The male cautiously approached the goblin with two weapons. They circled around each other, eyeing each other's movement, and awaited for the next action.

The male took the action first.

With a yell, he charged forward, raising his Tachi and brought it down onto the goblin, only to be quickly parried by the goblin with its sword. It jumped up towards him soon after, raising its axe in an attempt to split his head in half. The male reacted at the split second by side stepping, the blade of the axe missing his nose by a mere centimeter. The male quickly took out his Wakizashi with his free hand in another attempt to at least cut the goblin. The goblin surprisingly reacted quickly, as it dodged, dropped the axe, took the blade of its sword in its two hands, and used the hand guard to pierce the male's stomach.

The male felt a searing pain in his stomach as the hand guard pierced his stomach, as he flinched violently and dropped his Wakizashi, but took this opportunity to finish the goblin by bringing his Tachi down onto the goblin's head, and continued down, as he let out a pained yell, until the former goblin Lord's entire body was split in half. Blood poured out of both sides of the opening the male had caused, before the half body fell to the ground, blood tainting the ground. The male was also dripping blood from his stomach, as the hand guard stayed in his stomach, until he took it out.

He looked up to the remaining goblins, who was in shock, before stated threateningly, "Who's. . . . . Next. . . ."

Instead of being scared, they were instead more determined to bring the male down, as they all charged forward, the wolf riders attacking first. Seeing this, the male slashed down the first wolf that approached him, but couldn't dodge another two appearing. Instead, he took his two arms out to block his face, and both wolves but into his forearm, as he was suddenly pinned to the ground. He let out yells of pain, as the wolves continued to ravage his forearms.

"I pray to you, Goddess of Lightning and Rain! Bring my enemies down to ashes!!" The male heard the girl chanted, before dark clouds conjured and multiple thunderstorms were heard. Suddenly, there was a flash of light, striking the ground, causing the ground to shake. The impact was so great, that it made the wolf riders and the white haired male to fly off. The male fell to the ground and rolled until he was below the naked Magic Girl, while the wolf riders had pierced through pieces of wood from the random sharp sticks of the village.

It took a while for the male to process what happened, but he then saw drops of water falling down onto him.

"What. . . Happened?" The male asked, his arms numb to him to feel the pain of the water droplets hitting and trickling down his forearms' bare flesh.

"Our enemies are now ashes," Magic Girl replied, before she kneeled down and put her two hands hovering above the male's forearms.

"O Mother Earth. Heal this sacred man to from the very last fiber," Magic Girl chanted, as a faint white glow appeared on her palms, before it soon appeared on the white haired male's forearms. The male watched in amazement as his flesh and skin looked as if it was being sewn together, but more perfectly. Once the last slit of skin was sewn together, Magic Girl fell down onto the male, panting. The rain had dripped away all the blood from her body, revealing her naked self onto the male. Her chest squished against his own, causing the male to blush profusely.

"Is. . . . Is it over?" Magic Girl asked, as if the event she had experienced was forgotten. The male kept silent, as he sat up, putting the tired girl onto his lap.

"No. We have to find the women in this village."

"Don't worry about that," A man's voice behind them said. The male put the tired, and naked girl to his back, as he looked at the man, which turned out to be all the surviving men, both young and old, armed with weapons. Behind them were the women, just as naked as Magic Girl.

"Will they be fine?" The male asked.

"Let's just hope they are," the village head replied, walking towards the male.

"Thank you for arriving. If not for you-"

"No. You cannot thank me. . . . Or us."

"Why?"

"We have let a few of your men died. We let the women dragged away. We even let an entire horde of goblins down your way."

"You cannot have a pessimistic thought, young man."

"Huh?"

"Yes. The men died. The women, dragged. A horde of goblins arriving at our village. But think of it this way. The men died to defend what they love. Their children, their wives. They fought not because they were forced. They fought because they could. Their deaths were not in vain. The women had fought back. They are just as strong as the men here. An entire horde of goblins came. But you and the girl on your shoulder killed all of them. Now, we shouldn't worry too much about another goblin raid in a long time."

The old man's explanation was embedded deep in the white haired male's mind. Each word he heard, he processed them, and understood. It was only when the man waved a small bag of money in front to male that he snapped to reality.

"No. I don't want to take it. . ." The male insisted.

"Just take it, young man. You and this girl deserves it."

Hearing these words made him consider about taking the money, but he then heard children crying softly.

"No. We both do not deserve it. The fathers, the fighters of this village deserves them. They fought a battle that they knew that they could not win. Their children and wives deserve that money more than our contribution in the extermination of the goblins."

The old man looked at the male in shock at his words. He suddenly see the male being so mature and wise, before shaking his head, a small smile escaping his lips.

'This male is different than the other adventurers that I know.'

"Fine. I shall give this money to them. Do you not regret your actions?"

"I do not. . . . However, can we stay in this village? Just for one night?"

"Does your offer is considered as the payment?"

"Sure. We just need a place to rest, is all."

"Heh. Alright then, young man. There's an empty house in this village. Follow me."

. . . . . . . .

The male laid down the unconscious Magic Girl onto the bed, before heaving a small sigh.

'I will not lie. This house is comfortable to live in. I wonder if she would like to live here. . .' The male thought, as he glanced to the sleeping girl on the bed. He grabbed the staves, and rested it near the windows, before he took off his weapons, laid beside the sleeping girl, and closed his eyes. A smile appeared on the male's face, before he felt himself into a slumber.

. . . . . . . .

The male was in darkness.

A cold darkness.

He felt heavy, but weightless.

'What is this?' The male thought. He attempted to move, but he couldn't. He tried opening his eyes, but was unable to tell if his eyes were open or not, as not matter what he did, he still saw darkness.

"Hello. . ." He heard a voice. It was soothing one. But for some reason, it had no sound of a gender. It was neither a male, nor a female. He couldn't tell.

"You are quite a special one. . . . Oh, what am I to do if you are dead. . . ." The voice continued.

'Who. . . Is that?' The male thought. As if reading his mind, it replied, "I am your spiritual guardian, young man."

'Spiritual guardian? What are you talking about?'

"I watch over you. I also protect you from harm."

'Nonsense. I almost died. . . Twice.'

"And I apologise for not appearing earlier. I will appear once you wake up."

'Once I wake up?'

"This is a dream."

The male quickly sat up, eyes wide open. He breathed in and out slowly, attempting to calm himself down, and process what had occurred. The light of day had draped all over his body.

'Who was that. . . .' the male thought, before he heard the sounds of children laughing and yelling out of excitement. Curious, the male went outside to the window, letting the naked Magic Girl on the bed, still sleeping. To his surprise, he saw a group of children chasing a small, nimble animal. It seemed like a fox, evident by its light orange fur, which he found rather interesting.

But then, the fox continued to surprise him.

Suddenly, it turned around, and looked at exactly where the white male was. Its eyes glittered, before it floated towards the male.

'What the hell?!!' The male thought, backing away from the window. After some time, the fox appeared on the window.

'Hello. We finally meet, young man,' the fox said to him. At least, that was what he heard. It was like the fox was talking to him, as he heard the voice in all directions, as if it was in his head.

"Have. . . Have we met before?" The male asked.

'We have. In your dream.'

"So. . . . You were the one who talked to me during my dream?"

'Yes. That is me. I did tell you that I will appear as soon as you wake up.'

"And you are my guardian. What are you, a spirit fox?"

'Yes, I am.'

"Can other people see you?"

'Yes. They can.'

"But only I can hear your voice?"

'Correct. You and I have a connection. Whatever that connection may be, I want you to find the answer yourself.'

"Why can't you tell me now?"

'Because I was ordered not to tell you.'

"And who ordered you to not tell me?"

'I also cannot tell you that.'

The male felt suspicious of this telepathic talking spirit fox, but then he saw Magic Girl slowly waking up. She stretched herself, before she saw the spirit fox.

"Wow. . . A fox. . ." The girl said in amazement. The spirit fox then looked at the naked girl, before turning towards the male.

'Is she your beloved?'

"A partner. Not a beloved."

"Who are you talking to?" Magic Girl asked the male.

"The fox. I can hear it talking to me. That's why."

"Seriously?"

"Very."