One of the monsters hidden in the trees jumped down at the elf, its long hand extended forward to grab her and mouth open ready to bite on her flesh. Sam dashed toward the mage and with a wide arc he sliced the ghoul in half through its stomach with one clean cut of his new sword. Celine stepped away from the tree and began another chant. A thin layer of yellow glowing energy wrapped all of them.

“This will protect you from their claws. You’ll still feel the strength of their attacks though. Ghouls are weak, the strength lies in their numbers.” Celine explained their opponents' weaknesses as she watched closely the creatures' movement above them.

One of the ghouls landed right in front of Sien. The boy swung his saber, staggered by the sudden appearance of a monster, he missed the attack. The ghoul attacked Sien with its claws, to which the boy only raised his arms to guard the face. The force of the attack pushed his arm and he felt it but his skin was unscathed. Sam rushed to his aid and decapitated the monster, its head flying away.

“Calm down Sien. With those shaky hands, you won’t land a good blow. Breathe slowly.” Sam instructed the confused boy as he defended him from coming monsters, trying to sound calm while swinging his sword.

Sien was able to calm down his mind but his hands were still shaking a bit at the sight of a horrifying creature. He didn’t kill them with one strike like Sam, but he could land good hits making decent damage to the monsters, making them fall back or freeze for a moment out of pain.

Sien had bruises all over his body from the constant attack from the ghouls. Sam and Celine were unscathed as they weren’t hit. The elf hid behind the fighters but she assisted them by pushing some of the monsters away with a wind magic so they wouldn’t be overwhelmed by their numbers. The exhaustion was slowly visible on their faces as more ghouls fell dead to the ground and more of them appeared in their place.

“There is no end to them!” Shouted frustrated Sien, breathing heavily as his saber felt like a heavy boulder that would crush his hands if he lost strength in his arms. “Miss Celine! Do you know any offensive runes that I could use?!” Sien shouted, desperately needing something to fight against those monsters.

“Unfortunately no!” She replied as she pushed a ghoul that was about to jump Sien with a strong gust of wind.

Sien slowly retreated back to the mage, waving his saber around so the monster wouldn’t approach him but he was thinking of a way to use his artifact. He drew the rune that was used to make a small fire but he made it much bigger. It looked like he had a campfire in his hand. He pushed it against the ghoul that was the closest to him. It didn’t kill the monster but it made it run away, screaming with pain as the flames ate its flesh. At that sight, the ghouls began hesitating. Keeping their distance away from the fire. Only attacking Sam who was a few feet away from them with only a sword in hand.

“Master! Come here! Let’s stay close together!” Sien shouted being close to the elven mage, waving the giant flame to scare the ghouls, they hissed at him as he shoved the flames in their direction.

Celine saw what happened with the burned ghoul and also made a fire at the tip of her wand. Much smaller than the one that Sien made but it was enough to make the monsters cautious. Sam joined them trying to be the group's guard but he ended up being the one in the middle, guarded by the magic flames.

They walked away, scaring each ghoul that got close enough with a fire. Since they were walking in one direction without any changes on their path back they quickly found a way out of the forest. The monsters didn’t follow them after they left the area. They remained hidden between the trees, eyeing the group they fought.

“Let’s warn the people about the ghouls. The guild might take immediate action.” Celine stopped her spell and took one last look at the monsters in the trees, making sure they weren’t about to chase them.

“Good idea. Better if no one runs into them without knowing the danger.” Sam agreed, walking backward as he didn’t want to turn his back to the forest full of monsters.

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“Master… Can you lift me to the inn?” Asked Sien with a tired voice, dragging his body as he was exhausted. His blade cleaned off the blood by brushing it against the grass.

“Can’t you walk by yourself? I also fought them off-” Sam wanted to urge the boy to walk on his own but he saw him flat on the ground, saber right beside him.

“I don’t have much strength left… I’m… tired…” Whispered Sien as he fell asleep right in front of them.

“Can’t argue with that argument.” Sam picked Sien up and carried him on his back. The elf walked slightly behind him. Observing the boy. In the fight, he lost his coat and she noticed the emblem on his back.

“Are you guys bandits?” Celine asked, aiming the wand at Sam’s and Sien’s back.

“I thought you didn’t know any offensive spells.” Sam calmly answered, still walking forward.

“I lied. Didn’t want the risk of being attacked by you.” Cotiusly answered Celine, watching Sam’s hands as if he were about to reach for his sword.

“Why ask now? We accompanied you and assisted with the ghouls. Damn. We were the ones fighting them all while you stayed back.” Sam pointed out but there was no anger in his voice, he understood the elf’s concern.

“The boy's clothing. And the artifact itself. A nobleman traveling with a peasant? It’s hard to believe. Did you rob someone who finished the dungeon?” Celine gave valid points but Sam didn’t give an immediate answer.

“Before I answer. What’s your stand on the royal families of Saradia?” Asked Sam, taking a quick look at the elven mage.

“Natural. Not my country, not my biggest concern. Although I heard that one of them is shady.” Quickly answered Celine.

“Which one?” Cautiously asked Sam.

“Don’t remember the name but they had a purple banner.” Celine said with certainty.

Sam stopped, making Celine flinch and take a step back. “Okay. I’ll give you an answer. This boy is a nobleman, hiding from the crowd's eye. His family was falsely accused and stripped of royal privileges. They think of his family like they are criminals. We are on the journey down south to get his brother’s help as he might have some influence as a commander in the army.”

“And why are you accompanying him? For the money?” Celine asked, still having her wand ready to throw a spell.

“No. My master served under his father and he didn’t believe the accusations since he knew the Lord personally. A kind man like him is innocent. By assisting the boy I repay my master for all he has done for me. No greed in my heart.” Sam answered, not even looking back at the elf.

“I heard a lot of bad things about Saradia’s nobles. Selfish, thinking that they are the center of the world, looking at everyone from above.” Said a bit aggressively, Celine.

“He is different. If not for the mark and clothing, I wouldn’t have guessed he is from the royal family. Even though I wore the clothes of a farmer he spoke to me with respect, like a human being to a human being. From my master's tales, I know that Sien's father was the same.” Sam finally turned around to face Celine to show his expression, his unhinged confidence.

“What mark?” The mage asked not knowing about the royal houses and how their lineage works.

“It should be visible because of the sweat. We hid his mark. Under his eye. He has three triangles. That’s information that he is third in line in his family.” Answered Sam as he moved slightly to the side to make Sien’s face more visible.

Celine took a step to the side to get a better view of Sien’s face. She saw the marks visible because of the sweat that destroyed the makeup. “Okay. I trust you.” She said as she put away her wand.

“Just keep it a secret for a moment. We have another goal that we want to achieve on the way down south. To make Alk a better name. Good deeds that will show the true face of his family. A kind and generous face.” Said Sam with a slight smile, happy that the woman trusts him and out of pride for their plan.

“I might be able to help with that. I can tell that he assisted me with the research. Just mention his name in the rapport and that could spread a good word.” Simply stated Celine like it wasn’t a big deal.

“Will you really do that?” Sam asked, surprised by how helpful this elf was.

“I’ll gladly help the men that saved me today.” Celine answered with a kind warming smile.