Chapter R6-2: Kruu Leaves 2

(Ride's POV)

It took us quite a while before we figured that she wasn't a threat. We all lowered down our weapons as we apologized for being so rude to her... and her sword.

"It's alright. I don't really mind you know," she said to us.

"I'm so sorry Miss, it's just that we were on edge and everything and you suddenly appeared like that, we just..." Lanarya gave her another round of apologies.

"I said it's alright already. God, kids these days are so persistent." She said to us. Annoyed at our repeated apologies.

"..."

"..."

"Umm, so Miss... what are you doing in the forest?" I asked the woman.

"Effinshia," she replied.

"I'm sorry?" I asked, not understanding what she meant.

"Name is Effinshia. Being called Miss or Woman or You by a bunch of kids sounds pretty awkward." She told us.

Effinshia... a singular name? That's quite the unusual name for a human.

"Ah right, now when I think about it, I don't know your names either."

"Oh, my name is—"

"My name is Lanarya Lana! Age seventeen! It's a pleasure to meet you!" Lanarya cuts off my introduction.

"Ohhh, That's a nice name. New to the group? I didn't see you at the gates before," She asked.

"Yeap! I officially joined 'Providence' the day after!"

"Providence?" Effinishia asked.

"It's the name of the party that she made up. I'm Tyle A'bell by the way," Tyle responded.

"Kranis Ordinare."

"Scorch Shalt."

"Ohh, I see I see. All nice names there. Hmmm, what about you?" Effinshia stared at me with her azure blue eyes.

"Ah, my name is Ride. Ride A'bell. I'm—"

A snicker from Effinshia cuts me off from continuing what I was about to say.

"Pfft. Ride? That's your name? Like 'Ride the waves' Ride?" She said to me, trying to contain her laughter.

This reaction... When was the last time I've seen it? This reaction when I tell people my name for the first time. I had completely forgotten since everyone pretty much knew me in A'bell.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I can't help it" She said to us as she tried her best to not laugh.

"I'm... pleased to finally meet you for real, after all this time," I said to her.

"Ohh?"

"Yeah, I wanted to thank you for saving us from the monsters in A'bell the other day," I gave my thanks to her. Finally.

"Ohh that? It's nothing special, don't worry too much about it," she said casually.

Nothing special to you maybe.

"Can we get back to the topic? What are you doing here in the forest?" Tyle asked Effinshia in his normal stern tone. Still cautious of the woman in front of us.

"Hmm," She puts her hand under her chin in a thinking motion. "I'm travelling down south to a cave you see. But as I am making my way to the cave, all these monsters popped up and started to block my way. So I killed them all, the boar here was the last one of them," She pointed to the boar.

Cave down south? Is she looking for Kruu leaves too? Also, did she really just said that she killed all of the monsters?

"Miss Effinishia, are you looking for Kruu leaves as well?" Lanarya asked.

"As well?" She asked back.

"We received a quest from the Adventurer's Guild to get the Kruu leaves to cure some sort of plague that was spreading in the city. The branch master said that in the area around Cezza, it only grows in a cave down south."

"Hoooh?" She motioned her hand under her chin and begin to think deeply. "Interesting..." She muttered under her breath. "Yeah, I'm looking for Kruu leaves as well," She confirms us after giving a contemplating look.

"Then! We should work together. It will be safer with all of us together in one group!" Lanarya suggested.

"Hmm... Yeah sure, why not? It doesn't matter if I reach the cave alone or in a group"

Lanarya pumped her fist in the air as a celebration.

"Hey, who made you party leader?" Kranis asked towards Lanarya.

"Ah! Sorry, I got a little bit excited there,"

"Effinshia was it? Do you mind excusing us for a while?" Tyle asked.

"Yeah sure. Go ahead."

Tyle then grabs the party and we stood next to each other, shoulder to shoulder in a circle. This time Lanarya is in it.

"Ah wait! Before you do that, you guys have a map of the area?" She asked us as we gathered around.

Does she not have a map? Has she been travelling without one?

"Umm, sure," Kranis passed over the miniature map that he uses to navigate the area. "It's a bit more complicated than normal maps I have a—"

"It's fine." Effinshia grabbed the map and started to analyse it.

.. ..

.. ..

Having given her the map, Kranis came back to the circle and we all begin our discussion.

"I think we should go together, she killed all those monsters on the way here, right? She's got to be pretty strong then. With her, I'm sure we could handle anything in that cave." Lanarya whispered to us.

"I agree with that, but how do we know we can trust her?" Scorch stated his opinion.

"Eh? Didn't she save you all in A'bell or something? She's that woman right? The one you all told me killed the King Troll?" Lanarya whispered.

"Yeah, there is that I guess. But there is also the matter of being too relaxed. Just because she saved us doesn't mean we should immediately trust her." Tyle said as he fixed his glasses.

"..."

"..."

"I... couldn't detect her at all you know," Kranis whispered to us, breaking the small silence. "I was directly opposite of you Ride, and I didn't see her sneaking up on us from behind you. That's crazy! I'm a rogue, I'm supposed to sense this stuff!"

Yeah... She could have easily harmed us if she wanted too. But instead, she pulled out that stunt of hers.

"Yeah, but I'm willing to trust her," I said to the party.

"Why?" Tyle asked back.

"I don't know... I just... feel like she's a good person? She just has that aura around her." I said to Tyle.

"You feel like she's a good person?" Tyle scrutinized me.

"I can't explain it... It's how she looks at us you know? It's like she's looking at someone she needs to protect." I explained to Tyle as best I could.

"Hmm, alright. If you say so, then I trust her." Tyle said back to us.

Woah. That's rare. Not even a rebuttal?

He looked towards the others and they all nodded as well. We broke up the circle and turned around to face her.

"We look forward to working with you Effinshia." Kranis told Effinshia.

"Yeah, me too," Effinshia replied with a smile having finished reading the map.

She then walked towards me, her eyes on my face as she approached me.

"Umm?"

Suddenly, she grabbed my right arm and twisted it to see my palm. My body twisted to support my arms.

"Arghhh!" I let out a cry. The others just looked at us, startled.

"Hoooh, looks like it's all healed up now." She lets go of the hand and brought her attention to the pair of swords that was on my hips.

She continued to stare at them intensely, before muttering- "Interesting". She then gave me the map that Kranis gave to her and walked away south.

She walked quite a distance before she turned around to face us. "Hurry up, if we take too long, y'all might have to return to Cezza at night."

What was that all about? I looked towards the others to see that they too are just as confused as me.

"Come on, she's right. If we take too long we might have to camp overnight." Kranis shrugs off the weird event and followed after her.

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We didn't talk much during the journey as our focus was mainly on trying to get to the cave as soon as possible. Effinshia's addition to the group didn't slow us down one bit. Rather, the speed of our travel had actually gotten faster. Much much faster. Despite her cheerful and relaxed attitude, Effinshia's movements are with haste and without waste. She slipped past each branch and tree and traversed the uneven ground with ease. It was as if she knew the forest inside out. She never got too far from our sights, and yet it took us all our effort just to catch up with her. Effinshia must have had an extensive foresting experience to be able to navigate the forest as easy as she made it look.

The other thing that separated us from her was that her endurance totally eclipsed ours. It was something I noticed when we were travelling and I looked to the others and notice that they were visibly fatigued. Our fast pace during these past few hours in these rough terrain had finally taken its toll when even I started to catch my breath. Despite 'Providence' clearly looking tired and exhausted, the person known as Effinshia looked totally fine without a care on her face. Our pacing finally slowed down when she started to slow down, waiting for us to catch up to her from time to time.

"Huff... Huff... I think... we should take a short break," Kranis said as he was catching his breath.

"Yeah, I think you guys should," Effinshia came up to us, not a single drop of sweat could be seen on her.

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How does she do it?

The others heard Kranis and drop right down on the ground to catch their breaths. How long have we walked at that pace? A few hours? How long more before we reach the cave?

Effinshia took this time to take out a piece of apple from her back pouch and started biting on it. An apple huh? It's like the first time I saw her, it was about an apple too. It felt like it happened a long time ago.

"haaa.. haaa.. I'm so sorry Miss Effinshia," Lanarya spoke up, exhausted from the journey. "I suggested we go together but we are the ones who are slowing you down."

"Don't worry about it, it doesn't really bother me that much. Besides I could use some company from time to time," She bit on her apple. "The company that I currently have are just a bunch of mutes anyways."

Mutes? What is she talking about?

I continued to stare at her. I thought about this middle-aged woman's strength and power. The way she handled her sword and the way she walks through the forest without a shred of fatigue on her. Then I thought of the time in A'bell where she cast that spell and defeated a king troll. She's an excellent fighter that can use high-rank magic and can travel alone in a forest for hours without getting tired. The only other guy who I can think of that can do that is the S rank adventurer Khaleel. Could she be what I think she is?

As I was looking at her, my eyes caught upon her azure eyes. Her eyes suddenly rolled towards my location and she stared back. Right into my soul. A shiver came up my spine.

"You know... You've been looking at me since the beginning... is there something on my face?" She spoke to me as her stare went back to a normal stare.

"Umm ah! No! It's just that I was wondering... if you are an 'S', " I asked, embarrassed about being found out that I was staring at her too much.

"An 'S' huh?" She brought her hand upon her chin in a thinking motion. "Hmm, yeah I would be an 'S' I guess."

Just as I thought! She’s an S rank adventurer.

"I mean it's better than being an 'M' at least," She continued with a smirk on her face.

What? 'M'? What is she talking about? Is there an M rank adventurer?

"Yo dude... you could have asked that in a better way you know?" Kranis whispered to me.

A better way? I looked around to see the flustered face of everyone else.

!!!

"No! That's not what I meant!" I shouted.

Effinshia only replied with a hearty laugh.

"I'm joking, I'm joking!" She kept laughing for a while. I just stood back and hide my face in shame.

"I'm not an adventurer kid, I don't have a rank. I'm just someone... who is wandering the world I guess." She replied before doing a slight pause. "To explore the world and to li—"

She just stopped talking all of a sudden. Her naturally relaxed face turned into a scowl as she looked towards a seemingly random location. Her eyes stared into the distance.

What is going on?

"Um… Miss Effinshia?" I asked her. But she didn't reply and kept looking.

I looked towards the others and they all shrugged in confusion. We all looked to our only female party member and nudged her to do something. It's been her job to do this sort of thing ever since she joined the party, she's better at communicating with other females after all.

"Umm.. Miss Effinshia... are you alright?" She asked meekly.

"...It's best if you all get ready. Something is coming," She said in a grim tone. She then got into a stance, her hands on her sword. Looking ready to strike anything.

I looked towards Kranis and he responded with a shrug. His body language says that he didn't sense anything. Still, I was cautious and drew out my sword. The others followed my action and they drew out their respective weapons.

*Grumble

It was then when we could suddenly feel the ground shaking. Kranis immediately signalled for us to be in battle stance and we got into position. He then pointed at the location where Effinshia is staring at.

... what we saw was an Armoured Beast Boar charging towards our location at great speed in its rolled-up form.

"It's still far away! Quick! Tyle cast Quagmire!" Scorch ordered Tyle in a rushed manner.

"Got it," Tyle responded and started to cast the earth-based spell Quagmire. The rest of us simply stayed in position to attack the boar when it gets hit by the spell. We were lucky that it's still quite far away from us.

"No need for it," Effinshia spoke out to us.

Huh?

I looked towards Effinshia to ask what she meant by that only to see that her sword was slightly drawn out. A shining bright blue light could be seen on the blade.

"Mangetsu Blade!" She drew her sword in full motion with speed beyond what my eyes could follow. A blue crescent blade of energy could be seen appearing at the end of the slash, spinning to form what looks like the full moon. The moon blade flew towards the armoured boar.

It can't be... That's the advanced version of the skill Crescent Slash! A grade six sword skill!

*Shing!

The full moon blade hits the boar and cuts it in half. It's as if the armour that troubled us so much yesterday didn't exist. The boar didn't let out any scream, just its two pieces of body flying pass as if still in motion. It soon came to a stop just slightly in front of us. Blood dripping off its cleanly cut body.

All of just stared in awe. Even Tyle who was casting 'Quagmire' just stopped halfway as he saw the boar's death in one hit.

"Tsk, that's the second one today. Why are they so many high-ranking monsters down here?" Effinshia said in an annoyed tone as she sheathed her sword.

She then looked back at us with her usual relaxed expression. "This place isn't safe kids. come on the cave is just ahead of us, you all should be rested enough to get there. The sooner we get those leaves, the sooner we can get out of this forest," She said to us casually as she walked down south.

"Um yea.." (Me)

"Ohh... ok" (Kranis)

"Um." (Scorch)

"... Got it" (Tyle)

"Ye-yes!" (Lanarya)

We all just replied in awe.

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After the long walk, we finally made our way to the cave in the mountainous area. According to the information given by the guild, Kruu only grows in damp areas with an abundance of nature and earth spirits. This is the only place near Cezza that we could find it.

On the way here, the entire group... didn't talk much at all. After seeing how easy and quick Effinshia managed to dispatch the armoured boar, the party got more cautious and wary of her figure. We didn't really think about it, didn't we? She didn't need us at all to get to this cave— she could have done it alone. We were just a hindrance to her and yet she made the effort to communicate with us.

"I couldn't believe it at first, but you really are strong Miss Effinshia!"

All of us were wary except one girl. Lanarya who got along with her. Maybe it's something to do with both of them being of the same gender but they were having quite the relaxed conversation about the skill that Effinshia used a while back.

"Really? I don't really think that I'm that special," She responded to Lanarya.

"No way! That sword skill just now! It's like Crescent Slash but... better! How did you do it? Teach me!"

"Ah that? That is nothing. If you all keep growing older and keep training harder you will eventually be able to do the same. It took me quite a while to master that one. I'm sure with your youth you could do it in half that time," Effinshia said to her.

While that may be true, that it is something that one could master given one puts in the dedication to learning it. I couldn't help but feel that she was hiding something from us. Also, could I really learn to do something like that in time? Seemed like a pretty far away dream.

"You really think so? That I could learn to do that sword skill as well one day?" Lanarya asked Effinshia.

"I've seen people some crazy strong people before you know. I mean what I say. Compare to what those people could do, this is easy. Just keep at it and you will eventually be able to do it. The trick is to charge only one side of the blade instead of the whole th— ah crap, I'm not supposed to tell you that. Pretend like you never heard me okay?"

"Ye-yes Ma'am!" Lanarya gave Effinshia a salute.

These two got really close in the short time we were together. Also, to charge only half the blade? Huh, I never thought about doing that. That way I only need half the mana, but how do you keep the full power of the skill with only half the mana?

"How is it going on your end?" Scorch asked me, breaking my thoughts.

"Nothing much that I could see on my end. It's just a normal cave." I told Scorch.

Scorch didn't say anything. He came up to me and put a hand over my shoulders before whispering- "I'm starting to think that maybe we should have reported back to the guild after all."

"Hmm? Why?" I asked.

"Don't you feel... like this is a trap? Like she's luring us into this cave?" Scorch said.

"I get what you mean... but... if she wanted us dead, she could have done so way earlier. I mean, you saw her in action right? She swung her sword so fast I couldn't even see it. Why does someone like that need to lure us into a cave?"

I looked over to Effinshia who was talking calmly with Lanarya. She just doesn't feel like a bad guy to me...

"I don't know, maybe she needs it to be done here? The branch master said that people never came back from this cave, so just keep your eyes open, I'll tell the others."

"...Alright." I heeded the advice of my long-trusted friend.

I took another look at the weirdly dressed woman known as Effinshia. No matter how I look at it. I just can't seem to see her as a bad person.

"Hey guys, check this out!" Kranis yelled out.

All of us looked towards his direction. He just simply pointed at a clearing within the cave. I moved closer to Kranis's position as I am unable to see the clearing from where I am at. What revealed itself as I walked over was very odd.

There was... a garden in the cave. Rows of all kinds of plants could be seen in the middle of the clearing. Under a ray of bright light that seemed to originate from outside the cave.

"What is this?" I asked. Not understanding how there could be a garden in a cave. Could it be the work of the earth spirits?

"Seems like there is someone living here in the cave," Effinshia replied as she moved forward in front of us.

"Living? How do you know?" I asked Effinshia.

"Obviously someone is living here, why else would there be a perfectly neat garden in a cave in the middle of a forest full of monsters?" She said to me as she stopped quite the distance ahead of us.

"..." I couldn't say anything back to her.

Effinshia lets out a sigh and pointed at the large hole at the top of the cave clearing. "The hole that the sunlight is coming from isn't natural. Someone purposely carved it." She then moved her attention at the rows of plants, "Those crops. Lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, corn, et cetera. They are all plants with fast growth times. Some of them are still in the middle of growing while others you can see are either maturing or still stalks. Whoever is growing these uses a rotational setup so they can constantly get produce from the garden. It is most likely that someone tended to the garden at least once within this past week."

Effinshia gave me a long drawn out explanation on why she thought there was somebody living in the cave. I was amazed at her ability to figure out that much by just having a look. On the other hand, it was kinda obvious, I felt a little bit stupid not having figured it out.

"Over there!" Lanarya points towards the far end of the cave clearing.

I looked towards the direction that Lanarya pointed to and what entered my eyes is the sight of a large patch of Kruu leaves growing abundantly on a wall right behind the garden.

"Kruu Leaves!" I shouted before rushing forward to the wall the leaves are at.

Or I would if the weirdly dressed woman known as Effinshia who was positioned in between the party and the leaves hadn't drawn out her sword out of a sudden. Her back was still facing towards us, but I could feel a certain amount of tension as I stared upon her back.

"Ride! You idiot! Get back!" Scorch yelled out to me.

I turned around only to see my teammates holding out their weapons, all with a look of caution in their faces. Scorch, in particular, was trying to reach for me.

"Where are you looking at? Don't turn your back to the enemy kid." Effinshia's voice rang out behind me.

What?! Was Scorch right? Is she going to kill us now?

I took out my weapon in a hurry and turned around to face the swordswoman again.

*Shing!

She swung her sword in a certain direction in front of her. I couldn't see it, it was simply too fast. My heart stopped for a moment, thinking she had sliced me apart without me knowing. I was glad knowing that wasn't the case, as an arrow landed beside me, sliced into two. presumably by Effinshia who was positioned in front of me.

*Shing! *Shing! *Shing!

She swung three more times. This time I could see the blade. It wasn't as fast as the first strike I've seen but it was graceful and flowed perfectly with motion. Three more split arrows could be seen lying on the floor around me.

"What the hell are you doing! Get to cover!" Scorch said as he forcefully grabbed my shoulders and started to drag me to a nearby boulder.

I could see that the others were all running to the same large boulder to take cover from the hail of arrows as well.

*Shing *Shing *Shing *Shing

The furious sounds of slashing continued as Effinshia moved her position in between the source of the attacks and the party. Blocking the arrows from hitting us as we made our way to the boulder.

*Schwaff *Shing *Schwaff *Shing .....

The attacks got intense as more arrows were sent towards us. Effinshia didn't let up and kept slicing up all the arrows. However, she couldn't deflect all the arrows so she only selectively cut down the ones that are most threatening. Multitude of broken arrows could be seen landing near our feet as we ran towards the boulder.

*Chak!

A certain arrow covered in white landed in between me and Scorch. Then, a bright white flash of light enveloped us. I felt the quick surge of heat on my hands as I covered my eyes to block the light. A small force of sorts pushed me back and I fell down, landing on my butt as a bunch of dust and some dirt landed on my body. My ears rang for a while.

*Boom *Boom *Boom.

The sounds of mini explosions could be heard all around me. I opened my eyes only to see my team members had already reached safely to the boulder.

*Shing .... *Boom

I turned my eyes towards the sound of the sword and saw that Effinshia was standing right in front of me. Blocking any arrows from hitting me. Normal arrows and occasionally white lines of light— the explosive arrows that knock me down a moment ago. Normal arrows got sliced as usual and white arrows were deflected by using the broadside of her sword. Mini explosions landed near me as the white arrows exploded after being knocked away to the ground. The attack got more intense as more arrows rained down on us. I could only stare in awe as I saw her figure blocked every single one of them with incredible precision.

"Tsk," Effinshia clicked her tongue as the bombardment got more intense.

With a quick swipe, she scoops up the ground with her sword and brandished it towards the incoming arrows. A large cloud of dust was formed, electrical sparks could be seen within the dust cloud as it spread in front of me. Arrows that hit the dust cloud lose speed and fell to the ground. White arrows immediately exploded the moment it made contact with the dust cloud.

What did she do? Is that some sort of skill?

A powerful tug at my collar disturbed my thoughts. My body felt light as I was soon lifted off the ground by my neck. The feeling of my shirt tugging at my neck was felt. My vision then blurred for a while and I could feel my legs being dragged across the floor. The next thing I could see was my friends at the bolder grabbing out towards me. My body feeling awfully light, it wasn't long before I noticed I have been flung quite a distance away.

"Oof," I let out a grunt as they managed to grab me off the air. My friends look of relief entered my eyes.

"Are you alright?" Effinshia asked me. Standing just a little away from me, near the end of the boulder looking outwards towards the source of the arrows.

"Urgh... Yeah... I'm fine," I replied as I loosen up the tightening feeling around my neck.

"You need to be more aware of your surroundings kid, also try to daze less in the middle of the fight will ya?"

"Ah, um... alright," I could only reply awkwardly at her.

I looked towards the weirdly dressed woman with the white cap again. Even after all that, she didn't even break out a sweat, not even a sign that she was tired at all. Is this the power of an S rank level adventurer? Damn, she’s hella strong!