Jaxin continued to look at Maxine who was still lying in the bed. She had hardly moved since his arrival, and he continued to smile down at her. In his mind, he couldn't stop thinking about how she had shrunk down from their first meeting and how completely helpless she was now.

For a moment, he didn't really do anything but then he began to slap her face a little. This wasn't an attempt to harm her, rather just a way to see how conscious she actually was. Not too surprisingly, she barely reacted to this and only opened her eyes a little so that she could see him.

This did come as a small surprise to Jaxin, but nothing that really made him worried. Instead this only meant that she was still conscious and somewhat aware of the situation taking place around her. To him, this was ideal because it meant that she would know what he was going to say next.

"Not so big and tough now are you?" asked Jaxin in a condescending way. "You thought that you had one on me when you were as big as a bear. But now look at you, you're pathetic!" Without hesitation he lowered his hand and grabbed Maxine around the neck. "You know, I could just break your neck or suffocate you right now. No one would notice since you're dying anyway." He applied some pressure and although she couldn't react too well, she could still feel it. "I could take my revenge on you for humiliating me in the manner that you did." He increased the pressure for a few moments before ultimately letting go of her neck. "But then again, what's the point in putting effort into killing someone who is so obviously close to death? However, I could put you out of your misery right here, right now. Then I would be doing you a favour."

"N-N…" gasped Maxine. It seemed to be taking all of her willpower just to be able to do this.

"Oh you can still speak?" In a mocking way, he lowered his head so that his ear was just above Maxine's mouth. "What was that my dear? You're going to have to speak into my good ear."

"N-No…" Her voice was nothing more than a whisper at this point in time. "W-When I get big, I'm going to break every bone in your body." The fourteen words that she had muttered had taken a herculean amount of effort. But she meant every single one of them to the man who was more or less kicking her while she was down.

"Really?" He began to laugh at what she had muttered. He hadn't lifted his head up yet and his laugh was relatively quiet as he didn't want the others to realise what was happening at that moment in time. "You actually think that you'll be able to hurt me after…"

Suddenly he felt something that wet strike his ear. Quickly he pulled himself up and began to wipe away whatever it was. He could feel that it was warm and wet and he immediately looked at what it was as he brought his fingers in front of his eyes. It was obvious to him that it was saliva and this made him extremely annoyed.

It seemed that despite her weakened state, that Maxine had been able to show that she was still fighting. Even though she would admit that what she did was disgusting, it was the only option that she had and she couldn't help but smile as she could see the reaction of Jaxin not far away from her.

"You bitch!" stated Jaxin with rage in his voice. At this moment in time, he didn't care who heard him or the fact that she was dying. He was seeing red and quickly he grabbed onto her neck. He did think about snapping it and ending her quickly, but after what she had done to him, he wanted to make it slow and painful for her.

Maxine wanted to call out for help but was unable to. She could see the hate in Jaxin's face, and she knew that if she didn't do something soon, that he would kill her. But with her current condition, that was something that was simply impossible for her to do. She was completely powerless as she could feel the breath being squeezed out of her.

Suddenly, the door to the room opened and Jaxin was too lost in what he was doing to really notice this. Instead, he continued to choke Maxine and he couldn't see that it was Charles who was entering the room with a plate of food in his hands. The food had been somewhat exotic as far as he was concerned, and he was looking forward to eating it.

However, upon seeing what was taking place, Charles immediately dropped the plate and it more or less smashed on the ground. This wasn't important to him as he knew that the health and safety of his friend was what mattered. His own weakness hadn't even crossed his mind as he sprang into action.

"Leave her alone!" shouted Charles as loud as he could. This did get Jaxin's attention as he looked towards the man near the door. He didn't have any time to react as he was tackled to the ground and thus releasing his grip on Maxine.

The two men found themselves falling onto the ground with Charles beginning to punch Jaxin in the face as hard as he could. At this moment in time, he wasn't his usual calm and rational self. Instead, all he could focus on was protecting his friend no matter what cost it was to himself.

For the time being, Charles had the upper hand since he had the element of surprise on his side. This allowed him to get a few good blows in before Jaxin really realised what was happening. The former assassin did begin to regain his bearings and began to block a few of the punches that came his way.

After a few moments, he saw his own opening and was able to give Charles a strong punch to the face that dazed him for a few moments. Enough for him to turn the tables and his attacker being knocked to the ground.

For Charles, it seemed that with this one punch, a lot of the fight that he had simply went away. He didn't even know what had happened when he felt Jaxin on top of him and repeatedly punching him in the face. There were some attempts to try and defend himself, but these seemed to be futile. The matchup between them seemed to be quite one sided as he was never a fighter while his opponent was a fully trained assassin who knew how to take down a person with relative ease.

Because of this, the chances of Charles winning had been destroyed more or less in an instant. Maxine was able to turn her head and she could see the fight taking place right in front of her and that her companion was losing. She wanted nothing more than to help him but still found herself unable to move. Her own weakness was getting the better of her and she thought that she was powerless to help. She even shed a tear as she thought that she was just about to watch the man that she loved die.

"You really think you had a chance against me!" stated Jaxin as he continued to punch Charles in the face. The latter was lying on the ground with the former sitting on top of him and punching with almost no resistance. "How pathetic are you? Trying to defend that weakling like her, you should have turned around and walked away. But now I get the pleasure of killing you as well as her! Guess I'm finally finishing off what I started that night in the inn. You might not have been my targets but killing you is going to bring me so much joy."

Jaxin continued to punch Charles and it seemed as though he was powerless to stop him. He attempted to lift his hands in order to defend himself but found himself unable to. Jaxin was simply overpowering him, and this small skirmish was going one way.

Suddenly he felt someone grab onto his wrist as he had pulled his fist back so that he could attempt to punch Charles again. This surprised him as he had heard no one else entering the room and it made him turn his head and look at who had grabbed onto his wrist. Only to be met by a punch to the face.

The punch itself didn't seem to be that powerful, but it was enough to knock him off away from Charles and he rolled on the ground for a moment. It didn't take him long for him to regain his composure and look towards the person who had just struck him and even in his injured state, Charles did the same.

Standing there with a clenched fist was Maxine which was a great surprise to both men as they were sure that she was on the verge of death. Pure rage was on her face and her fist was clenched as she looked down at Jaxin. For the first time for a good while, she was standing up under her own power. Although there was one thing that both men did notice about her which was surprising.

The small woman was larger than she had been a few moments ago, but she was nowhere near back up to her usual height. Instead, she only around nine inches taller than she had been before but it was clear that her punch had done enough knock Jaxin off of his attack and make him take notice. The dress that she was wearing seemed to be undersized for her as it was designed for someone who was a few inches shorter than her.

"M-Maxine?" asked Charles with some confusion as he was still trying to process what was happening.

"B-But how?" asked Jaxin who was even more surprised and terrified than his victim was. "You're supposed to be…"

"Shut up!" commanded Maxine as she struck him with a strong kick to the face. Her kick might have been much weaker than it had been before. But it was enough to knock him silly and there was even a cracking sound. A clear indication that something was breaking within Jaxin.

The former assassin found himself unconscious on the ground while Maxine stood close by. She wanted to go to Charles immediately, but she waited for a moment to see if there was any fight left in Jaxin. He didn't seem to be moving and it seemed as though he had been knocked out completely, much to her relief. She was feeling stronger than she had been a few minutes earlier, but she was not close to her former strength.

"Charles!" stated Maxine with worry on her voice. Quickly, she went down to one knee and began to tend to her squire. She could see that he was bloody and bruised from the attack and had possibly lost a tooth. "Charles, are you alright?"

"M-Maxine you're up and about, but how?" replied Charles. He was very confused as he was sure that she was on the verge of passing away.

"I-I don't know how to explain it, but I saw you in trouble and I felt something overcome me. Something that gave me the strength to help you." She wasn't entirely sure herself what had happened. It was as if seeing the man that she loved in mortal danger had spurred her on to action. The weakness that she felt was still there but had subsided by a fair amount and she didn't truly realise that she had grown taller. "You tried to protect me."

"N-Not very well unfortunately." He coughed for a moment but before he could say anything else, he felt his companion embrace him in a hug. It was clear that she had been worried about him.

"Let me help you up." With some care, Maxine did grab onto his hand so that she could try and help him to his feet. He had been knocked silly by Jaxin's beatdown, but he did seem to regain his balance. His face was beginning to bruise and swell from the punches, and he could see that he was looking at her eye to eye.

This made her a lot taller than she had been a few moments before but also still several feet off of her true height. In a way, it made her seem as though she was a regular woman. Despite the fact that her clothes were too small for her. But it was still something that Charles did notice, and he couldn't help but look at her with a small amount of relief and amazement. Although one of his eyes was beginning to swell shut.

"M-Maxine, you're taller," said Charles with some astonishment in his voice.

"I am?" replied Maxine who seemed to only realise it for the first time when she looked at him. She then looked down at herself and did notice that her body looked different to what it had been before. "But why, just a minute ago, I was sure that I was going to die and now, I'm like this."

Suddenly the door to the room opened again, but rather than seeing Asla and Taiyun, it instead seemed to be a member of the crew whose attention was attracted. Upon arriving inside, he said something to them, but they were in his language. Because of this, neither Maxine nor Charles could understand what he was saying. Asla had taught Charles a few of the words, but he was far from fluent in the language.

The crewman was confused but then he saw the unconscious body of Jaxin on the ground not far away. He pointed at the pair and said something that they didn't understand. His voice was fairly loud and aggressive. Although his language wasn't understandable for them, they did realise what he was trying to tell them. He was basically telling them to stay where they were.

This was something that the pair were somewhat unwilling to do, but they thought that it was best to do as they were told. They watched as the crewman quickly moved out of the room and they returned a couple of minutes later. This time they were accompanied by two other crewmen and Asla herself. One crewman was the First Mate that they had come across not long earlier.

They could see the chaos that had taken place and Asla in particular was more than happy to see that Maxine was back on her feet and larger than she had been before. This was something that she was very pleased to witness but she still needed to find out immediately what had taken place. Jaxin was still on the ground and unconscious while Charles was battered and bruised.

"What happened here?" asked Asla. Although the First Mate could speak the language of Angleland, it was still thought that it was best that she should speak since she had a better grasp on the language than him.

"What happened is that your bodyguard attacked and tried to kill Charles," replied Maxine with some conviction in her voice. It seemed that some of her confidence had returned with her larger body. She took a step forward and this was when they noticed marks on Maxine's neck. A clear sign that someone had tried to strangle her but right now, that wasn't important to her. What was important was that her squire had been hurt. "If I hadn't of stopped him, who knows what might have happened."

"He did that?" For a moment, she didn't want to believe it, but she did remember how they had first met. Although she had seen him as an ally, she knew that he was an assassin before then. There were a few times when she was unnerved by some of the things that he did, and she knew that he was more prone to violence in comparison to her other companions. She looked over to the unconscious Jaxin and then glanced to a couple of the crewmembers. She said something to them that neither Charles nor Maxine could understand. But they thought that they knew what it meant as two of the crewmembers grabbed onto Jaxin's arms and began to drag him away.

"W-What are you doing with him?" asked Charles. He was still recovering, and he was just glad that Maxine was no longer in danger. But she still wished that there was something to ease his pain.

"Taking him to the ship's brig. When he wakes up, he can answer for his actions." She did lower her head to them, and it was clear that she was feeling remorse for what had happened. "I cannot begin to tell you how sorry I am. I should have kept an eye on Jaxin. I should have known that he couldn't trusted."

"This was something that you couldn't have foreseen," answered Maxine. She stayed close to Charles as if she wanted to protect him. Even though at that moment in time, there were no threats to his safety.

"But still, there will be repercussions for what has taken place." It was also the first time that she realised that she was having to look up at Maxine. She might not have been the giantess that she had been before, but she was definitely taller than she had been when she entered the room. "You've grown."

"Yes, it seems that I've been able to regain some of my lost size. Maybe the rest of it will return in time."

"But how? You were on the verge of death and now you're up and about almost as if nothing had happened."

Maxine looked at herself as she couldn't fully answer that question herself. She didn't know what had triggered her growth spurt, but she thought it might have been a need to protect Charles. He had been in mortal danger and her body had reacted to it. In a way, she could thank Jaxin for his actions. If not for his attack, then it was likely that she would have succumbed to the poison in her body.

Although she did feel relatively weak, she knew that she was on the mend and that she hoped that her full size would be achieved relatively soon. Already, she could feel her body becoming stronger and stronger. The process was slow, but it was definitely something that was happening.

"I can't explain it myself," stated Maxine. "But all I know is that I no longer feel like I'm dying. Whatever poison was inside of me has been is either mostly or completely gone now." She could still remember being so weak that she couldn't even support her own body. Now she had become a nine foot giantess to look forward to.

"We should be thankful for your recovery rather than questioning it," replied Asla. "If you wish, you can depart the ship whenever you like. After being paid the fee for your services of course."

"We appreciate that but is there anyone on board who can treat Charles's injuries?" She was finding it somewhat hard to talk herself as she could feel where Jaxin had squeezed her neck. Without Charles's intervention, it was likely that she would have died without putting up a fight.

"Yes, I will summon them right away."

Several minutes later, Charles found himself lying on the bed while one of the crewmen tended to his wounds. He wasn't as sufficient as a Healer, but he did have enough medical knowledge to treat the wounds as best as he could. There was a lot of swelling and a little bleeding, but these were all things that would heal over time.

Maxine stayed close by and as she did, she did look at herself a couple of times as she was trying to figure out exactly why she had grown. A part of her thought that it was a reaction to her companion being in danger, but this also brought up another question. Why had she only grown a small amount rather than back to her full size? Although she was bigger and more powerful than she was before, it was still a far cry from the towering powerhouse that she had been before.

The wounds were dressed, and it was expected that Charles would make a full recovery. The wounds did look bad for the time being, but they would go away in time. This was something that was good to hear, but he was still in a small amount of pain. Although he didn't like Jaxin, he had to admit that the former assassin could throw a punch.

"Ow," said Charles as he touched his cheek that was still swollen. He felt a brief pain that went away a few moments after he took his finger off of his cheek.

"Don't touch it," replied Maxine as she walked over to him and sat down on the bed. She gave a sigh of relief as she thought that she was only a few minutes away from receiving her money and then stepping off of this ship. Everything had gone well for now and she thought that this journey was more or less over. "Thank you for risking your safety like that for me. But you have to be careful as well."

"I know, I know. But he was choking you, I had to act." He looked at her neck and could see some of the bruising that was there. "How are you? Does your neck hurt?"

"It's a little sore but I'm fine thank you." She did place her hand on her neck for a moment and she couldn't help but feel a little scared. Her life was almost ended, and she could do nothing to stop it. If not for the intervention of Charles, she most likely would have been killed.

"Also, now you're on your way to being normal size again. You're practically as tall as me now." Normally, this wouldn't be very impressive, but in comparison to what she had been before. This was quite a growth spurt.

"Yes, and more importantly, I don't feel as though I'm as weak as I was before. It's nice to be able to walk under my own power again. Not too long from now, Asla will be on her back home, and we'll be much richer. First thing we'll do is go back to Miralton and reclaim my sword and armour. Hopefully by the time we get there, I would have grown large enough to wear it again."

"Hopefully." He then felt Maxine hold onto his hand and he wasn't sure what she was doing. But he felt her lift her head up slightly and then kiss him on the forehead. She wanted to kiss him on the lips, but they were swollen, and it was likely that kissing them would cause him pain.

"Thank you again for saving me." She then embraced him in a hug and thankfully his body wasn't too hurt from the fight. For a few moments, he wasn't sure what he should do but after a few moments, he did embrace her in a hug back and it seemed as though it was a touching moment for them both.

They had each felt the sensation that they were going to lose the other and had needed to step in to prevent their demise. It had made them grow closer and Charles in particular was just still aching from what had taken place. His face wasn't pretty as far as he was concerned, but he knew that he would recover.

Meanwhile below decks, Jaxin was coming to in a place that was somewhat familiar to him. This was the inside of a cell, and it took him several moments for him to remember what had happened. He remembered Maxine kicking him in the face with enough force to knock him it. It was something that confused him since she had been dying just a few moments before. But this was soon replaced by pure anger.

Standing next to the cell door was another member of the crew. He was one that he hadn't seen before but there was something about him that he did notice. This was the fact that he was holding onto what was clearly a set of keys. This made Jaxin begin to think of a way that he could take the keys away from him.

This was something that wasn't needed since the crewmember simply opened the door anyway and Jaxin thought that he was about to step in. Instead, he simply walked away, leaving the door wide open and it was obvious that this was no accident. Jaxin had his escape and now, he was going to have to decide what to do next.