Chapter 18 A New Hope

Suzuka approached the Orc, who was covered in bruises and cuts, with a man lying beside him missing a leg and an arm. As she was running, she spotted a broadsword on the ground and quickly picked it up by the tip. With all her might, she threw the sword toward the Orc. The orc, hearing footsteps, turned to see who was approaching. As it did, the sword shot past it, slicing deeply into his side.

In pain, Orc dropped his club and hand he was chewing on, grabbed his bleeding side, and run off deep into the forest, leaving the man laying on the ground. Broadsword flew well twenty meters before it hit a tree and got stuck, splitting it. 

She walked to a man and checked on him to see how he was doing. The man had a strong build, he was tall and had some tattoos. The man was unconscious and bleeding, Suzuka slapped his face a couple of times to wake him up.

"Hey! Hey! Wake up! Don't sleep. Come on! Wake up! Stay with me! Don't die on me, come on!"

As she tried to wake him up, she pulled a shoelace and tied his arm to stop the bleeding, his leg was already tied with a fancy-looking belt, it had magic academy initials, and his leg looked like it was cut off some time ago. After feeling pain in his arm, the man woke up and started to talk:

"Ahgrrr! Hurts so much!... Can't take it!... Please help me!"

"Hey you! Try not to move so much, it's gonna get worse if you do..."

"Who in the... oh dam, this is it for me... hallucinations? I'm dead for sure now..."

Suzuka helps him up into a more comfortable position and tells him, "Hey! I'm not a hallucination, listen to me, do you have enough strength left to infuse mana into a crystal?"

"What kind of nonsense... are you talking, can't you see I am dying here?"

"Just answer the question, okay?"

"Yeah!... I think... I could manage that. I don't know... why?"

Suzuka placed her utility belt on the ground and began to check each pocket. She retrieved a healing crystal that she had taken from Alex and placed it in the man's hand. Then she said to him:

"It's a healing crystal, now hurry up and infuse your mana into it. It will heal you."

A man without any further ado uses his mana and the crystal starts to glow in green light. His arm and leg bones grow back, new flesh and skin formed in a minute, cuts and bruises healed instantly then crystal shattered. The man returned to full health and energy.

"Wow, girl! Now that's good stuff you carrying there, a healing crystal! Woohoo! People kill for stuff like that! Dam! How will I repay you for my saved life?! Are you an angel sent from heaven? I bet Melwyn Farvind himself sent you!"

Suzuka sits down on the ground and says to him. "Well no I'm not, but I'm lost... so if you could take me back to town, we could call it even. That's all I'm asking. Please tell me you know the way and you are not just another lost adventurer."

Man jumps up from the ground, checks his new arm and leg then begins to stretch while talking.

"Oh! Sorry, where are my manners, my name is Clive, well adventurer's name that is."

"My name is Suzuka, nice to meet you... but hey, you can call me Suzu for short."

"Okay! I will do... so Suzu you lost, where did you come from? Did Melwyn Farvind himself send you from heaven to save me?"

Suzuka picked her belt off the ground and stand up. After putting her belt on she answered Clive, "I'm from Woodmill town and it's far from heaven, and I told you already I'm not sent by Melwyn. Please stop joking around and tell me you know the way home."

"Oh! Well then, I am not from Woodmill myself per se, I am from Rockmine actually, but hey! Before we get into long talks let's get out of this rain. Don't worry I know the way."

"Okay, I can't agree more, so do you know any shelter around we could hide?"

Clive thinks for a minute and tells her, "Yeah, yeah I know a place alright, but it's a little bit of a walk till there. You're up for the trip good-looking?"

"Let's not waste time then, let's go. And the name is Suzuka."

They both started to walk, Clive was leading and she followed. As they walked Suzuka checked the man, his new arm had half of his old tattoo left and Suzuka asked him what it was.

"Say, Clive, only half of your tattoo left, what was it?"

Clive looks at his arm and says, "Oh, this! Eh! It's just a picture of my old clan emblem nothing important really."

"So you're gonna get it fixed then?"

The man shakes his head.

"Nah! Gonna leave it like this, something like a reminder to never let your guard down, to stay focused, and always be on guard... know what I'm saying?"

"So what happened to you, Clive?"

As he was about to answer they noticed bushes move, after a minute of observation man say, "It must be the wind, but let's keep our guards up, okay? It's really dangerous around these parts."

"I'll try, but it's hard to hear someone coming on us in this rain."

Clive wipes water from his face and hair with his hands.

"It sure is... but you don't seem to be bothered at all, walking in these leather armor... wait... wait a minute, aren't these Jennifer leather armor?"

After hearing Clive say that Suzuka stops in her track and starts to explain herself.

"I-I didn't mean to steal them, she was already dead when I found her and all my clothes were in tatters..."

With an angry voice, Clive interrupts her talking.

 "So, you figured it's fine to steal from the dead, huh? Wow, I'm amazed how low can people fall these days, even corps can't have his things. I would like to see your parents!"

"But, but I..."

Looking at Suzuka all flustered, Man starts to laugh.

 "Oh, come one beautiful! I'm just joking! Just messing with ya! You should see your face haha! You know how they say 'Anything goes when you need to survive'. And besides, it's fair game to use fallen adventurer's gear on the field. There are no written rules for that."

"Oh you butt cheek, did you really need to scare me like that? Okay, I'll remember that. So... anyway what happened to you?"

"Okay, okay don't be mad... just seeing you react like that, I couldn't resist messing with you. Well, in short, we got wiped because of some fool mage, like a day ago. If you want a long story, just ask."

"If you don't mind telling me, I would like to hear it. I have time."

 "Okay, but first we need to get to the shelter so we could hide from the rain and these nasty creatures that lurk in the shadows, it's very close now. We are almost there."

They reached Clive mentioned shelter, which was composed of a few large rocks with a roof made out of tree logs and a door made out of wood. It was camouflaged by tall grass and moss. The man inspected the area surrounding the shelter for any potential dangers before entering.

"Hay! It seems clear, you can come in now."

Suzuka carefully surveys the area before entering the shelter, ensuring that no one has followed them. Once inside, she takes a seat near the exit, so she can keep an eye on the outside while they hide. Clive pulled a sword out of the hole made in the wall and got comfortable in the back.

"Ah! My baby is still here! looks like nobody was here since I left. Good, very good."

"Did you hide your sword there?"

After Clive has done talking to his sword turns to Suzuka.

 "Oh, it's just my backup sword, I hid it here so if I lost my main one I would have a backup, which is the case. Dam Orcs, they probably run off with it or, or Goblins took it... these little shits, I swear they're just like craws if they see shining stuff they take it."

"Look, Clive, I found this sword in Orcs camp, close by where I run into you."

Man takes a good look at the sword Suzuka was holding in her hands.

 "Oh that? Yes, it was Jennifer's favorite sword, what can I say... she sure worked that sword hard over the years, just look how chipped the edges are. She sure killed many suckers with it, but I guess this time it didn't help her."

Suzuka takes a quick look. 

"Yeah, it looks kind of chipped, she must have killed a lot of monsters with it."

Clive pulls a grinding stone out of the hole where the sword was and slowly starts to sharpen his sword.

"So Suzu, this is what happened to us. We took a job from the hunters guild to clean a few Orc camps, you know how it is... good money, easy gig and since we were four adventurers and the job looked simple, we took along a fresh out-of-academy mage."

Suzuka interrupts Clive and asks him, "What was the name of the mage?"

"That little punk's mage name was Isaac, so anyway, we cleared 2 camps easily but 3rd was a disaster and we didn't even reach the castle ruins where the main goblin forces are held up."

Clive goes silent for a minute, Suzuka asks him, " Isaac? I think I heard that name somewhere before... can't remember where though, so anyway what happens next? Did you got ambushed or something?"

Clive brushes his hair with his hands.

"Oh no! That fool Isaac thought he was better than us, so he went alone leaving us behind. He wanted to get a reward for himself and when we catch up with him, he was already on his last legs barely standing, surrounded by monsters. Crying for help like a baby and begging for mercy like a little girl."

Suzuka hears the sound of cracking branches and stops Clive from talking.

"Shee! I hear something, something is moving outside."

Clive ceases speaking and shuts his eyes, attempting to listen, but the noise has vanished. A few seconds pass before he opens his eyes and approaches the exit, scanning the area. After several minutes, he spots a razor rabbit darting in the distance and releases a sigh before returning.

"It's probably only that razor rabbit, but hey! Keep an eye out there, when the rain lets down a notch, we are going out of here."

"Yeah, I would like to get home."

Clive looks at Suzuka.

"So, as for what happened next, we took a stand next to Isaac and tried to help him but that fool launched a crazy magic attack that got us all scattered around and injured."

"OH! So that's how you lost a leg?"

"Um... yeah... yeah! That fool got me with his ice magic, yeah that's right. And as the monsters were busy killing us, Isaac just runs away, leaving us to die in the mess he made."

"Wow! That Isaac guy sure is a bad person."

Clive picks up his sword and starts to sharpen it again, without making too much noise.

"Yeah! A bad person doesn't even begin to describe him. You wanna know what he say as he ran away?"

"I have a feeling you're going to tell me anyway, so yeah tell me."

"That punk said "I'm not throwing away my life in this place for scums like you all, so long loser", can you believe that?"

"I don't even know what to say, he sure is a bad guy."

Clive lets out a quiet laugh.

"So! Good looking, what's your story? I doubt such a beautiful girl come all the way here to pick a flower. I see you have a Monsterpedia, are you an adventurer like me?"

Suzuka watches the raindrops falling from the dark gray sky onto the ground and says to the man, "You want a short version of my story or a long one?"

Clive thinks for a minute then looks outside.

"Hmm... I would like a full story but it looks like the sky is clearing, so I would like to hear important parts."

"Okay, short version it is... so, I got kidnapped on my way home from school... a man named Jacob gave me Monsterpedia so I'm not an adventurer. This guy Derrick from MIS wanted to do some experiments on me in these woods. Before we got to the location he needed, we got attacked by some monsters and everyone got killed. I was the only one who survived, I think it all happen 2 days ago."

"Jacob? The 3-star earth mage Jacob? And MIS involved? That's some crazy stuff you've been caught up in."

"Yeah, it was a huge mess... but I think all of them are dead now."

"All dead? Even Jacob? Did you see the bodies? Did you take the name tags?"

"No, I didn't see all the bodies, and Jacob's body was gone too, I think the monsters took them or ate them. I didn't take their tags, why?"

 "Well, you see... name tags can be of some value... if there's a request for a missing person you can turn them in for the reward. And Jacob is a box user so you would get a reward for the information on his state. But you say you didn't see his body, so the bastard is probably alive somewhere."

"Do you know him, Clive?"

"No, just by the name, he's well-known in the hunters guild. But hey, I better check what's going on outside."

Clive approached the shelter's exit and surveyed the area, but nothing had changed. It was still raining heavily and the sky was clouded, with no signs of clearing. As he was about to turn his head away, he spotted another razor rabbit running in the same direction as the first one. As Clive gazed outside, he whispered to himself:

"Tck... not good, these dam razor rabbits running around. Lurking in the shadows."

Suzuka stops talking and then takes a quick peek outside but the rabbits are already gone.

"What happen, Clive, did you see something?"

Man goes to the back of a shelter and sits down again with his sword ready. Ignoring Suzuka's question he asks. "So, is your family rich? I mean these crystals aren't cheap to come by."

Suzuka gets confused by his sudden question and answers him after thinking for a minute.

"Well, no... I think... I mean my dad works as a city guard and my mom works at the inn as a cook. And as for crystals, I took them from Derrick and his men who kidnapped me. Why do you ask?"

Clive puts his sword on the ground and laughs it off.

"Hahaha... sorry I scared you, what I meant was, if your family is rich they would hire a search party to find you, that's all I meant."

Suzuka lets out a sigh and says to him, "Well, no search party for me then. I think we are pretty poor."

 "Oh don't let it get you down, ill take you to town safe and sound, because they call me "Cliff dweller" not for my good looks you know. But anyway, we go in 30 minutes, raining or not it's not safe to stay in one spot too long. Have some rest I'll keep a lookout."

"Say, Clive, what's with the title?"

After hearing her question Clive's face gets hit by cold sweat and after a second asks, "What... what about it? What do you mean?"

Suzuka turns to Clive, looks him in the eyes with a suspicious look on her face, and tells him, "What I mean, is... I heard some adventurers talking about titles, is it really something worth bragging about?"

Clive's facial expression changed for the better.

"Oh! You don't know what the purpose of titles is, well for now I can only say it's something useful. Now go get some rest, after we leave who knows when we get another chance to lie down? We sure as hell don't want to waste daylight, even if it's raining."

"Okay, mister cliff dweller, I really need a little nap, tell me when we go."