Bronya

*Tap, tap, tap.* The rhythmic tapping of an elf's shoe bounced around the room. Her foot, guarded by the boots she wore, collided with the bottom of the desk in front of her. She had her eyes closed and a soft smile on her face. 

"Can you stop doing that, Miss Bronya?" Thran grumbled, he was hunched over with a pile of papers strewn about on the desk. An annoyed grimace could be seen on his face, showing his annoyance at the constant, spaced out tapping from Bronya's foot. It kept going on until a vein protruding from Thran's forehead appeared. "Can… You, Please… Stop that?" He asked between his clenched teeth.

"Aw~ Do you not like that, Thranie? Do you do better with silence around you?" Bronya inquired, she leaned far in as an amused smile crept onto her face. Despite their already tense relationship, she kept pushing Thran to his limits. "If you ignore me, I'll do it again~" She continued, then started prodding the table with her index finger. 

"Yes! It annoys me very much, now can you just be quiet for once? I'm trying to-" Thran cut himself off when he saw her reaching for one of the documents. "Don't touch that! What are you trying to do- Give it back!" Before he could finish himself once again, Bronya snatched the document. 

"What's so important about this one, Rothie, take a look at this." Bronya said whilst pulling at Roth's arm. He kept his head turned, watching the view outside. A grunt could be heard coming from him before turning to look at what Bronya was holding in her hands.

"What's with that?" He commented. However, before he could turn back again, she held it up higher. "It's an old request, what about it?" Roth pointed out the deep yellowish color of it, and the sorry state it was in. 

"It's an odd sight, aren't you interested in it?" 

"No."

"Oh~ Come on, let's-"

"Can't you listen for once?! I told you not to touch that!" Thran exclaimed as he snatched it right back up. "Those are not for you to see, only receptionists or other guild workers can see!" He dragged along, his grimace deepened. 

Bronya eyed him, tilting her head as well. "Aren't we guild workers as well, us adventur-"

"That is not what I meant!" 

"Alrighty then~ Anyways, Rothie, aren't you curious about those two rookie adventurers we're partying up with?" 

Thran sighed in relief as he shrunk back into his seat. Dealing with Bronya and her partner took as much energy as working for an entire week straight. He shook his head, clearing all irritable thoughts and stared at the ancient request. 

'A demi-human girl, golden hair and green eyes.' Thran took a mental note of the objective and set it back down on the table. 'It is so peculiar to see a request like this, it has been with us for half a decade now and we have no leads.' He covered his eyes with his right hand. 'Worst case scenario, she is long dead by now.' 

"By the way, where are those two rookies? It's been at least an hour since we were supposed to meet up." 

"Just wait a bit longer." 

"Mm~ Alright." 

An hour passed, with Bronya repeatedly choosing to bother Thran; Either, tapping on the table constantly breaking his attention or snatching the requests or paperwork from under his nose. Roth occasionally watched her show happen, eventually stopping her when Thran begged him to.

A clacking noise finally ended her tirade on Thran. 

"Sir Thran, I brought them." 

"Great… Thank you." Thran thanked their escort. They were greeted with Thran, his hair was poking in every direction and a massive vein peered on his forehead. 

"Ah! Hello! We'll be partying up from now on!" Bronya greeted both of them with a smile. "It's nice to finally meet you, this old elf over here has talked a lot about you guys." 

'From infuriating to welcoming and to insulting… I pray for your well being.' 

"It's nice to meet you too…?" Lucian responded. An odd feeling welled up in his chest. He could not tell if it was good or bad. Although the past groups he met were rather… Friendly towards him, they always were the polar opposite. The elf in front of him didn't seem to have those intentions, although her eyes held hidden goals they had no clear hostility to Fei. 'Isn't she a wood elf…?' 

Green hair, naturally tanned skin and brown eyes. Those were a clear tell of a wood elf, it's a rare sighting in the world. Wood elves are secluded beings, choosing to stay in their home; a massive forest in a far obscure corner of the world. 

"Are you going to shake my hand? Or are you just going to keep staring?" Bronya said whilst her hand was ready for a handshake. In a swift action Lucian returned it. She smiled and released her grip. "And you, Fei, is it?" Along with the rest of her body, she turned her head towards Fei. "Like I said to him, it's nice to meet you, I hope we can get along well." Unlike her with Lucian she didn't bother sticking her hand out, only nodding at Fei bowing slightly and twirling around. "Hey~ Rothie, come on stand up, our partners are finally here." 

"Hmph." A low grunt came from Roth. He shook his head, but didn't protest and complied with Bronya's words. "Can't we jus-" 

"This is Rothie, or you can just call him Roth. Don't mind his ugly frown he has on constantly, he's a good person deep down. C'mon~ Rothie, don't look at me like that, say hi." Bronya interjected, Roth glared at her when she commented on his permanent scowl. It was rather comical, and frightening to both Fei and Lucian. A behemoth of a man, towering over everyone. When Bronya introduced him, her head only reached the lower part of his chest.

Befitting his scowl, he had dark red hair, just above his orangish eyes laid a nasty looking scar. Lucian instantly recognized the armor from the man he bumped into on their first day. 

"I-It's nice to meet you, Mr. Roth. I-I'm Lucian, this here…" Lucian began to introduce himself, before he could introduce Fei he felt a tugging sensation on his sleeve. Fei tucked herself behind him. "Is… Fei." 

"Can you all just hurry up the introductions?" Thran groaned he still had his attention focused on the papers. "Or just do it on your way to the request?" Without looking he slid a request to the edge. 

"We're almost done, don't be impatient, you old grump." 

"Can't I just get some respect…" Thran mumbled bitterly. 

"Ahem, anyways, you can call me Bronya. My specialty is working with traps, disarming, locating or arming them. This younger grump, he specializes in defense so he's the party's tank." Bronya elaborated, not once did her smile fade. "Thranie already explained everything to us, we'll bring you up to chase on our way to the request area."

"O-Okay." 

"Good, Rothie, don't forget your sword over there." 

"Thanks." 

Once they were all prepared, they left Thran to himself. 

The signal of the door clicking shut, Thran breathed a sigh of relief and once again laid back into the couch. His eyes wandered to the high ceiling. "Maybe, this is the correct decision." He muttered. Doubt clouded his heart, his mind raced with many questions, trying to find the best possible solution to the issue at hand. 'Even though they're still rookies, it was best to find them a party as fast as possible. So many failed at the beginning, not being able to find a party and eventually quitting.' Thran assured himself. 

"Back to work…"

What was left in the main hall eyed them all suspiciously, or with pure curiosity.

"Hey… Isn't that the Raging Bull?"

"It is… Who else could it be?" 

"Obviously, who else could mimic his gigantic size, and that greatsword he carries like it was a paperweight! But do you see who else he is with? Those two noobies." 

"Don't tell me he teamed up with them."

"Who are they?

"..."

"You haven't heard? That kid over there beat a fellow adventurer black and blue, even to the point his head became a balloon! Heck, I'm shocked you haven't heard of it! Even Thran, the renowned strict receptionist, apologized with him in public!" 

Ceaseless chatter filled the room instantly, it caused Fei to hold onto Lucian's sleeve with a tighter grip. 

"Ignore them…" Lucian quietly said to her. "Let's just focus on getting this done today. Okay?" He rotated his head and glanced at her. Noticing his small smile, Fei loosened her grip but still clutched on. "You can hold on as long as you want, just when we get to the place let me use my hand please." He joked, she nodded in understanding.

"We will be exiting through the east gate, that's the quickest route to our destination." 

Signaling they understood, Bronya and Roth lead the way. Ideally, they hoped a request would be somewhat closer. But now, anything will go, their funds are completely dry like a desert. An hour walk left them with no complaints. 

"I have a few questions for you two." She looked around towards them whilst still marching ahead

"What are they?"

"My first question, what made you decide to become adventurers, is it the money, the thrill of battle or leaving this kingdom?"

"The money." 

"I see~ Similar to us, it does pay well if you find the right requests. Next question, how long have you two known each other? Must be a long time if she feels comfortable hanging onto you for so long." 

"..."

"Nothing, huh? Nevermind that, I'm now curious about you, do you use that dagger to fight?" She pointed towards the dagger that was at his hip, at that point she was walking backwards which granted her a grunt from Roth.

"Yes."

"Not a bad, or good choice." 

Lucian patted his dagger with his free hand. Once he manages to make the funds, he's going to lay this one to rest and get a weapon he's always dreamed of: A sword, simple and not really unique, but he always dreamed of wielding one. 

"Now a question for Fei, what type of spells can you provide?"

"..." Fei responded in silence. She held her staff tighter, she felt a lump form in her throat. Should I say how much I can use? I don't have much… She thought. Her ears became limp. Yet again, her heart felt something grasp at it. 'W-W-What will they do if they find out how useless I am…' 

"Not going to speak?"

"She can provide support." Lucian answered for her. "She's saved me a few times already, trust me on this." Unlike their previous teammates that gave him chills, he felt a sense of security with Bronya and Roth. The former seemed rather friendly and welcoming– he felt as if she was hiding something and Roth seemed untalkative and reliable.

"Hmmm~ Alright, I'll take your word for it." 

Silence overtook them for thirty minutes. Guards lined the sides of the gate, one with a spear gestured with his palm flapping towards them. 

"Please show your ids." He ordered, his tone came with a sense of urgency. Without question, they individually brought out their ids- aside from Lucian who brought out his and Fei's. Checking Bronya's and Roth's first, he moved backwards to look at Roth's face and looked back before handing his back. 

"You two are clear to go, please be safe out there." He said. Taking a step to the side, he then bowed and stuck his arm out to the side. "Next!"

"Here." 

"Oh, it's you; I don't need to bother then." 

"Thanks." 

"You seem to have a name for yourself."

"Let's just go." 

"Mhm~"

Lucian's name is well known throughout the guards, even those who don't patrol around his living area. His name was synonymous to fights occurring. He sighed when the times resurfaced, it was a truly unfortunate time during them.

An hour of time lapsed by. Lucian and Fei felt like it was an aimless journey. Neither of them had any clue where they were headed. Could Thran have tricked them yet again? They wouldn't remove that possibility, it is Thran afterall. 

Bronya stuck her hand out, signaling them to stop their march. She then turned around, with both hands on her hips and with her usual smile she called for a break. Roth did his usual grumble, and moved to a spot not far from everyone else. A nearby tree, he leaned his sword against it and sat down, every moment or so he fiddled with his weapon.

Lucian turned slightly, for the past hour and a half his sleeve was held onto. Fei never once came close to releasing her iron grasp. Ultimately, he didn't mention it and took a seat with her on the dirt. As for Bronya, she stood not far from them.

Every once in a while, she'd throw questions to him. Only getting curt responses which never bothered her. Most were personal, it was an obvious attempt to get to know them. However, no matter how he felt she was trustworthy; he only gave her short answers

Eventually it was Lucian's turn to ask questions, although with Bronya's insistence. Only one question came to his mind: what is the request Thran gave them? 

Bronya answered in a way that they did not expect. She stuck her pointer finger up, with her other hand she fished through her back pocket.

"Here it is, he chose a request that we both could do." She said, in her hands was a neatly folded piece of paper. Accompanied with her assurance, she waved her hand slowly for Lucian to take the request. "It was rather tough, per se; due to our rank difference, this was the best possible request he could find."

'Rank difference?' Lucian's ears perked from her response. Pushing his question aside, he grabbed the request and unfolded it. A neat but short paragraph was located at the top. Next to it was a red stamp with the guild's logo designed on it. 

"Oh, that's right you're still new! I'll explain what I mean." Bronya exclaimed. She patiently waited for them to finish, their expressions instantly snapped from curiosity to fear. "Dear old Thranie must be going senile." She muttered.A slight sigh followed, and a moment of pause she then continued. "Rothie and I are two ranks above you two, we are silver ranked adventurers." 

"Ah, don't worry we'll make sure you won't get severely hurt, or die in this! Just follow our lead and don't make a mistake, okay?"

'How the hell are we going to keep up?! Was Thran thinking when he paired us up?!' Lucian internally screamed. First, he paired them up with people who didn't care about their party members, then another who verbally abused them and now this?! They thought Thran was there to guide them, not send them to certain doom.

"It was his decision, not ours." Bronya said. She raised her hands in the air adding with her smile turning rather mysterious brought a wave of doubts over them. 

'What is with these people?! Are all adventurers like this?? I thought there were gonna be more straightforward and honest people, not this!' 

"Mm~ Well, make sure to get proper rest before we trek again; the location is not that far." 

With her final message, Bronya walked towards Roth and leaned against the tree. Before she did, it looked like they talked for a moment.

'I-I don't want to do, do this…' 

Unlike her fear about the goblins, Fei's heart pounded against her ribcage. Goblins weren't that hard to counter and fight against. Aside from getting caught off guard, they weren't all too difficult. Their slow and brainless movements made them easy to predict, the new targets: Wolves, agile, quick and many times more intelligent than goblins. 

"Take a deep breath… It will be okay," Lucian's soothing yet shaky voice entered her eardrums. Unbeknownst to her, she began to breathe quickly, nearly hyperventilating. 

After getting her to barely calm down, Bronya strolled up to them. Thus marked the end of their break, and their cue to keep going. 

Half an hour flew by, somehow Lucian kept his composure despite the immense fear that exponentially grew with each minute passing. Fei not so well, there were many times Lucian reassured her that things will be fine. 

"Looks like we're here, Rothie, keep an eye on those two. I will scout the area."

"Okay." 

"Good boy~" With a teasing grin she disappeared into the dark woods. Roth sighed at her behavior. He could never get used to her playful tone.

Once she was out of view, she crouched down to the ground and pressed both palms to it. In her mind, the layout of the immediate forest around her revealed itself. A normal person would be overloaded with just the information alone; the directions however, were a different tale. 

"Nothing, huh? Looks like our targets will be in deeper~' 

She delved deeper, keeping all her senses on high alert. Every branch that snapped, she was prepared to separate her axe from her hips. After a few more times of learning the layout she found a clearing. Over fifteen wolves with grey and brown fur lazed around, some were laying on their bellies, others were on high alert indicated by the ears sticking far up, and scanning the area around. 

Memorizing the positions of the wolves, Bronya snuck back to the rest of the group. 

"Rothie, you take the front, Lucian and Fei stay in the middle, I will take the rear. Keep your eyes peeled, and Fei if you hear something, give us an indicator; these woods are dense, one wrong move and we will be taken out." 

"Got it." Shouldering his gigantic blade, roth prepared for combat

"Lucian, Fei you understand?"

"Y-Yes ma'am."

With great hesitation, Fei nodded her head.

"Good, let's commence!" 

In that order, Roth took the lead. 

As they marched through the woods, the snaps, crunches and the soft footsteps of the ground welcomed them. It was quite overwhelming for Lucian, the damp smell of the ground underneath, and the eerie noises 

Once the clearing came into view, Roth befitting of his title bulldozed in. All the wolves' heads snapped to look at him. Each sprang up and rushed towards him, snarling and their jaws ready to chomp on limbs.

Claws scratched against his shield when. Exerting zero effort, he pushed forward sending the wolf backwards, tumbling towards the ground. 

Without being able to watch for a moment, Lucian felt a force behind push him forward. 

"Rothie! I think we should let little Lucian here fight one!"

"W-Wai-"

Before he could stammer his protests, a loud yelp came from his side. Turning his head slowly, he witnessed a wolf slowly rise, shake its body and locked eyes with him.

His pupils shrunk. the hackles on the wolf's neck rose high and let out a deep growl. 

'Oh sh-' Lucian cursed internally. He shakily took a few steps back, with each one the wolf took one forward. Not even a few seconds later, he felt the base of a tree collide with his back. 

His enemy sprang at him, barely giving him time to react. Without thinking he tumbled towards the side narrowly avoiding being pinned to the tree. 

He scrambled to his feet, and ran a short distance from the wolf. The dark green eyes of the wolf glowered at him, once it saw him struggle to grab the knife at his waist it sprang into action.

In just a few seconds it closed the distance, knocking him to the ground. Its paws shoved him down, knocking all the wind out of his system

Fei screamed his name upon witnessing this, but none of it could be heard.

Its hot breath swatted at his face, the horrendous smell of iron assaulted his nostrils just from its mouth. 

"LUCIAN!" Fei yelled once again, her vocal cords strained. 

"Help him, he won't survive without help." 

'I-I can't do anything!' Fei internally cried. Her hands shook violently, barely keeping her staff in them. Every spell she could use with it came out too slow; none would be able to save him on time. 

"I guess that's it." Bronya mumbled and looked away from Lucian's situation.

"Didn't you say you'll keep us from dying?!" 

"If he can't protect himself from one of those wolves, he won't make it." 

A blood curdling screech shook the battlefield. Fei watched in horror as Lucian's arm was caught in the mouth of the wolf. 

Its jaws crunched down, causing blood to splatter. Attempting to release its iron grip, Lucian began to strike its head. With each blow, its grip only tightened.

Reeling back his arm one more time, he shot it forward. With a dull thwack, it struck where it meant, the force was great enough to forcefully release its grip on his arm. With repercussions however, a chunk of his arm was taken with it.

Glaring at the wolf, Fei's fear and anxiety were replaced with extreme anger. She pointed her staff, quickly circulating her mana into the tip. A wordless chant left her lips.

A flicker flashed in the crystal, but she called forth her spell. Large ice chains sprung out from the ground. They forcefully entered the wolf's mouth, keeping it from chomping down just an inch from Lucian's face.

With his good arm he snatched his dagger from his belt. Mustering through the immense pain his arm gave him, he brought his arm back once again. 

Liters of blood spurted from the puncture wounds on its neck. One… Two… Three, he repeatedly thrusted his dagger. Over twenty times, he forced the dagger into it. Only then did its struggles cease, and its limp body fell to the ground.

Lucian stared above at the canopy of trees. His chest rose and fell rapidly, beads of sweat rolled down his cheeks. After a few moments, he forced himself up, his injured arm he kept bent and on his stomach. He clenched his teeth when he awkwardly pushed himself up. 

"Hey~ Nice job on the kill!" 

'It hurts… It hurts so badly…' Lucian murmured internally. He clenched his arm with the other. 'It hurts…' He repeated incessantly. It seemed like it multiplied countless times in pain quality. 

Fei slinked over to him, she shakily lifted her hands just above his arm. 

"T-Thank you…" Lucian thanked her, a mist of cold air sprinkled itself over his wound. 

—--------------------------------------

"Tsk… Look at that, the devil of life is back at it again."

"Can't you just let us die?! We've suffered enough because of your torture, we can't take much more of this!"

"I'm sorry… I can't do that…" 

"You can't?! Bullshit! IS this some sick fucking joke to you?! You're torturing everyone with your healing! Are they hiring you to continue our suffering?!"

"They aren't… I just can't let you all pass away…"

"Oh sure… Sure you can't let us die, look us in the eyes and say that."

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you die."

"Pfft, yeah sure. 'Can't' let us die. It must be some sick and fucking twisted joke, is this all funny to you; do you find enjoyment in watching people suffer due to your actions?"

"..."

"No answer, huh? I guess it is, afterall you are the 'devil of life.' You are no demi-human, nor are you any slave. You are a twisted and pure evil."

"..."

"..."

"...I'm sorry… I really am… I don't want to see anoth… I don't- I don't I don't I don't… Please… Believe me… I really…"

"..."

"..." 

"You are so pathetic… ####. Groveling over their words, it is our duty to keep them alive.