"I'm sorry," Cailena said
Aion wondered if those two had time at all to be feeling sorry for each other. A couple of minutes had passed already, and they didn't even try to take a single step into the swamp. He already knew that Malon was dumb as a brick, but he didn't expect that the girl would be the same. She studied magic. After all
"No need. I won't let it end like this. Besides, it wasn't just me... soon my friend will get here... I hope I can keep him from falling here too," Malon said and then sighed.
Aion could tell that Malon's father only taught him how to swing a sword. Looking so defeated while saying such a thing in front of a girl was a big no. It was fine to share his insecurities with a friend like Ailen, who he had known for years, but not with a girl he had just met. That was just plain lame and pathetic.
In any case, they soon began to move while crossing the swamp. Fortunately, it was mid-afternoon, so the visibility wasn't half bad, and they could tell where they should go following a path of wet ground. There were several mud pools along the way, and they had to cross them carefully since it was impossible to tell how deep they were… in fact, the more they stooped on a single place, the more they felt their feet sinking in the wet ground. That couldn't be a good sign…
Malon looked over his shoulder and then saw a large and ominous-looking castle. It seemed rather old, and he had never heard that such a structure existed. It seemed like a relic of a past era… and it also looked pretty sturdy despite its location.
"When I went to the past, beyond three thousand years ago, I didn't see any structure like that… and this castle looks quite fortified… did they have such knowledge back then?" Aion thought.
When Aion was about to make time go super fast forward again, several giant purple frogs suddenly emerged from several pools of mud and surrounded those two. That was another creature that Aion had never heard of or seen, so it looked like a species that disappeared, or perhaps Malon once lived beyond the sea in the ring continent…
In any case, Malon already had his sword in hand while he was inexperienced. He had a resolute look in his eyes… it was time to stop being a pussy and act like a real swordsman.
Several frogs jumped toward them, and then before they could approach, they attacked using their purple tongues… still, Malon, with a single sword slash, not only repelled the attacks but also cut off the tongues of the beasts. The frogs grunted in pain, and then the remaining three opened their mouths and fired multiple purple spheres toward them.
Malon silently charged and then blocked several of those attacks… Still, some droplets landed on his arms, and he felt them stinging quite a bit… they could poison and burn his skin as well. That was a terrible combination since it could make the poison enter his blood current with a lot more ease.
Still, before the beasts had too many chances to attack, Malon swung his sword three times extremely fast and then cut off their heads… he quickly turned around and then attacked the other beasts, that were agonizing.
"Now that is more like the Malon I know… his father trained him well, but I guess he is lacking in combat experience and determination to attack," Aion thought.
Malon was breathing roughly even though the battle didn't last that long… it the recent days, his life had been at risk many times, and while he was getting used to it, he was having a hard time adjusting his emotions to the situation. He kept glaring at the bodies for a short while until he felt a refreshing feeling in his arms and then looked to the side and saw Cailena using some sort of spell to counter the poison and heal the wounds. He had been healed a few times by magic in the past, but the power of her spells was above the doctors that he had met…
"Thanks… this is really impressive," Malon said while looking at the wound on his arms that had turned into just some red marks.
"I can't fight, so this is the best that I can do," Cailena forced a smile while keeping her distance. "I can also use some other support spells, so I will try to be more efficient.
Malon could tell that he scared Cailena a fair bit with his sudden behavior. She was studying to be a healer, so it was only normal that she would be wary of those that caused most of the wounds that she had to heal…
Malon was aware that thinking like that wasn't a good idea, but as long as Cailena was nearby, he didn't have to fear the monsters. His best option was to get used to fighting them as much as possible while she could heal him in order to become better at fighting…
In any case, they began to move again since it was only a matter of time before the enemies in the castle noticed their disappearance…
"First of all, I need to find Ailen and then learn more about what happened," Malon thought. "I can't rely on others to investigate me, and I don't even know whom I can trust aside from him… considering that thousands of people died and I didn't notice any movements until now, it is fair to say that the enemy has some level of influence."
Malon was finally starting to use his head, and it was convenient that Aion could hear his thoughts. Still, it was hard to imagine if he could learn anything useful for him.. unfortunately, he couldn't wake up, even though he could control the movie's speed.
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