Chapter 125 - Saving Damsels In Distress #2

"Ogre..."

It was an inhumanly large and tall figure that would bring fear to anyone who let their eyes wander on it, coupled with ugly yet ominous-looking face with crimson-red eyes that seemed to hold a thirst for blood within it. It also has a strong body that not even a bullet could pierce through its tough skin followed by legs that look exactly like that of a horse, that was exactly what an ogre would look like. If a normal person were to be stared at by such a monster that emitted strong killing intent, at least most of them would faint on the spot while some on the weaker side would die as a result. 

That was how frightening an ogre in front of her really is, it couldn't even be compared to the ogre in the Trial Tower, the pressure between the two was entirely as different as earth to heaven. For the last couple of days, Sheila had been spending more time on power leveling others while only practicing her skill when she got the time. As a result, her level has come to a halt, but her current status was enough to defeat the ogre within the Trial Tower without a doubt. But if she were to fight one on one against the ogre in front of her, Sheila could only envision of herself in defeated no matter how hard she thought about it.

"Leave this monster to me while you, on the other hand, take your friend to safety."

Suddenly Sheila heard a voice coming next to her and when she turned her head towards it, she could see a familiar blazing red hair that earned a few chuckles from herself. It seemed that even this stalker knows and can feel the danger of the monster ahead which results in her making an appearance without any other choices, following by exposing herself as a stalker, after all, there's no way for her to 'suddenly' appeared like that if she had not been trailing right behind them. 

"Why did you came out when you can just ignore this and run away on your own?"

"If I have done so, I wouldn't be me anymore. So, quickly take your best friend away from here before that monster makes a move!"

Yes, if she had escaped only to save herself, she won't be the hero that she admires. If that is so, why did she trained herself so hard for? No matter how low the chance is, a hero must move forward with bravery and courage as, without any of the two, they are not a hero in her opinion. That is who she wanted to be, even if she might lose her life at this moment, Angelica is the type that would still insist on the same decision, in a way she's pretty stubborn. As she was determined to fight it out to her last breath with the ogre, Sheila suddenly interrupted midway into her thought before she could put it into action.

"You know, I don't mind if you want to sacrifice yourself doing good deeds but... I don't think there's any need for that."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Sheila grinned in response before pointing on her back towards Ria who was still shaken on the ground which caused Angelica to frown but when she looked closer, she could see some sort of barrier made of wind surrounding the trembling girl. It seemed that while Angelica was so focused on the monster ahead, Sheila had gone and did something before she could take notice of it.  Is this...magecraft? But why does it feels different than the one that I know of? Even back then with the fireball thing, she easily 'conjured' it out of thin air without any chanting or preparation whatsoever. I even double-check it when she left but I didn't find any kind of tools that could help her with using the 'magecraft'. Of course, it's also possible that she had taken it away when she left.

Though that was how the magic was told in the fiction novel, in reality, it was not as easy as that. Without having any knowledge, if one ever dare to conjure a magecraft spell like that, it would have been fine if the result is only their death. But in the worst-case scenario, it's possible that their failure might result in summoning a being that is not supposed to exist in our world. That was why it was a 'taboo' to conjure a spell without fully learned about the magecraft or having no experience as a mage. The risk is simply too high that no one ever dares to do it up until now after that one particular incident that results in countless deaths, it remained as a 'stain' to the whole mage community. 

As for the mage's history, it went back way into the past, no one knows the actual date because there has been no fully intact record about that particular 'Era'. But one thing that they did know was, the mage used to exist back in the days and they were known and called as 'the witch' by the public. After the 'witch's hunt' event and being brand as an evil witch and heretic due to a certain evil mage causing havoc and the likes, the other mages had to keep their real identity a secret while staying low profile for countless years and living as ordinary person, until that incident was forgotten and by then, only a couple of mages were alive as the other had long left the world due to cruel reality of time. A mage or not, in the end, they are still human in both body and mind.

And the mage of the modern era was said to be the descendant of those mages but strangely, the difference between current magecraft and that of the old era magecraft seemed like the earth to heaven. The mage of the old era also required preparation or tools to use their magecraft but the power between theirs and the current magecraft couldn't be compared on the same plate as it's like comparing a domestic cat to a wild tiger, that was how low the current magecraft had fallen. Rather than learning more about magecraft, the current 'mage' seemed to be more into 'artifact' or what the mage called it, magic item. This was what Angelica knows about a mage and their history directly from her mother.

With that said, do you now understood how abnormal the girl next to me is? Oh wait, who was am I explaining to anyway? Sigh, I must have been pretty tired in both the spirit and body. Why, do you ask? It's because of the scene right in front of me.  With deadpan eyes, Angelica looked up towards the battle happening ahead. Even after blinking a couple of times and rubbing her eyes, nothing change.

While she was wondering with such thoughts, Sheila had already run ahead and pick a fight with the ogre, leaving both, Angelica and Ria behind. Though Angelica tried warning her about the danger, the hot-blooded girl(Sheila) ignored it and with a 'weird' smile on her face, Sheila couldn't help but feel excited at the opportunity to fight against such a strong opponent like the ogre. Actually, if not for the wonderful bonus given from the Savior title, Sheila would not have been this reckless, probably. 

With an added of 5 to all attributes(yes, including luck), that was amazing enough yet, since she was now protecting Ria(and maybe Angelica), her overall stats have been increased by 30% due to the title.  Isn't that amazing?! It couldn't help that I feel overconfident a bit, right?! I managed to dodge its brunt of attack yet the ground was not so safe as it left a few small holes here and there as a result of a missed attack. And from Angelica's perspective, it might seem like I'm getting cornered by the ogre. But I can feel it, I know that I can defeat this monster right here and now. Perhaps, the increased stats from the title did their job?