Chapter 419: Between Fear and Resolve? [2 - END]

Chapter 419: Between Fear and Resolve? [2 - END]


"Your hat is a bit crooked..."


The woman suddenly began to adjust my hat, as if it had bothered her in some way. Did she have OCD? That was what I first thought of her.


"W-who are you...?"


"Hm? Oh, I’m Beatrice—Beatrice Ker Zerken." The woman raised her fingers into a peace sign before adding, "And I’m of the 1st Tier! Like you guys."


"H-huh...? You’re... Only of the 1st Tier...?"


When I had heard that, I was beyond stunned. There was no way that someone had fought a C-ranked monster all on their own with just their element at hand.


Besides some metal gauntlets, I didn’t see her use any other weapons.


"H-how did you defeat something 2 ranks above you? That shouldn’t be possible..."


Beatrice smiled at me with a warm gaze. I then heard her say, "Hard work can take you to many places as long as you put in the effort, don’t you think. Anyway, the bear’s not dead, just paralysed."


The woman chuckled before asking, "What class are you in anyway? I don’t think you’re in mine."


"O-oh... I-I’m from the Master Classroom."


"Hm? Oh! B-class. I think I saw your group somewhere near here."


As I watched the woman grab onto my hand and pull me along deeper into the forest, I couldn’t help but still think back to her victory over the monster.


"Could you... Teach me how to fight like you?"


"That’s an odd question, especially since it’s our first time meeting each other." Beatrice stated as she looked back with a teasing look, which I couldn’t help but be embarrassed about.


Beatrice sighed and shrugged, "I can’t... I can’t teach you how to fight like me. But I can teach you how to fight with others, though."


"That’s... Sure, I guess. But why can’t I learn how you fight?"


Beatrice gave me a weak smile, almost as if she was hesitating whether or not to answer my question. But then, she did...


"I’m a part of the small percentage of people who were born with the ability to fight and adapt on the go, you know? No offense, but I don’t think you’re in that percentage."


My mouth opened but then closed several times as I went silent.


She was right. I wasn’t that physically strong and depended on weapons with a fixed damage output, like firearms, to get damage in. But that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt to hear that.


Beatrice, almost as though she could sense my feelings being hurt, clutched my hand in a rather intimate way as she grinned softly at me.


"Hey, look... What’s your name, again?"


"Viesta... Viesta Gla Jorlinstan."


"Ah, alright. Anyway, look, Viesta..." Beatrice then turned towards the sky with a dazed look.


"I will eventually face things that I wouldn’t be able to take on by myself, that’s a universal fact... And when that happens, I will need others to shoulder the burden with me; regardless of how much I’m against it..."


She then turned to me and asked with a small smile, "Do you get it? Just because I’m strong now doesn’t mean I will be strong alone forever. So~... Since we’re acquainted and all, wanna join me on my next Trial in the future?"


"H-huh!? We only just met!"


"And we’re holding hands and had already exchanged names, I think we’re already at the friendship stage now, you know! Hahaha!"


"Ugh... Please stop..." As I hid my face under my hat, my ears then twitched at what I heard next.


"You remind me a lot of my dear friend... Shy and yet willing to ask for things..."


Raising my hat away from my face, I looked at the woman and asked, "May I... Know who this friend of yours is...?"


"Hm? Sure!" Beatrice’s face seemed to lighten up, "Her name is..."


***


As another streak of lightning shot down from the heavens, two separate beams of pure mana shot out from the mouths of the Leviathan—merging together to form one large attack, which could wipe out the entire wooden ship.


Viesta gritted her teeth as she kept a steady hold, watching as the beam rapidly approached the ship.


Then, with one final breath, she clutched onto her weapon tightly and fired off a sound wave, which she enhanced with her element.


She didn’t have much hope as she watched an invisible wave pierce through the dense wall of rain. Perhaps her attack could stop the beam for just a split second...


"I... I tried... You know, Beatrice?"


As Viesta was about to step away from the wooden railings of the ship—


SWISH!


—The world around her was lit up.


Two separate walls of pure light appeared, shooting around the boat’s side—only briefly breaking through parts of it.


The ship trembled due to this, and fire began to appear, as well as steam from the surface of the water. Fortunately, the rain managed to put out the fire, but that wasn’t what had gotten Viesta’s attention.


Instead...


"What’s... What’s that...?"


Off to the distance, the beam seemed to have met something on its journey towards them, causing it to refract into two and split apart.


It created a mysterious but jaw-dropping scene. It was like the air itself had magically formed an invisible blade to slice through the beam to keep them out of harm’s way.


Was this... Was this her soundwave’s doing?


"No... No, it can’t be..."


As Viesta muttered this with clear signs of confusion and daze, she grunted as the winds suddenly crashed against her like a mighty tidal wave.


Were the winds trying to prevent her from seeing what was going on?


"I need to... I need to see what is going on...!"


Gripping the edges of her hat tightly, she looked forward. She was confident that her Sound Blaster wasn’t that powerful enough to release such force to counteract an attack of this scale.


What was it that managed to split the devastating beam in two?


When Viesta managed to finally get a look, she widened her eyes as her jaw slowly dropped...