Immediately, Merlin's tense shoulders dropped and her face brightened as she turned to look at Theresa, who was greeting her with a kind smile.
"Thank you," she said, bowing her head toward Damien in appreciation.
Damien curtly nodded before asking a crucial question. "Have you played this game before?"
Inwardly, he already had his suspicions, but it was better to have confirmation than to work on assumptions.
After all, in the world of Forsaken, assumptions could kill.
"Forsaken?" Merlin murmured, shaking her head as she glanced around at their surroundings with confusion.
"I've never heard of this game before." Her voice was honest, almost apologetic.
Damien turned to look at Theresa with a blank expression.
There was a helpless look on his face, followed by a deep sigh. However, he wasn't one to give up so easily.
"Since you're new, it's better if you stay in the backline," he said, though his words came out rougher than intended.
Immediately, Merlin's face dropped.
She was already timid, and Damien's cold attitude only made her more unsettled.
Seeing this, Theresa shot Damien a pointed look and quickly stepped in to soften his words.
"What he means is that you should stay behind us and observe for now. That way you can learn gradually," she explained gently, then asked, "I assume you know how to fight?"
Merlin nodded quickly. "A little bit. I have some training from home," she said in a quiet voice.
Theresa's expression brightened at this news, though Damien showed no reaction.
"Being able to fight is good," Theresa said encouragingly. "This game involves a lot of combat, but for now, just watch and learn."
As she said this, she turned to point at Damien," He's Damien, I'm sure he is willing to teach you."
'The hell?' His face froze.
"I'm not good at teaching," Damien said half heartedly while waving his hands in the air. But Theresa merely giggled and shook her head.
From what she can see, Damien is much more capable than he may show on the surface.
How could she be so easily fooled?
"Not good at teaching, or not wanting to teach?"
Damien didn't reply and started to whistle, as though he didn't hear her words. Evidently, he did not want to argue with her over this matter.
While ignoring her, he grabbed at the air, taking out a catashroom from his inventory and started munching.
Seeing his attitude, Merlin let out her first chuckle since their encounter.
However, when Damien threw a glance at her, she quickly quieted down and apologized," Sorry…"
With the arrival of the newcomer, Damien and Theresa decided to postpone their plan on fighting the giant skeleton.
There is a number of reasons for this.
Firstly, they didn't want to risk fighting this 'Elite-Grade' monster while having to worry about Merlin.
It must be noted that the Skeleton Warrior from before was considered a Common-Grade monster.
If they were to encounter a Skeleton Warrior that had [Elite-Grade] in its name, then its stat would be manifold higher!
Of course, they could fight this Elite Monster without her presence, but Theresa reasoned Damien out of it.
Believing that it is essential they stay as a team.
And secondly, if Merlin is going to be a part of their team, she needs proper training.
Theresa truly believed that training Merlin to be a proper player was worth it, though Damien remained neutral, not supporting or against it.
Admittedly, Damien felt like his time could be better spent grinding exp. Of course, he didn't speak his thoughts out loud.
The final reason is that Theresa and Damien had a feeling it would be more optimal if they could get some sort of weapon before fighting an Elite-Grade monster.
This was especially convenient now that Merlin had joined.
With the catashroom as their source of food, and the occasional springs from the catacomb passage, they can be sustained for a while.
Though the taste of the mushrooms, which feasted on the bones of the deceased, and the water muddled with long decomposed corpses left them feeling sick.
This was already the best outcome they could hope for.
Merlin, the newcomer, was most affected after Theresa. Struggling to even swallow a bite of the catashroom.
Meanwhile, Damien continues to munch on it with much delight.
As they traveled the catacombs searching for skeletons to kill. Merlin quietly observed the interaction between Theresa and Damien, grasping many crucial details.
'This lady Theresa surprisingly follows his order really well,' She thought to herself, watching as Theresa attacked a skeleton upon Damien's words.
They acted and worked with almost flawless communication and synchronized movement. It was strange, to say the least.
Merlin grew up learning that the undercity always wanted to overthrow the uppercity and establish their own rules.
She has witnessed the atrocities from the undercity as they robbed and killed those of the uppers.
Yet seeing Theresa, a high noble working with Damien, an undercity. She was confused.
However, she did not reject this peculiar feeling, and let it gradually leave her heart.
As for the skeletons following Damien.
She didn't see them due to the lack of light upon their first encounter. But she was truly startled and frightened when she saw that they were under his control.
This could explain why Lady Theresa was so respectful toward Damien, though she had a feeling there was something deeper than that.
At this moment.
Merlin gripped tight onto the pebble in her hand, given to her by Damien.
As they continued to encounter more skeletons, Merlin grew increasingly less fearful of their appearance.
Theresa, noticing this, walked up to her, letting Damien handle a group of four skeletons by himself.
Damien frowned, but before he could speak, Theresa's voice followed behind him.
"Let her handle one skeleton," She shouted to Damien.
As much as he wanted to retort, he couldn't.
However reluctant he was, Damien ordered [Bone 1] to loosen its movement and allowed one of the skeletons to aggro onto Merlin.
"W-Wait!" Merlin yelled out, still nervous to be suddenly called out.
However, the skeleton charging at her didn't speak human language.
"Go on," Theresa said with a smile, pushing Merlin forward from behind.
"Ahhhh!" Merlin flailed.
With the skeleton coming so close to her, she couldn't think straight for a moment as her eyes instinctively closed.
Then, she swung the pebble in her hand.
Bang!
[Ding! You have critically hit skeleton x1]
[Ding! You have stunned the skeleton for five seconds.]
Damien heard the loud bang behind him, and without even needing to turn his head, he was shocked.
Meanwhile, Theresa's teasing voice followed, as though to taunt him.
"See? She could learn."
Hearing this, Damien followed with a loud bang of his own.
Bang!
[Ding! You have critically hit skeleton x1]
"Shut up." He grumbled.