The golden light around the girl faded after a minute, leaving her standing with an air of refreshment and power while the three boys stared at her, awe and curiosity etched on their faces.
"Who did you make a contract with?" the tall boy asked, his voice filled with both reverence and envy. He just couldn't hold back his curiosity about knowing that.
The girl looked at him for a moment, then turned her gaze to the horizon.
Levi strained his ears as even he was curious to hear her reply.
"The Weaver of Mystic Nebula," the girl said calmly but those who heard it were not.
"Huh!! We-aver??!!"
The name caused a shockwave among the boys. Even Levi's eyes widened in disbelief.
The Weaver of Mystic Nebula.
It was a prominent god who was among the first ones to make contract with the humans. And Weaver of Mystic Nebula was very popular, to the point that even Levi who was a country bumkin was aware of them.
The Weaver was known for having numerous followers throughout the world and even had a well-established sanctuary led by someone as powerful as the Archbishop.
'She hit a jackpot,' Levi thought, marveling at her fortune.
Even those boys were unable to hide their amazement as they stood staring at the girl in awe.
Seconds passed as they stood still, and then unable to contain himself, the fat boy asked.
"What are you going to do now?"
The girl glanced at him, her expression unchanged.
"I am going back," she said without any hesitation, her tone cold and indifferent.
It was a logical decision. She had already made a contract with a powerful god and had no need to risk her life further. Helping them was not her responsibility; they had only met today, and her priority was her own safety and advancement.
Despite understanding her decision, the boys were visibly disappointed.
Levi, too, felt a pang of frustration, but he couldn't blame her. She had every right to secure her future.
Without another word, the girl turned and started walking toward the distant tower, her figure gradually disappearing into the horizon.
***
After the girl left, the three boys looked at each other awkwardly. It was clear that they were still thinking about that girl - it wasn't something that they could just ignore.
'She must have an incredible background.'
Levi thought. It was already a blessing that she was so pretty and on top of that she had now made a contract with a prominent god, her future without a doubt would be very bright.
'Sigh..what use will it be to think of her, let's just move forward.'
Seeing as the fat and tall boys had no intention of moving anytime soon, Levi took it upon himself and walked forward.
The boys came to their senses when they saw Levi move - embarrassed they both held out their weapons and ran ahead of Levi - they couldn't let the commoner overtake them obviously.
***
Around 30 minutes after the girl left, the group of three boys encountered their second monster. It was a scorpion about the size of a large turtle, with poison dripping from its sting.
"That's nasty!" the fat boy exclaimed, nocking an arrow into his bow.
He wasn't wrong. The poison dripping from its sting was melting the sand - a sting from that monster would surely spell disaster for any of them.
"Let me handle this one," the tall boy said, raising his axe and moving to the front, blocking the fat boy with the bow.
They barely seemed to notice Levi's presence or it was that they were intentionally ignoring him. Levi, however, didn't seem to mind, deciding to play it safe and wait for now.
The tall boy charged forward, swinging his axe at the scorpion. But the creature was quicker than expected, easily dodging the attack. The boy barely managed to avoid the scorpion's sting, stumbling backward.
"Useless!" the fat boy cursed, loosing an arrow at the scorpion.
But that was even more useless as the projectile simply bounced off the monster's tough exoskeleton and only made the monster angrier.
"What kind of archery was that?" the tall boy mocked.
"Like you did any better with your axe!" the fat boy retorted embarrassed.
The scorpion hissed menacingly, its claws snapping as it lunged at the tall boy. Though clumsy, he was someone who was trained to fight monsters from a young age - his training didn't betray him as he used his axe to block the pincers and kicked the scorpion before jumping back.
Despite pushing the creature away, their situation hadn't improved.
It was too dangerous to fight with an axe it required him to fight at close range, and even the bow proved ineffective against the scorpion's armor. With no other options, both boys turned to look at Levi.
Realizing the situation, Levi stepped forward without hesitation. "Try to distract it," he commanded.
"Who do you think you are to-" the fat boy began, but the tall one cut him off.
"Fine. But this better work, commoner."
Though reluctant to follow a commoner's orders, the other two felt it best to cooperate for now. They were indeed prideful but they weren't fools - knowing what is important and prioritizing it was wiser.
Moving in sync, the tall boy charged forward while the fat one nocked another arrow. Levi ran close behind the tall boy trying to hide his presence.
The monster hissed fiercely as it noticed the tall boy charging towards it and its stinger poised to strike.
But before it could, the tall boy hurled his axe at the creature and darted to the side as an arrow whistled through the air. The scorpion deflected the arrow with its pincers and the axe bounced back hitting its exoskeleton.
Both weapons failed to deal any damage but they did create an opening which Levi didn't miss!
Levi might have not been trained to fight the monsters but he had fought a fair share of battles! Not with monsters but with humans!
Life in the slums was like that - either you get hit or you hit back.
Levi lunged forward with a scream fueled by his adrenaline rush, driving his spear straight into the monster's mouth.
-Shreeek!!
The scorpion thrashed violently, forcing Levi to release the spear.
But the damage was done. After a few moments of frenzied movement, the creature collapsed, still barely clinging to life.
"Now! Finish it off!" Levi shouted.
The tall boy, having already retrieved his axe, leapt onto the fallen monster. With a mighty swing, he finished it off!
"We... we did it," the fat boy said, breathless which was a surprise as he was just staying still in a place from start to end…
Nevertheless, in that instant, three pillars of light descended from the sky, enveloping each of the boys in divine light!
The gods had noticed their presence.
---***---