A few weeks had passed. One couldn't imagine that the now green forest was once plagued by blizzards. I could vividly remember the sting of the cold air. Time had truly passed by fast. I even began to feel a strange sense of nostalgia—albeit it quickly vanished, replaced by more important thoughts.

  Alvin and I hadn’t encountered another Magical Beast since that one time. After a long and fruitless search, we decided to give it our all and venture even further into the forest, to increase our chances of finding one. But first, we had to collect our supplies back at our campsite. The way back was uneventful. We didn’t spot anything worth fighting—though we almost got lost. But after Alvin and I discussed things for a while, we found our way back.

  Once there, we made our preparations to leave one final time. We prepared food by smoking meat and gathered some of our hides. We made jugs to carry more water—even though Alvin could always just materialize water from seemingly nothing. I had stored my blue claws in a makeshift backpack I had made. Things like my axe had to be left behind, as they could be easily remade.

  This campsite had become a home for me. In this life, I had spent nearly all my days here. It always gave me shelter from the harsh weather and the ferocious beasts. I even developed some kind of routine. I trained during the day, ate and laughed with Alvin at night while a campfire always lifted the mood and warmed our spirits. It was a truly blissful time.

  I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't feel longing for this place each time we left to venture deeper into the forest. Yet, we had to leave. No good would befall us if we wasted our whole lives on this mountaintop, even though it would be comfortable here.

  Both of us had fully packed backpacks on our backs. Our small frames seemed to crumble under them, as we were almost crushed by their weight. Our bodies’ biological age was 7 years. I couldn’t carry too much with me. Alvin was another story. He carried a backpack nearly three times heavier than mine. I was now almost sure that Alvin had a strength-related trait. It couldn’t possibly be that I was just a weakling and couldn’t lift this much weight.

  That would be preposterous.

  This time we ventured deep into the forest, in a way that we didn’t even care about returning anymore. If there was some powerful beast, it must have left some trace. We looked for any clue we could find.

  And one fateful day, we finally found one: three dead wolf carcasses that most likely were Magic Beasts. They were all as big as fully grown brown bears and had greyish-white fur. All of them had crushed bodies that seemed to be drained of all the fluids they once possessed. I couldn’t even fathom what kind of beast could inflict such horror upon those predators.

  One thing was clear: it was powerful. But even after hours of searching, we couldn’t find any clues or tracks of where it had disappeared to.

  The wolves' claws were ordinary—plain claws one would expect from wolves without magic power. The feature that stood out in all three of them were their glinting teeth. All of them had perfectly arranged teeth with a snow-white luster. Alvin traced his finger along a fang. It was sharp. So sharp that it cut his finger, even though he hadn’t applied much pressure. We decided to break the wolves’ skulls and tear the teeth from the dehydrated corpses. Not even a single drop of fluid splattered.

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  It was truly astonishing. How could these three wolves die without even putting up a fight? There were no traces of battle.

  I wasn’t sure how we could take on such an opponent. Alvin, who was right beside me, had been on high alert ever since we saw the corpses.

  "Nestor, let’s get away from this mountaintop quickly," Alvin said. His voice resonated with deep concern.

  "Yes, you’re right. Let’s not bite off more than we can chew. This opponent isn’t likely to be our match."

  Alvin nodded.

  We both didn’t want to die because of a senseless lack of self-awareness.

  Alvin then resolutely took his first steps. We needed to escape, as whatever killed the wolves could still be nearby. And we definitely didn’t want to fight that beast.

  Muffled voices resounded through the eerily quiet forest. It was a fact that Alvin didn’t choose a trait that made him silent. I didn’t know what traits Alvin possessed exactly, as we both hadn’t told each other our traits. But by now, Alvin must have noticed that I had the trait Silent Frame, the same way I noticed him having a strength-related trait.

  We had grouped up half a year ago. It was normal to notice one or two things about each other.

  Many things had happened over the course of that half year. Thus, it felt like I had changed a bit. From what I could recollect from my past life, I didn’t possess much courage or motivation to act. But ever since I came to this world, I did what I wanted to do. I trained, hunted, and learned for my own sake. Not because I had to slave away at work, but to grow stronger. I knew that someday, I would have to fight the Demon King, and yet it didn’t feel like a burden. It felt much more like a goal. Gradually, the more time I spent in this world, my mind calmed, felt at ease, and grew satisfied with the way things were going. My training made me feel progress—a sensation that had dulled in my past life. Alvin, a like-minded individual, even walked this path with me. This time, I could choose my own path, my own reasons, morals, and ethics. I was content.

  AAAAAhhhh

  I couldn’t even react as a scream tore through the air. I immediately went on guard, sweat forming on my forehead.

  Alvin, who had been right in front of me moments ago, was now embedded in a nearby pile of leaves.

  I didn’t focus on him though.

  In front of me stood a giant insect. How giant? It was nearly as big as a grown elephant! Imagine a mosquito the size of an elephant—its translucent wings hummed with a deafening drone, creating gusts of wind with each beat. Its spindly legs were as long as tree trunks, clicking and scraping across the ground as it moved with unsettling grace. The creature’s needle-like proboscis was no longer a mere annoyance—no, it was a javelin capable of piercing steel. And that eerie aura it released made my heart skip a beat.

  But the most fearsome feature was its tail—a grotesque extension ending in a brutal morning star. Spiked like an ancient weapon, it swung with bone-crushing force, glinting with venom that hissed on contact. It was a monster born of nightmares and exaggeration, an apex predator in a world where even nightmares had predators.

  If Alvin got lucky, he’d only have a few broken bones and mild poisoning—presumably, and hopefully, one that only paralyzes.

  The mosquito-like beast emitted unbearable energy. It seemed to suck life itself out of the environment. Its big, round, red eyes locked on me. I instinctively took a step back.

  It had taken Alvin out in an instant. I didn’t know if I stood a chance against it. Maybe the best decision would’ve been to flee, but I decided against it and quickly cast Moonlight Veil.

  The world once more turned hazy as the cloak of light embraced me fully. The mosquito lost sight of me and began searching. Its giant wings made an unbearable sound, like a helicopter taking off, as the environment itself lost its vitality.

  I had to act quickly.

  The sun slowly set on the horizon, coloring the cloudless sky in orange hues. It was a beautiful sight. The world seemed oblivious to my struggle as I cast my strongest attack: Moon’s Disk.

  The grey disk materialized out of thin air and spun toward the abomination. The mosquito attempted to dodge, but the disk was simply too fast and severed two of its legs. Red blood shot from the wounds. Strange energy enveloped them, and they began to close.

  I didn’t stop my assault yet. My mana couldn’t support reckless use of Moon’s Disk, so I had to use every single one with care.

  I hadn’t anticipated the beast’s next move. Countless blood blades flickered out of its body. It shriveled, and then they all—thin as needles—shot out in all directions. The attack was dangerously similar to Alvin’s Water Hedgehog’s Spike Release.

  I, too, got hit by a dozen of those blades as Moonlight Veil dissipated.

  The mosquito closed the distance between us in an instant. Its flail-like tail almost struck me as my body moved on its own. I felt all my mana surge into one final spell before the blow hit, and I spun through the air—losing consciousness...