“...I can’t keep running!” Amaya huffed, sweat trickling down her face.

“Don’t give up yet!...We’re almost there!” Katsu shouted.

This was just another quest they had taken. They were supposed to take out the bandits who had been terrorizing the highway, but there was a grave miscalculation.

The enemy had a deadly spell-caster on their side. A masked man, dressed in a shadow-black cloak. Clenched in his hand was a powerful magic staff, crafted with obsidian. It amplified each spell the caster used.

Swoosh! Boom!

Orbs of fire passed overhead, blasting the trees apart.

If the spell-caster was alone, it would be a simple matter, but he had twenty bandits backing him, wielding sharpened blades that glimmered.

“How far do we have to run!?” Amaya asked, nearly out of breath.

Their running came to a sudden stop. They were at the edge of a steep cliff, jagged rocks below, waiting to impale them if they slipped off.

Again, it seemed like they miscalculated.

“Why did we come here?! There’s nowhere for us to run!” Amaya yelled, panicked.

“Amaya. Are you wearing the wind resistant clothing I gave you?”

“Yeah, I am. But what does that have to do with anything?”

She sighed.

What could Katsu have planned this time?

Surrounding them, the bandits came closer with caution.

Bandits were portrayed as weak opponents in video-games. But these ones were decently strong, not so easy to kill.

As proof of this, Amaya’s arm still had a deep gash on it, given to her when the encounter started.

The spell-caster came forth, a wide grin across his face.

“I personally have no problem with blowing you to bits, but if you hand over your valuables, I guess that will compensate for attacking us.”

One of the ugly-faced bandits gazed at Amaya’s body with interest, drool hanging from his mouth.

“Or you could hand over that white-haired beauty. She'd be a fun time.”

If one thing from games were accurate, it was the creepiness of the bandits.

Amaya’s face was pretty much blue with disgust.

‘Eww.’

These bandits need a reality check. And Katsu was going to give them one.

He took a single bold step forward.

“I’ll say this once. I’m not at your mercy. You’re at mine.”

It was a silent moment afterward. The bandits all looked at each other, then suddenly broke into hysterical laughter, their eyes watering.

“Ya hear this guy?” one of them chuckled.

“Yeh…what is he even saying?” another replied.

They joked without stopping, but they had pushed their luck far enough.

An incredible gust of wind swooped down from the sky, lifting the bandits off their feet.

Swoosh!

Each and every one of them were thrown from the cliff’s edge, soon to meet their demise.

So simple and so clean, it is like the bandits were never here. Unless you looked over the cliff, then you’d see their mangled bodies, impaled by the rocks.

“Oh, I see what you did.” Amaya exhaled, dusting the dirt from her clothing.

It had all been a result of a wind spell that Katsu casted, silently.

The reason they weren’t affected was due to the wind resistance on their clothing. In Katsu’s case, his armor.

“Remember, not every strategy needs to be genius. A certain times, simple is more efficient.”

This was the way Amaya’s adventure life was going. Accepting quests and slaying monsters, while Katsu was the one who did most of the real work. He came up with all the plans, and he fought the stronger enemies.

At times, Amaya felt like dead weight, but she was doing her best to learn.

It’s been this way for a few weeks now.

At first, Katsu was against the idea of forming a party. However, he finally agreed after Amaya bothered him every single morning.

Now, the two of them were practically friends. From Amaya’s standpoint, at least.

____________

( Silver Blade Guild)

The reward was generous. It was a little too much for only taking out bandits. A leather pouch, containing 200 silver. Of course, Amaya and Katsu split it evenly.

“Woah! This is a lot. I can do so much with this.” Amaya blurted.

She could finally upgrade to a new blade. Her current one was a shortsword, dull and cracked at the edges. It had been put through a lot this past week, everything from fighting slimes, to breaking open a sturdy iron chest.

Katsu pretty much read her mind.

“I have a spare sword you can have. You should get some armor instead, it’s the only thing you don’t have.”

Even if it was only a chest-plate, it could potentially stop a fatal attack.

He knew from first hand experience, when an arrow nearly pierced his heart. Luckily, his chest-plate was in the way to stop it.

Amaya sighed, “I guess you're right…but I also wanted to buy some cool stuff from the market. Maybe some clothes.”

“That’s dumb. You should Invest in gear that would be effective for combat. A nice shirt won’t matter to a monster.”

He was starting to sound like a party-pooper. Any words that came from his mouth were always about combat.

“Combat” this. “Combat” that.

Amaya couldn’t remember a time where Katsu even mentioned a hobby. He also never cracked a joke or laughed. It was a total lack of personality.

Amaya shook her head, “Ugh. you're SOooo boring. Don’t you have a hobby that you enjoy? Or something. Anything?”

Kastu stood in place, silently, as if he remembered a very distant memory.

“....Back in my hometown, I used to enjoy going out to the field. I would sit down in the middle of it, reading my favorite kind of books.”

It all came back to him, like he was reliving that moment again. A bright, vivid memory of a grassy field. His book spread open, his eyes scanned the pages. For hours, he would sit there, reading, until his sister came to get him.

She greeted the same way every time, with her high-pitched voice.

“Ahh, You’re reading those strange stories again?? Y’know, that stuff is for kids”

Katsu would always rush to cover the book with his arms, hiding it.

“Hey! Don’t disrespect art that way! It’s actually really fun to read. There’s always an overpowered hero that gets to kill monsters. In the end, he defeats the demon lord and saves the world.”

After he tried to explain the excitement of the stories, she’d always stare at him and shrug “I still think the stuff is weird.”

Katsu had gotten lost in thought, but quickly found his way back to the conversation.

“That sort of thing doesn’t interest me now.”

“Well, what does?”

“Vengeance.” Katsu answered, his fist clenched.

“Of course.” Amaya wore a blank expression, “Why did I even ask?”

Heading for the door, Katsu patted her on the shoulder while passing.

“I’m a little exhausted, let’s end off here. I’ll stop by in the morning.”

He shoved the doors open and walked right out.

It was about time Amaya headed back home as well.

Being late-evening, the sun was beginning to set, giving the blue sky an orange glow. Townsfolk were heading back to their comfy homes, and the Guards set up night-watch in the tower. All the streetlights lit up, giving light to the road.

Amaya made her way down an alley, then entered the weapon shop there.

The place still looked abandoned. Cobwebs were stuck to the corners of the ceiling. The shelves were embedded in dust, and so were weapons on them.

Except, someone had definitely been here. The coins she had left on the counter last time were no longer there.

“That’s weird.” Amaya murmured.

She paced up and down the aisle, her eyes examining each piece of armor.

The rumors were right, this place really didn’t have anything of good-quality.

Though, she did pick out some good-enough armor.

A slightly damaged iron chestplate, and some studded leather for her forearms.

[ Iron Chestplate - Protects Against: 600 Physical Atk and Lower.

Breaks Against: 700 DMG ]

“This will keep me from being scolded by Katsu again.”

Amaya approached the counter, but like last time, nobody was there.

‘I should just leave the payment here again.’

Just as she counted the right amount, A figure suddenly jumped out from behind the counter.

“WHo, gOes TheRE!”

It was a middle-age man, drool dangling from his mouth. His gray hair was chaotic, a massive case of bed-head. A drowsy expression and squinty eyes, the man had just woken from a deep-nap.

It took a moment, but he recovered from his confused-state, addressing Amaya.

“Ah. A customer. It’s been ages.”

“I..can tell.” Amaya remarked, looking at the dust-covered room, “Sooo, You’re the shop-keeper?”

“Sure am.” He nodded, his eyes gazing at Amaya’s appearance.

It was like he recognized her from somewhere, even if they’d never met before.

“Hmm.” The shop-keep stroked his chin, before praising the ceiling, “Ah, a miracle. It must be the reincarnation of the one and only Ze-” he stopped himself, shaking his head, “I probably shouldn’t say the name.”

Amaya’s interest peaked at that moment. She immediately remembered something similar happening. Back in the tunnel system, Ham said she looked familiar to someone. Someone with a name that started with a ‘Ze’

Amaya spoke up, “Wait. What were you going to say?” she tilted her head slightly.

The shopkeeper grew hesitant, “W-well. It’s considered an insult if I say it. Most people see it as a curse word altogether.”

There were even a few rumors that the name brings bad luck when spoken.

“It’s fine. I won’t get mad. Just finish your sentence.”

“I was going to say Zenobia. You look alot like her.”

“What? Who’s Zenobia?” Amaya asked, her head tilted.

She wasn’t all that familiar with the history of this world. But it sounded pretty bad if people were scared to say it.

“You don’t know who Zenobia is?! Damn kid. Did you skip a history lesson or something?”

“I might’ve skipped a lot of history lessons actually.” Amaya said with an awkward grin. Unrelated to the convo, Amaya thought about how she used to always ditch history lessons in high-school.

The shopkeeper’s closed eyes casted downward, “Not an educated one, I see.” He continued on with the explanation, “Zenobia was the strongest of the 5 heroes of legends. She fought alongside them to defeat the King of Darkness. It was a tough battle, but they succeeded in doing so.”

The shop-keeper paused for a moment, a shadow covering his eyes.

“...Then right after, Zenobia turned on them. Her wrath killed 3 of the heros, 1 survived only barely. Soon after, she went on to destroy multiple cities. It took armies and the greatest warriors to stop her. At the end of it all, hundreds of thousands were dead because of her.”

The kingdom still awaits for her to reincarnate, and they have a plan to defeat her when she finally does.

Amaya jolted, face full of shock. It’s no wonder people didn’t wanna mention a name like that.

“Wait! Do I seem that evil!?” She examined herself all over from head to toe, “I’m sure I haven't done anything bad.”

The shopkeeper chuckled, “Clearly not. I only said that because of your white-hair. Only a very few people have that hair color. That’s why I called you a reincarnation. It was a bad joke, so just ignore it.”

Amaya wasn’t upset at all about this, but she found it hard to forget she was just compared to someone who murdered thousands.

‘Yikes.’

Back on track, Amaya placed the silver coins on the counter.

“That’s for the armor.”

“Ah. Thanks for that. You’re the first customer I’ve had in ages. Nobody cares to shop here.” The shopkeeper leaned closer, “I may only sell low-quality equipment. But I’m confident to say my crafting and enchanting skills are of the best.”

Amaya looked down at the cracked chestplate she held in her hands.

“Well, is it possible to enchant this? If you can.”

The shopkeeper wore a smug face with a grin, “Of course I can. I can enchant literally anything. Except for a living person.”

A small light flickered from Amaya’s palm, and a small pouch appeared.

This contained all the silver coins she worked hard for.

“I assume this’ll cost a lot. I only have 400 silver. Will that work?”

For no reason, the room grew quiet. Amaya looked and saw the shopkeeper's expression.

Frozen, he was rooted in place, till he finally spoke up.

“...That was inventory magic. Not even I could use that. And I’d say I’m pretty skilled in magic.”

Head tilted, Amaya didn’t understand what was so surprising. This was all natural for her. Nothing but a simple inventory.

“It’s not magic though. It’s just something I can sort of do.”

Again, this brought even more shock to the shopkeeper, he nearly flinched back.

“WHa-Huh? Do you know how much skill that takes?!”

Amaya’s gaze shifted to the floor in thought.

‘I see what’s going on. My mc traits are starting to show themselves. It’s that trope where I can surprise people with my abilities. Awesome sauce.’

She smiled, confidently, “Well, it's nothing really. I’d like it if we can get back on topic.”

“Oh, right.” The shopkeeper coughed.

He looked inside of the pouch and frowned, “That’s not enough. Enchantments cost at least 5 gold each.”

“Aww man.” Amaya pouted.

An enchantment or two could’ve been really helpful, yet she didn’t even have enough for one.

Snap!

The shopkeeper snapped his fingers together and smiled, “You’re my only customer, so I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. Just pay me back when you get the right amount.”

“So you’ll enchant them?!” Amaya’s excited voice asked.

“I already did. When I snapped my fingers.”

Though Amaya was no expert, she was pretty sure enhancing would take a lot more effort than snapping your fingers. However, he didn’t seem to be lying, her eyes were able to see the enchantments.

[ Analisis: Iron Chestplate- Enchantment 1: Grants extra Maneuverability.

Enchantment 2: Increases current armor by 400.]

The man added, “If you ever want more, come see me. Remember to bring special items if you want stronger enchantments.”

“You bet I’ll be back. Thank you so much! This is actually amazing.”

“Oh, it’s nothing. Just you’re standar kind of enchantments.” He extended his hand out, “By the way. My name is Hori. Hori Quint”

Amaya firmly shook his hand, answering.

“I’m Amaya. Nice to meet you.”

____________

Upon returning back to her room at the inn, Amaya’s leg is unexpectedly hugged. There Emi was, with her arms wrapped around Amaya’s leg.

“Yay! You’re finally back! Where were you?” Emi joyfully squeaked.

“Nowhere special. Just came back from the weapon shop.” Amaya replied.

Every day, it’s been like this. Emi’s eyes always sparkled; she is enjoying her new life. There wasn’t anything special to it, but she was able to eat proper meals, and was able to take baths now. Unlike her time with Jackal.

“Amaya. I have a question.”

“Sure. What is it?”

“Are you like my new mom?” Emi asked, her face was determined to hear an answer.

They had been living together for quite awhile now.

“Don’t be silly. I can’t play the role of a mother.” Amaya paused, patting Emi on the head, “I guess you could say I’m more like an older sister.”

“Ooh. Yay. So you’ll be the big sister I never had.”

Unfortunately, this wasn’t permanent. Amaya would only be taking care of Emi until a home was found for her. But not just any home. It had to be a nice, loving household. The parents couldn’t be the type of people who were going to treat her differently just because she was a demi-human.

Till that day came, Emi was under Amaya’s care.

As Amaya slumped over on the bed, Emi pitched another question her way.

“When do I get to go on a quest with you?”

“I dunno. I think that kind of thing is dangerous for you.”

“I can be useful!” Emi exclaimed.

Amaya tiredly gazed at the ceiling, replying, “Really? How so?”

“I can smell the enemies coming. And If I can’t smell them, I can hear them. And…I’m very good at finding valuable items.”

Items were always a great thing to come across. They either could be your average sword, or something magical. This ability of hers would be useful, but it wasn’t enough to put her in harm's way.

Instead of rejecting her request , Amaya gave a different answer.

“It depends on the quest. But, I’ll think about it.”

“Yayyy! That means yes then! You’re so cool, Amaya!” Emi jumped up and down.

Her face, bearing a rejoicing smile that she couldn’t control.