'this is worse than I thought...'

from the way she was eating Mars could tell she was badly malnourished, most likely she would have died in another week if Mars had not taken her out of her cell

"you done eating?"

"...yeah"

"okay then..."

Mars walked over and picked Varvei up again and proceeded to walk out of the mess hall with Victoria following after him, after some more usage of his new skill did he arrived in front of a door and knocked moments later the door opened

"oh it's you Mars... wait what, or rather who is that?"

Mars ignored the question and asked

"can I come in Chloe?"

Chloe stared into his face for a moment before she gave a sigh and nodded

"...sure"

Chloe stepped aside and Mars walked in and turned to her

"remember what I said earlier about a scent?"

"... yeah I do, wait was it her?"

"yep, by the way this is Chloe Varvei"

"....h.e.l.lo"

"hi, by the way Mars is mine"

Mars gave a sigh

"...so because of this I need to leave early"

Chloe looked like she had a headache coming on as she ma.s.saged her temples but eventually she just gave a sigh

"...so when will I see you again?"

"hmm... after I leave the empire I'll head for Destra's magic academy, then I suppose I'll pay the Mother forest a visit"

Chloe stared at Mars for a moment then gave another sigh

"fine, then you can go now I'll tell the others"

"thanks Chloe"

Mars turned and walked out of the room leaving Chloe behind

"...idiot"

Mars picked up his backpack and left the fort after a few more uses of his new skill and entered the city still caring Varvei in his arms

"why are you even doing this?"

"hmm..?"

"I mean saving me"

"oh that... well because it sounded like the most interesting thing to do"

"...I see"

Varvei fell silent and Mars continued to walk into the quiet night town, well it was not completely quiet and Mars soon reached one of the not so quiet places; an inn

"let's rest here for the night"

"should we not leave the city before someone comes after us?"

"yeah we should, it's just I'm worried about your condition"

"...I see"

Varvei lowered her head slightly

"sorry..."

"don't worry about it, Victoria wait here with Varvei for a moment"

"okay..."

Mars put down Varvei in a secluded ally a little away form the inn

"I'll be right back"

"okay..."

Mars walked into the inn and quickly found the owner that stood behind the counter and asked

"do you still have rooms?"

"yeah we do, do you want a single or a shared room?"

"single please"

"well I suppose it's late already... just give me 100 cell"

Mars paid for one night and was shown to a room on the second floor, the room was small with a single bed and a window

"perfect..."

Mars put down his backpack and walked over to the window before he jumped out of it and landed on the street down below before he walked over to where he had left Varvei and Victoria

"sorry for the wait"

Mars quickly picked up Varvei again and walked over towards the inn again only this time he jumped and landed inside his room and put down Varvei on the bed and sat down on the floor himself

"what are we going to do now?"

"rest"

Mars stood up and pulled a blanket over Varvei before he sat down on the floor himself with his back leaning against the bed frame

"...are you sure I'm worth the trouble?"

Mars sensed the weakness in Varvei's voice

"sure you are, i mean just by the fact that you are the first half-dragon I have met"

"...you won't regret it?"

"nope, now get some rest"

"...okay"

some time pa.s.sed and when Varvei fell asleep Mars also closed his eyes and begun to meditate with Victoria laying in his lap as the time pa.s.sed and the night grew longer...

the next morning Mars open his eyes and glanced towards the door before he gave a sigh and quickly picked up the still sleeping Varvei and then suddenly jumped out of the window with Victoria following after him quickly just as he clear the window the door was kicked in by a knight looking person

"there he is!"

"don't let him get away!"

'sure is lively in the morning...'

Mars begun sprinting away form the inn, elegantly weaving his way tough the morning crowd

"...Mars were is this?"

"oh, good morning Varvei, we're still in the city"

"okay..."

Varvei now better used to being carried rubbed her eyes and looked around as the surroundings zoomed past and suddenly voiced out a complaint

"I'm hungry..."

"then let's stop and get some food, we have shaken them off our tail by now"

"you sure run fast..."

Mars lowered his speed and eventually stopped running as he leisurely walked down the main rood, ignoring the stares he revived until he found a food stand and brought some food for Varvei, after she finished eating she looked up at Mars and asked

"what now?"

Mars looked around at the shops around and nodded his head

"first let's find some cloths for you, then we buy some supplies and leave this city"

"that sounds good"

Mars, Varvei and Victoria did some shopping avoiding the guard patrols thanks to Mars's supernatural hearing that could detect anyone wearing guard armor from 500 meters away

"and that the last we need... right?"

Varvei counted on her fingers

"clothes, boots, dried food and camping gear... I think so"

"good then let's skip town and start heading south"

"south?"

"yeah to Destra"

"Destra..."

Varvei gave a sigh before she put on a resolute expression

"well why not"

"good then let's go"

Mars walked towards the southern wall, but turned of the main road before they reached the gate

"wait... your not going to jump the wall are you?"

"...that was the plan, why are you bad with heights?"

"no... its just, can you reach the top of the wall, its 15 meters you know?"

"well that should be no problem if I take it serious"

"Mars..."

"well don't speak until we clear the wall, or else you might bite your tongue"

"okay"

Mars reached the foot of the wall and looked up

"Victoria mind checking the top of the wall for me?"

"sure.. wait a... bit"

Victoria disappeared leaving behind Mars and Varvei and moments later a voice sounded out in Mars's head

"its... clear"

"okay here we go!"

Mars took a few steps back and got a running start before he jumped and... almost reached the top of the wall

"s.h.i.+t"

Mars quickly transformed his hand and stabbed his claws into the wall to stop his fall before he kicked off the wall and managed to reach the top of the wall were he quickly walked over to the other side and leaped over the railing, Mars felt Varvei's hands squeeze him tight as a weightless feeling enveloped them both movements later they landed on the ground with a loud bang

"well that went better than expected, you alive Varvei?"

"...I thought I was going to die"

"well don't you feel alive now then?"

"sure, as long as my hands stop shaking"

Victoria jumped out of a nearby shadow and then the 2 of them, Mars caring Varvei begun running towards the sunset... or rather south, after running for about 15 minutes Mars slowed his pace a little so it wasn't so rough on Varvei, meanwhile he begun loading his [Energy: healing] skill with energy units and s.h.i.+fted Varvei so he only used on hand to hold her

"Mars?"

"hold still for a second"

Mars put his hand on Varvei's forehead and activated his healing skill and after some time... nothing much happened

"what did you just do?"

"hmm... think of it as a good luck charm"

"okay..?"

Mars s.h.i.+fted Varvei back again so he held her with 2 hands

"Mars..."

"what is it Victoria?"

"we... have people coming... after us"

"what?"

Mars stopped and strained his ears sure enough sounds of pursuers entered his ears, Mars looked down at Varvei and asked

"what should we do?"

"what do you mean?"

"I mean kill them or keep running?"

Varvei gave a frown when Mars casually mentioned killing their pursuers but eventually just looked away

"...do as you wish"

"okay, Victoria let's do this"

Mars stopped running and put down Varvei so she leaned her back up against a nearby tree and then he turned to welcome the pursuers that arrived riding horses, there was about 20 of them, Mars looked over at Varvei as he slowly transformed into his half-dragon form

"now before we get started if anyone wants out now the only change you get"

the leader of the pursuing knights signaled for his subordinates to surround Mars before he barked

"heh... just a dirty non-human don't worry we'll make this quick"

Mars gave a sigh and put a hand on the hilt of his sword meanwhile a wide smile formed on his face