Chapter 2

A New Friend

A/N: Ahhhh…sooo….long since I wrote this. I'm so sorry for leaving you all hanging! I just couldn't think of anything. But….I'm back now…with some inspiration. Ehehe! Read till the end~

Losing her Bikini comrades has devastated her. But that doesn't stop Mage from searching and finding the one who is behind all this. It may take days or even months. But if it's for the sake of saving her friends, she'll definitely do it. She'll show them that she's not just a timid little Mage that she always is.

She starts her search by continuing walking down the path she and the others were taking before they were attacked. It may give her some hints or clues as to where the attacker might have gone to. Clutching her staff tightly, she looks ahead to see a large forest. If she continues down the path and not anywhere else, she won't get lost. Only if there aren't monsters that will make her lose track. Being a Mage, she isn't as brutal as Fighter, but she CAN use strong magic.

Stepping toward the edge of the entrance, she swallows hard, clutching her staff. "Here I go," she says to herself and makes her way inside.

It's a bit dark, but the light from the sun helps a little. Looking around, she is cautious of who might or might not pop out of nowhere or if some of the trees come to life and use their roots or vines just to catch her. There are such things in this world. However, if she can manage, she might also get some good loot to boost her up a little. Coins, runes, anything.

Mage walks further and further into the forest until she hears some growling and rustling in the bushes. Mage stops and looks around, her body shaking in fear.

"Wh-who is that!?" she shouts. "C-come on out! I'm not afraid of you!"

Just then, 4 green goblins come out of hiding, knives ready and are stepping closer and closer to the Mage. She has never seen anything like this before. Goblins in a forest? They must have been here for a reason, but whatever that reason is, Mage doesn't want to know. One of them tries to jump on the timid warrior, but she thrusts her staff, casting a ball of lightning, making him land on it instead and shocking him for a few seconds before being burned and electrocuted. He falls on the ground, dead.

He disappears and some coins appear from where he has fallen. Mage quickly picks up the loot and readies herself for another fight. However, just a few feet from where the goblins are, there is a cute blonde girl dressed in a white robe with white thigh high boots and holding a staff as well, curled up into a ball, and her body trembling. Mage now knows the reason why they're here. She HAS to protect that girl. Putting on a determined face, with newfound strength she has, she is ready to fight. Casing another spell, she thrusts it forward, summoning a gust of wind at the three goblins. The temperature is so low that it's freezing to the goblins. She then swings it to the right, casting a freezing spell on them, ice appearing and trailing towards them. They are frozen solid. This gives Mage a chance to swing her staff and break the ice, making them killed instantly. They disappear and some healing gems and coins appear before her. She doesn't need healing right now as she is in full health already, but she grabs the coins and heads toward the blonde girl.

"Miss?" she calls. Mage starts to slowly walk toward the frightened blonde. "U-ummm...hey...miss?"

"Eek!" the girl jumps at the voice and clutches her staff while lifting her head. "O-oh...y-you saved me?"

"I certainly did," Mage replies. "Those goblins really wanted to kill you huh?"

The blonde girl nods. "I couldn't get away from them. They were relentless. And...and..."

"It's okay, you're safe now," Mage says as she puts out her hand. "Can you stand?"

"Oh, yes. Thank you." The blonde gently takes it and is gently pulled back up to her feet.

"Why are you here alone?" Mage asks. "Did something happen that made you this frightened?"

The blonde girl nods, clutching her staff close to her chest. "Actually...I don't know where to go. I mean...I WAS on a journey with my party, but...we were attacked...by these goblins. No...more than that. They attacked...raped...even killed them. I couldn't do anything, not even my healing spells will work." She shuts her eyes tightly, tears falling from her eyes. "So I just ran. I ran and I ran while those creatures killed my friends."

"Oh, no..." Mage can't believe it. This girl has it way worse than what she is going through right now. She puts a hand on the crying girl's shoulder. "I'm so sorry, miss. About your loss of your friends. I lost them too, but...they didn't get killed. They were...captured."

The blonde girl sniffles. "I-I see. So we're both in a pickle huh?"

"Not really," Mage says. "Hey, if you want, why don't you come along with me to search for my friends? It'll be dangerous for you to be out here alone."

The blonde girl gasps happily. "I would love to! You're very kind! Ah, I'm a Priestess, by the way."

"I'm a Mage~" the violet haired girl replies. "Nice to meet you, Priestess-san~"

"Same to you, Mage-san~" Priestess says.

They shake hands, knowing that their friendship has opened a new world. They are a party now. Smiling at one another, they continue down the path inside the forest. It's pretty big for sure, easy to get lost, but as long as they stick by each other, everything's fine.

"Where are you from?" Mage asks.

"I grew up in a temple of priests," Priestess says. "I'm the first to actually go on my own journey with my own party. Well...I WAS on my own journey before that happened. What about you?"

"I come from a family of Mages," the violet haired girl says. "Or...most of them. My mother is a Sorceress, so I learned magic from her."

"Your mother must be really powerful," Priestess says.

"She is. And...also really hot and sexy," Mage blushes at what she is saying. "She told me she's been getting a lot of comments left and right wherever she goes. I can't believe I grew up to be like this, though. Not that it's a bad thing." She giggles in embarrassment. "I get those same exact comments that Mother had whenever me and my party go places. Heck, they even wanted my armor the most when we were trying to sell our old stuff."

"Wow! You serious?"

"Yup. It's the truth alright." Saying all these embarrassing stuff actually makes both of them feel better. It cheers them up quite well as they are walking down the path, searching for a way out.

Suddenly, Priestess finds a large rock with weird writing on it. She goes ahead and squints.

"Hmmm...I can't make out what it says. I don't read this language," she says.

"Hmmm..." Mage walks over towards it and reads. "Oh, it says we're heading toward a cave full of valuable crystals. I wonder if my friends were taken to that location."

"You can read it?" Priestess asks.

"Certainly. Mother taught me how to read it. It's very useful when it comes to situations like this."

"Alright then. Let's get going!" Priestess says. "Lead the way~"

"Gladly~!" However, Mage turns her head to see a chest just hidden in the bushes with three ancient letters across. "Oh, a treasure chest already~?" She walks over to it. "Hmmmm...I must find and destroy runes though. That's the only way to open it."

"Really?" Priestess asks. "How do you know that?"

"Mother taught me that as well," Mage replies. "These chests are very important and cannot be opened until three runes are destroyed. It might prove useful to our journey too."

Priestess looks around for any signs of runes lying around. She finds one on top of another rock up high. "Look, there's one!"

"Ah, goodie!" Mage thrusts her staff, firing a blue energy ball at it, destroying it instantly. One of the letters that is glowing fades.

"Alright! Two more to go!" Priestess cheers.

Mage looks around for more while walking, slowly but cautiously, trying to find more runes. She finds one hidden in the bushes and destroys that.

"One more~!" Priestess calls out.

The violet haired girl looks around, searching for it. The last one is a little more difficult than she expected. It's hiding place must be very good, so that's why no one else was able to open that chest.

Priestess starts to look for it too. It's here in this forest somewhere. She backs away a few steps until she bumps into a tree stump. She looks up and sees just a tint of blue light three branches away. It's the last rune that they need to destroy. "Mage-san! There it is! Come look!"

Mage rushes towards her friend's side, looking to where Priestess is pointing her staff. "Thanks!" She fires another blue energy ball, destroying that rune.

A sound is heard as the glowing letters fade, meaning it's ready to open. Both of them run towards the chest and Mage attempts to lift the lid, although...it's quite heavy.

"H-help me!" she grunts.

Priestess goes on the other side to open it and they successfully lift the lid up. It reveals all tons of stuff, gold, necklaces and everything else. But there is one that is glowing that catches Mage's attention. She grabs a the glowing bag and holds it up to examine it.

"Oh. A gem that can increase my magic," Mage says. "I could use that."

"Oh, there's something else there too," Priestess says as she picks another small bag. "A rune to put on my staff. It's green."

"Oh, that means your healing power will get stronger and it'll heal a lot quicker too," Mage says. "Go for it. You really need it~"

"Really? Thank you!" With that, Priestess puts the rune on the staff and it glows bright green. The rune sticks into the middle part, showing that it's now part of the staff and it shall now be used. "Perfect! I feel much stronger now~!"

"Excellent!" Mage cheers. She does the same with her staff. Putting the gem on the blue orb, it glows bright blue and the violet haired girl can feel the power surge through her. "Wow! I feel more powerful, too! This stuff really works!"

Mage turns toward the path to where it leads to the cave. She then looks back at the Priestess, holding out her hand. "Ready to go, Priestess-san?"

"I am so ready!" the blonde replies with a nod, face filled with determination. "I shall protect my party this time with this new power."

"I'm glad~"

They take each other's hand and make their way toward the cave. Mage will save her friends and defeat the one who's behind all this once and for all. Nothing can stop her now that she has a new friend.

A/N: Priestess from "Goblin Slayer". I'm sorry! I HAD to do it! Though, I'll never watch the series except maybe just one particular scene, Major Mikey kinda helped me with this idea. So, thank you for getting me back to it~!

Oh, and Sorceress is from "Dragon's Crown" too.

As always, long and detailed reviews…even…after so long. Please, I worked hard on this.

Have a nice day~!