In the forest a few minutes earlier. . .

 

*Panting* “Huh,  huh, that should hopefully be enough space between me and my pursuers,” the girl said out of breath. 

 

 I am far away from the capital and more importantly from the central Church of Luchira. My mana supplies are quite low as I accelerated out of the capital using [Special Skill: Advanced Agility] which increased my running and jumping abilities as long as I kept the ability active and using mana. My mana supplies were on the higher end of the scale so I could keep running for longer compared to those after me.

 

“I have created a gap between us but they will probably send word to other groups to come after me, after all, I am most definitely wanted at the stake by King Egilion. That sly bastard of a King is trying to reform the church the way he wants it. I was the only one who stood against his reformations as the rest gave in,” she lamented, “In the end, it was Chancellor Zudah who I fought against, and lost utterly.” 

 

The girl clenched her fists and looked into the sky. The wind swayed her long hair gently as she gazed upwards. 

 

“If what Chancellor Zudah said is true then. . .” 

 

*Explosion heard off in the distance*

 

“An explosion? All the way out here?!” the girl exclaimed as she jumped back from the shock and terror that the sound of the random explosion. 

 

The smoke started to rise from the scene of the explosion into the atmosphere above. Based on my current estimates I would guess that it might take me 4 minutes to run over there at top speed. If I use [Special Skill: Advanced Agility] I could be there in a single minute top.

 

“Do I investigate the cause of that explosion or leave it be? What if it's a trap by the church or kingdom? What if it's a group of monsters? I could very easily use this as a distraction towards my pursuers if they haven’t backed off tailing me. If I go investigate and my estimates about their distance from me are wrong, I very well could die,” the girl said while biting her lip, “But what if it is a person who needs healing or saving? I could be letting them die by not going to investigate the scene. As a head disciple of Lady Lu. . . wait, can I really call myself that anymore?

 

I stand there and contemplate the choices that I have in front of me right now. I can go and investigate the explosion or use it as a distraction and leave. The biggest factor I should use for this decision is my mana levels. If my mana is too low and it is a trap then I will need to use it to fight or flee from the area. So I decide that is where I will start.

 

“ Hmm, I would probably estimate I am at quarter tank for mana counts.”

 

My mana does regenerate rather quickly with another of my skills [Special Skill: Hasty Mana Recovery] which does exactly as the name implies. While the skill is relatively common, most people have it as a [normal skill] as it's easy to learn but hard to master. If I use [Special Skill: Advanced Agility] to get to the scene faster I will probably be at around 15% tank considering the distance. 

 

“Aghhh, what to do, what to do? Think Lumina! Think!”

 

I continued pondering in thought for another minute as I weighed out my options a tad more. But I was wasting time, my pursuers would be on my tail any minute now I would guess considering my decently long break. I have not heard any other noise besides the initial explosion from that direction which is beginning to worry.

 

*The sounds of the forest shaking were in the background*

 

“Well this makes my decision easier, I should probably run as they are most likely only a minute or so behind me. But, my heart won’t let me just run when I could be leaving an ally behind to die. As the head of The Church of Luchira (former), I can’t just let a person die when I could have saved them. Well, actually, I could care less now. I have lost most of my faith in the Church of Luchira. And because of this, I’m going to just run and use this as a distraction to leave.”

 

I made my decision to run as it just seemed like the smartest decision to make in this situation. I just need to push on and accept the fact that whatever caused that explosion is probably a trap. 

 

“ LUMINAAAA!!! Seriously think you can outrun us forever?” a man yelled as he came to a stop in front of Lumina. 

 

It was the church’s pursuers. They came a lot sooner than I had expected.

 

“Tch, you are back already. No matter, I have recharged enough mana to escape you all again.”

 

“HOW NAIVE LUMINA! You really think I wasn’t prepared? We have surrounded you, me, and my 6 men. You stand no chance against me now!” 

 

Men appeared from the shadows of the forest and into the light. This is definitely not a fake-out situation as all the men he spoke of are in my view atm.

“ Ughhh, just give it up already. The church may be after me but they will need a lot stronger warriors if they are ever to touch me,” Lumina remarked with a kawaii pouty face, “And assuming the knowledge I have, you really might want to take my life.”

 

“ YOU LITTLE. . . MEN, GET HER!”

 

I’m 100% sure he was going to add some other words into that sentence, but I have already taken off backward. The man in that direction was looking straight at me with a serious intent to kill me. I just look him in the eyes as I’m coming towards him. 

 

“I’M GONNA KILL YOU!” the man shouts as he thrusts his axe at me.

 

“I can’t believe the church would resort to such bandits as you all, they really must not care too much for me, or I would have gotten tougher opponents.”

 

I step to the side of his attack which makes a loud impact on the ground and keep running. I activate [Special Skill: Advanced Agility] and get out of that situation.

 

“I wasn’t expecting the enemy to have surrounded me so quickly. Good thing they are just church grunts or I would most likely be dead now.”

 

I run with all my speed through the underbrush of the forest away from those pursuers. The lush forest then suddenly opened up into an open field of grass. I look ahead of me and see smoke rising into the air and a fire on the ground. The thing on the ground seems to resemble an Irewolf but it is hard to tell as it is burning to a crisp. I then look over and on the ground see a person lying on the ground. 

 

“ So it was a person who caused this explosion,” I remarked while running towards the body, then I saw it.

 

I jumped backward at first sight of the grotesque-looking person with a quiet squeak from my mouth. The person was bleeding out a river and it looks like he lost his left arm presumably from the last battle. The whole area next to his body was just a lake of blood and it was impossible for me to tell if he was dead or alive. 

 

“ I can either just ignore this situation and keep running, or try to save this person.”

 

I know the church’s people are on my tail but maybe I can use this fire as a distraction and go hide with this body. They should go right by thinking I kept running as the forest would easily hide my presence. If this strategy fails then I will most likely die before I can accomplish anything. But something is telling me to try and rescue him, it's a voice in my head coming from some girl telling me to save him. I could easily be imagining things here but I do believe this is my best course of action now. 

 

I sprint directly towards the body and grab it. I put it on my back and take off into the forest at top speed. I continuously look around for a good place to hide so I can closer examine this body and determine if I can heal it. I heard the forest rustling from running, it was them, they were close to me. If I was going to hide then it better be fast. I frantically look around. 

 

“Where to hide, where to hide?!” I shout frantically hoping I would not be heard.

 

My muscles are twitching from the anxiety and it's compounded with the load on my back getting heavier each second. Then I look to the right and see the perfect spot to tuck and cover. It is under this huge rock that has an overgrowth of vines coming down from a tree behind it. While it is not perfect, assuming that the church is running quickly they should hopefully not notice me underneath the rock behind the vines. 

 

“ It will have to work, I guess,” I say as I take cover underneath the rock with the person on my back. 

 

It only takes a few seconds of hiding before I hear the pursuers completely pass by me unaware of my presence. 

 

“Wheuh,“ I say while breathing a sigh of relief knowing that I had escaped the church. 

 

I take the body off my back and sit its head on my thighs as I sit down. I mean, he is most likely dead so there is nothing to be embarrassed about. Let the dead have peace. 

 

I examine the body deeply before deciding if I should waste mana in an attempt to heal him. He was still bleeding so the least I could do was stop the bleeding.

 

“[Special Skill: Advanced Healing]!” I yelled while pouring mana into my hands and outwards to the person.

 

The body was a young man with a youthful appearance yet has a distinguished aura around him. His long flowing brown hair is beautifully outlined with his curling strand of emerald green hair that covers part of his right eye. His face is youthful with perfectly proportioned eyes with glowing green color with perfectly round ears and a delicate mouth. His stature is slender with a chest of modest size with a narrow body type. His legs are decently sized with average size feet. He is an average height for a man already at his age, by the looks of appearance and yet he eludes a mysterious aura taller than the world.

 

“ He’s cute or. . . handsome? Ahhhh, I don’t know why but my heart is racing even though he is completely dead,” I pondered this in deep thought.

 

His wound had closed up completely and the blood had stopped. I had at least given him some peace as he passed along into Vulmina. . . or Morgdrasir? I’m still questioning things about what the Chancellor told me. I look back down at the boy’s face and start to think.

“ He looks very similar to. . .”

 

Then his eyes slowly started to open, he was alive somehow. B-b-but wait! He can’t see me in a position like this! This is way too embarrassing with me giving him a lap pillow! I mustered my might and shoved him off my lap.

 

“Owwwww, why did you do that?!” the boy screeched.

 

“EEEK, so sorry! I was just. . .”

 

“It’s fine, thank you for saving my life back there, I thought I was a goner.”

 

“ D-don’t mention it. I would never lift myself down if I let you die. Anyways, what is your name?”

 

“I am Runoa Con- just Runoa is fine. And my savior is?”

 

“Lumina, Lumina Lucia, please just call me Lumina.”

 

“THERE YA BASTARDS ARE!!!” a voice yelled from outside. 

 

“Who, who are they?” Runoa called.

 

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll take care of them,” Lumina looked back with a smile.