***
"Here, have some of this."
"Oh? This is really good!"
"I told you!"
"Aside from that, who would've thought that Baron would ever return there?"
"True, I don't think he's ever left before."
"I find that interesting. What made him do that?"
The two people chatting sat there whilst they watched Astrid wake. She looked around. It was a quiet place in a grassy biome, and two guys were sitting on a log in front of a campfire. One of them was Kenta. Astrid sat upright as if she had a nightmare.
"Huh? Oh Kenta, you're okay.....not! What happened to your arm?!?"
"You're finally awake, brat. Don't worry about me, I lost my arm when I saved this guy here."
The other guy introduced himself as Mizuki, a boy, about 17, who seemed rather trusting to be around.
"Astrid, was it? I'm glad you're okay. I was exiting the town, when I saw you lying on the ground. I tried dragging you out, but I saw Baron searching around the town. He spotted me and lifted a building on us."
"That's when I came in," Kenta looked proud, "and saved them from the building. My arm caught fire though, so I had to chop it off."
The woman was stunned.
"Who's Baron?"
"Baron is the king of the City. No one actually knows his name, but we just call him Baron. He has immense magic power and can control gravity. Although, It has a limit."
Astrid gave them a little smile.
"I appreciate it guys. I honestly thought I was gonna die."
She struggled to stand, and eventually succumbed to her injuries. Mizuki offered her a meat skewer.
"Thanks."
"No problem. I have something to ask of you."
"Go ahead."
"What happened on your end? How did you end up like this?"
She took a bit from the meat skewer and took a deep breath.
"I fought Baron. I tried to stop him but he is way more powerful than I am."
The guys looked in awe.
"You fought the Baron? And you're still alive? Amazing!"
A giggle slipped from her mouth before she gobbled the rest of her meat. Now that she thought about it, fighting the king of the most populated place in this world was pretty insane. Then suddenly, her face dropped.
"Wait, so does this mean.....that the town is....."
They nodded.
"Even the Tavern?...."
Another nod.
Astrid winced at the gesture. Even she had felt ties to that town, even if she had only been there for a day. She let her rage overwhelm her.
"That bastard.....I'm going to kill him if it's the last thing I do. I will rebuild a new society for us outcasts. A society where people are not judged by their wealth, but their talent and skill. A society where the weak are protected by the strong. A society where all people are equal."
***
The three woke up the next morning to a party of slimes, 5 to be precise. Kenta stood up to defend everyone, but Mizuki grabbed his blade and dashed towards the monsters. Astrid shouted, "Mizuki, stay ba-" but Kenta paused her and smirked.
"Just watch."
The young boy attacked the slimes. He magnificently swerved through them, parrying any attack he could. It was like a dance. Mizuki dived to the left, where he slashed 2 of the slimes with ease. Then he enfused his blade with mana, leaving a trail of white mist on it. In an instant, Mizuki weaved past the remaining three slimes, and he sheathed his katana. Moments later, the slimes split into two and disintegrated, leaving nothing but purple particles behind.
Astrid was too stunned to stand. "Um....What was that?"
"Hah, you should have seen the look on your face!"
"Tell me!"
"Okay okay, calm down. So you see, I have the inability to cast magic, which is why I was shunned as an outcast. But I had a tier 3 mana core, and I can't let it go to waste. So I learnt a bit of sword skills..."
"Ooooh!"
Astrid finally got up, which she hadn't done in a while.
"Alright, time to head to the City. How far away is it?"
Kenta replied. "It's a long way away. About a year on kins."
"Kins?"
"The animal used to push carriages. How do you not know this?"
"My bad...but a year? That's quite a while away. But I don't care. We need to find a kin or two and travel there. Let's go."
The old man sighed. "Actually, I plan on returning to my hometown. I'm not gonna be any good with one arm. You guys can go."
Mizuki and Astrid nodded as Kenta began to walk away. They waved each other goodbye in advance to pulling out a map.
"Guess it's just me and you, Mizu."
"Mizu?"
"What? You don't like it?"
"It's fine.....but there isn't a nickname for Astrid....."
"My name is already a nickname. My actual name is Ástríðr."
"I'll stick to calling you Astrid then."
"Alright Mizu. Then let's go!"
They began to tread on to the nearest town, where they would look for a kin.