Chapter 19.

CHAPTER 19.

Amber watched as bodies were burned. A pyre of them had been made, only wood surrounding the dozens of bodies that were in the pile, all set ablaze by Liz. The flames burned brightly in the night, reducing what had once been to ash and bringing it back to the earth. The atmosphere was a solemn one, as many others watched the fires crackle.

In the past, Amber had chosen to not partake in this activity, but this time she did. She had taken the lives of some of the bandits in the pile, and even now she didn’t quite know how she felt about it. She didn't feel regret, nor sadness, however it still felt like a burden to her. Her hands had been further stained this evening, and this was probably not going to be the end of it.

I’m in Vir now… this is just how life is here, is what she told herself. However, she still disliked the thought of having to kill others to survive, it just felt wrong to her. It wasn’t some guilt thing, it wasn’t some “it makes me less human” thing, she just didn’t like it, plain and simple.

However, she at least found the burning of the bodies somewhat calming, as weird as that was. She didn’t feel like a monster, or some kind of sociopath, in the end; she had done what she needed to do. She felt silly constantly telling herself that, but at the same time she found it to be true.

She still didn’t know why she felt the need to apologize every time she killed someone, it just felt wrong not to do it, and it wasn’t something she could explain either. Liz had been standing next to her the entire time, but after what felt like forever she finally spoke.

“You said you’re as fine as you can be,” she began. “Are you?”

“It just feels wrong for me, killing feels wrong. I don’t feel guilt or anything, just a sense of wrongness,” she sighed. “Is that weird?”

“Maybe, but we all have things that we find inherently wrong even if we can’t exactly explain it,” Liz said.

“Yeah.”

And then, there was silence as they continued to watch the fire burn.

* * *

They had moved the camp elsewhere and in the morning they had set off. Though, the amount of people had almost been halved. Some of the carts had been taken over with adventurers, which according to Liz⁠, the profit made from the goods that they transported would be given to the relevant families.

Amber didn’t know how she felt about everything, even after sleeping on it.

She liked the world of Vir, but she supposed that this was the part she actually disliked. Life seemed fleeting enough already with all the monsters, but with humans killing each other added in, it was a bit… saddening? She wasn’t sure what the word was for it, but she tried to not ruminate on those things. Instead, she turned to Liz who was just walking in silence.

“Are you ever going to talk to me?”

Liz blinked. “I just thought it was best to leave you with your thoughts for now.”

Amber shook her head. “I’ve had enough of my own thoughts, so I figured I should talk to you instead.”

“A wise choice,” Liz smiled. “So, what can I enlighten you with?”

“Where are we going?” Amber asked.

And Liz paused. She seemed confused as she tilted her head. “I didn’t tell you?”

“No, you didn’t.”

“Oh…”

That’s all the mage said. Then, moments later, she seemed to recover as she began to talk, albeit in a slightly embarrassed tone.

“We are going to the capital of the kingdom, we are going to the city of Cytel.”

“And I assume that’s where your sister is?” Amber asked.

“Yes, and before you ask why take this caravan if I was unsure whether I’d get your help or not, the answer is that I need to check on my sister every few months. To make sure there have been no new… developments. Though admittedly, this is my first time taking such a long caravan, the other times I visited through other routes.”

“How long is the journey?”

“Five to six days,” Liz said.

“Oh.” Amber thought about it but she found that she didn’t care all that much. So she returned to the main topic. “So now instead of checking on your sister, we are going to save her instead, huh.”

“Yep.” Liz nodded. “And I am extremely grateful for your help.”

“You’re welcome.”

“And also I’m grateful that you saved my life back then and…” Liz paused. “Grateful that you saved it yet again… you know, I’m starting to feel like a damsel in distress.”

Amber chuckled at that. “Well, maybe you are, and maybe I’m your prince in shining armor.”

The blonde mage grinned. “If you are then, you can take my hand and put a ring on it.”

“Sure.”

Amber grabbed Liz’s hand and slid the silver ring, much to her shock. There was pause, then confusion and then complete shock. She most definitely wasn't pleased.

“Are you serious?” she asked with wide eyes.

Amber smiled at her and held her hand before removing the ring.

“No, I’m not,” Amber replied. “I just thought it was funny.”

“Your definition of funny is weird.” Liz massaged her ring finger before sighing. “And to do it with the ring you looted off the bandit. Which is by the way, rather valuable.”

“Is it?”

“Easily over a dozen gold coins. I may even be interested in buying it off you⁠—”

“Not selling yet,” Amber interrupted.

She looked at the silver ring on her right hand, it looked rather unassuming which she found nice. She didn’t want to flaunt jewelry or anything like that, aside from small trinkets that she found cute, she was never really a fan of it in the first place. In fact, she was sure that if it was a fancy ring with diamonds she would’ve sold it to Liz. However…

“Aren’t bandits not the… richest?”

“That was a very large bandit group,” Liz said. “The largest I’ve seen probably, if you weren’t there the outcome would have probably been pretty bad all things considered.”

“So I saved the day?” Amber blinked.

The mage nodded. “You did⁠—”

And at that moment, a familiar whistle came and the archer warned of enemies. Something that Amber was beginning to get used to.

“Monsters!”

Amber looked ahead and saw a stampede of oxen, or they pretty much looked like oxen except for the fact that their skin had a greenish hue and their horns were a blue color. Amber of course, jumped at the opportunity.

“I’m going in before they start running, see you.”

And before Liz could say anything, she was already full force ahead at the stampede. Some immediately diverted, but a small group of five snorted and charged head on in her direction. Amber grinned at that and a moment later the sky turned crimson, evidently Liz had done the same thing as before.

Which meant⁠, she was alone.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

[Earthen Exen. Lvl. 44]

[Earthen Exen. Lvl. 48]

[Earthen Exen. Lvl. 47]

…

Amber used Cursed Stomp and immediately all five of the monsters fell on the ground, cuts spreading through all of their bodies as blood began to pool rather quickly. It was the Curse of Demonic Blood, something that made Amber happy. Perhaps she could kill them with just that⁠— and the monsters let out an angry bellow.

A pillar of earth erupted and Amber narrowly dodged, she watched as light brown particles began to come from the monsters, and one after the other, pillars erupted trying to hit her. For a moment she entertained getting hit, but that didn’t really feel right. So instead, she charged head on at the recovering monsters.

One of them stood up and tried to swing with its horns, Amber didn’t even bother to parry as she sidestepped and used Cursed Cleave right after. Her sword blurred, and went through the creature’s neck. Carving deep with a satisfying crunch, blood spilled and shortly after the creature let out a death squeal.

Just like that it had died⁠— And a pillar of earth hit her. Amber grunted feeling Cursed Momentum immediately got two minutes worth of charge up⁠— it fucking hurt. She turned, and faced another charging Earthen Exen, she immediately used Cursed Cleave and swung.

The strike went through its skull and immediately the beast fell. It dully hit the ground as Amber turned to the others. She was hit by yet another pillar when she attacked the third one, but she still managed to lethally injure it by taking a good chunk of its neck. Then she turned to the fourth monster and managed to stab her dagger into it.

And after dodging two more attempts at magic, one of the exens died, and the other fell to the ground with the dagger still in its body. Finally, she turned to the last remaining exen, who roared and Amber sprinted towards it. The monster charged at her, and Amber just like she had done with the juggernaut, decided to ride it.

With a careful side-step, she jumped onto its side and twisted her body, managing to hold onto its tough hide as the monster screeched in anger. Its wounds were still profusely bleeding, but it still began to jump up and down in a frenzy, unfortunately for it Amber wasn’t keen on letting go. She wanted to see how it felt, and maybe she’d try in the future to see how long she could ride one for. And so, she held onto the exen.

The monster kicked and struggled for what felt like forever, it even tried to use slanted pillars to try to hit her, but unfortunately it wasn’t able to do anything. And with its final attempt, the monster accidentally hit itself with one of its pillars. Ribs broke, the monster stumbled a couple of steps, and then Amber gave it a pat on the back, causing it to finally fall onto the ground.

And just like that, the fight was over.

Amber turned only to see the crimson fires fading, there was the occasional charred corpse here and there, which she noted. And then, she smiled. That had been a fun fight. Finally, after recovering her dagger, she headed back but now with an aspiration in mind.

I want to see who lasts more while riding, me or a fully healthy exen.

[You have defeated a [Earthen Exen. Lvl. 44].]

[You have defeated a [Earthen Exen. Lvl. 48].]

[You have defeated a [Earthen Exen. Lvl. 47].]

…

* * *

The caravan continued and there were no monsters for the rest of the day. And another day passed, her third day was uneventful, but the fourth day wasn’t. Another stampede of the jackal-like monsters had come and this time, she charged right into them. She slashed with her sword, and with Cursed Cleave she beheaded one⁠— its head flew, lost to the pack of monsters surrounding her.

[You have defeated a [Ackal Aureus. Lvl. 41].]

Amber ducked as a monster pounced over her, then she used Cursed Stomp, discombobulating well over a dozen monsters. There were at least thirty of them attacking her, but she didn’t back down as she continued fighting, incurring superficial wounds everywhere. However, the longer the monsters stayed the more wounded they got too from Curse Aura.

One of the monsters managed to pounce onto her, but she grabbed it and slammed it onto the ground. Her heart was beating in excitement, through the entire fight. Amber grew more proficient, slaying the monsters quickly and deftly but still getting hit every now and then. Her buffs were maxed, and for a moment she felt like a one woman army⁠—

Until a barrage of flames collided against a good chunk of the pack, and moments later they all began to flee. Amber frowned.

“What are you doing?”

“Cleaning up, and we had already finished fighting the other chunk of the pack,” Liz shrugged. “You can thank me later.”

“Thank you for ruining my fight?” Amber blinked.

Liz rolled her eyes in response. “Next time I won’t interrupt you then.”

[You have defeated a [Ackal Aureus. Lvl. 31].]

[You have defeated a [Ackal Aureus. Lvl. 40].]

[You have defeated a [Ackal Aureus. Lvl. 35].]

…

Their levels varied quite a lot but in the end she had slain well over a dozen of them, which got her a couple of skill level ups and a level up.

[Cursed Fury has leveled up from level 4 to 5.]

[Curse Aura has leveled up from level 2 to 3.]

[Physical Resistance has leveled up from level 5 to 6.]

[You have reached level 58. 5 stat points awarded.]

Shortly after that, they departed once more. Amber didn’t stay upset at Liz for long, however she made sure to drill into the woman how important it was for her to test her limits. In this case, she wanted to see how many she could fight at once.

* * *

On the fifth day, Amber relaxed.

“So tomorrow, we arrive at Cytel?”

“Yeah.” Liz nodded. “And I can finally ditch you, you are driving me insane.”

“Ha,” she let out a dry laugh, “and here I thought you adored my presence.”

In response the mage smiled. “I adore it so much that I need to get away so I can love it even more when I get back to you in one-hundred years.”

“Wonderful.”

Liz let out a laugh.

“I’m joking of course, I enjoy your company.” The mage smiled. “It’s nice to see someone so… free? I’m not sure how to describe it.”

“My greatness cannot be described.” Amber grinned. “You are fortunate to be in my presence.”

Liz rolled her eyes, and she gained some satisfaction. It’s fun. Amber did wonder if Ax’thra would regret the monster he had created, after all a lot of her humor mirrored his given they had spent weeks joking with each other.

“Where did you get this incredible personality from anyway?”

Amber tilted her head. “Sometimes I copy the Primordial Spirit, but otherwise it’s just me.”

“So he’s just as unbearable as you.” She smiled. “How nice, meant for each other.”

“I’m unbearable?” Amber blinked before chuckling.

So I became the very thing I was repulsed by? She didn’t exactly mind. She was enjoying herself, and Liz didn’t actually seem to find it annoying. It was just how they got along. Which made Amber glad. Even though she had experienced death and other struggles, she still managed to make friends even while being herself.

It was nice.

“I keep thinking back on your obsession with stuff,” Liz said after some silence. “And you know what? I think I respect it.”

“Why wouldn’t you respect it?” she asked, confused.

“Just take the compliment.”

“Huh…” Amber slowly nodded. “Thanks I guess?”

Liz snorted in response, but before Amber could continue the conversation a whistle resounded. She turned, ignoring the voice from the archer and she saw.

Exens…

[Earthen Exen. Lvl. 48]

[Earthen Exen. Lvl. 50]

[Earthen Exen. Lvl. 51]

…

Her lips immediately twisted with glee. “Now I’ll truly get to see the limits.”

“Limits of what?” Liz paused, confused.

However, Amber was already sprinting towards the pack, already too busy to answer. The Earthen Exens immediately split once more, and this time a mere group of three focused on her, but she didn’t care, she didn’t even need all three, just one was enough.

With a big smile, she dashed towards the group, and she barely managed to get atop of one of the exens after having a horn almost shatter her ribs. Now bleeding, with a torn gash at her side, Amber began riding the ferocious monster. The other two tried to get her off, but upon hurting their companion a couple of times they ended up going towards the fighting pack.

Minutes quickly passed, and soon after, all of the other exens had either fled or died. Meanwhile, Amber was still clutching onto the rampaging monster. Liz had come to talk some sense into her, but after arguing back and forth the woman relinquished and went to talk with the caravan saying that she has no final say on not killing the monster.

Amber had been slightly nervous after that, but to her surprise, the caravan agreed and some adventurers even decided to watch from a distance as she rode the monster.

And after that, the true battle started.

* * *

Amber rode it for what felt like forever, but as the hours passed she noticed the exen slowly lost energy until⁠— it collapsed. Dead. Amber blinked. She didn’t want to be cruel to the monster, but at the same time it had only lasted like five hours.

“That’s lame…”

And a moment later, she heard cheers. Amber turned only to see the camp was already set up and some people were drinking while looking at her. She hadn’t interacted with anyone in the caravan but Liz so far, however now, at least three adventurers immediately came over.

“Lass, that really is impressive,” a large fat one said.

“I really was rooting for the monster, you know?” An archer laughed.

“Today, you have taught me that perseverance sometimes is the key to success.” A woman nodded at her.

“Right…” Amber suddenly felt awkward.

Was I just an attraction for everyone the entire time? She craned her head only to see a lot of people looking at her with respect and admiration. I was most definitely the source of entertainment.

She quickly thanked the adventurers and went to find Liz, receiving some praises along the way. And towards the end of the carts, she finally found her companion.

“Oh, you are finally done.” Liz blinked. “I’m surprised it happened so fast.”

Amber suddenly forgot her previous awkwardness and immediately piped up. “I know right? I expected it to last at least a day.”

Liz’s lips drew a line for a moment. “You really aren’t human.”

“Or maybe you are lazy and don’t know what you really are capable of.” Amber crossed her arms.

“Hey, I’m perfectly capable.”

And so, they began talking once more, eventually laughing before going to have dinner.

[You have defeated a [Earthen Exen. Lvl. 51].]

[You have reached level 59. 5 stat points awarded.]

* * *

And on the sixth day, they finally arrived in the capital. It was mid-day and so Amber got a clear view of everything, and her eyes quickly grew wide as she saw the massive city that easily housed millions of people. Towering white walls protected all, and yet there were buildings that were as tall as skyscrapers poking above the skyline. All in varied colors.

They were still a few minutes from reaching the gates, but she couldn’t help but stop as she admired it all.

“Welcome to the capital: Cytel.” Liz smiled.