Chapter 7 - CHAPTER 6

The door opened and Daniel came in huffing. "Eli, I'm back with the potion, did you already eat your break….", Daniel's loud voice came to a halt.

He quietly placed the potion on the nightstand and smiled at the sleeping girl, "Looks like she fell back asleep again." A knock was then heard and the door gently opened again.

"Sweetheart, here's some breakfast for you", Helien came in holding a tray containing light meals for the girl. But when she saw Daniel looking at the sleeping Eli, she then decided to put the tray down in the nightstand beside the potion.

"She fell back asleep again. Looks like she still hasn't recovered that well. I'll just leave this here in case she wakes up and gets hungry. I'll go check on Anette at the store. Stay here if you want to", and with that, the old lady exited the room and slowly closed the door to avoid waking up the sleeping girl.

"Thank you ma'am", Daniel continued to look at the girl, gently touching her head he said, "Get some more rest Eli, I'll wait….I always will"









"Are you sure you're really okay now?"
"Yes ma'am, thank you for taking us in"
"…."

The teary eyed Mrs. Helien wiped her eyes and gently caressed Eleanor's face. It's been 2 weeks since Daniel and Eleanor stayed in her store. After a few more days of Daniel working on the store, and a few more days of Eli helping as well while slowly recovering, it's time for them to finally go and continue their journey.

"I'll miss the company of you both"
"We'll miss you too"

Helien and Eli hugged each other with Daniel watching them. After the 2 separated, she faced Daniel. "Here, take this", Eli and Daniel's eyes both widen when they saw a pouch full of silver coins being given to them.

"We can't…"
"You can. You worked on my store for almost 2 weeks. It's your salary"

Daniel stepped up and tried to reason out, "But we've worked on the shop to pay for us staying in the spare rooms"

"No, YOU worked to pay for staying on my spare rooms. This is Eleanor's salary", the 2 can't think of anything to retort back so Helien took that chance and pushed the money on Daniel's hand.

"Now just promise me that you'll take care of each other, and if you ever had the chance, come visit me again", Eli looked at the old woman and sigh together with Daniel. They then enveloped her in a warm hug before leaving. They walked out of the alley that doesn't seem that scary anymore and was about to turn when Eli bump into someone again.

"Oh my goddess! Thank goodness I was able to catch on you!", Eli who was saved by Daniel from falling on her butt looked up and saw the familiar angel-looking FL of this world.

"I'm so sorry. I bump into you again! Are you okay Anette?", the girl smiled at the worried face that Eli showed her. "You're that worried, does that mean we're close now? Are we friends now?"

Eleanor looked at the girl's sparkling eyes. She doesn't even get it, why is Anette Felicia interested on her? She's just an extra and there's nothing special about her as well. So she doesn't really get her.

"Ummm, yes?", and with that answer, Anette launched herself and gave the girl a big hug. "You already said that we're friends, you'll never take that back right?"

"…"
"Right?"

"Don't force her, Anette", Daniel interrupted. Anette pouted but Daniel just laughs at her attempt to act cute and convinces them otherwise. The 2 started fighting, in a joking way, as Eleanor watched them.

As an extra, she needs to avoid the most important character for her to live a more normal life as possible, away from the dramas and stuffs. But, looking at both of them clinging to her more than ever, she felt like she can't and don't want to get away from them and instead, she wants to know them better. Not as characters of this world, but as humans she interacts with.

But, reality can be really harsh at times you never expected it to be. But, before Eli can even think about it, her own mouth moved on its own.

"Yeah, it's a promise"










Days passed since the two continued their journey towards Centralis, the Central Region of Sirthyna, after bidding goodbye to Anette who continued studying in Lumen Academy.

And finally, after a few more efforts into making it, they finally arrived at Primor, the main city of Centralis. If a lot of people are already bustling in the main city in Ciden, Castus (West Sirthyna), the people bustling here and there in Primor are 10x more in number.

Shops are everywhere and people either shop, present, or just wander around in the big city. And not far from the center of the city, they can see the tall structures of the royal palace of Sirthyna.

"Let's go buy some food to eat first", Eleanor nodded and clasp her hand on Daniel's as they wander through the busy street in Primor. There are a lot of bakeries and dessert shops and cafes but what caught the girl's eyes are,

"Are those skewers?!", the excited girl pulled Daniel and they stopped by a shop indeed selling skewers! Daniel can literally see sparkles on Eli's eyes as he bought her one stick to try it.

As the girl bit on the aromatic skewers she's holding, a satisfied moan came out of her mouth. "This is so yummy! Hey Daniel! Can we get some more?!", the boy laughed at her cute remarks and nodded as a sign of approval.

The 2 then sat on the benches happily eating the skewers that they bought. "Eli, can you face me please?", the innocent-looking girl faced the boy and with his other clean hand, he wiped a sauce that was smeared on her cheek.

"You're eating like a kid!", he laughed.
"I AM a kid!", she retorted.

Some people stare at the 2 acting so cute when a voice came out from behind them. "Hey young man, can I ask you if you perhaps would like to join us in a contest we're holding?"

The 2 looked back and saw a middle aged man holding his hat like a gentleman. "Contest?"

"Yes! This contest will be held at the center of plaza. Anyone can join, and thus when I first saw you, I know that you'll be one of the perfect contestants that we'll have!", Daniel looked at Eli as she soon spoke to the man.

"What kind of contest is it?"

The man smiled at her and answered her with a wide grin, "It's just a simple strength contest for kids his age"












Daniel and Eli soon entered a small arena. Inside it, people bustle all over the place. They're either contestants of the game or people who came to watch in the stands.

The two then look in a poster latched on the wall. The prizes were all listed in there. And on the top most, the prize for the winner of the contest is 200 gold coins.

"Wow, we can buy a lot of stuffs from that money once we travel", Daniel looked at the amazed face of Eli beside him. He then look at his hand and clenched it.

Determined, he faces the girl, "Okay, I'll try to get that prize for you Eli! I'll go register now. You go and settle down on the stands. I'll see you later. Wish me luck!", and with that, he kissed her forehead and went running towards the registration place.

Eli, still baffled by Daniel's sudden excitement, went to the stands and sat on the very front in able to see her friend. A few more minutes passed and finally the game started. Eli looked at the player coming out on the arena and spotted Daniel.

And in that exact moment, Daniel looked at her direction and spotted her as well. He waved his hands at her as she waved back at him with a smile. But, as soon as the host explained the criteria, her smile vanished instantly.

They both thought that this simple strength contest is just about physical strength. But when the host explain that the contestants (ages 10-18) can use any of their abilities while fighting. That means the use of potions, spells, and even weapons are allowed.

"This is insane! He told us that this is a simple and safe game of strength! But not this kind of strength!", Eli worriedly glanced at Daniel, but what she saw is not an anxious expression etched on his face, instead, what she saw is a serious face and a smirk forming on his face.

She closed her eyes and opened them before rubbing them with her hands. She looked at him again to confirm if what she's seeing is real, but she just saw Daniel's handsome and calm face with a small smile on his lips.

"Did I hallucinate? Maybe I mistook him for someone else?", Eli shrugged it off and concentrated on Daniel again. She began to worry for her friend again.

"Those contestants who wants to back out, you're free to do so", she sigh in relief and was expecting her friend to back out immediately, but, the contest started with the first match….second….third…..fifteenth….

'When is he going to back out?'

The answer to her question came out after a few more minutes when Daniel walked into the arena for the 18th match. A young man that looks a bit older than him also appeared from the other side of the arena holding a sword. Looks like he has no abilities, a person with no abilities but has trained physically.

Daniel looked at Eli. "Are you sure you're really gonna do this? It's dangerous", she mouthed. But Daniel only smiled at her and then focused on his opponent. The match started with his opponent attacking. Daniel just dodges every single attack.

Eli's worries began to grow more. She knows that Daniel only knows attack spells according to the training he's been doing during their journey.

He can only dodge for now because he hasn't learn any defensive spells yet. Eli started to get paler and paler the more Daniel was cornered, but, in a split second there was a sudden explosion in the arena. The smoke cleared out and the only remaining one standing is Daniel.

She breathes a sigh of relief as the crowd cheered. The matches continued till midday. Eli stood up from her chair; she went out of the arena into a familiar vendor whose selling skewers. She took out her pouch and smiled at the vendor then buys at least 30 sticks of skewers.

She then tried to find a place where she can get water when she passed by an alley, there, she saw 4 men ganging up on a boy that looks like the same age as Daniel. She looked everywhere but no one noticed them. Then, she saw some soldiers passing by and,

"Sir! Help! There! They're ganging up on someone!", the shouted at the top of her lungs. The 4 men looked at her, same with the boy and the people passing by. The soldiers ran towards the direction she's pointing.

The 4 men scurry away from the boy holding a pouch that looks like what they steal from him. Eli came near the boy as the soldiers chase the 4 men. This is Primor, the main city of Centralis, and security is much tighter than in other regions.

"Hey, you okay?", she checked on him as people started to gather at the end of the alley. The boy was beaten up really bad. The man selling skewers earlier came closer. "Is he your friend?", Eli can't help but nod. She then looks at the man. "Sir, can you please help me bring him to a hospital?"

The man lifted the boy and they ran towards the closest hospital they can find, the man then left after that, he can't leave his shop for that long. The healers came out and assessed the boy. But Eli can see by the reactions on their faces. It looks serious.

She looks at her hand and at the boy lying on the bed. He has a rare silver hair and is wearing a great quality of clothes but she can't tell whether he's a noble because of the design of his clothes.

She looked at the healers busy discussing what procedure they can use to heal him. These healers are either wizards who are experts in casting healing spells or alchemists that are experts in creating the best healing potions.

She heard the boy grunt in pain. He's not bloody but his whole body is turning blue and purple, something is wrong inside him. He only has wounds and bruises but it looks like he's critically wounded on his insides.

While they're still busy planning she placed her hand on his head. On her hands, the familiar blue light appeared and a dome like shield filled the body of the boy.

The wounds and bruises then started healing. She concentrated more after checking her surroundings and proceeded to heal his internal injuries. After a mere second, the blue dome like barrier closed and vanished and the silver haired boy opened his eyes.

Eleanor's purple/ lilac eyes met his sky blue ones. But when she heard the healers done with their planning, she smiled one last time at the boy before leaving him; her one pair of earing dangled and caught the boy's attention before his eyes slowly closed again.

Eli handed some money towards one healer. "Umm, ma'am, is this enough for his treatment?", the healer looked at the little girl weirdly. She looks like she's younger than him but she's paying for the bills of someone older than her. She then looked at the boy; her eyes widen same with the other healers after seeing the unconscious boy with no wounds or anything.

The healer left the girl as they all checked his vitals immediately. Eleanor smiled and put down 200 silver coins in the counter before leaving. She lifted up the skewers that are no longer hot.

She's planning on giving Daniel snacks to regain his strength that's why she bought them but there's no helping it. She immediately went to the nearest place where she can fill up her bottle with water and went straight to where the contestants for the game are waiting.

There she found Daniel worriedly looking at her empty seat on the stands. "Dan!", she called out to him. Even the other players looked towards her as Daniel immediately ran towards her.

"I'm so worried! You just vanished from the stands! Where have you been?!", he wailed like a little kid as he hugged her tight. "Hehe, I brought you some skewers but they're not that hot anymore, it took me some time to find a place where I can refill my water bottle. Here!", Eli smiled at him innocently despite lying about why she's been gone for so long.

Daniel accepted the food and bottle and patted her head. "Thanks but how about you? Did you eat already?", Eleanor shook her head the same time her tummy made a noise. Daniel laughed and took one of her hand and led her to sit on a bench.

"Let's eat this together then!"
"Mm!"