Nelly took a breath, leaned back against her spine, and rubbed her forehead: At present, she could only trust the system and treat this as a coincidence. But this also meant she had to pay double attention to the situation around her.
Having a worrisome hero was not enough, and now there was also a magician who must be watched at all times.
Naily felt the difficulty coefficient of this mission was slightly high. But after a second thought, she was relieved and determined to focus on the current task. She walked slowly through the field back to Melissa’s side, checked the mission progress, and encouraged: “We’ve completed half the journey.”
“Let’s finish the mission in one go today!”
Naily gave an encouraging smile at Melissa’s bold words, but her heart was almost collapsing. She inadvertently glanced at Karl, catching him with a suspicious expression.
Naily raised an eyebrow, conveying with her eyes: Since Mr. Magician finds it slow, why not solve all the monsters along the way?
The other party was clearly suppressing the impulse to retreat back into his hood, stiffly moving his lips and uttering barely audible words: “I refuse.”
Naily glanced at him, vaguely feeling something was strange. Upon careful observation, she suddenly realized that compared to when they left the novice village, Karl’s complexion was much paler.
“Are you okay?” Naily couldn’t help but frown.
Karl covered his mouth with his hand, coldly saying: “No…” He had only said one word before starting to cough.
Melissa noticed the abnormality and walked up to Karl: “Something’s definitely wrong.”
Naily’s keen eyes caught a hint of red between the youth’s slender fingers. She said dryly: “Don’t block me.” She took out a handkerchief and a bottle of healing potion from her storage space and extended her arm to hand them over.
Karl curled his fingers covering his mouth, but Melissa had already taken the items, moving his hand aside, carefully wiping the blood from the youth’s lips. She unscrewed the potion bottle and brought it to his mouth, commanding: “Drink.”
The white-haired youth pressed his eyebrows, enduring discomfort and humiliation as he drank the potion completely.
Melissa wasn’t done, carefully wiping the blood-stained hand.
Karl weakly struggled but to no avail.
Naily stood to the side, somewhat at a loss.
Melissa was skilled at caring for others, her eyelashes focused on cleaning the blood. Combined with her deep features and silver hair, she looked different from her battle-time roughness.
The silver-haired girl and the white-haired boy, caring and being cared for, looked perfectly matched.
Naily rubbed her forehead, suppressing the inexplicable emotions: Female heroes also have emotional storylines… and she should be happy about this, right?
She casually stepped away, turning to look at the scenery.
It was early spring, tender green grass sprouting from abandoned fields, growing vibrantly under the sinking sunlight, enjoying a gentle breeze. Naily’s mood gradually calmed with the warm wind, she lowered her eyes and smiled, just in time to see Karl distancing himself from Melissa after the cleaning.
Melissa didn’t mind.
The magician who coughed blood after casting one spell seemed unreliable. Naily stepped forward: “You’ll have to work hard later, Melissa.”
“Leave it to me!” Melissa showed a bold, carefree smile, completely different from her previous demeanor.
They set foot on the field path again, the atmosphere slightly subtle.
Melissa quickly engaged with the pea spirits, and Naily stood in the shadow of overgrown grass, observing.
A rustle of robes, and Naily knew without turning that it was Karl.
“Thanks earlier,” even his gratitude sounded low and reserved.
Naily almost thought she misheard. She turned to look at him in a daze, biting her lip: “You didn’t need to help then. I should be the one thanking you.”
Karl lowered his head deeply, his fingers touching the hood’s edge, appearing hesitant.
“I’m the spirit guiding Melissa, nothing will happen to me. Don’t worry,” Naily explained. The moment the words left her mouth, she regretted it: Maybe he was worried about Melissa? Or this was the normal progression? What was she overthinking?
The magician didn’t respond, making Naily embarrassed. She turned her gaze back to Melissa fighting hard, muttering to herself as she walked away: “She’s such a hardworking child.”
But no matter how hard she tried, a novice swordsman and a weak magician faced a long journey ahead, with an uncertain destination.
Naily was somewhat relieved: This was good, not reaching the demon’s lair too quickly, at least giving some mental preparation. She wondered what the new demon king would be like. She forcefully restrained herself from turning to look at that familiar face, only quickening her steps in a panicked escape.
The field path was bumpy, and Naily lost her balance after stepping into a small pit.
A hand stretched out from the side, accurately steadying her.
Naily couldn’t help but shiver slightly. Karl’s hands paused on her shoulders before withdrawing. He seemed embarrassed, silently pulling down his hood and turning to walk in the opposite direction.
Just then, Melissa suddenly screamed.
Nali immediately rushed over, only to see an enormous beetle blocking Melissa’s path, its width spanning twice the width of the country road!
The giant insect’s reddish, murky compound eyes fixed on Melissa, viscous liquid dripping from its mouth, its front legs suddenly reaching out towards her.
Melissa, having recovered from her initial shock, gritted her teeth and laughed: “Hey big guy, interested in fighting me?”
Nali quickly opened the system interface to check Melissa’s attributes, feeling a headache. This giant beetle should have been the first minor boss a hero would face, but it had appeared much earlier than expected. With Melissa’s current abilities, escaping intact would already be considered good.
She made a decisive decision: “Melissa, don’t linger. You can’t handle this monster right now.”
The silver-haired girl in pure white hero attire ducked under the sweeping insect limbs and shouted back without turning: “Let me try first! You take Karl and get away!”
Nali stomped her foot: “What kind of elf abandons a hero?” She lowered her voice to Karl: “You should go first.”
The white-haired mage took a step back silently but showed no intention of leaving, his red eyes focused intently on the battle.
Melissa had already been swept several times by the beetle’s front legs, her body swaying, barely holding on but clearly unable to counterattack.
“Damn.”
“Before Karl’s words fully left his mouth, before Melissa could bring her sword down, the beetle suddenly sprayed liquid. Unable to dodge, Melissa was drenched in paralytic poison, instantly immobilized.
As the sharp insect bristles were about to pierce Melissa’s body, a white light suddenly burst forth. Dazzling runes surged from Karl’s magic book, transforming into chains that surrounded the beetle, tightly binding its limbs.
The beetle roared in anger, its blood-red eyes fixing on Karl. With a screech and a roll, it broke through the spell chains and charged directly at the mage.
Nali instinctively pulled Karl back, but he shrugged off her grip. Grabbing a feather pen floating in the air, he smoothly wrote a long string of runes on the paper. A blinding light sphere shot out, accurately striking between the beetle’s eyes. The giant insect wailed, staggering forward as if about to topple over.
After casting two spells, Karl’s face turned pale, his lips tightly pressed as if suppressing another violent cough.
Nali supported him, but before she could step back, the beetle let out a monster cry and charged, spraying poison smoke.
