That Lucky Jerk (On Hold)

Chapter 8: Encountering an Adventurer

"Oh, a wild adventurer has appeared." Eric commented in a whisper as he pulled Fiva into the bush the he was currently hiding in. Though as he pulled her, he had to wince at the pain from all of the scratches that he was covered with from the night before where the girl had attacked him for no reason at all in his opinion.

"And why are we bothering with this?" Fiva asked, apparently not appreciating being suddenly pulled into the bush as they both now watched what appeared to be a new adventurer facing off against a kobold in the clearing in front of them.

"Because I think that it's interesting." Eric snickered before the adventurer attempted to cut the kobold with a short sword but missed. "Adventurer used slash. Adventurer's attack missed!"

"Please, if we're going to stay here, then at least don't comment." Fiva sighed.

"Aw, you're no fun." Eric pouted before the kobold somehow managed to get to the side of the rookie adventurer and hit the man upside the head with the club that it had. And while kobolds were weak creatures and were normally not seen as very much of a threat, this one appeared to be the adventurer's match as the man went down as soon as he was hit and the monster started shouting for its victory.

"I've never seen someone else other than me that's so terrible!" Eric commented excitedly as he watched, though the scene didn't last for long as the kobold finished reveling in its victory and raised its club to finish the adventurer off. However, just before it was able to kill the adventurer, Fiva suddenly rocketed out of the bushes and crossed the clearing in the blink of an eye before she tackled the small creature and began wrestling with it.

"Wow, you're so nice, Fiva!" Eric clapped happily as he got out of the bushes and walked into the clearing as well.

"Stop clapping and help!" Fiva yelled at him, and Eric began looking around the clearing for something that he could do before he lifted the downed adventurer's short sword and attempted to stab the kobold in the back. However, rather than piercing through the monster's skin, the blade became awkward in his hands and slipped to the side of the creature. "Eric!"

"You're the strong person, so you do it." Eric harrumphed as he threw the weapon down at the side of the conflict, and Fiva immediately kicked away from the monster before grabbing it and slashing forward, removing the kobolds head in one easy swing before the defeated monster disappeared in a puff of smoke and several crude copper coins fell through the air in its place.

"You're too weak!" Fiva immediately accused Eric after defeating the monster.

"Hey, I'm amazing. You're the one that's crazy and just starts attacking monsters for no good reason." Eric countered.

"No good reason? This adventurer was about to die." Fiva ruined her normal monotone to sound angry at him.

"We're not the ones that made this guy come out here." Eric replied while getting slightly irritated himself. "A lot of adventurers die every day, not because we didn't help them, but because they accept dangerous contracts that we can't possibly save them all from. And before you get mad at me, you should realized that I couldn't even help you just now, much less these suicidal idiots."

"So you would have just let him die if you'd been alone?" Fiva asked.

"What else could I have done? I'm both weak and a coward, so running away is obviously the best option!" Eric declared.

"I've... never heard someone sound so proud about those qualities before..." She replied in a shocked tone.

"Ha! Don't underestimate me!" Eric laughed in reply before moving over to the unconscious adventurer.

"What are you doing?" Fiva asked as she walked beside him.

"I'm helping this guy out." Eric replied as he dug through the adventurer's satchel that was at the man's hip. "After all, having any coins or valuable items is dangerous seeing as there are monsters and bandits roaming through these woods. He'll get robbed if he has anything on him."

"Says the bandit currently robbing him." Fiva stated with distaste.

"It's all a matter of perspective!" Eric laughed as he withdrew a few potions and a small bag of coins. "But now that we've got this, let's go before he wakes up!"

"Not so fast." Fiva replied before pointing the short sword at him now. "The potions. Leave them here."

"Huh? Why would I do that?" Eric asked curiously.

"He might need them." Fiva answered.

"We might need them too." He countered.

"Leave at least one." She persisted. "And then help me lift him onto a tree branch so that he doesn't get eaten by scavengers."

"You are the worst slave ever." Eric harrumphed at her before he reluctantly gave one of the potions back, but afterwards, he could only watch Fiva lift the man onto a nearby tree branch seeing as he couldn't hardly move the heavy man at all. Though after watching, he couldn't help but notice something.

"Why aren't you taking his sword?" Eric asked as he watched her return it to its sheath on the man's hip. "You should have a weapon, shouldn't you? I mean, otherwise we're defenceless."

"You took his coins, but I'll not steal this man's means of providing for himself." Fiva replied with her normal monotone.

"Just leave him the kobold's club." Eric shrugged. "You saw how he fared against it, didn't you? Maybe after being knocked out cold and being robbed, the guy will come to his senses and try a different profession that wont get him killed."

"Or maybe he'll be defenseless when he's forced to come out here again." Fiva countered. 

"And then he'll be killed because he has the false confidence that the sword gives him." Eric persisted. "Trust me when I say that you're not doing him any favors by doing this."

"I'm not trusting you, on this or anything else for that matter." She replied. "I was a little confused by the way you acted last night, but in the end, it turns out that you're just a bandit."

"The best bandit in the world, mind you." He corrected her.

"You don't get by with your own skill, so you can't call yourself the best." She replied. "Tell me, have you ever worked towards anything? Anything at all?"

"I've worked towards being the luckiest guy alive, that counts, right?" Eric asked. "And its worked wonders until everything was taken from me by the people I hate the most."

"You don't sound very angry about that, nor does that sound very lucky." Fiva slightly smirked at him.

"You're... absolutely right..." Eric suddenly felt as if his world was crumbling around him as he realized what she was saying. After all, he'd had good luck ever since he started putting points into the stat, so why was everything taken from him? How had his luck failed him?!

"Counting on luck to solve all of your problems is foolish, though then again, your intelligence is at one." Fiva stated as she began to walk away.

"It's not foolish! There has to be a reason that my luck failed! Nothing bad has ever happened to me like that before, honest!" Eric attempted to explain himself as he ran to catch up to her.

"Excuses." Fiva stated before ignoring him completely, leaving Eric to mope by himself as they continued their journey through the woods.