as Chloe heard what Isabel said she instantly pulled back from Mars while her face turned even more red, the blush even spread to her long ear that started to tremble slightly, but to Mars"s surprise she didn"t run away like the time he healed her she just stood there, beat red face while she looked down for a few seconds before she looked over at Isabel and Alvin that where looking at her with warm eyes before she finally couldn"t take it any more and ran off into the forest leaving Mars in a daze before he pulled himself together and looked over at Victoria that seemed unconcerned with the whole situation"...Victoria do you mind capturing her before she runs into danger"
Victoria looked up at Mars then at the forest were Chloe had ran off then finely she looked at the piece off raw meat Mars was carrying seemingly having made her decision as Mars spotted a little droll in the corner off her mouth causing Mars to let out a sigh as Isabel spoke
"i"ll go after her"
Isabel stood up and ran after Chloe into the forest leaving Mars, Victoria and Alvin that was still on the ground keeled over clutching his stomach, behind Mars s.h.i.+fted his gaze to Alvin and asked
"...Alvin are you still alive?"
"...yeah, just give me a second"
Mars gave a shrug and sat down as he began to roast some meat for himself and Victoria and after the first 3 pieces was roasted Alvin finely raised himself off the ground as Mars casually asked him
"did it really hurt that much?"
Alvin sat down on a tree stump as he rubbed his stomach before he answered still sounding a little in pain
"she usually holds back but she still is the best martial expert in the village... even her [Hand to hand combat] skill is level 5..."
Mars stopped roasting meat and looked over at Alvin with disbelief
"...seriously"
"yeah seriously, she usually hides her skills saying it"s "unladylike" but she still practices with fanatic fervor when no one"s watching... even her [Grapple] and [Open-hand strike] skills are level 4..."
Mars became a little dazed as he thought back to when Isabel had thought him basic hand to hand combat, back then he had pridefully thought the only reason he couldn"t best her was his own lack of training and control of his body
"but when she fight for real... i once saw her blow up a tree with a hit off her fist, it was so beautiful..."
"wait what?"
Mars looked over at Alvin and saw a he had a almost fanatic expression on his face as he looked off into the distance, meanwhile Rex walked out off the cabin still looking sleepy as he yawned
"first she took a perfect stance that made her seem like she was sculpted by on off the 13 archangels, then she burst forwards with all to power contained in her pretty frame and struck ---"
as Rex heard Alvin he gave a sigh and walked over behind him before he ruthlessly struck down on his head
"Alvin your habit is showing again"
"OUCH! what! is it wrong to praise your elder sisters beauty?!"
"yes it is when you keep doing it for hours without end"
"...fine"
"maybe i should tell this to Teresa"
Alvin instantly paled before he bowed deeply to Rex
"i was wrong please don"t tell Teresa!"
Mars watched their exchange with fascination before he asked Rex
"who"s Teresa?"
"it"s Alvin"s wife"
Mars looked over at Alvin and stared at him for a few seconds
"well i guess that"s no surprise, what"s she like?"
both Rex and Alvin looked away for a few seconds, before finely Alvin answered
"well she"s slightly... possessive, not that i don"t love her it"s just..."
"she sticks to him whenever he"s in the village so he ran away to become member of the barrier patrol team"
"Rex!"
"well it"s true right?"
"..."
Alvin went silent before he gave a sigh and looked over at Mars with a oddly serious look on his face
"Mars you should be careful with the princess too, elven woman are often like that"
Mars gave a nod as he knew Alvin meant Chloe when he said the princess and fell into thought, one on hand not only himself but also his half dragon instincts really wanted to... "taste" the cute young elver but on the other hand he knew that once he gave into his l.u.s.t he might fall into a really deep hole, or simply turn him into a beast and as a person that valued his intelligence that was a fate worse than death, also if he didn"t know what stance the village chief would take if he got into a intimate relations.h.i.+p with his only daughter even if it was consensual
"at worst it might make all the effort i have put into getting the elvers to like me for naught, or worse they might hunt me down... if that happened i"m not sure i would be able leave the forest alive"
"plus i don"t really want to be tied down yet"
"Mars... i"m hungry"
Mars looked down at Victoria that was lightly tugging his arm with her teeth and gave a smile as he patted her on the head and went back to roasting meat for Victoria and himself, and while they were eating Chloe and Isabel returned
"welcome back"
Mars greeted them while he was roasting the last of the meat, his focus was most on roasting meat as he knew Victoria would sulk if he burned it again so he didn"t notice something had changed about Chloe as she walked directly over to him and sat down besides him while Isabel gave her a thumbs up after witch she quickly dragged Rex and Alvin away with her, leaving Mars and Chloe alone, well almost alone as Victoria was taking her post meal nap on a tree stump a few meters away from them as Chloe took some peaks at Mars from the side before she asked him in a quiet almost inaudible voice
"...what was your old world like?"
as Mars had super hearing he had no problem in hearing what she said but as most of his memory had been deleted or maybe altered he didn"t know what to say for a moment before he started speaking about what he remembered
"well there was only humans there, i was one too.... there wasn"t any mana or magic either and most of the people lived in comfort and spread to other worlds far away while they lived without war...most of the time"
Chloe sat in silence and waited for Mars to continue while she looked at his face
"when there were war it was terrible...tens of thousands could die in an instance, but i don"t think it happened were i lived...but i could be wrong as i don"t remember much"
"i see..."
Mars feel silent as he ate the last piece off the roasted meat before he suddenly turned to Chloe and asked her
"what did Isabel tell you?"
Chloe looked away as she blushed until she finally whispered
"...that if i keep running away nothing will change"
when she finished her blush spread all the way to her ears and Mars half expected her to run away, only she didn"t she just sat there with a red face while her eyes darted everywhere except him as she played with her hair while her long elven ears trembled slightly, causing Mars to all in all have a hard time holding himself back from jumping on her
"maybe just a little "taste" would be fine... no, i must hold back... at least for now"
Mars looked away from Chloe, fearing she would wear down the last of his defenses as his brain worked in overdrive to find a topic to talk about, until Alvin, Isabel and Rex returned saving Mars from the silence although Chloe gave them a not-so-pleased look while she pouted but Alvin seemingly ignoring her walked over to Mars
"do you have some time?"
Mars looked up at Alvin and saw he had a oddly serious look on his face and gave a nod, Alvin"s expression eased a little and gave a glance to Chloe before he gave a wave signaling him to follow before he turned and away, leaving Mars a little puzzled but he still stood up and followed after him all the way to the other end of the clearing
"so what is it?"
Alvin gave a sigh before he went straight to the point
"we need to return to the village"
"...why?"
"well..."
Alvin scratch the back off his head looking a little embarra.s.sed
"we have revived orders to return from the village, or at least to head to a nearby outpost"
Mars became even more puzzled and could not help but ask
"...how did you revive that order?"
"we revived it by eagle just now"
"...how did that eagle even find you?"
"that"s... well, Isabel know"s a spell called earth pulse"
Mars narrowed his eye and gave Alvin a glare before he continued asking
"and how does this "earth pulse" spell work"
"it"s a one-way communication to the village, under my orders she have been sending 3 messages to the village everyday for the past 2 months..."
"and what are dose?"
"..."status normal", "unable to move" and "don"t come near""
Mars went silent and stroked his chin for a few seconds before he gave a sigh
"okay then let"s go tomorrow, i need to prepare for the rest of the day so don"t disturb me"
finished saying what he wanted Mars turned around and walked back to the cave leaving Alvin behind
"it"s a little earlier then expected but that fine i guess"
Mars had long since expected that his 4 "captives" was in contact with Green river village in some way so he wasn"t all that surprised so he quickly made a packing list in his head as went into the cave
"first i need to make a backpack and some kind off bedroll... i also need a new vest"
Mars quickly began sewing with a bone needle and the ample supply off leather and hide he had piled op in the cave from hunting while he thought about how Green river village would be
"the first piece of civilization i will see in this world... can"t say i"m not excited"