Waking up in the morning, I blinked blearily as my surroundings came into focus, and then I lovingly looked at the armor stand on which one set of armor hung, ready to be worn.

Only to freeze as I saw a girl regarding the same set of armor, thoughtfully.

Gulping guiltily, I ventured forth a greeting, “Good Morning?”

Tapping her fingers on her fist, the girl looked at me and smiled.

Feeling chills run down my back, I smiled back weakly.

“So…” she said.

“So… I wa-” my voice trailed off

“You were?” she asked dangerously

“I was going to tell you….” I said as my hands clutched the sheets.

“When?” she asked, as she began cracking her knuckles.

“Today! Today! I swear!” I cried out anxiously.

“After you came back?” she asked as she advanced toward the bed.

Shaking my head rapidly, I held up a hand, and said righteously, “Why would I ever do that to you!”

“Oh,” she paused and looked at me. “Continue.”

“I was going to tell you not to worry, and also to show off this armor that I got. Look at it,” and forgetting about the danger, I jumped off the bed and began hopping around as I excitedly gestured at the armor and spittle flew from my mouth.

Dodging adroitly, the girl stared at me for a moment, before against her will; a smile tugged at the corner of her lips.

Noticing it from the corner of my eyes, I decided to take the chance, and moved in for a hug.

Holding her contentedly for all of a second, I suddenly gasped out as a finger dug into my sides ruthlessly and twisted.

“Don’t think I’ll be distracted that easily,” Sia spoke with a smile on her face.

“Di-distracted? What made you think I was trying to do that?” I said, as I squirmed in agony.

“Hmm,” she said, as she stopped her actions.

Then, raising her head to face me, she asked in a small voice, “Why do you have to go to the forest again?”

Turning serious, I looked at her and placed my forehead against hers and said, “I need to break through to iron rank as fast as I can. Else this immortal boy isn’t going to stay immortal for long.”

“The forest can do that?” she asked, hope tinging her voice.

“The forest can’t. But the monsters there can,” and I explained the combat advancement trick to her.

Pushing me away, she looked at me resolutely and said, “Let me come with you!”

Shaking my head decisively, I said, “No way!”

“Why?” she asked angrily.

Reaching out for her hand that she jerked away, I spoke gently, “I’ll be in constant combat, and if you’re in danger, then I’ll fight with more than my life on the line. I’ll do stupid things and get myself injured or worse.”

Reaching out and grabbing my hand that was still outstretched, she searched my face for a long moment, before satisfied, she pulled me back into a hug.

Then, knocking her head with force on my head, she whispered, “Come back safe, you hear?”

Grinning despite my head ringing, I replied, “Of course, blockhead!”

Then I bent double as her finger again poked my side viciously.

Looking at me with a last look, Sia left the room with quick steps.

Staring after her, I inhaled deeply, and then I set off to get ready. To go to the forest of death once again.

---------

Dodging, I rolled to the side…. And coming up, I dashed forward, and I slashed with my new sword, cutting off the tusks of the boar, who squealed in agony.

Grinning, I circled around before I stabbed it in the side, and then with a series of dodges; I calmly waited out the boar’s eventual death as it bled out.

The only hairy part came right before the boar’s death when it swelled up to double its size and its eyes turned red, before it flashed forward toward me… the stubs of its tusks still a hand long even shorn off as they were.

Charging forward toward it myself; right before the impact, I kicked off the ground and flew above the boar, front flipping as I went, and landed securely without looking back as the sound of the boar’s heavy body falling to the ground sounded out.

Turning, I sucked the corpse into my finite ring, and then heaved a deep breath of relief.

The fight had been hard… the boar’s gigantic body meaning that the time taken for it to bleed out was no small amount.

Also, if I had my previous sword, I doubted whether it would have even gone through the boar’s thick bristle like fur.

Taking stock of the situation, and looking up at the sky, I made the decision that it was enough hunting for one day.

Trudging back out of the forest of death, and dealing with the occasional bold monsters whose territory I was passing through, I thought of my haul on this hunting trip and felt quite happy.

But I was also frustrated, since I didn’t hit iron rank, even though I thought that I had briefly touched the boundaries a few times before.

But then, I comforted myself by thinking that this was only the first day.

I comforted myself even more by patting my finite ring gleefully.

A few hours later, once I reached the hoard, I quickly grabbed a large handcart, and piling all the monster corpses within… I left the finite ring with Sir Patrick, and wheeled the hand cart out into the city.

Heading to the adventurer’s guild and turning curious heads who looked at the mound of corpses, and myself… I whistled a happy tune.

Soon, I was outside the guild, and puzzled; I wondered how I was going to get the handcart in.

Luckily, the door guard went to call Farrah, who came out and stood slack jawed.

“Two days?” he asked, gesturing.

“One day,” I replied, grinning.

Speechless, he looked at me, and whispered under his breath, “Not-so-little monster.”

Looking at myself, and my clothes, which were again becoming small, I laughed.

Then, holding out my hand with the fistful of contracts in it, I waited impatiently as Farrah ran his finger down the contracts and matched them with the corpses.

Leaving close to fifteen other corpses unaccounted for.

Jerking his head at them, he looked questioningly at me.

Nonchalantly, I said, “Monster corpses are popular, right? So, I got a few.”

“A few…” Farrah repeated.

“A few,” I nodded.

“Falka save the poor beasts in the forest,” Farrah muttered under his breath as he examined the remaining corpses.

Then, he led me to a small shop on the side of the guild with an arch instead of a door, and he introduced me to the shopkeeper, a powerfully built man who was missing an arm.

Norton, the shopkeeper, looked at me with interest as he tallied the corpses and handed me a pouch of gold… 23 gold to be precise… and then he spoke, “I have a need for a few specific corpses and I heard you were the one who brought in the Tarantula Lord corpse?”

“One of the ones,” I corrected him.

Nodding, Norton said, “If you have any more spider corpses, bring them all here. I’ll give you a good price.”

Curious, I asked, “What do you need them for?”

Grinning, Norton raised his good arm to his lips in the gesture of silence.

Nodding, I shrugged as I knew what my plan for the next day was.

What else but the forest of death again?

Seeing the smile spreading across my face, Farrah once again prayed for the monsters in the forest.

Little did he know that I was the one who needed Falka’s blessing the most.