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In the Greenwood Forest, a man named Matt walked along a path. He was tall and had long, blonde hair that was mostly loose, with a few locks tied into braids framing his face. His sky-blue eyes stood out against his fair complexion, which had a slight tan.
Matt's outfit looked like that of a pirate, being a mostly black ensemble. He wore a jacket adorned with two golden buttons on each sleeve and a shirt that displayed a white stylized skull. His pants had two dull-colored patches at the knees, one red and the other greenish-yellow. Small silver chains hung from the waistband of his pants, near his right hip.
To complete his pirate look, Matt topped it off with a pirate's hat embellished with white trim, featuring a small skull and crossed swords on the side, along with two small white feathers protruding from the back. He also wore a dark red bandana with ragged ends around his neck.
Matt whistled a cheerful tune as he strolled along the path that left Greenwood Forest and led to the recently formed Ashwood Forest. Heaven's Gate, a two-handed ornate holy broadsword, was in his right hand in a somewhat relaxed grip, while a large sack filled with loot he'd either taken from foes, found lying around, or outright stolen hung over his left shoulder.
It had been about an hour since he started walking around the much greener, unburned forest and he felt a bit disappointed with how weak all the enemies were in that area, and it wasn't a case of Matt being too strong for them; the foes he encountered were just basic mobs that would only pose a serious threat to a very young and unarmed child or the elderly, the same mobs that he had managed to beat by himself even when he was at his weakest with ease.
Plus, the loot they dropped was all junk he already had plenty of, which he could sell en masse and yet still make a pitiful amount of money compared to what selling just one of the rarer items he had would give him.
It wasn't all bad, though; he at least got to relieve some stress he had after yesterday's incredibly hard encounter with some buffed viking monoliths and a COSMIC MONOLITH, and some of the few foes he fought had some good meat in them (which with the help of Sol Spear and some fire spells he knew, he managed to cook in no time), so at least that's that.
Right now, all he had to do was find Natz and Lance, and they'd go back home and relax-
"Aha, I've found you! You'll pay for your crimes, you criminal!" Someone, a girl judging by how high-pitched their voice was, shouted from a few feet behind Matt, followed by the sound of a bow string getting pulled.
Quickly, the tall blonde turned on his heel, tightening his grip on Heaven's Gate and narrowing his eyes as he prepared to fight/scare off what he assumed to be yet another person who had somehow followed him all the way here, attempting to retrieve what Matt had stolen. But then he paused; he relaxed his grip on his sword, slightly tilting his head and raising an eyebrow when he saw who was shouting at him.
The person shouting was a girl with green hair and eyes, one of her bangs covering her right eye, and her skin slightly more tanned than Matt's. Her hair was styled into two short pigtails held in place by orbs that reminded Matt of the Thunder Bauble Natz had. She had a necklace that looked like the Triforce, but instead of gold or gold-like metal, it was made of a brown material he couldn't quite identify, likely clay or some kind of brown rock.
Her outfit consisted of a light brown dress with detached sleeves, complemented by several belts around her midsection. Underneath, she wore a darker brown shirt with red lining along the edges of her dress and skirt. The dress displayed various patterns, including large diamonds and small circles, while the sleeves had a zigzag design around the cuffs.
In her hands was a wooden bow that seemed to have been made from a very fresh tree branch, judging by how the leaves on it were still a bright, healthy shade of green. There were some spiky protrusions at the front of the bow, which looked like they would have hurt like hell to be struck by if the girl ever decided to use the bow itself as a melee weapon, if she ran out of arrows.
The girl seemed to be rather young. He wasn't sure how young exactly, but she seemed to be, at most, 15, if barely at that, and the fact that she looked kinda baby-faced, and was very short, didn't help either.
The last part about her height wasn't a case of Matt being a head taller than most of the people around him, with only a few exceptions; the girl was legitimately short, even Natalie, the shortest one of the party (besides NoLegs, but considering he was a cat, he was naturally gonna be the shortest one), was taller than her.
...Although considering Natalie is rather tall for a girl, 5'8 last time he checked, maybe using her as a comparison wasn't quite fair.
Matt stood up straighter, his eyebrow still cocked as he stared at the girl. His expression was... well, there was no witty manner to describe his expression except that he was fucking baffled.
The girl clearly knew about him and his recent exploits, so she must have known he and his friends had defeated Akron... so why did she think it was a good idea to try to take on one of the three people who had beaten the demon god, all by herself? Matt was far from the sharpest tool in the shed, but even he understood that doing something like that was practically asking to be sent to an early meet-and-greet with Godcat, and so did most of the people he stole from.
And considering how weak all the foes in the area were, there was no way she could be close to Matt's level unless she had been relentlessly fighting everything in sight ever since she could hold the bow she was wielding with more ease, or if there was a hidden cave somewhere she knew about that contained weak monsters offering an absurdly high amount of experience points.
At least she managed to find Matt first instead of Lance. Matt was pretty sure that Lance would have shot her in the leg the moment she called him a criminal without even glancing back before continuing with whatever he was doing while she screamed about how she got, well, shot in the leg.
Plus, Matt really did not want to hurt a kid.
"So, uhhh," Matt began, scratching the side of his head. "Are you being serious?"
The girl blinked in surprise at Matt's answer before focusing her intense gaze directly into his eyes, which would have been more intimidating if she weren't so baby-faced. "Yes, I am! You stole something from Greenwood Village, the Greenwood Jewel, aka, the Emerald of Life, one of the Sacred Jewels!" She pulled back on the bowstring a bit more, her fingers now just inches away from releasing the three arrows. "I've heard how you and that other guy have been stealing from innocent people all over the place. With our Sacred Jewel missing and you being so close to our village, you must be the one who stole it-"
"Okay, pause," Matt interrupted. "I never went to the village in the first place. I only stayed around the forest like, what, an... hour, I think? But I never went to your village at all!" He said, trying to defend himself.
"You think I'm gonna fall for the lies of a thief? Look at the burlap sack you got! Doubt you got all of that just by looting foes or just finding it around, did you?"
"Well, I did steal some of it," Matt admitted, but thanks to the influence of Natalie and Lance, his brain cell count went from one to three, and Matt very quickly realized he was only digging himself deeper. "But I didn't steal it from here, I swear! Everything I have in this sack is either loot from enemies, things I found lying around, or stolen from someone far from here!"
"I'm not falling for that! You'd better return the Emerald of Life, or you'll pay with pain."
Matt sighed as he sent Heaven's Gate back to his personal inventory, the sword vanishing in a flash of white, and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Look, kid-"
"I'm not a kid! I'm about to turn 17 soon, you know?!" The girl shouted.
"Well, I guess my question about your age has been answered." Matt deadpanned. "Damn, you really do have a baby face, don't you? I thought you were barely 15."
That seemed to have been the wrong thing to say. The girl released the bowstring, and three arrows flew toward Matt's face. He quickly summoned Heaven's Gate again and used the flat side of the blade to block the arrows as they were just inches away from making his face into a pincushion. "Hey, watch it! You could have hit me in the eye with that!" He exclaimed.
The girl's eyes widened in surprise as she quickly summoned another arrow and shot it at Matt's right eye, aiming much faster than before. However, the tall blonde dodged it with ease, though the arrow grazed his cheek slightly. "Give it back now!" The green-haired girl shouted.
"The only emeralds I have are the regular ones!" Matt replied as he switched to the Black Fang, a lighter single-edged, black sword. He considered using Swift Brand, Blizzard, or Gaia's Axe, but he knew that the hollow blade of Swift Brand would make it difficult to block the arrows. The other two were a bit too heavy to wield effectively with one hand, even for someone as strong as he was. Holding either of them with both hands slowed him down, and the added weight of the heavy sack of loot he was carrying only made matters worse. He might not be in danger from the arrows, but he certainly didn't want to become a pincushion either.
...Although he could probably just let go of the sack, it's not like there was anyone nearby who could lift it as easily as he could, unless they were in a pretty big group-
Wait, why hadn't he already put the sack in his inventory?!
Acting quickly on his thought, the sack of loot glowed white before disappearing into Matt's personal inventory. He then jumped back to block an overhead blow from the girl with Black Fang, who was now using her bow as a melee weapon.
To his surprise, Matt actually felt the blow shake him even so slightly, though that was likely because, outside of Swift Brand and Dragon Killer, Black Fang had a relatively thin blade compared to some of the swords Matt owned, so it probably made sense that the force of the blow wasn't fully absorbed by the sword.
Matt grunted as the girl exerted more force into another of her strikes with the bow, slightly pushing forward. Seizing the opportunity as she was about to hit a third time, he quickly swept her feet with a kick, knocking her down onto her side. Stepping back, Matt rested Black Fang's blade on his shoulder. "Here's a tip: don't try to engage in a weapon lock against someone taller than you, unless you want that to happen again," He said, twirling the sword in his hand.
"You don't get to lecture me just because you got a lucky blow!" the girl retorted as she jumped back to her feet and shot an arrow at Matt.
"That wasn't even a lucky blow; you left yourself wide open for that one, Greenie," Matt replied, rolling his eyes while deflecting the arrow.
"I have a name, you know, and it's Anna!" She exclaimed, dashing to the side and rapidly firing arrow after arrow.
'Anna, so that's her name,' Matt thought as he continued dodging and blocking her arrows. 'At least I don't have to call her Greenie or just "kid" anymore.' He hummed as he knocked one of the arrows out of the air with the back of his hand.
Matt glanced down at Black Fang, pondering as he ducked and dodged Anna's jumping strikes with her bow. 'Do I really need to use a sword to block? I mean, she's barely able to land a hit on me, aside from grazing my cheek, but that's it. And using Black Fang is overkill against her.'
He huffed as he leaned out of the way of another blow, grabbing Anna by the arm with one hand and sweeping her leg with the other, causing her to trip. He then let go of her arm and used the same hand to push her further away in one smooth motion. Putting some distance between himself and Anna, Matt sent Black Fang to his inventory and started cracking his knuckles while rolling his neck, the joints making satisfying pops as they loosened.
"Alright, now that that's taken care of..." Matt got into a boxing stance, shuffling from side to side and briefly shadow-boxing. Although he was far from being the best unarmed fighter, he had learned enough from Lance's tips to feel confident fighting someone without his swords and win most of the time. His strength more than made up for his lack of skills in that area.
He pivoted on his heel and managed to catch Anna just as she leapt into the air with an arrow in her right hand. He grabbed her by the arrow-armed arm (try saying that five times fast) and, using her momentum, began spinning the green-haired teenager by said arm. "Hope you don't get motion sickness easily, cuz you're in for a hell of a ride, kiddo!"
Matt ignored Anna's protests as she screamed that she wasn't a kid. He began spinning faster and faster, and just as Anna's face turned as green as her hair and her eyes started spiraling, he used all that built-up momentum to throw Anna upward a few dozen feet into the air. Taking a few quick steps back, he hoped she wouldn't throw up while she was up there; he definitely didn't want to deal with cleaning vomit off his hat and hair.
Unfortunately, Anna also seemed to recover rather quickly from motion sickness, as proved by an arrow nicking him on the arm, followed by a few more that he had to dodge. "Okay, don't throw the archer girl into the air. All you do is give her an easier time hitting you!" He noted as he continued dodging more and more arrows.
Thankfully, the rain of arrows ended rather quickly as Anna landed on the ground with surprising grace, even if she still looked somewhat dizzy from what she had experienced. "Not my first time having to fall from heights that big, but I hope it doesn't have to be like that ever again." She shook the cobwebs out of her head and pointed an arrow toward Matt as she was about to say something, but Anna's words hitched in her throat. She blinked for a few seconds before she looked at Matt's hands and the lack of any swords in either of them. "...wha- Where is your sword?"
Matt shrugged. "In my inventory. I don't need 'em if I'm fighting you," He responded.
Anna looked, quite frankly, offended, as if Matt had just kicked her dog right in front of her and spat on it. "What?! You think so little of me that you don't even think you need a weapon to beat me?!"
"No, I just feel like using one isn't needed cuz I'm not trying to actually hurt you. Besides, you haven't actually done any damage to me aside from a few nicks and small cuts, speaking of which-" Half of a kiwi fruit appeared in Matt's hand in a flash of white, which the blonde proceeded to scarf down in a matter of seconds. The small cuts and nicks healed once he finished eating it. "Much better~ Those things were starting to sting a little. Now, where were we?"
Anna answered Matt's question by grabbing an arrow and repeatedly attempting to slash at him. The older of the two fighters easily dodged her attacks, often deflecting her blows by backhand slapping her hand away. During one of her jumping attacks, Matt seized the moment to lean to the side, quickly get behind the green-haired girl, and put her in a headlock.
To his surprise, Matt struggled to keep Anna still and prevent her from slipping out of his grasp, which confirmed to the blonde that Anna was far stronger than her small frame suggested. "Well, shit, you're a little stronger than I thought-" Matt was interrupted by Anna jumping up, slamming the back of her head against his nose and mouth. The sudden pain caused Matt to let her go as he tried to clutch where he had been struck. "Ouch! That hurt!" He half-hissed, half-complained, and half-whined.
Anna hissed and rubbed the back of her head, realizing the hard way that Matt's head was tougher than she had expected; it was like she had hit the back of her head against a boulder or a solid block of metal. In frustration, she mule-kicked the blonde in the stomach, but Matt quickly intercepted the blow by blocking it with his forearms.
"You stole my village's sacred jewel-" Anna used Matt's arms to roll forward, spinning around and shooting an arrow point-blank. Matt narrowly dodged as she charged at him. "-spun me around until I nearly threw up, threw me into the air, and now you're complaining that I'm attacking you for all of that?!"
Anna glared at him, swinging her bow with renewed intensity. Matt felt a tiny pang of intimidation, but it quickly faded, replaced by irritation. He grunted and pushed Anna a couple of feet away with a double-handed palm slam to her shoulders.
"YEAH, I AM!" He shouted, anger creeping into his voice as he glared back at Anna. The pupils of his blue eyes dilated, and with bared teeth, he took a step toward the green-haired teenager, crushing a small rock underfoot. Anna flinched at his tone and the expression on his face, but Matt continued his rant, fists curling tightly enough for the veins to become visible.
"Yeah, I know I've stolen stuff, and I'm not going to deny it, but I didn't even visit that stupid village or find any stupid emeralds. So you can either piss off and leave me alone, because I REALLY don't want to hurt a kid!"
Anna, to her credit, managed to mimic Matt by allowing her indignation to overpower her fear as she stood her ground. "You just admitted twice that you stole from other people, and you think I'm going to believe you?! Just because I'm younger than you doesn't mean I'm naïve!" She shot back, slowly taking a few steps back as she summoned another arrow and drew the bowstring. "And you don't get to say that you were trying to hurt me when you THREW ME Godcat knows how many feet into the air! Give back the Emerald of Life already, before I hurt you worse than I planned to!"
Matt threw his head back, laughing uproariously. "You really think you can hurt me? Oh, that is not just adorable; that is hilarious!" His laughter abruptly turned into an incoherent shout of frustration towards the sky as he gripped his hair and turned away from Anna. "Oh Godcat almighty from the holy heavens above us, give me strength!"
Anna took advantage of Matt's apparent attempt to communicate with Godcat by shooting an arrow infused with water magic at his shoulder. Although the arrow didn't fully pierce his outfit, it was enough to elicit a gasp of pain from him. Matt turned around, and another one of Anna's arrows, imbued with thunder magic, hit its target, this one being Matt's eyes, causing the blonde to actually scream in pain as the combination of being wet and shot in the eye by an electric arrow made pain surge through his body.
Deciding to heed Matt's advice, Anna charged at him wordlessly, her bow drawn back, ready to deliver a powerful uppercut that would surely knock him out-
"I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU!"
-Or so she thought, until Matt, powering through the pain by sheer anger, yanked the arrow out of his eyes, and to Anna's quickly growing horror, no blood was on it, and the only injury it seemed to have caused was making that one eye slightly bloodshot, rushed toward her with astonishing speed, a look of blind, retaliatory rage on his face.
With his right fist pulled back and glowing white, he met her halfway, slamming it into her stomach with Unleash. The blow was incredibly strong, forcing Anna to expel all the air from her lungs and her eyes to bug out.
She was propelled several feet back, crashing hard into a dead oak tree with such force that the upper half snapped off and fell, the birds that were on it desperately flying away.
Anna clung to the tree for a few moments, her eyes white and blank, before she regurgitated all the food she had eaten earlier, along with some blood. She let go of her bow then collapsed to the ground with a harsh thud, motionless and on her side, in a small puddle of her own bile, saliva, and blood, with some of the disgusting mixture leaking out of the corner of her mouth.
Everything froze. The sounds of the animals that had somehow lingered during their brief battle vanished, and the wind fell silent as well. The only noise that remained was Matt's angry, ragged breaths... which quickly turned into panicked, ragged ones.
Matt's sky-blue eyes widened as tears began to form, his hand shaking and his jaw quivering.
He had killed before, mostly monsters or animals that had attacked him or his party first, or when he was hunting them for food. On the very rare occasions that he had been forced to kill a human, it was only when Matt had no other choice, either in self-defense or to protect someone else, and he refused to even entertain the idea of hurting a kid besides giving them a soft, playful bonk on the head.
Yet... he had done just that right now.
He killed someone who barely posed a threat to him...
And he killed a child.
Matt's legs felt like jelly, yet paradoxically, they felt heavy, heavier than all of the things he had ever carried in his entire life combined. His heart began to beat faster and faster, growing louder in his ears, just as his breathing had. His hands felt cold and sweaty, his mouth was dry and hot, and he could feel his blood pooling down to the bottom of his feet.
Slowly, Matt's eyes shifted to his dimming fist, the glow fading to almost nothing.
His hand...he... he...
A scene played out in his mind: he imagined what Anna's parents might be like, worrying about their daughter for taking so long to return after she had set out to find the Jewel of Life.
Their concern would grow as night approached and she still hadn't come back, eventually reaching a peak as they set out to find her...
Only to discover her lifeless body... likely being eaten by animals and monsters or already having been picked mostly clean, almost completely unrecognizable. The only things that might identify her would be the baubles in her hair, the necklace she wore, or even the bow beside her.
Then... he could almost hear their screams of anguish and sorrow, loud enough for the entire village of Greenwood to hear.
Another scene played out in his head: The look of horror as Natalie and Lance heard him talk about what had just happened, and the way the horror shifted to anger and disgust as they laid a punch across his jaw each, calling him a monster.
Murderer.
A child killer.
"No..." Matt's voice was a mere whisper, uncharacteristically small and fragile, as he took a slow, heavy step towards where Anna lay... before he broke into a sprint, nearly tumbling over as he knelt in front of Anna, quickly wrapping an arm around her back and lifting her slightly to get a better look at the child's face.
She looked horrible, her green eyes glazed over, blood leaked out of her mouth, and some even leaked out of her nose. Part of her hair, cheek, and dress were covered in vomit, and blood... she generally looked lifeless.
With a shaky hand, Matt brought two fingers to Anna's neck, specifically to where he could feel her pulse.
He waited.
And waited...
...and waited...
Then, he felt it- faint, barely there, but definitely present.
A pulse.
He pressed his ear against her chest, hearing a weak heartbeat and noticing the movement of Anna's abdomen as she took shallow, wheezy breaths.
Matt moved quickly, summoning a piece of silk to clean the blood from Anna's mouth while keeping her upright to prevent her from choking on her own vomit and blood. He silently cursed himself for not bringing any coffee with him and that he, for some fucking reason, decided that he didn't need to bring it, or at least have Natalie be alongside him, because Matt knew if she was here, there wouldn't have been a fight.
Stupid, stupid, stupid fucking stupid idiot.
Once he was done, he discarded the silk and quickly summoned a watermelon slice into his hand. His breathing remained panicked but began to steady. "Anna? If you can hear me, I... I got a watermelon slice. You need to eat it; it will heal you. Please, give me a sign, move a hand, blink, or even let out a wheeze..." Matt fought to hold back his tears, which became increasingly difficult as Anna remained still. "Please... I'm sorry..."
A faint wheezing sound escaped Anna, and Matt watched as the teenager slowly opened her mouth. Her hand shakily rose to weakly grip Matt's wrist, the one holding the watermelon slice, and she tried to pull it closer to her mouth, the focus returning to her green eyes, locking onto Matt's blue, tears of fear in them, as if she were begging him not to let her die.
Acting swiftly, he brought the tip of the slice to her mouth and helped her chew the piece she had bitten off. With considerable effort, Anna managed to swallow it bit by bit as life returned to her, and the blood on her mouth began to disappear as her internal wounds healed.
Once Anna swallowed the last of the watermelon's flesh, she finally looked less like she was at death's door. Matt discarded the green rind of the watermelon and checked her over, using another piece of silk, alongside some water from a bottle and a bit of soap to clean off any filth that might have stained her while she sat against the tree. Anna remained completely still as he did so.
"So, do you feel any pain anywhere else?" Matt asked, a rare look of shame crossing his face. "I can offer you a few more watermelons or other fruits, especially since... you know..." He didn't finish his sentence, but it was clear what he was implying.
Anna picked up on his unspoken words and merely shook her head.
"Are you sure? I've got enough food here to stock a small supermarket, so..." Silence fell between them. "I wasn't joking about that small supermarket bit; I quite literally have that much food with me. Trust me, I know people much smarter than I am who wouldn't lie about that sort of thing, so I know what I'm talking about."
"It's okay," Anna whispered, pulling her knees to her chin and curling in on herself, her eyes still bloodshot from crying.
"Alright..." Matt nodded as he finished cleaning the last of the grime from Anna's face and hair. He summoned Sol Spear and, grabbing the now filthy pieces of cloth, stabbed them. The silk disintegrated into ash in mere seconds. "I don't want that smell lingering on me, or on you for that matter... though I guess the smell of smoke isn't much better." He said, sending the spear back to his inventory and sitting down in front of her.
Anna didn't respond; she simply looked down, tears streaming down her cheeks.
The wind finally returned, carrying away the smell of smoke and bringing in a cool breeze, accompanied by the sounds of animals, mostly birds, that gradually returned as well.
However, this did little to improve Matt's mood; in fact, it only seemed to make him feel worse.
There was no denying it; there was no way of spinning it around, there was no way of sugarcoating, or any other fancy way of saying that it didn't happen when it clearly did.
He had nearly killed a kid, all because he lost his patience.
Matt covered his face with his hands and sighed deeply, rubbing his eyes with his head bowed. 'Now what?' He thought. 'Do I just... leave... or do I stay? That Emerald of Life she mentioned must be really important if she was that desperate to get it back from me when she thought I had it. I guess I could help her find it as a way to say sorry?'
A sniffle from Anna made Matt lift his head. In that rare moment, he felt his heart crack, if not nearly shatter, when he saw how terrified Anna looked. Tears streamed down her face, and she was shaking like a leaf. Her breathing was quick and ragged, as if she were on the verge of a panic attack, far worse than the one Matt had almost experienced just moments ago.
Matt bit his lower lip hard. 'Great job, you dumbass. You not only nearly killed Anna, but you also traumatized her, and now she could have a panic attack.' He kicked himself, slamming his palm on his forehead.
What could he do now? It wasn't like he knew Anna well enough to comfort her, nor had he ever had to do that for someone else in his life.
Matt sighed and rubbed his face again, his eyes shifting from Anna's face to a spot right beside her. He hummed in thought before subtly nodding. 'Hope this works.'
Matt moved closer to Anna, being as slow as possible because the last thing he wanted was to startle her. Once he was by her side, he calmly reached for her left shoulder, but hesitated when he was inches away from touching it. "Anna?" He spoke gently.
Anna flinched as she realized how much closer the blonde was to her. She trembled, her eyes filled with fear, but that fear quickly subsided when she noticed the look of guilt on his face. She glanced between Matt and his outstretched hand, unsure of what to do.
"I was going to ask if you'd be okay with me placing a hand on your shoulder, but I see now that you flinched, and-" Matt was interrupted as Anna rushed to him, burying her face in his chest and sobbing uncontrollably. Her cries were loud and raw, wet spots forming on Matt's jacket. The tall blonde blinked in surprise, then instinctively wrapped his arms around Anna in a tight yet gentle hug, laying his chin on top of her head. "I'm sorry," He whispered, trying to comfort her.
Anna seemed to cry harder at that, offering semi-coherent apologies, which Matt simply responded to with, "It's fine," and "I forgive you."
Slowly but surely, Anna's cries subsided, yet she refused to let go of Matt. Instead of burying her face in his chest, she rested her cheek against it, her sniffles, slightly ragged breaths, and coughs the only sounds that filled the air. Matt, meanwhile, adjusted their positions to make it more comfortable for both of them. He lifted his chin off Anna's head to run his fingers through her hair and massage her scalp. This was something he typically did only with cats like NoLegs, but it seemed to work well for humans, too, as Anna appeared to become much calmer.
After a few more minutes of silence, Anna spoke up, her voice trembling ever so slightly. "I messed up," She sobbed softly, wiping a tear from her eyes.
"Not really," Matt replied. "I mean, I can't exactly blame you for thinking I was the one who stole it, considering that I have a history of stealing. Nor can I blame you for not believing me."
Anna whined, seemingly trying to cuddle closer to Matt, if that was even possible. A small smile formed on his lips as he petted the green-haired teenager, who began to relax even further. "You really seem to be getting comfortable, don't you?" Matt said with a soft laugh, rubbing circles on Anna's back.
"I... I guess-" Anna hesitated for a moment, causing Matt's anxiety to rise. Had he done something wrong? She turned her head to look up at him, and for the first time, he noticed that she had freckles. Their eyes locked, then Anna's gaze shifted from his face to his body and back again. Matt realized she was growing warm for some reason; her face was getting redder, and her eyes seemed to sparkle with literal steam rising from her head. "I-I... hmm..." Anna tried to speak, but whatever she attempted to say came out as mumbles that Matt couldn't understand. Her gaze darted around, but it always returned to his face.
Matt tilted his head, feeling more confused than anything. "Anna, are you okay? What are you doing?"
Anna didn't answer; her lips were slightly parted, as if she wanted to say something but couldn't for some reason.
"Hellooo, Earth to Anna?" Matt snapped his fingers in front of her face a few times, but that did nothing. So, he resorted to gently shaking her. "Earth to ANNA? HELLO?!"
That seemed to snap the green-haired girl out of the strange trance she was in. She blinked a couple of times before her face turned ten times redder than before. "Oh... sorry," Anna squeaked, lowering herself back onto Matt's chest and blushing even more. "I... I think I want to get up now!"
"Uh, okay then," Matt said, releasing Anna and helping her to her feet. The green-haired girl covered her face with her hands and turned away from him. He picked up the bow she had been using. "Hey, here's your bow. Don't forget it."
Anna turned around, realizing she had forgotten to pick up her weapon. "Ah, t-thanks!" She replied, taking it back and slinging it over her shoulder before dusting off her dress. "Again, sorry for hurting you..."
Matt waved her off while munching on a slice of watermelon. The eye that Anna had shot him a look at was now significantly less bloodshot. "Eh, it's fine. I once got thrown over 40 feet, or something, into the air by a dragon, then slammed down by the same dragon. I just walked it off with just a slight limp, which Natz healed in no time. An arrow to the eye is nothing for me," He casually said between bites. Once he finished eating the red part of the slice, he began nibbling on the rind before noticing Anna tilt her head at him as if he had grown a second head. "What? Is there something on my face?"
"I... you fought a dragon?" Anna said, her voice filled with awe and her eyes wide. "And you said that so casually, like it was just battling a slime or a bush!"
"I mean, that was after me and my party beat Akron and faced the hell of fighting a cosmic monolith-" Matt hissed and shuddered, a mix of anger and fear in his voice, before his tone returned to casual as he took the final bite of the rind. "-so everything feels much easier compared to fighting either of them."
"Still, that's impressive. Not many people can say they fought a dragon..." Anna's eyes widened as she brought a hand to her mouth. "Oh my God, I tried to fight one of the guys who killed Akron!"
"Has it finally dawned on you just how much of a fuck up of biblical proportions you made?"
"Yeah, it has," Anna admitted, scratching the back of her head. Another realization seemed to hit her. "So, um... what's your name again?"
"My name's Matt."
"Ah, okay. But Matt, do you even know what the Emerald of Life looks like?"
Matt blinked and raised an eyebrow. "Anna, all I know is that it's an emerald and has something to do with life. That's it."
Anna slowly blinked before taking a deep breath. She forced an overly cheerful smile on her face, which did a decent job of disguising the kind of unyielding rage that Matt only saw in someone affected by the berserk status... if it wasn't for the fact that her eyes had turned into pinpricks and how she was shaking with barely contained anger. "Matt, do you have something I can cover my face with? I feel like I need to scream right now, and I don't want to attract any animals or monsters."
Wordlessly, Matt summoned a pillow from his inventory, one of the many he used when camping with the group, and handed it to her.
"Thank you," She said, her cheerfulness still forced, before shoving the pillow into her face and letting out a muffled scream. It was a scream that would have had Matt covering his ears in record time if it wasn't for the pillow covering her face. When she was finally done screaming, which took about two minutes, she handed the pillow back to him. The forced cheeriness had vanished, replaced by the expression of someone who was completely and utterly done with everything. She sighed raggedly and rubbed her temples. "So I attacked someone who didn't even know what the emerald looked like, and all I got for it was being punched so hard that I nearly died and threw up my breakfast. Now whoever took it is probably long gone..."
Matt tapped his foot and hummed. "Not if we hurry up! I'm pretty sure we can catch them in no time if we move quickly."
"But- wait, 'we'? What do you mean by 'we'?" Anna asked, looking up at the tall blonde with one eyebrow raised.
Matt nodded in confirmation. "Well, the least I can do is help you get the emerald back after all this nonsense. Plus, with me by your side, we'll take down any foes that come our way." He smirked, summoning Black Fang with a flourish. "You might be low leveled, but that will change in record time with me around to help you out."
Anna's mouth fell open in awe once more, her eyes sparkling with hope. "Really? You'll help me?" Her voice was small and a little uncertain.
Matt nodded again. "Yep! Now come on, let a thief help you catch another thief, will you?" He grinned, extending his free hand toward her.
Anna didn't hesitate to accept his hand, gripping it tightly, which Matt mirrored. "Yeah, let's catch some thieves!"
"That's what I like to hear! Follow me and we'll-"
"Wait!" Anna said, grabbing the older of the two by the sleeve. "Let's establish some rules. First, you don't get to steal from other people!"
"...You're kidding, right?"
"No, I'm not. Stealing from people is wrong!"
Matt began to whine. "But I get all sorts of loot if I do! I even got some of my swords and equipment from stealing!"
For a while, Matt and Anna continued to argue about whether the blonde should be allowed to steal. However, both had enough sense to keep moving while they did so.
It took quite a while for them to come to an agreement that satisfied them both, but after that, no further arguments arose.
Matt watched as Anna enthusiastically shared facts about the monsters around Greenwood and Ashwood. She explained how bushes can be pets, with the girl having several of them, and that they reproduce by spreading their seeds into the wind, so breaking them apart or exploding them (without using fire for obvious reasons) actually helps the population grow.
Matt smiled, although not because he shared Anna's fascination with the facts she was excitedly mentioning outside of mild interest. Rather, he found it pleasantly surprising that, despite the near-death experience she had just minutes ago, Anna was cheerful and seemed completely at ease.
His smile widened, and he couldn't help but chuckle softly. 'I guess the kid is going to be alright,' He thought as he started to offer Anna some tips on how to tackle the enemies he could see just ahead.
It looked like today was going to be such a fun day.
Omake
As Anna watched Matt pick up the last unfortunate red bush from their latest fight and effortlessly throw it at a burnt tree, causing the wood to splinter and the bush to splatter, she found herself wondering something.
Just how strong was Matt?
He was clearly quite strong; even Anna had trouble escaping from his headlock and had to rely on hitting his nose with the back of her head to get free, even if that caused her more pain than it did him. Not to mention how easily he could toss her several feet into the air, higher than some of the trees, and how hard that one punch from him hit, sending her flying.
As she picked up the few drops the monsters had left behind, Matt expressed his disappointment at how few and cheap they were, letting out an unimpressed sigh. Meanwhile, an odd thought crossed her mind.
Just how muscular was Matt beneath those clothes?
She could feel how large and toned his arms were during their hug. His upper body felt strong and well-built. He seemed to have a bit of a gut, but overall, Matt seemed to have the body type of a guy who could indeed get thrown around by a dragon, walk it off with just a slight limp that quickly healed before he charged back into battle like nothing had happened.
He didn't seem to have the inverted-triangle body type with washboard abs and clearly defined muscles, she thought. Instead, he probably had muscles that were concealed beneath a layer of fat, along with a wide, thick torso, similar to the body type of some of the men in her village, particularly the older guards and workers.
Even more odd thoughts crossed the teenager's mind, making her cheeks slightly flush.
What did Matt's muscles feel like without his clothes getting in the way?
She wasn't sure why she was thinking about that, but she couldn't shake the thought (thank goodness there were no monsters or animals nearby, because she was probably zoning out while walking). She knew how his body felt when he pulled her in for an embrace, strong and tough, yet soft at the same time.
She wanted to feel that again: his arms wrapped around her in a tight but gentle hug, her head resting on his chest, listening to his heartbeat while he rubbed circles on her back, massaging her scalp and making her melt in pure bliss into his arms.
None of the other boys from the village had ever made Anna feel this way. She had received hugs, head pats from the taller ones, and some compliments from them, saying she was cute, accompanied by her father's stern glares when they did so, all of which made her a bit flustered. However, Matt made her feel flustered in a way that was completely new to Anna, well, at least when it came to guys, because when it came to girls she-
"Anna, you good?"
Anna squeaked and flinched, realizing she had bumped her forehead into Matt's chin. The blonde was squatting slightly to match her height, his head tilted to the side with an eyebrow raised. She quickly replied, "Oh, y-yeah, I just got a little lost in my thoughts, t-that's all."
Matt seemed satisfied with her answer; he chuckled and gave her a gentle pat on the head. "Well, keep your eyes peeled, girl. You don't want to get surprised by something you could've easily missed."
Anna nodded wordlessly as they continued walking. Still, she couldn't shake the image of how Matt's body looked beneath his baggy clothes. A soft whine escaped her as she gazed at his back, and a sigh slipped past her lips, prompting Matt to glance back at her with concern. "Something wrong, Greenie?" He asked softly.
"Oh, no, it's fine, just-" An idea sparked in Anna's mind. "Actually, I've been meaning to ask: do you work out, Matt? You seem really strong, especially how easily you can lift foes or even rocks to throw at them when you don't feel like using your weapons, and that's not even getting into how huge some of your weapons are."
"Oh, yeah, sort of. I didn't lift weights, but I guess all that fighting helped me build up some muscle," The blonde said as he stopped, taking off his coat and wrapping it around his waist, fully exposing just how huge Matt's arms were. He curled his right bicep, and a vein protruded slightly. "I think eating a truckload and fighting just as much contributed to arms getting this big. Funnily enough, I started getting a bit top-heavy a few months back, and Lance suggested that I should do some leg workouts to balance my body out. Now, I do leg workouts at least three times a week, so I'm buff all over."
Matt continued to ramble, but Anna was far too busy setting a new world record for the speed at which one could turn a shade of crimson typically reserved for fire trucks to even pay attention to what the blonde was saying. She tuned back to Earth after a few seconds of staring. "W-wow, if it wasn't for how easily you carried that sack of loot earlier, or felt how b-buff you were when you hugged me, I would have thought you were skinny, or even a little pudgy." She noted as a drop of sweat ran down her forehead.
"A lot of people comment when they see me wearing something with short sleeves or even no sleeves at all. You should have seen Lance's face when he saw me in a tank top when we went to the beach once; I think he was jealous and muttered something about needing to start working out more. Natz turned really, REALLY red and stared at my arms hard, until I caught her doing it. After that, she suddenly stopped, kind of like you are right now."
At that moment, Anna became painfully aware of how much she had been blushing and staring at Matt's biceps. She mumbled incoherently, her face growing redder and eyes darting around until she blurted out, "Can I touch your biceps?" Realizing what she had just said, she turned even redder and covered her mouth with both hands.
Matt raised both eyebrows before shrugging. "Odd request, but sure." He slightly bent his knee and brought his arm closer to Anna, a small smile on his face. "Go ahead."
That did not help Anna's blush diminish in the slightest, but she was not about to let the opportunity to waste as she quickly gripped Matt's biceps and... yeah, Matt's arm was even thicker now that she got a good grip on it, strong yet with very little muscle definition.
Anna felt her heart beat a little faster as she squeezed the blonde's arm. Anna was not a skinny girl, despite what some people would think when they saw her from afar. She did have muscles, but they were rather subtle, with even less definition than Matt's. After all, she had to be pretty strong to wield her bow effectively, given how heavy it was.
Yet she felt like Matt's arms were thicker than both of her arms combined.
Such strong, powerful arms... ones that could easily hold her as if she weighed the same as a feather. Matt could hold Anna in his arms like she were a princess and him, her handsome knight in shining armor-
"Greenie, you're drooling."
And once again, did Anna break a record for how red she could get from blushing, quickly letting go of Matt's arms and wiping her mouth with her sleeve. "Oh uhhh... I'm just... hungry, you know? I didn't eat much before I set out to find whoever stole our jewel, so I guess my mind must have wandered to food... I guess?" She said with a sheepish smile on her face, although now that she said it, she did actually feel a little hungry, so it was half-true.
"Ah, makes sense," Matt said, buying into the lie with a shrug before unwrapping his coat from his waist and putting it back on. "I guess that you really wanted something to eat, didn't you?~" He teased with a laugh.
"Yeah, I guess you were right," Anna mumbled, scratching the back of her head. "Oh, before you go checking your inventory, I'm a vegetarian, so, yeah, I don't eat meat." She added.
"You're lucky that I carry vegetables along with fruits," Matt said as he started checking his inventory. "Natalie always says I need to maintain a balanced diet to keep my body in tip-top shape. By the way, most of what I have are carrots, lettuce, and one turnip, so I hope you don't mind a bit of a bland dinner. "
"I don't mind at all; I actually really like turnips," Anna replied, twiddling her thumbs as she recalled the feeling of Matt's arm on hers.
How... nice it felt to hold it...
She sighed as quietly as possible. Well, it was official, Anna had a crush on Matt.
But there were probably worse people to get a crush on than Matt, like that Lance guy he had been mentioning every now and then, considering how... not so nice he seemed from what she heard.
She just hoped she wouldn't end up developing a crush on Natalie.