CHAPTER 108.

What happened?

Amber couldn’t remember, one moment she was blocking and the other there was just⁠— blank. The enemy warrior of the Saints of Truth had been overwhelming; her strength being completely insignificant to his in comparison. It was such a large rift that she found it almost unfathomable, but it made sense.

With someone on Frei’s level, it only made sense. And it only went to illustrate just how strong the elven companion she had made was ⁠— even if she wasn’t entirely trustworthy ⁠— it was a ridiculous thing. And there was also the fact that that probably wasn’t even close to the level of a god.

It was truly a ridiculous notion, and yet that’s what had happened.

Amber groaned, finally recovering full control of her body as her eyes fluttered open. And the first thing she saw was blue.

She blinked, seeing the clouds, and she was… falling. She twisted in the air as she saw a large dome of darkness with fractures all over, one that seemed inoffensive, and yet a moment later⁠— when it cracked.

The world below was…

Erased. Deleted out of existence.

[You have defeated a [Lightblessed Healer. Lvl. 233].]

For defeating an enemy 50 levels above your own, you have received bonus experience!

Less experience for defeating an enemy as a group.

[You have defeated a [Lightblessed Brawler. Lvl. 334].]

For defeating an enemy 150 levels above your own, you have received bonus experience!

Less experience for defeating an enemy as a group.

Amber’s eyes widened as she saw a gaping abyss below her, and for a moment, she was speechless. Before finally, her brain tried to process what was happening, and in the end; she couldn’t.

What the fuck did that…?

Amber stared at the gaping hole, she ignored the notifications given the fact that she got surprisingly little experience over it. Moreover, that attack had literally killed the level 334 Lightblessed Brawler in a single blink. It was an attack that would have extinguished her existence in a single hit⁠; leaving nothing remaining of her.

That thought was… chilling for her.

What could have done that? And how did it happen? Amber couldn’t⁠— she was nervous, nervous and afraid of whatever had done it. What if it came after her too? For a moment, she felt panic, her instincts urging her to run as far as humanly possible. But it didn’t last long, because she was embraced.

Amber blinked being princess carried by Frei the elf who looked⁠— tired. Eyebags and deadly pale, her hair disheveled.

“You okay over there, princess?” Frei asked, jokingly.

“Are you okay?” Amber asked, concerned. “Did the thing that… did that, attack you too?”

At that, the elven woman let out a tired chuckle. “I’d never attack myself, I ain’t that dumb.”

Hearing her words, Amber couldn’t help but blink from the implications of that. Her eyes widening each moment.

“Are level 300s that strong?”

No, that didn’t make sense. If they were, why hadn’t the warrior used such a strong attack to kill Frei? It didn’t make sense to Amber. But if it was a class thing, a Legacy Branch thing, did that mean she too would be able to do that at Frei’s level?

“Ha. No. I’m just that impressive.” She grinned. “Ya wanna know about it?”

“A bit…” Amber admitted.

Frei nodded. “It’s a self-made skill, and it’s my pride as a mage. As for its strength; it rivals the strength of a very serious level 400 attack.”

What?

“Don’t look at me like that, your fire thingy is fucking terrifying for your level,” she spat.

Amber blinked. “But that’s… you… erased that⁠— erased everything…”

And at that, the elf shrugged. “It wasn’t without a cost.”

“What does that even mean?”

“You’ll see.”

And just like that, their conversation ended. They were flying in the air, and Amber finally turned to look at the surroundings and saw the ground fast approaching. Then, a moment later, they landed with a cloud of billowing dust, and Amber immediately spotted her companions in the distance.

Frei nodded.

“Alright, so…” She extended her hand. “Here is the carriage.”

As she mentioned, the carriage they had been using appeared. Amber blinked at the suddenness of what Frei was doing, but she continued.

“Amber, I trust ya a bit.”

“Huh?” She raised her brow, but Frei continued.

“And so I trust ya won’t kill me while my body shuts down for a bit.”

“Wait⁠ wha⁠—”

And before true confusion could even settle in Amber’s brain, Frei… collapsed. She hit the ground like a sack of rocks with a peaceful expression, making Amber pause.

Is this what she meant with: without a cost?

Needless to say she was stunned. A moment later, Asil and Cecile arrived at her side via teleportation. Cecile was looking at the missing environment with trembling eyes, whereas Asil was looking at Frei with a complicated expression. And Amber, didn’t exactly know what to do from how weird the situation suddenly was.

But soon enough she made a decision.

“Shall we return then?”

Cecile paused. “Are you serious? Your⁠ companion just did that!” She pointed at the gaping abyss.

“I know but what am I supposed to do?” Amber said, second-guessing herself.

At that, the merchant grimaced. “I don’t know… she’s now passed out too…”

“We should find the coachman and the horses first,” Asil helpfully suggested.

Amber nodded, and then began to look around, and then she had an epiphany⁠— Can’t I just enhance Blood Sense with Aspect of Crimson? It was the Essence skill that directly linked her Essence with her Legacy Branch, and she had gotten it during her level 150 advancement.

She immediately put that to work and to her surprise, she sensed them⁠— well she sensed their blood. They were on the other side of the valley (thankfully). Amber quickly pointed her companions in the general direction, which surprised them, but after explaining it a bit, they decided to go⁠— and Amber paused.

She paused looking at Frei, who was still on the floor. It was probably safe to leave her there but…

I trust ya won’t kill me while my body shuts down for a bit.

And Amber sighed, giving a piggyback ride to the incredibly light elf.

* * *

Calming down the coachman and the horses hadn’t been an easy task, but with Cecile’s help and some bribes in the form of food and money, it all ended up fine. And now, they were inside Frei’s carriage, riding in silence as a tense and awkward atmosphere permeated the cabin. Frei was still passed out, seated awkwardly like a corpse because there was no other way to accommodate her without making her fall in some way.

“Hm, we should try to wake her up, I think,” Amber said after a few moments.

“So are we just going to pretend this…” Cecile struggled to find the words as she gestured at Frei. “person, didn’t just destroy the valley?”

“She did, and I was honestly terrified, but at the same time I’m not sure what to do,” Amber shrugged.

Asil nodded. “She is an incredibly strong mage, and she has a title too. Dark Reaper, Frei. Not what I expected.”

Amber agreed with that and Cecile seemed frustrated.

“We can’t just let her come along! She’s way too strong, she’ll kill us! We should just agree to go our separate ways after she recovers…”

“She could kill us before too,” Amber casually pointed. “Besides, she trusted us with the fact to… not kill her while she’s in this state.”

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“How do we know this is not a trick?” Cecile argued.

Asil raised his brow. “Do you want to try to stab her?”

“I…” the merchant hesitated. “I don’t… I just don’t feel so sure anymore. That’s all.”

“We’re in the same situation as before,” Amber sighed.

“It’s not,” she snapped. “I don’t trust her anymore, that’s the difference.”

“Right.”

She understood where Cecile was coming from. Frei’s strength now felt truly real, whereas before they had just seen glimpses. Small parts of what she was. Yet, Amber didn’t agree with Cecile at all, not after the woman had taken out the members of the Saints of Truth. And essentially saved them. It was nothing short of ungrateful.

“She saved our lives, remember that.”

And she told Cecile as much, which made the merchant flinch. “Right…”

Cecile probably felt weird, it was an emotional thing that she couldn’t explain, but In the end Frei had saved them. Amber did have some doubt, yet she felt that it only came from the fact that she was linked with the Arcane Council, whereas Cecile probably had to do with the hostage situation. In Amber’s mind, the Arcane Council was nothing but evil, and the fact that Frei had joined it in the first place made her dubious, but she had to acknowledge the fact that those feelings weren’t entirely rational.

They were just founded on her first truly dangerous experience in this world. In the end, maybe her flaw was not separating Frei from the council. So far, Frei had been nothing but kind and understanding, and she had saved her too. Saved her from the guy that had almost killed her⁠— she hadn’t even been angry either.

Amber frowned for a moment. I really am giving her a hard time just over a single fact, huh?

Of course, even after all of this Amber remained slightly cynical. The contract wasn’t fully sealed, and if someone that could grant Frei’s wish came along.

Like the demons…

Then, the likelihood of her betraying them was still very much there. Their relationship was transactional in nature after all. Though, Amber didn’t like to think about distrusting Frei, at least not now⁠— for now, she was their savior, and she was going to ensure she had a smooth recovery from whatever it was that she had suffered.

And if nobody came along, then Frei was trustworthy at least for now, though Amber remained a bit skeptical of it all.

Amber began, “She’s giving us no reason to doubt her, and there is no reason for her to betray us for now; no one else can grant her what she wants. Let’s just be rational, she just saved us after all.”

“I concur,” Asil agreed.

And Cecile nodded slowly.

With that, the whole topic of distrusting Frei was hopefully buried. And with that, she turned to the merchant.

“Can I borrow some potions to try to wake Frei up?”

Cecile blinked. “Sure…”

Amber received three High Quality health potions, which she administered to the elf, but surprisingly, they didn’t do anything. Even the curse was⁠— wiped by her own body, Amber having no bearing on it. But even after.

“They had no effect,” Asil said.

Cecile frowned. “That’s odd.”

And Amber too was kind of lost. It kind of felt like their duty to try to help Frei, but at the same time⁠ if potions didn’t work then she was kind of stumped given she couldn’t even sense any curses on her person. Wasn’t she supposed to be cursed too?

“I’ll try to help her,” Asil said, extending his hand towards Amber, and touching Frei’s leg with his other. “Can I borrow some of your…?”

“Yeah.” Amber nodded.

A moment later, the elf shone and Frei too did, but Asil simply frowned and let go of her.

“She has no mana whatsoever, and that’s the only thing that’s wrong with her,” he said. “I can’t replenish it either.”

“So mana potions it is then?” Amber asked.

Cecile sighed. “You’ll have to pay me back.”

And with that, they tried to wake Frei up.

* * *

Hours passed, and they were unsuccessful. In the end, it was concluded that the only thing that could be done was to let Frei rest. The town was well in sight, which made Amber feel some level of relief⁠— she could rest now at least⁠— everyone was happy too. That was until a loud blaring horn went off, and the carriage immediately came to a stop, the horses suddenly neighing from distress.

Amber had to stop Frei from falling ⁠— given she was still unconscious ⁠— and frowned.

“What now?”

The coachman opened a window to see the cabin, breaking whatever soundproof enchantments the carriage had as marching resounded.

“Miss, the local lord is here,” he said, troubled. “And he has a somewhat large entourage with him, you should vacate the carriage now.”

And at that, everyone blinked. What?

“Are we being arrested?” Amber asked.

“I don’t know, but please don’t make this any harder for me, Miss.”

“Right…”

At that, everyone shared some gazes, before finally her companions turned to her expectantly. She was a duchess after all. Something that made her sigh. Amber shook her head and quickly got out of the carriage to deal with whatever was happening, slowly approaching the entourage of knights that split to give way to the lord⁠—all of them were mounted in horses.

The armored lord looked at her with a frown.

“Duchess Amber, I heard you left town with my mercenary, please explain to me what happened after.” the lord said.

“Uh, what do you mean?”

“Frei was hired to deal with the monster plaguing the land, and now the sky⁠— for a brief moment, in the horizon became dark.”

“Right.”

“Our scrying mages said the valley in that area no longer exists,” he said grimacing. “We wish to know what happened while you were out, especially because you were in the area according to reports.”

“Oh.” Amber finally connected the dots.

The attack was noticed dozens of kilometers away… Once more, a chill went down her spine. The scale of its might was… terrifying in a way.

“Did another monster of the same caliber engage in battle?” he asked, troubled. “No⁠— you people were going too slow, which means⁠ another mercenary must’ve⁠—”

Amber shook her head. “Frei, fought the monster and won.”

The lord blinked, his eyes going momentarily wide as he processed the statement, before he became confused.

“But the valley was wiped…”

“The chimera put everything into its attack, and Frei dodged it and won,” she said, lying as simply as she was breathing.

The lord smiled. “So, she finally fulfilled her duty…”

At that, Amber nodded.

“What’s her condition? Is she unscathed?” he asked, curious.

“She fainted and despite our attempts to heal her, she hasn't regained consciousness.”

At that the lord paused.

“Wait, her life is in danger?! Why didn’t you say so sooner!”

The lord admonished her immediately before rushing.

“She’s the hero of this city, I can’t let her die!”

Amber blinked as the lord rode past her and to the carriage, calling for all the knights after him. In a single moment all of the knights went past her, and following that, orders were barked. Then he entered the carriage. All while she was made to stare, slowly processing the implications of everything.

“Wait, what do you think you’re doing?” Asil’s voice resounded.

“Treating the hero of this city,” the lord argued.

There were some more exchanges that Amber failed to hear, but moments later Frei was taken out of the carriage by a burly knight, carrying her gently. Amber blinked as Frei was essentially taken away by half of the knights, riding in a hurry.

Then, the lord finally came back.

“Thank you for bringing her to us.” He bowed. “I’m sorry for my rudeness. I’m just grateful for all the work she’s been doing in the past few months.”

“Past few months?” Amber asked, confused.

“Indeed, Frei had been researching for a way to kill the chimera monster for some time, helping us with learning more about curses while at it.” He nodded. “I hope that helps explain my rudeness now.”

“Right, it’s fine.” Amber didn’t care all that much. “So, you took her to get her aid?”

“Indeed, she looks bad.”

“From the way she spoke, I think she would’ve been fine,” Amber said, dubiously. “And she didn’t react to our help so it may be that she just needs rest.”

The lord suppressed a scoff. “I’m aware of her friendship with you, Duchess, so perhaps she said that to not worry you, and maybe there is truth to it, but it is better for her to be treated. You can’t compare some puny potions with the power of Healers.”

“Right.”

So she made friends with the lord?

“Duchess, you and your friends are free to come along with me to the manor and stay there, if you’re worried about her too,” he said, stroking his beard. “It is the least I could do after my behavior.”

“Right, I’ll take you up on it.”

And at that, the lord smiled in seeming relief.

* * *

Back at the manor everyone was given individual rooms, and Frei was treated by three Healers, their levels being 96, 101, and 105 respectively. Apparently they were the best the city had to offer, and so far Frei wasn’t showing signs of improving, though the lord refused to listen to reason.

Eventually however, he gave up and Frei was just left to rest, and Amber herself decided to stick around. Just in case anything happened. And in the end, she found herself staring at the completely fainted elf, and she felt conflicted. She trusted Frei, but something in her mind told her not to, and she couldn’t quite tell if the whole Arcane Council thing was the reason, or if it was something else.

In the end, perhaps she wouldn’t get answers over that any time soon. A sigh left Amber, and at that moment Asil entered the room. Soon, he set a spell for privacy and sat beside her.

“We have to talk.”

“What about?” Amber raised her brow.

“About Frei.”

Amber frowned. “What about her?”

“Cecile doesn’t trust her,” he said.

“I know that.”

“Do you know why exactly?” He raised his brow.

“No,” Amber answered truthfully.

“To put it simply; she has no control on whether she dies or not. Before, she could surround herself with powerful people, or felt like she had control over the situations she experienced. But that is gone with Frei around.”

He took a breath.

“She depends on us to keep her alive, but now knowing that Frei can kill us in a snap, she no longer feels safe. She is a normal person after all. The fact that she was taken hostage before our eyes greatly unsettled her, and this just kind of sealed the deal on her feeling helpless in the presence of Frei,” he said.

“Right… that… makes sense,” Amber could see that.

“And as for my side, I felt like I could’ve very easily became collateral damage to that attack⁠—”

And at that moment, Frei groaned. The two paused, and she fractionally craned her head before smiling at them.

“What, devil got your tongue?”

Amber blinked. “Are you okay?”

She scoffed, slowly sitting upright. “Of course not, but I’m tired of hearing how y’all want to kick me out over being too powerful. So I just decided to wake up, because I could tell it was about to go to shit.”

“You can hear?” Asil’s eyes momentarily widened.

“Loud and clear, though it is true Cecile could’ve stabbed me and even if I woke up I wouldn’t have been able to do anything,” she said simply, shrugging.

“Right,” he seemed at a loss of words, and Amber was too.

“Anyway, I can tell that you.” She pointed at Amber. “Somewhat trust me but feel conflicted. Then you.” He pointed at Asil. “You only trust me because of Amber, but you stopped because your merchant girlfriend drives a hard bargain.”

He frowned. “She isn’t my⁠—”

“It doesn’t matter, I just know you like her, I listened to your conversation alone with her too,” she said simply. “I can listen to anyone whose shadow I imprinted, and I know your plans if this doesn’t bode well.”

Asil’s frown twisted as he clenched his fists in anger. “You—”

“Ah ah ah, wait.” She raised her hand with a finger. “I’m getting to something important, so listen to what I am about to say first.”

Frei turned to Amber, smiling simply.

“Look, I don’t want ya to lose friends over me, because I’m the big bad villain here, and like I said, I really only care about one thing. I’m like a homeless dog really, and even though I have my pride I can tell it caused ya trouble.”

What is she saying? Frei grinned, and then finally turned to the very annoyed Asil.

“Which is why, I will agree to what ya came here for elf.”

“You mean…” His frown deepened.

She grinned.

“I will agree to a binding contract with ya as well. Can’t make my master choose between ya and me after all.”