Rise, Arora!

Shade knew they were in serious trouble. The monster that had attacked them before had returned. To make matters worse, he was stricken with a deadly poison that complicated his movement.

Lax and his subordinate looked at the field boss with fear crippling their souls. There was only one exit to the cave and the field boss was blocking it. They had to fight if they wished to survive. Reluctantly, with no other choice, they charged towards the field boss to initiate battle.

Meanwhile, Shade decided that this was the perfect opportunity to rescue Arora. Though his body felt as heavy as lead, he picked himself up and scampered towards her.

"Shade, why did you come to rescue me?!" Shouted Arora with tears in her eyes. "I've been completely useless to you so why would you save me..?!"

Before responding, Shade cut the ropes that had restrained Arora's arms and feet. His face was bathed with sweat and he was as pale as a ghost. It was evident that the poison was making him extremely ill.

"You're right," he began with bated breath. "Right now... you're not much use to me... But there's more than one reason why it was important for me to save you..."

"W-what do you mean..?"

"Because... you're one of the few people... that I think I can trust right now- Urgh..!" Paused Shade with a violent cough. "...Besides, I'm uncertain what happened to Tristan and Celia... Abandoning the only teammate I have left would be quite unwise given that I don't know what the next stage holds!"

Shade hadn't praised Arora in any particular way to make her feel better. Though he did not say it, Arora knew that he had only saved her because he didn't have any better options. Despite this, the fact that she had gained even a little of Shade's trust made her just a little happier.

Nevertheless, there were more pressing issues at hand that needed their attention. Though Shade had a strong feeling that it was useless, he opened his inventory before administering a healing potion to himself. He needed to cure his poisoning as soon as possible.

"You need an antidote! How is a regular healing potion supposed to cure your poisoning?" Queried Arora.

"Back when we ran into Team Merit, their healer gave me a healing potion. Back then, I was stricken with paralysis, yet the healing potion had gotten rid of it. Healing potions can take care of status ailments too..."

Unfortunately, Shade's poisoning did not go away. It was as he feared. He would need a special kind of antidote if he wished to cure his poisoning.

Just then, the screams of Lax and his subordinate pierced their ears. This was when Shade and Arora realized that the field boss had just killed them. They were to be its next victims.

"Tsk!" Weakly hissed Shade. "This doesn't look good..."

"Shade, what are we going to do..? It's going to attack us next!" Cried, Arora.

Shade knew that the only option was to fight if they wished to survive. Forcefully, he then got his sword in hand and stood before Arora. He wasn't sure how he was going to win but he had to try.

"Shade, you can't fight that thing! You're in no condition-"

"Then why don't you stop your damn yapping and give me a hand..? Tears won't kill that thing..!"

Arora froze momentarily. She knew Shade was right. Why was she crying about the situation despite knowing that tears weren't about to fix anything? She had to fight by his side if she wished to make it out alive.

However, this was when something horrifying happened. To Arora's unpleasant surprise, Shade collapsed right before her. The poison had weakened his body to the point where he couldn't even maintain consciousness. It was now impossible for Shade to join the fight.

"Shade..? Shade..!? Shade?!! Are you okay?!"

Regrettably, Shade did not respond. For now, he was unconscious and wouldn't be able to fight.

Realizing this, fear quickly began wrapping its tendrils around Arora. How was she supposed to fight a field boss by herself? It seemed impossible. Wouldn't it be easier to simply give up and accept her death?

"Being brave means that even though you're afraid of doing something, you do it anyway. It's about the resolution you have to confront your most fearful thoughts and keep them under control. One only becomes a coward when they allow that fear to control them instead."

Suddenly, the words Shade had told Arora back when they had fought Team Merit echoed across her mind. She couldn't allow herself to give up. Even if the situation seemed hopeless, she still had to fight. She had to confront her fears.

"That's right..." She muttered to herself. "Everyone has fear within them... I just have to face the fear within myself!"

Following this, Arora withdrew her weapons which were two steel-plated knives. Even though she was terrified, she was willing to fight. She couldn't allow herself to be a coward forever.

The field boss then released another powerful roar that shook the cave violently. However, Arora stood firm. She had to protect Shade, no matter what. Shade had helped her many times before despite only knowing her for a short period. It was now time for her to repay her debt.

She then charged towards the field boss with a battle cry. As she drew closer, the field boss slammed its massive paw down at her. Thankfully, with the aid of some luck, Arora managed to dodge the attack before landing atop the field boss's massive paw. She then came down with a powerful jab from her knives which managed to slightly pierce its thick skin.

Unfortunately, the damage done to the field boss wasn't even enough to make it flinch. It then countered with another powerful swing from its paw which sent Arora flying into the stony wall of the cave.

"Aagh!!" She screamed in pain— blood seeping from her forehead.

Arora then came to notice that her health bar was dangerously hanging within the red zone. A single attack from the field boss was almost enough to kill her.

However, she refused to give up. Quickly, she then entered her inventory before administering a healing potion to herself.

Once again, she then charged towards the field boss before slashing at its massive paws. Sadly, the field boss simply swatted her against the cave wall once again. Arora wasn't making much progress.

Regardless, she still administered another potion to herself before charging forward once again. She refused to give up. This process repeated itself another five times before the field boss became extremely agitated.

Arora was simply spamming heals, barely saving herself from death each time. The field boss knew that it had to find a way to kill her in a single shot if it wished for the battle to end.

This was when Arora noticed that steam was seeping from the field boss's mouth. She could tell that it was about to use some kind of special attack. She had to be careful.

A second later, a bright beam of light shot from the field boss's mouth, ripping a massive hole in the side of the cave. Luckily, Arora had managed to avoid the attack by mere inches. If she had been a second slower, she would surely be dead.

However, to her surprise, the field boss had expected her to dodge the attack. This time, it charged towards her before aiming to clip her in half with its sharp claws, similar to how it had killed Tristan.

Fortunately, Arora was resilient. Realizing that she couldn't dodge the attack, she braced herself with both her knives crossed before her. Due to this, she was once again sent sailing into the side of the cave but she managed to survive. Dust and debris circled her as she coughed up blood violently. Even the cave wall had cracked due to the tremendous force she had crashed into it with. Her knives had managed to block a significant amount of damage which had just barely managed to save her life.

However, she had still taken considerable damage. She had a broken leg, a bleeding head, cracked ribs, and even internal bleeding. Her health bar was once again dangerously within the red zone.

With desperation seeping through her veins, Arora then opened her inventory to utilize another healing potion. This was when she noticed something terrifying; she had already used up all her healing potions.

This was the perfect time for her to lose hope. She had done everything that she could and was now on the verge of death. Even if the field boss didn't kill her, her injuries surely would.

But even so, Arora smiled brightly as she forced her trembling body to stand.

"I won't give up... Not until I've saved Shade!" She shouted.

The field boss then charged towards her once more, ready to deliver the final blow. However, with adrenaline pushing her forward, Arora dived through its legs. Pain stung her body like a million bees but she still pushed on.

Following this, she moved to the side of the unconscious Shade. Arora felt as if she could collapse at any moment. Her eyes even closed momentarily as she was ready to pass out.

"No!" She shouted, jolting herself awake. "Death, you're going to wait until I've saved Shade! I refuse to die before that!"

With one final push, she picked Shade up before dragging him towards the cave exit. This surprised the field boss as it was almost sure that it had been guarding the exit the entire time.

Little did it know that while Arora was fighting, she was slowly lowering it away from the exit so that she could create an opportunity to get Shade out of the cave. All her efforts were for this one moment.

With rage, the field boss roared pretentiously as it charged towards her. With what little strength she had left, Arora tossed Shade through the cave exit, accomplishing her plan.

Finally, as the field boss opened its jaws to snap her in half, Arora looked towards the unconscious body of Shade as she whispered her final words to him;

"I faced my fears, Shade..!"