271 Them And Us
The white-scaled Monster extended its arms forward and brought its palms closer until its fingers kissed.
A beam of condensed Fire was shot at the gigantic enemy.
'When... I didn't even notice it appear!!'
The attack came into contact with the enemy's body and,
'Nothing??'
Upon touching it, the beam of Condensed Fire seemed to get nullified. Swallowed.
Erased.
The gigantic mass of darkness stared the white-scaled Monster down without moving.
It raised a hand, and the Monster started running to the side while keeping an eye on it.
"What the hell is that thing? When did this-'
The white-scaled Monster's eyes widened as it noticed.
'That thing is...!'
A blob of the dark liquid that the Monster had grown used to seeing.
It suddenly grew in size, but the white-scaled Monster wasn't sure whether it had grown or simply gotten much closer.
'If Fire Magic won't work, let's try this!'
The white-scaled Monster extended its right arm upwards and three Ice Spikes appeared above it.
At the same time, a portion of the dark blob seemed to rise above too.
'An arm?'
The darkness solidified, and turned into an incredibly long and sharp blade. There was no doubt in the white-scaled Monster's mind that the blade could reach him.
The blade was lowered and,
'I'll shoot the Ice Spikes, dodge, then get closer...!'
The Monster's arm refused to move.
'What is-'
But there was no time. To think, as the gigantic blade was approaching.
The Monster's right eye shone green as it turned toward its unmoving arm.
It couldn't see it, whatever was keeping that arm from moving.
The Ice Spikes flew towards the blob of darkness nevertheless.
Moving one's arms when using Manipulation does help a lot, but it isn't necessary.
Only once the Ice Spikes were shot, did the white-scaled Monster's arm fall back to its side.
Limp and lifeless, its arm hung as it ran to avoid the descending blade.
The white-scaled Monster ran as fast as it could before glancing above.
'...!'
It had run as fast as it could. It should be out of the attack's range. And yet...
The Monster felt cold sweat go down its back.
No matter how much it ran, that dark blade was there.
The closer it got to the ground, the more space it seemed to take up.
A dark blade so large it couldn't be dodged.
A dark blade that would follow until-
Lacking the speed to run further, the blade was about to come into contact with its body.
The white-scaled Monster raised its arms to protect itself, but only one arm complied with the demand.
Just as the blade was about to come into contact with its body, the blob of darkness opened up, revealing-
"Wake up! Hey, wake up! Mark, wake up!"
The white-scaled Monster's eyes opened, and the hands that had been pushing its body were pulled off.
As fast as his body would allow him to, Mark rose to his feet.
His right eye shone brightly as he scanned the surroundings.
"Did you sense something?" He asked.
"Ah? No... Not really." Elisa answered as she scratched her head.
"Then...? Why were you pushing me?"
"Mmm... Well, I woke up. So I woke you up."
"Huh?"
"Mm." She nodded.
"It's still dark. Too dark. Wait... Are you serious? Waking me up for no reason?"
Elisa's gaze ran away.
"I was bored."
"Then be bored alone." Mark said before lowering his body back onto the ground.
"Bet you're not going to sleep anyways."
"Goodnight. Wake me up at dawn."
Mark closed his eyes, but Elisa ended up winning that bet.
"Ugh..." He groaned a couple of minutes later.
"See? You were shaking in your sleep anyways. Wait... Do Monsters have nightmares? Or even dreams for that matter?"
"Where's Krista?"
"Sleeping there." Elisa pointed at the curled-up Moonlit Feline behind her.
The white-scaled Monster rubbed its eyes for a bit.
"Don't wake me up like that again."
"Okay." Elisa pressed her lips together. "But I called out to you, didn't seem to do anything. Didn't mean to scare you though. Sorry about that."
"It's fine." Mark yawned.
"Get going?"
"Yeah. Krista."
The Moonlit Feline's eyes opened slowly.
"Wow. That fast?"
The stumbling Krista walked towards her Master, climbed up his body, and took a seat on his shoulder.
The two walked silently for a bit while the Moonlit Feline was nodding off, leaning against the white-scaled Monster's neck from time to time.
"Think we'll make it to the border tomorrow?"
"Probably the day after. Except if we run."
"Mm." Elisa nodded. "Don't feel like running."
To conserve their energy in case an enemy showed up on the way, they walked.
Mark scratched his neck.
We can talk about it tomorrow-
'Hope she won't talk about it.' The thought entered his mind multiple times.
She didn't.
Before long, it was dawn.
Half a dozen Beasts stood in their way.
"The usual?" He asked.
"The usual." Elisa nodded.
It was a style of fighting both were comfortable with.
Simply, it consisted of the white-scaled Monster doing whatever it wanted.
Mark focused on fighting alone, while Elisa focused on making her presence disappear.
The latter part was rather easy. She had done so against a Commander after all, so doing it to the random Beasts that inhabited the land was no big deal.
There was no need to fight this way either against such enemies.
If anything, this made the fights longer unnecessarily.
Still, both thought it would be a good thing to better get used to it in case a tougher enemy stood in their way later on.
Also, this allowed Elisa to take it easy while Mark dealt with most of the enemies. She didn't dislike that part.
Meow-
Moonlit Feline's fur as the latter purred.
21:29
'Seeing them like this... It is tough to let go.' The white-scaled Monster thought as it stared, a dozen "That was good, wasn't it? Faster than before. You could notice?" Elisa crouched and stroked the Moonlit Feline's fur as the latter purred.
'Seeing them like this... It is tough to let go.' The white-scaled Monster thought as it stared, a dozen steps away from the two. 'We have a long way left, so no need to think about it.'
Mark told himself that, but his mind seemed to disagree.
The fact that there was much of the way left meant that he could ponder the question for longer, and find the right answer.
'Could it... Stay this way? The three of us?'
The white-scaled Monster wasn't sure why, but that question scared it.
Mark shook his head.
"What do you think he's thinking about?" Elisa whispered.
She turned back towards the Moonlit Feline, and found it raising and lowering its eyebrows repeatedly.
"Ugh... Seriously?" Elisa gently pushed the Moonlit Feline's head away.
Krista didn't fight back.
She walked away for a bit, before lowering herself to the ground.
"You should try to be quicker on your feet."
"How do I do that?"
"I don't know, just be quicker. It's an instinct thing."
"You're a terrible teacher."
"Okay, watch..."
The Moonlit Feline watched the two talk and argue.
Unexpectantly, something started welling up inside its stomach.
Krista was immediately reminded of the Forest Of Yarnha.
It was a strange combination of feelings.
She felt a certain way the first time she had seen Elisa.
She stood in her Master's way that time.
And looking at the two, she couldn't help but feel that she was right to have done so.
Krista let her head hand to the side.
She hadn't protected her Master, but it, somehow, still felt like she had.
She was right to have stood in her Master's way that time, right?
It wasn't wrong, was it?
Even Levi said that he would stand in Master's way if need be. So if the result is this,
"I don't get it."
"Quicker. On. Your. Feet. You're not making full use of your Agility!"
"But I don't know how to do that!"
"Just do it! It's not that hard!"
Then, despite disobeying, she was a good Underling, right?
But at the same time, Krista couldn't be sure.
That feeling she got from Elisa, she did get from Yarnha too.
And yet, Yarnha turned out to be...
How to decide?
How to trust that feeling then?
How to know when Master is making a mistake and when he isn't?
How to help him?
The Moonlit Feline's eyes widened, as it watched the two argue.
Their facial expressions, the sounds they made, their tone, their movements.
Who can be trusted, and who can't?
If Master isn't sure, then I will help.
Develop that feeling.
Hone that instinct.
Find it.
Understand it.
The difference between Them and Us.
