"what is this?" Naiara questioned.

"Th-This," Tobi replied, his voice tinged with a mix of confusion.

"A human," Ragard spurtted out.

His gaze fixated on the girl before him, his eyes tracing the contours of her pale complexion. With a careful scrutiny, he observed every detail of her form, from the delicate curve of her hands to the slender lines of her legs. His attention lingered on the wounds and cuts that marred her skin, he saw the scars and calluses on her hands with each scar telling a silent tale of battles fought and hardships endured.

Crossing her hands in front of her chest Naiara glared at Tobi, "i see that, what is it doing here?" Naiara probed.

Tobi let out a loud sigh as he recalled what had happened earlier.

In the heat of battle, Lucia's sword was mere inches away from striking Tobi, poised to deliver a fatal blow. However, just as the blade was about to make contact, Tobi swiftly raised his own sword, crafted from the very essence of his mana itself, to intercept the attack.

But, to his surprise, Lucia abruptly halted her strike, retracting her sword, and instead moved closer, placing her head directly in front of Tobi's sword, as if offering herself to the blade.

In a swift motion, Tobi withdrew his sword and enacted a teleportation spell, whisking himself and the girl away to the sanctuary of the mountain's inner sanctum. Here, amidst the lush expanse of verdant foliage, where emerald leaves danced in the gentle caress of the breeze, Tobi had brought in a stranger for the first time. This place was a serene haven, where he and Naiara had often honed their skills and cultivated their abilities, well, honing of 'skills' and 'abilities' were mostly done by Tobi.

With a determined gaze fixed upon Naiara. "This human," he declared, gesturing towards the girl cradled in his arms, "is the one responsible for the explosion just outside the mountains."

His countenance darkened, a storm brewing behind his eyes as he clenched his teeth with a steely resolve. "She had others with her," Tobi pronounced, his voice tinged with a hint of warning.

"Kekekeke," Naiara chuckled, a smirk playing at the corners of her lips, betraying a sense of amusement as she looked at the girl in Tobi's arms. Naiara's tone shifted slightly, taking on an awkward note. "Also, you can put her down now," she said, her words punctuated with a hesitant pause. "I think she can walk by herself now."

"What do you me-" Tobi began, but his words were abruptly cut short as the girl twitched. Without a second thought, he released his grip, and the girl fell to the floor with a thud.

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The girl did not move, so Naiara called her out, "I know you're not asleep or unconscious. Pretending like this just makes it worse, you know," she remarked, her gaze fixed on the motionless figure on the ground.

A faint whisper emanated from the girl lying on the ground, barely audible.

"What was that??" Naiara questioned her.

The girl remained silent for a moment, her lips trembling as if struggling to form the words. Then, with a hint of defiance, she repeated in a slightly louder voice, "I said, I'm not afraid of you."

"We'll see" naiara said softly to the girl as she slowly walked away, the girl's eyes followed her, a mixture of defiance and curiosity gleaming in them. She remained on the ground.

Lucia mind raced with possibilities and uncertainties. She had expected hostility and aggression, but the encounter with Tobi and Naiara had left her perplexed. What were their intentions? And what did they know about her and her companions?.

As an imperial knight, Lucia had faced countless battles and challenges, but none had prepared her for the surreal encounter with Tobi and Naiara. In this unfamiliar setting, she felt a sense of vulnerability and fear creeping into her heart, overshadowing her usual bravado and confidence. Despite her training and prowess, she couldn't shake the feeling of being out of her depth, like a mere novice lost in a maze of uncertainty.

As Tobi extended his hand to Lucia, there was an unsettling glint in his eyes, a subtle hint of ambiguity that sent shivers down her spine. Despite his outward gesture of assistance, there was an underlying aura of menace emanating from him, casting a shadow of doubt over his true intentions. Lucia hesitated for a moment, torn between her instinct to accept help and her growing sense of unease in Tobi's presence. With a wary glance, she tentatively reached out for his hand.

Tobi's smile twisted into a malicious grin as he regarded Lucia, his eyes flickering over the injuries and scars that adorned her skin. "I'm sorry for this," he murmured, his voice laced with a chilling edge that sent a shiver down Lucia's spine. Despite his seemingly apologetic tone, there was a sinister undertone to his words, hinting at darker intentions lurking beneath the surface. Lucia's apprehension grew as she realized that she may have unwittingly stumbled into a dangerous situation with Tobi.

As Lucia's legs turned to jelly beneath her, she collapsed to the ground, wrapping her arms around herself protectively. "Please don't stare," she pleaded, her voice trembling with a mixture of fear and vulnerability. Memories of her abusive father flashed through her mind, haunting her with their vivid intensity. The weight of her past traumas bore down on her, leaving her feeling small and defenseless in the face of Tobi's unsettling gaze.

Tobi gently pats her head, Lucia felt a surge of mana coursing through her body, its touch cold yet strangely comforting. It flowed through her like a gentle stream, easing the pain of her injuries and causing her to emit a soft moan of relief. However, as she glanced down at her body, she realized that while the physical wounds had vanished, the scars of her past remained etched into her skin.

Lucia marveled at the sight of this, Ragard whom was standing by watched this happen and he couldn't believe what he had just witnessed, under his breath he said, "surely this must be the work of a god."

Tobi chuckled at the orc's words. "I'm no god," he replied. "Just someone with a few tricks up my sleeve." He glanced at Lucia, offering her a reassuring smile to which Lucia saw as a malicious grin. "But I can't mend everything, unfortunately."

The knights, defeated and demoralized, trudged wearily back to their camp, the weight of their failure heavy upon their shoulders. They moved in solemn silence, each step a reminder of their dashed hopes and shattered pride. The once boisterous atmosphere of the camp had now turned somber, the air thick with disappointment and regret. As they retreated, they cast furtive glances over their shoulders, half expecting the 'mad dog' to come charging after them, her fury unleashed upon them once more. But all they found was the empty expanse of the plains, echoing with the ghosts of battles past.

Some knights stole the belongings of those whom had previously been slain by the dragonoids, usually the possessions of dead kinghts are usually handed over to the holy church of intrisha but those were in the days of old.

The paladin stormed into his tent, his footsteps heavy with frustration and disappointment. The weight of his emotions hung heavy in the air, palpable even to those outside.

He could not believe his daughter had failed, or was probably dead.