Chapter 30 – Game or Hell (1)

“Different from monsters and beasts, we, the intelligent races, have wisdom and we don't fight using just our instinct. That is the reason because we normally have the advantage when battling monsters, do you understand?”

Aleen mind was still in the fight against the monster, so he didn’t hear D’vina’s voice clearly, but he nodded regardless.

D’vina continued speaking when she saw Aleen nod. “However, you fight against the monster was completely messy. If not because you first attack connected hence scaring the monster then you probably would have been the one in the losing end.

“Where was the swordsmanship that you supposedly practiced?” She asked. “Besides the first attack that had a very slight trace of swordsmanship, the rest of your movements were messy! The monster practically was playing with you! To be honest, the only reason because you won was your skill and that you were lucky! And even with it, four people died and two more are injured!”

D’vina’s scolding finally woke up Aleen from his reverie. He had to admit that he committed many mistakes during the fight. From the moment when his skill failed, Aleen was too nervous to face the fight calmly.

Four people died and Aleen could not avoid thinking that he was responsible for it. If he kills the monster with the first attack, then none of them would be dead.

Besides it, it was a big oversight to not confirm how often he could use his skill continually. Though he trained using his skill on earth, he only concentrated on how many times he could use it and normally rested after using it once. If not because of this fight, Aleen wouldn't know that he was unable to use his skill continuously.

Looking towards D’vina, he decided to ask her about it.

“Why did the skill not work when I tried to use it the second time?”

“… So that was what happened? I was wondering why you seemed so out of it.” D’vina replied. “It’s common sense that it’s hard to use skills continuously when you just acquire it. This is something called ‘Cooldown’ and happens because your body is unable to endure the burden of using the skill continuously. One of the main goals that every skill user chases to become stronger is being able to use their skills at will, but you clearly not only have an issue with the cooldown but also with the number of times you can use your skill.”

Aleen lowered his head when he heard it. To be honest, he thought that he was someone incredible after acquiring a skill, but only after this fight, he noticed that he had many shortcomings. He was not even sure of being able to win against the level two monster if he has to fight it again.

D’vina shook her head seeing it and gave him a piece of advice. “Skills are the most important things for the enlightened, boy; as spells are the most important thing for mages. Though it’s alright to dedicate part of your focus to other things as mana and swordsmanship, the most important thing must always be your skill. Of course, my situation is a bit different; the origin of my skills is the sword, so the sword is as important as the skills for me.”

“… I understand.” Aleen nodded.

“Make sure to understand every detail of your skill from now onwards, boy. You must learn your skill’s limitations and train to eliminate it. The more versatile your skill is, the easier it will be to advance towards the next level.”

Aleen memorized D’vina’s words seriously. It was obvious that he had to search for a place to practice his skills without fear. Using the forest was not a long-term solution, and the risk of being discovered was too great.

If he would have trained on his skill more, he would have discovered the cooldown and maybe reacted better when the first attack failed to kill the monster.

Seeing that Aleen took her words seriously, D’vina then turned towards the others. “You all, stop crying! I can’t believe that none of you was able to stop the monster for a second. If not because the girl reacted fast enough, five would have died instead of four.”

The people in the surroundings looked towards D’vina while trembling in fear. It was obvious that they were too shocked after seeing four people die before their eyes.

D’vina’s ice-cold expression showed a brief moment of irritation before signaling a to a man between them. “You, go and check the condition of the girl that the monster attacked first. Though I can feel that she is alive, I don’t know if she can continue with the game.” Then, she looked to the girl that Aleen saved a moment ago. “You too, stop spacing out. Search something to stop the bleeding in your hand before it’s too late.”

“… M-My h-hand… m-my hand…” The girl ignored D'vine and wept while holding her hand.

“Stop crying!” D’vina repeated, stopping the girl’s weeping with a shout. “Stop your bleeding if you want to live and stop crying if you don't want to attract another monster here!”

The girl finally regained her senses and tried to stop her bleeding, but she began to cry again when she could not find something to bandage her wound.

Aleen stepped forward before D’vina could speak again. Coming before the girl, he ripped part of his shirt and used it to stop the bleeding. “Calm down, calm down. It’s alright.” He said soothingly, unsure if he was trying to calm the girl or calm himself.

After a few seconds, Aleen managed to stop the bleeding. The girl held her hand with tears running from her eyes. With a small voice, she spoke.

“T-Thanks…”

“Don’t worry.” He smiled forcedly before patting the girl's shoulder. “But it’s better if you stop crying and think about how to survive in this place."

The girl looked towards Aleen briefly and nodded her head. She then used her hand to clean the tears in her check and put a determinate expression.

“Y-You are right! Something like this is not enough to take me down!”

Aleen smiled and helped her to stand. Then, the pair walked towards the place where the man brought the other injured girl.

D’vina was frowning briefly while looking to her. When she saw that Aleen came, she shook her head and spoke coldly.

“She is too injured to continue. The best option is to kill her and ger her out of her misery.”

“Y-You cannot!” The girl that came with Aleen shouted after hearing D'vina. “She is still alive; how can you kill her!?”

Aleen also made an astonished expression. D’vina saw it and furrowed her brows, with an ice-cold expression, she said. “This place is filled with monsters, if we don't kill her, then the monsters will do it and she will suffer more then.”

“W-We can take her with us!” The girl said while suppressing her fear of D’vina. “One of us can carry her!”

“Who will carry her then?” D’vina said with an interested expression as if looking to an idiot.

Aleen was going to raise his hand, but D’vina stopped him with a glance. With a frosty tone, she scolded him. “I forbid you from doing it. You are my assistant, and I will not allow you to carry a dead weight that only will make it impossible for you to fight.”