The sky had been painted gold by the time he regained consciousness and somehow survived the hellish headache, internal pain, and the strange shivering of his muscles all over his body.
"Haaa…"
If it was not for the Mana recovery potions that were still left on him, and the help from his Mana, he might not even have been able to endure that kind of experience.
He even had put down all of his remaining stat points into Endurance to survive that experience. The food they packed before departing from their inn helped him regain some energy as well.
It was an experience more painful than when the Manawater slime injured him in the tutorial.
And, he even earned some more Experience points from it.
"Haaa… you… look like a mess."
He was still tired though, so he somehow dragged his body to where she had been with the support of some tree branch that had been laying on the ground around him.
"Look who's talking…"
She was still on the ground, covered in injuries and blood.
"Haaa…"
She looked at the upside down face of her partner while he looked at the miserable state that she was in.
"There… was no need… for all this, you know?"
"But this was fun, right? You were so amazing as well-."
"Shut up, woman."
She looked like a mess, but he did not have any energy to argue back against her. So, he just laid down beside her.
"It was so fun…"
He was tired, while covered in wounds, she was smiling happily as if this was fun for her.
"I'm not… doing this again…"
Seeing her like this was certainly not something liked or appreciated. She looked miserable and he felt guilty for that.
Had he been stronger, or better even, she would not have been in this position.
"Hahaha, of course we are doing this again. We will have to, actually. There will be opponents that we cannot avoid as we travel out of this town."
The sky was prettier today.
"You… bi-."
"Oy."
His throat was still hurting after all the blood coughing he endured, so he could not speak properly just yet.
On the other hand, though she did not look fine at all with all that blood on her body, she was practically still well.
Just that she did not have any strength to get up and do anything yet…
"Haaa."
He wanted to curse at her, shout at her, scream at her and then, if possible, ask for her forgiveness.
He did not like how he was so weak, but at this moment, the thing he did not like the most was the pathetic appearance of his partner.
"Stay… still…"
He grabbed her wounded hand and intertwined their fingers.
-Oooooooooooong!
And then, he activated the healing skill of his bracelet {Light chain} on her.
"There's no need to use the skill for these small scratches dear."
The smile on her face warmed up as she felt warmth spreading throughout her body starting from the hand he was holding.
"They… might be scratches… for you, perhaps. But they look ugly on you."
A thin layer of bright light covered her entire body as the wounds and bruises present all over her body started closing down and disappearing.
The process was slow but warm, so even though it only lasted for a few minutes, she felt much more at ease from it than she might have even after taking a high level healing potion.
"That's a precious skill."
She had felt healing skills before, but few were as gentle as this one.
That healing light had a special warmth to it as well.
"Yes…"
Clouds moved with the winds and the sun moved beyond the horizon.
The cheerful town would start becoming busier as people would start moving to the streets for shopping and entertainment.
The creatures of the forest will go to their dans and nests to spend their evening and night with their families.
The night will approach shortly, and with it, the day of the nocturnal creatures would arrive as well.
"We should get moving now."
It was going to get cold here, so they had to start moving now if they wanted to make it to the town in time.
"Give me a minute."
They had stayed like that for around half an hour now so his throat was a little better now. But, he still needed a moment to get his mind and body in sync.
"Haa…"
The battle they fought was not easy. But at the end of it all, they came out victorious.
"Do you want this essence?"
As a reward of this battle, they got a skill essence of the Red Hob though it was not either of the three main skills it had.
"I don't think I will need… the {Smash}. It's better for those who use blunt weapons."
The skill increased the force of any blunt weapon when smashing.
It was a conditional skill from what the appraisal scroll revealed, so unless they did not have something that could be considered a blunt weapon and the action performed could be considered 'smashing', the skill would not activate.
"Hmmm. Then, I can have it, right?"
"Sure. if you want."
He didn't think he was going to use weapons now that he had picked up magic. A Blunt weapon was a different thing altogether.
The skill was better for someone who was accustomed to physical movements so he didn't mind if she had it.
"Thanks~."
She seemed happy to have that simple skill. And he was happy to see her smile as well.
Besides…
[Ding.]
[Level up!]
[(Level-14) > (Level-21.]
Thanks to all the Exp from defeating the monster that he received alone, his level had shot up considerably.
The Level increase was pretty unbelievable, but they had just taken down a (Level-35) field boss. The increased Exp that he alone obtained obviously was no joke.
He was happy with this much already, but they even received an achievement in the process.
[Hunter Duo (Common) has been achieved!]
They both receive the matching achievement for taking down a field boss of ten or more levels higher than them by themselves.
It was the first common achievement both of them had received and though it was only a common achievement, it was a big thing for the two of them.
"Alright. I'm fine now."
As he got up after finally getting back to a good enough condition, he had a happy smile on his face.
She was happy to receive another skill while he was happy with his level up.
He was a little stronger now, and now that both of them were of the same level, they can finally share the Exp equally between themselves.
"Though…"
Since a while back, Elio knew that he had been forgetting something important.
Something very important…
He knew the thing was very important but he could not put his finger on it.
"Is that Az?"
"Right! Az! Where is Az?!"
Thanks to her sudden confused voice though, he finally remembered how they had not seen Az even once ever since they sent it away to distract the Hob at the beginning of the battle.
"There…"
A sudden worry had overwhelmed him when the thought of something happening crossed his mind, but Alex just pointed at the distant entrance of the cave from where the Red Hob had walked out from.
"Why does it look in such a hurry though?"
Elio was a little relieved to see his little friend alive and fine but Alex was surprised by how Az was hurriedly jumping towards them.
It seemed like it was running towards them… or, perhaps, running away from something entirely different.