She blinked for a few times. Then frowned.

“That’s not funny!”

“Yes, it is.” He laughed.

“No, it’s really not. You should pick- would you stop laughing? You should pick something better.”

“C’mon, what’s wrong with Jack? Imagine their faces, when I tell them this? They’ll think I’ve been named by the worst parents imaginable.”

“Or they’ll think you’re a bad omen and you carry bad luck.”

“Jack it is, then.”

“No. Please! Anything would be better.”

“I see. Should I name myself Lola?”

“…”

“Alright, too far. Still, we can keep it just between ourselves. Like a nickname! That works, right?”

“Well…”

“Please?”

“Fine. In return, you’ll pass the soup.” She said, good-naturedly.

It goes without saying that, by the time they were done talking, the fire had long gone out. The soup was still warm, as Jack was pleased to find.

“So sorry, completely forgot about it.”

“No worries, it’s no worse than you naming yourself Jack.” She teased.

They ate and talked for a while after that. They got back to talking about Classes and the like again and Jack disclosed his Levels and Skills. While Lola was somewhat shocked about how fast he had leveled, this time, it wasn’t unheard of. What was unheard off, was that he had leveled that fast while obtaining new Classes.

Reaching the subject of his Skills, she knew a couple and was not that surprised by the rest. They seemed normal, if normal was a word that could be used to describe Jack. His last acquired Skill, though, stumped them both.

“I’ve never heard of a Skill called |A Fire a Day|. Most skills are, well, basic.” She said.

“Yeah, I got that. But usually, I can tell what it does by its name. Or by playing around with it. This, however… |A Fire a Day|!” he suddenly said.

Nothing happened.

“Maybe I have to start a fire first?”

“I’d like to see that, I really would, but I should be getting back. I still have errands to run.”

“About that! Think you could get me a shirt? I have a name now and- I’m joking, I’m joking!” he hurriedly said, while she glared again.

“I’ll think of something else, but with a shirt, I could come and visit the village, right?”

“Uh” she started uncertainly. “I don’t think I have enough to buy one right now. I’m sorry, I’ll try and…”

“Wait, no! I didn’t think about that. I’m sorry. Uhm, is there anything I can do to help? I can fish!” he finished, excitedly.

“Mmm, maybe. I think Ember-Caps can be sold, but the old man that used to go in the forest for them is not around anymore. I’ll ask some people and see what we can find useful around here.” She said and smiled a second later. “Who knows, maybe we’ll even find a use for you, wandering around the forest!”

She laughed and he laughed with her, but his heart wasn’t in it. He’d been trying to find meaning between the trees, for a few days before he met her and her words hit too close to home.

“Anything I can do to help.”

“Great! In that case, I’m off and I’ll see you soon.” She hesitated a little. “I… may not be able to come every day, but I will try.”

“Hah, don’t you worry about that. I’ve got plenty of stuff to do around here. I didn’t even notice you were gone.” He grinned.

That would have been a fine moment to remember the concept of ‘shit-eating grin’, yet he sadly failed to do so.

“Uh huh. Well, then. Bye!” she said, standing up.

“Bye!”

Like before, he watched her leave, until she was no longer visible behind the trees, since he had nothing better to do. The irony was lost on him.

“She didn’t eat much.” He said, inspecting the soup pot.

“I easily cleared half of this pot, but there’s still a full portion left. Maybe more than that? I don’t want to throw it out and it won’t stay fresh. Maybe eat it? But even I have limits. Hm.”

“May I have it?”

“Yeah, I guess you might as- WHAT THE FUCK?” he said, doing an impromptu pirouette and falling on his behind.

A few feet away from the fire, a hole had appeared in the ground. It was a decently sized hole, big enough to stick your head through it. The young man knew this because a head was sticking out through it.

Or at least it was, before his sudden screaming made the head retreat back to where it came from.

Was that… what was that?

Jack had discovered how to think without talking out loud.

“Who said that?”

…

“I did, sir.” A muffled voice came from inside the hole. “I asks if I can have the soup, sir.”

…

“Show yourself!”

Slowly, a head popped out of the hole. That in itself wasn’t so disturbing. What was disturbing was the fact that the head was not human or even nymph, since they looked similar enough to humans not to startle them.

No, the head looked like it belonged on an oversized rat. It had a wary expression on it, which was human enough, but that’s where the similarities stopped. The creature looking at Jack had a snout and sunken eyes. Short hair covered everything, but it was longer atop the head, where it formed a frazzled mop. It’s ears were long, large and… rat-like. The only things that didn’t look like they belonged on a rat where the whiskers. Or, better named, moustache. It wasn’t composed of long, rare strands of hair, but mostly resembled a normal human moustache. Only it was split in half, with each half placed on each side of the creature’s snout. The fur, hair and moustache were all of a color between gray and light brown.

“Who are you?”

“Me? I is… that is, I am Mrk, sir.”

“Mr… Who?”

“Mrk didn’t want to scare you, sir. Mrk hungry. I asks for soup sir, only that.”

The last few days were surreal enough for Jack, that he didn’t freak out about an oversized talking rat popping out of the ground and asking for his leftover soup. Well, he did. But most of the freaking out was done internally.

“Ah, sure. You can have it. Come over and I’ll load you a bowl.” He said, looking at one of his mini-pots.

“Mrk can’t, sir. Mrk not allowed to step in the forest.” He complained, shrinking down a little.

“Why?”

“Mrk… please sir, may I just takes the soup?”

The other one sounded hungry enough to delay Jack’s paranoia for a time. He handed the bowl, filled with the leftover soup, to the rat and watched it pop back into the hole immediately.

No sound came for a few moments.

“Mrk?”

…

“You okay?”

…

“Was the soup good?”

No answer came. Jack looked at the hole for another minute, before stepping closer and inspecting it directly. It was empty and while he thought he could see the beginning of a tunnel and the bottom of it, he wasn’t about to jump in, not after witnessing what came out of it. Turning around, he stepped towards his extinguished fire, complaining.

“Good news: I met a member of a new species. Bad news: I lost a bowl. Not even sure it was worth it.”

A sound from behind him made him turn. Where before stood the hole, there was now only an indent in the ground, with the earth looking like it had been jumbled. And right next to it was his bowl. Which on inspection, looked like it had been licked clean.

“This is starting to be the weirdest day of my life so far.”

He wondered whether to think about what had happened, before deciding to move on. Nothing new came out of thinking about the same things or at least, that was how Jack thought. In his defense, he had only started this whole thinking thing for a few days.

His mind turned to what Lola had said and he went to the forest, trying to see is he could find anything that may be of value.

“Could I sell sticks as firewood? Maybe I could sell fish. But I forgot my spear. Lola mentioned the fire mushrooms. EmberCaps. How many would a shirt be worth? But I don’t need to pick them, I can always pluck them from the garden.”

Amazingly, though they spread like wildfire and he always found more waiting for him, the morning after he plucked them, the fire mushrooms never spread beyond the boundaries he set for his garden. In this case, the boundary was a narrow line, comprised of rocks, roughly set into the ground. He thought that maybe, this is why the mushrooms didn’t take over the forest. Natural boundaries.

“Well, I could always use more food.”

That said, he dragged back to camp a few others plants. A couple more berry bushes. A few plants he appreciated for their roots. Even the small herbs he had used as spices. It was tiring work, but it was also rewarding. In more ways than one.

|Class Level Raised: Gardener|

|Class Level: 3|

“What, no Skills? Pff.”

“Is that food, sir?”

“WOULD YOU STOP THAT?”

Mrk’s head immediately disappeared from view. After taking in a few breaths, Jack called out.

“Hey, wait, come back. I’m sorry for screaming. I was just startled.”

Gently raising his head out of the hole again, Mrk spoke.

“I is sorry too, sir. I scared sir.”

“Don’t call me sir. And yes, this is food. Of a sort.” He finished lamely.

“What I call if not sir, sir?”

“Ah… Jack! Call me Jack.” He grinned.

In truth, he had not yet started to consider himself Jack yet, but he figured the more people were in on the joke, the funnier it would get.

“Good to meets you, Jack!” Mrk said and uncertainly tried to grin back.

That’s a lot of teeth. Sharp too. And he’s the one afraid of me.

“What food is that sir? Jack!” he quickly corrected himself.

“It’s… a little of a lot of things. This plant has edible roots. Not that good, but you can roast them or mash them into a soup, to make it thicker. This bush had berries. Not that sweet and a little sour. These are herbs. I can make a nice tea with it. And these are fire mushrooms. They’re spicy.”

“Oh, yes, I ate the fire ones, s-, Jack. I had to eat them from the ground, because they made my hand hurt. I could only eat few, because the popping in my mouth was hurtful.”

“You… bit them? Before they exploded? That’s…” he stared at Mrk, curiously. “I just pop them with a stick or grab them with my hands, but I have a Skill for my hands. You just…”

“Is okay sir. I have eaten worse.”

“Right. Uh, hey Mirk, not that I don’t mind talking to you like this, but could you maybe come out of the hole? We can sit around the fire.”

Mrk looked longingly at the fireplace, but shook his head.

In truth, Jack’s offer was only half-made out of friendly concern. The other half was cold certainty that if a hulking mass of claws and muscles came out of that hole, he would surely reach Lola’s village in twenty minutes, no matter who said it took at least an hour.

“I cannot do that, sir.” Looking at Jack’s expression, he corrected himself. “Jack. If I is to come out, wood woman would hurt me.”

Wood woman? Oh, you and I are going to be great friends.

“Why is the nymph after you? Does she… not like your kind?”

“I can’t say. I never met woman of wood before, just heard of them. Stories never said to fear them. But she told me I step in her forest again, she use me to fertilize trees.” He shuddered.

“That bitch.” Jack muttered. More loudly, he continued. “So, she just came to you like that?”

“Yes. One moment I is eating rabbit. Next moment she is there. Roots tangle my feet, vines tangle my arms. I struggle, try to flee. She asks I ate rabbit? I say yes, asks she wants some? She makes plant hurt me. I scream and she says I take one more step, I take last step. Then, tree fertilizer. Since then, I take no step in forest, I only take steps under forest.” He says, finishing his sad story with an equably sad expression.

“Ah, Mrk. She doesn’t like people eating animals in this forest. That’s why she said that. I had to survive on water and fire mushrooms for the first few days, before learning that fish are ok to eat. And she threatened me too, when I tried to hunt a bird. She didn’t hurt me though, so maybe rabbits are worse?”

Mrk shrugged.

“Regardless. I think you’re good to come up here. This isn’t the forest. This is a clearing.”

“This is no forest?” Mrk asks, with faint hope.

“Nope.” Jack smiles. “You don’t see any trees, right? I is sure -sorry, you’re rubbing of on me- I am sure she didn’t mean this place.”

“I believes you, sir.”

“Jack.”

“Sir Jack.”

“Just Jack”

“Yes Jack.”

Jack sighed, but was happy to see Mrk dragging himself out of the hole.

Now, that he looked at him, he felt paranoid to have been even half afraid. There was no reason for it. Mrk stood at around four feet in height and was skinny enough that it could be observed, even through the rough clothing he wore. He had a robe on, that looked much too big on his frame. Thigh length, it was tied around his waist with a rope, and the fabric around his hands had been rolled up several times, so Mrk could use them without his sleeves getting in the way. Pants that ended mid-shin completed his attire. It was worth saying that both pants and robe were dirty, patched and ripped open in numerous places.

What has he been through?

The sole things he carried were a leather pouch, tied to the rope serving as his belt and a shoddy staff, with an odd symbol carved in its top.

What made Mrk stand out most, as a non-human, besides the all-covering fur, were two things. His claws, long and ragged, which adorned both hands and bare feet. And his tail. It was a real, life-sized, rat tail. Hairless, long and currently curled around Mrk’s feet. Jack took that to mean worry.

“Welcome to the land of the above, Mrk. And welcome to my clearing.”

Mrk smiled in pure joy for a second.

And cowered in pure fear the next.

Turning around, Jack saw the nymph, standing not five feet behind him. A scowl was on her face and there was danger in her posture. She simply stood there, arms hanging normally around her body, but she radiated displeasure.

“I have warned you ratling. One more step. And you had just taken it.”

“Hey, wait a minute. You told him not to step into your forest. Well, this is my clearing.” Jack said, hopefully.

The nymph looked at him as if she had just now noticed him.

“Human. You have skirted my warning by taking fish from the river. But as you have not broken it, I have let you be. You now try to skirt it again, by claiming this part of the forest as your own?” she asked him, a tone of warning in her voice. “Do you believe words will save you?”

“Well…”

She looked away from him, as if he simply ceased to exist to her and raised one of her hands towards Mrk.

“No, please. I is sorry! I is just hungry and wanted to stay with new friend!” he whined, fear clear in his voice. “Please, no hurt Mrk!”

He raised his hands and tried to shield himself with his staff.

“You would raise wood against me? Against me?!” she thundered.

“Wait, he’s just scared, w-“

Jack tried to interpose himself between them, but roots tangled his legs and his movement only caused him to fall to the ground. Mrk had meanwhile fallen to his knees, quaking in fear.

“He has his eyes closed! Look at him, he’s afraid!” Jack screamed.

“Mrk is sorry, Mrk is sorry!”

“Fear would have served you wisely before, ratling. Not now!”

She was stepping closer to Mrk and though only one delicate hand was raised, to anyone looking, she looked like an executioner, about to deliver the final cut.

“Great warren take me home… Grandfathers’ tails protect me…”

By now, Mrk was sobbing so much, his words were no longer understandable.

“It’s your fault!” Jack screamed.

The nymph hesitated.

“You told me not to hunt! And I didn’t! But you didn’t tell him. You just bullied him!”

“He killed. He took a life before I was able to stop him, true. Yet once he saw me, he mocked me by offering me parts of its carcass. He offered me the meat of those I protect!” the nymph said, with a quiet intensity.

“Are you- He offered you food! He was being kind and you hurt him for that. And when you told him to take not one more step into the forest, he listened! He only travelled underground.” Jack spoke, desperately.

“And he only came out of the ground, when I convinced him.”

The nymph took a look at him and then looked back at Mrk.

“You want me to accept that this was a misunderstanding? That I have erred and that this thing is innocent? Human, do you take me for a fool?”

…

“No. I take you for a guardian. At least that’s what I’ve heard. And you’re looking at someone who’s scared and hungry. At two of us. We’re here because you made this forest a sanctuary. Did I get that wrong?”

A long moment passed, in which nothing was heard, besides Mrk’s quiet sobbing and Jack’s shallow breathing.

“You have not heard wrong human. Yet hear this as well. You have defended this creature. In the eyes of my people, his life is now yours. If it breaks my laws again, you will both die. If you break my laws, you will both die. Consider this as certain as dawn, human.”

She turned to leave.

“Yet. My people also know of your species tendency to break their vows and push others boundaries. Consider this a warning of what is to happen, if you trust words to save you next time.”

Looking at Mirk, she spoke.

“|Bane of the Wooden Death|”

Mrk’s staff snapped in two. The cry that came out from Mrk was almost as worse at the one from before, when he was fearing for his life.

“From now on, you are no longer allowed to take life from the river. You will not meet me a third time and live. A Daughter of the Forest’s vow on that.”

And she melted into the grass.

Jack looked at Mrk weeping on the ground. He looked back to where he knew the river lay. He should be heading over to Mrk. He needed comforting. But all he could do now was to stay as still as possible, hoping he didn’t faint.

Only one thought was present in his mind. He had looked a force of nature in the eyes.

And lived.