After fending Cooper off, Lyria and Livy reunited under a rocky hill.
They were no longer as easygoing as before.
Livy was especially cautious. She tracked every movement around them. The next time Cooper attacked, it would surely be deadly, and she might not survive such an assault with just her intuitive reflexes.
The same was true for Lyria, but she was always cautious—now more than ever.
"We should stay within the shades and near the trees, avoiding open areas," Lyria reminded Livy, who nodded.
Livy wasn't stupid and could understand by now why Cooper had attacked them at that location instead of any other place.
It was clearly an open area where Cooper attacked. In other words, he was declaring that he wasn't confident in dealing with them swiftly in a forested area, and this also gave away that he probably wasn't adept at maneuvering within forests.
"After we regain our breath, let's speed up," Lyria suggested as they walked.
Livy nodded and continued moving alongside Lyria while remaining vigilant of their surroundings.
Although Lyria and Livy had faced a truly life-threatening danger and now might face an uncompromising attack, neither wished to return to town—they didn't even discuss it.
To them, whether subconsciously or consciously, they wouldn't abandon their original intent to find Eric on this excursion. Also running back just because they faced a deadly situation wasn't something their spirits could tolerate.
Their fire of determination and conviction burned vigorously within them. They could die, but they wouldn't take the easy way out.
Perhaps in others' eyes, Lyria and Livy's current actions were stupid, and the smart decision would have been to take the chance while Cooper recovered from his injury to rush back to their safe haven—the Orphanage.
But if they were so scared and worried for their lives, then it would have been better if they had just rotted and cried their tears out while worrying only for Eric within the Orphanage, instead of venturing into a dangerous forest in the first place.
They didn't—because they had hands and legs.
If being smart meant taking too much caution and being scared to take risks, then they weren't worthy of anything in their lives.
They both felt that if they were so afraid, it would have been better to be housewives for some noble scions in town than to train so hard under Bella Noll's tutelage.
The training they endured under Bella Noll wasn't the kind everyone could or would be willing to go through. Not everyone had that kind of willpower or tenacity—it was that hellish.
After Lyria and Livy had recovered enough, they started sprinting, leaving as few clues as possible. They hoped the one-eyed bastard would see less and stumble into a wolf's den to become their meal.
Soon it was evening, and Lyria and Livy hadn't encountered Cooper. But along the way, they had to kill a giant black panther. Sadly, the beast was hard to shake off—it chased them relentlessly, as if its determination to make them its meal rivaled their own determination to find Eric.
After Livy drove her knife into the overgrown black cat, killing it, she was completely out of breath. Lyria was too. But the more they found themselves in such condition, the more cautious they became of their surroundings—alert for any unexpected ambush. Bella Noll had taught them to stay vigilant even after winning a battle.
Unfortunately, Lyria and Livy had no way to clean up the bloody mess after killing the panther. They tossed its body aside in the open and fled the area. If they were lucky, another beast would devour the corpse. If not, Cooper might find it.
After night had fallen, an idea flashed through Livy's mind, and she quickly suggested, "Ly, what if instead of running, we take the initiative and end this one-eyed bastard for good?"
Lyria knew Livy wasn't joking, so she asked, "What's your plan?"
It was indeed best to Cooper once and for all—then they could focus entirely on searching for Eric. The journey would likely take over a week, and constantly fearing ambush from a Mana Wielder was exhausting. They wouldn't even be able to rest properly.
A Warrior not only had much better vision even at night compared to mortals, Cooper also didn't need to rest as much as Lyria and Livy.
Overall, it was a losing battle if they dragged this hide-and-seek game for too long.
Livy smirked and suggested, "Let's kill another big animal and let Cooper find it while we wait for an ambush."
Lyria's eyes gleamed. It was indeed a plausible plan.
But ambushing a Warrior, especially at night, was not a smart decision, though waiting for morning wasn't either, as they might lose their lives due to exhaustion.
Livy's idea of taking the first offense rather than passively waiting for Cooper's attack was brilliant, and possibly the only way to eliminate him entirely too. Otherwise, merely defending and counterattacking might not work next time. There was a high chance both might die during Cooper's next ambush, as he would no longer hesitate to use his sword.
Cooper was now aware of both their capabilities. Also neither she nor Livy would abandon the other in danger, so this was their only way to end their constant worry.
Lyria thought deeply on how to proceed, as she also needed to plan an escape route for both of them if their plan failed.
It wasn't entirely hopeless either, mainly because Cooper had lost his one eye, and he still hadn't had enough time to get used to using only one eye, especially at night.
The only worry was if Cooper caught them before they could ambush him.
And another thing to consider was they needed to end the fight in one shot; otherwise, if that failed, they could only escape.
After thinking it through, Lyria grinned and nodded at Livy.
"We don't need to kill another animal for this. We already have something that Cooper will definitely lose his senses for."
Livy was confused, but Lyria didn't explain further.
Ambushing a Warrior while just being a Mortal was something Eric would definitely do, as he was that crazy sometimes, and it was rather quite an attractive side of his to both her and Livy. After all, they were fighters, not stage performers. If someone was constantly worried and always taking safe and 'smart' decisions, then that person wouldn't hold much charm in their eyes.
Neither Lyria nor Livy had noticed that their mentality had changed after their previous battle with Cooper. Otherwise, even if they wished to do something like ambushing a Warrior as a Mortal, they would still hesitate and not agree to it as easily as they were doing now.
-
It was a hellish journey for Jack Eldridge.
He had been running everywhere while chasing after Cooper, and he, being just a Mortal, found the difficulty far higher.
He had to be fast enough to catch up with Cooper, and if he failed, he would get scolded like he had never been since his birth. He also had to run through difficult-to-traverse places in the forest as a Mortal, while carrying a heavy sword behind him and his own blade at his waist.
Jack was very tempted to drop his own blade to be a little faster and catch up with Cooper, and just as he was about to, he was once again scolded by Cooper for being useless.
What did Cooper mean by useless? He was only trying to support Cooper better!
Jack completely ignored the fact that losing one's weapon in a danger-filled location was like the most amateurish mistake one could make. Losing an arm would be a lot more acceptable than losing one's head. And to protect one's head, especially within a dangerous forest, was to keep one's weapon close, so one could swiftly use it when the need arose.
Jack followed behind Cooper, panting.
He was the one who was most disappointed with his uncle.
'Just how useless are you as a Warrior?!'
Not only had Cooper failed miserably, but he had also lost his eye, and after that, he wasn't even carrying his own weapon with the excuse that he needed to recover and be at his best strength to kill both his wives!
'How damn useless!'
Jack still couldn't digest that this easy capture-and-enslave mission, which should have been so simple, was completely ruined because of his uncle's carelessness. And the most ridiculous fact was that he was the one who was constantly being scolded for being useless.
How absurd!
And now Jack was suffering like never before, with mosquitoes, ants, spiders, and whatnot biting him at every chance they got. And despite all this, he now even had to lose both his wives!
Jack was filled with hatred and resentment toward Cooper.
If not for being no match, he would have stabbed Cooper in his open back with his own heavy longsword for being so useless! His uncle was better off in his grave than being such a failure and pain to him.
Jack completely forgot for whom Cooper had even taken today's action—or the one six years ago, where he had lost his right wrist.
As the sun was setting, Jack was about to relax, but then he saw Cooper still planned to continue tracking.
Jack got even more annoyed. He was very tired! Give him some rest!
He swiftly cried out, "Uncle, let's rest. We will continue tomorrow!"
Cooper turned back toward Jack with extreme disappointment.
How could Jack shout while inside a forest? Forget Lyria and Livy—this was very much informing every predator that there was a weakling human here.
Cooper was also tired.
He had not only suffered great pain in his brain and lost one of his eyes, along with a lot of blood, but he was still pushing forward so they could all return home and relax.
But his good nephew wasn't just being unsupportive—he was constantly whining, dragging him down, and providing foolish suggestions nonstop.
Everything he had done was for his nephew. Couldn't Jack just shut up and suffer a little longer, and then they could both relax? Did he think Mana Wielders were omnipotent and could do everything possible?
Cooper paused mid-step and sighed.
He wanted to end Lyria and Livy quickly. It was already lucky that both girls hadn't left the forest—he was certain of it, as he had gathered quite a few clues of two humans walking in the direction they were currently following.
Although the current situation wasn't easy for either of them, he was doing everything possible for their Eldridge family. So, couldn't his nephew see the bigger picture and suffer a little longer for their future's betterment?
He could have completely left the deadweight somewhere, but Jack probably wouldn't survive in this forest, and if something happened to Jack, he wouldn't know how to face his brother Stuart.
So, he could only drag Jack with him. Jack was only helpful in carrying his long, heavy sword—otherwise, Jack had absolutely zero uses other than being a constant annoyance. Both Lyria and Livy, only fourteen years old, hadn't given up, but here was a man over twenty who had long given up...
As Cooper was about to encourage Jack to push himself a little further, he suddenly smelled something.
He quickly looked in a direction and bolted toward it.
Jack felt a chill run down his spine and quickly chased after Cooper.
He absolutely didn't want to stay in the forest alone. Who knew when a poisonous snake or something might bite him or ambush him?