“Damned beast, you should just lie down!” I heard Sir Cliene yell out, and then, as I was putting one of the guards down in a safe zone, I heard a loud crash behind me. I turned to see the massive monster embedded into the ground. Dirt and debris of all kinds were thrown into the air. I took a few seconds before the shockwave of the attack swept over us. I had no choice but to use my sword skills to knock back all the large rocks. Something I have done many times in my dreams. If I let a single one pass, one of these guards could get hit and die. 

With my blade swinging back and forth in front of me, my eyes shifted left and right, picking up each and every rock I saw. I did not dare let anything bigger than my thumb get past since they were flying at us at a hide speed. With each stroke of my blade, I felt as if time was slowing. It was as if I had entered a trance of sorts. I felt as if I was about to grasp something. 

“Zoe!” A familiar voice entered my ears, snapping me out of my daze as I batted down another rock. I watched as the pink-haired thing made her way over to me with a worried look on her face. I did not understand why she was looking at me with tears in her eyes. It was only then that I realized my health bar was teetering on zero. I looked down to see that I had missed quite a few rocks, all of which had hit my body instead. 

I did not feel them at all. I only did my best to keep those who were behind me safe.  As the dust and debris settled, the pink-haired thing stood in front of me with a pained expression on her face. I lifted my mask and forced a smile as I asked: “Got a healing potion by chance?”

“You!” The pink-haired thing let out a soft cry and took out a potion and fed it to me. I was afraid to even move, so I let her do as she pleased. As my health bar rose once more, I let out a sigh of relief. 

“Lass, you did good. I can’t thank you enough for the lives you saved today.” Sir Cliene’s voice entered my ears.

[World Quest: Completed!]
[Help Defend Erune!]
[Rewards: See Sir Cliene for rewards!]

[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]

My current stats were not looking too bad after 6 levels. 

[Name]: Zoe  
[Race]: Demon
[Level]: 23
                              
[Health]: 400/400
[Mana]:     390/390 

[Stats] 
[Strength]:     28 {EM: +40}
[Dexterity]: 29 {EM: +10}
[Intelligence]: 29 {EM: +15}
[Vitality]: 30 {EM: +10}
[Mind]: 29 {EM: +10}
[Charisma]: 28

[Skills] 
[Sword Mastery]: 30/99  
[Magic]: 1/99
[Shadow Step]: 1/99 

[Unique Skills]
[Shadow Mimic]: 1/99
[Natures Embrace]: 1/99
[Chrono Step]: 1/99
[Chrono Domain]: 1/99
[?????]: 1/9999

Although I had no idea what this ??? was. I would need to look into it more when I have some free time. 

“You okay, lass?” Sir Cliene must have seen me in a daze and thought it was still hurt someplace. While my hp was still full, the wounds on my body had disappeared, as did the blood that had been oozing out of my wounds. 

“Ah yes…. How are your men?” I asked back while scratching my head.

“Thanks to you, they are alive and well. I saw what you did from the side. To be able to move your sword so quickly was quite a feat.  I never saw anything like it. It was as if you had created a domain around you, but it seems incomplete. Seeing how you were so beaten up. But maybe that was because you were trying to block everything around you and not just yourself.” Sir Cliene’s observation skills in the middle of battle were something else. I had no time to even think; I could only block the attacks around me to keep them from hitting the injured guards.

“I was just trying to keep those I saved from dying.” I scratched the back of my head, feeling slightly out of it. The pink-haired thing was standing next to me, staring at me with eyes full of shock. Was it that surprising that I was still alive? 

“You! You spoke!” the pink-haired thing suddenly yelled out. I turned and frowned at her, causing her to shut up instantly. 

“Haha! Your friend is a strange one.” Sir Cliene let out a laugh. I couldn’t help but smile along with him. I mean, it was amusing to think the person who was more normal than me was being called strange. “Lass, you and your friend should follow me. You deserve a reward for your efforts. You both did well, even with your low levels. Not only that, but you both made good decisions during combat as well. Good deeds do not go unrewarded.”

I looked at the pink-haired thing and gave her a nod before we both followed after Sir Cliene. We followed him back to the small base camp that had been set up after the battle since a monster of this size killed by NPCs did not just disappear but had to be taken care of the old-fashioned way. It was there that a large treasure chest was sitting with a tightly closed lid. 

“For the lives you saved and the help you gave to my mages, I will now reward you both with a choice of one item each from the treasure chest here.”