Deka was scared and hesitated to run. This was the first ti he had seen a beast up close.
"Now!" Gil shouted, forcing Deka to move.
Deka sprinted away in a panic.
Gil drew his bow. But as he tried to pull the arrow back with his right hand, pain shot through him due to the acid burn on his elbow.
Despite the pain, he forced himself to pull it back.
But the 2.5-ter-long basilisk was too fast. Its movent was unpredictable, causing the arrow to miss.
With another attack, it launched another stream of black acid toward Gil.
Gil quickly took cover behind a tree, narrowly avoiding the attack. His teeth grated as his injured elbow throbbed.
The Black Basilisk hissed, its forked tongue flicking in the air as it searched for him.
'I can't take this thing head-on. I need to buy ti.'
Ignoring the searing pain, Gil swiftly moved to another tree, keeping low to the ground.
The mont he had a clear shot, he forced his fingers to draw the bowstring and released an arrow.
"Thwip!"
The arrow struck the basilisk's shoulder, barely sinking into its thick scales.
It screeched and whipped its head in his direction, launching another glob of acid.
"Hisss!"
Gil dove to the side, rolling as the acid splattered against the tree he had been hiding behind.
The bark sizzled, lting on contact.
Pushing through the pain, he fired another shot while on mid-roll, aiming for the beast's eye.
But the Basilisk twisted its head at the last mont, and the arrow rely scraped its cheek before it lunged again.
Gil barely had ti to react before the massive reptile's tail crashed into him, sending him tumbling sideways.
He felt his ribs rattle from the impact, but he forced himself to move, scrambling away before the beast could coil around him.
'The pain is killing .'
Breathing heavily, he pulled another arrow, this ti aiming for its leg joint.
The arrow pierced through the softer flesh behind the Basilisk's knee.
The Basilisk screeched, stumbling slightly.
Gil used the opening to retreat again, weaving between trees, using the forest to his advantage.
His vision blurred from the pain, his right arm barely holding up. Blood was dripping down his fingers from his burned elbow.
The Basilisk was relentless, recovering fast and chasing him through the trees.
Then—
A loud crack echoed through the forest.
A pipe, reinforced with pure force, smashed down on the basilisk's skull, slamming it into the ground and knocking it.
Draven stood above it with his Morphos.
"First the Bugbear, and now this," Draven said with a smirk. "You sure know how to pick a fight, Gil."
Gil, panting and exhausted, chuckled weakly.
"Took you long enough."
He staggered, feeling dizzy, and Deka quickly supported him.
"Are you okay?" Deka asked.
Draven took a closer look at the wound.
"Deymm, that looks painful. I think I can see the bone."
"This is nothing."
"What happened? You don't go down so easily. You even survived the Bugbear."
Deka lowered his head in guilt while still supporting Gil.
"It's my fault. I'm really sorry."
Draven observed Deka closely, narrowing his eyes.
"Hmmm..."
"Don't worry, I'm just joking," Draven said with a grin. "The Verdant Sprinkle Herb was really effective. So stop blaming yourself."
As they neared the safe zone, Naisha, Felix, Toby, and the others rushed to et them.
The mont they arrived, Gil finally lost consciousness.
As soon as they were in the safe zone, they imdiately treated Gil's wounds.
They applied herbs and wrapped his entire arm in bandages.
Deka returned to his group, where Hans and the others were waiting.
"What are you doing?! Stop causing trouble. Just do what you were ordered to do," Gebo scolded in a hushed voice.
The other two remained silent, heads lowered, as they listened.
"Don't get on their bad side, or we might get kicked out!" Gebo said. "Do you understand?"
Deka nodded.
They didn't realize that Draven was watching them, even though he did not hear them.
Ti passed, and everyone was prepared to continue their journey.
They make an improvised stretcher using clothes and two wooden poles to carry Gil.
"I'll carry him," Deka volunteered, stepping forward. "I feel guilty. Gil ended up like this because I was too weak."
Draven glanced at Deka's hands and noticed how smooth they were, clearly untouched by hard labor.
"Are you sure you can handle the weight?" he asked.
"Yes, sir!" Deka responded firmly.
Draven nodded in approval. But before they lifted the stretcher, he spoke again.
"Stop feeling guilty for what he did for you," Draven said. "Instead, make him proud of how you live your life after saving you."
Then, with a smirk, he added.
"Like, get lots of girls... But not my babe. You're handso. Don't let that face go to waste. For sure Gil will be pou—"
Before he could say more, Naisha smacked him on the head.
"Stop teaching Deka nonsense!" she scolded, then continued slapping him. "Don't make him turn out like you!"
"Slap more. Your hands are really soft," Draven teased.
"Ew! Pervert!" Naisha snapped, making a disgusted face.
The others burst into laughter, and despite the hardships they faced, a sense of joy and camaraderie filled the air.
Looking at them, Deka was reminded of how his family was before, making his lips lift into a smile.
As the sun goes down, they set up their tents once more and gathered for a al.
Everyone happily took care of the four mbers of the Mado tribe, ensuring they had food and a place to rest.
Gebo and Hans occasionally helped with the night watch, taking turns guarding the periter near the Eatherbloom.
That sa night, Gil finally woke up.
Despite his injuries, he rejoined their conversations as if nothing had happened, laughing and sharing stories with the others.
A mont later, Gil approached Deka.
"How's it going, Deka? I heard from Draven that you were crying out of guilt and even tried to bash your head against a rock because of what happened to ."
"F*ck, did he really say that?" Deka asked, scanning the area for Draven.
"That's way too exaggerated. I felt guilty, of course, but I didn't do anything like that!"
Gil chuckled.
"Don't worry, I knew he was exaggerating. Haha."
Deka let out a sigh, then hesitated before speaking again.
"Honestly, there's sothing I really want to ask," Deka said, pausing before continuing.
"You said you wanted to help Sir Draven, right? Then why did you save , even though it was dangerous? There was a high chance you wouldn't have been able to achieve your goal because of it."
Gil smiled again.
"One of my goals is to save this generation. And you're one of them. Any other Verdant here would've done the sa thing I did because we were raised with the sa beliefs to help those who need saving."
Just then, Gebo arrived while the two were talking.
"How are you, Gil? I'm really sorry for what happened. I already talked to Deka about it."
Gil shook his head.
"No worries."
They laughed as they shared stories of what happened then.
—
While the villagers were enjoying themselves, a shadowy humanoid figure watched them from a distance.
A sinister smirk slowly ford on its lips.
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