"You're quite the new face." One of them grinned, staring down at Melody.
They were both held aloft by a spinning vortex of air.
The one that had just spoken had shoulder length black hair and a small ponytail on the back of his head. He grinned down at them, his green eyes twinkling.
"I'm guessing you just ascended to B-rank, because I know all the beautiful ladies from that rank upwards in Havenhart and I haven't seen you yet."
Melody said nothing, her grip tightening on her sword. To her, the danger was not over yet. She could sense that both men were A-rank, but she was ready to fight against them the moment they tried anything funny.
"Stop that, Dominik." The other man, floating beside the first one, spoke. He was bald and wore circular sunglasses, obscuring his eyes. His voice was dry. "Can't you see you're scaring them?"
"Come on, Ryan." Dominik groaned, staring at his bald friend in irritation. "You're supposed to be my wingman."
"Ryan and Dominik." Lukas muttered under his breath as the two of them began arguing in the sky.
"You know them?" Melody whispered.
"Yeah. They're famous around here." Lukas answered. "They should be here to help us. Hopefully."
Ryan and Dominik were a popular duo in Havenhart, mostly for how they were best friends, and yet the opposite of each other.
Ryan was tall, bald and average looking, while Dominik was of average height and good looking in a way that could even be described as feminine. Ryan was usually cold and didn't speak much, while his friend was outgoing and a social butterfly.
To top it all off, Ryan was an [Elementalist], capable of wielding all four common elements, while Dominik was a [Healer]. They were both members of the city's Iron Fist guild and were the epitome of opposites attract.
"Just shut up and heal the wounded Awakener." Ryan snapped, bringing the attention back to him. "Do you want him to bleed out while you're arguing?"
"And how would I do that from here? Jump to my death? You're the [Elementalist] here. You're supposed to lower me to the ground." Dominik retorted.
Ryan waved his hand, and the air that had been holding them aloft, lowered them to the ground, sending soot flying everywhere.
The moment their feet touched the ground, Dominik began walking towards them, a huge grin on his face. "Do I have your permission to heal you?" He asked Lukas.
Melody took a held step forward to block him before Lukas stopped her. He met her gaze and subtly shook his head. Dominik wouldn't be going through all these if he wanted to harm them.
Even though Dominik was a healer, that wasn't to say he was useless in combat. Lukas had heard stories of how the man was a unique battle healer, capable of taking down monsters on his own, despite not having skills directly related to combat.
"Yes, you may." Lukas said to the man, who chuckled as Melody finally stepped back.
"Thank you, beautiful." He winked as he placed a hand on Lukas' shoulder and used his skill.
Vital energy poured into Lukas' body, moving warmly to his wounds and began knitting it together. Within a few seconds, the wounds on his back were closed, and his leg was whole again.
He placed his leg down, testing his weight on it. It was good as new. He looked up at Dominik, a smile on his face. "Thank you, Sir Dominik. But I would appreciate it if you didn't flirt with my wife."
Dominik gasped and staggered backwards, eyes wide and hands clutching his chest as if he'd just received news about the end of the world. "She's your wife?"
Melody immediately grabbed Lukas' shirt, pulled him towards her, and gave him a long kiss.
Lukas was surprised, before he closed his eyes, leaning into the kiss. Her lips were incredibly soft, tasting like vanilla. And for a few seconds, he could feel himself on cloud nine.
Then Melody pulled away to stare at Dominik. "Yes. He's my husband." She said, voice cold.
Dominik had a pained expression on his face as he turned to stare at Lukas. "Congratulations. I'm happy for you." He didn't look happy in the least.
Ryan's voice reached their ears. "Clean strokes and no wasted strikes." He looked up from the panther's corpse to stare at Melody. "You're good."
Melody stared at him warily for a moment before answering. "Thanks."
"Oh, yeah. That reminds me." Dominik's expression brightened. "The city's scanners felt the presence of a B-rank beast in the Scorched Forest, so they sent us to check it out. But you guys got to it first before we did. Good job."
Lukas smiled at them, but said nothing.
"It's usually our job to keep the beasts in the forest at C-rank, you know." Dominik kept talking. "So, you did us a solid."
"Dominik." Ryan finally spoke. "Let's go."
"Sorry, guys." Dominik gave them an apologetic smile. "We have to patrol the area for a bit and see if there are any other beasts that shouldn't be here. See you later."
He saluted as he joined Ryan, and a moment later, a vortex of air appeared beneath their feet and they rose into the sky.
Lukas and Melody watched them fly until they were far out of sight, before sighing and sheathing their swords.
"Are you okay?" Melody immediately grabbed Lukas' shoulders, checking this way and that to confirm that he was okay.
"I'm fine." Lukas smiled at her. "Dominik healed me completely."
Melody sighed in relief, before an expression of worry filled her face again. "Maybe we should stop here today and go back home. What if another high ranked beast appears and injures you?"
"No. We're not stopping here." Lukas said immediately. "Don't worry. With Ryan and Dominik clearing this area now, there shouldn't be any higher ranked beasts for the next few days."
"But what if—"
"Melody." Lukas interrupted, voice soft. "I understand your concern, but trust me, continuing is the right choice."
He stepped closer, holding her gaze. "I don't want you to go around with the assumption that this world is a reasonable place. No. There is no law here. The only recognized law is power."
"Do you think that if we had something that Ryan and Dominik truly wanted, they wouldn't have attacked us? If they kill us, who will know? Who will stop them?"
"The only way to live a life of righteousness and virtue is to be strong, Melody. And we don't have that luxury to live like that. So the only thing we can do is to get stronger. Because the only person I can trust is you, and the only person you can trust is me. Do you understand?"
Melody stared at him for a few seconds, before sighing in agreement.
"Okay." She nodded. "Let's continue."
"Good." Lukas nodded. "Let's go."
As they resumed walking through the forest, he quickly checked his exp gain from helping to kill the panther.
[Exp: 10.47%]
He smiled. He'd only helped a little and hadn't even been the one to land the killing blow, but he'd gotten the same exp he'd gained from all the other beasts he'd killed combined.
That was the value of a B-rank beast.
His current leveling speed was nothing short of astounding, but that was to be expected, given his stats.
Soon, they approached his next D-rank opponent.
The Deathstalker Scorpion.