"The Priestess said that anyone who broke the contract would be punished by magic if they did not help the others."
Lily said through gritted teeth.
"Then the Priestess was lying."
Eli shrugged nonchalantly while examining his lever rifle.
"I am not surprised. She was probably an experienced adventure, and you weren't, so she took advantage of all of you."
"What!"
Petunia blurted out as she stopped hiding behind her sister.
"What do you mean?"
Lily asked.
"You both are new to this work, yes?"
Eli continued as they both nodded.
"Something you have to understand about the business in being an adventure, missy."
Eli said to Petunia.
"Never trust anyone you are working with. No doubt the Priestess understood you would leave if the Hero's more disgusting particulars came to light. So she lied to keep your talents."
"But we didn't trust her, that's why we signed the contract!" Petunia protested.
"You trusted her enough to believe you were bound by a magical contract," Eli replied, his expression inscrutable. "And enough to stand by and watch as the Hero used you as meat shields right in front of you."
Lily and Petunia turned their heads away in shame of being tricked.
"You came from somewhere remote?" Eli's question caused them to flinch. As they moved their hair, their small pointy ears were revealed, showing they were half-elves.
"Yes. From an Elf Enclave in the West."
"And you did not think to learn the methods of our line of work? Did not think to understand how contracts worked?"
"I... We thought it was based on honor."
Lily admitted, and Eli narrowed his eyes.
"Honor?"
"Yes. our entire enclave extols the virtues of honor, and we would rather die than break our word. That was what we've taught since we were young."
Eli's face turned cold and stony
"Well, you're both idiots."
Both Lily and Petunia gaped like a fish.
"So, the Hero sacrificed us to make his escape. That's what you're getting at, correct? Fuck!"
Lily then began to tell Eli everything that happened
"Yeah. When one of his swords got stuck in a wall after he was swinging like crazy, our group's Knight jumped in to defend him, and a hobgoblin soon knocked her out. Now I see that Arthur threw all of us like meat shields for his escape. The goblins beat and took our ranger and monk too, Goddess knows what they're doing to them."
Petunia interrupted the conversation, saying.
"My sister and I managed to escape because of my quick thinking and the wall of vines I created."
"So, did you have a plan after you ran out of mana? Did you even have a plan?"
Petunia started scratching her head, revealing that she's impulsive and doesn't usually plan ahead, hoping for the best.
"Well, we would have made a plan eventually. If not, I still have Lily. She's my smart little sister. She would've figured something out."
"Petunia, we were stuck in a small cavern with no escape, and the goblins were right on our heels, bashing our wall down. We were going to be dead as soon as your wall went down, sis. Wah!"
Lily then grabbed her sister and started crying into her shoulders.
Petunia started rubbing her little sister's back and patting her head, telling her.
"It's all going to be okay now, little flower."
Eli stood there, still holding his lever-action rifle, feeling awkward. In contrast, the two sisters were having a special moment together.
"So, are you coming or not? Cause, I'm not staying here forever."
"You know, buddy, you don't have to be a jerk about it. Can't you see I'm having a special moment with my little sister?"
Petunia tried to stall him, hoping to get their bearings.
"Okay that's it, I'm leaving."
Eli, having had enough of their touching scene, simply began to walk away, not wanting to deal with the members of what he considered a joke of a hero's harem.
'Damn it! This jerk is also going to leave us behind.'
Petunia cursed inwardly when she saw Eli starting to leave them behind.
"Lily, climb on my back, just like we used to do piggyback rides when we were young."
Lily responded in an adorable low tone, "Okay." She then climbed on her sister's back and held on for dear life like a koala.
Petunia started chasing after the asshole elf who had left them behind. Soon, she began to hear multiple whistles sounds and the thuds of bodies falling as she chased after Eli. She cast a light ball spell to follow her and continuously illuminate her path, trying to catch up to him. Along the way, she encountered numerous Goblin and Hobgoblin corpses.
The deeper she went into the cave, the more frequent the corpses became. Petunia began to feel dread, realizing they had attacked this location without any information about the area. She had passed over 30 bodies already, and their party had struggled with just seven. They were not prepared for this.
She soon reached Eli's location, and he gave a hand signal to stop and be quiet as he used Detect.
"Okay, all I have left are 3 E Rank goblins, 1 D- Rank hobgoblin and a C- Rank goblin shaman. The 3 E Rank goblins are standard guards, while the last two are distracted, frolicking with some of their female prisoners."
Having purchased a suppressor for his lever action rifle, making it an excellent stealth weapon with strong power. Made it perfect for this occasion as he used it to eliminate these troublesome creatures.
Snipe!
Snipe!
Snipe!
With three consecutive shots, he headshoted three guards, taking them out. He then switched to the hobgoblin and performed another snipe headshot, killing it. Unfortunately, this action caught the attention of the goblin shaman, who let go of his prisoner and started attacking Eli with fireballs.
[Successful Saving Throw]
He made a saving throw and succeeded, dodging the fireballs using quickstep and acrobatics. He then attempted to perform a snipe aimed at the center of the goblin shaman's body.
[Goblin Shaman, Scored Successful Saving throw]
However, the goblin shaman made a saving throw and created an ethereal shield to defend himself, which reflected the bullet. As a result, the enemy gained a bonus action, and despite Eli's failed saving throw, he was dealt a critical hit.
[You Failed Saving Throw]
[Goblin Shaman, Scored Critical Hit Successful!]
"What!"
Was the only word Eli said before being engulfed by a giant fireball, burning him whole, and flinging his lever action rifle to a different location from the blast shock wave.
"Hehehe!"
The Goblin Shaman started laughing and giggling, walking towards Eli to perform a close-range fireball at him. To finish him off.
Little did he know. That little action, spelled his doom. Because the next instant he was facing the barrel of a shotgun.
"Heh?!"
Were the last words he ever spoke?
Bang!
With a loud bang, his brain mater soon painted the wall behind him. Leaving a headless twitching corpse still standing, until it soon fell down.
"Dammit, that was close! I can't believe I survived that."
Eli was puzzled that his body was a half-burned piece of jerky. Though sadly, half of his clothing was burned by the fire, but incredibly enough his enchanted gear made it out just fine.
Ding!
[Host, congratulations on successfully advancing the "Sun Elf" racial trait, gaining a 68% resistance to fire and heat, which has now increased to 73%.]
[Currently, in order to progress to maturity, you need to advance all "Sun Elf" racial traits.]
'System didn't already receive race bonuses already?'
[Host may wonder why you need to advance all "Sun Elf" racial traits to progress to maturity. This is because, although you have received racial trait bonuses, reaching maturity is necessary to gain all of the special racial skills of the "Sun Elf" species.]
'I'm already a grown-up, how much, more do I have to reach maturity.'
[The "Sun Elf" race reaches maturity at the age of one hundred. By that time, you will need to complete certain requirements, including achieving 100% resistance to fire and heat, 100% resistance to gravitational energy, and 100% resistance to holy and light magic.]
'Gee, let me guess, the only way to get the resistance is to be hit by said element?'
[To answer your question, the only way to gain resistance is indeed to be affected by the specific element.]
[Therefore, you must reach all resistances and reach the age of 100 to achieve maturity and receive all bonuses of the "Sun Elf."]
'Well, SHIT! The goddess did this, didn't she? Answered me system!'
[Ask stupid questions, Host. Receive stupid answers]
[If you have any further questions, feel free to ask, and I'd be happy to help clarify.]
'Aaaahhhhhhh!'
RACE: Sun Elf
NAME: Eli Rivers
Job Level: 10
Health Points: 450
Mana Points: 385
Stamina Points: 590
Attunement: 13
Vitality: 13
Endurance: 17
Strength: 14
Dexterity: 19
Perception: 15
Skill: 16
Charisma: 16
Luck: 18
Skill Points: 5