"Ah…"
Sylvara's legs trembled as a wave of relief washed over her. She fell on her butt, taking in deep breaths to calm her raging emotions.
The tears flowing from her eyes did not end there and when she turned to look at their savior, a small shiver went through her spine.
The figure James cut at the moment was extremely overbearing and deadly. With blood and gore covering his body, he looked like a ripper coming to claim the lives of maidens.
Her heartbeat picked up as she continued to stare at James with parted lips, completely forgetting about her sister.
*Gulp*
"Go check on your sister."
James spoke without glancing at the elf, his attention solely focused on himself.
"R-right...!"
Sylvara came out of her reverie and shrunk back from the deep voice of James, regained her senses and ran towards where her sister lay.
James looked at the elf with an expressionless face before returning his attention to the hand holding his sword with furrowed brows.
However, before he could think deeply about his doubts, Thalia called out to him as she rushed over.
"Are you alright?"
A quick spell from her cleaned up James nicely, however, from his frown, Thalia could tell something was bothering him.
"I'm fine. Don't worry about it."
"O-okay…"
Even though she knew there was something bothering him, she still accepted his response.
'In due time'
She was determined as ever.
James then turned to look over to the massive corpse of the Adder and slowly walked towards it.
"This can be useful in making defensive wears."
It went without saying that monsters or beasts were magical creatures filled with celestial energy; the energy used by the inhabitants of Veloria.
In magical beasts, however, aside from the benefits they obtained from eating their meat, their scales, fur, core and other body parts were very useful in crafting artefacts.
James utilized an ocular-type spell that gave him the ability to see through body tissues and get a scan of the insides.
His eyes glowed for a moment before he stepped forward, replacing his sword with a dagger and carved into the monster's head and retrieved the core; a small palm-sized crystal with rough edges that glowed a bright golden.
"Hmm…"
He returned to the ground and stared at the monster with his right hand on his chin.
"What is it?"
Thalia inquired looking at him curiously as his eyes darted back and forth between James and the monster.
"It's the monster. I'm thinking of how I can take everything with me. My storage space isn't that spacious to take it all."
"Then just cut it into pieces that would fit."
She was confused about how that was an issue. A person could carry as many storage rings as they wished and this was mostly due to the space within not being enough to hold everything, especially for adventures who use them in storing their kills.
"Well… The thing is I don't have a storage ring per se. It's a rune."
He showed her the back of his left hand which glowed briefly and revealed the runes.
"O-oh.. Then you can have mine."
With a bright smile that revealed her joy in being helpful to him, she retrieved her storage rings, of course, not all of them. She had her personal needs, after all.
"You sure?"
"Mhmm."
She nodded eagerly.
James took the rings, six in total, from her and imprinted them with his energy signature.
"Step back a little, it will be a bit messy."
She took his warning to heart and stepped back, a knowing smile on her face. There was something desiring and attractive watching James go all fighter mode and it made her excited more than normal.
It was a sensation she was coming to terms with whenever she was with James.
James retrieved another dagger from storage and held one in each hand. With a slight bend, he exploded with intense speed directly entering the monster's opened maw.
The scales were hard for a reason and without the proper tools, carving them would only degrade their quality. The only way out of it was to cut through the insides of the monster.
However, it required finesse in technique and the will to stomach the bloody mess.
James never shied away from getting his hands dirty. As a noble who was raised by a very strict and overbearing father, he was taught to do what he expected his subordinates to do.
Thalia observed with glee as the monster's body trembled with James's action. From outside, one could see a clear helical energy trail coming through the scales of the monster.
The commotion drew the attention of Sylvara who was done performing a healing spell on her sister, though she remained unconscious.
'…'
Her eyes moved towards Thalia who had a smile on her face.
'Are they together?'
She had failed to notice Thalia earlier on since she was first mesmerized by James before rushing to her sister when she was prompted. Now looking at the woman, she felt a slight pang in her chest.
A few minutes later, James emerged from the monster's inside, bathed in blood and pieces of flesh, yet he showed no displeasure at his state.
"Huu…. That should be enough."
He muttered and then turned to look at his handy work. The monster was now cut into several portions ready for storage with the scales weakly attached to them.
"That was impressive, James. Even without being an adventurer myself, I can tell you have real experience."
James just looked at the woman who seemed to be having the time of her life.
'She's a pervert.'
Another quick spell from her cleaned him nicely. Then she placed both hands on his shoulders just looking at him with a bright smile.
"Uh-hum."
The duo was brought out of their space when an intentional throat-clearing rang throughout the cavern.
James turned towards the two elves, almost forgetting about their existence.
"Right… There's them."
A swift wave of his hand and many storage rings later, and the monster meat was cleared.
Sylvara watched with a beating heart as James and Thalia moved towards her. She swallowed nervously just looking at him.
Then there was that thing she felt from him earlier after he defeated the monster. She wasn't a big fan of humans who were mostly controlled by their greed and lust, but she tolerated them nonetheless.
'There's something about him.'
Her eyes narrowed staring at James.
"Do you want me to gouge your eyes out?"
"Huh?"
The question was an unexpected one and James was not in the mood to be kind. He had saved the elves already; that was all the kindness they were getting out of him, anything else would just be a formality.
Sylvara tilted her head in confusion as Thalia tried to suppress a chuckle. She more than anyone knew what the elf might be feeling.
'He seems to have that effect on all females. I wonder why?' she mused before looking at Sylvara.
"You're staring too much."
Thalia responded to Sylvara's silent question.
"O-oh.. Sorry."
She blushed a little after being called out.
'What's wrong with me?'
"How is your sister?"
Thalia inquired about the sleeping elf.
"She's fine now, just unconscious. All thanks to you."
She quickly stood up and bowed to James to show her gratefulness.
"Mhm." He nodded in acceptance, and in his book, he was done with them. There was nothing more for him to do with the two as his attention returned to the surroundings, looking at the herbs that survived the battle intact.
"Thalia, with me. Let's collect some of these herbs."
He turned around ready to leave when Sylvara called out.
"Wait!"
"What is it now?"
He was beginning to get annoyed and he didn't know where it came from.
"I-I haven't gotten your names. My name is Sylvara Moonwhisper and this is my elder sister Liraeth."
"Mhm... Let's go."
Like he said, he was done with the elves.
However, the elf was not done with him.
"I just wanted to say if there's any way to replay your kindness, please don't hesitate to ask. We owe you our lives."
James paused his step and turned slightly to give the elf a side-eye.
"Anything?"
A mischievous grin with sharp eyes replaced the gloomy one, sending a jolt through Sylvara's body.
It wasn't fear but something else; something she hadn't felt before.
*Gulp*
Despite that, she nodded eagerly.
James stared at her for a while when she began to squirm under his gaze, trying to avoid making direct eye contact when she looked his way.
"Then help my friend here gather some herbs."
He sneered and then walked away in another direction. Thalia simply shook her head at his antics. Even she fell for that mysterious glint in his eyes.
"…"
Sylvara was left speechless as she watched James walk away. A feeling of disappointment came over her.
'Was I expecting something else?'
She would be lying if she said she wasn't. However, she didn't know exactly what she was expecting and that was the puzzling part.
"Come on..."
She quickly regained her composure when Thalia called out to her.
"Right."
She took a glance at her sister's sleeping figure before running after Thalia to collect the herbs.