Frantic breathing and screams of terror filled the open lands of Britana. Thomas ran for his life, he didn't stop, and he didn't even bother looking back to see where the creatures were.
His stamina steadily declined, but his adrenaline kept him on his toes, sprinting for his survival.
"It's been over ten minutes, find someone else to eat you lousy mutts!! Waaaahh!"
Ten whole minutes of racing for the hills. His legs were cramping, and his chest started to hurt from the overexertion. He wanted to just fall flat on his face, but doing so would be the end of his life.
"There's hundreds of other prey you can eat! Why the hell are you going after someone like me?!! Gaaaah! Is this karma?!"
He was shouting to the sky, venting his frustration until he tripped.
"Uwoahh!"
Not watching where he was going, he fell flat on his face, smacking his head against a rock.
"Ow!"
Thomas split open his skull, and rolled to his side, holding his face in pain.
"Aaahh… fuck that hurts! Goddamnit!"
The pain was potent enough to make him forget about the wolves, but their snarling snapped him back to reality.
"Oh man, oh man! Not like this, I have so much to live for…! I can't die like this, seriously!" Thomas crawled backward, scooting away from the multi-colored wolves.
They slowly approached him, opening their gaping maws.
"Brunhilda, help me-!!"
Calling out for help, Thomas was suddenly taken aback—
He heard the air being parted
SCHWING!
Whistling steel.
"Arroooooo!"
One of the wolves whimpered like an injured dog as their body was cleaved in half.
SCHWING! SWISH! FWING!
Three more wolves fell with their heads lopped off.
"My blade isn't meant to take the lives of animals; only the wicked, and corrupt. But I heard you screaming for help, so I had no choice."
A feminine voice spoke in a heavy suit of armor.
But not just any armor.
It was that of a samurai.
She carried a katana at her hip, tucked away in its steel and wooden sheath. She was fairly tall for a woman, standing at the height of 5'8.
Her voice was calm, and so was her aura.
"A samurai… from the Lands of Heikoku?"
Thomas was struck by her handling of a blade. She was skilled enough to slice the creatures without any spilling of blood.
With precise, and clean strokes, the samurai had cut through their molecular bonds, performing clean cuts.
Her cuts were so pristine, and so precise, that you could even reattach the wolves and their cleaved body parts back together, with no signs of damage.
Thomas was lucky, once again.
"It seems you know of our culture."
"Y-Yes! I heard of the Land of Heikoku, your people practice the arts of swordsmanship rather than magic, is that correct?"
"Correct indeed."
Thomas smiled, quite elated to meet a samurai.
"M-My name is Thomas! Thomas Ironheart, it's a pleasure to meet you." He stood up and extended his hand for a handshake.
But the samurai bowed instead.
"The pleasure is all mine, Ironheart."
"N-No, please call me Thomas!"
She lifted her head, giggling through her mask.
"Well then, Thomas, it is a pleasure to meet you."
"May I ask… what are you doing way out here in Britana? Isn't your country far away?"
The samurai was quiet for a few seconds as if she was hesitant to answer.
"I have my own reasons. I would like to keep that personal if you don't mind."
"Oh, of course. But may I ask, what is your name?"
"Fumiko Asayama." She said, giving a slight bow.
"I-I see… well uhm… I know this might be too much to ask, but can you help me out?" Thomas felt ashamed asking such a question, proven by his hesitant tone.
"Are you asking me to escort you home?"
All of a sudden… Thomas fell to the ground on his hands and knees like a commoner in front of a king.
"Please!!"
His sudden gesture made Fumiko take a step back.
Even though there was no one around… she felt embarrassed to be seen like this.
"T-There's no need to bow so low, I-I can escort you home, free of charge!"
"Uwaaaa-haaa!" Thomas stood up, running into Fumiko's arms, crying, "Thank you!! I've been so scared by myself! I nearly died multiple times. You have no idea how many times I pissed myself!"
"…O-Of course. Wait a moment, pissed yourself?"
"Please don't leave me, please, please, please!!"
"I-I won't! There is no need to worry."
"Don't leave meeee!"
Thomas kept crying, blocking out her voice from his constant wailing.
"Please, you're making yourself look dishonorable."
Thomas didn't stop… in fact, he started rubbing his cheek against her suit of armor, cuddling her like some frightened child.
"Compose yourself!"
Out of nowhere, her tone of voice changed, like an annoyed mother.
Thomas nearly jumped out of his skin, taking a step back to stand up straight.
She almost sounded like Hermfry in her strict words, which frightened him to his core.
"Have you no shame in your actions, Thomas?"
"I-I'm sorry!"
Fumiko sighed through her mask, lowering her head in disappointment.
"I believed that the men in Britana were less cowardice than my own, but I guess I was wrong..."
"…"
Thomas wanted to retort her claim, but he was the one who made her think that way in the first place.
"Let me travel by your side. I shall be your sword and shield, only temporarily, of course."
"Thank you… very much." Thomas lowered his head as a sign of respect.
"Indeed. Now, where are we headed?"
"Oh, right…"
***
It's been well over twenty minutes; Thomas was heading in the same direction as Brunhilda and Hermfry, though he managed to go off trail with the samurai.
"So, I heard the people in Heikoku worship the Goddess, Amaterasu, unless I'm mistaken."
Fumiko nodded her head.
"Yes, indeed. But it isn't only her who we worship. There are countless Gods who are worshiped in Heikoku, and the most prominent ones are Buddha, and Amaterasu herself."
"Ah, I see." Muttered Thomas. "In Britana, Lady Gaia is the most prominent Goddess."
"I could tell from her churches, and the figure of speech involving her name." Said Fumiko with a chuckle.
"Well, she is the creator of this realm, after all. Hell, it's even named in her name."
"Well, not exactly."
"Huh?"
Fumiko glanced at Thomas, saying, "Gaia Realm is called other things too, such as Terra, and Midgard, but those in this region of the world refer to it as Gaia, as a sign of respect to their creator."
"Oh… I-I see…" Thomas looked down, ashamed for not knowing his country's history.
"My people call this world, Terra."
"Well, it does roll off the tongue more." Pronounced Thomas with a smile.
"Indeed. Even the Gods of this world call it as such."
"Well, considering this world is shaped by the Gods and their laws, it only makes sense that they all agree on the same thing. They're pretty much like one giant family."
"I suppose so. Each Realm does have Gods, while the Prime God, such as Gaia, always remains at the top, as the Creator of the Realm."
"There's so many Gods out there… maybe more than we humans."
"Halt." Fumiko suddenly stretched her arm to the side, halting Thomas and his movements.
"…What is it?"
"The Sun has officially passed the horizon."
"—Shit, I wasn't paying attention! Does that mean…"
"Yes. The Fiends are manifesting as we speak. Stay close to me, it isn't safe to continue."
"T-Then what should we do!?! We can't just stay out here?"
"I should be able to deal with the ones surrounding us as we speak. Only if there was some source of light we could use to vanquish them."
"Source of light?! Wait a second!" Thomas rummaged through his satchel, pulling out his Incantation Stone.
"Is that a Magatama?"
"A… Maga-what? It's an Incantation Stone."
"Same thing."
"This one produces light. If I use its power, we should be able to get through the night unscathed."
"That is uncertain." Said Fumiko.
"H-Huh? How so?"
"Magatamas have a limit; they're fueled by mana and each time they're used, their mana depletes until they're nothing more than ordinary rocks with a magic symbol engraved into them."
"S-Shit, really? I never knew that…"
"How many times have you used it?!" Asked Fumiko in slight worry.
"O-Only once!"
A sigh of relief came from the samurai as she nodded her head, saying, "Good. Then we shall use it now, and vanquish the Fiends in this area. We must find a village, or town, as quickly as possible."
"Alright!" Thomas lifted the stone in the air, shouting, "Lumenta!!"
A blinding light emitted from the Incantation Stone, lighting up the entire forest, and vanquishing the Fiends in the area.
They all turned to dust.
"Now is our chance, let us escape the forest!"
"I'm getting the hell outta here!!" Thomas was the first to run ahead.