To Trino's amazement, her hands turned to crystalline blades. But their shivering state deprived them of their intimidating aura. Her complexion was still paler compared to her skin. Whether to free the human or not, Xahi was suffering from indecision. On the one hand, the guy had tried to save her, but he was of the same race as Hugo.
Trino stayed still, not making any movements. Not from fear, but to let her not fear him. It was apparent the girl was apprehensive towards him. Why is she acting like this? I can understand her trauma, but all people aren't the same in the world. His thoughts flipped the moment his observation skill kicked in, She is not a human. It could be possible that Hugo and I are the only humans she has ever seen.
Every sentient person develops their way of perceiving the world and its every aspect, including other races and species. And Xahi’s view towards humans was destroyed by Hugo.
You should leave. You will be just hurting yourself. Trino thought but couldn't voice out, and even if he could, it wouldn’t have mattered.
Xahi met eyes with Trino, and her apprehension melted from the look in them. They carried warmth and kindness, unlike Hugo’s dead malevolent ones. Her quivering stopped. She approached him and put her blades on the ropes tying the boy.
While she was cutting the ropes around his wrist, Trino found out the pure black smoke covered her head instead of lumps of hair. The perfect thing to compare it to could be dense fumes. Fluffy yet fluid, her hair caressing her shoulders. As light as feathers, waving in sync with her motion.
"Thank you," She mustered the words, but her simple Thank you for his effort to save her got messed up in his comprehension. The words were literally random noise that his understanding couldn’t decipher unless he knew Lepethree, one of the languages common among the countries inhabited by the Chrono race.
When he got his right hand freed, the first thing Trino did was to remove the cloth stuck in his mouth. "Thank you," he too said despite knowing the fact she wouldn’t be able to understand it. As he expected, Xahi didn’t respond to the random noise he produced and went for his second hand. Her hands were more steady this time. She was recovering and had become affirmative that Trino wouldn’t harm her.
Upon freeing both of his hands, she was about to bend down towards his foot to cut him loose. But as she was, her wounds became apparent to him. Apart from that, she would be exposing herself if she did bend in that cloth. So he stopped her waving his hands in front of her, “I can do it.” He said the words out of reflex.
Trino took out a vial filled with a glossy blue liquid from his inventory and handed it to Xahi. The girl took the bottle in a daze caused by its appearance out of thin air.
Then he retrieved a knife, the only knife he had left from the two pairs he had. In only a few seconds, Trino freed himself, but Xahi hadn’t even moved a muscle. She only exchanged looks between the vial in her hand and the boy for the reason she didn’t know what to do with the bottle he handed her. Secondly, she was too afraid of the surroundings to make any movements. She only focused on the human boy, because inanimate or not, every other object in the cavern seemed malicious to her. Even the cloth she wrapped herself into felt creepy.
When Trino looked at her, he tilted his head in confusion. Why isn’t she drinking the health potion?
How could she? She had seen it for the very first time. A blue healing potion was something comparable to a 2nd-grade health kit in her country, but she also didn't know about the kit. So how could she know about its foreign equivalent?
“Don’t tell me you don’t know what a healing potion is?” Trino blurted out in surprise, a little too much louder, scaring the girl for her life. Xahi took three steps back reflexively, forgetting that she had her racication on. She was the one with lethal weapons.
“Please don’t harm me.” She said while holding her head between her blades, and Trino instantly became angry at himself. He didn’t understand her words but knew she was begging him not to hurt her. It was the same reaction Hugo had solicited out of her multiple times from his psychotic actions.
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He stopped moving. Trino knew better than to approach her and scare her more. He waited for her to look at him again, and she did. Once he was sure she was observing him carefully, he showed his palms to her in a gesture to reassure her. He took out another blue vial and gulped down the whole thing, showing her what to do with the one in her hand.
Once again, he held out his hands to her to show the effect of the thing he had just drunk. The still green wound on his wrist was clotting at a rate visible to the naked eye. Xahi too noticed it and her big eyes went wide at the phenomenon of rapid healing. And like a chain reaction, Trino likewise stretched his eyes and mouth in awe of her dark magenta eyes. Yes, he had peered into her eyes just before, and they were black, but her eyes now turned colors due to her surprise.
“What is this thing?” Now it was her turn to blurt out in surprise, and she did. Holding her hands at her nose level, she observed the blue liquid.
The context made it easy for him to understand the meaning behind the words she spoke, “Drink it.” Trino urged, and when she turned to him at his words, he showed her a drinking gesture.
Nodding, she obliged, gulping down the whole thing like Trino did, perfectly imitating him. Trino scratched the back of his head and couldn't contain the smile at the adorable sight.
The potion took effect immediately. Xahi felt a warm sensation throughout her body and cold wherever she got bruises. Within a few seconds, she was in her best health. Unlike Trino, she did not have broken ribs and a twisted ankle, so the effects were wholesome. The potions were high-end after all. Yet he gave her one for her bruises, she was an NPC if she died, she died. He could’ve checked her stats using appraisal, but the sensation the skill sent through the target was akin to someone glaring when one is naked. It was a precarious skill to use on her now. Yet, it had not been the reason for him not using it. For better or worse, he completely forgot about it. Anyway, he had two more such potions.
Once he was assured she was not afraid of him anymore, he pointed towards the tunnel and waited for her to reply, to which she duly reacted with a nod. Speaking any words would’ve been pointless and might have backfired. But Trino was overthinking. Xahi already trusted him enough to follow him. She was making the same mistake twice, which had put her in this condition. The naive girl had many things to learn about the cruel world. Gratefully, Trino had no intention of boiling her like Hugo.
He took a step and waited for hers making sure to walk by her side. Both the human and the Chrono started walking towards the tunnel, leaving behind the place of their first meeting. Never to be remembered again.
In a hurry to get her out of there, Trino even forgot to pick a flambeau. Taking it for granted that she could as well see in the dark. As if she had a passive skill like him.
While they were trotting in the tunnel, Trino was keeping her close as he knew she was scared and would be for days. Such a trauma was not something a person could look past so easily. It was already unbelievable that she had recovered to this extent already. If she had been a teenage human girl, he would have had to carry her out while she would’ve fainted from what transpired.
When they came out from the dark tunnel, Trino glanced at Xahi’s hand, which was tugging at his. He thought, Human or not, she is still a soft-hearted girl. He belatedly realized about the torches. Damn it. What happened to that freaking intelligence stat? Nothing, just that freaking accident and the fact it would take sublimation of those stats to be effective in his every mental state.
Noticing his gaze, Xahi pulled her hands away in embarrassment. He gave her a warm-sad smile, easing her.
It was already dark outside. A dark blue sky filled with stars could be seen from the cave’s two-meter-tall entrance. But before Trino could take a step towards that gate, Xahi grabbed his hand, and she pulled him, taking him towards the right. He did not resist.
Where is she taking me? When he looked, the sight of a Chrono and three Antels resting on the ground appeared. If not for her actions, he would’ve left the place without even noticing them.
When they were close enough, Xahi left his hand and bent down, grabbing the mature lady sleeping who looked much like her, “Mumma.”
“She is her mother,” Trino murmured. The way she had reacted and called the word with such affection towards the lady was a hint for him. Xahi started crying again in her mother’s presence in contrast to the hell she went through.
Trino stood there, not knowing what to do. They were most likely drugged, and he didn’t have any alchemical pill for status effects.
When it was more than a few minutes, and she didn’t stop crying, he couldn’t take it anymore. Sitting beside her he took one of her hands in his. She took it and grabbed it firmly, taking her mother in embrace using the other.
“She is alright and will wake up soon,” Trino said, and she nodded as if understood his words.
Exhaustion made both of them fall asleep. Throughout the incidents, Trino had forgotten that he was in a game and could check out their and his own stats to assess their health condition. Lastly, the log-out option activated again since Hugo died. Trino was out of combat. Anyway, he would realize it the next day and wouldn’t regret it.