by V. A. Lewis
The Chimera then pulled back its other claw, loading it for an uppercut-like swing to my still downed body. I propelled myself off the ground with both hands, took a step back as I leaned out of the strike, just dodging it. Unfortunately however, I completely forgot that my legs were badly burnt.
The excruciating pain from standing up was numbed by the adrenaline, but it did not fix my wounds. So as I tried to dodge the Chimera’s next swing, all I did was stagger on the spot.
The Monster’s claw connected straight to my chest, drawing lots of blood, and was immediately followed up by another strike that knocked me prone on the ground. It pinned me on the floor with its claws, digging even deeper into my flesh.
I screamed as the Chimera snarled at me, digging further into my skin as it pressed me on the ground. Huh, didn’t know Humans could bleed that much, the casual thought crossed my mind.
To be honest, I did not really care if I died. I’ve already died once to some stupid jerk fake god for some stupid jerk fake reason, so dying to some monster wouldn’t make much of a difference to me. My life in this world never once mattered to me.
And yet, if I did die, I knew that my mom would get really sad, and I didn't want that; I didn't want my mom to blame herself for my death, thinking that I could have survived if she didn't refuse to teach me magic a couple months ago. So, gathering all my strength, I attempted to lift my right arm up.
I may not have learned magic, but I did learn how to use mana tools, and I was going to put everything I learned to survive. The Chimera saw me move my arm, saw how I was struggling to even lift my hand, let alone the gun held in it. It was quite clearly intelligent, since it quite clearly taunted Adrian earlier, and was doing the same thing now to me with what appeared to be a smile— a terrifying and toothy smile— as it seemingly took pleasure in his suffering.
Smarter than I thought.
Slowly, I began to grab the mana inside the gun as I lifted it up. The Chimera already knew that mana bullets wouldn’t be able to kill it, so it simply just pressed harder into my chest to inflict more pain. The pain seemed to give me the necessary push to jerk my arm up and towards the Chimera.
But…
Thinking that I was going to shoot it again, it decided that it had enough fun hurting me, and moved its maw forward towards my head to finish me off. At the same time, powered only by adrenaline, I moved the pistol towards the Chimera’s open mouth.
With all of my remaining strength, I shoved the gun straight inside of it, while I simultaneously felt myself shoving all of the mana inside the gun’s mana crystal at once. The Chimera immediately jerked back and closed its mouth, but it was already too late.
The gun was inside the Monster, and its mana crystal was overloaded. Less than a split second after I let go of the weapon, an explosion blew me 20 feet away from where I was lying.
I saw my right arm flying far past me as my limp body slid to a stop on the hard dirt. The rest of me managed to remain intact, only because the Chimera’s massive claws that pinned me down ended up protecting me from the explosion.
The Chimera however, wasn’t so lucky. Its head exploded into a thousand pieces, and its two front legs were blown off its body. It was, for all intents and purposes, dead.
I stared at the dead Chimera, and managed to curl my lips up into what I hoped was a smirk. Darkness began to fill my vision, and I barely managed to get out a final thought.
Still a stupid dumb idiot.
Chapter 6: Leaving
Aria was not the type of woman to be nervous around men.
As much as she looked like one, she was not a damsel who had had no experience with love. On the contrary, Aria has had multiple romantic experiences throughout her life— experiences that were not limited to Human men. And yet, in front of Walden, Aria could feel her heart pounding hard in her chest.
She was not attracted to the middle aged man in any way. In fact, it was quite the opposite— she was afraid of him. He seemed docile and harmless, which was generally true if you only took into account his physical capabilities. He was even shorter than Aria, which made him a lot less intimidating considering she was close to the average height for most young women.
And even if Walden stood tall, with an imposing, broad shouldered figure and tree trunk sized arms, Aria would not have been afraid of him any more than she currently was. Because what she feared was not the man himself, rather it was the knowledge that he held.
Walden was the only person in Villamcreek to have traveled far outside the village, even studying in Rem’s Capital City of Remheart. The man only returned to Villamcreek a few years before Aria settled down in the village, and would have heard of Aria’s real identity in his time in the outside world.
Aria had a unique appearance which most Humans did not have. She had black hair and silver eyes— both of which were rare traits among Humans— who tended to have colorful hair and eyes. Coupled with the fact that she had not aged a single year in the last decade, it would not take a genius to realize her true identity if they knew of it.
Fortunately for her, most of the villagers were barely literate, and had little experience with modern technology that could have informed them of her true identity, or allowed them to inform the Church of her presence in Villamcreek. As such, she never bothered to disguise herself with magic— considering it would have taken a large ritual to even subtly alter one’s face.
Furthermore, the only man who could know who she was has never questioned her. So why should she have mastered magic she was not sure even existed, considering her identity was safe. That was what she thought until the night before.
Now, Aria was afraid. She feared that Walden figured her out, and used a message tool to contact either the Mercenaries guild or even the Holy Xan Empire. If he did that, it won’t be long before Inquisitors came for life, and Aria knew that if that happened, she could not protect her Melas forever. With that in mind, the mother and daughter decided together to leave Villamcreek for good.
They wanted to make a quiet getaway at night, whilst keeping up the illusion of normalcy during the day. But suddenly, Walden stopped her when she was in the village, and asked to speak with her in private. Did he figure out their plan to leave?
If he did, he would likely try to make some excuse to keep them here for as long as possible. Whatever it was, Aria knew she needed to respond delicately to ensure she did not get caught in a trap.
The two of them finally arrived at Walden’s house, and entered through the front door. They sat across from each other, at a small round table in the center of the room.
"Sorry for troubling you, Aria. I know you’re very busy, but I just needed to speak with you in private," said Walden, as he picked up a pot and poured himself a drink. "Would you like some tea?"
"I am fine, Walden. And no, it is no trouble at all. What would you like to speak about?" Aria inquired politely, gently refusing his offer out of fear of poison or any other concoctions he could have put in it. The young woman was certain regular poison would not have worked on her, but she just had to err on the side of caution.
"Very well, then." Walden took a sip from the cup for a moment, before continuing. "I was hoping to speak with you about your daughter."
"My daughter? Did something happen to Melas?" asked Aria, worry filling her voice.
"No, no. It is quite the opposite actually."
"The opposite?" Aria raised an eyebrow in response to his ambiguity. "Could you elaborate, please?"
"Yes. You see, Melas has shown herself to be an incredibly bright and diligent girl during my lessons. She learns quickly, and she always asks questions if she’s unsure of anything."
Walden paused for a moment to take a sip from the tea, before continuing.
"I have not seen a child as gifted as her in all my life. Not me when I was her age, and not Adrian, who’s shown to be quite intelligent as well. Even during my time in Remheart, I have never met a child like her. She is special."
Aria felt herself smiling upon hearing that. She knew that Melas was special. Of course, every mother believed that her child was special. But Melas was truly unique. There was no arguing against it.
It only took Melas an hour to learn how to use a mana crystal, an endeavor which would take most teenagers and young adults weeks or even months to do. Even Aria, who already knew how to manipulate mana from her magic, took a full day to understand how mana tools differed from spellcasting, before using one for the first time. So hearing someone else acknowledge that fact filled the mother with pride. Her good mood however, was cut short by what Walden had to say next.
"I have spoken with the others, and they agreed with me. That is why we have pooled together our money, and would like to offer you a chance to send your daughter to reach her full potential, like the village did for me. We would like to send her to Remheart."
Aria’s didn’t blink. She didn’t visibly react. But she felt her heart stop for what felt like a full minute. The Capital? If someone found out that Melas was her daughter, she would surely be killed!
The Rem Republic tried to stay neutral as a country that mostly dealt in trade. Yet, they still had their obligations to one of their biggest trading partners— the Holy Xan Empire. Perhaps Rem itself would only throw Melas into a prison cell for her relation to Aria. But the Church would surely demand to take her, and Rem would not face any consequences if they obeyed.
And if they took Melas to Soli… Aria felt her lips quiver as the scenarios played out in her head. They would crucify her, hang her, then burn her at the stake.
And yet, Walden was right. Melas was gifted, talented, and full of potential. She deserved the opportunity to fully realize that. But Aria knew that her daughter would not want to do that if it meant separating from her. That left Aria between a rock and a hard place, and Walden seemed to notice.
"Don’t worry, Aria. I know you’re worried about the idea of your daughter living alone, but I wouldn’t have brought it up if I didn’t genuinely believe that Melas could handle herself. I also have friends there who could help her. However, the decision comes down to what you and Melas think. Discuss it with her and consider it. Take a few days if you must."
Walden gave Aria a sincere, reassuring smile that extended to the crows feet by his eyes. Aria was about to respond in kind, before she was interrupted by a young boy who burst in through the door.
"Is something the matter?"
"What’s wrong?"
"Ms Aria! Melas and Adrian were attacked!"
Aria’s eyes widened upon hearing that. She did not wait for the boy to explain what happened, instead making him lead them to her daughter.
It was a quick run. It took no more than ten minutes before they arrived at the scene, but there was already a crowd gathered.
Aria and Walden pushed their way through the crowd to see what happened, and what they saw was horrible.
To Aria’s left, laid Adrian who was bleeding from a deep gash on his chest. He was barely conscious, listening to his parents who were holding him and trying to keep him awake.
To her right, laid the bloodied and mangled body of what looked to be a large lion. It was missing its head and mane, which seemed to have exploded, and it’s two front legs were lying a few feet beyond the rest of its body.
And finally, to Aria’s front, was the body of a girl. Her face was heavily disfigured from a mana explosion, and she was losing a lot of blood from a large wound buried on her chest. Her legs were covered in severe burns that went up to her inner thighs, and her right arm laid detached from the rest of her body a dozen feet behind her.
As Aria took in this image, she let out only one shaky word.
"Melas..."
***
I’m alive.
I tried opening one eye, only for it to promptly clamp shut due to the sudden influx of light.
How the heck am I alive?!
I was pretty sure I died. Everything went dark, and I was bleeding from literally everywhere. I mean, I was missing my right arm for God’s sake!
I felt my right arm twitch as I had that thought. Um, what? Slowly, I tried to clench my right hand. It still felt very numb, but it did clench, though just barely. Definitely there. But how?
Whatever happened to me had to be nothing short of a miracle; my entire body was numb, but it was all still in one piece, which made the numbness feel like nothing in comparison. Carefully this time, I tried to open my eyes once again.
It took me a moment to adjust to being able to see once again. But eventually I managed to find my bearings, and was met with the familiar view of my bedroom when I looked around. Was what happened a dream? Did I imagine everything that happened? It looks only to be around noon, so maybe?
I tried to sit up, and felt a sharp pain coming from my ribs. I made a soft whimpering sound at that, immediately laying back down; the noise seemed to have attracted my mom’s attention, as she came rushing in with a worried look on her face.
"M-mommy?" I asked, still slightly bewildered.
"Melas, you’re awake. How are you feeling, my dear?" my mom cooed in such a gentle voice, the numbing sensation all over my body was immediately soothed over.
"I’m… alive?"
I was not even sure if that was meant to be a question or statement, because I was both glad for, and confused about, the fact that I was still alive. My mom let out a breath I didn’t even know she was holding, walked over to me, and kneeled by my bed.
"Yes, dear. Yes you are." She said, delicately stroking my hair.
It felt so good to be pampered like this, especially after what happened. I let it happen for the next ten minutes, savoring every single second of it, before I decided to finally break the silence.
"What happened, mom?"
My mom continued caressing me for a few more moments. Staring at me intently, and with a relieved heart. Before she finally responded.
"You were dying. You lost so much blood, and you were barely breathing when I got to you. I had to use magic to keep you alive" Aria said, bringing her hands down from my head to my hand. Gripping it gently, she continued.
"I needed to keep you alive long enough to get you my healing potions. I used one to reattach your arm and heal your face, and the other to close up your chest. There wasn’t enough for your legs, so you won’t be able to walk for a while. The healing paste will take a bit to heal burns that severe, but it will heal the rest of your wounds by tonight. Your healed skin will be sensitive for a while too, so just rest now."
"H-healing potions? Wh— huh?!"
Healing potions were expensive. The cheapest ones must cost at least five gold coins, and the better ones were probably more than ten times that; I knew that my mom could make healing potions, but to have two on hand?
I immediately felt guilty for my reckless abandon. I should’ve run away, got help from the village, instead of trying to save Adrian by myself. But instead, I nearly got myself killed, and wasted two whole healing potions. My mom however, did not share my concern, and began reassuring me instead.
"Do not worry, my dear. You are alive, and that is all that matters. Items like healing potions are meant to be used, that is where their value comes from. They would have no worth if they are simply kept and stored. And even if they did, they mean nothing to me compared to your safety and happiness."
Parting my bangs with one hand, she stood up and leaned over to my face. My mom lightly pressed her lips on my forehead for a kiss, gently holding it there for a moment. Then she slowly pulled back, and meeting my eyes, she smiled.
"I am so glad. I was so worried."
It was a simple statement; words that meant one thing and only thing only. And yet, when I heard that, I felt my chest grow warm. My lips naturally curled into a smile, and I simply stared back at her.
"How long have I been asleep?" I asked, not looking away from my mother.
"A day," she replied.
"I see. And Adrian?"
"He
is fine. His injuries are much less severe than yours. It would not have been fatal as long as we covered the wound. And with the healing paste, he should recover in a few days. But I did promise his parents that I would check up on him after you woke up."
"And you’re not in trouble, right?"
"In trouble?"
"For using magic."
"Ah,"— Aria slowly lowered herself to sit back down— "no, I am not."
I attempted to tilt my head questioningly, though with how stiff and numb my entire body was, I was not sure if my message was even conveyed. In the end, I went with the tried and true method of— wait for it— speaking. And somehow, this mysterious technique of verbal communication somehow worked!
"Why not?"
"Because no one saw me. I sent everyone away once I reached you, and carried you back by myself. It is fine, Melas. We are safe."
"But what about—"
My mom must have guessed what I was going to ask, as she quickly interrupted me. "We can wait a few days, dear. You are in no condition to be traveling, and I have something I need to discuss with you."
"Something to discuss with me? Is it that important?"
"Yes. But we will talk about it once you recover. For now, just rest ok?"
Something important to talk to me about? I did not know what could be important enough to be an issue with leaving the village. But my mom must have been tired from worrying about me since yesterday, so I chose not to pursue the matter.
"Ok," I said, acquiescing.
"Thank you," said my mom.
She seemed pleased to hear me relent; she quickly looked over her shoulder out the window, before turning back to me. She hesitated for a second before opening her mouth to speak.
"Melas, dear. Would you be fine if I left you alone for a bit? Just to check on Adrian. I promise that no matter what happens, I will be back before you know it."