Reincarnation: Origins

Chapter 15: Saved

Chell shrieked in surprise as she dodged another attack from the wet, roiling mass that roared before them. 

"Flow of Justice!" Lune shouted from the side as a burning mist enveloped his form, from the top of his head to the tip of his axe. He swung his axe wildly before striking the Slime King. The moment the slime came in contact with the axe, it exploded. Globs of slime matter splattered in what Lucien strictly believed to be a mile-wide radius. 

Tatheo wiped away the liquid from his face, swinging the hand downwards to fling the substance off with a splat. It was the third one they'd run into in the span of half an hour. Lucien had sat off to the side as they had worked, intending to hop into the next battle to level up.

He had spent all night explaining to his team about his uncanny ability to see stats and level up. Tatheo had snorted that they could all level up. It was just the way things were. The ability to see stats, on the other hand, was what was weird.

He'd admit, they had been making their way through what they believed was a forest for a couple of hours now. Food was not an issue for Lucien could tell what plants were poisonous and what weren't. The equine drakes had feasted on just about anything and everything they could get their claws and teeth on.

"Is this normal." Lucien broke the silence with a question.

"Is what normal?" Lune asked picking up pieces of armor and trinkets the slime had dropped after taking its last breath. Dissatisfied with what he saw, he kicked them aside with a huff.

"Not that i'm complaining, but the amount of slimes we've run into."

"Oh. Good point." Chell interjected. "it's still within the range of expected mons to encounter in the area"

"So...nothing unusual?"

"Nope. Nothing"

Another bubbling roar shook the birds from their roosts in the trees. With a sigh, Lucien readied his hands to take on slime #4

-------------

"So you just let them leave like that?" a voice sneered, laced with anger sharp enough to carve mountains. 

It was Rurik after having discovered the absence of Lucien and other recruits that had joined at the same time. Masha sighed and sunk into her leader's seat, blinking out faux exhaustion from her eyes. 

"Rurik, please. I know what I'm doing."

"So tell me. What. Are. Your. Plans." He hissed viciously. 

Masha's head snapped up to meet Rurik's angry stare. "My plans? oh, no, no, no."

She chuckled wistfully, "between the agreement with other guild leaders, the emperor, and the One, I had no control over interrupting Lucien's plans."

Rurik's anger dissolved, replaced by a grim front equally as sincere. 

"I guess if He decides something, all we can do is let him." He sighed.

Masha took on a faraway look in her eyes. "If only I hadn't overstepped my boundaries."

Now If only she had listened, bowed her head, and forgot everything she had seen, the world would have been much more different than it was right then.

-----

It was a disaster. Lucien lay knocked out cold, bark-y skin paler than usual, as Lune one-handedly fought of the onslaught of arrows coming from hidden bows. He had sharp eyes but it was only a matter of time before he'd get overwhelmed. 

Sheets after sheets of arrows blocked out the sun in a quivering mass before raining down above them, skewering and splitting branches. This was Tatheo's forte. defence. He had, easily, conjured up a mana bubble to shield them. Its strength was arguably stronger than Filomena's, and nearly up to par with Masha. 

He leapt down the pit Lucien had fallen and passed out in, hoisted him over one shoulder, and jumped out. The occasional arrow would pierce the wide, arching mana bubble, but Lune would easily knock it away. With each crack, Tatheo would grunt, a fine sheet of sweat pasting his already short hair to his forehead. 

"Next time, listen to me!" Lune gasped as he knocked another arrow aside. They had wandered a little too close to a hostile, and highly defensive species of forest elf [Rainforest elf]. They were an invasive species, not meant to be this far up north. Simply too cold. Without warning, a cloud of purple gas had sweapt over them. 

Whereas Lune, Chell, and Tatheo had resistance to it, Lucien was especially susceptible. He hadn't felt it at the time until he had prepared to leap over the pit as they fled from the angry elves. He fell, knocked out cold and even snoring. 

"We have to get out of here. Anyone got any spells!" Tatheo panted. 

"Do I look like a mage to you?!" Chell yelled, somehow finding the breath to do so. 

"argh, forget it." Lune interrupted, his body pulsed a blue light with each 'attack'. At his umpteeth move, he collected his strength and focused it on his axe "Eye of the Dragon!"

Almost like his previous attack, his axe glowed with a dusty blue before a torrent of pure energy shot out from it, roaring and scorching through the trees at their attackers. With a 'hmph' of approval, Lune turned around and sprinted to catch up to Tatheo and Chell. 

Several more "Eye of the Dragon"s were used before they managed to successfully flee the forest, leaving pure destruction in their wake.

They caught their breaths in a nearby field, glad that the elves had given up  once they crossed the tree line

"One question." Tatheo tentatively pulled down the shield. "How do we make sure he's okay"

"Sleep is one of my specialty."

"I bet. To make sure your victims are comfortable, huh?" Tatheo's voice had a slightly dark sting to it.

Chell gave him a sideways glance before brushing past him to the snoring Lucien. She placed a palm against his forehead, muttering some incantation beneath her breath. Her hand glowed a healthy purple as her pupils slitted even further than they already were.

In a matter of minutes, she stood up, dusted away nonexistent dust from her knees, and turned to her anxious team mates. 

"It's unusual, yes, but i can't detect anything wrong. He should wake up when he feels like it."

"I guess we can camp here for the night." Lune gave words to what they were all hoping in their minds.

Sorry about the mega-late update, writers block and getting super lazy...

grammar corrections are welcome...i'd like to hear your guesses on what's to come (it'll help me brainstorm >.>)