Chapter 176: The Final Test, Part Twelve

That wound on Rin's leg felt... strange.

Although it had been healed, Rin could still feel her limb buzzing almost. It made walking feel a little more awkward than normal. That said, she was glad she got it, in the end, because receiving this injury had woken her up to the dangers she could be facing. Now, flirting with Elisa wasn't quite the only thing on her mind.

Though, she did take any and all opportunities that she could to speak with her. This was, after all, very likely to be the only time the two would team up as adventurers. She still wanted to make the most of it, even though survival was also something she needed to focus on.

"I don't know," Rin said, as she and Elisa spoke while they walked up the mountain. They hadn't encountered anything in a few minutes. "I guess I'd rather fight a lich than a golem."

"Okay, why?" Elisa asked.

"Undead just have more defined weaknesses, you know? Though, I guess fighting a huge stone golem would probably look a little more epic, but, yeah. And you?"

"I'd go with the lich too," Elisa stated with a shrug.

"Why?" It was Rin's turn to ask.

"Cause that means you might be on the mission too," Elisa replied. "More fun, right?"

Some laughs were shared as the terrain around them began changing. The bright, verdant vegetation that resembled the woods Rin found Xhez in began turning darker.

[Well,] Rin thought as she looked around, [they did say the mountain would change as we went up. Wonder how different it's going to get, though.]

"You know," Elisa said, bringing Rin's attention back to her. "One of the missions we did a while back took me to a place that looked like this."

"Really?" Rin asked. "What did you have to fight?"

"Some water monster type of thing," Elisa said, waving her hand. Rin arched a brow as someone quickly came to her mind. Elisa must have thought of the same person as she then said, "no, not a water sprite, something else."

"Oh."

"Yeah, anyway, when I found it, I ran up to fight it, and..."

"Yeah?"

"I slipped," Elisa replied with a shrug, making an uncharacteristically meek expression. Rin barked out a laugh, picturing it.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, fell right on my fucking face," Elisa added, with a laugh of her own. "I think Eli was the teacher that went with me on that trip. He couldn't stop laughing for, like, a solid two minutes."

"I mean, in his defense... It's hard to imagine that sort of thing happening to you."

"Why's that?" Elisa asked.

"You don't look clumsy," Rin answered easily. "I don't know, whenever I see you, you usually look like you have everything under control."

"Then looks really can be deceiving cause, yeah, that's not true at all," Elisa said with a chuckle, shaking her head. "Nah, I fuck up all the time."

"... Only natural," Rin responded. "Just means you're normal."

When she heard that, Elisa made a complicated expression, though her smile didn't go away.

The longer the two of them walked, the more Rin felt like it would be a shame not to do this sort of thing again. Not just because she had a crush on her but also because Elisa was genuinely a very easy person to talk to, and it looked like she really enjoyed these sorts of things. She looked right in her element, wandering through the woods with those giant swords on her back.

As they continued, the air grew colder and colder with every step. It was so dark now that it almost looked like nighttime had come early. A gust of wind rushed by Rin's ears as Elisa said:

"... Do you see that?"

"Hm? See what?" Rin asked in turn.

"That," Elisa responded, leaning in and pointing ahead. "Over there."

It took a moment but, eventually, Rin did get a glimpse of what the blonde meant. There was a faint blueish glow between the trees up ahead.

"Wait, yeah, you're right," Rin replied quietly, narrowing her eyes in an attempt to see more clearly. "What is that thing?"

"I don't really know... Could be an enemy, though."

"... The safe thing would be to assume it is one, right?" Rin asked.

"Yeah. Get ready, just in case."

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"Right."

On that note, both adventurers moved forward. The anomaly soon became clearer. Its figure slowly turned more and more visible until, finally, Rin could take a guess as to what it was.

"I... I think that's a ghost," she said, stopping some distance away, so as to not alert the creature.

"... Fuck," Elisa cussed under her breath. "Rin, how much magic do you know?"

"I have one ability I can use for this. Should do the trick. Why?"

"All I can really do is swing these swords around," Elisa said with a sigh. "Ghosts are immune to conventional weapons. I can throw a spell or two out, but... I'm sorry, but, could you handle this?"

That request surprised Rin, but, she wasn't bothered at all.

"Yeah," she nodded. "I've got this."

"Thanks... I'll make it up to you in the next fight. Promise."

"You don't have to," Rin replied. "I'm just doing my job, right?"

On that note, the hand-to-hand fighter walked forward, designated as the one who'd be taking this fight once again. This time, however, Rin did feel a little more confident than before, thanks to that one trick she had up her sleeve.

Closing her eyes, Rin drew the spellsign in her thoughts, as she usually did to trigger her [Spirit Flame]. Her arms were shrouded in fire, a weapon meant specifically to kill undead.

Elisa's brows raised up and the woman smiled.

"Damn," she said. "Okay then."

"Like I said," Rin replied, not taking her eyes off of the enemy up ahead. "I've got this."

She walked forward. It only took two steps before the ghost noticed her. It looked like a young man with hollow eyes and a thin, sickly body that glowed white-blue.

With her fists covered in flames, Rin approached it fearlessly.

[Don't let what happened earlier happen again,] she told herself. [Focus, and remember your training. It'll be alright.]

The ghost moaned out lowly as Rin got into a fighting stance. The area around them was so dark that the enemy itself, and the flickering flames on Rin's arms, were the only sources of light. As Rin exhaled she could see her own breath.

Finally, once Rin got close enough, the ghost screeched. It flew forward, arms raised and hands aimed at Rin.

Rin reacted instantly. She moved in, willing to meet the opponent head-on. Quickly, they reached each other. The ghost's hands went over Rin's head, however, as the adventurer ducked and went for a strike to the body.

An ordinary punch wouldn't have done anything. This, however, was no ordinary strike. As soon as Rin's fist touched the monster, the fire that covered her fist spread all throughout the ghost's body. It shrieked a terrible, loud sound that nearly made Rin cover her ears. Instead, Rin followed up with another two blows. Both punches didn't exactly impact the ghost, but the flames on her hands did.

The specter staggered back. It reached up with its hands, trying to put the flames away as it quickly became a makeshift pyre. Rin didn't allow that.

Instead, Rin moved forward to finish this fight.

However, before she could do that, a wild swing from the ghost caught Rin's face. It clawed her cheek and Rin hissed, stopping in her tracks.

[Crap, crap,] Rin thought, stunned briefly by the sudden blow. [That nearly took my eye off!]

Rin fell back, trying to ignore the pain. Elisa's voice made that a lot easier.

"Rin, come on, you've got it!" Her partner yelled out.

Those words made Rin look up and see that the ghost was still trying to put the flames out.

[Right. Finish it.]

Running forward again, this time, Rin didn't use her hands. Spreading the flame to her legs, she leaped up and spun in the air, stretching out her right foot.

With one singular spinning kick to the side of the ghost's head, Rin ended this encounter. The ghost finally disintegrated, forming a pile of ashes in the grass beneath Rin's feet. Suddenly, the flames on her limbs were the only source of light there.

Rin looked at the ghost's remains and paused.

[I did it,] she thought. A look at Elisa confirmed that for her, as her partner grinned back. [I got it!]

With that fight, Rin claimed her first victory on this mountain. She hoped it wouldn't be the last.

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