MTLNOVEL Chapter 78 : Farewell
It's been a month since we arrived in the enigmatic Zone 2, a realm shrouded in a veil of ethereal mist that seems to embrace us with its mysterious whispers. At first, the dense fog was a constant challenge, but over time, we've learned to navigate through its folds, letting its secrets unfold before our eyes.
During this month, Elsa has become the protagonist of all battles. With her shining blue sword of masterful rank, indeed her sword is quite interesting, as it sometimes leaves an ice mark on the bodies of her victims, she has courageously faced the beasts lurking beyond the threshold of the known.
Each encounter is a dance between life and death, where her determination shines like a star in the dark night. I am no longer her constant protector; now I am her vigilant shadow, watching from the sidelines as she challenges the monsters that always assail us.
Initially, Elsa's battles were simple one-on-one duels, but beasts are not known to wander alone. Two nightmare beasts were greedily devouring another creature, and the moment they sensed our presence, I quickly hid, leaving all the work to Elsa... She looked at me in shock at first, but quickly afterward, anger was reflected in her face, and she cursed me with indignation.
The fight was a whirlwind of brutality and fury, where every move the beasts made was with the clear intention of tearing Elsa apart. These creatures are very fierce with a great deal of strength in each attack they make. Elsa unleashed her aura, quickly her blue hair and eyes turned black, her presence became even stronger.
I still think that her black aura is due to my intervention in trying to help her awaken her aura; she did her best to defend herself from the two creatures at the same time, when facing two opponents you have to divide your mind and senses if you focus only on one the other can take the opportunity to attack you from behind.
Meanwhile, I remained on the periphery, a silent presence in the symphony of battle, ready to intervene if the balance tilted too much towards the beasts, I don't want Elsa to be hurt more than usual, I just want her to adapt to a battle at a disadvantage.
After a fierce fight that seemed to last an eternity for her, Elsa emerged victorious, her figure enveloped in a radiant aura of victory. Although her body bore the marks of the battle, her eyes looked at me as if she were going to kill me at any moment...
Elsa obviously knew that I was trying to help her, but the heart of a woman is a mystery to the vast majority of men, so I just pretended not to notice and congratulated her on her victory.
For Elsa, each day in Zone 2 is a battlefield, where every step we take has a chance of encountering more creatures, but Elsa handled most of the battles. And although the term "life or death" may seem exaggerated to some, in this world of wonders and monsters, the line between reality and myth is as thin as a sheet of paper.
Amidst this dreamlike and dangerous landscape, I feel like a silent guardian, protecting my pupil while she takes care of all the work for me, hehehehe, wait, it seems like I'm taking advantage of her, but definitely not...
The good thing about all this is that thanks to the system's ability, the beasts that Elsa kills are also free points for me, it's good that someone else takes care of the hard work.
For some reason, the system didn't give me an estimate of how many experience points Elsa needs to advance to the silver rank, so I asked Elsa directly, according to what she told me, she doesn't need much, her soul essence is on the verge of her head, she doesn't need much, there was joy and excitement in her voice, definitely even though her personality changed a bit, she was still the Elsa I knew.
Throughout this month, we gathered a large number of orbs. Twenty percent will be for selling and getting the money we need, the rest we divided equally, absorbing them all.
****
I have to say it was undoubtedly a great month.
[65,000/160,000]
I've finally managed to reach almost half of all the points I need to reach the gold rank, most of the points were thanks to Elsa but the majority was undoubtedly the system's ability, in fact, killing and absorbing rank 2 creatures than rank 1 ones makes a big difference in acquired gains.
Nodding with satisfaction, I look at Elsa who is in the middle of a great slaughter there are many bodies of dog-shaped creatures, at first only one appeared but little by little they piled up in an absurd amount so I had to intervene to help Elsa, after a few hours we managed to kill most of them, some escaped, although they are beasts their senses are sharp and they felt that they couldn't deal with us so they decided to run away.
Feeling a great amount of mana in the environment, I smile to myself, I turn around and see Elsa surrounded by a large amount of aura all over her body, her skin somewhat stained with blood turns a little red, I saw how she clenched her teeth, the first 3 times a person ascends you feel pain all over your body, but more pain is caused by your own which is changing due to the saturation of essence.
She is leveling up... her black hair and eyes return to their original state, some strands of her hair rise.
Boom!
A mini mana explosion occurred, from that explosion Elsa came out with closed eyes and her armor and body without any signs that she went through a fierce battle moments ago.
"How do you feel?" I asked her directly.
"I feel incredible, I feel very energetic and somewhat lighter, my senses and my strength are much greater than before, besides I feel very powerful" her eyes shone with excitement and delight.
"Well, it's normal, every time your soul and body level up the essence stored in your soul spreads throughout your body and mind, besides forming a layer in your soul to give way to the next rank, it's like being born again", I say with a smile, "Good job this whole month, everything you've achieved so far is thanks to your hard work".
Elsa's eyes turn a little red but no tears dare to come out, putting on a big smile she lowers her head slightly, "Thank you master".
I was a little taken aback and somewhat embarrassed not knowing what to say.
"Hehehehe".
I hear a little smile.
"You should have seen your face, hahaha it was very funny", Elsa says still laughing at me...
"This was my revenge for always leaving me all the work", she says.
Looking at her, I sigh, after all you can't underestimate a woman's grudge.
"Let's rest for a while, our work in this area is done, it's time to move on to the next one", I casually comment to Elsa.
"Wait, I can't face any monsters from Zone 3", Elsa says frowning.
"I know, but I need to go to Zone 3, as you know according to my calculations it's been 1 month already, which means I have 3 months to reach the gold rank, and I also have to take into account the beginning of the academy, I don't have much time and finally we have to find the flower in Zone 4, and for all that I need to reach the
gold rank for real. I have little time, I have to do many things, now I'm not sure if I can get the real name, I don't have time I only have 3 months to do all this, besides I already fulfilled my promise, Elsa rose to the silver rank".
I saw how Elsa lowered her head, there was doubt and hesitation in her eyes, after a few seconds she raised it again. "I understand I'll leave right now, please take care of yourself a lot", she says with a sad voice.
I also feel like her after spending all this time with her I won't lie that I will definitely miss her presence but there's nothing else to do.
Giving her all the orbs we kept in order to sell them and make money, she keeps them in her adventurer ID.
"Sell all these orbs to our secretary, and also take care of Ema's family, don't neglect your training either", with a farewell smile I hug her with a little force.
"Don't worry about me, I'll come back, I promise", Elsa, holding back the tears, nods her head, hugging me even tighter.
After a few minutes we slowly separate, Elsa had some small tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Don't cry, goodbyes should be with a smile on your face, after all crying and being sad only make things worse", with my hand I wipe away some tears that finally fell from her eyes.
She nods with a sad smile, smiling I also take out the scroll that will allow her to return to the city. After checking that everything is in order I move away from her a little.
Elsa looks at me and nods her eyes, I also do the same and see how her body turns into small sparks of light disappearing from the place.
Looking around, I find myself alone at this moment, somehow I feel a little empty and lonely, sighing, it will definitely be difficult the first days, but I have no other way.
Looking forward, my eyes fill with unwavering resolution, walking with determined steps towards the border of Zone 2, the darkness around makes it even thicker and more oppressive.