by A P Gore
He froze for a moment, and then he wrapped his hands around her tail and tried to pull it out. Rihala pushed it deeper, trying to pinch some internal organ. She wanted to finish this as quickly as possible. There was an orc on her trail, and she didn’t have much time to waste with human.
The human struggled, trying to spin around himself, but instead he only ended up scratching at the ground. Soon, the surrounding patch filled with dust and odd herb smells. Some dust even went into her eyes, making her lose control over her tail.
In that one moment of weakness, the human pulled her tail out.
It was a good strategy, but she wasn’t done yet. She wrapped her tail around his neck, squeezing hard.
Once again, the human struggled, and this time his hands went weak. He even let go of her tail for a moment.
Rihala smiled. Her efforts were paying off, and his end was near. Then something strange happened. Suddenly she couldn’t squeeze his neck any further, like the human had pushed some strength into his neck muscles.
His muscles started resisting her tail. Inch by inch, she lost control. The final surprise was when the human conjured two green orbs in his hands and hit her tail with them.
Damage alert: You are hit by two poison orbs for 40 damage.
It hurt. It was painful. Demons were naturally resistant to any poison, yet his spell did 40 damage.
With a painful cry, she released the human’s neck. Before he could turn and harm her, she jumped away.
The human was still on his knees, panting. For the first time, Rihala saw his oval face and deep brown eyes. They suited his long hair. He didn’t look half bad for a human.
She moved again, trying to hit him with her tail.
He rolled away, avoiding the slap of her tail.
“Wait.” He raised his hand. “Check my title. I have a blessing from Goddess Sumara.”
That name brought a strange and awkward feeling to her mind. The goddess of the curse. She froze in her tracks, and cast perception on him.
Human male level 4 Cursemancer, Friends with Demons
Life 205/405
Spirit 290
Other attributes are restricted due to reputation
Reputation: Neutral 0
“A human, and blessing?” She shuddered with fear. What kind of evil portent was this? Even the high-level demons struggled to get a blessing. Her mom once told her only a level 50+ demon could opt for the trials of blessings. How could a low-level human get a blessing from a demon goddess? Much less from the goddess of the curse? Sumara was crazy. Her mom once told her that she razed her whole empire for some small mistake by the king.
The urge to kill the human instantly died as she realized the meaning of the title. Reputation rules were another odd thing about the whole world. She never understood how it worked, and no one could tell her why they were in place. Everyone said they were invented for the War of Faiths.
She couldn’t put a finger on it, but something was wrong about the human. “My mom says only respected high-level demons get a blessing. But you are a human!”
The human was still gasping for breath. He pulled out a red vial from his bag and drank it. “Yes, it’s a long story.” He crawled on his butt and sat uptight.
Rihala couldn’t believe he had a healing potion. The human had a rare healing potion. But how did he get it?
“What are you doing here, female?” A grumpy voice echoed from behind her.
She turned to see a heavy and wide as a tree trunk male demon jumping from behind an only slightly wider tree. He had a face of rock, red eyes, and a three foot long ax in his hand. She cast perception on him. It failed.
She shut her gaping mouth, then sputtered, “You’ve got demon friends too?”
“Friend?” The demon looked at the human in confusion. “He ain’t my friend, female. But a customer who owes me lots of money. And unless you have that on you, I won’t let you kill him.”
How could a demon be friends with a human? It was like being friends with a goblin. Even that was possible now. The whole day was weird. First, she had seen a demon and a goblin making nice, and now a demon and a human.
The world has gone crazy.
The human stared at the big demon in shock. His brown eyes held a hint of pain. “We are a kind of friends only. Now tell us, what do you want? And why did you attack me?”
She fixed her eyes on the human, trying to decide what should she tell him. “I don’t have to tell you that. But I want to know what a human is doing in our land, and why he has a blessing from one of the demon goddesses”
“If you won’t answer us, then we have no obligation to answer you.” The demon dropped his ax on the ground, spreading dust around.
Show off. Foolish demon!
A silence encapsulated them all. She was trying to decide what she should do. Run?
No, let’s see what this human is up to.
“Let me help you.” She walked to him. He was a stranger, but somehow she felt like she could trust him a little after seeing his title. “I’m curious.” She wanted to offer him help getting up, but instead she tripped over something. The next moment she was all over the human, her big foolish breasts pressed against his armor. Then there was the herb smell. Zedusa, it was getting in her head and annoying her.
“Are you all right?” The human grabbed her shoulder.
His touch didn’t feel awkward.
She stared at him with a clumsy smile. Her mom wasn’t going to be happy knowing she fell on a human. Her mom always bemoaned how clumsy her daughter was. But there was nothing Rihala could do about it. She’d been like this since childhood.
Balancing herself with her hands, she picked herself up and stood with a shy smile. She helped him up too. At the same time, she gave the snickering demon an annoyed look. Foolish demon! He didn’t have any manners.
“Thanks,” the human said.
She smiled back and stepped a couple of steps away. “Now tell me, why are you here? Is there a trick in this? Are you a spy from the human side?” she asked, feeling stupid about the question once it left her mouth.
“If he was a spy, the goddess wouldn’t have blessed him in the first place. And I can confirm that when he arrived here, he was just a level one puppy.” The fool demon laughed, stroking his equally foolish mustache. Her father too kept a mustache, and she hated it. Yet he refused to shave it.
“Come on.” The human kicked a stone across the ground toward the foolish demon.
Rihala’s body moved involuntarily. She drew her last arrow, pointing it at the human. If he wanted a fight, she would give him one.
Zedusa, why did I drop my quiver back there?
“Woho, wait, female. I was just...” He raised his hand, then dropped it like he’d lost his will to fight. “Leave it. I’m a traveler. So even if you kill me, I’ll come back. And I ain’t a good enough leveled character for experience.”
She froze once more. Magadha had told her about the travelers, but Rihala hadn’t believed her. She said travelers could come back from dead. But how was that possible? If it was true, then the human was full of surprises.
What is a traveler doing here near a demon town?
She lowered her bow but kept the arrow nocked. She realized her body had returned to normal. Every demon possessed a common trait, a state in which their aggression increased and their eyes turned black when they entered any conflict. She had gone into that state too.
“By the way, I’m Noah.” He extended his hand. He had a friendly smile on his face, but his eyes were staring at her big breasts like he hadn’t seen a big breasted demon female before.
Looking wasn’t a big issue. Almost every adult demon male did that around her. The gesture he made was another matter. Was he asking her to do the foolish thing Magadha had told her about?
She slapped his hand fiercely. How could a human want to do the mating thing with her? Was he mad or something? “Are you fool? I’m not doing the weird thing you want me to do.”
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“What weird thing?” Noah asked.
Why does he want to hear that?
She blushed for a moment, but the expression on the face of the human told her that he might not know the thing.
“I’ve seen human men and woman. They wrapped their hands in each other’s and then kissed and started removing their clothes. I’m not doing that.” She remembered the sceneorb Magadha had shown her thelast time she had visited Madurai. Magadha always brought back some surprises with her. The sceneorb was the first live education she’d had about the mating thing. When she turned sixteen, her mom had hinted to her about such things, but watching it on the sceneorb, hiding below the sheets in Magadha’s room, had opened her eyes about the world of male and females.
“Wait, I didn’t mean that when I asked for a handshake. Leave it.” He turned away, grinning mischievously.
She ignored the snickering from the foolish demon. “Okay, I trust you for now. I’m Rihala, by the way.”
“So, Rihala what brings you here near the demon town of Sumara?” Noah asked, still looking away.
She paused for a moment. What should I tell him? She couldn’t tell him about her real reasons. No one could know that.
Come on tell him something. What if he is from the Town of Xynnar and a spy for the head demon? Why would a demon roam outside of the town?
For a quest maybe.
She quickly accessed her map and spotted a cave mark.
“I’m here to check on the dungeon. The cave of Xamphala.” She lied.
“Okay.” He paused for a moment, his face turned serious. “We are here for a girl that is suffering from the curse of Sumara. She needs help and I think we can help her by collecting some special herbs.”
High Priest Jethro was right. There was a curse around here. “Oh, is it? How old is she?”
“Four,” Noah sighed, a sound full of sadness.
He was telling the truth.
A four-year-old girl? Didn’t she know about the town? “How in Zedusa did she end up in your cursed town? That’s the town of death for any female. I wouldn’t even tell my enemy to live in that town. Leave now, human, and you may survive to tell your tale next year.”
Something moved along the tree line, and an orc with an arrow in his right eye jumped out of the bushes. The druid. She’d all but forgotten about him.
Her body shuddered. She had to get out of here.
“I have to go. Stay away from that town, human. And sorry for this mess.” She jumped in the air, passing over the orc’s head and running away. She needed to save herself. Let the duo of unusual friends take care of the threat.
7. The fight
The gray-faced orc’s eyes followed her when she jumped above his head, but the duo’s fearful roar attracted the beast’s attraction. Relief ran down her spine when the orc didn’t follow her. Upon landing, she dug into the soft soil and leaped again. Her tail dashed forward, grabbing a nearest tree branch. She used that branch to pull herself farther up.
She glanced back at the fight that had started between the orc and the strange duo. She wiped sweat from her cheeks and turned toward the direction of the original meeting site. She needed to get back her Arrow of Frost.
With her Speedrunner trait, she reached her destination in less than five minutes. The place was a mess. Broken, dried leaves covered the ground. If she hadn’t seen the place before, she would have thought no fight had ever taken place here. It was the mark on the map and the dead goblin’s blood that made the place familiar.
How am I going to find the arrow in this mess?
She started from the tree she’d been sitting on. The quiver had fallen below it. She tried to clear the leaves from around the spot, but there was too much of a mess. Even after five minutes of searching, she didn’t find a single arrow.
The area was huge, and searching for an arrow in there was like searching for a specific fish in the whole sea
What should I do? What’s happening with the human? Will he survive?
She was distracted. She had never done something like this before. She had left the duo to clean up her mess.
No, I should go back and aid them.
But I don’t have any arrows. One normal arrow won’t kill the druid.
I just need to help them. The demon looked strong. I should go back and help.
When she was about to go back, a strong current of air passed from the trees, sending a chill across her skin. The current was so strong that it blew the leaves scattered on the ground, exposing some of her arrows, her quiver, and the Arrow of Frost.
She grinned as she stared at the Arrow of Frost. Perhaps it was her decision that made Zedusa send her aid. Yes, she was going back to help the duo.
She grabbed everything and ran back.
When she got there, the duo was still in action. The demon was fighting with the orc in melee range, and the human was trying to hit the orc with his poison orb.
She dropped next to the human. “Let me join your party, and we’ll finish off this brute once and for all.”
He didn’t reply right away. He locked his eyes with hers, but then after a couple of seconds he sent a party invitation.
Rihala accepted it. For the first time, she saw the demon’s stats. His health points were already halved and reducing rapidly. She needed to use her Ice Shot.
She drew an arrow and started imbuing it with her mana.
Thankfully, the demon was sent flying away by an orc’s club attack. Once her ten second timer finished, she released her Ice Shot. The arrow hit the orc at the base of his neck, and the ice spread across his shoulder.
A couple of poison orbs hit the monster a second later. Noah had cleverly timed his spell.
You have damaged the orc for 150 damage (Critical Hit).
A notification popped up as she watched the orc’s life lowering to the 400 mark.
“That was nice. Ready to pull another one?” Noah asked, beaming at her. But his smile vanished as soon as the orc activated his trump card skill, recharge. It was a native ability for all high-level monsters; it allowed them to recharge a portion of their life back.
“What was that?” Noah yelled in frustration.
The orc once again engaged the demon in a fierce battle.
“Do you have anything to put him down?” Noah asked. Worry shown in his eyes.
His worry surprised Rihala. The human cared for the demon.
She had something, but it was too dangerous to shoot when his demon friend was in close battle with the orc.
“I have something that will crit him for three times the damage, but I need a clear shot. Right now, I may hit your demon friend and kill him instead.”
“The orc, will he recharge his life again?”
Rihala knew about it. Her mom had once given her general information about the monsters. “No, the toughness title only allows one recharge per day.”
Rihala’s eyes jumped back to the battle scene. Something had changed in the demon. He’d activated something with a roar, and his speed increased. He was losing ground a moment before, but with the new skill, he could easily hold his own against the orc.
“I have an idea. Let me separate him from the orc. Shoot your special spell even if I’m in range. Worst case, I’ll die with the orc, but I’ll come back,” Noah said, waiting for her answer.
Her body shivered. The human was ready to die for his friend. Even if he would come back, death was a sacrifice no one would make eagerly. And for another race, no less. Why would he do that?
She glanced at the orc and the demon. The demon was slowly losing his life, and the orc still had plenty of it.
Noah sped off as soon as she nodded. In seconds, he was behind the orc.
She drew her Arrow of Frost and started imbuing it with her mana.
The orc almost hit Noah with his club, but the human was clever. He used the wound she had put in the orc’s gut and thrust his dagger inside the wound.
Though clever, Noah was losing
the fight. He couldn’t separate the demon yet, and the ten second timer of her spell was about to finish. She couldn’t hold it back anymore.
But Noah did something that pissed off the orc. The orc turned to the human, grabbed his neck and raised him in the air. He was going to crush him with his brute force.
At least the demon looked at Rihala and jumped away.
“Rihala, now!” Noah shouted.
Rihala loosed the arrow. It sang through the air, but the human was still in the orc’s hand. He was going to die, either by the orc’s grip or her arrow.
She closed her eyes, as she couldn’t bear to see him die.
When the loud boom settled, she opened her eyes again. Noah lay on the ground far away from the orc’s dead body. He was alive, but hanging to life by a small thread.
She was happy at the end, not because druid was dead, but because the human was alive.
8. Good Bye
Congratulations: You have killed the druid. Experience gained 800.
Congratulations: You have gained +1 to intelligence and +1 to dexterity.
Rihala looked at the notifications in confusion. Experience gain was fine, but the bonus stat? Deities never rewarded anyone with a bonus stat. That had never happened before. Not that she was unhappy. Yet…
A white light of level up washed over her.
Congratulations: You have reached level 6 in BlackFlame. You gain one skill point and 3 stat points to distribute.
The deities had once again smiled upon her. The whole battle had proved useful for her. She had gained a much desired level up.
She turned her attention to the battle scene. The demon was on his knees, panting and puffing, holding himself upright with the help of his ax. She glanced at the human, who lay on his back, facing the sky. She tilted her head to look at the orc. His body was shattered into pieces. The Arrow of Frost had done huge damage and killed him.
