Deon had already seen plenty of beautiful women, but Alexia had a little something extra that drew him in. Earlier, Déon hadn't seen her from the front; now that she stood before his eyes, he could take in every detail of her features.
Alexia had blood-red eyes and long hair of the same shade, which went perfectly with her snow-white skin. Her generous curves and beautiful face could make any man fall for her. She looked like a valkyrie with her sword in hand. No—if she wore a dress and a tall hat, one would more likely call her a witch. She was of a bewitching beauty.
Déon was not indifferent to the sight of such a woman. He forced himself to focus before taking the initiative to ask her a question.
"Uh… Alexia, what are you doing here? The center is dangerous…"
Deon stopped talking—Alexia was staring at him, which made him a little nervous. Being stared at was already hard to handle, but her not speaking made the situation even more awkward. Her silence was heavy.
"…"
"Do I have something on my face?" he asked, visibly annoyed by Alexia's behavior.
"Hmmm, no. I just think you look a lot like your father."
"Huh…" Déon had expected many kinds of answers, but never imagined she would say something like that. He was caught off guard.
Alexia had already heard rumors about Déon in the village. She had never paid attention to them, but she had imagined Déon as a weak and frail young man.
Yet the young man in front of her looked nothing like a weakling. Quite the opposite—he was tall, muscular, with silver hair streaked with black that fell to his neck. His black eyes, inherited from his mother, were so deep that one could get lost in them. He was very handsome.
"Hmmm, why do people call him weak? He doesn't look like it at all," she murmured, still scrutinizing him.
Meanwhile, Déon, a bit irritated by her silence, coughed lightly before repeating his question.
"What are you doing here?" Déon asked again, this time with a calm expression.
"Hmmm, training. And you?" she replied vaguely, not wanting to go into detail.
"Training, huh… I'm here for that too. Uh… I didn't have the time to thank you earlier for the healing potion. Thank you, you saved me. I won't forget it."
Now that Déon was in good shape, he just wanted to leave this place. He wasn't going to stay here all day because of a woman. He needed to finish his father's task as quickly as possible. He was preparing to leave when his unusually sharp senses warned him of imminent danger.
"Alexia, are you being chased by a creature?" he asked, turning around.
"Yes, I was fleeing from a salamander before I came here. It could still be nearby, so let's wait a bit before going out," she admitted, her face expressionless.
"A salamander?? In my opinion, you shouldn't be so relaxed. Your salamander is prowling around this cave, so you'd better stay on your guard," Déon suggested, eyeing her with curiosity and surprise.
After his fight with the hydra, Déon knew he had grown stronger, but he had been in such bad shape that checking his status window had been the last thing on his mind. But right now, he was curious. Still alert to his surroundings, Déon opened his status window, eager to see the changes.
[Name:] Deon
[Species:] Human
[Rank:] F
[Experience Points:] 0 / 100
[Strength:] 16
[Agility:] 11
[Mana:] 10
[Endurance:] 11
[State:] Normal
[Intelligence:] 30
[Luck:] 10
[Aura:] 12
[Attributes:] Neutral (None)
[Stat Points:] 30
[Skill Tree: Innate Skill]
1 – [Enhanced Senses (45%):] C
[Title:]
[Profession / Class:] Mage
He had improved, but overall, he was still too weak. At first, his physical training had paid off and he could see his stats go up, but after a few years, there was no more progress. Still, he had kept training hard.
Children his age were already at least Rank D or higher. But he was still Rank F. The reason was simple—Déon didn't want to advance in rank until he had raised his initial skill to Rank S.
During these four years, he hadn't just trained his body. He had also found the fastest way to improve his skill's rank.
Thinking about it now, it was quite simple: to enhance one sense, you had to deprive yourself of the others. He had already practiced this in recent years to confirm the results. But alone, he hadn't progressed the way he wanted. He had considered asking his parents for help, but he hesitated.
Alexia was watching Déon check his status window. She was curious to take a peek to see how strong the young man before her really was, but she wasn't close enough for that.
Silence filled the cave. As usual, Deon was lost in thought about his future plans, occasionally sneaking glances at Alexia.
…
Time passed, and soon the sun would be at its zenith. According to his schedule, Déon should have already finished his hunt and be in the middle of training… except he was now stuck in a cave because of a salamander outside.
Weighing the risks, Déon was thinking of how to discreetly leave when suddenly an explosion sounded at the cave's entrance.
Boom
The salamander, too large to enter the cave, had blasted it with its devastating breath. Reacting almost instantly, they managed to escape unharmed—except now, the salamander was right in front of them.
"Run! That's not something we can fight!" Alexia shouted with all her strength, as Deon stopped to observe the creature.
The salamander was about two meters long, with rough, red skin. It had four legs and a long, thin tail. The creature radiated a dangerous aura that set all of Deon's senses on edge. Even from dozens of meters away, Déon could feel unbearable heat.
Even if Alexia hadn't warned him, Deon would never have thrown himself into such a fight. He wasn't ready to face that kind of monster. Gathering all his energy, he ran after Alexia.
"Alexia, if we tried to hide, would it still be able to track us?" Deon asked, thinking of a way out of this mess.
"Hide? Do you have the assassin class? As far as I know, few mages can master that kind of skill. And to answer your question, logically, no—but don't underestimate this creature. It could be Rank B or A. Let's keep running; maybe if we leave its territory, it'll stop chasing us," she said, leaping from branch to branch.
Deon had a clearer head after that short exchange. He wasn't an assassin and didn't have such a skill as a mage, but he could still hide.
Blending into the environment was the first condition for executing the opening move of his archer technique, Shadowless Arrow. And that was essentially camouflage.
Deon watched Alexia move ahead of him like a fairy and wondered if he should try to hide and let her deal with the salamander alone. But even if it might seem like cowardice, it wasn't.
"She's stronger than me, no doubt about it. My endurance is my weak point. Should I leave her and fend for myself?" he thought, as fatigue began to overtake him.
Alexia had noticed Deon tiring. It was normal—only a few hours ago, he had been in bad shape. And even though the potions had healed his internal and external injuries, they couldn't restore his stamina. He needed rest.
"Hmmm, Deon, I have an idea. What would you say to going through a portal? I'm sure that if we do, the salamander will stop chasing us. It's a bit long to explain, but what do you think? Should we try?" Alexia asked, looking doubtful.
"Uh… okay, let's do it. As long as it's less dangerous than a salamander…" Deon was a little embarrassed by his own answer. He had already decided to abandon Alexia if his life was on the line. Seeing that she was still trying to help him despite the situation, he felt a bit ashamed.
Alexia was an elemental summoner. Because of this, she was very sensitive to mana. By following the fluctuations of mana in the environment, she had eventually led them to a portal. Without any hesitation, they plunged in.
It was only after passing through the portal that Deon realized how reckless he had just been. He had followed Alexia in without hesitation because he felt guilty, but thinking about it, acting like that could easily have cost him his life.
Feeling slightly dizzy from the change in environment, Déon turned to Alexia and, with a pale face, asked:
"I followed you without hesitation—now you owe me an explanation. Why a portal?"
...
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