Am I The Villain?

5. A Not So Heroic Encounter

In a certain clearing inside a forest, a girl dressed in tattered pink clothing is lying down on her stomach. Next to her are transparent yellow liquid which emit a nauseating odor. The girl is breathing heavily while drenched in sweat. If someone were to see this scene, they would've thought that she is on death's door. That girl is me.

"Haah haah. Damnit." I squeezed out a word from my tightened chest. "No, I can't stop now. Someone is in trouble.... and I'm hungry."

Clearly, I've overestimated my skills. Using the tentacles to crawl is definitely much faster than simply running, but after a while the burden it put on my mind builds up and I finally break. In hindsight I should've seen this one coming. I've only been training for a night after all.

With wobbly hands, I pushed my self up. The world is spinning and a faint ringing fade in and out in my ears.

"This is nothing.. I can do this." I assured myself as I pushed harder and finally stood up albeit shaking and hunchbacked.

I gulped a deep breath only to be hit with a suffocating pain in my chest. I took a glance at the direction where the clouds are. The brighter cloud is still there while some of the fainter clouds have disappeared. They all are moving back and forth as if engaged in an intense dance.

"She's still alive... good...." I muttered under my strained breath and then made my way toward them.

It's not much further now, just tens of meter away. I can smell something burning accompanied with the sound of scuffling. I dragged my feet one after another. Left. Right. Left. Right. Left. Left. Left?

"Gah!" I shouted as I tripped on my own legs.

No, keep it up me! The pain has lessened for a bit. Against my better judgement, I started moving one of my tentacles again and used it to push myself up.

"I can do it! I can do it!"

I started to pick up my pace. Just beyond these trees are my target.

I'm the hero, I should make a flashy entrance right? Here we go...

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I've somehow killed 2 of them. Only 4 of them left now. I gripped the hilt of my dagger tightly.

What's in front of me is 4 Wood Wolves; snarling and salivating while carefully inching toward me. Fitting to their name, these wolves are made from woods that are weaved and tangled into one another; forming a vaguely vulpine shape. Their size are slightly larger than normal wolves.

Blue glows emit from the gaps in its body. According to my mentor and books I've read, apparently this blue glow is its mana leaking out. Human and other intelligent creatures also have mana, but not leaking out like this.

The only reason I've managed to kill two of them is because I used fire magic. But that's the extent of what I can do. Using those fireballs have exhausted me. I'm not sure how much longer I can hold them off.

In a way, I'm glad the monster I met is a wood type. The only magic I can do is basic fire magic after all. It would've been a whole different story if what I met was an Iron Ox or one of those Crystal Stag.

"Fear not... haah... Fear not, little girl! cough cough." A girl slightly younger than me suddenly appeared and shouted with rough breath while leaning her shoulder into a tree. "I'm here.... haah haaah... to help."

..... she's not very convincing.

The white haired girl wears a blindfold covering her eyes. Is she blind? Can she see me? Her face is a mess; dirtied by earth and wetted with what I assume to be drool. Leafs and grass are stuck in her long flowing hair. Her small body is draped with tattered oversized peculiar pink clothing. The clothing itself is ripped and tattered.... is that blood?

"Can you.... can you guys hold on a second? Ueeeh."

She vomited. I don't know what I'm supposed to say here. Is she okay?

Look, even the Wood Wolves are confused.

"Haa, thanks guys." She said as she wiped her mouth using her sleeves. "So. you need any help, little girl?"

That's what I'd like to ask too.

"Are these wooden things bothering you? Here hang on. I'm not sure if it'd work, though."

As she said that, without her even moving, a large gaping hole formed in the body of 3 of the wolves. The 3 of them unraveled themselves into dried up wood.

Wha-- what just happened?

"Hey, it worked." She said. And immediately collapsed face down. "Be a deary and take care of the rest for me, would you. I'm out." She raised and waved her right hand toward me.

Take care? What do you mean? I'm out too, y'know!

No, I can just barely squeeze out another fireball. I can do this.

The last Wooden Wolf seems to judge the now collapsed girl as harmless and started to walk slowly toward me. That's right, come here.

I concentrated the last bit of mana I have into my left hand. Condensing the mana and releasing them into the air around my hand while imagining a red hot ball of fire that explode on impact. All of these while still pointing my dagger at the wolf with my right hand.

The wolf jumped toward me with its maw wide open, revealing rows of thorny wooden spikes. From inside its throat, an eerie pale blue glow shine softly. I frantically sidestepped to my right and lowered my dagger into the top of its neck. My dagger, even after putting my whole weight into it, only made a shallow cut. The wolf turned its head toward me and threw its whole body into me, pushing me down into the ground. It is now standing on top of me. Its saliva dripping on my face.

The magic in my left hand finally completed just in time. I put my palm into its lower jaw.

"HAAA!" I shouted as I released all the concentrated magic out. Searing hot flame shot out from point blank range and burnt right through its head. The wolf jumped back and rolled around in the ground while growling in pain. After a while the wolf stopped moving altogether, leaving a charred corpse in its place.

I'm tired. I lied down sideways on the ground facing where the little girl was. She's standing up now; looking right at me with mouth agape.

"Hey! Hey! That's magic right?! You can use magic?!"

.... she seems energetic.

I'm tired. I want to rest.

I closed my eyes and fainted.