I sat down on the hard rock, taking a moment gain my strength back. Kaya quietly scouted the surroundings for any remaining goblins.

"Take a break Kaya, we have earned it," I said.

She flopped onto the ground with her legs crossed but eyes continued to scan the cavern.

"It is a pretty empty room. Not many places to hide," I said again.

"I guess..." she placed the behind, just within reach, and finally slouched over.

"That was fun, huh?" I asked with a cheeky smile.

She looked up at me and smirked. "It was. You players are gutsy. I don't think anyone from our tribe would attempt to jump from that height."

"And why is that?" I asked curiously.

"Because... water turns to stone after a certain height?" she said like it was something I already knew.

I did definitely know that. Only I didn't remember when I jumped. "I guess you could saw we are also stupid..." I said scratching the back of my head. I wonder how much fall damage I would have taken from that leap if I was high enough.

I looked down at my arm. Level X. Damn! That is some serious boost in xp! I immediately summoned the journal which made Kaya jump in the air a little.

"I did know you could summon items from you inventory," she said.

"Only the journal and my primary weapon. For everything else, I need to reach out to my pockets, which I do not have at the moment, or the inventory."

"I see..." she said looking at the journal.

(Talk about stats)

I slammed the book shut and it magically apparated just as it had come. "We must get moving," I said.

"Agreed. I see a tunnel right there, " Kaya said pointing her finger behind me. I turned around to see a nice big hole hiding in the shadows.

We got back up on our feet and followed the path through the tunnel. It felt like that tunnel was only going deeper and deeper into the ground but I had trust my guide on this.

However, it didn't take long for me to start hearing the sound of rain pattering against the forest canvas. The flora thickened and soon tree trunks covered in moss and creepers appeared. The blue mist turned flora green, emanating a sense of enchanting around us.

We pushed through the thicket, though they weren't thick enough to stall our progress, until we came upon a pit in the ground.

Kaya stopped before it and said, "this must be it."

I looked down at the pit, steps of cold hard stone led down to a small pit. Within it sat a wooden chest covered in moss and vines. One vine, that coiled the chest rose to the top and sprouted to beautiful flower. It had four petals, narrow and long that where white in color with a blue hue. The stigma that sprouted from the centre were yellow as the sun.

I leaned in and picked the flower, breaking it off the stem. Almost immediately, the vines decayed, turning to dust right before my eyes. While, the flower, safe within my palm disintegrated into a golden sparkle before vanishing into thin air. The life band shot up, filling up the damage I had just taken before encircling my forearm one more time. I got a new life.

"Incredible," I commented out loud. Squatting down, I opened the lid of the treasure chest with extreme care. The creaking of the hinge and wood sent shivers up my spine. Inside the chest the top was covered with a couple of bottles of with variety of colored liquids. I saw green health, red attack, and silver for special defence. Underneath it was a large cloth bag made of entirely black. Armour! I set it aside and dug deeper. My eyes widened upon seeing what hid underneath the armour. “Whoa!” I exclaimed out loud.

“What? What is it?” Kaya asked curiously.

I picked up the bulk of wood, which was masterfully crafted into a lethal weapon. It was a crossbow. I held up with piece up delicately with both my arms. It was almost as long as my forearm, and just as wide. Made of dark mahogany wood with a coat of varnish, it gleamed under the thin rays of light that managed to penetrate their way to it.

“Marvellous!” Kaya said. She looked at it just as astonished as I did.

I set the beast on my thigh and picked up the last item in the chest. It was an old tome, no different from the one I already had. This made me curious as to what it was. Balancing the crossbow on my thigh, I freed my other arm and opened the tome. The first two pages were blank after which a message was written in black ink. ‘The power of space and its infinite possibilities is in your hands.‘ As soon as I read the message, the tome disintegrated into gold dust and became one with the wind.

What the hell was that about?

***

The path out of the rift was rather uneventful. There were no more goblins, the troll was on its tummy and steady as a rock, the ghouls were as dead as we left them, and finally the wolves seem to going into hiding.

By the time we came back to camp, I hoped the rain would let up. But that appeared not to be the case. It would alternate between heavy downpour and a light drizzle. I was wet down to my nether regions and it made way too uncomfortable. Kaya, however, looked unfazed.

The rain had reduced to a drizzle, letting us take a moment to rest. I sat upon a wet rock, going through the tome while Kaya sat on the forest floor stringing her bow.

“Kaya, you don't seem affected much by the rain,” I said.

“The rain, sun, cold, as a guardian, you will learn to weather it all,” she replied.

I quietly nodded, impressed with the dedication she and her brother in arms had.

Once she had tightened the string enough to her desire, she wrapped around the hook of the wooden edge before securing it one last loop. Content with her handiwork, she lifted the bow into the air and plucked the string. It let out a high pitch noise, almost inaudible to my ears but Kaya, who listen to it with her eye shut, smiled.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

She got back on her feet and turned towards me. “Ready to go?”

I looked down at the tome which had been updated with a brand new branch of magic. But I guess it could wait. I slammed the book shut and stashed it away in my inventory. But then, I remembered something. I reached back into my inventory saying, “by the way…” before pulling out the crossbow. “I never gave this a try.”

Kaya looked at me with her left eyebrow raised.

“Come on. Look at this beauty. We got give it a try at least once.”

“Do you know how to use it?” she asked.

“A player learns how to use a weapon when they acquire it. But mastering it, well that is a process.”

“Hmm…” Kaya seemed unimpressed.

I got off my rock and prepared the crossbow. The setup seemed fairly easy. Release the hatch, pull back the string, lock it in place, and finally place the bolt in. I looked around to find an easy target but all of them were trees, so picked one that was about fifty feet from where I was.

I raised the crossbow, aiming the tip of the bolt with the tree. I had no clue how powerful this crossbow was and I knew their recoil was crazy high, so I embraced by pushing my left leg back. I took in a deep breath before steading my hands as best I could and pulling the trigger.

The crossbow pushed back hard, smashing into my ribs and making me gasp. But the bolt cut through the drizzle like butter and planted itself in the tree's trunk firmly… and about a foot from where I aimed it at.

I exhaled, trying to cope with the pain, when an arrow shot past me and struck right through the bolt, shattering it. Damn! I turned back to see a stone cold faced Kaya putting her bow down. I quietly shook my head and turned away.

“Sorry. Got carried away,” Kaya said.

“Hmm…” I replied.

“Oh come on now. Can't a marksman show off?” she said slapping my back. I didn't respond. “Tell you what…” she said before trailing off. Her eyes scanned the surroundings when she found what she was looking for. “Look there.” She pointed her finger at a tree in a distance which bore bright orange coloured fruits. “How about we have a competition?”

“What will that be?” I asked.

“I will go first. Ten shots. How many ever I managed to cut through, you only need to hit half as many.”

“And if I do?”

“I will let you pick your prize,” she said with a prideful grin.

I thought for a moment but there was really no thinking needed. “Sure. You first.”

She pumped her bow, like she was waking it from slumber, before preparing her first shot. Before the first arrow even reached the tree, the quiver of ten arrows had already left the bow.

One, two, three... and yeah. Ten orange colored fruits sat on the forest grass, cut from their mother by a marksman. Her smug look didn't fade, making me even more determined to pull this off.

She stepped aside, giving me enough space to give it my best shot. I repeated what I had just done a few minutes, only this time the tree was even further. I tried to do some mental gymnastics to determine where I should aim the bolt and concluded that I had put a few inches above my target.’

First shot, missed the mark. “Fuck!” I shook my head and prepared my second shot.

Missed again.

“Breathe easy,” Kaya said.

I turned to her and replied, “but I am breathing easy.”

“The tip of your bolt is bouncing up and down. There is no way you can hit anything with so much variance,” she said.

She was right. I thought by ignoring it, it would just go away. I took in a deep breath before steading my grip and releasing the shot. The bolt sliced through the mist and struck a fruit right in the centre.

I smirked but on the inside, I was screaming like a mad man.

Fourth bolt struck a fruit. Fifth bolt missed. Sixth bolt also missed. Seventh bolt hit a fruit. But eighth bolt missed. Ninth bolt was a hit.

This was it. The final attempt. Four hits and five misses. Just one more hit. I can do this. I tried not to think too much and instead go with the flow. My eyes were locked on the target and with my breathing slowed to a crawl, I pulled the trigger. But the bolt disappeared into the thicket, nowhere near the fruit.

My heart sunk into my chest. But I tried my hardest to not show. “Dang it! So close!” I said out loud, swinging the crossbow over my shoulder.

Kaya smirked. “Not bad. For a first try,” she said raising her arm. “You at least deserve a hi...”

Kaya's eye widened as her body contorted. Her left arm buckled inwards under the force of an hard object before throwing her off her feet.

“Kaya!” I shouted.

She crashed onto the ground, her bow slid across the wet floor. I looked around but saw no one. However, irritating cackling cut through the sounds of the forest. Fucking Goblins!

I immediately tended to Kaya who was struggling to get back up on her feet. “I am okay! I am…” Her left arm wouldn't move.

“It is broken,” I said.

She grabbed onto her bow with the other arm, gritting her teeth probably in anger and pain.

A goblin jumped out of a bush and ran towards us. It was silent as a fox and perhaps didn't expect us to see it. Too bad. I thrust my right hand forward and shot a stream of fire right in its face.

Kaya was back up on her feet, using the bow to balance herself as she looked around. “They are all around us,” she said.

“Don't worry. I will take care of them,” I replied.

“No…” she said trying to lift her left arm. She hunched over screeching in pain.

“Don't be stupid! You are hurt!” I said, holding her shoulder.

“No. I can fight!”

“The hell you can!”

More Goblins jumped out of the bushes and threw an assortment of projectiles at us. I cast a simple protection spell, blocking most of them. But it shattered by the time the fourth or fifth projectile hit it. I need to strengthen it with more mana.

Kaya tightened her grip on the bow. “With which hand do you plan on pulling the arrow?” I asked. She looked back at me, her eyes looked helpless.

“Fuck this!” I grabbed her waist, with her back against my chest. I relieved her of her bow with my left arm while tightened my other arm around her waist. “I aim. You shoot.” I said.

“Karna, this will not work…” She replied.

“Try me.” I cast a shield on my back, strengthening it with my mana. The Goblins began their charge and seeing them, Kaya finally relented. She put the arrow on the bow and pulled the string back. I followed her motion, strengthening our stance.

“Breathe,” Kaya said before firing the arrow, striking down one of the goblin. She immediately pulled out another arrow and was ready to fire. I shifted the aim to the closest one. She released the arrow, putting it right between the goblin's eyes.

“Behind us,” Kaya said. I followed her, turning around one eighty degrees, aiming the bow at the backstabbers.

Kaya began putting the arrows into the Goblins and their projectiles at a blistering pace. I, somehow, was able to keep pace with the speed demoness.

At that moment, I did not know how Kaya felt. But I felt a rush of emotions. My body heat was increasing rapidly and breath got heavier. The heat at the centre of my chest grew and grew and it began to overflow. I guided it through my arms and onto the arrow, setting it on fire.

Kaya said nothing as she released it, sending it into a gang of Goblins who appeared to be running away from us. The arrow struck them and exploded into a glorious fireball, lighting the otherwise dark forest in brief illumination.

The light soon dissipated but the heat hadn't. We heard no more cackling, no more footsteps, only the sound of rain pattering against soft leaves. Kaya's chest rose up and down as she rest her shoulder. Lost in the moment, I spun her around, slowly and gently.

Our faces were an inch apart as our eyes gazed into the others. I felt her breath on my lips and the heat from breasts sunk into mine. At the moment, the world outside faded. All I could see was the world within her eyes.

Reality sunk in just as quickly as it had left. I lowered her down gently, taking care not to move her left arm. “You okay?” I asked.

She quietly nodded.

“We need to heal that immediately,” I said.

She didn't reply. Her eyes looked lost while she wore a gleaming smile on her face.

“Kaya?”

“Huh? Yes. Of course. I know a place where we can do that. Come. It is not far,” she shot them out as fast as arrows.

We didn't waste anytime in picking up and our things and setting out to this safe space.