Chapter 12: It Was Enough For Me

“I fought in that war and experienced the gods’ indifference. I know not if legends about this war still exist, but know that it happened for the sake of their pride and amusement,” The face above displayed no emotion, but anger could be felt in its voice, “I will not ask you to be my champion. I will not ask either of you to destroy the gods above. That task isn’t for you to accomplish. What you do with this knowledge is for you to decide, for I am already satisfied with sharing the truth.”

All he said failed to reach me. My mind was currently in a state of chaos, making me numb to everything that happened in the world outside of my thoughts.

The gods watched, and so did I.

Just like that time. I watched, I let all of it happen, I didn’t do anything. I was powerless and my only choice was to watch as everything around me was destroyed. I tried not to think about it, I tried to keep it all in the past; to forget it ever happened.

But this encounter brought it all back, and all the emotions I kept tucked away burst forth like floodwaters from a broken dam. I curled up and clenched my fists, pounding them hard against the ground as I let out silent whimpers. My whole body was trembling and a cold, empty feeling filled my chest.

I ignored the stack of books that suddenly materialized beside me, I ignored the sudden feeling of weightlessness I felt as we were teleported outside.

The dirt was soft and the surroundings were dark, the moon stood in the sky, surrounded by the stars. An empty sea of blankness filled my mind as I laid there, thinking of nothing and just letting the tears flow and stain the sides of my face.

My fists stopped pounding against the dirt as I collapsed to the side, my back on the dirt below and my eyes staring listlessly at the sky above. Right now, I didn’t care about the gods, or anything else. I just wanted to leave everything behind, I wanted to succumb to the empty feeling. I wanted to lose myself in it.

In the corner of my vision, I saw Lilith stand up unsteadily. She took a few steps forward, but her knees buckled and she lurched to the side. Her shoulder collided against a tree and she used it to support herself. Eventually, she put all her weight on the tree as she slid down into a sitting position. Her eyes were glassy as she absentmindedly looked up at the sky above, her back leaning against the rough bark.

Like this, an hour passed in silence.

The leaves swayed and the wind blew. The glittering moonlight came down from the sky and gave the surrounding grass a beautiful luster, the clearing we laid down in felt like a sacred place.

I slowly stood up.

Lilith finally moved her gaze and looked at me as I took out a familiar wooden sword. It was the sword we used for sparring. It had numerous caved in areas and the tip had dulled even more due to continuous use, even the cloth I wrapped around the handle was dirty and looked like it was about to fall off.

Guessing my intentions, she stood up and took out a wooden replica of the sword she normally used from her bag. It was in better condition than mine.

She walked forward and stood in front of me, her hair glistened in the moonlight as she held her sword in two hands and pointed it to the front—to me. I looked at her, for the first time since meeting her, I truly looked at her. My attention was directed at her and her alone, nothing else mattered.

I held my sword in a one-handed grip as my other hand grasped two throwing knives that were made out of wood. The two of us stood there, staring at each other.

And then… she dashed forward.

Lilith was fast. This time, the speed she used was much higher than when we normally sparred. I didn’t see her coming, she was just a blur that shot forward. I pushed my concentration to the limit as I dodged to the side and blocked an attack from her.

The force of her strike made my hand go numb, she wasn’t going at full strength, but she wasn’t holding back either. I used the strike to retreat several meters, my hand blurred and a wooden knife sped towards Lilith from the front.

She deflected it with her blade and sent hit flying upwards. Then, she sped towards me with terrifying agility. Her sword swung downwards and I barely evaded to the side, the sword missing me by a hairsbreadth. I countered by swinging my sword horizontally at her flank, she tried to block, but it was a feint. My wrist flicked and my sword that was slicing horizontally suddenly snapped upwards into a vertical strike.

Her sword was swept upwards, revealing an opening. I sent a punch to her side, but I missed as she used a butterfly kick to move backwards, her foot connecting with my chin in the process.

I gave a pained grunt as I was sent flying backwards. I used the momentum and rolled to stabilize myself, but she didn’t give me the chance to rest. As soon as I was back on my feet, Lilith grabbed something from the air and hurled it towards me.

It was the throwing knife she deflected a while ago! She grabbed it from the air as it fell and threw it back at me! I grit my teeth as I twisted my body to the side, avoiding the attack. Right after, I ducked under Lilith’s attack.

The sword that swept over me brought over a gust of wind, ‘…She seriously isn’t holding back,’ I thought to myself, and in this moment of distraction, she managed to kick me in the chest. The kick sent me sprawled down over the dirt.

I abruptly rolled to the side as her sword swung down and struck the place my head was previously at. I kicked and tried to sweep her feet out from under her, to which she responded by jumping back.

Hurriedly getting back on my feet as she jumped back, I threw my other knife at her as I retrieved two more from my pocket. She easily dodged the knife and charged towards me once again, her sword swinging towards my neck.

I dodged and lost myself in the battle. I slashed, evaded, countered, and used feints. Battle like this was good. It emptied my thoughts and forced me to think of nothing.

My attention was solely on this battle—on her. As we fought, I was hit several times and received multiple cuts from the rolling across the ground and bruises from her swings and kicks. Sweat continuously rolled down my forehead as I pushed my body to its limits.

I eventually ran out of knives, most had been dodged and deflected, flying away to who knows where and some were even flung back at me, causing no small amount of pain.

Lilith’s hair danced and her movements gracefully flowed like water, connecting one action to the next, creating an endless stream of attacks that forced me to continuously retreat. I forced myself to keep fighting, I wanted to keep fighting.

It felt good.

Only twenty minutes had passed since we started, but it felt like an eternity as fatigue was already taking hold of my body, making my movements increasingly sluggish. Even still, I kept fighting.

Her sword aimed for my head, I deflected it. It slashed at my side, I dodged. I got closer and attacked, she countered it perfectly, sending me hurtling back once again. I swept my feet over the ground in a wide arc, creating a massive cloud of dust as she darted towards me.

Lilith’s blade pierced the cloud of dust and hit nothing, she flicked her wrist and blocked my desperate jumping attack with a back-handed grip. She overpowered me as she swung her sword to the side, making me roll across the dirt after getting countered. My body ached all over, but I felt invigorated as I continued to desperately keep up with her attacks.

Finally, the end of our fight came in the form of her sword hitting my chest.

I collapsed and laid on the grass. I smiled brightly as I looked at her sword that was pointed towards my neck. I said, “At least I lasted longer this time around.”

She stood over me and a soft smile showed itself on her usually impassive face, “Mm. You did well.” She said as the wind continuously blew over the clearing, making the grass and leaves sway softly. Her black hair softly flowed in accordance to the wind. The leather armor she wore, although thick, failed to conceal her perfect figure. Her creamy white skin reminded me of snow as I looked at her, the moon shining above her and painting an incredibly beautiful picture.

“…Hey Lilith,” I said quietly.

She tilted her head to the side quizzically, “Yes?”

Moisture welled up in the corner of my eyes as I looked at the night sky, “I… I got stronger, right..? I-I’m stronger than before now, right..? I can finally… I can finally move forward now, right..?” I said each word slowly, my voice trembled as tears slowly slid down the side of my face.

Lilith didn’t say anything, she merely smiled and nodded.

And it was enough for me.

My body trembled as I nodded repeatedly, crying in front of the girl I owed a great deal. My consciousness began to slip as my eyes slowly closed, my mind entering an instance of rest.

The moon above sank as multiple hours passed, day replaced night as the sun painted the sky an orange hue that was soon replaced by the normal sky blue. Birds flew in the sky and dew coated the grass. The rays of the sun pierced the open air and landed on my closed eyelids, stirring me from my sleep.

I sat up and felt something above me give way. I looked down and saw how a blanket covered my body, probably the reason why I barely felt the cold last night.

Smiling widely, I picked up the blanket and stored it in my bag. It felt like my body was full of energy as I stood up and stretched my body, wiping away the dirt from my clothes soon after. I yawned lightly and checked if the leather belts on my body were fastened correctly.

Seeing that everything was in order, I said, “We’re finally back! It’s about time we head to the next city now, huh Lilith?”

No one responded.

I frowned and looked around, “…Lilith?”

She was nowhere to be found.

Maybe she was hunting around to get food again? I thought to myself as I walked around the general area, looking for traces of my reluctant traveling companion. I couldn’t find her, so I walked back to the clearing and waited.

A minute turned into a dozen, and a dozen turned into an hour, which turned into several more.

I sat there, in the clearing, until the afternoon. I’d been waiting for at least five hours now. My expression only continued to darken as time passed and a terrible thought crossed my mind, ‘Don’t tell me… She went to the city without me!?’

I thought that. No, I wanted to think that. I packed up my belongings and looked around the clearing for the last time, and there, under a tree nearby, I spotted something.

Walking to the tree, I found two familiar swords under it.

They were our two wooden training swords.

On the handle of Lilith’s sword was a rolled up piece of paper, I picked up her sword and took off the paper, carefully unrolling it, it said:

- Dust, I have some things to take care of and I’m going to have to leave earlier than expected. I had plans to stay in the city before, but now my plans have changed. These things are for me to do alone and it would be selfish of me to drag you into my problems, so don’t look for me. I hope you understand, also, the Balilaise fruits were delicious.

Farewell and safe travels,

- Lilith.

*Thud*

A low thud rang out as I drove my fist into the trunk of the tree.

“…Why would you leave so suddenly..?” I closed my eyes and grit my teeth as I whispered, “You didn’t even give me the chance to say thanks properly… How am I supposed to treat you to a meal like this!?”

“You damn clueless girl… you did so much for me and you just leave!?” Another thud rang out as I kicked the tree.

“It would be ‘selfish’ of you if you dragged me into your problems!? That’s what I’ve been doing this entire time! I’ve been relying on you since I met you and I won’t even be able to pay you back!?” Thud, leaves fell from the tree as I kicked it again.

“Since you liked them so much, I’d have given you more Balilaise fruits! They’re cheap anyway! They’re even easier to find! Why the hell would you just leave without warning?!” Thud I kicked the tree as I continued to vent my frustration.

“Seriously! I’d help out as much as possible if you had any problems! It’s only natural since you did so much for me! You… You damn…” My voice trailed off as I bitterly looked at her sword.

I sighed, “How am I going to do all these things for you if you aren’t here?”

The sword she used laid there, under the tree, not responding to any of the things I said. I blankly stared at the sword for a few minutes before I let out a final sigh. I picked up Lilith’s sword and attached it to the belt I wore on my waist.

I did the same for my sword and soon enough, I had three swords hanging from my waist. Two of them being wooden and both being in bad shape, I probably looked like an idiot. But… I’d already decided.

‘It doesn’t matter how long. I’m going to carry this sword around and when I meet you again, I’ll vent my frustration by beating you in a fight!’

This promise was engraved into the back of my mind as I walked away from the tree.

My destination?

The city of Laharre!

Chapter End.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author's Note:

Hello everyone! Sorry for the late release, I overslept today. What do you all think about how this turned out? I'll also say that Lilith will be getting her own side stories every few chapters, to keep track of what she's been doing as they'll be separated for quite a while. Furthermore, you can also expect that a few important characters and bits of information will be introduced in these coming arcs. Finally, leave a comment below if you have any tips about my writing and how I should improve it and leave a review with some constructive criticism if you found my story enjoyable, but flawed. I'll try my best to make this story better, so all help is appreciated.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------