Claire readied the axe as she circled the troll. Their eyes in a stare down as Jasmine waited to strike. Claire glanced at the shoulder she attacked, its wounds still not healing from the axe. She was thankful that the stranger thought ahead.

Claire looked for Jasmine before she smiled, she had a good idea. She’d bait the troll like it did to her. She raised the axe and ran towards the troll. As she expected, the troll looked around for Jasmine. It flailed its arm before covering its heel and bending onto one knee. Claire ran past the troll before turning to laugh at the creature.

This got the proper response as it screamed at Claire’s taunt. Focusing solely on the girl as Claire backed up. That smile still on her face as the troll attempted to lunge towards her. Jasmine, like the professional she was, capitalized on it by slicing at the troll’s knees. Cutting off the power of the lunge as the troll landed on its face. Claire was immediately on the troll’s other shoulder as she hacked into it. The troll screamed bloody murder as she did.

She backed up, unable to get the axe out as the troll forced itself onto its feet. She had to admit, it was resilient. She gave one more hearty laugh as the troll’s face contorted in anger. It opened its mouth to scream or say something, but Elsie nailed it with a fireball. The creature’s mouth was encased in flame as Elsie’s magic burned it.

“Nice shot!” Claire shouted as she found her sword. She grasped it and ran towards the troll as it danced in a panic to put out the fire. She feinted an attack again before rolling to dodge the creature’s kick. She immediately threw the last of the potions at its feet, setting its skin on fire as Jasmine stabbed its eye. 

Claire looked at the state of the creature as its wounds were healing slower and its veins looked to be darker. Jasmine’s poison was taking its toll on the beast. Its bloodshot eye followed Claire as she moved, unable to keep up with the paladin’s movements now. She gave it another smile before she stabbed it in the knee. 

It wailed before it was struck by lightning. Its movements were slowed and its voice weakening. The four were making progress on the creature and Claire could only hope the stranger was taking care of the other one. She left her sword in the creature’s knee as she grabbed onto the axe. She pushed off of the creature, freeing the axe as she rolled away.

The troll was on its knees, the fight in its eyes leaving as it fell forward. Its head slammed into the ground as Claire rushed at it. She let out a war cry as she brought the axe down on its neck. She hacked and hacked at the troll as her anger was released at the creature. For aiming at Elsie, for taunting her, for nearly killing her. She let her anger out as she hacked at the creature’s neck.

She was pulled out of it by Jasmine as she stopped Claire’s arm. She looked tired, but she had a smile. “Claire… it’s dead.”

Claire let out a sigh as she set the axe down. She leaned on Jasmine for a moment as she recovered her breath. She looked at the creature and nearly puked. She had nearly hacked the troll’s neck in two, its blood and flesh splattered around her. She shuddered as she retrieved her sword from the troll’s knee.

“We should check on that woman.” Claire said, pulling her sword out and sheathing it. “We need to return her axe.”

Jasmine nodded as the two ran back to the cave. What they found there shocked them. The woman was not only victorious over the troll, but did so barehanded. Claire could feel her stomach roll at the sight. The troll’s face was smashed in as the woman was still pummeling it. Her punches caused the ground to rumble.

“Hey! It’s dead!” Claire shouted to her. Her eyes locked on Claire, those glowing red eyes filled with hate. Claire froze at the sight as she felt that primal fear again, before the woman jumped off the troll. She moved towards the two as Jasmine readied herself.

“Axe.” The woman said, holding out her hand. Claire was pulled out of her shock and nodded. She approached her cautiously as the clouds parted. The moon’s light illuminated the woman, giving Claire a better look at her. She had wolf and bear pelts as clothes, no armor to be seen, and white hair. Her eyes wandered the muscular body, noticing scars and her tanned skin as she did. Claire would be reacting much differently in any other scenario. This woman was hot.

“Here. Thank you for helping us.” She said, handing the axe over. The woman grunted before turning away from Claire. Claire watched as she walked away from them and away from the troll’s corpse. She walked back into the forest in the opposite direction of the other troll’s corpse. Claire was confused as she watched her disappear into the darkness.

“What the fuck?” Elsie asked as they approached the two. Her eyes widened as she saw the troll’s corpse. “Did that woman do this?”

Claire nodded as she went over to the corpse. She didn’t want to risk anything so she stabbed its neck. It didn’t react, proving it was dead. She looked back to the other three as Jasmine shrugged.

“She looked like she was from up north. There’s tribes of women who dress like and look like her.” Jasmine said, as she approached Claire. She opened her arms to hug her before whispering to her. “I’m so glad you’re safe. You looked so beaten up and I feared you died for a moment.”

Claire’s shoulders eased as she hugged Jasmine back. “Yeah… don’t even tell me what my arm looked like. I don’t even want to imagine it.” She joked back. “Let’s forget about that stranger and go to bed. I’m tired.”

Jasmine nodded as the twins joined the hug. “We’ll get the corpses tomorrow. Lily will have food for us.” She said as they broke up.

“O-okay. But that woman… she just ran into the woods. Is she going to be okay?” Ana asked as they parted.

“Look what she did to that troll Ana.” Elsie said, grabbing her sister’s hand. “She can handle herself.”

The four walked the hour long trek back to their carriage, tired and out of mana to find Lily. She had a fire going and was roasting some of the meat the farm owner gave them. She was smiling to herself as she cooked and prepped the meat. 

“Fuuuck that smells incredible.” Claire said as her stomach rumbled. Her mouth watered as her knees gave out. She fell to her knees and was caught by Jasmine.

“Surprised you made it this far.” Jasmine said in her ear as the twins sat besides her. “We’ll take care of you now.”

“Not that way… too tired but we’ll feed you.” Elsie said with a sly smile. She rested her head on Claire’s shoulder as Ana did the same. Jasmine settled behind her before Claire leaned back. She took the twins with her as they fell onto Jasmine’s lap.

“Y-yeah… I need to do more cardio.” Ana said, her breath still labored.

“I offered to train you.” Claire said as she wrapped her arms around them. Her eyelids fluttered as they felt heavy. “But tomorrow. We’ll start tomorrow.” She whispered.

Claire fell asleep in Jasmine’s lap as the three watched over her. Jasmine finally relaxed her shoulders as she recalled the state Claire was in. She confirmed with Ana how close she was to death after being struck. She had 3 health points left after that attack hit her. Her arm bent in ways it shouldn’t have and even made Jasmine queasy to remember.

“Goddess… She acts like she didn’t almost just die.” Elsie said as she traced Claire’s cheek. “I felt dread when she didn’t move at first…”

Ana nodded, “I panicked when I saw her health. I-I couldn’t even use my ward. I was s-so panicked and focused on her health.” She said, laying her head on Claire’s chest. Her heartbeat soothed Ana.

“It’s okay Ana. You did fantastically despite that.” Elsie said she knew how her sister felt. The burden of a healer was heavy and she could see Ana start to shake.

“True. You all did.” Jasmine said, staring down at the sleeping paladin. “I’m equally mad and thankful to that stranger. She ruined our plan but also took care of a troll by herself. Her axe too… It seemed different. It was able to cut off the troll’s healing.”

“Was it enchanted?” Lily asked, with plates of food in her hand. She handed the food to Jasmine as the twins moved. Their hunger took over.

“Could have been… She was from the north. Had white hair and pelt clothing. I don’t know how the tribes up there would manage that.” Jasmine said, eyeing the food. She let the twins take from the plate first before digging in. Lily had skewered the meat on sticks and cooked them over the fire. The meat practically fell apart in her mouth as she ate.

“Interesting… I’ll ask the townspeople tomorrow about it. Maybe they know something about her?” Lily asked. Jasmine just shrugged as she hovered the meat over Claire’s face. She stirred in her sleep at the smell of food. Jasmine giggled as Claire sleepily ate from the skewer. She’s glad Claire survived. She wouldn’t know what to do with herself if she lost her.

The party ate in silence as they thought over the last couple of hours. The strange woman who appeared, the near death of their lover and the troll fight. Every one of them had something to think about as they sat around the fire. Finally, after eating their fill, they lifted their sleeping lover into the carriage and joined her in slumber.

Claire: 

Level: 6

HP: 18/23

Mana: 11/11

Exp: 06

Strength: 10                Magic: 1

Dexterity: 9         Resistance: 12

Constitution: 7           Wisdom: 8  

  Charisma: 7              Divinity: 9

                                                                                               Defense: 8     

New Skills: 

Lesser Taunt: Distract your enemies with a shout. Enemies with less than or equal wisdom or resistance will redirect their attacks to you. Cooldown 150s.

Bestower’s Love: Lovers in your aura increase your strength: Increases the area of your aura and increases your strength. (1 = +1, 2 = +2, 3 = +3, 4 = +5)

Elsie: 

Level: 6

HP: 18/13

Mana: 05/23

Exp: 10

Strength: 2                Magic: 14

Dexterity: 3         Resistance: 11

Constitution: 5           Wisdom: 9  

  Charisma: 11              Divinity: 3

                                                                                               Defense: 9      

New Skills: 

Firebolt: Upgraded form of fireball. Increased the damage of your fireball and its speed.  Damage done is based off your magic stat. Cooldown 5s

Bestowed Twin’s Telepathy: Through your love, you communicate with your sister. Communicate with your twin through telepathy. Passive

Lightning Trap: Set a deadly trap of lightning. Leave a rune that explodes on contact with anybody not a part of your party. Damage done based on magic and cooldown 200s

Anastasia:

Level: 6

HP: 18/16

Mana: 00/20

Exp: 10

   Strength: 2                Magic: 1

      Dexterity: 3       Resistance: 14

Constitution: 5           Wisdom: 9  

  Charisma: 5             Divinity: 14

                                                                                                Defense: 13      

New Skills: 

Weak Healing Totem: Create a totem of healing light. Totem heals allies in its area periodically. Health of the totem is ⅓ your resistance stat, pulse is every 5 seconds. Cooldown 200s

Bestowed Twin’s Telepathy: Through your love, you communicate with your sister. Communicate with your twin through telepathy. Passive

Resistance Buff: Buff an ally’s highest defensive stat. Apply a buff to an ally that increases their defense or resistance. Strength increases with divine stat and lasts for 120s. Cooldown 500s

Jasmine: 

Level: 16

HP: 28/23

Mana: 03/16

Exp: 01

Strength: 14                Magic: 1

        Dexterity: 21        Resistance: 10

Constitution: 6            Wisdom: 7  

  Charisma: 12              Divinity: 0

                                                                                                Defense: 14      

New Skill: 

Bestowed Vengeful Lover: Retaliate against those who attack your lover. Striking a foe with this skill triples if the target attacked your lover or a bestowed lover. Damage done based on strength. Cooldown 30s

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep