Mature Content Warning: A little foul language

Author's Note: Here we go, happy people. It's a short chapter, but it has the important stuff, and a slight bit more of the cross-referencing between this story and Blackthorne.

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Chapter 46: Hey Sharde

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They came by the dozens, the monstrous beasts of the mountains. They came on wing, on scale, and by tip-toe of claw. No matter what method of travel they chose, they all died the same way. The exploded into gore and shower of blood. The remains dissipated into motes of light.

Rhea smiled at her handiwork after receiving her battle report. It was nice to carve her way through her opponents once more. She cleaned off her blade then ran onward in search of the next field of battle. She needed to surpass Scott’s level as quickly as possible so that she could safely drag him up the experience ladder. Otherwise, they would grow too far apart in level and would not be able to fight together properly in the near future. Rhea could easily defeat the monsters here. Scott would not have the same effect on them.

She had slaughtered them by the hundreds in the last three days, but that was only enough to increase her level twice. She needed to carve them up by the thousands.

Meanwhile, Scott labored to battle opponents of his own. His current goal was to train and transfer experience to Ero until she reached his level. If word had not come about the Mermaid queen or the missing mermaids by then, he would start his own training to reach twenty-five.

Rhea had assured him that she could reach level twenty-five in less than two weeks. At that point the level gap allowance would increase considerably and they could rapidly increase his level while training together. Till then, fighting separately during the day would allow him to acquire ability points that he would miss out on if he was quick-leveled. He would need those points.

Scott leapt forward and unleashed a burn spell into a pack of Arvulfs, a wolf-like monster with saber teeth and horns that spat out lightning. The vulfs were flung away by his powerful attack, but they quickly regrouped and spread out.

Three of the blue-furred monsters raced toward him while the rest of the pack split up and came at him from his left and right. Scott knew this tactic well. They had caught him with it before. He had originally attempted to jump back to force them into a group once more but that method had proved less effective than what he was about to do.

Scott quickly equipped his boomerangs then ran forward. While he ran he utilized his ability with synchronicity to charge them with two separate spells. The first spell was his water sphere and the second was his flash spell.

His boomerangs flashed outward toward the three arvulfs in front of him. The leader managed to dodge but his companion was right behind him. He took the boomerang to the face. The water sphere imprisoned it for a split second as the second boomerang hit just after. The flash spell flared out and destabilized the sphere with explosive results.

Electrified water shot out in all directions and caught the other two wolves in the process. Neither of them were kill in that exchange, but they were temporarily paralyzed.

Scott kept running and snatched up his boomerangs when they returned to him. He immediately charged them again. This time they were both charged with the burn spell.

The running sorcerer lept over a paralyzed arvulf and kept going. He did not turn until he heard the howls of the creatures behind him. They always howled when they recovered from a status effect.

Scott spun around as soon as his next step was completed. He hurled his boomerangs toward the reformed pack. Dual explosions rocked the area and arvulfs flew through the air.

He switched weapons and equipped his spear. Several of the monsters were burning now, but they still had a tendency toward moving as a pack. They writhed and howled, but their pack mates did not abandon them. Scott took the opportunity to fan the flames, so to speak.

The sorcerer whirled his spear around and cried out, “Howling Gale!”

A horizontal tornado raced outward and buffeted the monsters with razor-like winds. They actual magical damage was minor, but the effect was great. The flames were drawn into the vortex and he managed to create a flame tornado that burned the pack with great fury. Several of them actually died as numbers in the double digits began to pop up from them repeatedly.

Weakened considerably by the onslaught, the pack of arvulfs was not able to withstand the concentrated volley of burn spells that came their way afterwards. After the pack dissipated, the background music shifted back to the airy mountain tune that normally played. The battle report appeared.

<<< Battle Report >>>

Victory!!

Congratulations! You defeated eighteen Arvulfs!

+ 5234 EXP

+ 3467 Fayth

+ 36 Ability Points

Item(s) Acquired:

Arvulf Horns X 12

Arvulf Pelt X 9

Arvulf Fang X 3

Medium Sapphire X 1

>>

Scott was happy to see the result. That was nearly one-third of the experience that he needed to reach the next level. It would help sighed. “Man, who knew that monsters had this much magic resistance?”

The Shar-Shar had given him a false sense of superiority. They had strong resistance to physical damage but weak to magic. Most sea creatures seemed to follow that pattern. However, everything he had fought in this mountain range had been far more capable of shrugging off his magic. Apparently, class one magic was even less effective due to level bonuses or something.

“So, what do you say we head in and rest for a little while, Ero?” asked Scott. He would be in serious trouble if another pack showed up. His mana was not bottomless and it took a good chunk per group.

“Yeah! I want to see how Sharde is doing.” said the fairy girl from within his mind. She had been worried about Rhea’s sister since she had returned.

Scott smiled softly then nodded. They left the burnt ruin that was the battlefield and headed toward the small cabin that they temporarily called home. This would be a great place to train both before, and after, they rescued the mermaids.

He was a little concerned that they could have just had him acquire a much higher level first, and then back train for ability points, but Rhea had a good point. Until he could effectively use his spells without having to hurl four or five of them just to take down a single monster, hunting at higher levels would be pointless. He would have better stats, but he might still be beaten by the stronger monsters and their bullshit magic resistance buffs.

It took a half hour to return to the cabin. Upon arrival Scott bore witness to a sad sight. Sharde sat along at the little picnic table outside. She slowly stirred a spoon around inside of a bowl then sighed loudly.

“Hey Sharde.” said Scott in a friendly manner.

She never looked up from her bowl. “Hi...”

Scott walked over to her then sat down across from her at the table. She glanced up at him quickly then looked down at her bowl again.

He was silent for a moment. What could he say? She was obviously depressed, but he barely knew her. She needed to spend time with her sister.

Sharde bit her lower lip briefly then glanced back up at Scott. “So... Have you been training?”

Scott nodded. “Yeah, it’s harder now, even with better equipment.”

She smiled softly. “Yeah, you need to upgrade your spells and skills a bit.”

He accepted her critique with a smile of his own. It was true.

Sharde played with her soup for a moment then sighed once more. Scott asked, “I’m not very good at it, but... you can tell me what’s bothering you if you like.”

The ninja girl looked up at him then a slight smile broke across her face. “I’m not sure what to talk about. I... I just don’t know anymore.”

“Then just pick a topic. We never really talk, so there is a lot of things to discuss, right?” asked Scott.

She nodded slowly then a slight tinge of pink slipped across her nose. “Well, are you and Rhea getting along well?”

“I think so. We don’t have as many weird interactions as before.” he admitted.

“Weird interactions?” she asked with a grin.

He smiled at her in return. “Well, you know... Misunderstandings about feelings and stuff.”

“That’s good... I’m happy for her and for you...” said Sharde. However, her expression shifted to one of sadness and longing once more.

Scott reached out and took her free hand. “Sharde, I’m sorry if I’ve hurt you.”

Her faced grew darker and her blush increased. “No, I... I hurt myself, I guess.”

“Did you?” asked Scott.

She nodded. “I fixated on you because of my sister’s interest and let myself believe there was more to it than that.”

He squeezed her hand gently. She smiled in response. They continued to simple look at each other for a moment.

Sharde finally spoke up. “I’m sorry if I caused you problems.”

“You are not and never were a problem, Sharde. You’re a nice girl, and I’d love to be friends with you.”

Her smile increased several sizes. “Thanks for that. I know that I can be a little... aggressive and clueless. I just get excited about things that interest me.”

“That’s a good thing though. I used to be that way till life sucked the fun out of me.” said Scott.

“Ha! You’re one of the most amusing people I know.” said Sharde.

“You think so?” asked Scott.

She giggled gently then nodded. “Yes... I really liked watching you live your life. It got me through a lot of lonely days.”

“I’m glad that I could be there for you in that way then.” said Scott.

Sharde’s cheeks took on a rosy tone. “Thank you. I just...”

“Yes?” he asked.

Sharde shook her head. “It’s not right, but I just wish that I could have met you first.”

Scott squeezed her hand again. “Am I really that irreplaceable? There are probably millions of guys like me out there. There might even been one or two who are better.”

“One or two, huh?” asked Sharde with a smile.

“Maybe three, but that’s pushing it. I’m pretty awesome.” replied Scott with a cheeky grin.

Sharde laughed. “Yeah, and you make my sister happy. I’m glad.”

“I’m sure you’ll find someone who makes you happy, too. You’re a really nice girl, Sharde.” said Scott.

She smiled softly at him. “You said you were bad at this.”

“If I were good at it, you’d be dancing and singing by now.” he said with a smile of his own.

The ninja girl shook her head. “I probably won’t be doing either for a while.”

“Why? Is it because of your...fiance?” asked Scott. He still did not know the real story of that.

“Only a little. It’s mostly that I just can’t figure out how to approach someone I like. I’m usually direct about everything that I do, and it doesn’t seem to work properly with relationships.” she said.

“Well, maybe you’re too eager for a relationship to start and just need to be friends with someone first.” said Scott.

“Friends first?” she asked curiously.

“Well, yeah. Some people claim there is a thing called the friend zone where a relationship is doomed to never be more than simple friendship. Don’t believe that.” he said.

“OK, what should I believe?” asked Sharde.

Scott smiled at her then said, “Believe that everything starts with being friends with someone. You don’t need to be best friends forever or anything, but at least be on good terms.”

“Would I have been able to find a guy like you with such a tactic?” asked Sharde with curious expression.

“You could find any decent sort of guy like that. Wouldn’t you want to be with someone who honestly knows and cares about you, has history with you?” asked Scott.

“History, what sort of history?” she asked, her eyebrow rose curiously.

“Yeah, you know, like being neighbors or childhood friends. Maybe you work together or have similar interests. There are lots of ways to be part of someone’s life” said Scott.

“I see... How interesting. You say that I could have someone special in my life if I just spent more time with that someone, had a little history with them?”

“Well it might be a little late for you to be someone’s childhood friend, but hey if it ever happens then there you go.

Otherwise, just keep your eyes out for someone you find interesting and see what common ground you have.” said Scott.

Sharde released her soup spoon then placed it atop Scott’s. “OK, if I find anyone like that I’ll give your advice a try.”

“I hope it helps.” said Scott.

“Yes, me too.” She sighed softly. “I doubt it’ll be useful any time soon, though.”

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“I’m stuck doing a community service project and I’ll be working on world building for a new project part-time.” she said.

“Well, that could be fun and interesting...” said Scott.

Sharde glanced at him. “Most of it is number crunching. I doubt I’ll find anything fun or interesting about it.”

“Then make your own fun. It might save your sanity.” he said.

Sharde chuckled softly. “Thanks for your concern. I really do appreciate it.”

“That’s what friends are for, right?” said Scott.

The pony-tailed ninja nodded. “Yes, I suppose. My sister is my only real friend. Well, was...”

Ero faded into view then pouted at Sharde. “What about me?”

The red-head smiled at the tiny little fairy. “Of course you’re my friend. I wondered when you would pop up.”

“I wanted to see how you were doing, but you and Scott started talking and I did not want to distract you. Did I do good?” asked Ero with wide eyes and a hopeful expression.

“Yes, you did.” said Sharde.

The fairy giggled softly then fluttered over and gave Sharde a warm hug on the side of the face. “Good, because I want you to be happy.”

Sharde rubbed Ero’s back with her finger then closed her eyes. It was nice to know that someone truly cared for her.