Tetsuya ducked as he lunged forward, allowing the leader orc's blade to miss his head by mere centimeters. He used his blade, Exflage, to retaliate. However, the leader orc skillfully used its sword and parried Tetsuya's attack.

Tetsuya was drawing the attention of this orc, with Azura standing by Juliana and Sherriel, protecting them from harm. Beside them, laid a single orc, whose defeat had drained the group energy-wise. Now, with only the leader orc left, it was more beneficial for them to engage in close combat since with Sherriel's current accuracy and the small target, it was extremely possible that she might accidentally hit Tetsuya. And since Sherriel and Juliana lacked close combat skills, Azura was tasked with protecting them and assisting Tetsuya if needed.

Tetsuya meanwhile, was drawing the attention of the leader orc as they went at it, one on one. Tetsuya recalled the teachings of Paladin Grant, and recalled the combat skills that he had taught him.

He studied the body language of the orc, which communicated its intents. Tetsuya's eyes were dilated as adrenaline pumped through his system, masking the pain from the cuts that he had received and the fatigue that his body felt.

With a loud war cry, the orc brought its heavy sword down on Tetsuya, who was only able to deflect it off course so that the blade barely missed his body. Next, just as Tetsuya was about to retaliate with an attack of his own before the orc is able to recover and use his blade to parry the attack, the orc delivered a devastating punch to Tetsuya's stomach with its strong, muscular left hand. This attack, knocked all the air out of Tetsuya and forced him back as he leaned forward, and covered his stomach with his free hand in hopes to quench the pain. He gasped for air as he stood there, sword still in hand and ready to fight.

Calm down, he thought. He inhaled and exhaled deeply in order to steady his breathing.

Next, Tetsuya feinted left but at the last second changed the trajectory of his cut so that it surpassed the orcs heavy blade and stabbed itself right into the orc's neck, which wasn't protected by its armor. However, the sword wasn't able to penetrate deep enough since the orc immediately took a step back and clutched its throat with a free hand so as to stop the bleeding.

"What's your name, human?" the orc smiled as it enjoyed the battle.

"No point in telling a monster," Tetsuya responded, he stepped towards the orc, using Exflage to shield his body from the orc's heavy blade before he made an arc with it in the air and brought it down on the orc's right shoulder.

Tetsuya didn't stop there. He leaned his shoulder towards the orc and spun around so that his blade sliced through the air to slice through the arm of the orc, severing it so that blood gushed out of it. Finally, Tetsuya seized the opportunity when the orc is dazed from losing his arm to deliver a killing blow to the orc's neck, penetrating it this time. The leader orc then fell over onto its back. It's eyes stared at the sky with pain as it suffocated on its own blood.

Tetsuya, finished with the fight, swung his blade to the side so as to shake off the blood on his beautiful white blade. Then, he sheathed the weapon and fell onto his rear from fatigue. Juliana immediately came over and began healing his wounds with her magic. However, Tetsuya knows that the fight isn't over yet, so he was still tense.

"Let's go back for him now," Tetsuya suggested.

He looked over and saw Azura nod but with a worried look on her face. He didn't pay much attention to it at the time and dismissed it. He too, was quite worried about the boy, and was anxious to go back for him. However, he didn't allow himself to get his hopes up since he had saw what foe Loganel was tasked with stopping.

Tetsuya forced himself up onto his feet and then brushed the dirt off of his clothes. "Let's go," he said in a solemn tone, frowning as he thought about what would happen to Loganel after they had left him alone.

They retraced their steps by following the river upstream. As they did so, they discovered that some parts of the river water was a crimson red as it flowed downstream. This led to them drawing different conclusions, but each was as daunting as the others.

"Please be safe," Tetsuya heard Juliana pray.

He didn't say anything in response. He didn't want to hurt her feelings. Tetsuya knew that it is almost impossible for Loganel to still be alive. His intent for returning was merely to calm the guilt in his and everyone else's mind and to retrieve whatever that is left of Loganel. That was why he was surprised when he discovered the lone boy laying down, surrounded by a brutal scene of a riverbed dyed crimson red by the blood oozing out of the numerous corpses around him.

Without saying anything Azura, went over to Loganel, who was laying limp on the ground. She knelt down on her knees and observed the boy's face. There were tears forming in her eyes and she was almost about to weep if it wasn't for the faint heave of the boy's chest which signaled that breathing has not yet stopped.

Juliana went over and knelt down on the boy's side. "I'll heal you right now." Tears of joy streamed down her face as her hands trembled as she brought them over any visible wounds on Loganel.

Sherriel and Tetsuya merely stood in the nearby distance, observing and attempting to comprehend what had happened. Tetsuya knelt down and checked the corpses of the orcs. Most of them had their limbs severed, which made Tetsuya almost throw up from the gore. However, he was able to contain himself.

He...did this? Tetsuya looked over at the unconscious boy whose head now rested on Azura's lap as she tried to make it as comfortable for him as possible.

A few drops of tears fell from Azura's eyes as it landed on Loganel's cheeks. "Third time now..." Azura whispered, using her fingers to sweep Loganel's bangs so that it didn't cover his closed eyes. "Why?"

***

It's so warm...Loganel thought, as he gradually opened his eyes to discover himself in the same room with the young man and the machine in the mysterious office with large pane windows that revealed a sprawling metropolis littered with numerous skyscrapers.

Loganel looked around, and was comforted by the humming of the computer and the sound of the young man's fingers running across the keyboard as he typed. For some reason, this sound comforted him and calmed him down. It was almost as if this sound was associated with peace.

Loganel closed his eyes once again and leaned on the computer desk that the young man was using. He felt safe here, despite all the mixed feelings he used to have for this room.

Is this what death is? Loganel wondered. Who cares? As long as it is comforting, it doesn't matter.

Loganel gradually slipped into a slumber as he was hypnotized by the soft humming of the computer and the typing of the young man. Outside the office, the city bustled with activity, a direct opposite to the quite and dark office that the young man and Loganel was in...

***

Loganel's eyes slowly opened, and he saw the face that he had yearned to see.

Azura? Why's she crying? Loganel thought. It's fine. Her fingers, gently stroking my face...ahh...why can't time just stop forever? If it is a dream, I'd rather never wake up. As long as it is just the two of us...

Loganel closed his eyes as he enjoyed the soft touch of Azura's hand.

This smell...so much sweeter than that Succubus and so natural...Her hair...the smell of soft vanilla.

A soft gentle breeze blew by, and caused the leaves to rattle. It blew across their face, causing their hair to dance in response to the gentle breeze.

If time could just stop... Loganel prayed.

However, all things couldn't go the way that one would want. Time will always continue to pass, and the sun will continue to make its arc across the sky. Thus, Loganel's dream will have to come to an end.

Loganel gradually stirred, and he blinked his eyes. He was welcomed back to the world with a teary Juliana by his side and Azura standing in the nearby distance. As the other's expressed their concern for him, he sighed as he glanced over at Azura. However, he kept his feelings concealed.

"Let's go home..." Testuya answered in a sad voice.

"Right," Juliana answered with a slight nod of her head.

The group then went off in the direction of the small mountain village where they intended to rest for the day before starting off for Astalan the next morning. Back at the village, after Tetsuya showed the village elder the trophy, which was an ear, that he had retrieved from the leader orc, the group was paid with a bag of thirty Silver, which they divided evenly amongst themselves.

That night, inside the small, one room cabin, all was quiet. Loganel stared at the moon outside as he was deep in thought. Tetsuya went to sleep early that night, and the girls chatted a little before they too, went off to sleep. Loganel however, continued to stare out the window at the nighttime sky outside. He drowned himself in the star ocean, and made up his mind.

At a bit afternoon the next day, the five returned to Astalan with its tall, sturdy walls and busy streets. Loganel made his announcement there.

"I won't be going with you guys from now on," he said. His sudden declaration shocked everyone. "At least until I find myself a different party to join, please allow me to continue being a member of the party so I can head out on my own and make a living."

Author's Note:

Please vote and comment if you've enjoyed. I really appreciate it.

Also, side note, the more votes I get, the better everything will be for Loganel. If there's not that many votes, he'll have to suffer...

I'll try to make his suffering at least sort of enjoyable. I don't know why but I feel like people get more attached or attracted to a story if the main character suffers.