A scene so bloody could be seen in one part of a wilderness. Mile-high trees obstructed the view of gigantic beasts from miles away.
"Bright!!!! Bright!!" Called Raize in his unusually loud voice.
The target of his voice sprawled bloody on the dirt ground. Deep claw wounds could be seen. His consciousness fading. "Lea...." He whispered. He could feel his heart being ripped apart at the thought of never seeing her again. He regretted seeing her smile only for a few times, but he felt slightly happy.
He had to wonder why she had to be in his head in his dying moment. But he knew, whatever the reason was, he didn't care. He simply wanted to see her one last moment if possible. But his time was running out.
"No!!! Wake up, Idiot!! BRIGHT!"
"You.. are... a-awfully n-n-noisy..." Bright struggled to say, but Raize was too far to hear.
Raize's chest was in panic. Despite how annoying Bright was to him, he never wanted the guy to get hurt. And he knew Bright was too good to lose his life in such a manner. But what could he possibly do?
Before every entity in the vicinity made another move, a certain lean young man was suddenly beside Bright.
"Fatima, can you heal him?"
At his words, a very beautiful woman jumped down from above quietly. "Yes. A moment later and my response would have been different."
The young man sighed in relief. "Then get to work. I have your back."
With his words, the woman who was called Fatima suddenly squealed. "As you wish, darling-!" Then she grabbed bottles after bottles and choked them all into Bright'a mouth. Afterwards, Fatima could be seen with a warm glow on her hands.
While she was busy fixing up Bright, the young man skillfully defended himself and he was equally good at evading. But as expected, the beasts were too strong to handle.
"What can I do to help!" Asked Raize aloud, catching the young man's attention briefly before he evaded another dangerous attack.
"Can distract at least one of them? I can't land a hit if I have to keep defending for my life!"
"Okay!" And Raize immediately released a twin fugly aliens that were covered by blood, skin and bones. Immediately, some beasts found themselves curious and started poking their claws on the twins.
Although the young man was surprised, he looked unfazed as he skillfully jumped from the beast paw to cut its long tongue. Then right after, he went around its back to jump aboard and dashed towards it back head. With a strong thrust, his thick sword penetrated the beast's head.
"One down, four to go." He counted. There was already one beast dead when him and Fatima arrived.
Raize continued to do his best in drawing the beasts attention, and before he realized it, a long time had passed and eventually, every beast had collapsed.
With extreme exhaustion chasing his consciousness, Raize struggled to walk closer to Bright's side.
As he looked on, he noticed Bright was recovering smoothly. His life no longer at death's door. Then he turned his attention to the young man who appeared bloody and exhausted, large head of sweat pouring down his forehead.
"I'm Raize, and this guy here is Bright. Thank you for coming just in time to save us. Can I ask for your name?"
The young man observed Raize briefly, and revealed a small smile. "I'm glad we were just in time. I'm called Kiel Fang. Fatima and I were exploring the area for herbs she needed for her alchemy when we heard their loud roaring."
"Could you guys be from Sabio?"
"Not quite, but yes, our temporary living quarters are in Sabio. Should we guide you there?"
Raize contemplated for a few seconds. "We actually split our group earlier, and I'm worried about those two girls somewhere."
With a nod, Kiel also made a thoughtful face. "I'll search for them. You stay with Fatima. She is strong, so don't worry."
With his words, Fatima jolted. Her ears red, and her concentration briefly stopped. But she remained quiet.
The young man then left in the direction Raize pointed at.
Further in the wilderness, there were more of the same kind of beast as earlier. But it was clear that the girls were not anywhere close to where those beasts currently are. He walked to their opposite direction and was led to an abandoned village.
The place was deserted and quiet. He could hear his own breathe. Then all of the sudden, the dirt ground glowed bright gold.
Confused, he stepped back a few paces. With further inspection, he could see a number of almost invisible apparitions. They roamed about here and there.
"Anybody here?" He exclaimed without entering the radius of the glow.
No response came, and the apparitions did not seem to hear his call. Then out of one of the houses, a girl with beautiful long brown hair came into view. Behind her was another lovely girl with brilliant purple wavy hair.
They did not seem to see what he could see.
"Who are you?!" The brown haired girl asked.
"I'm Kiel. Are you Raize's companions?"
Recognizing the name, the brown haired girl looked like she was about to cry. "Is he safe?!!!" Her voice louder and desperate, she asked.
"Yes, he is. And so is the other boy."
His good news allowed the pair of girls to collapse on the floor looking terribly pleased. A few seconds after, the brown haired girl looked more composed than before. She led the march towards me, and once they were in front of me, they introduced themselves.
"Thank you for coming for us. My name is Ulla. A pleasure to meet your acquaintance." As she said so, she offered one of her free hand for a handshake.
Not finding her gesture unusual, Kiel took her soft hand. "The pleasure is mine. And this?" Looking to the other girl, Kiel asked.
Ulla briefly glanced at the still shaken girl. "She is Imhe. As you can see, she will need to have a place to sleep soon and recover. Do you mind if you could lead me to my companions?"
With a smile, Kiel replied, "That is what I am here for."
Seeing his kind smile, Imhe was stunned for a moment only to catch herself blushing as her crimson eyes gazed on Kiel. His back on the two girls, he started to lead the way.
Not long after, Kiel safely accomplished his escort mission. What awaited him was Fatima's usual hug.
"Kiel~~ I've missed you...!"
"Okay." He simply said as he nonchalantly removed Fatima's arms on him.
Imhe witnessed the whole scene agape, and she couldn't help but ask, "Are you two lovers?"
"No." "Yes."
Looking at Kiel and Fatima confused, Imhe felt herself a pang.
"That's a no for me." Kiel briefly said as he turned his gaze on Raize. "Shall we leave soon?"
"Yes. We will follow you, Brother Kiel."
Surprised at Raize's words, Kiel revealed an adorable smile. His dimples could be seen on his cheeks.
Imhe was once again stunned. She felt her chest rammed hard. And Fatima did not miss her reaction. But even if Fatima shot Imhe a deathly glare, the latter was too focused on Kiel to notice.
It would seem a new sort of battle would start. One that would create a bigger storm for one simple cause; a woman's heart is huge and strong that when troubled, the effect is not meant to be meager.
• • •
"Lea.... Lea...
"LEA!" With huge orbs of sweat rolling down his skin, Bright abruptly sat right up from where he laid.
Confused, he looked around upon his surroundings. He assessed he was in a room that had been abandoned for quite a long while now. Narrowing his blue eyes, he did not recognize the place. "Raize?" He called, but there was no answer.
He got himself out of the bed, slowly. He could feel the wounds on his chest, but they were not as painful as before. "Ulla?" He called, but still, there was no sound.
He struggled to walk to the only door in the room, it was not a knob. Simply an iron handle. Pulling it, he could feel more warmth sipping into the room he was in. Beyond the door, a fireplace was lit and two silhouette could be seen cuddling before it.
"Raize?" His voice had a tinge of strong curiosity as he did not remember Raize as a person who could possibly allow anyone to act so close with him. "Hey...."
With his word hanging in the air, the couple looked behind them, revealing to Bright they were strangers. "....Who?" He asked with an obvious frown.
The woman then replied with a gentle smile. While the young man stood up slowly much to the dismay of the woman who looked disappointed at his actions.
"You friends are outside, hunting for herbs and fruits for our meal. I'm Kiel Fang, and this is Fatima Patterson." The young man introduced with a small smile.
Bright could clearly see his tan skin tone, but a well-trained physic. "I'm Bright Harrow. I guess it was not Lea who saved us...." He said, his voice sounding more disappointed than he let on.
"Lea?" Suddenly, the young man asked, quite in a hurry and extreme curiosity.
Bright did not seem to notice this. "Yea... She just suddenly left us one day. It's been several months...." Trailing his words, he could feel his heart crying that it was missing Lea's stoicism. But he was especially missing her small smiles and occasional show of kindness and care.
"....May I ask what her full name is?" His voice doubtful, he asked.
With a frown, Bright looked at Kiel more carefully. "You've met her before?"
"No... But maybe..."
"Did you come from Mingzhe Dei?"
"No. Fatima and I are staying in Sabio. Would you please tell me her whole name now?" His agitated voice resounded in everyone's ears.
"Lea Rain Farechild."
At the mention of her name, Kiel's eyes widened. His silver eyes glowed brilliantly with the fire in the fireplace alive. "L-L-Lea... Are you sure?"
"Yea... How could I forget my seatmate's name?" Still confused, Bright nonetheless oblique. "Do you know her?"
"I know her more than anyone..."
His words shocked Fatima and Bright. The former had an idea of who could be the woman called 'Lea' for Kiel's life as she had observed the young man all her life. She did not fear anyone stealing him away as he seemed to be uninterested. However, his extreme reaction to the name struck her extreme anxiousness.
"...Are you looking for her?" His eyes had a sharp glint.
Surprised, Bright almost replied in stutter. "Y-Y-yea... That's why we are heading for Sabio in the hopes of seeing her there...." He felt a brief fear from the look of Kiel's eyes, and he escaped an involuntary gulp.
"Good. Let's leave as soon as possible. I'll let your friends know." In a hurry, he left the room without looking at anywhere else. Fatima and Bright could feel the huge contrast to the young man's ambiance before the mention of Lea's name.
"....Sorry." Bright said as he glanced at Fatima. Although he did not know why he had to apologize. But Fatima was too distracted to notice. Her eyes' focus was no longer in sight.
● ●● ●●●
As soon as Kiel dragged everyone else into a room, a question suddenly arose.
"You came from that dimension?" Kiel asked.
His words surprised Raize and Ulla. Imhe was left confused, but remained silent as she felt the tension was too high. But she continued to gaze at Kiel's features in silent admiration, earning intense glare from Fatima. But much like Imhe, she remained quiet.
When no words were said, Kiel continued. "Don't be wary. I might be the same as you, but I died and transmigrated into this world."
His words gave another shock to Raize and Ulla. The former recovered first and asked, "You seem sure that we did not die before we got here..."
"It could be a possibility, but your bags... And that you are together with your memories intact have given me the necessary clues that your souls weren't the only entities that were brought here."
"You are quick and observant." Raize quietly said. "Why are you in a hurry to leave? Bright still needs to recover completely."
"I'll protect him if needed. I want to hurry up to Sabio to meet your friend Lea."
At the mention of her name, Raize glanced at Bright. But he did not receive any indication that the latter understood his questioning glance. "How do you know her?"
"I'll tell you later. I can't be separated from her for this long."
His words curious, Raize was left with no other choice but to comply. They needed protection in their journey to Sabio, and the right people came despite the smallest chance of it happening. "Fine."
Upon finalizing their travel arrangements, it was decided that Bright would ride the beast vehicle. Imhe felt like complaining, but restrained herself under the silver eyes of Kiel. Oblivious to him, he had gained another admirer. Another persistent lass.
It was only much later would Ulla notice Imhe's change.