Meeting At Twilight

It was a beautiful day in Livania. The sky was colored crimson as a result of the setting sun, it was pretty warm for this time of year and a gentle breeze made it quite pleasant. It was the perfect time for some exercise.

“This wasn’t the type of exercise I had in mind though…” Ryuji mumbled as a giant axe nearly cut through his shoulder.

The boy quickly sidestepped to the left as he took a glimpse at the wielder of the giant weapon. Before the boy stood a tall creature with the appearance of a grey wolf. It was walking on its two hind legs and was carrying a big steel axe. Ryuji was sure that getting slashed by that weapon wouldn’t be pretty.

“Just how many of you guys are there?” Ryuji asked the creature in front of him as the axe came swinging down on him again.

This time the boy had no trouble dodging the hit. He stepped to the right, evading the sharp weapon that came from above and then continued to deal a kick to the side the monster, making it stagger. It had given Ryuji more than enough time to learn its attack pattern. The wolf was most certainly very strong, but because it was carrying that huge weapon, its moving speed wasn’t all that fast, which made dodging its attacks quite easy. All this time Ryuji hadn’t sensed any notable surges of mana from the beast either.

This was the time to strike. Ryuji evaded the following horizontal slash of the axe by jumping over the weapon and then quickly slashed down with the sword he just released from its sheath. The pain of being cut by the sword made the monster take a few steps back as the boy landed on the ground in front of it. Before the creature could react, Ryuji quickly thrusted his sword forward, stabbing the monster through its chest. This seemed to have done the job. The creature cried out in agony before collapsing in front of its slayer.

“I think this was the fourth one today,” Ryuji said as he used his arm to get rid of some sweat drops that had formed on his forehead before moving his hand through his dark blue hair. “I guess that’s my reward for trying to take a shortcut.”

The boy then used a cloth to get rid of the blood on his sword, before putting the sharp item back in its sheath. “I can’t wait to sharpen this baby when I get home. It’s become a little bit dull after all the fighting I’ve done the last few days.”

The boy had just finished his job earlier today and since he didn’t want to spend the night camping as he did yesterday, he had decided to head to the closest town, Gemstown. If he would have used the Central Road, it would have taken him at least six hours more to reach the village, but Ryuji knew of a shortcut through the huge forest east of Gemstown.

This forest, also known as the Sleeping Forest, was famous for its dangerous paths filled with ferocious creatures. Although it wasn’t forbidden to enter the forest, the government of Gemstown made sure to inform everyone about the potential dangers of going inside. The police force of Gemstown protected the roads surrounding the giant forest, so most people used these roads to travel around.

There were some people like him who did travel through the forest even though it was dangerous. since the time it would take to get to the next town was shortened by a lot. The ones traveling through the forest were usually mercenaries, explorers and criminals. Why criminals? Well, even the police force didn’t like going into this forest.

Ryuji had been walking through the woods for about one and a half hour now, fighting several monsters along the way. He remembered that it took him a bit more than two hours to move through the forest last time. But since he had to fight more monsters this time around, he figured that it would take him at least an hour more.

“Oh well, at least I got some decent training this way.” the boy mumbled before sighing.

It wasn’t that the creatures were giving someone of his caliber too much trouble, but he couldn’t help but feel like something wasn’t right. He had never seen the creatures he just fought, the so-called ‘werebeasts’, in this area before. Why did they come here?

Ryuji got his compass out of his backpack and used the object to find his way. This item was really important to find the way to the exit of the forest. Getting lost in an area like this would mean a lot of trouble.

As the boy continued to make his way through forest filled with life, he found a place where a lot of reddish sunlight was coming from. He slowly walked towards the area and was surprised to find a small clearing. The setting sun made sure to throw a reddish light over the area unguarded by trees, making Ryuji squint his eyes for a moment.

When he opened his eyes again one moment later, the blue-haired boy was surprised to find a small lake, surrounded by short grass, flowers and tiny and colorful plants. It was like an oasis in the middle of a desert.

“Wow, I never knew there was a place like this around here.” Ryuji said in admiration as he took in the sight.

The boy then got the local map out of his backpack and wasn’t particularly surprised that he couldn’t find the lake on the map. If this place would have been on the map, he would have made his way to this lake every single time he entered the forest, since it was a great place to rest and refill his water.

“Oh well, I guess my luck hasn’t completely left me,” the boy mumbled as he marked the location of the lake on his map. “I’ve got to make sure to remember this place. It might come in handy later. There are a lot of harvestable plants around as well.”

Ryuji then walked towards the lake, placed his backpack on the ground and took a good close look at the lake. He was able to see his reflection through the clear water.

“Wow, I really need a shower,” the boy said as he noticed his current state. “My hair’s a complete mess.”

He then removed his black fingerless gloves and put his index finger in the water.

“Not bad, it’s not too cold.” he concluded as he put the wet finger in his mouth. “Tastes good enough.”

The boy got a water bottle from his backpack and downed it into the water. Once it was completely filled, he closed the bottle and returned it to his backpack. The plan was to reach Gemstown soon, but it would be best to be prepared for anything.

Ryuji then put both of his hands in the water in the shape of a bowl and then brought his face closer to the water, before throwing the water in his hands on his face. He used some cold water to get his dark-blue hair back into shape as well.

He put the black gloves back on and checked the time on his watch. He had to start moving again soon if he wanted to reach Gemstown before it became dark. Deciding to rest for ten minutes more, he sat down on the soft grass. He could feel the sunlight warming him up. Putting his hands behind his head, he slowly lied down on the soft grass as he enjoyed looking at the sky which still had a reddish tinge. To think he was in the middle of the feared Sleeping Forest now.

If only this could continue for a little bit more.

“Ah!”

Ryuji’s eyes shot open as he heard the shriek next to him. He quickly stood up and gabbed his sword as he looked around. How couldn’t he have sensed something coming so close?!

“Huh?”

Ryuji nearly dropped his sword out of his hand as he noticed the scene before him. It wasn’t a monster, but a human who had entered the clearing. On top of that, the person was lying face down on the ground. It seemed like a scene out of a manga.

It took Ryuji a few seconds to react to the situation. He had not expected to meet anyone in this forest, but to find someone in this kind of situation really surprised him.  Glancing over the clothing of the person, he surmised the person to be a girl. She was still lying flat on her face with her arms outstretched to the front. It seemed like she had fallen as she was running towards the lake. It was kind of weird and funny at the same time.

Deciding to stay wary for the time being, Ryuji continued to hold his sword in his hand.

“…Are you alright?” the boy softly asked as he waited for her reaction.

“Ouch, just what did I trip over this time?”

It looked like she hadn’t heard him.

Using her hands to push herself up from the ground, the girl slowly stood up. Shen then quickly turned around completely, looking around rather nervously before sighing.

“Looks like I’m alright for now…”

She then used her hands to remove several blades of grass from her thighs, chest and arms, not noticing that there was someone right next to her. This made it even harder for Ryuji to see her as someone to be wary for.

Ryuji decided to take this time to take a good look at her. The first things he noticed were here mid back length light gray, almost silver hair, which was put in two pigtails, and her clear blue eyes.

She was wearing a mini cape dress with a piece cut out above her chest. The upper part of the dress, which covered her shoulders and lower neck area, was black. The rest of the dress was light pink with big purple lines at the hem of the dress, her elbows and her waist. The cape, which started from the purple line around her waist and reached to the area behind her knees, was light green. On her shoulders were big round purple shoulder guards with golden edges. He couldn’t guess the material they were made of. Black stockings with purple edges were adorning her legs and she was wearing black shoes with laces. Finally, she was wearing a necklace with a blue crystal.

He had never seen clothing like this before. She must have come from somewhere far away.

Since she still hadn’t noticed him, Ryuji decided to give it another go. “Hello?”

“Huh?”

He heard a soft reaction from the girl as she turned towards him. When she noticed the blue-haired boy, her eyes widened. She then jumped back, taking a defensive stance.

“Another one? Why can’t you guys just leave me alone?!” the girl asked with an angry expression on her face as she stretched out her right hand towards the boy.

As Ryuji wondered what she was doing, since he didn’t think the girl was using her hand as a stop sign, the small hand started giving off a blue glow.

Magic?!

“Stop following me, you monsters! Take this!”

Before he knew it, several shards of ice shot out of her hand. Ryuji dodged the first one by quickly jumping to the right and used his sword to slice through a second one coming straight at him.

“Stop firing those things. I don’t want to fight!” Ryuji shouted, hoping that the girl would calm down.

As he said that, three great pillars of ice came popping out of the ground near him, almost piercing him. As he noticed a blue circle on the ground directly below him, the boy quickly jumped back, barely escaping the wrath of another ice pillar. It seemed like the mysterious girl was seriously trying to defeat him.

The boy then tried to take a few steps back, hoping to get some more space between them. He was stopped when his back hit something. Looking over his shoulder, he noticed a wall of ice of at least three meters high.

When did she create that?

“I won’t let you run away this time! It’s time to teach you what it means to mess with me!”

Hearing her angry cry, Ryuji once again looked her way. She was still aiming the palm of her hand towards him, which meant that she was about to use another spell.

Now that he knew that she was able to use magic, he couldn’t take the girl lightly anymore. Magic was something only a small portion of humans was able to use. Even after years of training, Ryuji was only able to channel small amounts of mana through his body and he was merely able to use some basic techniques, like enhancement magic and sensory magic. But this girl was actually using elemental magic. Just who was she?

Ryuji decided to clear his mind as he wanted to finish this fight as soon as possible. It wouldn’t take long for monsters to start showing up, curious about the ruckus he and the girl were making. With all these different kinds of spells at her disposal it was dangerous to try to run away, since he didn’t want to leave his back open to any kind of spell. This meant that he had but one choice: he had to knock her out.

Not wasting another moment, the boy put his sword back in its sheath, reached into the pocket of his jacket and got out two round objects. He quickly pushed the button located at one of the items and then threw it towards the girl who started shooting out multiple shards of ice again. When the tiny ball hit the ground, there was a small explosion, resulting in a wave of smoke.

“What?!”

As he heard the surprised voice of the girl, Ryuji realized that his smoke bomb had accomplished what he had wanted and then used his left leg to jump off the ground as he started running towards the girl.

The smoke caused by the smoke bomb covered the entire area now. This was Ryuji’s favorite type of battleground. By channeling some mana to his eyes, ears and nose, he was able to use his senses of sight, hearing and smell more efficiently. This basic type of magic, which almost every mage was able to use to some extent, was also known as ‘enhancement magic.’ By using this type of magic Ryuji was able to find his way through the smoke easily.

The boy with the blue hair combined this magic with his technique known as ‘silent movement’. He was able to move around as quietly as the wind, something ninjas were usually very good at. With his mana control, he was able to keep his mana levels as low as possible, so that most enemies had trouble sensing him as well.

Using this combination of magic and skill, he was able to defeat unexperienced fighters without them even seeing it coming. This fighting style was developed by the army for killing, but it was rather useful for less serious skirmishes as well. More than often, one decisive blow was enough to finish an opponent.

Sadly, his mana reserves weren’t all that high, so he wasn’t able to use his enhancement magic for large periods of time. After that, he would have to build up mana in his body again or risk collapsing because of a mana shortage in his body. So while this fighting style was very effective, he had to time his magic casting well.

Even though the blue-haired boy had made no sound and was keeping his mana levels as low as he possibly could, it seemed like this girl still had a way to sense where he was, since the pieces of ice continued to crash down towards him no matter where he went.

Dodging the shards one by one, Ryuji continued to get closer to his opponent. Deciding that he was now close enough to start attacking, the boy moved some of his mana to his feet, which allowed him to temporarily increase his running speed. Using this extra speed, he started running in circles around his foe, while keeping a distance of five meters.

Since he was using his enhancement magic even more now, he had to finish this battle quickly.

His opponent seemed to have lost him as the shards of ice no longer landed near him. After circling around her four times, Ryuji leaped towards the ice mage, deciding to knock her out with a swift blow to the back of her neck. Even if she would notice his plan, it would be too late. He moved his right hand, which he held horizontal, towards her neck in a swift action. This would most certainly finish the fight.

*Crack*

“What?” Ryuji was surprised when his hand bounced off her neck.

What was that? It felt like he hit a wall of ice!

The girl quickly turned around to face the boy. Ryuji was surprised to see a rather devious smile on her otherwise pretty face. “You didn’t think I’d leave my back completely unprotected, did you?”

Damn, a magical shield?!

Ryuji wasn’t expecting anything like this of the girl. She was using an advanced magical barrier which protected its user against physical attacks. There weren’t a lot of people able to use this kind of magic.

“I’ll take you out right now. Maybe then those things will stop coming after me as well.” the girl told the boy as she stretched out her right hand towards the sky.

Her hand started glowing blue once again, signaling the use of another spell. The winds created by the gathering of a lot of mana in one location blew away the remaining smoke.

Ryuji quickly took hold of his sword once again as he cursed the girl’s tenacity. He had just wanted to knock her out, but he didn’t know if he could continue holding back like this. He didn’t want to risk his own life after all.

As she continued to focus mana, a huge circle of blue magical energy was forming above her outstretched hand. Ryuji was impressed with the amount of mana she was able to control. Getting hit by a magical attack of that size would definitely result in his defeat, so he had to be careful.

Ryuji was about to press the button of his second smoke bomb as the blue energy suddenly started wavering.

“W-what?!” the girl mumbled as the mana-filled ball started shrinking. “You can’t be serious…”

It didn’t take long for the magical energy to completely lose its shape, which resulted in the leftover energy to scatter around the area.

“Damn it!” the silvery-haired girl shouted as she glared at the boy in front of her. She was starting to breathe heavily.

Ryuji had a feeling that he knew what was going on. He didn’t want to fall in any kind of trap though and decided to keep his distance for now. Concentrating his view on the girl in front of him, he was shocked to see something else moving in the corner of his eye.

It looked like time was up. They had attracted unwanted attention. One of the creatures Ryuji had fought earlier, a werebeast, was running towards them at a rapid pace with a giant axe in its claws.

Why wasn’t the girl reacting to this? Since she had been able to pinpoint his location when he was running around in the smoke, his opponent had to be able to sense the monster getting closer to them.

“You fool, look behind you!” Ryuji shouted before he knew it.

The girl, who still seemed to have trouble breathing, gave him a distrustful look.

“D-do you think I’m that silly? Simple tricks like that won’t work on me.”

Ryuji clicked his tongue. Why was she acting so high and mighty while it was as clear as day that she had trouble standing on her feet. One gust of wind would be enough to make her fall to her knees now.

The boy concentrated some of his mana to his feet and leaped off the ground. He ran in a straight line; way faster than he had shown the girl up to now. He noticed that this surprised the girl as she gave him a frightened look before she covered her face and chest area with her arms. So she really wasn’t able to use any magic anymore.

The blue-haired boy didn’t stop and ran past the girl. The werebeast was right behind her with its axe above its head, ready to slash right through her. Ryuji used the momentum of his sprint to stab the monster through the chest before it could even use its axe to defend itself.

“Grah!”

As the monster let out a shriek of pain, Ryuji retracted his sword. The creature resembling a wolf then slowly fell backwards on its hairy back with its arms spread to the sides. It looked like that was enough to take it down.

Ryuji turned around and noticed that the girl was looking towards the fallen monster with widened eyes.

“Y-you!”

The girl seemed to want to say something, but she wasn’t able to find her words.

“If you have something to say, please say it now.” Ryuji said as he took a quick look around the area, making sure that no other monsters were close by.

“When did that thing show up?”

“I told you that there was something behind you, didn’t I?” Ryuji said as he put his sword back in its sheath. “It came running towards us after your spell fizzled.”

“Who would believe something like that during a battle?” the girl replied with a sulky look on her face. “I thought you were trying to deceive me.”

“True. I probably wouldn’t have believed you either.” Ryuji replied as he scratched the back of his head. “Anyways, I think it’s best to stop this useless battle for both of our sakes.”

This last sentence made the female mage tilt her head.

“Useless battle? Weren’t you the one who initiated this fight in the first place?!”

“I did?” Ryuji said confused. “I only asked you if you were alright, since you were lying on the ground and all. One moment later you suddenly started firing those magic missiles towards me!”

“Don’t deny it! You were about to strike me down when I spotted you!” the girl with the light grey hair replied. “You already had your sword in your hand!”

“I had my sword in my hand, since the sound of your fall surprised me! I thought you were a monster. If I just wanted to kill you, I would have let that werebeast cut through you.”

Somehow this girl was starting to piss him off. Why was she making him out to be the bad guy here?

“T-that is,” The girl stopped after those two words, seemingly at a loss for words. She was lost in thought for a few seconds before she continued. “That was just a ploy to gain my trust. You were planning to knock me out right after that! That’s something I see you guys doing!”

“Argh!” Ryuji let out that voice filled with frustration. “I don’t know who ‘you guys’ are, but please don’t make me one of them. What would I gain by knocking you out anyway?”

He was letting her get to him. It didn’t matter what she thought. He had already accomplished what he wanted: to stop the fight without killing her. The boy inhaled a lot of air through his nose and then opened his mouth to let out some of this air, calming him down.  He then started walking towards the lake and got his backpack.

“Anyway, I’ll be leaving now. I want to leave this forest before dark.” Ryuji said as he put on his backpack before turning towards the girl one last time. “Please don’t follow me. I won’t hold back next time.”

He noticed that she was looking him straight in the eyes now. It was almost like those vivid blue eyes were piercing through him. It made him feel kind of uncomfortable. It took a while before the silver-haired girl replied.

“Okay, I’ll let you go for now...” the girl almost whispered.

Her voice was timid, but he could hear that she was still trying to act tough. She was a brave one alright. Still, hearing her say that made him feel relieved.

“Don’t stay in these woods for too long, you hear? There are a lot of monster crawling around today.” he told the girl before turning around. He then started walking towards the forest surrounding the lake, hoping to reach Gemstown as soon as possible.

“AHROOO WOO WOO!”

Ryuji stopped in his tracks after hearing that cry. It sounded like a low howling sound, like wolves make, only much deeper. The boy turned towards the location the loud howl had come from and noticed that the girl was looking towards the same direction.

“No way…”

He heard the weak mumblings of the girl as he thought the same thing. While there was nothing in sight yet, he could sense them coming. Five, six…ten?! He could sense at least ten of them. And those were just the ones in the immediate vicinity. Even more could be coming. Just what was going on in this forest?!

The boy then glanced at the girl he just fought. She wasn’t moving an inch.

“You there, start running if you don’t want to die!” Ryuji shouted, hoping for his words to reach her.

The girl in question turned towards him and nodded. She had a look filled with determination in her eyes. Deciding that he had done enough, he turned around and started running. He had to get away as quickly as possible. He just didn’t have the energy to fight so many of them at the same time.

“Gah!”

As he was about to exit the lake area, Ryuji heard the girly shriek. He looked over his shoulder and noticed that the silver-haired girl was lying on the ground and was having trouble pushing herself up. So he was right. She had really used too much mana and had trouble moving as a result.

For a short moment their eyes met. Her blue eyes were still filled with determination, but he could see some sadness in them as well. It was like she knew that this was the end of the line for her.

Why are you looking at me like that?

Ryuji broke eye-contact when he saw the first werebeasts entering the lake area from the north and the east. There were at least four of them here already. Even though the monsters came from different places, they were all heading towards a certain location.

“Damn it!” the boy nearly shouted as he started running towards the fallen girl.

He noticed the confused expression on her face. He wasn’t surprised, since he was just as confused as she was. Why was he risking his life to save someone who tried to attack him just a few minutes ago? He came to a stop before the girl, squatted and picked her up, holding her in his arms.

“W-what are you doing?!” the girl asked as she tried to wriggle out of his grasp. “Let go!”

“Just stay still, will you!” Ryuji ordered as he gave her a stern look.

The blue-haired boy then turned around and started running towards the woods west of the lake. He hadn’t sensed anything from that side yet, so he figured that this would have to be the safest path for now. Looking over his shoulder, he noticed that there were a lot of the monsters behind him now. The wolves were close and they were fast. Now that his arms were occupied, he had no way to defend himself as well.

“Let me go!”

The girl wasn’t listening and kept moving around, making it harder for him to run. Didn’t she understand that they’d never lose those creatures like this?

“I’d love to let you go, but you’d get eaten right away,” Ryuji told her as he made a sharp turn after running past a huge tree. “I know you’re suffering from mana depletion.”

Somehow the girl didn’t have a response ready, so Ryuji hoped that she had accepted his help for now. He could still hear the cries of the werebeasts behind him, but was relieved to find out that they weren’t getting any closer. He actually got some extra distance between him and the werebeast since he made that turn earlier.

“Hey you, could you open the right pocket of my jacket and get out the round object that’s in it?”

The girl gave him a confused look with wrinkled eyebrows.

“My hands are kind of occupied at the moment…”

“Ah,” the girl mumbled as she understood the boy’s question now. “…You don’t have any weird stuff in your pockets, right?”

“Get your mind out of the gutter. There are just smoke bombs inside of that pocket…”

Even though she was complaining, the ice mage did as she was asked and got the item out of the pocket of his jacket. “What are we going to do with this?”

“If my guess is correct, those werebeasts aren’t able to sense mana, so they’re solely relying on their other senses, like sight and sound.” Ryuji answered as he continued to make sharp turns while running away from the howling creatures.

“Why do you think so?” the girl asked with an interested expression on her face.

“We’ve been putting some distance between us and the werebeasts. Since I’m quite good at running without making much sound, they must be having trouble following us.” Ryuji said as he surmised his thoughts.

“…I guess that sounds plausible. So you want to throw them off by using the smoke bomb.” the girl concluded as she seemed lost in thought.

“That’s the plan. Even if some of them manage to find us, it’s not too big of a problem. I’ll be able to fight off at least a few of them.” Ryuji said as he turned to the left after moving past a huge tree. “I’ll have to concentrate for a little bit in order to make it work. This means that you’ll have to keep an eye out for the monsters.”

“Concentrate?” the girl asked as she tilted her head. “What do you mean?”

“Not everyone is able to use magic as easily as you just did, Miss. I actually have to concentrate before using a large amount of mana,” Ryuji said as he frowned. “Just throw the smoke bomb once the first werebeasts enter your sight.”

“Tsk, I’ll listen to you for this one time, since I think that you sort of gave me a compliment just now…” the girl replied as the wind caused by the boy’s running made her pigtails fly around. “What are you using your mana for?”

“I’m going to focus a large amount of my mana on my feet in order to greatly enhance my running speed.”

“Hmm, so you are using enhancement magic. That explains that weird movement you used earlier.” the girl mentioned as she held the bomb in her hand. “You press this button to activate it, right?”

“That’s right,” Ryuji answered before he started looking around. “Did you ever use one before?”

The silver-haired girl grimaced. “No, but you used one earlier…”

“Oh yeah, that’s right.” Ryuji said as he remembered their battle. “I’ll stop running now. Use the smoke bomb as soon as you think that they’re close enough.”

“Got it.”

Ryuji came to a halt in an area with low grass and a small number of trees and bushes. This location would enable the boy to escape to multiple sides if needed. He closed his eyes and started to focus a large amount of mana. As he did this, he felt his mana reserves depleting fast. He had been using quite a lot of it already during all the fighting he did today. After a few seconds a thin blue glow started to form around his feet.

“They’ll be here soon. I’m throwing it now.”

Ryuji heard what the girl in his arm whispered to him. This was soon followed by the sound of an exploding smoke bomb. Taking this as sign, the boy opened his eyes. “I’m ready. Hold on to me.”

“Ahroo!”

Hearing the cry of the nearby monster, Ryuji started running with the silver-haired girl in his arms, way faster than he did before. Even though he had told the mage about his plan, she still seemed surprised by his running speed. She was now wriggling around frantically.

“S-slow down!” he heard her scream. “I’m falling!”

“If you don’t stop moving around, I’ll indeed drop you! I told you to hold on, didn’t I?”

“I am holding on, but I never expected you to move this fast! I’ve never seen someone use enhancement magic to this extent before.” the girl mentioned as she had her eyes closed because of the strong winds hitting her face.

“Stop yelling,” Ryuji ordered as he practically flew past rows of trees. “We’re trying to escape from a pack of wolves, remember?”

The girl in his arms frowned but said nothing, understanding their dire situation.

Both of them remained silent for the following seconds as Ryuji continued to run through the woods filled with big and old trees. It looked like the werebeasts weren’t able to keep up with him, since he now had trouble sensing their mana signatures. This might have been a side-effect of him using so much mana at the same time too though. It was causing him to have a major headache. He had to stop using his enhancement magic soon though or else he would end up in the same situation as the girl in his arms.

Concluding that he had put enough distance between them and their pursuers, Ryuji stopped casting his magic and soon stopped running completely. As he took a moment to catch his breath, he looked at the girl in his arms. Her eyes were spinning. It seemed like she wasn’t used to travel at that speed. Carrying the dizzy girl in his arms, he took a look around.

They had come quite far with his enhanced sprint. He didn’t sense the mana signatures of any of the monsters around their location.

“Are you able to stand?” Ryuji asked the girl with the vivid blue eyes as he let her go.

“Of course, who do you think you’re talking to?” she replied as she stretched her arms.

“Well, I remember seeing your eyes spin just now…” Ryuji mumbled as he got his compass out of his backpack. Using the arrow in the compass to find his way, the boy started walking.

“That was just for one moment,” the girl quickly said as she followed him. “I just wasn’t expecting you to move that fast.”

Ryuji looked around as he returned his compass to his backpack. “This area looks familiar. I think we’re actually quite close to Gemstown. We’ll be out of the woods soon.”

To think that they had come so close to his destination by just running around wildly. Maybe he still had a little bit of luck at his side. A long silences ensued as Ryuji walked through the dark woods with the silver-haired mage following him.

“Hey?”

The one who broke the silence was the ice mage.

“What is it?” Ryuji replied as he continued to walk forward.

“Why did you save me back there?”

Ryuji knew the question would come eventually, but even after all this time he had no good answer ready, so he decided to be honest.

“I’m not sure myself. I guess my body moved before I knew it.”

“Ah.” Although there wasn’t much emotion in her response, it looked like she accepted his answer.

Another long silence ensued. It looked like the sun had almost set completely now, since it was starting to become very dark in the woods with the red light giving way to the darkness. Ryuji opened his backpack and got out two red apples.

“Here.” Ryuji said as he held out his hand, which was filled with one of the apples.

“What?” she asked with an innocent expression as she looked his way.

“For you.” Ryuji said as he pushed the fruit into her hands, not giving her a chance to deny his offer. He then started walking again as he took a bite out of the juicy apple. “You need to replenish your energy after using so much mana.”

“…”

“Don’t worry, I didn’t give you a poisoned apple.”

“…you.”

Ryuji turned around. “Sorry, I couldn’t hear you.”

“Thank you.”

Surprised by her words of thanks, he didn’t know how to react. She seemed so stubborn, so he never expected anything resembling gratefulness from the girl. Looking her way, he noticed that she was slightly blushing and pouting at the same time. It was kind of cute. Was she having mixed feelings?

“…You’re welcome.” were the only words Ryuji managed to get out of his mouth.

“Not just for giving me this apple, but for saving me back there as well. I would have been a goner without you.” she continued as she showed him a rather lonely smile.

Feeling kind of embarrassed, Ryuji looked away as he answered her. “It’s alright. Many people would have done the same.”

“Actually, I’m not so sure about that.” was the reply of the girl in front of him. “I’ve been traveling for quite a while now, but you’re the first person to ever help me when I was in a pinch.”

What was this strange atmosphere? She was acting completely different than before. Did she always act like this once her shields were down or was she just that tired after spending all her mana?

Both of them ate their apples quietly as it slowly became dark. Soon they weren’t able to see any light coming through the trees anymore. Keeping his guard up at any time, Ryuji continued to look around. Even though he wasn’t able to see as much as he wanted, he didn’t hear anything out of the ordinary either, so he assumed that they were still safe.

“What’s that?” the girl with the pigtails exclaimed as she starting running forward.

As Ryuji wondered what she had seen, he noticed a faint yellow light in the distance. Ryuji followed behind the girl who seemed to have regained at least some of her energy until he reached the origin of the light.

“Finally…” Ryuji mumbled as he sighed.

They had reached the exit of the forest and were standing right next to the Gemstown central road, which was flanked by several lampposts. The light coming from these lampposts enabled people to traverse these roads even during the night, something especially merchants appreciated.

Ryuji looked towards the girl next to him. She noticed his glance and gave the boy a little smile in return. “We made it.”

“We sure did,” Ryuji replied as he noticed several police officers standing at the other side of the road. “Gemstown is just around the corner now. I can’t wait to lie down on a soft bed.”

“I can’t even remember the last time I’ve slept in a bed…” the silver-haired girl next to him said as she looked towards the starts that were forming in the sky. “Camping outside isn’t that bad, but it’s nice to sleep in a bed every once in a while.”

Ryuji nodded as he knew the feeling. He then closed his eyes. Ever since he had met the girl at the lake area, something had been bugging him. He had been contemplating whether or not to put forward his thoughts, but now that they had left the forest, he decided to do it.

“So what are you going to do now?”

“Hm?”

“I’m not sure if I have this right and I don’t want to meddle,” Ryuji continued, looking her in her blue eyes. “But I think those creatures were after you back there.”

The girl in question looked away with downward eyes. “Why do you say that?”

“Back at the lake those monsters were all heading to your location, even though I was there too. They were working together as well. I don’t think they’re just a random group of werebeasts.”

“Maybe I was the easier prey, seeing how I couldn’t move and all.” the ice mage replied, still looking away from the boy.

“While that might have been true,” Ryuji continued, explaining his thought progress. “To me it looked like you were already running away from something when we met. You were looking around very nervously back then, not to mention attacking me out of nowhere as you mistook me for someone else.”

“…”

“Is there someone after you?”

“…It’s none of your business.” was the only reply he got.

Ryuji didn’t accept this as he gave her a sharp look. “It became my business when I rescued you back there.”

This made the girl look up. She had a surprised and disorientated expression on her face. Her mouth opened and closed several times, but no sound came out. In the end, she finally seemed to have come up with an answer.

“I thank you for saving me, but I don’t want to get you involved.” she started. “You saw how many of those things came after us. I don’t want to involve other people in my problems, especially someone who’s kind enough to help a total stranger. I won’t make any more trouble for you.”

“So there is something going on.” Ryuji noted.

“Geh…” the girl let out that sound, disappointed in herself for telling him too much. “Even if there is, it’s my problem. I’ll figure something out.”

Ryuji crossed his arms as he thought about what to say next. Just why was he putting in so much effort to extract information from the girl?

“Then I guess we’ll have to do something about that,” the blue-haired boy said as he walked towards the girl. He then extended his hand towards her. “It’s rather strange that we still haven’t introduced ourselves after everything that has just happened.”

“Huh?” the silver-haired girl exclaimed as she tilted her head.

“I’m Ryuji, nice to meet you.”

It took the girl a while to recover from the strange direction their discussion had taken.

“…Kairi,” she said as she shook the hand of the boy. She then looked him into his eyes with an uncertain look in her eyes. “I’m Kairi. Nice to meet you too.”

It looked like she had no idea what was going on. Ryuji then gave the girl a big smile, surprising her even more.

“Great, now we’re not strangers anymore.” Ryuji said as he let go of the girl’s hand. “From this point onwards, we’re friends.”

“Wha?” the girl exclaimed as she still didn’t understand what was going on.

Why was he going so far to help this girl? Was it because he wanted to understand what was going on with those monsters? Was it because he wanted to help a person in need? No, it was something far more basic than that.

That lonely expression. I don’t want to see it on your face anymore.

Ryuji didn’t wait for her answer and walked away from her. “Anyway, we’re both tired, so let’s head to Gemstown first. We’ll be able to think about our next step there.”

“W-wait, wait, wait!” the girl shouted. “You’re going way too fast. What did you just decide on your own? I never agreed to become your friend!”

“Ah, don’t sweat the small stuff.” Ryuji said her as he continued to walk forward.

“You do know friends aren’t made overnight, right?” Kairi told him frantically. “I don’t know why you’re trying so hard, b— “

“Then don’t show me those lonely eyes all the time!”

“What?” Kairi replied as her eyes widened.

“I know that we’ve just met and I don’t know anything about you,” Ryuji started as he looked her in her blue eyes with a serious expression. “But I do know when someone is practically screaming for someone to help them.”

“…”

It looked like Kairi had no idea how to react to these words. A few moments later, her expression turned to an angry one. “What do you know!”

“Well, I know that the feeling of loneliness if one of the worst things there is.” Ryuji said as he frowned, giving the girl a look filled with sadness. “The feeling of being all alone, the feeling of being unneeded in the world, the feeling of not minding whether you live or die.”

He could hear the girl gasp as he continued.

“I won’t let anyone feel that way!”

Ryuji’s eyes widened as he got back to reality. Usually he was pretty good at keeping his emotions in check, but he had completely lost control just now. Feeling embarrassed, he decided to look towards the girl for her reaction. The expression on Kairi’s face was a mix between shock, confusion and anger. It looked like she was debating on how to react to his words. Her expression soon softened as she sighed.

“Jeez, you really do not understand what friendship is, do you?”

“Huh?”

This time Ryuji was the one that was surprised.

“I do admit that we’re not total strangers anymore, but that doesn’t mean that you’re my friend right away,” the girl said as she started walking towards the boy. “In order for us to become friends, we’d have to spend more time together first. I don’t know anything about you.”

Ryuji tilted his head. “Does that mean?”

“I’m too tired to continue this conversation now. Let’s head to Gemstown and get some rest first. I’m hungry too.” Kairi mentioned with half-opened eyes. “In order for us to get to know each other better, maybe you can treat me to a nice meal.”

She then grinned as she patted the boy on the shoulder.

Ryuji closed his eyes and smiled softly. “You sure are one interesting girl.”

He felt the hand leave his shoulder and heard footsteps, signaling the girl walking away.

‘Thank you.’

Ryuji opened his eyes and quickly turned around. He could see the silver hair fluttering in the wind as Kairi was still walking forward, not showing any signs of having said something. Had he imaged those words? Almost getting lost in thought once again, he was brought back by the words of his new companion.

“What are you waiting for, Ryuji. Let’s go.”

As he looked her way, he could see a smile on her face as she waited for him.

See? That expression suits you much better.

“I’m coming.”