Back and forth, the two trade blows, seemingly crushing the very land beneath them with every swing! These two outrageously strong! The impact of steel clashing rings out every attempt they make at the other’s life! In comparison to everything else I’ve seen Mange do up to thus point, this is on a completely different scale! He’s using abilities I’ve never seen before just to counter each strike and survive! I… I need to help him somehow! Unfortunately, amongst the Heroes and the endless guard army that I’ve slain today, I’ve only gained one level, placing me at level 10! I’m no match in this farce!

I keep my distance, trying to stay outside of Semarius’ line of sight. I inch my way around until I’m behind Semarius. I wave to Mange, then gesture like I’m stabbing my neck. Mange stands back from Semarius. “Semarius! Ya seem ta have gotten stronger! Got any tips fer an old Jackal?!” Semarius connects the two swords together, forming a bow. “Stop relying on others.” Semarius says as he summons an arrow of light with his bow. He quickly turns towards me, shooting the arrow! I raise my shield, taking the strike head-on! This force! It’s more than anything I’ve ever felt! My legs won’t hold! I tilt my body, guiding the arrow upward! The arrow launches from my shield info the sky!

I can hardly believe I managed to survive that! Such power! Mange survived two of these?! I look back at Semarius to see he already has another arrow prepared to fire! There’s no way I’ll survive a second shot! Mange throws an empty bottle at Semarius, shattering against Semarius’ head. Semarius hardly seems phased by the attack, but he turns and looks back to Mange. Before either of us even seen a movement, Mange was plummeting from the sky like a meteor! The ground shatters in a blazing inferno! Dust and wind whips up as a massive dust storm following the attack! As the dust clouds the area, I stand prepared to defend!

I can’t see anything in this cloudy hell! Mange shoots through the dust, leaving me no time to react! He grabs me and carries me away from the area! Running quickly, we escape the dust storm and flee from the town! Despite everything that had taken place, the majority of the damage was limited to the area Mange and Semarius had been battling! We get back to the sunflower path. Mange slows down and begins to crawl as he drags himself and me into the sunflowers. He drops me and falls to the ground. Panting heavily, I raise my arm to open my panel, but Mange grabs my arm, holding it down. “D-don’t ya d-dare open yer p-panel!”

Mange rolls over, laying on his back. His health must be very low, but he won’t let me check! There’s a shuffling sound deeper in the flowers! I stay crouched, but I stand prepared! As they get closer to us, I ready myself to attack! Just before I swing my blade, Ire steps out from the sunflowers! I exhale in relief! I look closer at Ire to see he’s holding a bottle. He sits it on the ground, then runs off. I pick up the bottle and raise it up to my eyes. The light provided by my eyes shines om the bottle. It’s a healing potion! Fivi, you life saver! I grab Mange’s head. He’s still breathing heavily, as though he can’t catch his breath. I open the potion, then I hold Mange’s bottom jaw with one hand while pouring the potion down his throat with the other.

Mange coughs and hacks as the healing liquids slide down his throat. After a moment, Mange’s breathing calms down. He looks up at me. With a weakened tone, he manages to say “Thank ye, Laoch…” before passing out. I sit down next to him. We can’t stay here, but without knowing where the enemy is, we can’t really escape, either. I lift Mange up onto my shoulders and try to make my way through the sunflowers. The darkness of the night is making it difficult to know where I’m going. The ruffling of the flowers as I walk sounds so loud when I’m trying to be stealthy! I have to get onto the path.

I make my way to the edge of the sunflower garden and step out. I bump against something as I exit the sunflowers. I look up and my bones go flush! Staring death in the face, Semarius looks down at me with his arms crossed. Right now, I’m too nervous to move! It feels like any action I take will result in death! I stand still, holding Mange on my back. “You stood against me despite such a power split. Why is that?” Semarius says in a commanding tone. I look up at him nervously. I can’t talk, so I hope he understands that I’m in no position to fight.

Semarius kneels down to me. “To choose to defend people you have nothing to do with, and to protect your companion from an enemy you had no chance against. Those are the traits of a true Hero.” Semarius stares at me for a long moment. I still can’t bring myself to move. Semarius turns and walks away. “No one died, including your dragon friend since my kill counter didn’t raise. I’ll let you escape this time.” Semarius glances back at me. “When Mange wakes up, tell him Malachai is out for blood. If we cross under the same circumstances, he will die.”

As Semarius disappears into the darkness, I feel a cool wave of relief wave over me as I fall to the ground, no longer able to hold my body up. I lay on the ground for a minute before picking Mange back up and making my way from the town’s outskirts. Thinking on this whole situation, I realize just how weak I really am. I can’t keep relying on luck. Tomorrow, I need to start dedicating myself to becoming stronger. Not just for myself, but for those relying on me to protect them. Luck won’t always be on my side. Partway through walking back, Mange starts moving around. “Ya saved me back there…” Mange whispers to me. “I shoulda been trainin’ this whole time… Mange the Furious… I’m a joke now…”

I Feel for Mange, I really do. However, this sorry attitude isn’t going to help us right now! I throw him off of my back, letting him hit the ground with his full weight! Mange coughs as dust blows up from the impact. “The hell was that fer?!” I pound my chest with my fist! Pride, Mange! You need to feel it again! Mange lays on the ground, looking up to the treetops. “I’m not… as strong as I seem…” I roll my eyes, then kick dirt in Mange’s face! Mange scrambles to his feet and furiously points at me while getting in my face! “Alright, yer askin’ ta get beat!” I take my sword off and hold it up to Mange, as if to tell him to take it!

Mange takes the sword and looks at me with a confused look. “What’re ya doin’?” I slam my fist against my chest, then flex my arms! Mange looks back down at my sword. “Yer sayin’ we gotta get stronger?” I wave my hand between the two of us. “Together…” Mange snorts and bursts into laughter. “Ha ha ha ha! Ya know what? Yer right! Let’s get back ta the others ta discuss a plan!” Mange spent the next hour telling me different ways to grow levels and places that could help us gain extra points of power. From how he was talking before, he seems quite excited now. This Mange feels much more natural than the other.

We make our way up the path to enter the farming valley. The sky is coated in stars beautifully. Stepping over the hill, we see the farms full of crops under the moonlight. Such a peaceful feeling. It’s much needed after the chaos we had just endured. Looking over the fields, I see that Roman’s field is empty, and we can see straight to his home without anything blocking it. What a strange time to harvest crops… Mange and I work our way around the fields and make our way back to Roman’s home. As we step into a visible distance, the leader runs over to me. Looking closely at him, I see he has a level over his head! He successfully became a Hero!

“Laoch! Mange! You’ve returned!” Fivi and the Feline follow soon after. The Feline also has a level! The leader grabs me, shaking me in excitement! “Laoch! Look! I’ve a level! I have finally achieve Heroism!” The leader releases me, then lifts his shirt, revealing a massive scar over his side. “Well, it came at a cost, but this is minimal for such fortuity!” Mange grabs the leader and the Feline by the shoulder. “Ha ha ha ha! Good job, dragon boy an’ cat boy! Ya did good back there!” Mange grabs their wrists, raising them and opening their panels. “Lessee what classes ya picked!”

The leader’s panel says “Level 1 Draconic Paladin” and the Feline’s says “Level 1 Fire Mage.” The leader looks at it. “They had only provided me with one class selection.” Mange’s eyes widen as he sees the leader’s class. Mange lowers the leader’s wrist. “Ya got a good class, but ya better hide it well. Church a’ the Nine won’t take it well seein’ a monster paladin.” Mange turns to the Feline. “Yer class suits ya well! Well done!” The sound of a cart rolling around breaks the moment. A large merchant cart rolls out, towed by two large horses. Roman is sitting on the seat guiding the horses forward.

“Oi! Old man! Ya get th’ wagon all ready fer us?” Mange shouts to Roman. “Now, you know these old horses won’t listen to anyone other than me.” Roman replies. Mange jogs over to the cart. “Hold on, old man! What’re ya doin’? Yer jus’ gonna up and leave yer farm with us?” Roman chuckles a little. “It’s no problem. I didn’t have the money to pay my rent, anyway.” Mange looks back at the leader. “Well, how’s it sound? Ya already got th’ three new humans and Lilac. What’s one more?” The leader looks around at the other monsters. They don’t seem too opposed by it. The leader turns back to Mange with a smile. “I suppose it will benefit to have a human who knows how to farm.”

Mange slaps the leader on the back. “Ha ha ha ha! That’s th’ spirit!” As the monsters begin placing all their belongings into the cart, Lilac and the three other humans exit the house. The three we had saved appear to have changed out of their imprisonment clothing into more natural attire. Robert is wearing a red shirt with brown pants, whereas Gibson is now in a matching outfit, but wearing a blue shirt. Jabari is wearing a much softer-looking blue shirt that seems slightly longer on her than the others along with some black pants. Lilac rushes over, quickly pouncing onto Mange, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Mange! You’ve returned!”

Mange has a straight face as he grabs Lilac, setting her on the ground. “Ya know, I had an unusual encounter when we were in th’ town.” Mange looks at Lilac with a serious expression. “Any idea why Semarius was there?” Lilac puts her hand to her chest with a nervous look. “W-what? There was no reason for one of the nine to be there!” Mange turns his back to Lilac. “Yeah… That’s what I was thinkin’…” Mange walks away from Lilac. “Alright! Th’ humans that ain’t Heroes and young’uns can ride in th’ cart! Th’ rest of us better get movin’!” Lilac looks sad as she holds her chest. I think… Mange is blaming her for this. I’m not sure how to take this situation, myself. Maybe… she did alert them we were coming? I can only hope not…

From here on, the monster Heroes in our group need to get stronger! We can’t keep relying on Mange to cover for us every time a situation gets difficult! It’s time for us to step up and become our own Heroes! Tomorrow will be the first time since becoming a full party that we actually train!