The three winged fox creatures shot toward me like flying arrows, their claws brandished and their menacing fangs seemed to glow and dripped with some sort of liquid.
I instantly conjured a barrier of wind around me to guard against their attack. The three fox-bats clashed against it with a bang, still trying ever harder to reach me.
Looking over I saw the larger one fighting Melian. I didn't know why the beasts had split up like this. The only thing I could come up with from the top of my head was that Melian was bigger than me, and maybe in their little animal hierarchy, bigger means stronger.
Multiple orbs of light conjured from her wand and shot toward the large fox. But the fox flew with an unexpected elegance and speed, dodging every orb of light shot and closed in quickly.
Dammit, I thought. Her defense.
I quickly reached my arm out and conjured a wind barrier around Melian as well, but due to our distance apart, the barrier came up flimsy, only able to somewhat cushion the fox’s blow.
The wind barrier I had created around Melian shattered and the fox’s clawed paw hit her with heavy force. She was sent tumbling backward, but luckily enough she managed to get back on her feet.
Blood oozed from her stomach area and she wiped some blood that tracked from her lips.
“Melina,” I yelled, “Are you alright?”
Another orb of light conjured in her palm and she held it against her stomach where the fox had managed to hit her. “I’ll be fine. Take care of the three on you. I can handle the big guy.”
From where I was standing I could see her wound visibly heal. I turned back to the three infront of me. “I'm trusting you. Don’t die.”
She scoffed, “You’ll croak before I ever do, short stack.”
At her rather offending words, I focused back on my own fight. The three weaker foxes seemed to give up on trying to reach me, and started swirling around my wind barrier waiting for an opening.
Is this what you’re waiting for? I thought with a smirk, before disbursing my wind barrier.
The three quickly noticed and darted toward me from the sky. I enhanced my body with dark mana and Shadow Stepped to the side. Unsheathing my dagger infused it with wind and pure mana and jabbed toward the first fox I saw.
My dagger pierced through one of their skulls. It let out a loud cry of pain before it’s body plopped to the ground lifeless.
The other two flew back at the sight, looking as if they had underestimated me.
But I didn’t stop there. With my dagger still infused with wind attribute mana, I sent multiple slashes of wind toward them, until finally they both charged at me once more.
When they reached me I jumped, stabbing one with a dagger while simultaneously hitting one with a mana-clad kick, sending it flying and free feet away.
The one that got hit with the dagger let out a bloodcurdling cry, but it didn't die. Using my free hand, I conjured wind bullets and finished it off.
After confirming my kill I turned my gaze to the one I kicked, which was still on the ground. I enhanced my entire body with wind and propelled myself forward at a speed that didn’t allow it a chance to avoid me. I heard my dagger punctures its skull, and like the others, it’s life dissipated.
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Before I knew it my entire outfit was covered in crimson. I swung my dagger to get the excess blood off. I’ll clean the rest later.
Ignoring my attire, I looked back to where Melian was. Her battle still raged on.
I did notice a difference now, though. The fox seemed to be covered in wounds, but Melian seemed to be totally fine.
So this is how she uses it in battle. Since her defense is bad she substitutes it with her healing.
They were a good distance apart and Melian was currently mumbling a spell. A giant bolt of light began to appear above Melians head and with an arching motion of her arm, the bolt shot toward the fox at an undodgeable speed.
The bolt clashed with the beast, covering the battlefield in a bright light, making it hard to see the fox’s reaction to the attack.
A few seconds later, the light dissipated and a small crater was noticeable. Inside was the dead corpse of the fox.
Melian instantly dropped on her butt, “What a nuisance.” She glanced over at me, “You’re a mess. Good job taking out those three, though, I guess you aren't too bad for a bronze rank.”
I scoffed, “Can I at least get a thank you?”
She looked truly confused at my question, “For what?”
“If I hadn't conjured the wind barrier that fox would've gotten a much more serious hit in.”
“That fox wouldn’t have hurt me in the slightest. My mana enhancement isn't good, but that doesn't mean I have none at all. I'm a silver rank for a reason.” She laughed.
I just let out a sigh and sat on the ground along with her, a short breather was well deserved.
And although Melian was right about the fox's being a nuisance, it was kind of convenient they attacked. They were stronger than the miniscule beasts we had run into so far, and this fight allowed me to see how Melian handles battle. Even if I barely saw the fight, I could tell her spell casting was top-notch by that light beam spell she had used and it made me curious about what other things she has in her arsenal.
“I have to say, you took out those others rather quick. Any cuts or wounds you need me to heal?” Melian asked.
“No, I'm fine, actually. They didn’t manage to wound me.”
She laughed again, “Hot-shot, aye? Impressive.” She turned her eyes away from me and got into a meditative position. “Let's rest here for a couple hours while I replenish my mana. Keep watch would you?”
Shaking my head and saying, “Fine.” I watched as a translucent aura began to surround her as she entered meditation.
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Melians meditation went by without any interruptions and I watched the night sky dissipated and the rising sun gave way to morning dew.
The aura around Melain finally dissipated and she stood up and gave a stretch. “That feels better. How you holding up here, short stack?”
“A little tired, but i’ll manage.”
“Sounds great, thanks for keeping watch. Next break will be your turn to get some shut eye.”
“Thank you for the generous offer, Melian.” I said as I stood up, trying my hardest not to let the sarcasm spill out of my voice.
She seemed to pay no mind to my words and began packing up. “Are you ready to continue?” She asked.
“Whenever you are.” I said.
I’m still covered in goddamn blood.
Our journey continued, and before I knew it around a week had passed.
During this time, we fought many beasts. Some of them we recognized and some we didn’t. They were all pretty crazy looking, but the most outlandish one we had seen was a scaled cow. It was taken out swiftly with the work of both of us, but it was still an odd sight to see.
Besides fighting beasts, though, I learned a lot about Melian as a person and her background. How I learned, though, is quiet interesting.
One day on our trip we had just got done fighting some snake-like creatures and she took a seat. It was rather hot this day, and we worked up more sweat than usual. So Melian, who always wore her sparkling blonde hair down, deciding to tie it up, and when she did, I was left rather surprised. Two pointed ears showed themselves, signifying she was an elf.
This revelation led me to ask her why she was in the south of the continent, when most elves I had heard, resided up north.
She explained that the Thezmear kingdom has very strict belief when it comes to mages, light mages, especially and she didn’t want to stay any longer. Melanin mentioned she adored her freedom, so when she turned of age, she became an adventurer and decided to travel to world and grow her strength to its limits.
She tried to pry my past out of me, but I just gave her a very vague truth, so she had no choice but to be satisfied.
Zooming to the present day we were currently walking up a trail of a very steep hill. With each step I took I could feel the burn in my quadriceps from the trails natural workout.
When finally reached the top, Melian and I gazed down at what could only be The Caverns.
“We're here.” She said, a satisfied smirk plastered on her face.