Chapter 5: THE FIRST MEETING

 Miriam returned to the place to help Mikael. Her guilt and conscience were saying that she must help him.

She knew that the unknown man was not a good person, she saw that the unknown man did nothing while Mikael was fighting the hobgoblin.

" He just watched Mikael bleeding when he fought. He is a bad person."

She ran so that she could help him. When she was near the cave, she found the two.

" W-what are you doing!? Get away from Mikael now!"

She pointed her metal sword to Kyle. Her hands were shaking because this was her first time pointing a weapon at a person.

"... And what do we have here. I can't believe you're here, you know this person?"

" What did you do to him!? "

Kyle took a step to help Michael, he opened the potion and put it into his mouth.

" Don't touch him!"

Miriam thought that perhaps he gave him something bad.

" Relax, don't worry. What I give him is a healing potion. See, he's starting to heal"

 Mikael's body stopped bleeding.   His wounds were closing. Miriam's eyes widened when she found that the man was not lying.

"... B- but you didn't help him! I saw you!"

Miriam was still suspicious about the unknown man.

" Oh, you're talking about why I only watched him?  What reason do I have to help him? If I fight that hobgoblin I'll die right away... Still, I helped him drink the potion. I'm not a bad guy.  "

The man justified himself, he didn't have any intention of killing Mikael. After all, he could use him.

" Ku... Thank you very much. Thanks for helping him." 

Miriam didn't have the right to argue. She was the first to run away when the raid became dangerous. She dropped her weapon and sighed with guilt.

" You are welcome, your name?"

" Miriam, Miriam Poloma"

Kyle smirked and said his greetings.  He extends his hand to present a handshake.

"I'm Kyle,  nice to meet you, Miriam."

Miriam was hesitant but she decided to take his hand.

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I opened my eyes and saw that I'm in a place that I didn't know... Again.

" So you're awake now."

I saw a man tending a fire. He was throwing woods to light it up... Dude, who are you?

"Thank God you're alive. I thought you would die, it's a blessing you're recovering from the blood loss"

I heard a female voice.

" Miriam? I'm happy that you're alive too... By the way... Where am I?"

Miriam looked guilty but I couldn't judge her. She did it to keep herself alive.  If I were in her position,  I'll choose to escape as well. 

"We are in the goblin's cave, the monsters are already dead so you don't need to think about that. We're gonna use this as our shelter... for now. "

Miriam told me, she felt like it was her job to help me.

Anyway, I wanted to ask this question since I'm curious. The image of the ugly big goblin entered my head.

"... The hobgoblin... What happened to that monster? "

I decided to ask her. Miriam gasped when she heard my question. Why is there something bad about what I said?

" Mikael, could it be that you don't remember? You-"

" You killed the hobgoblin. You smash and stab its eye."

 The man who's currently unknown joined our conversation. I glanced at him and listened.

" By the way I am Kyle. I saw you fighting that hobgoblin. After you defeated it, I helped you drink the healing potion that dropped out of its body."

Oh, I see. The hobgoblin is dead, I killed it.....!!!

What!?

"Kuku, you look surprised, you heard it right, you kill that hobgoblin by yourself"

Tha man said, assuring me of the conquest that I don't remember.

" How?"

" Look at your status, I'm sure you'll find the answer"

I decided to follow his instruction, I opened my status and realized that I gain a new Skill... Oh damn. 

[ Mikael Tibano]

[LEVEL 7]

[ SKILL:]

[SHOCK LEVEL 2]

[ 1. SHOCK:  A PALM THAN CAN EMIT 150 mA ]

[2. ELECTRIC STRENGTH:

INCREASE YOUR SPEED AND STRENGTH BY CONSUMING MANA]

My Shock Skill has been stronger and I gain another Skill. This is great! Now I could level up faster!

I tried to stand up, but...

" Kuck, gah!"

I yelled a painful huffed.

My body ached, my insides were burning. I couldn't move... I tried to stand, but my own body was not listening.

" Do not push yourself, you lost a great amount of blood. You need to rest."

Miriam warned me. I knew that my body needed time to heal, but I must defeat monsters. My family is waiting for me.

"I need to-"

" It's too late."

Kyle answered and tossed another wood on the fire. The fire enlarged and our shadows wandered on the ground.

" There are no monsters anymore, they're already dead.  And in your current situation, you don't have the strength to kill even an insect. Just lie there and rest."

The man said the truest yet painful words that I didn't want to hear.

".... But"

" It's okay, everything's gonna be alright, do not lose hope. I got a feeling that we can return to Earth in a different way."

The man, no, Kyle said something that caught my ears.

" Really? " 

Miriam questioned him.

" I'm not sure, but I always believe in my intuition. "

As if. 

" Haha. You're saying that we can escape this hell even if we don't reach level 10, is that so? Intuition? Do you think your intuition can do anything? What will you do if your intuition is wrong, huh Mr. Kyle? "

I asked him with a scoff, I'm frustrated because of the situation and I couldn't control my emotions or my actions.

"... I'm sure. You can return to your home."

Damn. I don't know anymore. If what he said is right. If there really is another way... Then I need to rest. I can't do anything right now, I can't force this battered body to hunt monsters. It's a suicide. I lied my body on the cold ground, it's fortunate that there is a fire.

" Kyle is right, I use my Clairvoyance to search any monsters within a 75-meter radius... I found nothing."

" Is that so. I'm sorry Miriam, I just wanna escape this place and return to my family. I'm really sorry. "

They were right and I needed to say...

" Thank you, I know that it's dangerous, but you return again to save me. Thank you very much, Miriam."

"... No, I did nothing."

"  Kyle, right? Thank you for saving me. I don't know what happened when I'm unconscious, but I'm sure that you helped me too. Thanks"

"You're welcome."

After I had finished saying my gratitude, my body became heavy. I'm tired, I closed my eyes and sleep.

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I think I slept for around 7 hours. When I woke up I found Miriam sleeping beside me. The other one, Kyle, was not in the vicinity. He was nowhere to be found.

I tried to stand up. If you compare my present health to yesterday's, then I'm better now. That healing potion saved my ass.

" Your body is now healed and you have spent enough time to rest, that's good. This event will end around an hour I think. "

Kyle entered the cave and told important info. He was carrying fruits for us to eat. 

" Wake Miriam up, we need to replenish our lost energy."

" Okay. Thanks again."

I wake her up, she yawned, touched, and rubbed her back. It seemed that she was not accustomed to sleeping on the ground, well me too. After tidying ourselves, we eat all of the fruits. My stomach bulged in fullness.

"  We didn't reach level 10 and the monsters are already extinct in this district."

Yes, looks like I'll stay here for a long time huh.

" I'm just thinking, why don't we form a team? I believe the upcoming event will be  harder, we need to help each other."

I peeked at Kyle, now that I think about it. He had deepness in his eyes. I couldn't read his emotion, he was devoid of it. I felt like he didn't see us as a human...

"My apologies, but I will decline your offer." 

I'm shocked when Miriam declined,  looked like she didn't trust Kyle even though they have spent more time when I was asleep.

" I believe you are not a trustworthy man and you're a bad guy. The only reason I've stayed was that I'm afraid that you'll hurt Mikael when I'm gone."

Oh, thank you Miriam, I'm touched by what you have said. I don't know anything about you, but I knew you're an angel. From now on I'll treat you as a friend.

" Kuku. I guess I don't have talent in acting, huh. "

Kyle just laughed and looked at us. He touched his stomach because of laughing too much.  

" Kukuhahaha. What are you talking about!? Kukuku you think I helped you out of kindness? Then you're wrong, if you don't want to, then don't but... I can't promise you'll live."

Kyle stated some disturbing words and I'm not sure about what is going on.

" You?" 

I asked.

" If I can't use you, then I will just kill all of you here." 

Kyle took a gun out and pointed it towards us.