"She's feeling better. She should be fine after resting for a few days." an elderly woman said after observing Mariel who still was lying unconscious on the bed. The female healer had brought a special bottle of medicine to her, this caused her body's magic energy to relax and her internal injuries to feel better. There were only a few bottles of these special potions left in the village because the ingredients which were used to create this potion were extremely rare. They had to travel to mysterious lands to defeat monsters that were rarely found in ordinary places. There were also some special herbs that only appeared in those mysterious areas. They were rarely obtained from adventurers in the village who returned from this dangerous mission. Some groups would bring them for use as ingredients to create potions. However, some groups would sell them to merchants who bought these rare herbs at a higher price than the normal market. Some ingredients could be bought for more than 100 gold even if they were just one piece of it.
"Thank you very much for this potion of medicine. How much is it? Please tell me the price." Claudia said and asked about the price of this special potion of medicine.
"It's ok. We survived because of your daughter, so this potion of medicine is free. Don't worry. We would like to say thank you to your family too." the old woman said with a smile. The others also thanked Deric and Claudia.
"Your daughter is really amazing. I haven't seen such powerful dark magic in a long time. No wonder that she's the daughter of Deric and Claudia, the famous heroes from years ago." A man praised her, causing Deric to smile and blush slightly.
"If you guys didn't join forces, we wouldn't have been able to defeat the demons so easily too." Derek replied.
Outside of the house, Kehal and Midaran are talking to other villagers about their injuries and damaged houses that had been hit by demons, it left large holes in their roofs of the houses. After they finished talking, Kehal noticed that Segal was sitting there and rest under a large tree in front of the Deric family's house. He walked over to talk and praised his best disciple.
"Thank you very much, Segal, for helping me for preventing others from demon attacks. If it weren't for you, my body would have been torn to pieces for sure." Kehal said.
"Everything for you, Master Kehal. If there's anything I can do to help you, I'm always ready for you." Segal said.
"Excellent. Where are your sword and shield?" Kehal asked curiously. From what he could see, Segal didn't have any weapons or shields on him.
"It's just… my sword and shield were destroyed by dark magic and shattered into pieces. I'm so sorry." Segal said with a sad expression.
Kehal stared at Segal for a moment, as if he was thinking about something. Suddenly, Kehal cast a large sword and a silver shield in both hands.
"Kneel down, my disciple." Kehal ordered immediately. When Segal heard this, he obediently followed this command.
"The time has come; I shall pass on my proud weapons to the next generation. I, Kehal, gives this Great sword and silver shields to my favorite disciple, Segal from now on." Kehal said as he handed the weapons and shields to Segal, who was lying on the ground in shock.
"Master! This is the weapon that Master has used to fight for decades. I am afraid that I am not good enough to handle them." Segal said with embarrassment for receiving his master's weapon from now on.
"Don't worry. Today you proved to me that you have made great progress. You have also mastered Berserk skill, which only few people who had this skill at your age. I am so proud of you. Take it, it belongs to you now." Kehal said with admiration.
Segal was speechless, tears streaming down both of his cheeks in emotion. He reached out with both hands to receive his master's great sword and silver shield. Upon touching Kehal's great sword and shield, a huge energy flowed through Segal's body, causing him to feel an indescribable warmth and relaxation.
"My sword and shield have chosen you to succeed me. Please use them to protect people and exterminate all demons. Your era will begin from now on, Segal." Kehal said.
"I will protect other people from the demons for the rest of my life." Segal said, bowing his head to his master with respect.
The next day, Mariel's condition improved to be normal. Raven and Yujin had to go Revan's house after this.
"See you at school, Mariel, Beatrix, and Mania. I will meet again." Raven said, hugging the others tightly.
"See you later, my friend. Get well soon." Yujin hugged the others as well, but with Mariel, he hugged her especially tightly.
"Don't worry, I feel better now. See you later. Miss you, my friend." Mariel said.
"Me too, my friend," Yujin said with a smile.
After Raven and Yujin left, Mariel, Beatrix, and Mena stayed at home for the next few days for recovery, then they prepared to visit Beatrix's house.
"Have a nice day, my dear." Claudia said, kissing her daughter's cheek once.
"Don't go with a man." Deric teased.
"No way, Dad!" Mariel replied, while Beatrix and Mania stood behind her with a smile on their faces.
They used a teleportation warp to a small village not far from the capital city. However, the atmosphere around them was filled with a strange feeling. The people seemed to live quietly and not socialize with each other, which was different from other villages where people lived together like families and helped each other.
"Why does the atmosphere seem so strange?" Mariel said with concern.
"They look very mysterious." Mania said, while some people giving them an unfriendly look.
"Follow me." Beatrix said as she led her two friends into a small alley.
They walked deeper into the village until they found a small, very ordinary room. When they reached the door, Beatrix knocked on it five times in a row and said,
"Ezebilia!" Beatrix said.
Suddenly, the door slowly opened, and the person behind the door tried to look out to make sure again.
"My dear Beatrix and your friends, please come in." Michelle said happily.
"Thank you very much. Now, come in. It might be a bit narrow; I apologize for this." Beatrix said, leading Mariel and Mania into her small rent house.
In front of everyone, aside Michelle, there was a woman sitting in a chair indifferently. Her eyes were filled with sadness. Her long brown hair looked a bit messy. Her slightly thin body clearly showed that her mental state was traumatized by some kind of incident that affected her health.
"Mother." Beatrix rushed to hug her mother.
"How are you? Beatrix" The woman hugged her daughter tightly and shed tears of joy.
"I'll go prepare some food to welcome everyone." Michelle said as she excused to go into the kitchen to prepare some food.
"Mariel and Mania. This is my mother, Charlotte." Beatrix introduced her mother to her two friends.
"Hi, Mother Charlotte." Mariel and Mania greeted, kneeling respectfully.
"Hi and make yourself at home." Charlotte said with a smile.
"I will help Michelle for cooking, be right back." Beatrix said.
"Mania need to help too." Mania immediately said.
"Sure, come with me." Beatrix said and smiled. As the two of them went into the kitchen to help Michelle prepare some food and snacks, Charlotte stared at Mariel as if she is looking for something in her mind.
"Beatrix has told me everything about you and Mania. Thank you so much for taking care of her." Charlotte said.
"It's fine, Mother Charlotte. For me, Beatrix is my best friend." Mariel said, trying to hide her embarrassment.
"I already know everything about that old house. Our enemy played dirty tricks on us. He wanted to kill my daughter first, and then he would come and kill me." Charlotte said in pain.
"They won't have a chance to hurt Beatrix and Mother Charlotte again, I swear." Mariel said confidently.
"I never thought that my life would meet such a fate. My husband was a hardworking person who helped others and never once thought of doing anything bad, but he was slandered and given false information by those bad people, causing him to...." Charlotte stopped talking because she could no longer hold back her tears.
Mariel slowly held Charlotte's hand with concern. The warmth from her hand made Charlotte feel indescribably relieved. She slowly adjusted her mood back to normal, then she slowly used her right hand to stroke Mariel's cheek with affection as if she were her other daughter.
"I believe that Beatrix's father is a good person. One day, the truth will appear." Mariel said.
"Thank you so much." Charlotte said for the encouragement that she had received. Then, she seemed to see right through Mariel's mind. Her gaze seemed to sense something in the future that could happen at any moment. This decision might have been too hasty, but it was better than not talking about it at all. Now that she had a chance, she decided to ask Mariel to let her know what she wanted to say.
"Mariel... Can I leave Beatrix with you?" Charlotte asked with a serious expression.
"!!!!!!!" Mariel exclaimed in shock, not expecting Mother Charlotte to ask her something like this.