The day had just begun with the birds chirping as they took the sky. However, in the calm forest, something unsettling was about to happen.
Whoosh
"Catch her!" A male voice yelled, disturbing the peace of the forest.
A few breaths later and a girl riding atop her summoned beast, A Cockatrice, dashed out from the bushes onto a path, racing down as they were being chased.
The girl was dressed in light armor with brown skin and dark hair as well as an eye-catching appearance.
Looking back, three men followed after her, riding on horses as they pointed their weapons in her direction.
They looked like unassuming commoners that one would not commit to memory, but now as they were docked out in barbarian attires, they gave off a feeling of danger for the young lady.
"Come on, Henna, we need to lose these guys!" There was a tone of underlying urgency. The girl tapped the side of her beast's head, transmitting her thoughts.
Realizing just how serious the situation was, the Cockatrice picked up the pace. It wasn't a creature versed in combat, but when it came to fleeing, it prided itself on being superior.
Infused with more magic, the Cockatrice increased in speed, almost leaving their pursuers in a dust trail.
"Shit, she's getting away!" One of the men cried out.
"We can't let her get back to the city, I will do something!" The man in the middle said as he pulled out a weapon from his back.
It looked a lot like a chain whip but both ends were fixed with mini weights and the general length wasn't that long, being only twice the length of an average human male.
Looking back, the girl felt the danger to be averted but soon realized that her luck was about to run out.
With a pained expression, she placed her palm on her stomach. Due to being in too much of a hurry, she had ended up overexerting her magic circles and thus she was currently receiving the backlash.
"No, please not now. I can't fall here." The girl cried inwardly but nothing could be done as the pain coursed through her.
With a grunt, she grabbed her mount tightly but that was merely trying to prevent the inevitable.
With a poof, the Cockatrice was returned to its world, leaving the girl all alone as she dropped to the ground, force still acting on her body as she rolled on the ground, causing her already damaged armor to suffer even more damage to the point of breaking her skin underneath.
As she struggled to her feet, she looked back to find her pursuers gaining on her. With an unwilling expression, she muttered. "Is this how it ends?... I couldn't even fulfill the mission she gave me."
***
Max looked relaxed as he sat next to the lake, meditating. His body revitalized with every breath he took.
With a heavy sigh, he thought. "They were right. Midgard indeed has an abundance of Ordena. Unfortunately, its inhabitants are too stupid to make use of its benefits."
After he was done, he moved into the lake for a quick bath after which he got a change of clothes.
With a blue cotton shirt and a black jacket as well as black trousers and boots to match, Max looked every bit like a dashing commoner seeking to make it big in the large cities.
Taking a look at his appearance on the still surface of the lake, Max could not help but mutter. "I look too good to be true."
Moving away from the lake, he surveyed his surrounding for a bit before proceeding to perform a few hand seals in quick succession.
Obviously not as fast as Regard, but he was getting there.
Clasping his palms together, he caused an eruption of Ordena around his body followed by an explosion of white smoke in front of him.
Relaxing as the smoke cleared, Max remarked. "So you answered my call, Gibby."
Ribbit
"Well, I've always wanted to see the human world so how could I ignore it?" a juvenile voice replied.
The white smoke cleared completely to reveal a normal-sized green frog with purple markings on it.
"Alright then."
"So what do you need?" Gibby asked.
"I thought I'd train the duration of my summons while I make my way toward a settlement, I'm not keen on wasting precious training time on just walking."
Gibby naturally understood as he replied. "Fine then. Shall we?"
"Hehe, yes we shall."
Leaping forward, it managed to land squarely on Max's head after which they both set off.
They had not gotten too far when Max sensed something in the wind, causing him to stop.
Gibby noticed his expression. "Is something wrong?"
Max did not respond immediately, seemingly looking for something before he slowly uttered. "I sense danger."
***
"Ahh!" A girl's voice rang through the forest as she slammed her back into a rock. Withstanding the force, she ended up coughing up a little blood.
Biting down on her lower lip, she looked at her assailants, her eyes burning with hatred.
"Haha, would you look at that?... The little girly is glaring at us. I wonder what she has in mind. Come on tell us, what do you have in mind?"
One of them said as they bent down and slapped her across the face, his hand firmly imprinted on her cheek.
"Just kill me and get it over with." The girl remarked, steeling her nerves at the inevitable.
The men chuckled as they shared looks. "Actually, we were thinking of doing something else…" their minds filled with lewd thoughts.
The girl realized this as she loudly cursed. "Animals!"
Killing her was one thing but thinking about taking her purity was something she would not allow to happen. Not at the hands of these horrible men.
For her, such an experience would be worse than death. Thus, as the men slowly approached, in a bid to torture her mentally, she struggled to her away.
Unbeknownst to them, a certain individual was watching them from the trees.