{Rin}

In all honesty, Rin wasn't sure what would happen if they actually did run into the people who captured Xhez's mother.

She could guess that a fight would break out, of course. What she wasn't sure about was whether she actually could help out like she said she could.

If these were experienced soldiers, mercenaries, or anyone who had done an extensive amount of limit-breaking, there was a very solid chance Rin would lose going up against them. Then again, if Vortell was able to kill one in a purely physical contest, maybe Rin was too worried.

She'd find out soon enough, she supposed.

"The body should be right around... there," Xhez called out, pointing up ahead. Her eyes remained fixed on the distant spot. She'd barely spared Rin a glance since they started walking.

Rin wondered what was going through her mind at the moment.

"With any luck, animals will not have gotten to it before us."

"Would you not be able to look through the guy's memories if they did?"

"If they destroyed the corpse's head," Xhez explained. "As long as that is intact, I should be able to use my ability."

Nodding, Rin looked around, trying to make sure nothing was sneaking up on them.

Her timing could not have been worse because, unfortunately, doing so prevented her from seeing the two animals up ahead.

Xhez saw them first. The instant she did, she ran forward.

"No!" She yelled out and Rin turned back toward the front instantly.

What she found was a couple of strange-looking monsters with meat and blood running down their open mouths, as small as dogs. They had no eyes, slender bodies, and spikes running down their backs.

One hissed at Xhez as she moved toward it.

Scared that something might go wrong, Rin moved forward to step between them and fight the two monsters head-on.

Xhez, however, had something in mind.

Rin could see gears turning in her mind. She only hesitated for a moment, putting on a conflicted expression before she finally decided on something.

Drawing a complicated spellsign, Xhez made two blue runic drawings appear beneath the monsters.

Just before they would have lunged at them, spikes made of ice emerged from the ground, impaling both creatures through their respective heads. Blood spurted out. Both creatures gave brief, choked squeals.

Rin stopped as the spikes of ice faded away and the two creatures collapsed to the ground, dead.

For a moment, Rin couldn't quite believe what she'd just seen.

It wasn't like before when they'd come across the yariko and Xhez had taken the initiative to calm the creature down. No, Xhez just outright killed these two as soon as they moved toward her.

As Rin's eyes remained on the monsters, stunned at what her partner had just pulled off, Xhez was completely focused on the human corpse up ahead.

It was that of a bald-headed man wearing a suit of rusted, grey, iron armor. An equally rusted sword lay on the grass, just a few meters away. None of this man's equipment looked particularly expensive, which made Rin think whoever this was had to have been a mercenary or an adventurer.

The mere possibility of the latter being true was enough to serve as a reminder that not everyone would be as kind as Eve or Maria upon hearing of Xhez's true nature. Still, there was no surefire way of knowing what his occupation was. At least, not until Xhez did her thing in just a moment.

"His head is intact!" She proclaimed with some relief as Rin drew closer. "Thank goodness."

Rin couldn't help but look back at those fallen monsters one more time, though.

Of course, Rin had known that Xhez possessed the Essence and natural talent, given her memory, to be a high-class mage of some sort. Seeing her in action like this, however, was quite compelling.

Once again, it prompted a question to pop up in Rin's mind that she'd asked herself a couple of times.

[If she really dedicated all of her time to improving this aspect of herself, how good could she get?]

A creature made of Essence with perfect memory. What would Harriton say if he met a human like that?

That was a question for another time. For now, Rin just wanted to say:

"Uh... That was some spell you just used," she murmured.

"Hm? Oh, yes, I learned a few of those spellsigns designated for combat. Just in case I ever needed them." She looked back down at the body. "If you will excuse me for a moment."

"Right."

On that note, Xhez pressed the dead man's forehead to her own, ignoring the dried blood she was kneeling in, and the terrible smell the corpse produced.

The white-gold glow around Xhez's body hinted at the fact that she'd begun using her ability. The quick frown that appeared on her face, her brows wrinkling up as they pressed together, suggested that she didn't like what she saw. Still, she kept herself embedded in that man's consciousness for some time, while Rin made sure that no other creatures like the two Xhez had just killed would catch them by surprise.

A branch snapped somewhere to the left. Rin quickly shifted her attention to that direction and found the source.

She gulped.

[... Crap.]

"X-Xhez."

The sprite did not respond.

This usually didn't take too long, but as Rin saw a monster approaching their position, each individual second that passed stretched endlessly.

"Xhez," Rin called out again as the monster moved forward.

What she was looking at, she guessed, was probably the mother, or father, of these two creatures Xhez had killed.

While those monsters were the size of a dog, this thing was almost as big as the golem they'd passed by some time ago. In addition to the spikes on its back, there were what looked like horns on the sides of its head, each one curving toward the currently snarling mouth.

"I found it!" Xhez declared victoriously. From behind Rin, she turned toward her partner. "I..."

It was at that point that she saw the same thing Rin was currently backing away from. However, Xhez's reaction was not one of fear. It was one of anger.

"Uh, Xhez?" Rin asked, as the sprite took a step toward the creature. "What are you-"

"My mother is waiting for me," Xhez declared, glaring at the great beast. "I must save her. I will not let anything stand in my way!"

The monster ahead roared, and it seemed like both it and Xhez agreed that one of them needed to die before this day was over.

Rin sighed.

[We could just run, but.. it looks like Xhez wants to fight this thing. Well, alright then.]