinch again, even though he was used to seeing blood. Just something about the heavily armored girl decapitating a monster with no hesitation seemed intimidating. But there was something off about the boar's actions.
"It looked like it was running away from something." Auden surmised.
"Oh, really? How can you tell?"
"Why else would something that has fled from us once return? Even if it wanted to kill us, it didn't look as if it intended to attack us." He explained.
His training with Master Dunehal had really paid off. He had learned that not everything happens without a reason and based on the situation, he could devise quick tactics using the reasons. Of course, this was also a big help in looking for something or someone. He had gone hunting for magic beasts with Dunehal many times using this strategy.
"Okay, okay! I get it!" The knight held her hands up to stop Auden, totally not getting anything Auden had just said. "What are you implying then?"
"Spike Boars are known to live in large groups near their den and take turns to go out hunting in small groups. But if someone stronger had disturbed their den and was occupying it..."
It took a moment for her to understand before she nodded. "I see what you mean. That would give a reason for the whole horde to rush out into the valley. Which attracted the attention of more beasts to join them."
"Exactly. So you aren't all just brawn after all."
"Shut up! So what are you going to do about this?"
"Whatever scared them could be dangerous to leave alone. I think we should at least find out what exactly is going on." Auden said, thinking quickly.
If it was a stronger magic beast, it could take him by surprise if he didn't know about it first, and if it was people, there was a chance they might get injured. Or they could be hostile, in which case, would be bad if they decided to ambush him.
"Who knows, you might find the answer to your- inspection duty or whatever it is you're doing here," Auden added.
"Investigation." She snapped with a scowl, displeased at Auden's jeering. However, she couldn't argue with his reasoning. It would certainly prove worthwhile to check the cause of the beast horde. "Fine, just don't slow me down. Where are we going?"
Auden scrutinized the surroundings before pointing toward some boar prints separating out from the wrecked and trampled ground of the battle. "The beasts fled in that direction and this one returned from there as well. The den could be that way."
"Could." She stated doubtfully, noticing his use of the word. "You aren't certain at all are you?"
"We won't know until we check."
She looked as if she were about to object but just frowned and picked up her golden helmet. "Hmph, fine. Let's go."
"Wait," Auden said, remembering something. Might as well lessen his load while he could. "You won't last a chance with those injuries. Here, catch."
"I can take care of myse-" she started angrily, turning back around but abruptly caught a couple of Healing Potions and a Purification Potion that Auden tossed towards her and she stuttered in surprise. "Wh- But- Are you sure it's okay-"
"Just drink them, I don't like seeing people injured. Also, I don't think that helmet can be used anymore. It's so battered that you'd be blind as a bat with it on."
Her face turned pink as she discarded her helmet and hesitated before gulping down the potions. After going through them all, she looked a lot better. Most of her wounds seemed to have closed and only the bloodstains were left. Auden assumed the only wounds that were left were probably her severly wounded pride.
With her face still pink she turned without a word and started walking. "Well? Are you joining me or not?"
"Jeez... So impatient." Auden grumbled to himself, quickly following her so that he didn't get left behind. "You still haven't told me your name..."
"Elyse."
The sudden reply caught Auden off guard. "Huh?"
"My name is Elyse. A Holy Knight in service of the Caelumio Creed."
Auden couldn't see her expression as she was facing forward without looking back, but her voice had softened a little. But only for a moment.
"And you'd best remember that because I will NOT repeat it again."