When they thought they were finally safe, Leo and his party stopped running. They were panting, holding their knees as they tried to catch their breath.
"Seems like we're safe now," Niya said.
"Have you lost it already, Leo?" Gregory asked in a mad tone, clenching his hand into a fist, ready to punch their leader. "Why did you do that? She's our healer. How could you leave her behind?"
"Why do you ask me? Don't tell me you've fallen for her already?" Leo replied, unconcerned. "If you want to punch me, then do it, but don't forget you were the one who ran first. You're just acting tough, but you're also a coward."
"You!" Gregory raised his fist. "You're pissing me off, uh."
"Just stop fighting, guys. What are you, kids? We're teammates, we're supposed to help each other. It was just right to save ourselves first. Besides, if that woman was really strong, then she would have made it out alive with us and she's worthy to be in our team, but if she's not, then there's nothing we can do about it. We don't have to worry about her since no one else saw what happened," Celia said.
"There was someone else," Shin muttered.
"You saying something?" Leo asked.
"There was someone else. I saw it," Shin said.
"And who would that be? Who's foolish enough to face that monster?" Leo asked.
"Dunno."
"What should we do now? What if they report us?" Niya asked in a worried tone.
"Nothing to worry about. With that monster, I'm sure they are both dead," Celia said. "We should go back to the palace for now. The king has summoned us for reevaluation."
***
"Where are we heading, Master?" Bernadette asked, still following Ethan.
"Do you really want to follow me?" Ethan asked. "If you want to, then I'd appreciate it if you can keep quiet. No more questions."
"Got it, Master. Forgive me." Without saying anything else, Bernadette followed Ethan.
Suddenly, Ethan stopped, hearing some noise coming from the bushes. Confused, Bernadette asked why he stopped. She couldn't feel it, but because Ethan had upgraded his perception, he could sense danger from a distance.
"Shhh... They are coming," Ethan said.
Suddenly, a pack of direwolves came out from the bushes ahead of them. They gritted their teeth, enraged that some people had invaded their territory, ready to attack with their deadly claws. One of them howled loudly, sending a signal to the pack, before leaping towards the enemies.
"Alright then, let's see how much we can level up from here," Ethan said. "Equip." His daggers appeared in his hands. Aside from the poison buff, he had also acquired a stun buff after defeating the hydralisk. "I'm counting on you, Bernadette."
"Yes, Master!" Joyfully, Bernadette supported Ethan from behind. Aside from healing, she could also enchant, slightly increasing Ethan's stats. She was a very good support. This was her first mission as an apprentice, and she didn't want to disappoint her master.
The direwolves' claws were sharp and inflicted bleed. But thanks to Bernadette's holy light—a skill which cleanses and removes debuffs—it helped Ethan move smoothly. As his daggers stabbed the direwolves, it immobilized them for a moment, giving him a chance to land another attack. With Bernadette's help, they cleared the pack of direwolves in a short time. Ethan also leveled up faster than he expected, as those direwolves gave him a lot of EXP.
"Status."
Current Level: 9
HP: 950 | MP: 100
Strength: 30 | Agility: 25
Perception: 20 | Intelligence: 10
Vitality: 30
Available AP: 12
Skills: Natural Healing, Direhit, Mystic Eyes, ????????
Acquired buffs: Poison, Stun, Bleed (new)
Ethan upgraded his intelligence, closed the window, and approached Bernadette. "You alright?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. How about you?" Bernadette replied.
"I'm good. Thanks to your cleansing ability, I'm no longer bleeding. You must be a high-ranked healer." Interested, Ethan used his mystic eyes—a skill which allowed him to see anything, as if he were an omnipotent god—to peek through Bernadette's stats.
Name: Bernadette Morratt
Age: 26 | Sex: Female
Race: Human | Job: priestess
Level: 6 | Level Limit: 36
HP: 600 | MP: 500
Skills: Healing, Holy Light, Dispelling Strike
Unlearned Skills: ???
Ethan didn't expect to meet such an excellent healer. He knew he was nothing compared to her before. But that was then and this is now. With his newfound power, he knew he could catch up to everyone. He could level up infinitely without limitation. He might even become a god someday.
"Master, what's wrong?" Bernadette asked, seeing Ethan looking blankly into space.
"No, nothing," Ethan replied, feeling guilty for using mystic eyes without Bernadette's permission. "Let's continue our journey. We need to leave this forest before dark."
"Alright." Bernadette picked up her bag and followed Ethan.
Finally, they reached the end of the forest, but it was already dark, so they decided to camp out for the night. Ethan set up a magic circle and asked for Bernadette's help to put up a barrier using her holy light to drive monsters away from them.