Chapter 35: Bethany
Arc wasn’t in a hurry to check it out. His meat was still on fire, and far from done.
"Aren’t we going to check it out?" Liz asked when she saw Arc hadn’t budged.
"You’re free to go. I can’t leave my meat on fire to burn," Arc replied with a lack of interest.
"If I... speed up the cooking, will you come with me?" she asked hesitantly.
Arc looked up from the meat. "Why do you want me to come with you?"
"Joan might stir up trouble for me again. She’s been targeting me ever since the Crimson Goblin Island," Liz said in exasperation.
"You can’t avoid them forever."
"I know, but... I want you there with me," she said as she folded her arms like she was cold, looking down at her feet. "You’re kinda cool. No one messes with you. I wish... I was more like you." She looked up at him with something indescribable in her eyes.
Arc remained silent for a moment as he stared back at her, when he suddenly asked bluntly, "A classless trash?"
Liz was stunned. "Ah, n-no..." she trailed off as her face flushed in embarrassment.
"Alright. If you can get my meat done sooner, I’ll come with you," he said to her.
She nodded stiffly and stepped forward with her arms outstretched. "Y-you might want to step back a little," she said to him.
Arc complied and took a few steps back, though he didn’t believe the flame could do much damage to him. He was wrong.
A burst of bright flame shot out from Liz’s palm, engulfing the meat slab as she controlled the flames to encompass it in a cocoon of blazing fire. She extinguished the flames the next moment. It ended as soon as it started, and the meat looked overcooked now.
This wasn’t the basic fireball spell from a grimoire. This was her raw Talent.
Arc was impressed.
He didn’t have to put out the fire below the meat, as Liz’s flames had consumed it. He grabbed the meat out of the pan without flinching, and sniffed its enticing aroma before storing it in his inventory. Then he packed up his stir-fried spice vegetables as well, before turning to Liz.
"Alright. Let’s go see what it is."
***
Felix, who was together with the rest of the party when the collision happened, quickly rushed over to the impact point, prepared for battle.
But when he arrived with the others, the island hadn’t been invaded yet. Standing at the border of the invading island was a group of four people, who were on guard but seemed to be hesitating before they attacked.
The moment the two groups came face to face, a flash of recognition came across their expressions and they stared each other down, keeping their distance. Then the other group spoke up first.
It was a handsome young man wielding a sword. He slowly lowered his weapon as he raised a hand towards Felix’s group. "We mean no harm, if you don’t attack."
"Are they actually humans like us?" Rose mumbled in curiosity.
"This is our first encounter with fellow humans. And from their outfits, they’re likely from Earth too," Jack said thoughtfully. "I’m not sure if this is a good or bad thing."
Joan was the one to reply in place of Felix. "How can you say that when you crashed into our island?"
"Put away your weapons if you just want to talk."
The other group exchanged glances, before the handsome man who seemed to be the leader sheathed his sword and took a step forward. One of the two girls in his party held him back warily, but the man said something to her that made her reluctantly let go. He slowly walked over to Felix’s group with his hands slightly raised in surrender.
"I’m sorry if we gave off the wrong impression, but one of my teammates has a Talent that recognized human life from your island, and we couldn’t help but stop by because you’re the first humans we’re seeing since this madness began," the man calmly said. "My name’s Max, and I was looking to team up with your island."
Felix exchanged glances with Joan, before he sheathed his sword and stepped forward. "I’m Felix," he said, extending his hand for a handshake.
Max took it in a firm handshake, before asking, "Is it okay for my team to come along for a proper introduction?"
Max waved at his team after getting approval from Felix, and they stored their weapons as they slowly approached.
Joan was still cautious of them, though she could tell Max wasn’t lying. She subconsciously looked behind her to see if a certain someone had arrived, but there were no signs of him... or Liz.
This only meant they were together wherever they were, which made her genuinely wonder how it had come to that point, remembering how Liz always attacked Arc.
Is he into girls like that?
She couldn’t help but wonder.
Max’s team arrived while she was lost in thought, and by the time she came to, Max was introducing the last person in his team.
She was a beautiful young woman with blonde hair and a reserved personality from the way she stood. Joan recalled she was the one who held Max back when he wanted to approach the island.
"... And this is the beautiful archer of our party. Her name’s Bethany," Max said with an amicable smile.
The blonde lady smiled, but she didn’t speak.
"We lost our mage in the first battle," Max revealed. "We were confused and naive back then... it’s ironic how you lost one man too, haha," he chuckled to ease the tension.
"Oh, we didn’t lose anyone," Joan spoke up.
"Huh?"
"We’re actually six in number, and we’ve all managed to pull through till now," Joan said with a hidden meaning.
It was best to let them know they were outnumbered, so they wouldn’t try anything funny.
"Oh, I’m sorry I jumped to conclusions. But where are they?" Max asked curiously.
"They should be on their—" Felix was saying.
"Watch out!" Jack suddenly screamed and covered Rose, who was closest to him, as a torrent of arrows filled the sky and descended on the two groups.
Swish—!
