We had been walking for quite some time, and I had a chance to take my courage to talk with Lia.

"So, about being a priestess thing, do you want that, or your family chooses it for you?" I tried to ask with a friendly voice.

"Well," She looks like she is thinking. "People in the temple told me that my mother died in childbirth, and my father died in a battle against orc armies, so I've been raised in a temple and didn't have much chance to choose a profession, but I am happy with what I have."

"Oh." I looked to the ground with the shame of making her remember the death of her parents. "Sorry."

She made a bitter laugh. "There is nothing to be sorry about, it is life, and creatures die, monsters die, humans die, everyone dies at one day, and what is important is having a life you can be proud of when that moment comes, for me that's the only truth."

What a mindset, entirely different than one I gained through my safe and (now seemingly) effortless lifestyle. Lia looks like someone of my age, sixteen to be exact, and I suppose she is already over not having parents and matured enough. Damn, that makes me feel bad for being such a drag for my parents. At least they don't need to take care of me now.

"So, being a priestess, do you get special treatment from the people, like they act with respect and do their best to give their most pleasant hospitality."

She laughed, now with a less bitter tone. "No, no. I am not that high-ranking person, but yes, people are nice to me."

I laughed too, perhaps because of relaxation came from her now sweeter voice. "So, what are you doing. Of course, in your job. For example, do you collect offerings and help people pray."

She looked to the sky. "Well, as a priestess of Goddes of Light, my main job is to spread her words and blessings, or in this case, healing magic and quotes from our holy book. To do that, I wander through nearby villages and help diseased and hurt to spread her Divineneses grace."

I am once again ashamed of myself, but is it really my bad that I haven't chosen a profession and given my life to that. Of course, what she does sounds very noble, and if that's the truth and I am not surprised why Lia is so friendly to me, but if situations were different, could I be like her? Matured and faced the hardness of life.

"Hey! We arrived." Lia patted my back.

We arrived at our destination, Lia's house. A small but nicely made hut with a plant garden around. The main building seems to be made out of wood and stone bricks and has several windows with decorated curtains.

"I am surprised. This house looks really nice, but isn't it too stranded? I cannot see any other human settlement nearby." And this only raises my anxiety. I readen countless novels with a good character hurting the main character in a stranded place. Hopefully, Lia doesn't end up being one of those characters.

I suddenly felt her arm pulling me back.

"Something's wrong," Lia said with an anxious voice. "I don't know, but something is wrong. Please stand here. I will check it."

I nodded, and she began walking toward the house. Hopefully, nothing comes out of it, I am still severely wounded, and if anything hurts Lia, it probably could hurt me too, but that's not the only thing I am worried about right now.

"Help!" I heard Lia's terrified scream the moment she entered her house.

But what caused it. A monster, a bandit. What in the world might cause her to scream like that. "Lia! What happened." I shouted.

But she didn't answer.

"Lia!" I shouted again. She didn't answer again.

Balls of sweat began dripping from my face, my eyes getting itchy. Something's wrong. I can feel it too. What just happened, I don't know, but it is not well new.

Suddenly, Lia flew out of the hut's door and fell to the ground, and right after her, a big humanoid beast, a mix of human and wolf with light gray fur, exited. The beast has an ax in his hand and licks his lips as it looks toward Lia.

What should I do? What should I do! No! What can I even do? I don't have any weapons. Can I escape? Would it be able to catch me? But what would even happen if I had something to attack? I never cut meat to cook in my life, let alone kill something.

I can only think and think, but I cannot even think of anything helpful. Monster is getting closer to Lia, and I cannot even run like a coward, let alone help her.

"Run!" Lia screamed while being grabbed from the neck by the beast.

Beast slowly moves its ax's edge towards Lia's face, carefully to avoid cutting her skin with a sadistic smile on its face.

I began crying for help. "Help, someone, please help!" I screamed at the top of my lungs and closed my eyes as I crawled on the floor like the little coward I am.

Summon Help
Y/N

Suddenly the front of the emptiness of my closed eyes, the screen, similar to the ones I used to see in EIREN ONLINE, appeared.

"Yes!" I shout. "YES, YES, YES!"

Something feels... weird, almost like something, a liquid, was coming out of my body. Perhaps I am bleeding but too scared, even to feel the pain of my opened wound or open my eyes, but that's not the only sound.

The sound of a clump of metal hitting each other while taking shape followed this weird feeling, then a howl from the creature. It was more like a battle cry, then suddenly cling of a drawn sword.

I slowly opened my eyes and saw the beast throwing Lia away and turning towards me. With fear, I tried to push myself to get up but stumbled on myself and fell. Thankfully it wasn't me who the creature was after.

A thing, something like a human skeleton made out of metal with a sword in his hand, suddenly appeared and began charging toward the beast.

Beast raised his ax and blocked the incoming sword. After it, both of them clashed their weapons several more times, but despite the metal thing not taking much damage from the ax, it wasn't fast nor strong enough to damage the beast.

I looked at Lia. She is still on the ground and pretty shocked because of what happened in mere seconds. I hate for not being able to save her, at least whatever this clump of metal is doing, saving us some time.

I tried to get up once more. My bones hurt more than they did when I first fell from the sky, but no, I cannot just wait.

My arms are shaking, but no. I must do something. I must do something.

A rock, there is a rock near me. If I could distract the beast, the metal thing be able to kill it! Yes, I will try that.

I began stumbling towards the rock while watching the battle with one eye. It is going pretty intense. Metal thing is not strong nor fast enough, but takes every hit of the beast and keeps protecting us.

"Just hanging there a little more." I finally grabbed the rock from the ground, but at the same time, the beast finally managed to topple the metal thing and began furiously hitting its head, using the advantage.

"I must sneak next to it and hit it from behind. Yes, that's the plan." I repeated the plan loudly in a mix of feelings, but thankfully, the beast didn't hear it.

One careful step after another, I slowly sneaked to the beast's back and raised the rock for a strike. "Good night." And with all my strength, I slammed the rock's sharp edge towards the beast's head.

A sharp edge pierced through its flesh and hit the bone, and the creature squeaked with pain, then threw me away with a blow from the back of his hand.

I roughly landed on the ground and puked blood.

Beast began growling and looking at me while holding the wound on the back of his head. "You can hold and growl much as you want. You already lost."

Suddenly metal thing leaped towards the beast, pierced its eye with its sword, then slashed its throat.

I smiled as a river of blood began coming out of the dying beast. "Thankfully, this is over." I looked toward Lia. She is finally back to herself and running towards me. "Thankfully, you are doing okay too."

Lia hugged me with a river of tears on her face. "Why did you even risk yourself." Then slowly laid me on the ground and began using her magic.

"Seriously, please don't do something so stupid and dangerous." Her voice was sad, but there were crumbles of happiness in it.

"Take it as a thank you for healing me." I coughed some blood to the ground.

"Shh!" Lia began pressing towards my throat and using her magic. "Keep your strength to yourself, and let me heal you.

"Yeah, just let me sleep for five minutes, okay." I closed my eyes lids and began slowly falling into sleep, but I heard one sentence right before dream world entirely captured my mind.

"Please just be sure to get up again."

***

Birds are singing, beams of sunlight are coming from the window, they warm my body, but where I am. "Ugh." I began caressing my eyelids. "Where I am."

"On my bed! And don't push yourself too hard." That's Lia's voice, gentle as before. "I barely managed to save you. Please, keep on doing nothing."

My head is killing me, and the pain in my chest is hurting as always. I guess it won't hurt to listen to her advice for now.

Lia began moving towards me with a bowl in her hand, then sat on a chair next to the bed. "My magic, despite being a reflection of her Divinenes's power, is not strong enough, so times like that require traditional medicine." She began applying a mix from the bowl to my chest.

The mix began burning with a green light when it made contact with my skin, but even though I excepted it to hurt me, my pain was gone in minutes.

"What did you use in my chest?" I asked Lia.

"Mix of herbs. A recipe I learned from one of the higher ranking priestesses when I was living in the temple." Even though answering my question, she kept applying the mix with the same precision.

"Thank you."

Lia smiled. "No needs to thank. You saved me from that beast. Take it as a payback."

"But it was you who saved me first."

"Well, I was simply doing my job, but you had no obligation to risk your life for me."

I tried to open my mouth once more, but she stopped me from talking with her finger. "Now, if you feel better, can you come with me for a second." Lia got up from the chair and began moving outside.

I nodded with my hand and pushed myself out of bed. It was surprisingly easy to do. Then followed Lia outside.

"What is this thing." Lia pointed to the metal thing. "It is standing there for two days without moving."

"Two days?" I stuttered. "I've been sleeping for two days!"

"Well, I am no Arch-Priestess. My magic is weak compared to many, and your wounds were vital. It took me that long, but that shouldn't be your concern. I have enough supplies and time to treat you."

I shook her hand as a sign of gratitude and began looking at the metal thing. Now looking, it resembles an exoskeleton.

Activate Appraisal

Y/N

The same screen from before appeared. Now my weeb instincts are telling me I have some game-like UI I can use to my advantage, and this metal thing is one of my abilities.

"Yes."

And with my command, a name bar appeared on top of the metal thing. "Bronz Recruit."

"So, Lia, you said I was from another world. Do people from other worlds have powers like your magic?"

She began thinking. "Well, I never saw one before, except you, but in the temple, they taught us how to sense one, and certain legends of them, and according to those, a hero from another world will have blessings of gods, that's also how we sense other worlders, by the touch of divines. So this metal thing is probably yours."

"Great." I grinned. "Then it means I am a summoner, huh? I would much prefer a more powerful class, but if this thing can keep toe to toe with that." I turned towards Lia. "I will be experimenting a little. You can go back to your daily chores."

Lia nodded. "I am glad you are back to your health but don't push yourself too hard."

I raised my thumb. "I won't."