(In a dense forest some years back…)

“Hey Darian! There’s an [Ant-Crawler] up ahead!”

“Yeah yeah. I already saw it!”

“Well then hurry up and hunt it before it attacks me! You wouldn’t want this poor young princess getting violated and mutilated, having her eyes gouged and her innocent chastity...”

“I get the point you bratty little girl! Shut up already!”

Out in the forest, two figures were crouching behind a group of thickets with eyes on a unique creature ahead. With a shiny black exoskeleton, six thin legs, and dangling antennae, its appearance was just like any ordinary ant. Nibbling at a small leaf, it would be hard to differentiate between this creature and an actual ant.

Well, it would be, if it weren’t for the fact this ‘ant’ was the literal size of a bear.

“Alright, I’ll go in for the strike.”

Slowly, the male figure named Darian began moving from his hiding spot. He was a young human male, having turned 13 a few weeks prior. With messy red hair and clear golden eyes, he had a handsome yet youthful appearance to his face. His lean, athletic tan frame showed off the physical traits expected for a young man his age.

Carefully tip-toeing, he slowly maneuvered towards an open crack between two thick trees. In his arms was a crossbow with a bolt notched in. With his pitch-black coat and hood, he was like a shadow stalking his prey.

Seeing an opening, he meticulously lifted up his crossbow and aimed right at the [Ant-Crawler]’s head. After making sure the monster was still unaware of his presence, he drew back the string and fired a bolt.

Swoosh!

The bolt slammed out from the string, pointing its deadly sharp end straight towards the [Ant-Crawler]’s head. As for the monster itself, it barely had any time to react when the projectile crushed through its head. The [Ant-Crawler] furiously struggled and flailed, liquid hemolymph (invertebrate blood) gushing from its fatal wound. Leaves and sticks were thrown everywhere as it continued its instinctive squirms.

Finally, after its last struggles, the [Ant-Crawler] laid down with a thud as life left its body. Noticing the change, Darian lept out from the two trees and cautiously approached the unmoving F-ranked monster. After being certain of its death, he then motioned towards the thicket, indicating that it was safe.

Seeing Darian’s signal, the other figure lept out with dismantling knives in hand. A young girl emerged as she pranced over to Darian’s side. With long, silvery hair tied up into a twin-tail style and ruby red eyes, she maintained a beautiful and cute appearance at the youthful age of 13. Her lustrous white skin glowed as it shined in the gaps of sunlight peeking through the forest. Looking at her paired with Darian, it wouldn’t be hard to mistake them as a picture-perfect young couple with their looks. She had a shorter frame, about 5’5, in comparison to Darian’s 5’8 size.

Nevertheless, her triangular pointed ears, small black horns and pointed tail stood as a reminder of her position as a demon. However, in Darian’s eyes, she looked just like a spoiled brat getting away with another prank.

“Aweee thank you Darry-Poo! You smashed the big-bad meanie with one hit just for me! As expected of my future prince husband!” The spoiled ‘princess’ smiled coyly, fluttering her eyes in ‘absolute love.’

“Damn you Alicia. You know you’re just as strong and skilled as I am,” Darian cursed. “Why don’t you try doing some of the dirty work for a change?"

“Ewww! I’m a princess you know. I can’t do such frivolous things. Only you as my future shiny knight in armor is fit for such heroic tasks.” Alicia replied pointedly while shaking her finger.

“Just get to dismantling you lazy brat.”

Alicia pouted and puffed her cheeks, then crouched down and began dismantling the [Ant-Crawler] disgruntedly. Darian sighed as he monitored her work. Despite growing up with Alicia since they were toddlers, her eccentric personality was something he’ll never get used to. He doubted any other guy would be able to handle such without going insane.

She always dreamed of being a princess for a long time. However, she soon started this weird habit of acting like she was one. At first, Darian thought her ‘princess act’ was rather fun and cute of her. Of course, as she dragged on this act throughout the years, he started to realize just how annoying such an act really was. Despite his costant begging, all attempts at telling her to stop were completely futile.

Even then, he still respected her skill when she was serious. While Alicia seemed innocent and weak, her true power was ferocious and on par with his skills - perhaps even better. If she ever were kidnapped, rather than pray for Alicia’s safety, Darian would probably pray that her captors make it out with a quick death.

Truly fitting for the “human definition” of a demon.

Soon, Alicia finished dismantling and placed the pieces inside a [Spatial Storage: Poor] bag. Getting up, she ran over to Darian and hugged his arm.

“So mean Daer Daer! Truly you could’ve done the dismantling in place of a princess like me.”

“Shut up and stop grabbing my damn arm.”

Of course, she didn’t let go, much to Darian’s dismay. However, he was unmotivated to do anything about it. After a heavy sigh, he decided to ignore it and continue walking.

As they passed by a large tree, Alicia face turned serious as she pondered something.

“Hey Daer. Think we should look for more rabbits on the way out? We only got seven this time rather than the usual ten.”

“Nah. We already got ourselves an [Ant-Crawler] anyways,” Darian remarked while in thought. “I’m sure the village would forgive us even if we came back with no rabbits.”

“You’re probably right. Even then, don’t you think we should try for three more anyways? You know with Jauvin's personality, he probably wouldn't appreciate us coming with less rabbits.”

“Fuck that old bastard. You know I don’t give a rat's ass about what that senile gramps thinks.”

Jauvin was pretty much the stereotypical old grump of the village who always had something to say about "the barbaric youth of the village." Of course, the village pretty much ignored the old man’s ramblings, but still it wasn't fun being the target of his 'sermons'.

“Ah fine. Just don’t blame me when you start getting more earfuls from him.” Alicia replied with a shrug.

Darian sighed and decided he may as well get a few more rabbits anyhow.

“Fine. Let’s head off to the grasslands and get some more. Last thing I need is to hear that old ass’ grumpy voice for two hours again.”

Massaging his head, Darian continued on with his counterpart towards the edge of the forest. While he was worried about evening approaching, the thought of that old man in his face again was enough to make him completely ignore any risks.

Entering the grasslands, Darian and Alicia crept up on a group of twenty rabbits. Of course, these little creatures weren’t ranked by the Guild system.

In the world of Elys, any creature not of the four intelligent species were generally separated as either animals or monsters. Animals are usually harmless and non-aggressive towards the four intelligent species, while monsters ferociously seek them out as a power source. In terms of hunting, rabbits posed no risk or harm, but they certainly weren’t easy to capture either.

At least, they shouldn’t have been so easy to capture.

“Okay Alicia. Go over to the left side and draw them towards---”

“Wait Darry!” Alicia interrupted. “Look! They’re coming right at us!”

Just as Alicia said, all of a sudden, the whole horde of rabbits started scrambling right at them. Defying all logic, they showed no hesitation whatsoever at running towards the two of them. As rabbits usually were easily frightened by any being that breathed, for them to run right at them was completely out of the ordinary.

However, no matter how abnormal, it wasn't an opportunity they could afford to miss.

Keeping his cool, Darian unsheathed a short sword while Alicia took out her darts. Initiating [Shadow Steps], he lept right over to the group of rabbits running right at him. To his surprise, they showed no reaction whatsoever and kept running.

Immediately, he swung his sword at two rabbits, knocking both of them out. Afterwards, he managed to get one more strike on another rabbit before the others fled out of his reach. Weirdly enough, the rest of the rabbits continued running straight at Alicia unfazed.

As she saw the rabbits come towards her, she gripped her darts and threw them with lightning speed. The darts whizzed through the air as she kept throwing them as fast as she could, striking down five in total before the survivors lept right past her. Surprisingly, they still had little to no reaction towards anyone’s presence as they disappeared into the woods.

After confirming their kill, they both began picking up the dead rabbits. When they were done, Darian went over to Alicia with a confused expression on his face.

“Don’t you think there was something off about those rabbits? Perhaps something only their extreme senses picked up?”

Alicia put on a serious face as if she were in deep thought, but that soon proved to be a facade as she spoke with a bratty grin.

“Well, maybe they saw my irresistible beauty and decided to take my virgi---Owie! That’s my ear!”

“First off, stop acting like every living being’s out to rape you,” Darian retorted while twisting her ear. “Plus, that doesn’t explain why the rest ran right by you.”

Alicia puffed her cheeks up once again while tenderly rubbing her assaulted ear. Teary eyed, she punched Darians chest while calling him "stupid Daer Daer" multiple times. As for Darian, he sighed and reached out to grab her arms until he started noticing something was off.

All of a sudden, the ground began to shake and rumble. The pair stumbled as they lost their balance. Staggering, Darian looked off at the direction the rabbits were running away from as a bad premonition poured over him.

In the distance, a whole mass of grey started to visualize. As the mass kept growing bigger and bigger and kept coming closer and closer, it became quite obvious that this was not an ideal situation to be in.

“Oh shit. That’s a whole stampede of [Rhinobeasts]!”

“Oh no! Are they also here to force themselves on pitiful me and gangb---”

Darian grabbed Alicia’s arm without paying one ounce of attention to whatever the hell she was rambling about this time. Activating [Shadow Steps] to both increase his speed and decrease his presence, he started running back to the village with every ounce of strength in him. He knew if they were within even a twenty foot radius of those monsters, their chances of survival was slim.

As for the [Rhinobeasts], they were, in fact, very dangerous creatures. With razor sharp teeth, horns, and twice the size of a normal rhinoceros, these gruesome monsters were known for their incredible power and tough defense. As Rank C monsters, they were plenty powerful on their own, something that warranted a group effort for the average adventurer.

In fact, one of the first tips most senior adventurers gave to beginners involved what to do when they see a whole [Rhinobeast] stampede. As for what that tip was...

”Immediately turn around and get the hell away before your ass turns to minced meat.”

So it was expected that for Darian - who could only dream of defeating D rank monsters at this point - listening to his survival instincts and making a run for it was the only logical choice.

"Please let my dad be home. Please let my dad be home." Darian repeated as if he were chanting a magical spell.

As he ran off with Alicia in tow, he cursed his rotten luck and hoped with every ounce of his being he’d make it back in time.