Chapter 28: The Forgotten Lands, Part Six

"Xhez..." Rin said as she watched three skeletons emerge from the dirt in front of her. "Now would definitely be a good time to test out those spells I taught you last night."

"R-Right," Xhez muttered behind Rin.

The adventurer tried to calm her nerves, as she watched the skeletons, dressed in ruined, dirt-covered armor, begin walking toward her. [How strong are these things?] Rin wondered. [In class, we learned about something that resembled them... Thralls. Mindless monsters that were kinda like possessed spirits. These things sound like what Cara described, and those were Rank D. So... Maybe we'll be alright? Only one way to find out!]

Holding her breath, Rin charged toward the nearest skeleton and went for a punch aimed at its skull.

And the skeleton dodged. Her punch didn't even get close.

It leaned to the side, and Rin's fist passed right by its head, harmlessly. She fell to the ground and, from below, she watched the skeleton pull out a dagger from its pants, about to stab her.

[Crap.]

Rin reacted off instinct. She pulled a leg back and, from the ground, kicked the skeleton's legs out from under it. The skeleton fell, and Rin stood back up quickly. She did so just in time to get out of the way of a stab, which would have caught her neck.

Taking a step back, she spun and tried to land a crescent kick. However, again, the skeleton she had tried to hit pulled back and Rin's kick barely grazed its head, as it dodged backward, unnaturally flexible.

[What!?] Rin thought as she moved with her momentum, spinning again, but this time, landing a kick on the skeleton's ribcage. This one landed, and the skeleton was pushed back, letting out a hissing noise as it recoiled.

"These things are... kind of agile," Rin muttered as, behind her, she heard a [Fireball] shoot out. She half-turned and saw a skeleton on fire, that hissing sound turning into a supernatural scream as it came from the enemy Xhez had struck. Its body then disintegrated, turning into ashes in front of Xhez.

"Whoa," Rin said. "So, are these things weak to fire or something? Keep doing what you're doing!"

"Um, I-I will," Xhez replied, clearly scared out of her mind, as Rin heard more [Fireballs shoot out from behind her.

As for Rin though, she had her own battle to fight. Both the creatures she'd hit got back up, and Rin put her fists in front of her.

[I can knock them down and all, but how do I actually kill these things?] Rin asked herself, grimacing as one went to attack her.

[... Well, time to put Maria's lessons to work!]

She leaned to the right and the dagger went past her. In her mind, momentarily, she tried to pretend she was fighting Maria back at the Academy. She dodged into the attack, pushing herself toward the skeleton, and landed a punch at its pelvis. Another attack came from her right and Rin dodged back.

What followed was a fairly complicated move, but with Rin in that position, it was what came to mind. She turned, ended up hunched over, and planted her left hand on the ground. Then, she brought up her right leg and spun. The result was an arching kick that the skeleton dodged.

[Dammit!] Rin pushed herself off the ground and took a step back, taking a deep breath.

[I can't land many hits on them... But on the bright side,] she thought, holding back a smile. [Maria was way faster than these things when she fought me.]

The skeletons lurched towards her, their empty eye sockets aimed at her. Rin prepared herself.

And then, three [Fireballs] were launched out at them, and each of the skeletons was caught by them. Letting out those shrill screams, the skeletons disintegrated in front of her, and Rin's dropped her fists, letting her hands go by her sides.

Looking over at Xhez, Rin took deep breaths.

She had largely been able to ignore it so far, but this sequence made her realize she was still sore from having run Essence through her body when she ran away from those psychos from before.

"Good job!" Rin told Xhez, walking up to her. Xhez looked surprised.

"... Really?" Xhez asked.

"Yeah, we pretty much got through them because of you. Good stuff."

When she heard that, Xhez brightened up and almost squeaked with excitement.

"Thank you!"

"Uh, you're welcome," Rin chuckled a little as she turned away from her. She was still getting used to the unadulterated honesty that Xhez always put forth. She truly was unlike anyone Rin had met before.

They couldn't rest just yet though. Looking around, it was clear that any moment now, more of those skeletons could rise up.

[Just how big is this place?] Rin wondered as she started walking forward, and the sprite walked beside her. [With Xhez here, we should be mostly okay, but...]

Her thoughts were cut off though when Xhez fell on top of her.

"W-What?" Rin yelped. "Xhez?"

"..." Xhez picked herself up, and then, she yawned. Her eyes were half-closed, the girl's shoulders a little slumped. "Sorry, I am... Getting a bit sleepy."

"What? Seriously?"

"Mhm, the sun," she started to explain, mumbling her words a little. "It dries my skin up, and, uh, we sprites take most of our energy from water. When we are out of water, we," she yawned again, "our body reserves a little as an extra layer of our skin, slowly absorbing it. When it fully dries up though, we pass out."

"Hm... Maybe we can back up and find some water for you?"

"Or a container," Xhez replied. "My hair can create enough water for me to absorb if it accumulates in a container."

"Oh, then what about- wait, what?" Rin stopped. "What container would be big enough for you?"

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"I can reduce my size," Xhez said, waving a hand. "Just... find me one and I will show you."

"Hm. Okay then, well, a container... Would this bag work?"

"Can water leak through?"

"Uh, I don't know... Maybe?" Rin shrugged.

"We can try," Xhez said. "Empty it out for me, please, and hold it up."

Rin did so, keeping only the map as she folded it up and put it away in one of her pockets. First, Xhez took her hair in her hands, blushing a bit, as she then proceeded to wring it out, forcing enough water to drop into the bag to fill a third of it. Thankfully, it didn't seem to be leaking too much, though some drops did fall to the ashen ground below.

"I hope this works, I just used up nearly all that was left of my water," Xhez muttered.

And, then, Xhez told her to place the bag in front of her. Rin was eagerly awaiting to see how exactly Xhez planned to get in this thing. And, when she saw it, she wasn't disappointed.

Xhez jumped up, and in mid-air, shrunk down to the size of Rin's hands. She flipped twice and landed in the bag, all while Rin watched, shocked.

"... You really are amazing."

"T-Thank you," she heard a little voice reply. "Though... It smells in here."

"Uh, sorry, but until we find something else to put you in, that'll have to do. Are you good, in there?"

"Yes," Xhez answered. "I will need to rest though, for a bit... Hopefully, we do not run into anything."

"... Eh, I'd bet we're probably going to."

With that out of the way, the two of them, kept going, while Rin held Xhez in that bag. Looking around, Rin saw several bones strewn throughout the area, and she hoped they wouldn't come back to life anytime soon.

---

{Cara}

After her argument with Maria, it had taken a little while for Cara to calm down, but she'd figured she'd spend the time to do so. Some adventurers were good at allowing their anger to fuel their strength, Eli, her coworker, being one of them, for example.

Cara wasn't though. She'd much rather have a clear head before entering a fight. So, once she felt she was ready, she walked out of the academy.

And, outside, she ran into Eve, the fairy.

"Hm?" Cara raised a brow. "Eve? Shouldn't you be in class?"

"Uh..." Eve floated over to her. She was wearing her fairy armor, for some reason. "I wanted to ask if..."

"Yes?"

"If I could go with you," Eve finished. "I-I know you're out, looking for Rin and all. I wanted to see if I could tag along. Help you out a little."

Cara sighed.

"I appreciate it, but you only just started your studies. You're not ready to face the vast majority of the monsters out there. No need to put yourself in danger."

Cara walked past her, but Eve flew back to Cara.

"Uh, no, not in a fighting sense, in a scouting sense!" Eve argued.

"... What do you mean?" Cara asked.

"Well, I have wings! I can fly over mountains and see if Rin is anywhere to be found, from above!"

As Cara heard that, she had to admit, it could provide her an edge in this search. If Eve could search more ground than Cara could at any one point, they would make progress far sooner.

"How high up can you fly?"

"It takes more effort for me to go higher, but I can reach the top of the academy!" Eve said, pointing up at it. "Is that good enough?" She asked.

"... Sure," Cara nodded. "I'll bring you along."

"You won't be-"

"But," Cara cut her off, "you do what I say when I say it. Are we clear? I'm not trying to get a second student's..."

She was about to say "a second student's blood on my hands," but, a part of her told her to hold out hope that Rin was still alive.

"Come on. Let's see how far we can go before sundown."

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