35 Return

"Silvia!" Samael was already poised to charge forward even if he had to lightly throw Casey aside to save her.

But as he took that first, heavy step. The seemingly unconscious Silvia quickly got up and jumped away from the jaws of the Tri-Horned Demon Wolf Beast.

Samael saw a blinding light and was forced to close his eyes and Casey's, this was then followed by a deafening explosion.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Three explosions rang, from the dust and smoke Silvia's figure emerged, followed by the Tri-Horned Demon Wolf's jaw. When Samael saw it's body it had a good chunk of its flesh blown apart and was bleeding but it would appear that it had enough strength to take Silvia with it.

Silvia was mid-air facing the beast's incoming attack, with no weapon in hand and expending almost all of her energy essence, she was at her wits end.

"Meow~" The Lion cub besides Samael also chimed in, worried for Silvia.

Samael clearly saw the broken Sword that Silvia has been using since the Recruitment test. Without hesitation he summoned his Katana and threw it at her. He boosted the throw with his Black lightning, making it travel even faster.

"Use this!"

Silvia clearly heard his voice and saw the weapon coming at her at insane speed. If she misses this opportunity the outcome was simple, she'll die. One wrong move and it's all over.

The situation made her tense but she gritted her teeth and spun clockwise. As the Katana approached her, she placed all her focus on her left hand.

The weapon approached her...and in that split second as the blade passed by her, she quickly closed her palm, firmly grabbing onto the Handle of the sword. But Silvia didn't waste any time, using the last remaining ounce of her energy essence she executed one of her killer sword moves.

Frost Sword: Seventh Kill!

She moved so fast that even Samael had a hard to follow her movement but it didn't mean he lost sight of her. He still manage to see her but it was just that...he saw seven of her.

Two of her afterimages cut the eyes of the beast, another two went for the torso. There was another two that went for the legs and lastly, her final afterimages stabbed the Tri-Horned Demon Wolf's skull.

Blood spluttered from the wounds and the beast finally fell. Silvia appeared before the beast with her afterimages disappearing. She stared at the katana, deeply analyzing it, like she wanted to unravel it's mysteries.

Who can blame her?

While her technique was very good and aimed at the vital spots, without a good sword to follow through each attack, that last technique wouldn't have been able to kill that Tri-Horned Demon Wolf. But with the katana that focused on cutting capabilities, she was able to augment the deadliness of her art.

Of course, Samael was not demeaning her effort and the strength of the art by saying that Silvia was only able to kill that beast because he lent her his Katana. In fact, Samael was impressed that in that split second after she held the Katana, Silvia managed to take into account it's strength and design. The result? She specifically chose those seven vital spots where the Weapon could present its true power.

"She has the intellect and unwavering will to back it up. Add that to her amazing, split-second decision making, she is one hell of a woman..."

Samael witnessed the entire exchanged and smiled. The Lion cub beside him already rushed toward Silvia. Looks like it was really worried about her.

"Is Big sister alright?"

He was suddenly jolted back as he remembered that he was still carrying Casey. He completely forgot about her!

Samael was embarrased and flushed a bit and he said "Of course, Big sister will be alright. She's strong you know."

With that, he walked up to Silvia, taking out a blanket and he covered her as he neared her. Silvia caught the blanket and looked at his eyes. It was like a telepathic communication, they only stared at each other's eyes, not saying a word the two of them turned their backs.

Samael put down Casey first and walked up to the corpse of the Tri-Horned Demon Wolf while Silvia was changing clothes. He would give the corpse to her later.

Casey stared at these two like they were weirdos but she sensed something between them. Maybe it's her women's intuition waking up at a young age, in the end she just chuckled there and waited for the two of them to finish with what they're doing.

As soon as Samael finished collecting the beast, he made a fire and started cooking. Silvia soon joined them dressed in a scarlet dress followed by the little white Lion cub, her cloth further highlighted her white hair. Samael was briefly stunned by her beauty but he managed to shake himself awake.

"Here." He handed her a roasted piece of meat on a stick.

He seasoned the meat with the spices he came across during the first time he went to the central plaza of Crimson Sun city. With those seasonings he was sure that the food was going to be tasty.

Silvia accepted the food, she was hesitant as first. She was a sheltered child and grew up with the strict, elitist custom of the nobles so she was a bit hesitant to eat food, prepared like this.

Samael natural saw through her thoughts, he didn't mind it. In fact, he found the face that she made really cute! He smiled and said to her "Go on, I assure you that it tastes good."

"Yeah! Big... brother's food is really great. Here, Leo." Casey chimed in, she also tore a small chuck for the Little Lion cub..

"Hey, don't talk while your mouth is full. Look at you, you got sauce on your face. Also, Leo?" Samael chided her before wiping the sauce off her face and then he said.

Casey was enjoying feeding the Lion cub as she answered "It's a Lion cub right? We should name it Leo!"

"Err..." Samael didn't know what to say and turned to Silvia, the little guy wasn't even theirs. It belonged to Silvia, also this little thing is a cub of a Mighty Heavenly beast!

Silvia met his stare and smiled, indicating that she liked the name.

"Meow~" The Little cub even appeared to like the name. Well, with the cub liking the name given to it, what more could he say? Samael sighed and gave up.

"Anyways, a lady should be a bit more refined okay?" It seemed he was scolding her but all he was doing was reminding her to be more graceful.

"Yes~" The little girl answered and she continued to eat her food, now a bit more cleanly while feeding the Leo.

"Fufu~" Suddenly they heard a cute giggle.

Samael and Casey looked over and saw Silvia looking at them with her hand on her mouth, trying to hold back her laughter. The two of them then turned to each other for a while before laughing as well.

...

After they finished eating dinner, Samael and Silvia left Casey to play with Leo while they dealt with the Tri-Horned Demon Wolf's corpse. They wanted to extract the valuable parts of it's body but the process was too bloody for a child.

Right after they finished disassembling the corpse and getting the parts that they need, Samael decided to give it all to Silvia.

"No, you helped me. You should take it." Silvia refused.

"And that's it. I just lent you my weapon but it was still you who killed the beast on your own." Samael smiled as he explained.

"But still, without your help I would've died. You should take it." Silvia refused again but now she crossed her arms, firmly refusing to take all the spoils.

Seeing her acting like this, he found this side of her to be adorable, Samael chuckled and accepted defeat.

"Fine..." Now he knows a side of her that he previously didn't know...

She hates to owe someone...

The two of them then returned back to Casey and saw that she and the Lion cub, Leo, fell asleep while cuddling.

Silvia unexpectedly started to inch forward and her face was plastered with the look of trying hard not to hug the two cute little brats.

"Ahem...I know they're cute but...try not to disturb them." Samael coughed and chided Silvia.

It would appear that she loves cute things as well.

The two of them found a spot not for away from Casey and Leo, they sat down and they were silent for a bit.

Deep inside Samael was delighted that he was able to learn some new things about Silvia. Though he was still hesitant if he was willing to fully fall for a woman, he still found discovering news things about Silvia to be a extremely wonderful feeling.

"Your kid?" Silvia abruptly asked, breaking the silence between them.

Samael was caught off guard by this sudden question and coughed out the water he was drinking.

"*Cough *Cough...Heck no!" He firmly denied.

"Really?" Silvia asked back in a flat manner like he didn't believe his word.

"I swear!"

"I believe you."

Samael was caught off guard by her sudden acceptance and asked "Just like that?"

Silvia revealed a cute, smile like she was enjoying seeing him panic.

Meanwhile, Samael was suddenly attacked by that smiled and blushed a bit. He thought to himself 'This girl...she teased me?" even now he found it hard to believe that that cold woman Silvia was now smiling innocently before him.

He suddenly felt everything vanish before that smile of her and he laughed as well.

"So what happened?" Finally she asked the important question.

The atmosphere suddenly got cold and heavy, Silvia definitely felt these changes and knew that it was related to Samael.

The smile on his face vanished and was replaced by a calm yet sad look as he explained.

"Well, it started..."

Samael began to recount the things he encountered from the very first moment he set put on the village. From meeting and saving the mother and daughter pair. How he had dinner with them and hospitality of Casey's mom. To Casey being kidnapped, him, searching for her then coming back to the mother's cold, dead body.

When Samael got here, he suddenly paused and things got more heavy, like a endless cold and darkness trying to engulf everything around him. Silvia naturally felt this unnatural feeling she got from Samael, she unconsciously tried to reach him with her hands but found out that though he was just standing there in front of her, it's like there was a impassable distance between them.

"Sa-" She tried to call out his name, she didn't like this feeling of distance between them even if she didn't know why.

But as the words began to leave her mouth Samael continued like nothing happened. "I buried her next to their house before i went to rescue Casey" At this point Samael seemed to softened as he turned to Casey.

Then he continued. "I killed all of the bandits in the bandits. Liberated the captured women and children. Then we were heading back to the academy when we encounter Leo."

"Hmm...so much happened for your first mission." Silvia felt a bit awkward because she couldn't find the right words.

"Yeah! First mission and all this shit happened but you know what?" Samael chuckled and asked.

Silvia tilted her head, waiting for Samael.

And he said "Though I regret not being able to save her mother, I want to do my best to raise her."

"You spoke as if you're her father. I knew it, she really is your child." Silvia placed her hand on her mouth, acting shocked.

"I told you I'm not!" Samael retorted at lightning speed.

Silvia stood, giggling, she placed both her hands on her back and spun once before saying to Samael.

"You did all that you could, no point bumming yourself out of it." Then she left with a smile before sleeping next to Casey and Leo.

"Heh..." Samael chuckled, thinking to himself 'that girl got me again'

"But there is one thing you got wrong Silvia...I just can't stop blaming myself. I had the power to save Casey's mom. Finally! I had the power to protect someone and I couldn't..."

He muttered to himself before staring at the night sky, feeling more dispirited than ever. But for his oath, he had put this behind him. Nevertheless, it didn't mean that he accept it.

Samael lied on the ground thinking as he stared at the night sky, he was in charge of keeping guard while Silvia and the others slept. Since he was standing in guard anyway, he might as well cultivated while he's at it.

Jumping up to a tree branch, Samael calmed himself, making sure that he was in the right state of mind. A couple of minutes later, Black lightning lightly crackled all around him and the tree branch beneath him was slowly being covered in frost.

Samael concentrated on calming the rampant Lightning element and taming the encroaching Ice Element.

Like this their group spent the night in the wilderness.

By Sunrise, Samael woke Silvia and Casey. Knowing that it was time to go, Casey didn't complain much because of the time and got ready as fast as she could but it didn't mean she was fully awake. As they began their journey back, Casey got tired and her sleepiness kicked in as well, so Samael carried her back till they returned to the City.

After three days, Samael returned to the City after finishing his first mission.