One Week Later...
I continued leaping from one tree to the other, swiftly avoiding any chances if falling to my death.
Time to time I rested on one of the trees to preserve my stamina before I continued leaping to another one.
I've been trying to find a way out of this forest for so long, and I think I might be getting closer as the monsters not only habe gotten lesser, they no longer are those behemoths and hell spawns that can turn me to paste whenever and however, now the ones down below are slightly more minor monsters, but still dangerous. For example, Centaurs. Creatures with a human upper body and bull bodies as their lower body. They aren't as strong as Giant Wolves, which were effectively the weakest monsters in the deeper side of the forest, but strong enough to still kill me with a swing of an arm.
I stayed above ground for a while till I found a group of armed men guarding a campsite as a bunch of Dire Wolves surrounded them.
The men weren't exceptionally armed as they were only equipped with leather gear, some wielding bows and arrows, others using swords and shields, a few holding spears, even fewer holding tower shields, and one holding a staff.
"Don't let them get through! If the madam ever gets hurt, all of us are better off dead in this fucking forest than ever stepping foot back home!"
The armed group let out loud grunts, acknowledging his words. The Dire Wolves lunged at them and the group began their battle. They were already heavily outnumbered that, if the space wasn't so limited, they could have been annihilated in a mere few seconds.
But I wasn't letting anyone die.
What? Am I acting like a hero? There's a difference between saving someone because you want to and saving someone because they're your only way out of this damned forest.
And I need a way out of this stupid place.
"[Aqua Beam]!"
A ball of water was co jured on my palm before blasting a highly concentrated stream to some of the Dire Wolves that aren't locked it combat.
Reacting immediately after witnessing some of their pack dying, the rest of the Dire Wolves spotted me. A few lunged at me, aiming to eat me as I was dropping from the air, but I didn't let them.
"[Pressure Crusher]!"
A massive force of wind suddenly pushed down a bunch of the Dire Wolves, locking them on the ground unable to stand as the strength of the wind prevented their ability to move around.
Taking advantage of some of the wolves still distracted with the group who I assume might be mercenaries of sorts, I first tried to kill the surrounding Dire Wolves.
"[Earth Bullets]!"
A few chunks of dirt flew up from the ground before splitting to much little pieces and forming into bullets. The bullets launched themselves to the other Dire Wolves at fast speeds, either killing them by striking the head, rendering them immobile by harming their legs, or just wounding them.
The numbers of the Dire Wolves slowly began to dwindle enough that I could start helping the mercenaries.
"[Fire Ball]!"
Conjuring up a ball of fire, I shot it to the remaining Dire Wolves before switching my attention to the wolves currently locked in combat with the mercenaries... Or not.
The Dire Wolves were already dead once I looked, meaning the mercenaries were now watching me.
"Who... Are you?"
One of them asked.
But before I could answer, my instincts kicked in, making me leap forward, avoiding an incoming attack from a Dire Wolf... Oh wait, I forgot, Pressure Crusher doesn't kill immediately of the monster is durable enough to handle strong winds. But I guess Dire Wolves are much more durable than I thought they were.
"[Thunder Bolt]!"
Lightning was shot by a mercenary and struck the surviving group of Dire Wolves, effectively killing all of them in an instant. I guess I wasn't exactly needed to help but I guess being outnumbered and protecting someone inside their camp at the same time might have gave them limited ability to fight with their all... Oh well, at least I helped.
"Are there no more Dire Wolves, Ashton?"
A woman asked as she came out of the big tent in the campsite of theirs. She wore clothing clearly meant for nobles, except it was worn beneath some light armor. She walked towards the mercenaries as she looked around, seeing corpses of the Dire Wolves.
When her eyes spotted me, she looked curious.
"Who are you?"
The same question one of the mercs asked me. I don't really think there's any reason to hide it as the Church who sent me here probably forgot about me thinking that I'm probably dead by now.
"Alexis."
"I see... Do you live around here?"
I shook my head, whicj rather surprised the woman.
"Then... Why are you here?"
"Uh... I was abandoned here when I was younger..."
That's about everything that I could say if I summed up the reason why I am here excluding my title as the "Child of Magic" and the "Prodigy of Arcana".
She was stunned, and so were the mercs.
"... How long have you been here?"
"If I remember correctly... I think I was still 6 when i was left here."
The group looked at me in shock and pity... Okay, I think I can understand considering the bullshit that I saw deep in this forest.
"You're coming with me."
With no warning whatsoever, the woman grabbed me in the blink of an eye and put me in one of the caravans that weren't wrecked in the battle against the Dire Wolves earlier.
"Get ready to pack up! We're leaving right now!"
The woman commanded, to which all the mercenaries... I keep calling them mercenaries without even knowing if they truly are mercenaries... Anyway, they immediately began packing all of their stuff including the tents and the other supplies in the campsite.
Once they finished, all the items were packed into the surviving caravans. Supplies unable to fit on the fewer caravans were burned to ash by their mage.
It didn't take long for us to eventually depart from the campsite and are now on the way to leaving the forest...
Wait a minute, am I being kidnapped???