Origins[Completed]

Chapter 54: Quick Thinking

[Delta Zone - Mist Forest]

[Lucinda]

"What about the mist?" I asked peering around.

The mist had fully filled the gap that we had created but it wasn't thick enough for us to not see one another. Everything still looked the same.

"This mist is... Filled with bloodlust," he said, his hands clasped together.

They were shivering.

It was this movement that made me realize that he was shivering from rage.

"I can't explain it but... The magic in this mist is really nostalgic to me. Because of that I..." He paused for a moment than looked straight into my eyes.

The look he gave was terrifying.

"I have a large amount of hatred building up inside of me. My thoughts feel wavy and I feel like I can't focus at all," he said and then looked away again. I had noticed that his eyes were starting to tear up.

Unable to control what I was feeling I reached out and hugged Hakio. His body reacted reflexively but he didn't fight it. He silently accepted it.

"If you want to," I whispered. "You could sit out in this mission. If you're not ready then you could wait for us at the meeting point- "

"Gah!" Hakio exclaimed and ground his teeth. He was clutching his chest and had a pained expression on his face.

I almost panicked.

"Hakio, what's wron -"

"Something's coming!" Tay-ki interrupted me and I felt something heading towards me at an incredible speed.

"Got i- whaa?!"

Hakio quickly reacted and pulled me into a princess carry as he jumped out of the way. Behind us I heard a loud explosion.

Boom!

Something landed with such an incredible amount of force that all the mist was forced to dissipate from the wind pressure. It even help in assisting Hakio and I in our escape.

It had caused a large crater with the surrounding debris of dust and rocks to fly in all directions.

"Ah!" I exclaimed when I felt something cut my leg.

"Are you alright?" Hakio asked in a strained voice. His face had a pained expression.

"I'm okay," I said looking away from him. I had realized that my cheeks were flushed even though we are currently in a dangerous situation. Why did he have to carry me like this in the situation? Now I can't think properly at all!

No! This isn't the time for this, I need to calm down and figure out what's happening.

Calm down. Breathe.

Assess the situation. Gather information as quickly as possible. Then counter as quickly as possible.

That is my job as a strategist.

When we landed Hakio immediately let go off me and I absorbed most of the information that I could before acting.

All of my members were engaged in battle. We were outnumbered in a ratio of about 10 to 1. The creatures varied from overgrown rats to mantra bears.

It happened so fast that it was safe to assume that this was a planned ambush.

The crater that was formed in the centre was created by a large boulder being thrown at us. I did not see the source of it.