It was Seroth.
"What do you want? Are you here to finish me off?"
The man smiled, his eyelids were black and he looked really tired.
He sat near sola and let out a huge sigh.
"The day I kill someone who saved my ass and lost an arm for it may the gods themselves strike me down"
He then got something out of his pocket and handed it to sola.
It was a headband made from white cloth.
"We think it's planning come back tonight, so if you can pick up a sword with that hand of yours come and fight with us"
Without waiting for a response, he stood up and started walking away.
Before he went in the shadows and disappeared from their view Seroth heard a laugh or was it a cry?
Looking around he saw sola struggling to stand up.
You could tell that he was hurting.
Seroth grinned as he looked at him, he took another step and before finally disappearing he said:
"Devils do bleed easily kid but they never cry"
Sola and Lily were left alone for a while so they had time to talk, both of them could die today so there was a lot to talk about.
After talking for a bit, Sola wrapped the headband around his forehead, covering most of the mark. Then he walked toward the larger section of the cave.
Sola still got some stares but the headband was undoubtedly working, he was walking slowly getting adjusted to walking with one hand.
Everyone was scared, they were praying to gods to save their lives.
Lily and him went up to one of the soldiers and asked for weapons.
Young boy in leather armor called someone as he was on watch and they were escorted to a place where they had iron.
"These caves were discovered few hundred years ago by a madman who was kicked from the village"
Soldier entered a small section of a cave, which was hidden not too perfectly.
"He was a swordsmith and a pretty good one at that"
In front of them, mostly covered in spider webs, were swords, axes, and other equipment.
"Almost every one of them is high rank so you won't be able to use its enchantments but it's better than nothing."
Sola was deciding between axe and a sword but mesmerized by the beautiful patterns on the axe he went with the axe.
He picked it up and tested it in his hand, then put on light black leather armor along with a short sword that came with the set.
He felt strong while armored. Next to him, Lilly was holding a single-edged, medium-sized sword and wore the same leather armor he was wearing.
Her blond, silky hair contrasted beautifully with the black outfit, which highlighted her beautiful curves.
"Well, what do you think does it look good on me?"
She asked while playing with the sword in her hands.
Before sola could answer young man next to them said.
"Follow me, we need to assign your roles"
They went outside, were most of the soldiers were.
Neither Lilly nor Sola knew how to fight, but they were still admired and respected.
They got in a group with big fat guy with a huge ginger beard who was a captain and couple of young people like them.
He showed them their spot and where to look.
They were outside the cave, sitting around the campfire, all listening to the bearded man.
His name was don.
"We are staying here all night so two will take turns while others sleep,
for now, we will all watch for the attack."
He was serious but very friendly.
After eating for a bit, they spent the next five hours staring into the forest.
Lily and one other girl from the group were first on watch, while rest went to sleep.
They had not slept for a while, unlike Sola, so they fell asleep the moment their heads touched the ground.
Sola could not sleep, so he figured he would stay on watch with the girls.
Moon was unusually big and beautiful.
Sola stood next to Lily, both of them deep in thought as they looked at the view.
Only thing they could hear was don's snoring and the sound of trees.
After some time, the snoring stopped and the silence was broken by Lily this time.
"Sola did you die too? After accepting the duel"
He knew where this was going.
"No, the system said that I got invaded not the other way around"
Lily looked down as if she was thinking about something.
"I see…"
After some time, she spoke again.
"You saw me die in the class didn't you"
She looked him as if waiting for an instant direct answer.
There was no response though, sola was still looking at the trees searching for anything unusual.
He changed the subject.
"Would you live here?"
Lily grinned and answered instantly.
"Who would not? everything is so beautiful here"
He was surprised by that answer.
She grinned at sola, leaned to his cheek and kissed it.
"If we can't go back after killing that thing let's live here together"
His heart dropped.
Sola couldn't say a word so he just nodded.
After some time when the feeling of her cute soft lips escaped his cheek entirely, he asked.
"Are you afraid of death?"
"I am ready to die, sola. I will welcome death with open arms and embrace it"
Sola looked at her and smiled. It was good that she wasn't scared as well, even though he would be scared if not for his ability.
"Oh, by the way you have not told me what powers you got from the system"
Lily asked curiously.
"Oh, nothing special I am just swift and I don't really feel fear"
Speaking of the system, he did hear something before he passed out, so he summoned it, which, apparently, was only visible to him.
Name: Sola
Rank: Mundane
Tier: I
Soul: 0/300
Remnants: --
Curse: --
Marks: [Banished] [Solace] [???]
Essence: [Dauntless] [Swift]
There was new mark on him but he could not read it, giving mental command on it he unlocked its description.