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It didn’t take long until they finally escaped the sidepath. The narrow and claustrophobic path opened up to reveal a large main road. The dirt road had been marked with the impression of thousands of hoofs and wheels.

When they set up camp for the night along the main road, Leo made sure to keep a watchful eye. Marem had warned him that countless caravans and travelers used this road. He didn’t want to let his guard down in such a public place.

Leo attempted to talk with the helmet during the night. The poor thing was as terrified as a semi-sentient helmet could be. It didn’t have any opinions, nor did it have much emotion. The only read that Leo could get was that the helmet was terrified.

The night passed without any danger and the two continued their journey to Edheim. Fallen leaves littered the trail as bugs swarmed the path. The forest was vibrant, with a symphony of birds to fill the silence.

Leo didn’t know if nature had always been so beautiful. The journey had been well over a week and miserable at times. When they didn’t walk, he would be forced to sit by and wait. Boredom was bound to fill in the gaps of time, but these moments more than made up for it.

The two of them were hopeful about the remainder of their journey. It would only take a day or two to reach the capital. He remembered what Marem had told him at the start of their journey. Their travel would be short as long as they didn’t get carried away by any distractions.

Thankfully, the monsters they faced didn’t hold them up for longer than mere moments. Even the swarms of bandits were nothing but a roadbump for the two of them. Leo had expected to be the one to fight them all, but he was surprised at Marem’s effectiveness in battle.

She didn’t seem to have any offensive spells. She could enchant, heal, and empower people, but she didn’t have any ways to attack. Yet, she still held her own in battle. He saw as she beat down countless bandits, her staff used as a bludgeoning weapon. None of the bandits saw her attacks coming.

They had gone faster than she’d expected due to their ability to easily handle threats and cover ground. As long as things continued to go smoothly, their journey was practically over. As soon as Leo had this thought, things stopped being so smooth.

An agonized scream as cold as ice shot through the forest. Leo and Marem froze as they heard a young woman cry out in pain. It came from up ahead on the road, but they couldn’t see the source. The two of them started to sprint towards the noise.

While they dashed, Leo remembered what Marem had told him. There were three types of distractions that commonly came up in a journey. They had faced off against bandits and monsters already. The only thing they hadn’t come across was a sidequest.

After a few moments, and more pained cries, the two reached the source of the screaming. The ground was littered with the remains of a shattered cart. Jagged pillars of stone had burst from underneath, shattering the cart into pieces.

In the air, a figure violently thrashed through the sky. There was a robed man, with wings of stone that violently fought to keep them in the air. He held onto a woman as she fought and shouted for him to let her go.

Marem froze up at the sight of the cart. The screams fell on deaf ears as she began to lose track of her reality. Her heart started to race, growing in intensity with each passing second. She remembered what happened in the desert. It was as if the memories had grabbed onto her body.

Leo looked on at the situation with panic. He needed to find a way to save the woman from the mage. His mind raced to try and find any way to help her. If he tried to throw a punch, he’d kill both of them. There was no guarantee that he could jump with anywhere near enough accuracy to reach him.

Leo looked at Marem as the woman started to call to them for help. He saw Marem’s eyes caught on the wreckage. He needed her help, and he needed to help her.

“Marem,” he called. She gave no response. “Marem, I need you.”

He rushed over to his companion and put his hand onto her shoulder. It was as if her thoughts had burst as she was brought back to reality. Her head ached as she looked over the situation. The man was clearly a mage who specialized in stone based magic.

She thought about what options she had to save the woman who continued to fight. Her spell list was near exclusively support abilities. The class she’d been trained in didn’t offer much that could help here either.

“Leo, try to catch her. Don’t look up in 3 seconds,” she called out.

Leo took a moment before he began to move. He had no idea what she had planned, but he needed to have faith in her. He sprinted to reach underneath where the two were. The mage seemed to be losing his grip on the woman as she continued to scratch and kick.

Leo looked down right before a violent burst of light erupted overhead. The woman’s screaming started to sound closer. With the light gone, he looked up to see her suddenly falling towards the ground. The mage had dropped her.

Leo quickly ran to grab her. The woman forcefully collided against his arms. This was when he finally got a good look at her. She was stunningly beautiful. Her golden hair seemed to dance in the light. She looked up at him with her bright blue eyes.

He felt his heart skip a beat as he made eye contact with her. Leo was so focused that he barely heard the world around him. That was until he heard Marem screaming for him to dodge.