Companions

Mallory could spot who had been cleaner than most and had done a lot of good but there was a big problem with what would happen if they gained power all of a sudden.

They needed to be capable enough to take on the tough job and they would have to not be blinded by short term benefits or their own greed during the time they were put into that role.

Anyone without such power could be without greed for most of their lives and would be a model citizen but could change once they had more power so the sole decision could not be made from what she saw of their fate.

Her decisions could alter their fate and lead them down a bad path so it was best to consult others and collect information until someone appropriate could be trusted within that position.

One poor decision could lead to a repeat of the village head or something even worse happening so Mallory could not decide on her own anyways but her input and the information she collected would prove useful to those that did not visit the village personally.

Once everyone had left the village, they had been left without a leader and the family they believed to be their biggest helpers during their tough times.

Some could not accept the truth while others had been thankful to Mallory who brought everything to light after only being there for a day.

Some came to bid Mallory and the others farewell at the gates when they were leaving and Mallory had rode on her bike further away.

She came to a halt and so did the carriage which had continued again once three people had stepped down from it.

Mallory raised her spear over her shoulder and spoke to them. "Now that this part is over with then how about we get a little more practice?"

Almura paled as she said. "You should know that I have no experience fighting monsters, I may have a strong body but I have never fought a monster in my life. My job is to make the tools to kill those monsters."

Mallory rolled her eyes and spoke to her in a playful tone. "It is not like this is anything bad.. you have me to protect you guys and you will need this kind of experience if you wish to stay with me and to not fall too far behind."

It was true that her speed of growth was very fast and she could easily leave them behind if she put in enough efforts.

If anyone wished to be a valuable member of her group then they had to be insanely talented, would have to push themselves past their limits at every moment they had or they would have to already be a higher level once she met them.

If they remained as they were then they could only be brought around to be boosted through many adventurers in order to let them experience greater trials that could increase their speed of growth but also their dangers, Mallory would either gain some valuable allies or those that could be used to gain more Excelia from but could not help her in any way.

Swaine had an excited look on his face as his trust towards Mallory had already bordered close to pure worship. "Little Witch, lead the way! I have been waiting for this day."

Franco rolled his eyes and thought to himself. 'I know this kid has been reliable so far but this fool sure has fallen deeply. So far the dangers have not been that great so she can stand in front of us so confidently but what will happen if we face an impossible situation? Will she choose to abandon us to save herself like the others?'

Towards her alias being used again, Mallory had frowned a little before replying. "Hmm.. let's move."

She looked towards the compass and where it had been pointing towards then pointed her finger towards that direction. "Franco, you build up your scouting and tracking abilities here for now. There should be something bad that way so we need to collect information before we journey deeper.

Almura you can practice using your weapons and attack anything that comes our way. I will only interfere when it is needed and Swaine your job is just as simple. Pick up anything that drops and continue to support Almura and Franco. We have no need for greater tactics right now so just try to use the monsters as practice to test your growth."

Mallory had thought to herself as she was wandering into the forest and jumped up into the tree to get a better view from above. 'Go and collect lots of drops Swaine. Put that luck of yours to some use.'

She watched as Franco had scouted the area and was looking at the tracks that had been made in the ground and the markings on the trees then he went deeper until he reached to a deeper area where Mallory pointed toward.

He had returned and met up with Almura and Swaine before they went towards that location fully armed and prepared for battle.

Mallory saw that they seemed to have gained a little more confidence from the top of the tree and then jumped around the tree tops to catch up to them. 'They are getting close.'

In front of her eyes was a large group of needle rabbits that were quite fast and a single mistake from an adventurer could end up with them being impaled by the horn on the head of the rabbits.

Mallory nodded in approval. 'This should be a good test for them considering that many adventurers can die to many monsters found beyond the goblins and kobolds. Almura may be a complete newbie but she has a good enough physique to let her overcome that. Swaine and Franco should have more experience but are lacking in terms of combat power.'

As Mallory had expected, the group had quickly gotten overwhelmed by the large numbers of the needle rabbits.

Almura blocked the advances of a rabbit and swung an axe towards it after it had been hit back from the force of the shield.

It did not have long to adjust before it was cleaved in half then one more had appeared by her side. "So tricky!"

They all kept hopping around and hopped towards her once they had seen an opening appear.

The small needle horn had pierced towards her side but hit something transparent all of a sudden which caused it to stop in place.

It was like a thin shield had wrapped around the body of Almura that did not hinder her movements and behaved like a protective layer to her body.

Before it could land on the ground, it had been cleaved in two and burst apart turning into a dark mist.

The same had happened to Franco and Swaine as they clumsily tried to avoid being swarmed by the rabbits from all sides.

They had killed one or two rabbits using sword and dagger techniques they had built up over the years but had found themselves completely surrounded. "This is bad.."

"Just focus on your part. I will support you."

They had learned from their mistake which was separating too far away from each other and not working as a group completely.

After taking a couple of hits and having the talismans protect them from harm, they had cleared a path to each other and fought back to back against the remaining rabbits.

"Hua!"

"Haaa!"

"Die!"

A bloodied mess was left all around them as a large group of around fifteen needle rabbits had been defeated.

Not a single injury was on the bodies of those that had fought them and each of them were breathing heavily.

Mallory had been sitting up in a tree holding Valis on her shoulder and thought to herself. 'So my theory is correct. A talisman does not just reward Excelia for one simple use, this makes a lot of sense… the longer that a shield is maintained and the more harm it prevents, the more Excelia I can gain from a single person using a single talisman. So long as the harm was about to happen to them and it had been prevented then I should be rewarded.'

Mallory watch on as Swaine was searching where the dead bodies had dispersed and was picking up some magic stones along with what looked like a drop item or two. 'Not bad!'