“There’s one!” Gem points to a spot in the bushes.

“Where?” I do not detect any movement.

“Over there, at the base of those trees. It’s a rabbit.”

Sure enough. There is a small brown rabbit at the base of the tree. It’s only level 2, but it will serve as a test for my archery.

I take up the bow in my hand and notch an arrow. I make sure to line up my shot carefully and slowly draw back the bowstring. The arrow gets released with a *snap*, but as soon as the arrow leaves the string, the rabbit takes off. It bolts into the undergrowth and disappears.

“Damn!”

“Nice aim!” Gem breaks into a laugh. “Haha!” Obviously my shot was nowhere near to hitting the intended target.

My shot still would have missed even had the rabbit not bolted off. It ended up in the tree two metres away.

“Hey. Give me some credit. It has been around 9-10 years since I last shot a bow and arrow.”

“Well, maybe you should have started on a stationary target. Look.” She points to my arrow, “You at least hit the tree.”

My arrow has been lodged an inch into the tree. Since I don’t have the 10% accuracy bonus from the archer class’s [Steady Shot] skill, I will need to manually improve my accuracy. The bow she lent me was not the indestructible beginner bow, but rather an ordinary wooden short bow.

I believe there is a [Fletching] skill in the game that involves crafting bows and arrows. The lowest tier of bow is the one I am holding made out of ordinary wood. The matching arrows have stone arrowheads and have a very primitive appearance.

“You’re probably right. And here I thought I was supposed to be the one helping you.”

“Hehe” That got a giggle out of her.

“I’m going to try hitting that tree again.”

“Alright. I’ll be right behind you.” She has a mischievous grin on her face. Geez. My aim isn’t that bad.

I calm myself down. Focusing on the rhythm of my heart beating. After inhaling a deep breath and slowly exhaling I am ready. I hold the bow up and carefully notch an arrow on the string. Another deep breath. Drawing the string to my cheek I take aim and fire at the same tree I hit before. This time with the intention of actually hitting it.

The arrow is released and soars through the air. I can hear the *twang* of the bowstring and the sound of splintering wood as the arrow finds its mark. Shortly afterwards, I can hear Gem clapping on my left side as she looks at the tree.

I seemed to have hit within 1 inch of my previous arrow. Pretty damn good if I do say so myself. Although, this shot would be inefficient and impractical for actual combat. It took me around 10 seconds to take the shot and in this time I could have launched many attacks with my dagger.

"Hey, that's pretty good for your second attempt."

"Thanks." At least I didn't embarrass myself too much. "Let's go find some more low level creatures.”

While it would be beneficial to do more target practice, I can do that later. Right now I would rather hunt.

“Pfft! You manage to hit the tree and you already want to go back to moving targets." I can tell she is trying her best to hold back her laugher.

"Well, we have to keeping moving if we want to make it to town before it gets dark."

Twenty minutes later.

"The monsters sure are sparse around here. Only one deer in 20 minutes of walking." It's annoying, but I can't expect too much from this close to town.

"As I was saying earlier, most of the good hunting spots have been taken up."

The crowd of people passing us has increased to almost a steady flow. I finally managed to find a lone deer off to the side of the road after 20 minutes.

I line up to take my shot and let loose an arrow. I watch as the arrow sinks into the deer's flank.

Success!

Notification Skill acquired: Archery Level 1

The arrow doesn't do as much damage as I hoped, but at least I hit it. It helps having a larger target after all.

"Hey! What're those guys doing?" I look over and see Gem pointing at a group of 4 players start attacking my deer. All the players wore a red armband with a crescent moon symbol swallowing a golden cross.

"Damn kill stealers!" They make short work of the deer and carry on as if nothing happened.

“Those bastards! See! This is what us regular players have had to deal with." Gem seems frustrated and I don't blame her. “Let’s just ignore them. It’s no use getting into conflict this close to the city.”

If I had to put up with this every day I would be raging as well. Even now I am annoyed at their blatant arrogance. I engrave their faces into my memory and swear to teach them a lesson if I ever see them again. Since I am planning on heading into the city, a yellow, or even red name would not be helpful at this point.

Luckily, a benefit of the combat system is that the amount of experience gained from a kill is based on how much damage was dealt by the player. When players are in a party, 50% of the experience is distributed equally among party members while the remaining amount goes to whoever dealt the damage. This is to provide a fair system and discourages leeching. Whlie for those who remain outside a party, the experience is distributed based on damage dealt. So, at the very least, I got a minuscule amount of experience from that kill.

"Here's your bow back. Let's just carry on back to the city."

"Sounds good to me." Gem is very welcoming of my suggestion. Glad to get away from these kill stealers.

After another 10 minutes of walking, we come across a clearing that brings back a terrible memory.

This was the spot I had stopped in on my first day for lunch. And is also near the place that I almost died for the first time.

“I know I said we should go straight back to the city, but let’s take a detour right here. This is the spot I almost died at when I first entered the forest. I ran into a bear down by the river and, at that time, I was in no shape to fight it.”

Just remembering that moment of terror is enough to make me shiver. However, I am not the same as I was back then. I have gotten stronger and should be able to put up a good fight against it now.

“That must have been scary. How did you manage to survive?”

“I ran.” There’s no use beating around the bush. I’m not ashamed, because I didn’t know anything back then.

“I see.”

“Follow me. It came from across the river, and seemed rather territorial. It gave up chase after I left the area.”

“If it’s territorial, then why are we going closer to where it came from?” Gem seems a bit nervous at my suggestion. The only way to grow stronger in this world is to go through dangers.

“Don’t worry. I will be strong enough to fight it and you can provide me support from the back. Besides, this will give you a good amount of experience.”

“If you say so...”

I move over to the river and take a look in the water. The water is crystal clear and the bottom is a mixture of rock and sand. Not many fish are present in the water. At least less than when I was last here. Perhaps the players have overfished the area and they haven't yet respawned.

Gem takes a moment to catch up with me and I happen to notice a wary look in her eyes.

"Is something wrong?" If she has noticed something I haven't then I need to be on guard.

"Umm... Do we need to cross the river?" She asks with wide eyes.

"The bear came from across the river, so it's den must be somewhere in that direction. So, yes. We need to cross the river."

"Uhh, I don't do so well with water."

"Really?" I had not taken her for someone afraid of water, but I guess everyone has their own Achilles heel. "The river is only about 2 feet deep at its centre and the current is very mild."

"But, w-what if the current suddenly picks up and we get s-swept away."

This might be more of a challenge than I thought.

"I have an idea. Give me your hand."

"Uwah?"

I grasp her hand. It feels soft and almost fragile against mine. She trembles for a moment, but then regained her composure. Her cheeks are bright red, but she has a look of determination mixed with apprehension in her eyes.

I take the first step into the river. The water is cold against my feet and the bottom is slippery. I try to make another step, but I feel a tug on my arm when I do so. When I look back Gem is standing at the banks with a worried expression on her face.

"I'll be holding on to you the whole time. Trust me." Fears can sometimes be irrational, but I imagine she must have had some trauma when she was a child that planted this seed of fear.

I slowly pull her towards me, while making sure to not force her. When she takes her first step into the water I can see her stiffen. I wait a moment before moving again.

This carries on until we nearly reach the opposite bank. The bottom at this side has more rocks and is a lot slipperier than the previous side. I turn around just in time to see Gem lose her footing.

Thankfully, she falls towards me.

I reach out my arms and catch her before she hits the water. She's leaning up against my chest and I can hear her whimpering quietly. We hold that pose for a few minutes as the current presses against us.

"Thank you." She lets out an almost inaudible sound.

"That's what I'm here for. We're almost at the opposite bank. Do you think you are ready to try again?"

"Mhmm" I see her nodding slowly.

We finally make it to the other side. That scare in the middle probably didn't help her aversion to water at all. I wonder what would happen if there is a water based dungeon in EndGame Online.

Once on the other side I try to release my hand, but she holds on tight and doesn't let go. There's no harm in continuing like this, so I squeeze back and start leading her towards the bushes.

We soon come across a small cave hidden that looks just wide enough for a bear. It is hidden at the bottom of a small hill and had we not approached from this angle it would have been easy to miss.

"This looks like it could be it."

"Un"

As we get close to the cave an odd stench reaches my nostrils. It is sickening and smells of rotten flesh. Not that I've ever smelt rotten flesh before. On the surrounding trees the bark has been stripped away and coarse brown hair is scattered at their bases.

"I'll go in first to see if the bear is present and you can stay on guard out here. Okay?"

"Okay." She reluctantly releases my hand and moves into a vantage position.

I make my way to the cave's entrance and look within. Not much light is able to reach into the cave, so it will be difficult to see. It's unfortunate that I do not possess night vision. I wonder if it will be possible to get in the future.

While walking into the cave, I can hear crunching at my feet. When I look down I can see hundred of bones littering the floor. I didn't see them before due to the lack of light in the cave, but now that my vision has adjusted I am at least able to see in my immediate area.

It doesn't look like the cave is very deep. I can vaguely see what I think is the end, but there is no sign of the bear. Amongst the bones and piles of flesh there is a rectangular brown chest. I approach the chest and open its lid. What I find inside is a 2 silver coins, a handful of copper coins, a minor health potion, a pair of studded leather bracers and a plain silver ring.

I gather up the loot and when I take a closer look at the ring I notice that it has a dim red light around it. On inspection I find it has a +5 strength enchantment on it, so without hesitation I equip the ring.

The bracers have a level 5 requirement, so I will keep them for now and give them to Gem when she reaches the required level. She doesn’t seem like the kind of person to leave immediately after receiving an item; however, I don’t actually know the depths of her personality too much.

It is at this time, an ear piercing scream echoes through the cave. It is coming from the entrance where Gem is.

“KyaAaaa!!”