As he lay in the sand Neil wondered what his savior might look like, he was very grateful and promised to himself that he would repay them. In the back of his mind, he was also plotting a scheme to somehow join a party with them, as they'd likely greatly speed up his growth and possibly be a permanent friend.
He also just remembered that because he killed that first scorpion he gained some experience from it and could've leveled up, he'd check his status once he was able to freely move again.
He could hear the sounds of approaching footsteps, it seemed that it would be a lone person coming and not the entire group. He decided this was likely for the better as convincing a group to trust him would be much harder than convincing one.
Standing over him was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen before.
"Hey, you alive?" She asked Neil, he looked in different directions to show he was still living and the woman standing over him grinned a little.
"It was pretty stupid to take on 3 scorpions by yourself, especially when you're this weak y'know" It seemed the women would begin making fun of Neil for this situation. Though he couldn't blame her here.
He wished he could try and defend himself by explaining the situation but all he could do now was lay and listen to the unknown women.
"No need to thank me for saving you, I was only doing it for my benefit in the end. As I needed some scorpion hide anyways" She said as she looked at the two scorpions she had killed. Neil was surprised by the kindness of the women, he knew that many would pilfer his body in this situation.
'She even knows I'm paralyzed and still is mocking me. I guess this is what I get for being saved' Neil thought to himself. He studied the woman above him more in-depth, she was about six feet tall just like himself. She had light grey skin and white hair that went down to the middle of her back. She had a large pair of breasts, but Neil tried to avoid glances that might make him seem lecherous. The last thing he needed was to be seen as gross or bad by this woman who could swiftly end his life.
Her eyes were a deep purple and shown by her grey oval-shaped face like gemstones, one could tell her strength from a singular look. She wore some animal skin armor on her body which was seemingly strong while being light enough for him to move around swiftly.
Over her back, she carried a large bow and a quiver filled with arrows unlike any he had ever seen before. They were intricately designed and a bright white that seemed to shine.
His eyes widened
'She's a dark elf isn't she' Neil thought to himself in surprise, this was one of the rarer species of the Archemia. People had heavy prejudice against them and thus they were often hunted. In all of the times he played the board game, he only came across two or three, all of which were extremely strong warriors.
"Ah, so you noticed what I am huh?" She asked Neil not expecting an answer, it seemed she had grown rather used to this response.
"Though you have some unique features yourself, especially those eyes, they're quite off-putting." She said as she studied Neil's face in further detail.
"I'm not here to be hunted so I'll be going now, stranger. I'll leave you the scorpion you killed, as you deserve at least that."
It seemed she had become rather used to being ostracized and at this point all but expected it. Little did she know that to Neil, an outsider, she was an incredible find. Not only for her enchanting looks but also her impressive combat ability and knowledge of the working of the world as dark elves, like elves, lived for many millennia.
He also found her personality nice, as she made fun of Neil for the choice of fighting but wasn't directly mean or hurtful, instead just joking about a tense situation. Which lightened the mood for him without him even realizing it as he went to defend himself and forgot about the near-death experience he had just had. Furthermore, she was kind enough to leave him the scorpion he had killed even when she had no real reason.
He knew he'd soon regain his abilities to move soon enough and just hoped she didn't leave before then.
"I've gotta say as weak as you are this axe is quite an impressive weapon" The woman had seen the axe as she was collecting the scorpion carcasses and her arrows.
"I'm gonna go, try not to get yourself killed. You rarely meet powerful travelers who are willing to save your life." She said in a kind but slightly mocking voice as she began quickly heading towards the village.
Just then Neil felt himself regain his muscles and he immediately turned to face the woman and yelled out to her.
"Please wait, I wish to repay you!!" He couldn't see the woman and guessed she was already well out of range to hear him.
'What a missed opportunity' He began going at himself internally for missing such a great chance, dark elves were incredible fighters known for their prowess with their weapon of choice, which he had just seen.
He turned back to look at the remaining scorpion carcass and nearly fell over.
"And how do you plan to repay me?" The woman asked in a more serious tone, it seemed Neil had indeed caught her attention. Enough to where she shot back behind him without him even noticing. It also seemed that the woman became more serious when the person she was talking to was able to talk back.
'Incredible' He thought to himself, marveling at the woman's speed. He had yet to even process the question.
Neil sat for a second staring at her, in a bit of a daze and struggling to get any words out. He could sense a growing annoyance in the woman as she stared at him. He went to speak when he was quickly cut off.
"You're far too weak to help me with killing monsters or have an interesting piece of equipment. You look like every other human excluding those odd eyes so I doubt you have that many interesting abilities that could be of help to me." She said in an annoyed tone.
"And stop staring at me, your eyes are weird and I know you may hate dark elves, but I don't like humans either. I already did you a favor by saving your life, so you could at least be polite." She added to her prior statement. It seemed that the women saw his looks as ones of disgust and anger instead of ones of awe.
Neil realized how quickly the situation was going downhill and quickly began speaking in an attempt to save it as best as he could.
"Please don't misunderstand my stares as me being off-put by your appearance, if anything it's the opposite and I find you marvelous." He said, blushing a little at revealing that.
"While you're right that I am quite weak and have little that I could offer you I do still have my eyes." He stopped there, hoping that his abrupt stop and reference to his eyes would pique her interest.
This statement obviously affected the woman as she was surprised to hear the compliment from him but was more so curious about what he meant by having his eyes.
'Success!' He thought upon seeing her face gain some curiosity. But before allowing her to ask a question he continued.
"I know the location of some of the most powerful artifacts in this world." He stopped there, giving the women time to think about his words.
"What reason do I have to believe and trust you?" She asked Neil in a serious tone, she remained unconvinced but allowed Neil to tell her more.
"I only just awakened this ability, upon seeing the great meteor shower in the sky last night, and upon doing so I immediately headed towards a location I felt I could explore without dying, that is where I acquired my axe," He said confidently, within the story of Archemia many people awakened powers upon the great meteor shower so he used this as the reasoning behind his. Knowing his true story wouldn't be believed.
"Hmmm, I don't like it, and it seems a little sketchy but I guess I have no reason to heavily distrust you at this point." She said after some long deliberation
'More than anything there's no way I can lose out in this situation, if he tries to attack me I can simply kill him, and if he's telling the truth then I can get some new equipment' She thought, though she decided to keep these thoughts in her head, revealing as little as possible.
Neil was filled with joy, he had convinced the woman of his abilities, and now he could finally join a group with her and not be on his own as he was so used to.
"So tell me the location of one of these artifacts and I'll consider your debt repaid" Her words surprised Neil as his mind had immediately gone to forming a party with her. Though he realized her choice was reasonable, he knew he now had some more convincing to do.
The scorn she had faced throughout her life likely caused her to avoid relationships in general. Neil slightly understood this, though of course not to the extent as the women in front of him, and decided to try and reach out and see how it'd go.
"How about we form a party together, then I can guide you to many and we could both help each other?"
"No" She responded coldly and quickly to his question like she hadn't even considered it as an option.
"Why not, you only gain more benefit out of it and I'd be even more grateful than I already am. If I cause you any difficulty you can just kill me with ease, we both know that. So how about it, I promise to make it worth your time" Neil prayed to all of the higher powers he knew, hoping he could finally form a party. He didn't have too much experience but felt he had done a good job convincing the women.
The woman stood above him thinking for a few minutes before finally opening her mouth.
"I suppose I could join up with you, only temporarily though. Once you lead me to one of these artifacts then we're done" She said staring directly at Neil the whole time.
Neil had become overjoyed upon hearing her acceptance but tried to come off as calm and composed as possible.
"Wonderful then, it's very nice to meet you. My name is Neil Hunt and I am extremely grateful for to you for saving my life and trusting me, what's your name?"