The spearhead struck my blade. A jolt ran through me from tip to pommel, so strong that I squeezed my eye shut and let out a whimper. Yes, it hurt. Azeneth stumbled backward across the meadow, both hands clamped around my grip to keep me between her and the knight.
When I dared to look again, a window had appeared before me.
[Durability: 99/100]
One point. I had lost a single point and was already saying goodbye to my second life. I tried to cling to that number for reassurance, but Azeneth raised me again, and I could feel her hands trembling. I could withstand the blows. She was the one who had to keep holding me.
“Zaelia, there’s something you should know…” she said between gasps.
The knight drew his spear back and advanced again. A gray tail thrashed beneath the white surcoat covering his armor.
“Back to your cell, you damn demon!”
“I don’t know how to use a sword!” Azeneth admitted, trying to keep me in front of her chest.
“Not at all?!” I asked, hoping I had misheard her.
“Not at all! I’m a mage, and they took my staff!”
I didn’t get to ask what she expected to do with me. The spearhead came for her face again, and suddenly all I cared about was getting her out of its way.
“Azeneth, duck!”
She ducked so quickly that the spear passed over one of her twin tails and sank a short way into a tree trunk. The knight tugged at the shaft with both hands. Azeneth took the opportunity to raise me and let out a battle cry that would have inspired confidence if the swing hadn’t gone wide.
My edge never touched him. It swept through the grass, and I ended up pointing at the ground, far from the man still struggling with his weapon.
“I’m sorry…” Azeneth murmured, looking at me.
From her expression, she seemed more worried about letting me down than about the knight. I appreciated the thought, but I needed her to look back at him.
“It’s all right, but try to hit him,” I urged, trying to keep my voice from shaking as much as her hands.
The knight yanked his spear free of the trunk. A window appeared in front of my eye before I could warn Azeneth.
[Lupine Knight]
[Level: 1]
[Health: 12/12]
[Mana: 0/6]
[Attack: 6]
[Defense: 1]
The light on his spear flickered and went out. He shook the shaft as though that might light it again. That gave Azeneth a few seconds to catch her breath and me the small comfort of knowing we weren’t the only ones having trouble with a weapon.
I addressed the system without speaking aloud. Why does he seem so dangerous?
[Because the young lady holding you is learning as she goes! Such admirable initiative!]
I was hoping for advice.
[Your defense is ten and his attack is six. Try to make sure the blows land on you.]
I didn’t get to ask her to be a little more specific. The next thrust forced Azeneth back until she tripped over a root and dropped to one knee. The knight was closing too quickly for her to get up.
“Block with me!”
She brought me across her body. The spear struck my blade, sending another painful jolt through me as Azeneth’s wrists buckled under the pressure.
[Durability: 98/100]
We were both still in one piece. I repeated that to myself before speaking again, because part of me still wanted to be very far away from that spear.
“Keep me in front of you.”
“I’ll try.”
She got up, keeping me between them, and retreated into the stream. Water covered her boots. From where I was, I could see the stones between her feet, and every unsteady step made me afraid she would fall again.
“You’re done running, Demon Queen. Drop the weapon,” the knight growled.
“I’d rather keep this one!”
Azeneth held me a little closer. I would have liked to thank her, but he drew his spear back to aim at her stomach.
“To the side!”
She jumped onto a flat stone. The spearhead passed her skirt, leaving the knight leaning forward with his forearm within reach of my edge. I saw it before I knew whether I had the courage to ask her.
“Now!”
Azeneth pushed. My blade cut through his sleeve and left a red line on his arm. I forced myself to keep watching as he cried out and clutched the wound.
[Health: 8/12]
Four points. My attack was five and his defense was one. I had barely registered the difference before the spear came at us again and Azeneth had to block with me once more.
[Durability: 97/100]
“I’m struggling to hold you,” she admitted.
I wanted to help her lift me. I only needed to move a little, take some of the weight off her, but my mobility was still zero. I had to watch as the knight tried to strike her hand and she stumbled backward to avoid him.
“We can leave,” I offered. “This doesn’t have to go any further.”
He looked at his bloodied arm. Then he fixed his gaze on my eye.
“I’ll tear that damn eye out and take it to the jailer!”
He charged at Azeneth before I could answer. He didn’t lower his spear or give any sign that he would let us leave.
“Right!”
She dodged the attack. The knight entered the stream to follow her, stepped on a submerged stone, and slipped. He fell to his knees and braced himself with his injured hand to keep his face out of the water. His scream made me hesitate for a moment, until I saw that his other hand still held the spear.
“His leg!”
Azeneth raised her arms. I realized what she was about to do and corrected her before she could swing down at him.
“With the point!”
She redirected me toward his thigh. I pierced the fabric, and he dropped the spear to clutch his wound.
[Health: 4/12]
Azeneth pulled me free and stepped back, panting. The knight was still hunched over his leg. He no longer had the spear in his hand, and I didn’t want to wait for him to pick it up again.
“Let’s go!” I exclaimed.
She was lowering my point when he grabbed her dress at the waist and pulled her closer. With his other hand, he drew a knife from his belt.
“Azeneth!”
Azeneth caught his wrist with her free hand. Even so, he kept tugging at her dress to hold her close, and the knife descended toward her throat despite her resistance. Azeneth tried to drive me into him, but my point slid off his breastplate.
I wanted to push myself forward, but I couldn’t do anything on my own. The knife grazed Azeneth below the jaw and left a cut. I searched for somewhere my blade could enter, keeping my attention on the arm holding the weapon.
There. A gap beneath it.
“Higher, please!” I begged.
Azeneth adjusted my point and pushed. I felt the resistance of flesh as I went in, until the knight’s grip loosened and the knife fell into the water.
[Health: 0/12]
She pulled me out, and the knight collapsed into the stream. His tail lay motionless among the stones, and his fingers opened beside his weapon. I waited for him to draw a breath, for one of his ears to twitch, for any sign that he was going to get up again.
Nothing happened. I was still staring at the place where my point had gone in when Azeneth spoke.
“Are you all right, Zaelia?” she asked softly.
“Your neck…”
“It’s a small cut.”
She touched it before turning me toward her face. I could see the cut better from so close, and her calm reassurance was hard to accept after I had seen the knife coming down toward her.
“You helped me,” she added.
I searched for an answer. I had made him let her go. There was also someone in front of me who would never get up again, and I still didn’t know what to do with that. Before I could say anything to her, another window appeared.
[Enemy defeated]
[Experience gained: 40]
[Experience: 40/100]
[Level: 1]
[Your first victory!] the system announced in my mind. [When you reach level two, you’ll be able to acquire a new skill.]
I looked at Azeneth again. She was still holding me despite her exhaustion and her wound. If a new skill could give me some way to help her without depending entirely on her hands, I wanted to know about it.
And what will I be able to do with it? I asked, daring to get my hopes up.
[Usurpation I will let you gain skills or fragments of power from those you kill and use them with your own mana! Your enemies will contribute to your growth!]
Gaining my enemies’ powers sounded impressive. But when I looked at Azeneth, I found myself wishing for a hand to hold hers. I would have been pretty embarrassed to tell the system why I wanted one.