I quickened my pace toward the direction where I felt the presence. If they were still alive, there was no time to waste.
A few minutes later, I stepped onto a small clearing.
There, at the edge of it, lay a group of five people leaning against the trunks of trees.
Or… if they could even be called that.
At first glance they looked human. But the longer I looked, the clearer the differences became.
Neat, curved horns of various shapes and lengths. Some short and swept back, others thin and stretching upward. Tails were visible beneath their clothing.
Their skin tones were perfectly human — not red or purple like in some fantasy stories. If not for the horns and tails, they could easily pass for ordinary people.
From what I could tell… they were tieflings.
At least they looked very similar to the ones I knew from games and fantasy.
Three of the five were nearly unconscious, while the other two were desperately trying to keep them alive.
Two girls were kneeling in front of the wounded, focusing on healing magic. A soft glow flowed from their hands, slowly closing the wounds on the bodies of the three warriors.
But even from a distance it was obvious — they were almost out of strength.
Still, that wasn't the most important thing right now.
I decided to step out of hiding and called out to them.
.
.
.
The two girls were trying desperately to heal their companions, but they were almost completely drained.
They themselves were exhausted — their breathing uneven, their hands trembling from strain. Over the past few hours they had barely managed to stay on their feet. And the warriors' wounds… were too deep and severe for ordinary healing magic to handle. It could slow the bleeding, but it couldn't fully restore damaged tissue.
With every passing moment, the aura of the wounded grew weaker.
It seemed impossible to save the ones who had protected them all the way through the forest.
Just when hope was nearly gone, an unfamiliar but pleasant voice called out from behind them.
They spun around instantly, almost simultaneously drawing their blades and pointing them toward the source of the voice.
Standing before them was a young silver-haired girl of small stature.
She looked completely out of place in their current situation.
— Let me take a look at them.
The two girls still held their blades ready, but after exchanging a glance they allowed the stranger to approach. They had nothing left to lose.
The girl stepped closer and knelt beside one of the warriors. Calmly, she placed her palm on his chest.
For a moment nothing happened.
Then a soft light appeared beneath her hand.
The wounds began closing at astonishing speed. The bleeding stopped, and the skin restored itself as if it had never been damaged.
Within seconds the warrior looked completely healthy.
He was no longer unconscious — his breathing had become slow and steady. Now he was simply sleeping.
The girl repeated the same process with the other two wounded warriors.
When she finished, she turned to the two girls and gave them a warm smile.
.
.
.
I walked up to the wounded man and knelt beside him.
The two girls were still pointing their blades at me, but I ignored it. I had no ill intentions.
I placed my palm on the warrior's chest and performed a quick analysis.
He had several deep wounds, broken ribs, and his entire body was covered in cuts and bruises.
I activated "Analysis" to determine how to stabilize him.
A few seconds later, a clear sequence of actions formed in my mind — something I could reproduce.
First — "Absorption." I drew the remaining poison out of his body.
Then I directed part of my own magical essence, converting it into life energy.
As soon as the process began, the wounds closed one after another, and the broken bones gradually restored themselves.
Moments later he was completely healed and simply sleeping.
The only thing I couldn't fix was the torn clothing. I hadn't reached that level yet.
I repeated the same process for the other two.
Soon all three of them were just sleeping.
I stood up and turned toward the two girls with a slight smile.
The expressions on their faces had changed — fear replaced by confusion and obvious shock.
They had spent so much effort trying to keep those three alive… and then I appeared and finished everything in seconds.
— Done.
I tried to say it calmly… but judging by their reactions, it didn't come across that way.
— What the…
— How did you just…
They couldn't even form a proper question.
— Relax. And please lower your blades.
After a short pause, they obeyed, and I continued.
— I healed them. They just need rest now.
For a few seconds, silence hung in the air.
— Who are you?
Right.
I hadn't introduced myself yet.
We exchanged names briefly. Then I explained that I had simply been walking nearby, sensed a weak presence, and decided to check it out. When I realized someone was wounded, I came here as quickly as I could.
In response, they told me their story.
Their village had been attacked, and they were forced to flee. In the forest they ran into part of the attackers — a short battle followed. They managed to escape and retreat deeper into the woods, but since then they had been wandering for three days in search of any kind of settlement.
At first they had assumed I was one of their pursuers.
But after taking a closer look at my clothes, they relaxed a little… though they still kept their weapons ready.
After everything they had been through over the past few days, trusting a stranger wasn't exactly easy.
We agreed that I would stay with them until the three "sleepers" woke up, and then I would lead them to our village.
There they could calmly explain what had happened… and finally have a proper meal.
.
.
.
About half an hour later — maybe a little more — the wounded began to wake up in the same order Rein had healed them.
The first to wake was a blue-haired guy with a red streak along the side of his hair. He sat up abruptly and immediately started checking his body, making sure the wounds that had nearly killed him were really gone.
Finding nothing, he froze for a second before quickly looking around.
Two girls were nearby, and a short distance away two others were just beginning to wake up, slowly sitting up and rubbing their eyes.
The guy looked back at the two girls who had been conscious from the beginning and frowned.
— How… did you manage that?
The girls exchanged glances, then silently pointed toward the unfamiliar figure standing nearby.
— It wasn't us… — one of them said quietly. — Thank him.
The guy turned his head in the direction they pointed.
A short, beautiful silver-haired girl stood a little distance away. When she noticed him looking, she smiled and casually waved.
The boy frowned.
— Him?
The girl stepped closer and extended her hand.
— Exactly. My name is Rein.
The guy hesitated for a second before shaking her hand.
— Zorru.
Even though the being in front of him clearly looked more like a girl than a boy, he had introduced himself as male.
Zorru stood up while still holding Rein's hand and nodded in gratitude.
— Thank you… for helping us.
He didn't ask how exactly the healing had been done, but the look in his eyes made it clear — he appreciated it.
Especially considering that his sister, who knew healing magic, had been unable to treat wounds like those. And Rein had done it alone… and apparently without much effort.
That spoke for itself.
Meanwhile the other two had approached as well. They still looked slightly confused, but they were standing firmly now.
— Thank you, — one of them said briefly.
— We… owe you, — the other nodded.
Zorru looked around, then turned back to Rein.
— But we should probably get going. It'll be dark soon, and we need to find shelter. Sorry… we have nothing to repay you with.
The two behind him nodded in agreement.
But the girls standing on either side of Rein rolled their eyes at the exact same time.
Zorru frowned.
— What?
The blue-haired girl with the red streak — identical to his — let out a tired sigh.
— Where exactly are you planning to go, heroes? Haven't you had enough of wandering the forest for three days?
Zorru swallowed awkwardly, clearly feeling the pressure from his sister.
The second girl immediately added:
— That "kind person," by the way, offered to let us stay the night in the village he comes from. Not just that. We could tell them what happened… and provide useful information.
Zorru hated owing anyone, which was why he had wanted to leave as quickly as possible.
But this time the girls were right.
They had been wandering the forest for days — without proper food, without rest, exhausted and wounded. Even if their injuries were gone now, that didn't mean their strength had returned.
In a village they could finally eat properly, rest… and recover at least a little.
It was the reasonable option.
But there was one problem.
And it was exactly what they were.
— But what will the people of your village say when you bring us there?
Rein tilted his head slightly, clearly confused.
— What do you mean?
Zorru's sister hesitated for a moment. It seemed that in all the chaos she hadn't thought about that before.
— You see… — she began carefully. — Humans don't really like monsterborn like us.
.
.
.
Zorru asked a question that made me tense up a little.
And honestly, not without reason.
In this world, monsterborn were treated… not particularly well. And the tieflings standing in front of me clearly fell into that category.
I hadn't even thought about how the villagers might react to them.
But I wasn't going to leave them here.
They had been lucky today that I happened to be nearby. If I left them in the forest, next time luck might not be on their side.
Without food or water they wouldn't last long.
And their equipment wasn't great either. At best D-rank.
Worn leather armor and ordinary metal swords — not exactly ideal against the creatures around here, many of which reached C-rank… or higher.
I decided to simply bring them to the village and deal with everything else once we got there.
Hopefully Garen wouldn't be angry about it… and the village elder and the others wouldn't greet them with torches and pitchforks.
Though… if I think about it, I'm not exactly human either.
So if necessary, that might actually be a decent argument.
— Alright, we'll figure it out when we get there. For now… follow me.
And we started moving toward the village, heading deeper into the forest along the same path I had used to get here.