NPC Code: Red Riding Hood

The stick landed on Match's clothes and pinned her at the hazel bark. With a sudden blow, the arrow latched onto the little girl, disabling her movements. Match tried wiggling her body and escaping the bolt, trapping her, but she couldn't. No matter how hard she tried, the dart remained in place. She grunted at every attempt, but it was futile to do anything at her will.

Match's flames couldn't reach me as they plummeted to the ground. The violent red flames wore out before they could even touch my feet. My shaft was twice as faster than her spell, disrupting her focus at targeting me.

I couldn't even see my arrow drifting towards Match until it hit her body.

I raised my hands and brushed off my victorious battle against Match's face. What we were doing right now was a competition between us. Match could not help but let out a snicker as she accepted her defeat. We filled the scene with vibrant waves of laughter right after our sparring battle.

"Fine. You win this round. I did not want to burn my hands, and I did not want to make you worry about it," Match explained, while I pulled the arrow stuck on the tree. "Thank you for helping me with that arrow and helping me train."

"Well, I have experienced what it's like on an actual battlefield. That helped me a lot. And you're just starting, and improved way more than I have expected," I remarked, and caressed Match's head.

"But first, let me see your hands," I added. "I hope the burns did not reach your shoulders or left a mark near your neck, Match."

Our expressions turned sour as Match heard my words. But I needed to inspect her and monitor her hands. If the blaze injured her body, it would only mean one thing.

'Match was not ready for battle.' That line haunted me and created a nightmare from before.

Match offered me her fingers for me to inspect. Since every time Match used her skills, that fire also burned her body. It served as a double-edged sword for the little girl. I cannot stress enough how deadly Match's powers were to her, but it could be a weapon to defend herself during dangerous times.

"You're a lucky girl," I stated, and flashed Match a smile. "You have slight burns all over your fingertips, but not enough that I would consider it lethal. I think you're ready to fight against bad people, Match."

"That means you won't leave me, right?" Match asked. Her eyes stared at me with her fingers curling like a ball. Even her ears were pointing at my face as she listened to my reply.

I tilted my head over to the side, surprised at the question thrown at me. "Why would I leave you, especially since you can use your magic now? However, you need to-,"

Before I could continue my sentence, the little girl leapt from the ground and danced with glee. Match even sang a song about delighted she felt. With every tap of her feet, her upper limbs followed. She created a fine tune that only she and I knew about the music.

Her face told me everything I needed to know. After hearing my words, Match had never felt delighted in her life. That grin carved on her face could reach the entire island of Freiy.

While Match pranced with the grass, embers conjured by her hands fluttered around her. It was not a spell that she conjured, but my system identified the magic otherwise. It also did not increase the surrounding temperature like it should do when there was a fire. As I moved closer to the sparks, my eyes widened with glee.

"It looks like there are one million fireflies all over the place," I reacted, and counted the glowing orbs. But after a few seconds, I realised that there was no way for me to tally them inside my head.

Even Match, who owned the ability, expanded her eyes as she saw the red and yellow spheres floating around her. Those flames never burned her, unlike her violent spells.

Match looked at me and remarked, "What's happening, Red? Why am I seeing these sparkling thingies?"

She nearly panicked after seeing such a different scene. But I nudged towards her and tapped Match's shoulders, telling her that everything was okay.

"Those lights won't hurt you."

Match believed my words. She confided everything to me, since I was the only one she had. I placed my trust in her, since Match was the only person who paved my road.

After our fight, we settled in for tonight and prepared for our campfire. I chopped down some dry woods while Match created fire to the bonfire. We cooked some spare boars I caught from before and cooked it under the blaze.

Match and I talked about myriad things, but those topics had no relationship to our goal.

The conversation finished around two hours. Match gave out a yawn, telling me it was time for her to sleep. I stood up from our make-shift bed and did what I do best. It was guarding our vicinity for any players or feral animals.

After four hours, I would switch places with Match.

.....

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead! We're going on a trip!" I announced, and put out the fire with a bucket of water.

"I found a stream. Maybe it would lead to a nearby village or even an ocean." I added, while pulling Match from her bed.

The little girl moaned and wiped her eyes. She peered at her orbs open and greeted me with a faint smile.

"Morning, Red. And I thought lake leads to nothing?" Match asked.

What Match said was also correct. When we saw the lake before, I thought that this would lead us nowhere in our journey. However, upon visiting the body of water once again, a stream of oil polluted the stream.

It only meant one thing. We were close to the dwarven empire.

Only the dwarves could produce oil that came from minerals and fossils that they have inside their caves. I only heard about the dwarven place from my mother. That site was not something that players or NPCs could live for the rest of their life.

The dwarven empire did not have any life forms surrounding the place. Animals, monsters, and plants refused to grow on that toxic land. Thanks to the acrid scents of minerals and coals coming from the cavern, other species found it strenuous to make a habitat beside the dwarves.

And because of that industry that the dwarves had, they had no choice but to send quests to the players for food and supplies. There was an adventurer guild living on that land. However, nobody wanted to enter the place, despite the task opened by the dwarves.

The dwarves paid little to the missions they posted on the bulletin boards. They would request one kilogram of food with the price of five copper coins. These dwarves would even scam the players for making a weapon for the amount of food they needed for the day. But the weapon that they would build would shatter after one use.

My system told me about this. This information was only on the surface of the dwarves' descriptions.

"There's oil on the water, Match. It only means that the dwarves are close by our tracks. We only need to reach thirty miles to reach that place," I stated, and directed my gaze towards the lake.

"Thirty miles!!!!! That's a lot! We're not even halfway there!" Match reacted. A spirit of some sort escaped from Match's mouth, but I caught it on time and returned it inside her body.

"And didn't you tell me that there was a village?" Match asked.

I gave her a nod. "Yes. But we will only stay there to collect some supplies. After getting what we need, we would get out of that place, got it?"

After our exchange, Match and I trod forward. The moistened land kissed our feet, almost sinking us towards the ground. But the land was not like the quicksand I experienced before. This floor was just annoying for us to move onwards. We needed to exert more effort than we used to as we sauntered to this place.

But there was no other way than to take this road. All we had to do was wait for everything to appear before us.

The atmosphere surrounding the place changed into something more sinister. The green trees that Match and I thought harmless turned into eyes that glared in our direction. No birds hovered beside us. Or even animals that would welcome our presence never appeared before our sight. We did not even step on various plants aside from the grass that we commonly know.

"Something doesn't feel right," I uttered, and peered into my eyes ahead of us.

There were countless houses on the other side of the extensive lake. However, the atmosphere was not lively as I had expected.. It was as if there was somebody who died in the town.