"Alexander!?" Yelled Lavender worriedly shortly after the large explosion as she emerged from the tree and quickly approached Alexander.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch." Said Alexander as his burnt body lay motionless on the ground amidst a small burning crater that Lavender put out with her water mana.

"Alexander!? Are you Okay!?" Exclaimed Lavender as she kneeled before Alexander and tried touching him, only for her hands to get burnt.

"Haa, yes, I'm fine, at least I think I am; if you don't mind, Master, could you please lessen the pain?" Replied Alexander softly as he rolled onto his back and looked up at Lavender.

"Alright, just stay still." Said Lavender as she hovered her hands just above Alexander's slightly burnt skin while a soft golden glow emitted from her hands and entered his body.

'Ahh, that feels so much better.' Mused Alexander as he released a sigh of relief, the sensation of his skin burning being vastly diminished.

"Feel better now, Alexander?" Asked Lavender as she retracted her hands and covered them in ice, helping him stand up without getting burnt herself.

"Y-Yeah, much better. Hopefully, by the time your healing effects wear off, I'll have recovered from this." Said Alexander as he looked down at his body, which was stark since the explosion destroyed his slime outfit.

"Ugh, I look like Freddy Krueger's younger brother; this will take several minutes to heal from, but luckily, it doesn't seem to have penetrated deeper than my skin." Muttered Alexander with a scowl as he observed the extent of his injuries.

"Let's take you to your bed so you can get some rest. I may have lessened the pain you feel, but I'm sure it's still painful to move." Remarked Lavender as she practically covered her body in a thin layer of ice so she could support him.

I was about to lean against Master, but then I remembered I was still wearing the gravity belt, so I quickly took it off first before leaning against Master; otherwise, I'm pretty sure I would've crushed her under my increased body weight. Unlike how I usually enter the house, this time I accompanied Master as we submerged our bodies into the tree, a familiar yet weird feeling, though it didn't last long, as the moment I was fully submerged, I was already exiting the tree.

"Urgh, Thanks, Master; it would've been a pain to do this by myself." Said Alexander as they emerged directly into his room while Lavender gently helped lay him down on the bed.

"I'm your Master; of course, I'd assist you. Now, why don't you tell me how you ended up like this?" Asked Lavender with a smile as she sat at the edge of the bed with a raised eyebrow while pointing at him.

"Eh, I was creating a new skill, and well, in my moment of excitement, I lost control of it, causing it to explode in my face." Replied Alexander with an awkward smile, while Lavender just shook her head while sighing.

"I'm assuming the skill you were perfecting is the one you've been keeping a secret from me?"

"You don't need to say it like that, Master; I want to surprise you with it; there is a difference between the two." Said Alexander while smirking.

"Whatever you say, my Disciple, that likes to keep secrets from his Master." Remarked Lavender with a sly smirk as she lay down beside him, the two conversing deeply.

___

___

Looking at the forest before us, I glanced at my adventurer's license, which showed a mana connection to Lavy's adventurer license, giving me the general location of where she, well, at least her adventurer license.

"You sure this is the spot, Lily? I know Leader is a Dryad, but this forest is in the middle of nowhere." Asked a large, burly man in a deep voice with a head full of hair, a bushy beard, two furry ears sticking out from the top of his head, and a long brownish tail.

"What do you want me to tell you, Simba? This is where my Adventurer license is leading us; maybe if you didn't lose yours, we'd be able to ensure we were in the correct place." Remarked Lily as she fearlessly glared at the large, burly man, Simba, who, despite his appearance, was quite mellow.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Hehe, sorry." Said Simba with an apologetic chuckle, while Lily just huffed in annoyance and ignored him.

"Anyways, it's been over 50 years since we've last seen Lavy; you boys excited!?" Asked Lily excitedly as she walked forward before turning around and looking at Simba and a tall, slim figure whose appearance was covered by a cloak.

"Yes, now, let's stop wasting valuable time and go. Lavender doesn't have much longer to live if your tattoo is activated." Said the cloaked figure with a slightly masculine voice as he walked past Lily and entered the forest.

"Haha, the rare few times Marlin and I agree on something!" Said Simba with a deep, thunderous laugh as he passed Lily and entered the forest after the tall, slim, cloaked figure, who goes by the name of Marlin.

"Tch, impatient men, can't even wait a few seconds. Wait for me!" Muttered Lily with a frown before turning around and yelling as she ran after them.

The walk through the forest was uneventful; very weak beasts inhabited this forest, and besides the rare tier one creature, everything else hadn't even ascended to the next tier, so just casually leaking our mana was more than enough to repel every beast, well, except one.

"Oh my, what a cute little bird." Muttered Lily in awe as she noticed a bird perched on a branch while intensely looking at them.

"That bird has intelligence." Remarked Marlin calmly as he glanced at the bird, causing it to flinch slightly before quickly taking to the skies, disappearing at a speed that surprised them.

"Dammit, Marlin, you scared the bird off! I swear, you're the only Elf that can scare off nature." Said Lily in irritation as she attempted to smack the back of his head, though he swiftly dodged it easily.

"How many times do I have to tell you, Lily? I'm a Dark Elf, not your everyday Elf; there is a distinct difference between the two." Replied Marlin as he glanced at Lily while effortlessly evading all of her slaps, causing her to click her tongue in annoyance.

"Yeah, one's fun to be around, and the other's a buzzkill; I'm sure you can tell who I'm referring to as well." Said Lily as she folded her arms, ignoring Marlin, who shook his head and stayed silent.

"I smell Leader! Quickly follow me!" Yelled Simba in joy as he ignored the two behind him and swiftly started running through the forest, bulldozing through numerous trees.

"Tsk." Muttered Marlin as he suddenly vanished from beside Lily, only to reappear running behind Simba, who was clearing a path for him.

"Urgh, wait for me, you two! Always running ahead, leaving Lavy and I behind!" Remarked Lily in annoyance as she ran after them; though annoyed, she couldn't stop smiling.

___

___

A few weeks passed after my little accident, and since then, I've made sure not to lose focus while practicing my skill, which I'm super close to completing, though I can worry about that later as right now, I am facing off against Master.

"Focus, Alexander. You may be getting stronger, but that doesn't mean you can lack focus when facing your opponent." Stated Lavender softly as she waved her hand, causing numerous frozen icicles to appear as they rushed toward Alexander, who dashed right for her with his two greatswords in each hand.

Seeing Master utilizing the same move every time we start a fight, unlike usual, I didn't bother to find the opening she purposely made and just slashed toward the icicles in front of me with [Void Slash], destroying the icicles and nearly reaching Master, but just before it did, she created an earth wall, stopping it.

"Heh, is something the matter, Master? Have I gotten too strong for you?" Questioned Alexander with a cheeky grin as he dodged the icicles and continued dashing toward her.

"Fufu, you get a little stronger, and your confidence turns into arrogance; allow me to show you why I'm your Mas-" Replied Lavender lightly with a wicked smile though, before she could mobilize her mana, she suddenly coughed blood, before collapsing onto the ground.

"M-Master!" Yelled Alexander in worry as he ran right towards her.

While running toward Master, who for some reason just collapsed on the ground, my heart suddenly warned me of impending danger coming from my left, and before I could even react, something hit my face, causing me to be flung far into the distance.

"Bastard! How dare you try to harm my Leader!" Yelled Simba angrily as he watched Alexander get flung into the forest, his body crashing through several trees.

Once my momentum finally stopped after skidding across the ground, I tried my damndest to get up, but I couldn't feel anything besides my head, which was full of pain.

'W-What happened?' Thought Alexander as he tried to recall what hit him, though besides seeing some fur, he got nothing.

'Master! Are you okay!?' Asked Trina in worry, seeing Alexander taking a devastating blow.

"Yeah, I'm fine, but I need to get to Master; she's in trouble right now!" Stated Alexander angrily through gritted teeth as he began to stand up once he felt the sensation of body return to him.

Taking off my gravity belt, I filled my body to the brim with mana before dashing back toward the clearing; within a few seconds, I arrived, only to see three people; one was a large, burly man without a shirt covered in hair approaching, the other was a tall, lanky man, whose appearance was covered by a cloak, and lastly, a blue woman was wearing skimpy clothes with horns and a tail. Just looking at her, I felt a great deal of lust start to form, which caused me to assume she was a succubus, not to mention that she looked similar to one. Looking at each one of them, my heart warned me of doom, much more intensely when facing that centipede boss for the first time; it made me feel as if I had no chance of beating them, though even if that is the case, over my dead body was I about to let them harm Master.

"DON'T TOUCH HER!" Yelled Alender in pure wrath as he glared at Simba, who was about to touch Lavender but suddenly stopped.