"An angel?"
As Marcus heard these words come out of the mouth of the man he had just aided, he could not help but be confused.
That is until he remembered that his tier five iron magic spell was still active, and he looked back and saw the six iron wings.
'Guess that was not just some cheesy line he was saying because he saw a pretty girl when he first woke up, I actual do look like an angel.'
Marcus then erased his spell and the man who was still in a bit of a daze after waking up immediately became alert as he sensed the mana fluctuations of Marcus' spell disappearing.
"Skiver to me."
The man after saying this position his shield forward and Marcus soon heard something coming from behind him.
He then saw the spear the man had been using earlier return, flying through the air and landing in his open hand.
With his weapon now back in hand the man looked warily at Marcus for a moment before his posture relaxed and he said, "Ah sorry about that Irene, looks like I was a bit hasty. I thought you might have been trying to kill me while I was out, but I now realize you were just healing me. Thank you for helping me out."
The man then gave a quick bow to Marcus before slumping back over looking exhausted.
'Appraisal huh. As soon as he saw my level, well the level I am currently displaying with false status, he relaxed thinking a level thirty-five was not a threat to him.'
After taking a long drink of water while resting his back against a tree, Jarek looked up at Marcus with a smile and said, "Now that I am refreshed a bit allow me to introduce myself, my name is Jarek, and I am a mithril rank adventure."
Hearing this Marcus was a bit surprised; this was the first time he had met a mithril ranked adventure which was the second highest rank.
'Well, that explains why he is as strong as he is, and now that I know he is mithril rank I can gather that his level is at least fifty.'
Now knowing the rank of the man in front of him, Marcus gave a polite nod towards him before saying, "Irene Geist, Baronetess of the Kingdom of Borealia, and a gold rank adventurer."
Jarek listening to Marcus' introduction had his eyes go wide as he just realized something.
"What are you doing this deep into area six being only at level thirty-five and a gold rank adventure. This deep in most beasts and monsters are around level forty, it is a miracle you are still alive. Did you get separated from your party or something? Ah but you are in luck that you ran into me, since you helped me out while I was down, I will be more than happy to escort you back to your party after I harvest the materials from the couatl I killed."
Jarek then hopped to his feet seemingly recovered and began making his way to where the couatl's body lay.
However, before he got any farther Marcus wanted to clear something up with him.
"I think you are under some kind of misconception. I am not lost or separated from my party; I am alone. And as you said there are plenty of level forty or higher enemies here but even at my level, I can handle them."
Marcus hoped to set things straight as he did not want Jarek to think that helping him out of the area would be repayment for his help.
Of course, Jarek just laughed it off, thinking Marcus was acting tough not wanting to seem weak in front of him and kept walking.
Seeing that Jarek did not believe him Marcus decided to leave for now, he had some unfinished business anyway with a few lionesses.
'Oh well if I cannot get anything out of him now, maybe I can later back at the guild when he sees I did not need his help.'
With his mind made up Marcus had no intention of play a damsel in distress needing help and began walking away, heading back towards the area where the lionesses had ambushed Roxene.
Jarek looking back and seeing Marcus walking away, yelled out, "Irene where are you going, it is not safe for you to be wandering around alone."
However, Marcus did not stop and Jarek was conflicted for a moment about whether to go after Marcus or claim the rewards from his hard-fought battle.
Nevertheless, in the end Jarek decided it was more important to obtain the materials from the couatl he had killed to complete the current request he was doing.
After arriving back at the area where Marcus had rescued Roxene from the lionesses, he brought Roxene out of his companion storage and saw that she had made a full recovery.
She then began sniffing around, familiarizing herself with the lionesses scent before heading east following the trail.
Walking for around forty minutes, Roxene suddenly stopped and telepathically said, 'Up ahead there is another similar scent to the lionesses, but I think it is a male. Also, a powerful fragrance I believe is a natural treasure is also in the air, but it is hard to tell exactly because of how strong those stupid lion's scents are'
Nodding his head, Marcus got what Roxene was telling him, there was an additional enemy to face along with the lionesses.
'Okay I will go take a look and see what we are up against.'
Turning back into his ghost form, Marcus followed Roxene's directions and he soon came to a small glade where he saw the four golden lionesses and one large male golden lion eating the body of some beast that was now unrecognizable. And as he got closer, he could see a large tree in the middle of a spring with multiple fruits coming off of its branches.
'Two of the lionesses are level forty-one and the other two are level forty-two. But the big problem is the male lion who is level forty-four. Do I think we can take them all? Probably not without pushing ourselves pretty hard. I cannot say for sure, but I am pretty sure they are rare grade magical beasts so there strength is no joke. But I can tell Roxene really wants revenge and beating them would yield some pretty substantial rewards from not only their bodies but also the natural treasures that tree contains…Wait what is that.'
Looking closely Marcus soon saw two more shapes moving but they were significantly smaller than the others.
'There are two cubs as well. They are only level twelve and fourteen, so they are not a threat. Ah but this does open up a new avenue for attack.'
Marcus then began a telepathic discussion with Roxene and after a few minutes they had come up with a strategy.
Floating over to one of the cubs, Marcus possessed its body and began wandering away from the rest of the group towards the edge of the glade.
However, before he could get too far one of the lionesses also left the group to come and pick the runaway cub.
Except as it opened its mouth to grab the cub Marcus was possessing by the back of the neck, he whirled around and fired a heightened fireball spell right down her gullet.
The powerful spell exploded inside the lionesses stomach and smoke began billowing out of her as she collapsed over with heavy internal injuries.
Miraculously though she did not immediately die owing to the toughness of her species, but it was only a matter of time.
With his surprise attack complete and one of the level forty-one lionesses down for the count, Marcus left the body of the cub and floated towards the male lion next.
The other lions for their part were completely stunned by what had just happened.
From their point of view one of the cubs had just used some unknown power to attack one of their own.
Unfortunately for them, Marcus and Roxene had no intention of giving them enough time to recover from their shock as Roxene jumped out already having used her Paragon of the Divine Wolf supreme skill and sent a darkness drill right for the male lion.
The male lion seeing the incoming attack let out a roar as his body began shimmering with golden light and braced for the attack.
Except as the darkness drill was coming from his front, he suddenly felt a sense of danger coming from behind him as Marcus reappeared and was mid swing with his scythe.
Using all of its agility and reflexes the lion spun its body and instead of its intended target, Marcus' scythe slashed against the lion's side causing a burst of sparks as the lion's tough fur refused to be cut, and the darkness drill just a moment later blasted into its other side sending the huge lion flying.
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m