Wanderer

My eyes opened to the sight of bushy green leaves and the same haunting purple sky. I shifted my focus onto my pained body. It seemed like nearly every part of me was aching with pain. Countless cuts and bruises were spread throughout my body, but that was quickly ignored when my mind thought of the girl I protected.

Astrid. A weak, feeble girl who I had known for years on end. She was... my first friend. She had been living with me, covering her own expenses at my house by working as a merchant in a nearby town. I owed a lot to her. So, when the sky became a graphic purple and the demon invasion began, I strived to protect her with all my heart.

And now... she was gone.

I picked myself off the forest grass and brushed the dirt off my grey baggy pants. Maybe, just maybe... she was around here. I had collapsed and fallen unconscious around her, so, she must be near.

My eyes scanned the area around me. Tall leafy trees matched with delicate blooming flowers, windy gusts of air brushing against the cool grass.

Well, it was obviously a forest. I just didn't know where I was. Not just that, but with all that's just happened I'm confident this place is just lurking with monsters. To top it all off I'm also missing my sword, so I'm kinda screwed here...

...Oh well. I can't stand here all day.

With that I took off walking in a random direction, hoping that it might be enough to find an exit so I could search for a village or even a city nearby for help, or find Astrid.

It wasn't enough.

As I aimlessly walked, crunching leaves and trampling down grass, the realization of the severe situation dawned over me.

Sure, maybe I might've barely escaped the gory fate of death, but what about regular citizens? What about other unprotected towns or even the soldiers defending those towns? By all means I wasn't the strongest, but I wasn't the weakest either.

My stomach twisted and turned at the possible number of deaths. The agency was... like a system for soldiers. It was predicted, through the slightest odds, a large-scale invasion like this would happen in the future. And now, it did. Possibilities were broken. Technicians and Scientists from the Agency predicted that roughly at least half of the World's population would fall if such an event were to happen.

Ah... but that's all-technical talk. Surely such a large number of lives would never be lost.

Yikes...

The thought lingered in the back of my head despite my attempts to reassure myself.

My thinking lasted for minutes. Somehow, somewhere, I stumbled across a small lake surrounded by trees with an opening for a small overlooking hill at the back. Pink flower petals danced in the water along with lilypads causing small ripples of water. Amid the purple clouds the vibrant sunlight reflected off the water.

Seeing the water had made me realize how thirsty I was. My mouth was dry as a desert. My body moved on impulse, reaching to drink the water even if it was dirty. My body crouched over the water, cupping my hands together to pour some of the water in my mouth.

After a few satisfying sips my eyes shifted upward. I intended to stand up but froze immediately when my light brown eyes spotted someone a few feet away from me.

A... woman?

A woman with wet, long black hair was suddenly in front of me. She pointed a sword at me, cautious of my movement. Her black, statue like eyes discerned me and examined me head to toe. She was wet, little droplets of water ran down her moist, pale skin. A towel clung on her shoulder, she carried a pair of clothes in one hand and her blade in another. A disgusted frown was on her small face.

What really threw me off was that she was naked, watermelons out and everything.

I stumbled backwards, trying to get away as she approached. I was in too much of a bad position to get up, and before I knew it, the tip of a sharp blade pointed at my neck.

"What are you doing?" The women asked with an angry tone in her voice. She was NOT happy. Her eyebrows furrowed and her cold black eyes stared at me cautiously.

"U-uh-" Were all the sounds I could make as I was completely surprised and caught off guard.

"Answer!" She yelled as the blade began to make contact with my neck.

"Ah, ah! I just wanted water, ma'am!" I immediately and truthfully answered, hoping that she could realize the misunderstanding.

"Is that so?" The blade retracted and the pressure on my neck was relieved, "Look away, you perv."

Silently, I obeyed. My head turned and faced the trees next to me. After a couple of seconds, she cleared her throat which meant that I could look now.

She had slipped into a black shirt and tied her towel around her waist.

"Stand up," she commanded with a stern voice.

I stood up. It was then when I realized that my divine energy levels were superior to her, meaning that my skill could probably beat her if desired. Though, her aura didn't give any murderous intent. Just cautious. I guess she was just trying to figure out what I was doing.

"How much do you remember?" She suddenly asked, keeping a distance from me.

"Huh?" A confused expression formed on my face.

"About... the invasion," she referred to the massive spawns of demons. My attempts to recall the situation were only met by a dazed, pained feeling in my head.

"Um, not much. My memories a bit hazy."

She sighed and sheathed her sword. "Let's go talk elsewhere."

She walked away, expecting me to tag along. I followed her, trying my best not to look harmful or suspicious. Though... I'm sure I came off as awfully suspicious. Auh.

Sooner than expected, we had arrived in front of a small wooden cabin with a front porch. From the outside the cabin looked tidy, well-built and had a sturdy roof made out of cut logs. However, the harder you looked the more you realized it was definitely unprofessionally homemade with small scratches all over. This meant... this woman was living all alone in a secluded cabin.

Weird. Was she an outcast or did she prefer to live alone?

She opened the wooden door and led me inside. She brought me into her living room and told me to sit on the leather sofa. I did.

"I'll be back. Stay there," she warned as she went to another room.

I patiently waited and admired the furniture around me. A bookshelf containing plenty of books, a dining table with a few chairs, a small kitchen with enough space to just hold some food and to cook, and two doors leading to separate rooms were around me. A couple of landscape paintings were hooked onto the wooden walls. Based on her furniture I could tell that... she liked peace and quiet.

I mean, who'd stay alone in an empty forest if they hated the silence? Seemed like she was able to keep herself quite busy.

The woman came back. She changed into a white collared shirt, brown leggings and brown ankle high boots. She carried an assortment of items in her hands.

She sat next to me on the sofa. Firstly, though, she handed me a glass of a yellow, vulgar looking liquid.

Instantly, my memory recognized the liquid by the intense smell. A few sips of the refreshing liquid were enough to make me squeal.

"AIIYEEE! Phew, man. I haven't had some Cyran Wine in a while," I said with a hearty grin on my face.

She looked a bit confused as she tilted her head yet had a slight smile to her pink lips. "Sorry, I'm not used to having guests, so I didn't know what to give you."

"Ah... It's alright. I like wine, so thank you," I reassured her, "We should introduce ourselves." It had dawned over me that I didn't even know her name.

She nodded in agreement, her blackish hair flowing as her head bobbed.

"Right. I'm Aurath Vitali, ranked #47 in the Elite Swordsmanship Union," I introduced my name and official title.

"I'm... Riniya," she answered plainly.

"Just Riniya?"

"Yes. But you can call me Rin, or Niya, or Rini, or Yan, or-"

"Eh... I'll stick with Rin for now," my words interrupted her small spiral.

"O-okay. Sorry, I haven't talked to humans in a while," she casually mentioned, her ears flickering, "Ah, forgive me, I have something of yours."

...What? Is she not human... oh right, she just lives alone, secluded.

Rin handed me my trustworthy blade and the sheath. I thanked her but something seemed off.

"So... how'd you find me?" If she had my stuff, then I'd assume she found me somewhere else before.

"Found you?" She asked with a confused look on her face, "I didn't find you. I just found a few items scattered around the forest. Since you're a swordsman, I expected this sword and sheathe to be yours."

"I... see. It is. Well, I'm not in the best condition, it seems."

"Nope... Maybe I should..." she took something small out her hand and unfolded it. She stood over me and put a strange looking cloth over my eye, tying it around my head.

"...Huh. What's that little cloth for?" I didn't understand the motive behind her actions or her purpose.

"O-oh... I'm sorry, I thought you'd want to cover it up, so-"

"Heh? Cover what up..."

"You don't know? U-um... I don't know how to say this, but here," she handed me a small hand mirror and untied the cloth.

Instantly I recognized what she meant. Surprised? Slightly. But I knew something was off from the beginning. Still. I kinda let the slight amount of shock get to me in that moment. Oopsies.

"...Where the FUCK is my eye?" I screamed, realizing I was missing my left eye.

"A-ah, sir. Calm down. I can regenerate a new one for you, but it might take a while," Rin offered.

"...Please."

It wasn't my first time losing an eye. In fact, it's happened more than I'd want to admit. It's just that... a medic could easily replace the eye if they actually still had it. But mine's probably out somewhere laying in some bloody battlefield, meaning a new one had to be made.

"Are you alright, sir?"

"...I'm fine. Just a bit shocked. I'm used to it, actually."

"Oh, good. Here, I'll put this back on," she said, reattaching the cloth.

I thanked her. We both stayed silent for a minute. It seemed as if we had run out of topics to talk about.

"Um... I need you to do me a favor, sorry," Rin had interrupted the short-lived silence.

"Yes, Rin?"

"I need some help with something outside," she explained as she opened the backdoor, leading me into her backyard.

She kept her backyard organized and it lacked a spacious area of trees. It was like a small little opening in the forest.

"What do you need help with in here?" I curiously asked as it seemed like there was nothing for me to do here.

"I-I'm awfully sorry, sir," Rin's voice suddenly became apologetic, "But I have to know how capable you are."

With that, Rin began to unsheathe a sword on her hip. Without any warning, not a slimmer of hesitation, she lunged forward and aimed right for my head. Had I not managed to duck just in time, I probably would've lost another eye.

She didn't hold back one bit. She recovered quickly and swung, targeting my torso. I backstepped out of the way.

"It's okay, sir," her voice became firm and serious, "You don't need to hold back with me."

She stroked a downward strike. Just in time my reflexes drew my sword and blocked, giving me enough time to counterattack by stepping to the side and following with a vertical slash.

She saw the attack coming, despite it being a counterattack. She moved before I had even released my attack. "You're fast," she said in the middle of her dodge.

I jabbed my sword at her. Rin parried; I parried back. Our blades danced with repeated vertical and horizontal strikes. Blue sparks fell from my blade, red spark fell from Rins. We held and pressed our blades together.

Bit by bit, I had come to learn Rin's swordsmanship skills. Whenever I managed to counterattack, she would read the direction of the attack and move the opposite way. Based on that... I might be able to land a small, harmless jab on her body.

Rin attacked with an upward cut. I dodged to the right and turned my shoulder towards her, indicating that I was to follow up with a horizontal slash.

What Rin didn't know was that... I could fight with both hands. In fact, fighting left-handed was more natural to me.

Rin jumped into the air and behind me. In the short moment she jumped, I switched my blade into my left hand and directed a powerful jab right behind me, just as I had predicted.

...

It actually hit. My blade gruesomely pushed up against her stomach, impaling her. I quickly sheathed my blade and caught her in time before she fell to the ground, realizing what I had done.

She looked at me and smiled, blood pouring out her stomach. "...Not bad for #47."