CHAPTER 5 Part 2: Proud of You

--Griffin’s POV--

With Sura down on the ground, I decided to protect my son as much as possible, but against 2 Lygnicans, I don’t think I can walk out in this fight alive. I noticed as I was fighting against one of the dark red-furred beasts earlier that they were somewhat weaker and slower than the ones I’d fought before.

[am I strong enough to defend my son?] I thought hoping that I am.

I decided that I won’t let them touch a single hair on my son, not while I lived. I advanced using every knowledge I have and gained from fighting one of them for the last 10 minutes, knowing that somehow, they were weaker and slower than normal. I kicked the ground with so much force to launch myself towards my enemies at a terrifying speed, the moment that I was able to reach my enemy, I swung my body to create as much momentum and force for my strike. I was able to cut off the arm of the beast it used to defend against both my weapons.

The beast with the severed arm reached for its wound with his remaining hand, screeching from the pain, while I was still in the air. I kicked the face of the beast in front of me launching myself away from the claws of its partner. The other beast ran on all fours towards me, I launched myself towards it, kicking the ground and shoving the snow away but it was able to sidestep, dodging my strike, I landed on the ground with my left hand supporting my weight, sword still in hand. The unharmed beast kicked me, knocking me away and the beast with a severed had already recovered from the pain of losing an arm and attacked together with his partner. I was barely able to dodge as they smashed the ground I was recently on. With snow and ash suddenly creating a smokescreen, I was unable to keep my eyes on my enemies, fortunately for me, I also trained to fight under these circumstances. I sensed their bloodlust through the fog and barely dodge every slash and bite they send my way, ruining my clothes as they get scratched.

I thought I was going to win against these 2 weakened monsters, however, one of the beasts suddenly eyed my unconscious son, salivating as it opens its mouth. Desperate to protect my son, I rushed towards him and held him tightly in my arms. I tried to run, to kick the ground to send myself flying, to distance myself and my son, to dodge the attack that was coming, however, the large claws of the Lygnican lacerated my back and I let out a painful guttural scream. It pierced through my winter clothes and armor and was able to inflict significant damage to me. I was about to lose consciousness from the pain. I tried to remain conscious, however, I couldn’t... At that moment I looked at my unconscious son still held in my arms.

“I’m sorry Sura, I am a useless father after all…

“Sura… Aishita… Mary… I love all of you.”

My sight is starting to fade into darkness as I collapsed on the ground, still holding Sura in my arms.

Thud…

***

I woke up to the smell of medicine, I opened my eyes and found myself on a comfy bed in the infirmary inside the village, a familiar sight for a guard in this village. I notice my body has full of bandages, especially on my torso. I look to my right and found Sura still unconscious, with bandages. I’m glad he’s safe, I budge my body but it was too painful to move.

“Whoa there, buddy you took a hell of a beating out there, maybe we should’ve had more guards on that area after all.”

A familiar voice came from the entrance of the infirmary, he walked towards my bed, it was Luke Crest, my former teammate, and leader, he smirked at me sarcastically as he always does, so I smirked back at him as I always do.

Luke Crest had medium-length gray-black hair, has ears like a husky, his eyes have different eye colors, his left side is blue, and while the right is brown, the right side of his jaws up to his cheeks had a scar, and he had 2 sharp teeth that served to show his strength. He wore a torn sleeveless Gi, a headband with our hometown’s dojo symbol and he never wears thick clothing.

“how’re ya Cloud?” I teased

“Hey, it’s Crest now, remember?”

Luke shows his ring on his finger, signifying he’s married

“Right, Ophelia proposed to you after we experienced how terrifying the demons are, how unmanly of you, making her propose to you instead” I continued teasing him

“Shut up, she beat me to it”

I laughed as he rolled his eyes.

“Hey thanks for saving us, glad you guys saw Sura’s spell”

“No worries, I’m glad we got there in time, if we’re late, we’d be bringing back corpses”

Before he became the head of the force, he was the leader of our party and I’m his right-hand man at that time. I’m the team’s swordsman while Luke was the martial artist of the team. He’s well-known for his feats, the most notable one was when he defeated an A-Class monster all on his own when he was still a B rank Martial Artist, now he’s an A rank, Ki Master.

“I was surprised to see the terrain destroyed with fire magic, was it Sura’s doing?”

“Yeah, he didn’t know Lygnicans are immune to fire but aren’t you more curious about why Lygnicans are up north?”

“Right! I was going to ask that but seeing how strong your son is, got me curious as well. I think his spell did significant damage to those Lygnicans because we defeated them easier than I’d expected, although 3 of my men died, they were still less difficult to deal with than those we fought against in the past.”

“He was working his ass off, I’m proud of him… but I hope those men of yours find peace in the afterlife, I’m grateful to them saving me and my son.”

“yeah… congrats on living another day.

“Just my speculation but I think those Lygnicans were running away from something, they were starving to death when you guys went against the couple, they probably never stopped on their way up here. Whatever they were running from I hoped it never reach here… Anyways, I got to report back to the higher-ups see you guys later.” Luke said as he walks out to the exit.

I remembered our group all of a sudden, it was the 7 of us back then, Me, Luke, Ophelia, Olivia, Hayden, Aegir, and Tiffany, the team was fun while it lasted, we parted ways after the death of Aegir Roxfelt.

Aegir is of the dwarven race, he had long black hair that he tied to a ponytail, he was a burly man and had a nice beard that slightly covers his scar on the right side of his cheek to his neck. He sacrificed himself to save us when we were ambushed and outnumbered by Demons in an abandoned castle, on an unknown island, we went there for a reconnaissance mission, requested by the Royals from the Kingdom of Niru. Aegir was our shield in the group. Before he died, the heavens blessed him, and became a Class Unknown Light Defender against hundreds upon hundreds of Demons, it was the first time I saw something above A rank, I think it’s even higher than S rank. In the end, he still died sacrificing himself to get rid of all those demons, he died a hero.

I miss our old team, we got along well but started to blame one another when Aegir died. I managed to reconcile with Luke and Ophelia but didn’t get the chance with the others.

***

As soon as Luke left the room, I painfully sat up looking at Sura.

The infirmary in the village is small compared to the number of residences, the infirmary can only accommodate the guards of the village.

I saw Sura was already conscious and staring at the roof.

“You were great out there, kid”

“I couldn’t even leave a mark on those things”

“Yeah… those things are immune to fire attribute magic, Lygnicans lived in places with extremely high temperatures that’s why fire doesn’t bother them, but Luke did say that you still dealt significant damage to them and I’m proud of you for that.”

As I said those words, a faint smile etched on my son’s face.

“Anyways, want to go home now? I’m afraid your mom would get mad if we stayed for the night”

“Yes, but are you okay? you had more injuries than I have”

“of course! I am the great Griffin after—ah!”

“You don’t need to pose, you know”

“Well, it’s fun doing poses!”

Sura and I grinned at each other and left the infirmary to go home, after confirming that we can walk on our own.

I let out a sigh “it’s been a long day, hasn’t it?”

“Yep!”