Capítulo 13: Taking care.
Khazak woke up drenched in sweat, the torch beside him still burning, indicating that not much time had passed. He shifted from lying down to a sitting position and observed his surroundings for a while.
His eyes then fell on the girl lying next to him. After staring blankly for a moment, reality slowly started to sink in. The girl was barely breathing. The wet cloth he had placed on her forehead had already slipped off and dried.
Seeing this, Khazak immediately sprang to his feet, grabbed the cloth, and ran towards the river. The sky was just beginning to darken. He quickly wet the cloth again and rushed back to the cave.
Entering the cave, he placed the damp cloth on the girl's forehead and collapsed to the ground. At least she seemed to be more at ease now. His breathing was labored from sprinting.
Then, the pain in his left arm started to flare up again. It was likely fractured, but he didn't have the energy to deal with it at the moment. After a while, he noticed his stomach growling, but it was almost nighttime. After thinking for a bit, he realized he needed to hunt something quickly before darkness fell. Who knew what kinds of creatures roamed this forest at night?
He wandered around a bit without straying too far from the cave when he caught a foul smell. Just then, a sweet-looking rabbit emerged from the bushes. Khazak thought he had found food, but then he noticed something—the rabbit's mouth was covered in blood. As the rabbit slowly hopped toward him, Khazak drew his sword. At that moment, the rabbit bared its two sharp front teeth and lunged at him, letting out a strange, high-pitched scream. Khazak swung his sword, but the rabbit dodged the blow and latched onto his finger.
Khazak had heard of these creatures before—they were killer rabbits. Though they looked like ordinary rabbits, they were savage, carnivorous animals. From his experience and knowledge, he knew that their weak spot was their ears. Even though the rabbit tore off a piece of flesh from his finger, it wasn't a serious injury. Staying calm, Khazak grabbed the rabbit by the ears and lifted it into the air. He quickly drove his sword into the rabbit, killing it. Despite the pain in his finger, he was happy to have found food so easily.
However, he knew one thing for certain: these rabbits traveled in packs. So, he quickly rushed back to the cave, gathering a few sticks along the way. Once inside, he started a fire.
The girl's breathing had improved, and seeing this brought a faint, relieved smile to Khazak's face. He skewered the rabbit on a stick and began roasting it over the fire. Just then, he heard the strange cry of a beast and shuddered in fear. Grabbing his sword, he rushed outside, but it was only a mimic owl. These owls were named for their ability to imitate sounds, their calls often eerily resembling those of monsters.
Wiping the sweat from his brow, Khazak returned to the cave and used the stones he could carry to block the entrance. A monster entering the cave at night would be a disaster. He returned to the fire, but the pain in his arm was steadily intensifying. The wound he had sustained in his battle with the Aragars had nearly rendered his left arm useless.
The aroma of the roasting rabbit filled the cave, and just as he was lost in thought, the girl's eyelids fluttered.
As Khazak turned his face towards her instantly, Khazak finally had the chance to study her closely for the first time. Her long, straight hair flowed down to her waist, pure white in color. She had a small, petite frame, standing at about 158 cm, with fair skin and delicate, cute facial features. It was astonishing that something so small and seemingly fragile could be so powerful.
Then, something caught Khazak's eye. Gently, he moved a lock of her hair aside, and what he saw left him in disbelief—she was an elf. This was the first time in Khazak's life that he had ever seen an elf. The moment his hand brushed against her hair, the girl's eyelids fluttered again, and Khazak quickly pulled his hand back. He continued to watch her in silence.
A few seconds later, the girl stirred, slowly sitting up. After staring blankly at the ground for a moment, she turned toward Khazak. Her glowing red eyes left him mesmerized. She looked at him blankly for a few more moments, and then her eyes widened as her face flushed with color. Khazak suddenly realized that he was only wearing his pants, and when the girl noticed this, both of their faces turned bright red. For a brief moment, they just stared at each other in awkward silence, their faces burning with embarrassment.
Just as Khazak opened his mouth to say something, the girl spoke:
"D-did you bring me here?" the girl asked, her voice trembling slightly.
Without changing his expression, Khazak quietly replied.
"Yes... You were lying on the ground, defenseless, so I…"
The girl blushed even more, tucking her hands between her legs like a shy kitten as she sat down.
"I see. Thank you so much… If it weren't for you, I'd already be…"
"No, no," Khazak interrupted, "if it weren't for you, I wouldn't have stood a chance against those Aragars."
Gaining just a bit more confidence, the girl nodded slightly.
"Yes, I suppose that must have been the case…"
At that moment, the girl's stomach growled audibly, and the little bit of confidence she had gained vanished instantly. She stared at the ground in embarrassment. Noticing this, Khazak spoke up.
"By the way, I've prepared us some food. Enjoy."
With that, Khazak sliced the perfectly roasted killer rabbit in half with his sword, using two large leaves as makeshift plates, and placed a portion in front of the girl. She quietly muttered, "Thank you..."
The girl gazed hungrily at the freshly cooked meal in front of her, and eventually, she couldn't resist. She took a bite, her eyes filling slightly with tears as she let out a soft "mhhmmm" sound, savoring the taste. She continued eating, and Khazak watched her with surprise.
After observing her eat with a stunned, amused smile for a while, Khazak finally spoke.
"By the way, I'm Khazak. What's your name?" he asked.
Hearing this out of the blue, the girl looked up from her meal and stared at Khazak, swallowing the food in her mouth. Realizing how she had been eating, she became embarrassed and avoided eye contact, replying softly,
"I'm Mylia… Nice to meet you."
After they ate in silence for a while, Khazak tried to stand up, but a sudden sharp pain shot through his arm, causing him to let out a soft groan and sit back down. Mylia noticed immediately and rushed over, gently taking his arm in her hands.
"What happened to your arm?" she asked with concern.
"It's from the fight with the Aragar… Just a minor injury," Khazak responded.
As soon as he said this, Mylia applied light pressure to his wrist with her thumbs, and Khazak had to bite his lip to avoid shouting in pain. Mylia shook her head, saying.
"If you keep straining your arm like this, it could turn into a serious injury…"
After saying this, she pulled out a strange ointment and a piece of string from her pocket. She first applied the ointment to her hand and then began to rub it onto Khazak's arm, her face reflecting concern. Once she finished applying the ointment, she grabbed a stick from the side and tied it to Khazak's arm with the string, securing it in place.
Khazak felt quite embarrassed and humbled by this attention, yet he secretly found a strange pleasure in it as well. After finishing the treatment, Mylia looked into Khazak's eyes with a cute yet worried expression. Her eyes trembled as she said,
"You won't use your left arm for the next month, understood?"
"But how am I supposed to train for battle then? Even if I hide somewhere without fighting, what's the point of my training if I don't get stronger?"
After hearing this, Mylia thought for a moment, then shyly turned her face away. She picked up her sword and extended it toward Khazak horizontally, saying,
"I-I'll protect you… and I'll also train you. After all, I owe you my life, right?"
Estado de energía semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Piedra de
Poder