Chapter 58 – Reunion of the Deviant Trio
The little redhead ran to hug him.
Luke didn't know how to react, but as soon as he tried to raise his arm, he groaned in pain.
"Ouch!"
"S-sorry!"
She suddenly yanked the arrow out of his shoulder, and Luke screamed.
Damn it! She could have warned me.
Then a hand glowing with green light touched his wound, and the throbbing pain began to fade away.
"You disappeared!"
"I could say the same about you. I was really far from here and lost."
"We need to get out of here quickly!" she whispered.
"Wait! Calm down, I need to catch up. What happened to you? You look different, and why did you make a huge bonfire in the middle of this crazy forest?"
The little redhead was covered in dirt, her clothes torn and speckled with dried blood. She looked more like a fierce Amazon than the gentle girl he remembered, a stark contrast to her personality.
"It was Alice's idea."
"Oh, you're with her?"
Good, that makes things a lot easier.
"Yes, but she's out at the moment. The bonfire is to get your attention and also helps us move around here and find the way to our shelter."
I see, they made the bonfire far from where they are. This way they could get my attention and still have a reference point in the middle of this forest... I dare say that's a very smart idea.
"You can come, Gobby!"
"Gobby?"
Luke was surprised to hear the little redhead calling someone.
A noise came from the woods, and a somewhat short figure emerged.
"Oh, my god!"
Luke felt nauseous and turned his head to vomit. He concentrated to avoid vomiting right there, but the nausea still hit him hard.
"What's wrong, Luke? Are you okay?" The redhead asked, concerned.
"What is that thing? My god... that's disgusting, my god!"
"It's my albino goblin. He's been helping me a lot."
Just hearing that name made him feel like vomiting again. Looking at the creature that was staring at him in confusion, Luke couldn't help but remember the image of smashing the swollen head of a goblin and seeing larvae eating it from the inside. Closing his eyes, he concentrated as much as he could, but the stench of that moment somehow invaded his mind.
Dear god! I saw a bunch of seagulls eat a whale's carcass, but damn... the sight of those larvae... god, I want to puke.
"Wait, your goblin?"
The little redhead looked confused as she tried to heal him.
"Yes."
"Don't tell me this is a familiar?"
"What?" she shouted incredulously. "Of course not! Are you crazy?"
"Am I crazy?"
He seriously wondered if he was going mad.
"I can't afford a familiar. In my lifetime, I'd never see enough money to get one. Not just anyone has a familiar, and even nobles can't buy one because they're so expensive and rare… plus the cost of feeding them… dear god. I barely had enough for a bow, let alone a familiar."
"So what is this thing, your assistant?"
"It's my summoning card. Alice and I killed an alpha goblin. I landed the final blow with an arrow to the eye and got this albino goblin summoning card."
"Got it, now it makes sense."
Luke stared at the goblin, which looked like a statue standing next to Anna. The goblin reached her waist in height. Although called albino, it was gray. The goblin resembled a bipedal gargoyle more than anything else.
Creek
"Oh, no. They're here."
Anna conjured what looked like a wooden club. She tossed a knife to Gobby.
"Luke, they're skeletons. Don't worry, if you hit their heads and make sure they're destroyed, they die."
"I know, I've had the unfortunate experience with them."
Luke touched his shoulder, remembering the pain of being hit… twice.
"Just destroy that skull… we'll manage easily," said the redhead.
With Anna helping, the battle would definitely be easier. Or so he thought…
"Shit…"
Five skeletons emerged from the woods, but they wore helmets and some pieces of armor. One even had a shield. They all wielded large swords. At the same time, the five skeletons let out enraged screams.
"I guess they're mad about their friends…"
Anna pointed to the bones they were stepping on.
The skeletons charged. Anna swung her club, knocking one down, while Gobby leaped onto another's face, stabbing with the knife.
Luke, already familiar with handling them, swung his conjured hammer horizontally, sending two skeletons flying.
He ran wildly, smashing the fallen skeletons' bodies to disassemble them. Once they were down, he fiddled with the helmet, then yanked it off and drove his knife into the skull, killing a skeleton.
Luke handled two skeletons, while Anna and Gobby each took on one. But one skeleton broke free, kicking Anna away from the fallen skeleton she was trying to kill.
The redhead rolled backward, quickly conjured her bow, and fired an arrow that severed the fifth skeleton's leg, causing it to fall.
Gobby had finished off his skeleton and went to help his master, crushing a fallen skeleton's skull with a rock.
Seeing that brought back memories of when Luke did the same to a goblin.
Gods! This must be some kind of punishment… how disgusting.
After killing his second skeleton, he moved to help Gobby and Anna.
Suddenly, a skeleton in full armor emerged from the woods. Luke was torn between helping Anna and Gobby or facing the armored skeleton wielding a giant sword.
Just as he was about to act, the skeleton was struck in the head by a blade sparking with blue energy.
The person who struck the skeleton ran to its head and drove the blade into the opening, causing its power to turn the skeleton's skull to ash.
"Alice!"
Anna shouted, seeing her friend.
"I told you to stay away from here at night, Anna! I got worried when I heard the sounds of battl- Oh! Luke… you showed up."
"I'm back."
He waved.
"Don't think you'll get rid of me that easily."
"I never thought I'd see this," Luke said.
The trio of Deviants had finally reunited. With the skeletons defeated, they collected the crystals and made their way to a shelter.
"I was out hunting," Alice initiated the conversation.
Finally, she's learning to socialize.
"I hope you got enough. I'm starving," Luke said.
Following Alice's lead, the trio navigated through the forest, arriving at an inclined area. Alice pointed to a patch of grass and removed several tied leaves, revealing a false mat. She then pulled back the familiar wolfskin blanket, uncovering a small hidden entrance to a cave.
"This feels nostalgic," Luke said.
"Agreed," Alice replied.
They entered the dark cave as Alice replaced the false mat and the blanket, covering the entrance.
In the darkness, just as Luke considered conjuring his torch, Alice placed her hand over the unlit fire pit. A spark of electricity ignited the fire.
She used electricity to light a fire? Impressive.
"I left the meat bleeding away from the camp and went to fetch it," Alice explained.
Near the cave entrance, Luke noticed what appeared to be a network of tunnels.
"Anna didn't want to eat goblin meat after getting her summoning card… and I'm not a fan of eating bipedal creatures either," Alice continued.
"Understandable," Luke agreed.
I wouldn't want to eat goblin meat either…
"Speaking of which, where's Gobby?" Luke asked, curious.
"I dismissed him back into his card," Anna said.
"That's so cool," Luke remarked.
"Yeah. And I can sell the card if I ever need to. If I do, I'll share the money with Alice," Anna said.
"I told you that's not necessary," Alice interjected.
"Okay, okay. But I'll share the money anyway. Consider it a gift," Anna insisted.
I doubt she'll sell it after giving it a name…
"The tunnels are short, forming a network with two paths extending to small caves on either side. But I prefer staying close to the entrance to keep watch," Alice explained, showing them around the cave. They had even made some torches, but they couldn't stay lit on the ground.
Luke handed her his torch.
"That's where we take turns sleeping," Alice pointed to the right. "You can have the left side."
"Thanks. I'll definitely sleep when it's not my turn to keep watch," Luke said.
Alice resumed cutting the meat and tossing it into a pot.
"Oh! You guys want some?" Luke offered, shaking his canteen.
Seeing the canteen, Anna took it and drank.
"I forgot! Alice and I got water from a stream and boiled it," Anna said.
"Problem solved. Just fill your canteens, and whenever they run out, let me know," Luke said.
Alice also took a drink from the canteen.
"I guess we have a lot to catch up on," she said.