Finally Out of the Forest

"Human scent..." one of the orcs said, "What is meat doing here?"

"N-nothing, we're just passing by-" Elly tried to talk her way out of this situation as she was a goblin, but it was clear that the orcs weren't going to let them pass.

"You no pass," the orc leader laughed, "we starving for days, you good food for us!"

And just like that, he grabbed Elly by the waist as she was extremely close to them; she obviously tried to stop him, but it was futile as their strength was way above hers.

'I'm so useless,' she thought as she was grabbed, 'even when I finally get out of this shitty village, I die immediately... and no one will come to save me'

Unfortunately for those monsters though, Max wouldn't let his guide get killed by such weak creatures, not even in a thousand years.

Right as the orc leader was guiding her head to his mouth, trying to bite it off, Max dashed forward and slashed his neck with his sword, killing him instantly and backing away, the crying Elly now in his arms after saving her.

She was trembling and had closed her eyes while awaiting her end, only opening them once hearing Max's words.

"Stay back while I kill them, Elly, I wouldn't want my guide to die!" he looked at her and nodded before turning his body towards the five remaining orcs,

"HUMAN MEAT!" the other orcs screamed in anger, "WE KILL YOU!"

But Max didn't wait for them to attack, instead using his skill to notice their weak points and slashing their necks with his blade, killing them all in a matter of seconds.

[+6 levels for killing "Orc Pack"]

"Are you alright?" he asked Elly, who was looking at him with a surprised expression, she had just seen him slaughter six orcs in the blink of an eye as well as saving her, and he didn't even break a sweat.

"Y-yes..." she stuttered, trying to hide her blushing face, "t-thank you..."

The orcs were only ranging from level 12 to 18, so they weren't a challenge in the first place, which was why Max didn't think much about saving the half-goblin girl, but to her, it was a moment she would never forget after being mistreated and left by herself for so long.

And so they continued walking through the forest, encountering a few monsters along the way but nothing too dangerous, Max simply killed them with a single slash of his sword, stopping them from ever approaching the goblin girl.

"We're almost there..." Elly said as she noticed that the trees were becoming more and more scarce, "just a little bit more and we'll be out of this forest."

Max sighed in relief, he was tired of fighting and sleeping on the ground, he wanted to go back to some city and sleep in a bed, eat something good, and drink some fresh water.

"How will you get back to your village?" Max asked, curious about how she would return after having escaped, he had already decided he wouldn't kill the goblin princess after all.

"I... I don't know..." she admitted with a tone that didn't show any intention of going back, "but it doesn't matter, I'll find a way somehow..."

Max didn't respond, instead, he just kept walking until they finally reached the exit of the forest.

There weren't any trees ahead of him anymore, instead it was huge plains extending as far as the eye could see, the sun was now setting in the horizon, his divination had informed him the Flavip Forest was far from any civilization and that he would need to walk, but he still didn't feel like doing it after enduring so much.

'Oh well,' he sighed, he couldn't let his determination falter now that his first goal had finally been completed.

[You have successfully escaped from the Flavip Forest, Host, congratulations!]

[New Goal: reach the nearest kingdom, "Atlanta"]

"So it's not Iseria huh..." the boy mumbled, he thought he could immediately get back to the royal capital to show his classmates and the king he had survived, but it looked like fate decided otherwise.

"Welp, goodbye," he waved at the half-goblin princess and started walking towards the sunset, ready to reach the Atlanta Kingdom.

"W-wait!" Elly shouted, making Max turn around, "Can I come with you?"

To Max's biggest surprise, the girl was bowing and the tone of her voice was almost like she was pleading with him to take her.

"Why?" he asked, he didn't mind having a companion, but it was still weird.

"I don't wanna go back to my village and... I think you are strong enough to protect me... PLEASE, I can be useful!" she continued begging, "I can cook a-and do other things if you want," she blushed at the last part, but Max raised his eyebrows, almost wondering if what he was hearing was true.

"Very well," he eventually gave in, "you can come with me."

And just like that, Max Evans gained himself an unexpected new companion.

***

After leaving the Flavip Forest, Max and Elly had been walking for hours, it was already night time and they hadn't encountered anything but weak monsters yet, which made sense considering the fact that the forest was located in the middle of nowhere.

"Let's rest here," Max told Elly, pointing at a nearby tree, "we've been walking for hours now and you must be tired."

The girl nodded and sat down under the tree, she had been following Max without saying a word since they left the forest, not wanting to bother him as he was clearly the one leading their expedition, not having left the forest since her birth didn't allow her to be considered as a guide anymore.

"You should sleep," Max told her as he stood in front of her, "I'll keep watch in case something happens."

"I... hum... thank you..." she mumbled, not knowing how to answer the kind boy, he had saved her from monsters so many times by now that she couldn't even count it on her two hands.

And just like that, the half-goblin princess slept while Max kept his eyes open, the wind was cold and she wasn't wearing much to cover herself, yet she looked extremely peaceful to him, not even allowing any kind of perverted thoughts to enter his mind even though there was the temptation of doing it.

[Do you plan on leaving her behind?]

His divination asked after a few hours.

'...' Max didn't answer, he didn't know after all, he could definitely run away right now, leaving her to her fate as she would probably never find him, yet he couldn't bring himself to do it.

And so eventually, he responded to the question, "No, having a companion would be useful, plus she looks friendly and kind, it would be dumb of me to leave her."

[Trying to achieve a harem already~?]

"Shut the fuck up."