CHPT 96: Painless

DING!!

[Level up! You are now Level 7!]

"[Very good finish, Claude. You are a fine example of the last Lupine of Romulus!]" Arne said with a mixture of excitement and admiration in his English accented voice.

"...."

Once the cool early morning winds finished their journey across the field and left the village in silence, Claude could be heard growling angrily while he dug his claws into his own hands in anger.

"That was a fucking embarrassment!...." he snapped, the anger and disgust in his voice was volatile enough to burn the ruined earth beneath him.

"Good finish...." he mocked. "I almost got myself, Maris and Frosty killed because of my incompetence."

Arne sighed before responding, "[I feel that your being too hard on yourself. Have you forgotten that you just killed a handful of Goblins and saved 10 people without being noticed at all? That's amazing! At 15 I was showing off my mediocre sword skills during lunch to get the attention of my female classmates and here you are....a Hero...]"

"...."

"[Listen, you're bound to make mistakes when embarking on a journey as violent and difficult as yours, what matters is that you continue to learn from them.....and accept the small victories you earn— like this one. No matter what you think, lives were saved here. You did exactly what a Hero should. Well done.]"

Claude heard what Arne was saying, and knew he should feel better than he did. But he didn't. He'd already witnessed enough people die that shouldn't have and tonight he almost witnessed another because of his own weakness— mentally and physically. There was only one thing to be learned from this in his eyes, only one thing that would benefit him in the future when he found himself fighting against the Lupines of Remus to avenge his father. Or sometime before— or even after, when he'd have to protect his friends from the HellBreeder possibly stalking them all.

"I have to get stronger. That's all there is to it."

***

Claude spent the next few minutes getting ready to leave the village in silence. This time included searching the huts for bandages and something to cover the old woman's dead body with to bring her into SkyHaven. Both tasks were fixed with two sheets he found in the nearest hut.

He used his claws to rip long strips off a thick white sheet to cover the small cuts that riddled Maris' body and another sheet to wrap the dead body of the old woman. By the time he was done, Maris' bandages were turned to a light pink color from her own blood.

He picked up his pace as he grabbed a tough fibrous leaf to collect water and wake her with.

Once he came back from a nearby ravine with water, he gently lifted her head and brought the leaf to her lips. As soon as she ingested the water, she jumped upright seeming to think there were still Goblins to slay.

She stumbled to her feet with Claude's sword, Bane of the Undead, raised.

"They're all dead." Claude said from his spot, crouching behind her.

She turned in surprise and noticed his injuries under the orange glow of the flaming torch sticking out of the ground nearby. His shirt was torn in places and strangle marks ran across the outside of his arms like he was being squeezed by something too hard for a long time.

"He killed.....all of them?" She thought in disbelief.

Right when Claude was about to break the silence with an apology for the state she was in, she spoke first.

"Listen, I'm really so—"

"Why didn't you save me any!?"

Claude was stumped by her question, but oddly enough he understood.

"Heat of the moment...plus, you were passed out." Claude said after a light chuckle.

Maris stayed silent for a moment, looking at her opened hand in wonder. "What was that...that feeling." She mumbled.

"You've been Reborn." Claude replied.

"What— like the Heroes?" She asked.

"Yea, you'll probably get a message soon." Claude said.

Maris was about to respond when she suddenly flinched and swung at something he couldn't see in front of her. He knew exactly what it was.

He's silently sat up and waited for her to finish reading her system introduction. As he watched her, he began to remember his own Rebirth. The hellish battle against the snake, saving Ursula and then waking up in the hospital only to be yelled at for saving her. He suddenly felt in all-too-familiar pain in his chest at the memory of his friends, he felt like he hadn't seen them in forever.

Claude waited a few more minutes as Maris stared intently at her system screen before breaking the silence.

"So, what's your class?"

She looked up from whats she was reading for the first time to reply. "It says, I'm a Swordsman."

"[Ahh, a fellow Swordsman!]" Arne said happily.

"That was your class, Arne?" Claude thought in reply.

"[Indeed, with a rapier in hand I was one of the best among the Lupines.]"

Claude considered what Arne said for a moment, finding it difficult to imagine a giant Wolfman wielding such a refined and graceful weapon like a rapier.

"What does that mean exactly, does this mean I can start being paid to kill more Goblins?" Maris suddenly asked with a serious expression on her face.

"Well, no. You have to get an education first." Claude explained.

Maris looked at him like he just offended her before responding, "I don't need that. I do fine on my own. Plus, I don't need schooling if I can just get paid to kill Goblin's."

"Maris.....there's a lot you still need to learn about the world, your system and other species.....much worse than Goblins."

"I'll kill them too then." She said flatly.

"Have you always been this arrogant?" Claude asked after a few moments of silence.

"It's not arrogance, I'm just saying what's going to happen.....as soon as I can enslave the water again."

Claude mumbled her words to himself in disbelief, "Enslave....the water....what the fuck?"

He gave up on the conversation and turned to walk off and continue preparing to leave the village.

"I don't like that you doubt my own abilities....." Maris yelled at Claude's back.

"The only reason I passed out during the fight was because of preexisting conditions! If I was at my best, that tall Goblin would've been light work!" She continued as Claude picked up his sword.

"Hey Maris, you're still naked." Claude said with his back facing her.

Maris looked down at herself, noticing her bare bandage wrapped legs were standing out like sore thumbs under the light of the moon. She immediately wrapped Claude's cloak around herself and stormed off towards one of the huts for clothes with bright red cheeks.

While she was changing in one of the huts, Claude picked up the remains of the sheet he ripped up to bandage Maris and used it to wipe the blood off of Frosty so he wouldn't be seen an SkyHaven.

"I'm sorry I got you in that situation buddy. I'll try my best to never let it happen again." He said while wiping the blood off of Frosty's paws and front legs.

In response, Frosty licked his face and brought his paw to Claude's shoulder. Despite being practically invisible, he knew exactly how Frosty looked at the moment, like a perfect picture was on display in his mind. It calmed him.

After a few minutes Maris emerged from the hut in a black pair of pants and a loosefitting blue shirt.

"I no longer need these, so here." She said while handing him his cloak, sword and armor.

"Oh, right."

Once he finished putting on his armor and cloak, he went to pick up the dead old woman. "Ready to go?" He asked.

Maris nodded and they headed down the quiet dirt road towards the gates of the village.

They passed the beaten and broken remains of Goblin's and ravaged huts, accompanied by the sounds of their own footsteps and pained breaths. That was all they both heard for minutes, until Maris broke the silence.

"Erhm...I've been told I'm not very good at showing appreciation...and I just want you to know, despite what I've said, I appreciate what you put yourself through for the sake of everyone that was held hostage in this village. T-thank you." She said.

Claude noticed, for the first time she looked vulnerable— sad even.

"Your very welcome, I'm just sorry I couldn't get here earlier. I'm also sorry about your parents." Claude said.

Maris was surprised by what he said since she never mentioned her parents, "How'd you know?" She asked.

"None of them wanted to wait for you...I know they were scared, but a parent wouldn't have left——usually. So like I said, I'm sorry for your loss. I know a thing or two about losing a loved one." Claude replied.

Maris shrugged her shoulders before saying, "I don't."

Claude flinched involuntarily and looked over at her, hoping he misheard what she said. "What?"

"My parents.....and the village people for that matter were never comfortable around me. They said I'm kind of...cold. Also the fact that I can't feel pain freaked them out even more. So yes, my parents tried their best to raise me but I've been self sufficient for years. I still think it's unfortunate that they died and I want revenge, but I'm not hurting in the way you think." She replied.

He had trouble believing everything she said but it made sense. The way she carelessly re-opened her wounds when they first met, her eerie level of calm after being tortured by Goblin's and her lack of strong scents all supported it to be true.

"How can someone live like that?" He thought.

"[Maybe a traumatic event as a child made her this way.]" Arne suggested.

"It makes more sense than her being born like that." He thought in reply.

They walked the rest of the way through the village silently, each deep in their own thoughts as they passed hut after hut.

"[Claude.]" Arne said out of nowhere as they closed the distance between themselves and the gates.

"Yea?"

"[You seem to be forgetting something in regards to her education.]" Arne said as they walked through the broken rusted gates.

Maris stopped to look at the dead Goblin's strapped to the support beams before rushing to catch back up with Claude.

"What about her education." He replied.

"[Where do you think she'll go?]"

Claude thought about it for a moment as they headed up the hill that led to the long forest between the village and SkyHaven.

"Well, she'll be adopted or live in an orphanage of some sort in SkyHaven. Since she's there, for her education she'll probably go to the University..." he trailed off as his brain connected the dots.

"[She's going to be attending the University of the Phoenix, Claude.]"

"Awwwwwe shit!"