Arc | Chapter. 5: First Contact

Chapter. 5: First Contact

I arrived in an instant expecting to see people being attacked by monsters but what greeted me was quite the opposite to my expectations. Burning carriages in the middle of a road and a raging battle. One in which people were killing each other…

I paused at the edge of the forest staring at the road.

“This is not what I expected…”

With some hesitation, I stepped forward as the last of the guards died, there was someone still alive in the fire.

* * * * *

Ceylon was going to die.

Everything had gone wrong. It was a land of death. Dismembered bodies littered the ground. Incandescent fires crackled, ash rained, all accompanied by the sounds of howling laughter. She was certain that none of her guards remained alive, and all because they had been attacked.

“Little noble, you cannot hide forever,” a cackling voice called.

And another one soon joined. “The faster we find you, the sooner this will be over.”

Ceylon trembled, she was hiding under the ruins of the carriage that transported her. She could hear its wood breaking down and acting as fuel for the fires, soon it too would be burned to cinders. And then, everything would be lost.

She had been sent on a journey to save her nobility, all she had to do was seek aid from the Hermit, and even though she expected to run into monsters, especially in such a dangerous forest, she didn’t expect for mercenaries to be sent after her life.

Ceylon gritted her teeth as another part of the carriage collapsed, the carbonized wood falling apart.

She had been so close to reaching her destination, but her convoy had been attacked, and now… She looked forward, at the desolation in front of her, at the dozen moving shadows, and at the corpses of her guards.

In the end not only had she failed in her duty, but also the legacy of her family would be lost.

And she closed her eyes.

There was nothing that could stop the downfall of her house and much less her death. In the end, she just waited for the hired mercenaries to finish the assassination.

Everything was over.

A cacophony of footsteps resounded, an asymmetric symphony that slowly but surely drew closer. It was the toll of the bells of fate. She tightened her fists as she gritted her teeth, this was it. And soon, the footfalls arrived.

“Guys, I found her!” a man called in front of her.

Ceylon shook. She didn’t want to die. She didn’t want to die.

“Wait.” There was a silence. “Who the fuck are you?”

There was someone else…? Ceylon’s eyes snapped open as she saw the man standing a few meters in front of her looking in her direction, and standing before her was a stranger. A young woman with white hair and a strange outfit, akin to a leather jacket lined with fur. She had no weapons, nothing at all.

What was she doing here?

Ceylon wanted to scream to tell her to run, but before she could do that more mercenaries arrived, and she just knew it was too late. The woman too would die, and join her in her tragic fate. Ceylon’s ears buzzed as the fire crackled in the background.

“I’m Arc,” the woman said casually. “I don’t like senseless slaughter, sooo… step away?”

“Step away you say?” The mercenary man asked, laughing, other footsteps were rapidly approaching. “Is that some sort of threat girl? Actions speak louder than words!”

And with those words, the mercenary rushed brandishing his sword. Ceylon couldn’t bear to watch a bystander be slaughtered just like that, she closed her eyes and heard the swooshing of empty air.

She looked once more only to see Arc standing next to the mercenary with a small frown.

“You’re acting like a senseless monster right now, do that again and I’ll kill you.”

Ceylon shivered hearing her voice, but the mercenary was unfazed as he turned and swiped. He missed as the stranger frowned.

“You’re right, actions speak louder than words.”

The mercenary attacked once more and she punched⁠— a shrill cacophony of metal sounds broke through the air.

What⁠?

Ceylon stared wide eyed. Sword fragments flew through the air, the gloved fist of the girl loomed in the air, covered by a thin layer of ice.

What had… happened? Why had the sword shattered? Why was there ice? Before Ceylon could make sense of anything, the young woman flicked her fingers and ice burst around the man, turning him into an ice sculpture

Just like that, one of the elite mercenaries that had killed multiple of her guards had died.

“Well that’s done… why did he keep attacking?” Arc sighed. “As for the others…”

Ceylon tried to work her jaw, she didn’t understand what happened. But before Ceylon could think of anything more, the rest of the mercenaries arrived. Almost a dozen of them bared their weapons as they warily looked at the strangely dressed stranger.

Arc herself took in the sight, Ceylon expected her to be wary, to run, but instead she shook her head.

“You guys should back off if you don’t want to end like your buddy there. You all are pretty weak after all.”

She gestured towards the frozen man. Ceylon was amazed, but she frowned focusing on the last thing Arc said. Weak? The mercenaries weren’t anything but that. All of her guards had died to them! Calling them weak was… She gritted her teeth.

However, before anyone could react a sword appeared within Arc’s hand, it was white with a blue sheen to it, it looked like a solid object almost, one with a wisping mist. Arc regarded the mercenary group that stood on edge.

“Not going to back off?” She asked.

And at that moment all of the mercenaries charged at her without hesitation as she shook her head.

“Well since you are all the bad guys, I suppose it’s okay.”

“What are you⁠—”

And the white haired woman vanished. Ceylon blinked before she saw flashes of light around the bandits, and within the next second she reappeared. She couldn’t begin to understand what happened. But all of them looked unwell. However, one of the mercenaries growled.

“You dare to prank me, I will kill youaAgh!” The man screamed as icicles of ice exploded from within his body.

Before the other mercenaries could move, ice burst from their bodies as Ceylon simply stared wide-eyed. In a single second, everyone, all the elite mercenaries had died. The same mercenaries that had killed her guards had died at the hands of a single person.

Ceylon looked towards the young woman, Arc. She turned away from the bandits as Ceylon finally got to see her face for the first time and she paused. She looked young. How could someone so young be so powerful, and not hesitate to kill… It was clear to her that Arc was strange and not in a good way.

Ceylon scurried even more into her hiding spot.

She was trouble.

It was best for Ceylon to hide and wait for the woman to leave.

She closed her eyes, praying that she wouldn’t be found.

And after a few moments she let out a deep breath as she felt a cold breeze was over here. The woman had left. Ceylon opponed her eyes only to see Arc’s face right in front of her.

“Are you alright?”

Ceylon yelped.

* * * * *

The blonde girl drew back with a shrill shriek as she cried.

“Please don’t kill me!”

“Kill you?” I paused for a moment. “Why?”

I then recalled the bandits I had just killed. If I was honest, I didn’t know how I felt about it. I certainly wouldn't kill someone innocent, but in my mind the people I killed were no different from monsters considering their actions and their resolve to attack me. But perhaps for the girl in front of me that wasn’t the case. Perhaps, I had just slaughtered them senselessly like a monster even though I had done it to save her.

“I won’t kill you,” I reassured her. “Sorry if I’m awkward, it’s just I haven’t talked to anyone in a long time.” I awkwardly laughed unsure of what to say. “I just wanted to save you.”

My words seemed to put her at ease for a few moments as she asked hesitantly. “But where did you come from?”

I scratched my head. “The forest. And before that… well it’s complicated.”

She paused. “The forest… as in: this forest? The Black Forest?”

“Yeah, I guess? Seemed kinda nice to me.”

I didn’t really know what to say. I was happy enough that I could actually talk to people, but now the girl I was talking to seemed to be thinking deeply about my words, and I found it slightly unnerving. It was my first real conversation after all.

After a second, she finally spoke.

“Right…” With a slow nod she continued. “I suppose you just didn’t run into anything dangerous.”

“Yeah, nothing was particularly dangerous that I saw,” I agreed immediately. “Ignoring that, we should probably leave.”

I stood up gesturing to the burning wreckage and extended my hand towards the person I had just saved. She grabbed it and quickly stood up before massaging her palm.

“You are very cold…” she said oddly.

There was a brief pause before I decided to ignore what she just said. Instead taking in her full appearance; stylized now soot covered blonde hair, and piercing blue eyes, a frilled dress that was torn to shreds.

I raised my brow. “Are you like a noble?”

She nodded before bowing lightly. “I am Ceylon Arlow, thank you for saving my life.”

“Right, you’re welcome.”

Ceylon looked at our surroundings for a moment, and she quickly realized that all the fire in my vicinity had been extinguished even though the flames on our surroundings were quickly spreading, then she looked behind me at the ice statues.

“You’re Arc right?” I nodded as she continued. “What… Tier are you?”

There was a pause. “You can’t see?”

“I do not have the [Appraisal] skill, it’s quite rare after all.” She shook her head, she seemed rather collected. “Hence I ask.”

“I am…” I trailed off.

Was SS Tier normal? Definitely not.

“It’s a secret.” I shook my head. “Why do you want to know?”

“I understand it’s rude,” Ceylon quickly replied, a hint of hurry in her voice. “I was wondering⁠—” and she paused. “No, I cannot drag a stranger into this. Thank you for saving me.”

With those words, she began to walk away, clearly not intending for me to follow. Though as far as I could tell we were kind of in the middle of nowhere and admittedly I didn’t want to bid farewell so fast. So…

“I can escort you to the nearest town,” I called.

The blonde girl⁠— Ceylon paused. Her dress was torn and I could even see blood trailing down one of her legs. She shook for a moment before she turned to look at me with a wry smile.

“I’d appreciate that.”

I nodded and followed after her.

◇ ◇ ◇

About five minutes into our journey Ceylon excused herself to gather some berries. Though, I could tell she just wanted some alone time, so I let her be as she went into the forest.

* * * * *

Ceylon stepped into the forest as she made sure she wasn’t being followed by Arc, her newfound temporary escort. Lots of things flashed in her mind, the trip here, the death of her guards and the instant freezing of the mercenaries.

Slowly, she sat down on the grass as she tried to keep the little dignity she had left. Before she started sobbing.

She had lost everything. All of the guards of her house had died right then and there. She was on an important mission to save her nobility and family, and now. Everything was gone. And soon, her life would be forfeit too.

Arc, a mysterious stranger had saved her. Ceylon didn’t know if to trust the eccentric young woman, she was weird and had the social skills of a stick, but out of respect and gratitude she kept all of the questions to herself. She was grateful enough that someone had decided to save her, but…

What now?

She had to continue in her journey, but how? She had no money to hire Arc, let alone hire anyone to escort her. Did she have to go see the Hermit alone? The path ahead was still filled with perils, and the Black Forest was dangerous enough, even if she left it with Arc’s help, what came after?

Nothing.

She had nothing but her life and the resolution to carry forward, but everything felt so helpless. Ceylon knew that in just a few minutes she would pick herself up and act as if nothing happened, but right now, she cried and sobbed as quietly as she could, trying to let it all out.

“This is helpeless…”

Minutes passed as she continued to cry, until finally she couldn’t anymore. Ceylon stood up. Her mind had thought about a lot of things, and even after everything, she didn’t want to ask for Arc’s help.

She had just been saved by her, and Ceylon was sure the young woman had her own agenda. In the end, even if Arc was the key to her conundrum, she didn’t want to drag her into it. Perhaps it was stupid, but it was her resolution.

This was her family’s problem, and she would resolve it through her own means.

Ceylon took a deep breath and got ready to leave, and at that moment she heard a rustle come from the bushes. She turned with a frown.

Was Arc spying on her⁠?

But instead she paused as she saw eight red beady eyes staring back at her.

[Lesser Imera Spider. Tier: C]

Ceylon screamed and the monster pounced.

She was going to die⁠—

And at that moment, Ceylon felt a gust of wind and heard a dying shriek as the spider exploded within her vision. She had briefly seen the ice icycle fly through the air, but she just knew that she had been saved once more.

She turned to look at her savior, Arc, who walked out of the bushes. And before Arc could say anything, she spoke up in a cry.

“Please help me!” And immediately, Ceylon covered her mouth as a few tears streamed down her face.

What had she just said…?

It was wrong to ask for Arc’s help. She couldn’t⁠— she was clearly abusing from a stranger’s kindness. And it was so… wrong! Ceylon slowly lifted her gaze expecting to see a frown, something to indicate the woman before her was displeased, but instead she got a smile and a counteroffer.

“Sure, but only if you guide me in this world.”

And Ceylon paused.

A/N: And that's the first 5 chapters! Be sure to let me know what you think so far!