The female knight raised her sword and let out a few loud shouts. She also made a show of chasing after them, scaring the six remaining militiamen into scattering and fleeing in all directions. She held her head high, with a proud look on her face, and watched as the figures of the deserters disappeared into the forest. She nodded with satisfaction and then looked down at her own body. Seeing that her armor, shield, and weapon were all smeared with blood, she tore off a few handfuls of leaves and began to wipe them carefully.
Aurelio sat down on a dead log. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths, completely emptying his mind. A warrior needed to maintain their weapon after a battle, and as a mage, he was no different. He used magic as his weapon, and through meditation and deep breathing, he could sharpen his "weapon". The battle had been decided in just a few dozen seconds, and he had expended very little magic power, with no sense of fatigue in his mind at all.
In just a few minutes, by simply sitting in quiet contemplation and meditation, he had replenished his magic power to full. He didn't stand up but instead began to casually think about other things. For example, why the enemies today had such weak fighting will compared to those from last night. Also, the curved swords... Why were there curved swords again?
He had heard people talk about it and seen it mentioned in books that curved swords were the weapons of the Demon Race. However, this place was hundreds of miles away from the territory of the Demon Race. How could there be demons here? How did the militiamen get such weapons? The more he thought about it, the more doubts he had, and his brow furrowed unconsciously.
"Are you tired? Casting spells seems really exhausting!" The female knight's voice rang in his ear.
He opened one eye and saw that the other's face had already leaned in, only four or five inches away from his own. Feeling uncomfortable with this closeness, he opened the other eye and moved a bit further away. After putting a foot of distance between them, he replied, "No."
Gloria nodded vigorously. She was still 沉浸在 the excitement of the battle and could hardly sit still. As soon as she stopped moving, she felt a burning sensation in her hands and feet, which made her restless. She could only pace around.
"Take a rest."
"I'm not tired! I actually feel stronger than usual. I'm so glad I got revenge for our comrades who died yesterday!" The female knight replied, shaking her head. Then, rather proudly, she asked the other about her performance: "So? I was amazing, right?"
"Amazing." Aurelio replied in a flat tone.
Gloria was excited and her thoughts were active. She just felt that his answer wasn't sincere, like a casual brush-off, so she looked dissatisfied. But then she thought, "At least he trusts me. When the enemies rushed over just now, he wasn't flustered at all, and he didn't even look at the enemies. It must be because he trusts me! Being trusted by a comrade is the greatest honor for a knight." Thinking of this, she became even prouder and more excited.
"Also... He's always been so calm, different from me." Gloria thought, turning her head to look at her companion. "He didn't get complacent even after taking out seven people. Could it be... He's already a battle-hardened veteran?" She thought so, but it didn't seem to match this young face.
"Anyway! I took out two... maybe three enemies too. That's something to be proud of." Thinking of this, a smile reappeared on her face. "When I go home and tell them, they definitely won't dare to look down on me anymore!"
Aurelio thought about it for a long time but had no clue about those questions. He shook his head helplessly and said, "Let's go. There might still be enemies in the forest."
Gloria looked up at the sun, which had already shifted to the west, and replied, "Yes, noon has passed. Let's hurry. I want to reach Ventona today."
The two of them started walking eastward along the Gair River again.
Half an hour later, the excitement of the battle on Gloria gradually dissipated, and a sense of weariness washed over her. She began to regret not listening to her companion and taking a good rest. As she was thinking this and let her guard down a bit, she accidentally kicked something and almost stumbled.
She looked down and saw a fat rat. It had just darted out of the grass and was fuming with anger. Including its tail, it was over two feet long.
It was glaring with fierce eyes, opening its mouth to reveal two large teeth - they were almost as long as a human's little finger. It angrily stood upright on its two hind legs, puffing up its fat body, and the top of its head was almost level with the female knight's knee.
This rat seemed to have just eaten and was resting on the grass. Now that it had been disturbed, it was furious. Before Gloria could react, it had already taken a fierce bite at her ankle.
Gloria's leg was protected by armor, so she wasn't injured. But she could clearly hear the chilling grinding sound of the large teeth hitting the metal.
Gloria's eyes widened more and more, and she completely forgot about the honor of being a knight. She let out a shrill scream and immediately shrank behind her companion. She was terrified of rats. Moreover, this rat was ridiculously large. She had never seen one this big before.
"What?" Aurelio became alert immediately after hearing her scream and started looking around for possible threats. The female knight had fought bravely before, no less bravely than a man, but now she was screaming like an ordinary girl. He didn't know what terrifying thing she had seen to be scared like this, so his nerves were on edge as he began to cast a spell, preparing to face a new threat.
Gloria's voice trembled as she replied, "R-r-rat."
"What?" Aurelio couldn't believe what he had heard. He even thought his ears were playing tricks on him again.
The female knight repeated it in a low voice a few times: "Rat, it's a rat... on the ground in front." She grabbed the wide sleeves of her companion's robe with both hands, pressed her face against his back, and didn't dare to peek out at all.
Aurelio looked down and finally saw the huge rat. It was still baring its teeth in a threatening manner while curling up its body. It seemed that it might pounce again at any moment.
At first, Aurelio was puzzled as to why someone would be afraid of such a small thing. However, he soon partly understood the female knight's feelings: the rat's fur was smeared with all kinds of dirt, and just looking at it made him feel nauseous. He thought, "It seems everyone has some strange weaknesses. If she weren't afraid of this rat, I'd almost forget she was a woman. Hmm... What are my weaknesses? Bugs? Flies, mosquitoes, fleas, spiders... They all imply uncleanness. Ha, I hope I don't run into them."
The female knight was hiding behind him, tugging at his sleeve, and urged in a trembling voice, "Kill it! Hurry up!"
Aurelio chanted a four-word incantation and, in just one second, transformed the magic energy into an electric spark.
The spell he cast was "Lightning Strike". When attacking a small, agile, and relatively weak target like a rat at close range, a spell that was cast quickly and had a fast flight speed like this was extremely suitable. The common drawbacks of electric spells - short range and high consumption - could be ignored at this moment.
Aurelio waved his left hand, and the electric current naturally shot towards the rat, hitting the target instantly. After a bright blue arc of light flashed, there was a "crack" sound, and the menacing rat dropped dead immediately.
"It's dead."
The female knight carefully peeked out and, seeing the charred marks on the rat's body and confirming its death, was still shaken. She grabbed Aurelio's sleeve and was reluctant to let go. Half a minute later, she felt that her behavior was inappropriate, so she let go of the sleeve with an apologetic look and walked out from behind him. She didn't dare to talk to her companion again and turned her back, blushing.
"Let's go." Aurelio said, "Your scream was too loud. It might attract enemies."
Gloria didn't turn around. She just nodded shamefacedly and then walked beside him. She would occasionally glance sideways at his face, afraid that he would show a look of contempt. However, the other was still very cold and expressionless.