“Join the expedition?” Alain replied with raised eyebrows.

I do know she is a Giantslayer. But I also just found out the reason why she had on that expensive-looking armor when I found her was because of her family's wealth. I’m not sure how this noble lady will fare out there. Alain thought.

“Yes. I have decided that the quickest way to gain this settlement’s and your trust is to be at the frontlines, especially for such an important mission,” Marika said, her conviction still unwavering.

“Well yes but,” Alain quickly replied back, “While I did say to Elena that I will be gone for a few weeks, the truth is, we don’t know for certain how long we’ll be out there.”

Marika raised her eyebrows. “Yes, I know. I guessed.” She said.

Alain raised his hand to stop her from talking. “We’ll be going to unknown territories that we have never ventured to before. Since we ran out of nectar hotspots in our current maps, we will not know for certain what’s out there, it’ll be mostly uncharted lands. As you know, The Domain, The Sanctuary, and a few other settlements are all in the same region and we all have contacts with one another and have drawn maps of our area. But what’s out there outside of those maps will truly be foreign to any of us.” He explained.

Well, maybe not foreign to me. I come from outside of this region and yet I somehow made it here, although how I made it here I do not remember clearly. Alain thought. He remembered the time when absolutely no one would believe that he traveled here from another region entirely and it didn't help that none of them had heard of his previous city. Even now, many shared the opinion that Alain probably hit his head as a kid and that he was born here but had vivid imaginations. The idea of coming into contact with humans outside of this region was something that far-fetched for most Sanctuarians.

Marika put a hand on her chest. “I understand, I really do. I know you’re saying this for my own well-being but this is my decision to make. Other than the reasons I just mentioned to you, this is something of a challenge I put up for myself, something I need to overcome before I am completely sure I can survive independently.” She said passionately.

She's persistent. Alain thought.

Alain sighed. “I know I said I was still a student at The Academy but only the top students are allowed to sign up for the expedition, and even then we are only allowed to help with the transport team carrying the supplies and we will rarely join the fight in the front lines,” He replied.

Marika frowned, this time a slight hint of anger could be seen, “Then are you doubting my skills?” She asked firmly.

I am, unfortunately. Alain could not lie in his mind. After hearing her being a child of the most powerful noble family in The Domain, he could not imagine such a person born under such privilege would take giantslaying seriously, after all, they would not need to be a Giantslayer to survive, he thought.

“I am not. It’s just…” Alain said, barely hiding his lie as he was scratching the back of his head while saying that.

“Then I will prove it to you." Marika crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Tomorrow morning, let’s go through the secret passage again and find a giant. I will show you I am perfectly capable of surviving out there,” She replied.

“Even if you want to join,” Alain continued scratching the back of his head, “I’m not sure if you truly could since you don’t have a giantslaying license here and you have also not signed up for the expedition.” He said, hoping this was the final nail before she would give up.

Marika shook her head. “We will worry about the logistics later, I’m sure we’ll figure something out. But tomorrow, let’s hunt outside,” She said smiling.

How steadfast is this girl? Alain thought. In my head, the nobles of the ancient past are a haughty group of people and from her stories of The Domain, that seems to be true. But why is she like this? What happened to her and her family? Alain recalled her saying she was not a pure-blooded noble, could that be it? But he still could not figure out why she was stabbed by someone and left to die on the river like that and she still would not say.

Alain sighed again. “Fine, tomorrow. We’ll have to be careful because I’ll have to wear a training leather armor because Rostav is still fixing up the hole in the usual bone armor I wear,” He said.

“Your armor would not matter much if you simply don’t get hit,” She smiled.

“Easy for you to say since you seem to be the agility type judging by your armor. Anyway, let’s head over to the farming district,” Alain said.

Marika nodded and continued walking with him. They both arrived in the farming district a while later. The balcony that made up the giant cabin housing The Sanctuary was big, enough for there to be several different subsections that had different plants farmed. Of course, the Sanctuarians do not attempt to cultivate any of the larger plants and fruits, that would be the job of Giantslayers to find when they venture outside. Instead, they cultivate tiny plants and weeds that would serve as some of The Sanctuary’s staple food such as Mashi, a brown-colored plant that produces grains that would create bread if cooked. Or Vois, weeds that provide a lot of nutrition, have a salty flavor, and can be eaten with anything.

The farming district had several crop-processing buildings and open fields protected by Giantslayers and Shields where Sanctuarians can play outside freely without considerable fears of getting eaten by Giants. Alain and Marika went to one of the fields and sat on some stools next to a table. Food stalls were set up nearby so people could eat food and drink while lounging under the sun.

“It’s really hot,” Marika said after sitting down.

“Well, it’s summer,” Alain pointed up into the sky. “But look at those clouds, it will rain again very soon.” He said.

“Who are those people?” Marika pointed at what looked to be the Shields that were standing perfectly still, on guard for flying giants.

“They’re the Shields I told you about,” Alain replied.

The Shields certainly looked different than normal Giantslayers. For one, they did not wear individual armors that they customized themselves but rather wear a standard-issue armor akin to a uniform. Different weapon classes would wear different armor but they all wore homogenized white bone armor complete with bone helmets and their weapons were similarly uniform. The white color would make them stand out as being the true protectors of The Sanctuary.

Although there was one more protector, The Swords, or at least if they do indeed protect The Sanctuary as he said, that is something I must confirm. Maybe I’ll see them again tomorrow, Alain thought.

“They’re elites, huh? And you said they’ll join the expedition as well?” She asked.

“They are elites in that they are trained in various things other than just Giantslaying, like hand-to-hand combat and military tactics, that’s why they’re formidable. But individually, I’ve seen stronger Giantslayers.” Alain replied.

Marika nodded in understanding. They both sat on the stool while relaxing under the sun for an hour or so and had various mundane conversations about The Sanctuary. But after a while, the clouds above started to precipitate rainfall and they had to return inside.

“I wanted to show you the third-floor districts but it’d take too long and if we are going to go on a hunt tomorrow, then we should return now and get some rest,” Alain said.

“That’s too bad, I am quite curious about what’s up there, but I understand. Let’s go,” Marika nodded and followed him back to the first floor and to Rostav’s house.

Rostav and Renald were not back by the time they arrived at the house. In fact, they did not come back at all for the entire night so the two went to sleep first. Strangely enough, Rostav and Renald were also not back in the morning but Alain just shrugged as he trusted Rostav to keep Renald safe. Alain and Marika gathered the equipment they needed and head out.

The two of them arrived outside of The Sanctuary through the secret passage. It was a humid morning with dews all over the plants. Alain had worn training leather armor but was carrying his usual sword-ax. In contrast, it was obvious that Marika was wearing high-quality reptilian scale armor. Her armor was a beautiful glistening green color and luckily enough, she was stabbed at the part of the armor that had some gaps so the armor itself was not damaged at all.

Alain whistled looking at the armor’s craftsmanship. “I take it it’s from some sort of venomous reptilian giant?” He asked.

“Yes,” Marika nodded. “A Bizka specifically, a type of venomous serpent giant. It took an entire platoon of Giantslayers to kill, I was there,” She said proudly.

Did she join a hunt against such a giant? A Bizka is extremely dangerous! Alain quickly realized perhaps he underestimated her a bit.

“And you use dual swords?” He looked at the two weapons she was wielding. He had taken them from Rostav’s shop for Marika to use as he figured Rostav would not mind if they borrowed them for a bit.

Marika nodded. “As you said, I am the agility type so I use these. Can I have a vial of nectar? Let’s start the hunt,”

Alain took some things from his pouch, “I only brought two since I figured it would be a quick hunt, I need to save them for the expedition too. We would need to finish quickly and return inside after we kill something.” He brought out two vials of nectar and handed one of them to Marika.

“That’s fine. One is enough for several hunts,” She replied and drank one vial.

Alain’s eyes widened in surprise.”W-what level Giantslayer are you again?” He asked.

I am only level one myself because I still need to drink one vial to last one battle. Alain thought.

“Levels?” Marika raised her eyebrows. “Ah, you mean stages, that’s what we call them in The Domain. I am stage two, I am capable of only consuming one vial to last multiple battles,” She said.

Alain’s eyes widened even further.

“How old are you again, Alain?” She asked.

“I am eighteen,”

“You are still a fledgling, yes? I am already a registered Giantslayer over at The Domain. I am twenty-two and I have already graduated The Domain’s equivalent to your academy and have gone on several major hunts,” Marika said while she was checking each of her equipment.

“Why didn’t you tell me yesterday, then? I would have not argued with you about this,” Alain frowned and said.

“I am just tired of men judging my abilities from just my appearance and background,” Marika chuckled. “But in all seriousness, I also want to see you in action and maybe give you some pointers. How about we find some giant?” She stretched her arms and legs before taking off at incredible speed.

So fast! Alain thought. He drank his vial of nectar and tried to keep up with her speed.

They both ran deeper inside the grassland jungle to find suitable prey. After a while, Marika stopped running and pointed at the soil.

“These are some sort of reptilian giant tracks,” She said. “It doesn’t seem that big so I think we can take it on, let’s follow it,”

Alain nodded and followed her.

It took a few more minutes to find a small clearing where the tracks led to. On top of a giant boulder, a giant brown lizard with spiky scales was sitting. This reptile seemed to be basking under the morning sun in order to store up heat inside of its body before retreating back to its nest later. It was a large beast, if it opened its mouth it would easily swallow both of them whole.

“It’s a Kazdal, it’s quite fast so I’ll be the main agitator while you look for opportunities to attack from the sides and maybe use your ropecaster to pin it in place before we kill it,” Marika explained while they were hiding behind blades of grass.

A Kazdal is a three-star giant, it would take an entire party or two of first-level Giantslayers to kill it. Alain thought, frowning.

Marika noticed his anxiety. “Trust me on this, we’ll defeat it easily. It’s not my first time fighting this thing,” She reassured him.

Alain sighed. I just have to believe in her. And besides, I need these types of battles against giants I can’t normally defeat to gain more power, I did kill that Valang alone didn’t I? that was a four-star giant! Alain thought. But he was extremely lucky with the Valang as it was already half-blind and exhausted the second time they fought, but ‘luck’ was precisely something that many Giantslayers require.

“Let’s go,” Alain said.

Marika nodded and rushed forward. The keen senses of the Kazdal allowed it to spot slight movements on the grass and locked on Marika right away. It left its boulder and charged at Marika.

That thing is fast! Alain thought, It was the first time he had seen a reptilian giant outside. The only times he ventured outside on practical exams under The Academy's supervision were against rodent giants that were not that dangerous. But this was different, this was a real hunt that established Giantslayers would seek, and a reptilian giant was something he had never fought against before. While it was not as large as the Valang nor did it fly, reptilian giants behaved erratically and it was something Alain did not know how to face yet.

Let’s watch how she handles this. Alain thought, gazing at Marika's running figure.

The Kazdal’s march was nearing the young woman with reptilian scale armor's approaching figure. It opened its mouth as if expecting an easy prey, its serrated teeth that would tear apart bones and flesh could be seen. Suddenly, Marika jumped up and made a wide arc in the air, performing a frontflip over the lizard’s head and into its back. She mounted the Kazdal and started to repeatedly stab its back with her dual swords.

That was close! A few steps closer and too late and she would be inside its stomach. Alain was amazed at the risky maneuver.

But the Kazdal possessed an extremely flexible spine so it rotated its mouth and neck in a way that would reach Marika’s new position. But she also expected that as she used the lizard’s back as a launchpad and jumped an arc and landed in front of the lizard and the opposite direction of its head. Marika made two quick slashes of the sword that hit behind the neck of the giant brown lizard and performed several acrobatic backflips to create some distance between them.

It’s like she knows the creature’s attacking pattern. Alain praised in his mind.

But the cuts were not too deep as the lizard came out relatively uninjured. Marika looked at her dual swords in dissatisfaction as if she was used to wielding better weapons. She turned to Alain.

“Alain! I will continue to distract it. You have the better weapon so you’ll be able to do more damage to it so find an opening!” She said and charged forward again.

Alain nodded and joined the battle. He ran behind the creature to find an opening. He had set his sword-ax in sword form as he would be doing more slashing rather than stabbing since it was such a fast creature.

Perhaps I should cut its tail! Alain thought as he raised his giant sword-ax over his shoulder to charge his attack. He finally found an opening and slashed downward only to find he had missed and hit the soil below.

The tail is too fast! Alain screamed in his mind, his sword-ax charging time was too long for it to accurately hit its target.

The Kazdal finally noticed the second target in its sight and turn its attention to Alain. The giant lizard charged at Alain intending to bite him clean into two. Alain’s brain was now working overtime.

Remember the augmented Karja I encountered! Unlike that thing, this Kazdal has much poorer turning speed, Alain thought, recalling his time fighting the arachnid giant that was similarly fast and was able to turn around extremely quick due to its six limbs.

At the last possible second, Alain raised his sword-ax and parried the Kazdal’s mouth and sidestepped. The lizard quickly recovered and attempted to do so again and Alain parried it again while sidestepping. At the third parry, Alain unsheathed his dagger and stabbed its neck from the side. And then he quickly rotated his entire body while carrying his sword-ax and gained the momentum to slash downward at the neck of the creature, creating a terrible gashing wound.

Marika’s eyes widened and mouth opened in utter surprise. It was a move she had only seen from higher-level Giantslayers performed by a fledgling. It was a maneuver that required complete confidence in one’s own eyesight and hand-eye coordination.

She shook her head to remove her from her stupor and moved forward again as she saw the Kazdal was about to recover and attack Alain. She brought her two dual swords forward and crossed it with one another to create a scissor and then she cut off part of its tail.

The giant lizard shrieked in pain and turned back to fight Marika again. Marika continued her aerial dance with the Kazdal. Meanwhile, Alain stood still for a few seconds.

What did I just do? Alain was surprised at his own ability to stand face to face with such a dangerous giant.

I’ll think about it later, I must finish this. He said in his mind and reached for his ropecaster, the Kazdal seemed injured enough to finally use the weapon. He ran forward and circled the giant while Marika was still creating countless small wounds on the giant. He fired multiple rounds of rope arrows and fired rounds to the soil below in consecutive manners to anchor the ropes in place. After ten or so rounds, the giant was anchored and trapped in place unable to move.

“I’ll blind it while you stab its vital organs!” Marika said.

Alain nodded and changed his sword-ax into the ax form. He stood on the side of the creature and charged his weapon over his shoulder. Meanwhile, Marika jumped on top of its head and stab her dual swords on both of the giant’s eyes. It shrieked in pain and panicked as it lost its sight and was unable to move its body due to the ropes sticking out of it.

Alain finished his charge and made a devastating blow downward, piercing its scales and stabbing the creature’s heart. The Kazdal made its final struggle before completely turning still as it exhaled its final breath.

Alain also exhaled air out of his lungs and sat on the ground, he did not bother taking the sword-ax out of the body of the giant as he was too exhausted. Meanwhile, Marika took her dual swords out of the Kazdal’s eyes and flicked both of the swords quickly to get rid of the blood. She sheathed her weapons and approached Alain after jumping down the creature.

“Alain, are you focusing on strength to be a Brute?” Marika asked, her eyes frowning but it had a curious glint.

“Yes, it’s what I’m good at considering the weapon I use,” He said.

“Have you given it more thoughts other than just your simple desire for strength?” Marika asked again.

Alain’s raised his eyebrows. “I...guess not. It just seemed natural to me,” He said.

Marika gazed at the sword-ax still stuck on the creature’s side “Then you should consider making your sword-ax smaller and,” She turned her gaze directly towards Alain, “consider becoming a Perceiver focusing on your reflexes and senses instead,”