As I watched her heal the little boy, I faintly smiled; we may not have known each other long, but it felt good knowing the person I was helping was a kind soul. It also further solidified my desire to get her back; before, I simply wanted to get her to safety because she was so young, but now, I did so because she was a good person.
However, while Jasmine cared for the elven boy, I saw several guards close in on her location, causing me to click my tongue as I stuffed the map of the Nsemo Continent into my space pouch while quickly approaching Jasmine.
"There she is, guards!" Yelled the woman harshly with fear and anger as she pointed at Jasmine, prompting the several guards to nod with ugly expressions.
"Arrest her men!" Stated the guard as he pointed at Jasmine, who had just noticed their presence, causing her to lower her hands while her golden aura vanished.
"W-Wait, I-I can explain!" Said Jasmine anxiously as she protectively stood in front of the elven boy while slowly backing away, though the guards ignored her words.
Before the guards could touch Jasmine, I charged into them from the side, smashing them through the wall and into a building selling potions, which was unfortunate for the owner, but truthfully, I didn't really care.
"Haa, thank you, Alex." Said Jasmine softly with a sigh of relief as she looked at Alexander, who quickly approached them before grabbing her.
"C'mon, let's get out of here." Muttered Alex firmly as he held Jasmine while closing his eyes, ignoring the guards charging them.
Using [Mass Teleport], I teleported us to the location where I had given Jasmine her mask, which was just outside the city; however, when I opened my eyes, my face twitched when I saw the little Elven boy hugging Jasmine's leg.
Rubbing my head, I squatted to eye-level with the boy and motioned him to come here, which he did after glancing at Jasmine.
"What are you doing, Alex?" "Removing his collar." Remarked Jasmine and Alexander, respectively, as the former curiously gazed at the latter, who firmly gripped the metal collar wrapped around the little boy's neck.
With a slight grunt, I forcefully ripped the collar off the boy's neck before tossing it into the distance, which left a reddish mark around his neck.
"You can understand me, right?" Asked Alexander as he grabbed the boy's shoulders while looking into his eyes, prompting him to meekly nod.
"Listen, we can't take you with us. The woman who healed you, Jasmine, is being hunted by people who want to kill her; taking you with us will most likely get her killed, and that's assuming you don't die first." Stated Alexander firmly as he looked at the boy, who softly nodded with a downcast expression, causing Jasmine to look at him with widened eyes.
"A-Alex! Y-You can't say such things to him; he's so young!" Said Jasmine as she reprimanded Alexander while glaring at him, causing him to shake his head.
"Please, Jasmine. He's experienced far more terrible and harsh things throughout his life; just look at his eyes. Are those the innocent and curious eyes of a child?" Remarked Alexander with a scoff as he glanced at Jasmine, who stared into the boy's somewhat lifeless eyes, causing her to bite her lip before lowering her head.
Shifting my focus back to the boy, I reached into my space pouch and grabbed a golden vial, which I handed to him.
"We can't take you with us, but I'll at least prepare you with everything I had for you to survive. Also, what's your name?" Stated Alexander softly as he patted the boy's shoulder, causing him to glance at the vial.
"F-Fogun." Muttered the boy, or Fogun, softly as he looked at Alexander, who flashed a faint smile.
"Drink the vial, Fogun; it may save your life in the future." Said Alexander with a smile as he searched through his space pouch, removing various items.
I didn't have much for the boy, as it's not like I ever planned to do this, but I did have a dagger and some extra clothes for him, which were obviously too large, but they had to be better than nothing. I also happened to have a mana crystal, something I didn't even know I had, but I figured it could be helpful whenever he attempted to control his mana, which caused me to sigh.
'Man, fuck; without mana, he's going to be severely limited. Especially right now with how weak he is.' Thought Alexander with an unsightly expression as he constantly glanced between Fogun, who had drank the vial, and the mana crystal, only for him to click his tongue.
"Tsk, fuck it. Fogun, sit down and turn around. I'm about to awaken your mana." Stated Alexander as he sat down and patted the ground right before him, prompting Fogun to hesitantly follow suit.
"Eh!? You're going to awaken his mana? Isn't that dangerous?" Exclaimed Jasmine with widened eyes as she looked at Alexander before shifting her eyes to Fogun in concern.
"No, not really… Okay, maybe a little. But he'll need it; otherwise, it'll be a miracle if he survives until adulthood. Besides, one thing I'm confident in other than my culinary skills is my mana control." Stated Alexander lightly as he glanced at Jasmine, whose expression twitched, only for him to look at Fogun.
As Fogun only wore cloth underwear, I placed my hands on his back and used [Heroes Gaze], allowing me to see directly inside his body, spotting the ball of compressed mana within his heart; taking a deep breath, I slowly and carefully, injected my mana into his body, causing him to slightly flinch, though otherwise he didn't move, prompting me to direct the mana toward his heart.
Since I moved cautiously, it took a few minutes before my tendrils of mana reached his mana, and when it did, I took a brief respite before extending it into his mana, causing it suddenly spark to life as it quickly expanded throughout his entire body, filling every inch before swiftly compressing itself back into his heart.
Succeeding in awakening Fugon's mana, I slowly retracted my own from his body before removing my hands from his back while handing the mana crystal to him.
"Hold this." Said Alexander lightly as he looked at Fugon, who grabbed the mana crystal, only to furrow his brows in confusion.
As the mana crystal absorbed his mana, it separated into two different clumps of mana, grey and purple, causing me to faintly smile. The size of each clump of mana was smaller than mine, especially the purple clump of mana, though even so, he still had a decent level of affinity towards each element."
"Woah, the space element? I only know two people with the space element." Said Muttered Jasmine in surprise as she looked at the mana crystal in awe before shifting her gaze to Fugon, who simply glanced at her in confusion.
Removing the mana crystal from his hands before he passed out from mana exhaustion, I placed it in a sack, along with everything else he would find helpful, before handing it to him.
"You have the elements of neutral and space mana. The same as me. Neutral mana will help you strengthen your body, which will help you immensely; as for space mana, it's an incredibly versatile element, but if I'm being honest, Fugon, you should ignore it. Without someone to teach you about space mana, you'll mostly just waste your time. It's an incredibly difficult element to use; trust me, I know." Remarked Alexander lightly with a faint smile as he stood up while gazing at Fugon, who nodded, only to furrow his brows while folding his arms.
Although I could tell he didn't really comprehend my words, he still nodded, which was enough for me; besides, he would learn what I meant in the future. I found it challenging to cast space-element spells when Master was teaching me, and I'm far more talented than Fugon, so I could only imagine how insanely difficult it would be for him.
"U-um, w-why are you helping me?" Asked Fugon softly in confusion and curiosity as he glanced at the sack before looking at Alexander and Jasmine, prompting them to both glance at each other with a smirk.
"Because it's the right thing to do." Said Alexander and Jasmine simultaneously as they looked at Fugon, only to glance at each other with a raised eyebrow.
Shaking my head with a smile, I gave Fugon a thumbs-up and patted his shoulder.
"Do your best to survive, Fugon. Jasmine and I must get going; I'm sure the assassins are hot on our trail." Stated Alexander softly as he transferred his emotions to Fugon, filling him with confidence and causing him to nod.
"Before we live, I should probably show you my real face; this was just a mask." Said Jasmine with a smile as she squatted down while removing the mask, revealing her beauty, which surprised Fugon and caused Alexander to chuckle.
While surprised at Jasmine's beauty, she grabbed Fugons cheeks and kissed his head, causing a radiant golden glow to be transferred from her to him; furrowing my brows, I used [Heroes Gaze], my curiosity getting the better of me.
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Name: Saintess's Blessing
Rank: Epic
Description: A Blessing bestowed by the Saintness, bolstering all physical, spiritual, and mental attributes.
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Widing my eyes at how casually Jasmine just gave a blessing considered an Epic rank, I had to analyze the contents twice to ensure I wasn't mistaken.
"I have faith in you, Fugon." Said Jasmine softly as she embraced Fugon, suffocating his face within her more than impressive breasts, causing Alexander to click his tongue.
Once the two separated, I swiftly picked Jasmine up into my arms.
"We will see you later, Fugon." Said Alexander with a faint smirk as he swiftly ran off into the distance, leaving behind a former slave who was walking deeper into the forest with nothing but a sack, determined to live.