"I'm ready!"
Arie appeared in a flash wearing slim dark riding breeches that flattered her hips, and leather-bound boots. She appeared fully prepared for their outing with a beginner's grimoire on black magic attached to her waist belt, black leather gloves, a Silverwood staff, and a light lilac cloak.
"…"
Despite her obvious excitement Rei can't help but feel seriously doubtful. It's not enough to just look the part, the question is will she be ready for combat when monsters try to eat her alive? He feels stressed just thinking of the consequences should anything happen to her. The duke would have his head on a pike. These conflicting thoughts plague his mind as they head over to the barracks to pick up Clad.
Once they pass the city gates, it's no longer an option to turn back. The gatekeepers watch their group of three with curious expressions. They are likely aware of the widely circulated stories of the two newlyweds. The appearance of all three rumored individuals walking together will probably cause a stir the moment they leave. He should have known, Ariellia has always been the focal point of attention in the city. Regardless, he's fortified his mind against gossip years ago.
They venture deeper into the surrounding forest, beyond the view of the tower watchmen. The trees a taller here, their canopies thicker with their branches blocking out sunlight. There's an unnatural chill in the air, a clear sign this place is inhabited by monsters. Arie has never dared to venture this far with Clad. She'd just been practicing her spellwork on weaker monsters on the outskirts of the forest.
It's unnerving that the only sound they hear is that of their boots crushing leaves as they pass in such a dense forest. Arie grips her staff tighter till she can feel the magical engravings on the Silverwood. It's only been a week, and she's only been able to master one spell in her grimoire. Most of the fighting has been done by Clad.
It's not that she didn't try at first. She did, but it was a pitiful sight to see her trying to clubber a slime monster to death with her shabby strength. Even Clad looked distressed though he tried to cheer her on those first days. While it only took one strike for him to kill weak slime, it took her several and that was with him holding it in place for her. Just thinking about the shame made her want to crawl into the ground, but a sharp howl snaps her back to the present. True to canon law, the first monster they encounter with the hero present is a rare variant hybrid.
"Stand behind me!" Rei orders, already unsheathing his dual blades.
'No need to tell me twice' Arie promptly retreats to the back. Her violet eyes shining with excitement as she sees Rei take up his fighting stance. It must be said that the beautiful choreography and graphic effects of Rei's dual wielding skill in the game trailer is what attracted her to 'The King's Return' in the first place. The animation for all his attack combos are sick.
Now she gets to see it in real life, how amazing is that! She's so focused on the front she completely forgets to cover the rear like she's supposed to. She doesn't notice the opportunists slime monster creeping behind until a sword strike lands inches off her position.
'Did he just try to kill me?' her spirit nearly ascends at the thought.
"Pay attention!" Rei frowns, it's easy to see he wants to reprimand her some more but is too busy fending off the mutant dire wolf in front.
Arie soon realizes her mistake and opens up her grimoire. She keeps having to remind herself that she's no longer a player anymore and this is not a game. If she's careless in a fight even against these minor enemies, she could still end up dead.
[Dark hands!]
Her dark elf heritage grants her an affinity for dark magic. The dark hands spell is a simple spell meant to drag her enemies back into the dark earth. On the strong nimble monster like the dire wolf Rei's fighting, it likely wouldn't do much. On a slow-moving slime monster, however, this spell is perfect. It takes them less time to kill the monsters than when she only had Clad on her team.
The commotion from their battle must have alerted other monsters. She can feel the ground tremble as a hulking figure roughly tears through the trees. A tall creature with obsidian stone-like skin full of cracks and bulging veins appeared. It's molten eyes looking at them with ravenous intent. It pounded its chest and let out a furious roar from a mouth full of jagged teeth.
Rei didn't stand on ceremony, swiftly disappearing and reappearing in midair. His twin blades spun like a cyclone. He brought them down heavy with a sharp arc, deeply wounding the beast's shoulder. The Mametti screamed in anger and tried to swing back, missing Rei who swiftly dodged, but slamming into Clad's shield. The force from the blow was enough to move the heavy built knight back several paces.
Arie casts another 'dark hands' spell, her staff shaking from fright. The monster looked less violent on screen than in person. She knows her spell lacks power but hopefully it would be of some help to the other two. The dark magic does manage to trip the slow walking beast, giving Clad a chance to ram into it and use its own weight against it. Rei comes sweeping down afterward to finish it by cleaving its head off.
She isn't exhausted after the battle like she was in the first week. In fact, she feels rejuvenated since that last battle gave her just enough experience to level up. Old habits die hard, the moment she sees that familiar glow around her person she quickly opens her stats window.
[Name: Ariellia Silvy Garrod]
[Age: 17] [Gender: Female]
[Race: Half Dark Elf/???]
[Lvl:9] [HP:600]
[MP:275] [Attack:75]
[Magic Defense:150] [AP:10]
[Intelligence:125] [Defense:105]
[Luck:50] [Special traits: ???]
[Exp:350/1350]
[Weapon: Expensive Silverwood staff]
[Armor x4: Umbra cloud cloak, grathwood leather belt, Aethereal Steel corset, Aethereal pants, leather-bound boots, ebony gloves]
[Accessories x4: Selene's tear earrings, Diana's choker, Herold's ring, Gedium's bracelet]
[Elemental Affinity: Darkness, Earth, ??]
Just looking at these stats makes her heart skip a beat. She's practically skipping the whole way back to the estate. Rei and Clad lag behind a bit, tired after doing most of the heavy lifting. By the time they arrive back at the castle it's already evening. The duke isn't home so it's just her and Rei at the dinner table. It's a very silent and somber affair but Arie isn't bothered by it.
She's much too excited about her improvement. Every gamer knows major upgrades come in the Tens. Ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, etc. After every ten levels new amazing abilities can be unlocked. At this moment she can only use a single spell. She can hardly wait, she's so excited she doesn't notice the shadow lingering by the window of her bedroom. She disrobes and changes into her sleep wear.
Just after her nightly prayers, a knock at the door comes. She answers it only to see Rei's stunned face. He seems surprised to see her already dressed for bed. If she'd known it would be him, she would have added a robe before answering. As it stands, she's only wearing a pink frilly nightdress with no adornments or makeup. She must look very childish in his eyes.
"We have to talk."
"Okay" she's not sure what else they have to talk about but okay. She steps back and lets him seat on the ottoman by the dresser while she sits on the bed.
"I want a divorce."
'Well, could have seen that one coming.'
She's not surprised. Their marriage wasn't consensual to begin with. Nothing forced could last long anyway, she sees no reason to prolong their mutual suffering. Her whole goal was to simply get strong enough to survive the monster march and then give the hero a grand send off. Everyone knows, while there are many benefits to gain by staying with the protagonist, there's just as much danger.
Authors love to kill off hero companions to act as foils to push him to greater heights. Arie just got this life, she's not ready to gamble it away. She smiles to ease his worries; this is one wish she can easily fulfil. "I accept. Once this month is over, we can divorce."
"…"
"It's just a month, what you can't bare being by my side so bad that you can't last a month?"
She must milk all the benefits of being a hero's companion before he leaves. Is it too much to ask?
Rei looks stumped, disbelieving what he's hearing. He simply nods his head in consent before heading back out. She's confused by his sudden silence but doesn't dwell on it for long. The excitement from before is back in full swing. She just managed to fool the hero into being her cash cow for a whole month! Just how many levels will she be able to gain during this time.
"Not even a week into the marriage and already talking about divorce. How sad."
"Who's there!" she turns around, taken by surprise by the unfamiliar male voice.
[Sleep]
The shadow doesn't give her a chance to scream. A hand appears in front of her face emitting a soft purple glow that makes her lose all her strength. She drops into the stranger's arms before she even hits the ground.
"To think he would let go of such a lovely bride, how shameful."
'Right…'
She totally agrees with her captor. Her mind is so foggy she barely catches a glimpse of familiar red eyes before falling asleep.
'Rei…but that can't be, he just left…who?'