Kalistra ran as if she was being chased by a demon. She did not glance back even once to check on me. Of course, my master didn't need to bother. After all, we were still party members and she could easily turn back to retrieve me if she had lost me. She led me away from the waterfall and straight into the woods. At some point, Kalistra veered from northward to eastward.

The change was so abrupt that I almost lost sight of her. But a quick check with my mental map confirmed that she was no longer ahead of me and I simply made a hard right turn to adjust my course. Surprisingly, I was able to keep up with my master without burning up my stamina. Somehow, she kept me at the equilibrium point where my burn rate equaled my regeneration rate for my stamina. I was under no illusion why I had been able to keep up with my master: she allowed me to. After all, if Kalistra chose to run at her top speed, then she would be the proverbial hare to my turtle. It wouldn't be even close. Nonetheless, I persevered and kept running for about an hour or so.

I couldn't blame my master for running like this, though. It was my fault for accepting Alsaj's quest and spending a few precious hours today in the Fla'en ruin under the mountain. I should have asked her to come to the Melee Tournament in Bristol, watch me beat up a few fighters, and then turn back to do her quest. Surely, it wasn't time sensitive, unlike my trek to Bristol. And I had to give Kalistra credit for allowing me to make this rather poor decision. As my teacher, she was willing to let me succeed or fail on my own terms. Now, she was showing me the consequences of my decision, which may include running through out the night.

My idyllic thoughts were interrupted by a rustle nearby. Suddenly, an animal roared and started chasing me! I took a quick peek behind me and I really wished I didn't; it was a humongous bear! "Uh, master, there's a big bear chasing me!" I yelled out. From my glance at the bear, I knew that I couldn't fight it by myself. It was big, mean, and angry at me for some reason.

Kalistra never stopped moving. But instead of running ahead, she made a huge U-turn around a large tree and started running toward me! "Keep running straight!" she ordered as the cat girl passed by me.

Uh-oh! I saw that the cat girl's eyes were glowing and she had a grin on her face. It was clear to me who Kalistra saw as the hunter and the hunted. I was tempted to stop running and try to help her take down the bear, but who was I kidding? If I tried to jump into the fight, I was just going to get myself killed. And if my master couldn't take down the bear, then what chance did I have of succeeding? No, the most prudent action to take was to follow Kalistra's order and to keep running. If she can't handle the giant bear, then I need to reach the closest town and seek help.

I heard a deafening roar followed by another roar. In between, I heard the telltale sound of a sword being drawn out of its scabbard. And that was all. Two minutes later, my master was running next to me again. "Easy fight?" I asked her.

"Quick fight," she corrected me while matching my pace. "I'm happy that you made the right decision and followed my instruction," she added.

"How did you beat it?" I asked.

"I used the Slide Step to dodge its swipe and get behind the bear. Then I cut its throat to trigger a critical hit and accompanying critical damage to end the fight," she recalled nonchalantly.

"Would I have a chance at beating it?" I asked. I realized that it was unlikely, but I wanted to ask a fighting expert to assess the odds anyway.

The cat girl's whiskers twitched. "Since you have the Blessing of Lady Luck in effect, I can't tell you that your odds of beating the giant bear would be zero," she admitted. "However, I estimate the bear to be around level 15, and it had a better chance to instant kill you than vice versa."

"What if I waited for the bear to attack first and then use the Slide Step to get behind it like you did?" I persisted.

My master grinned. "My pupil, that was the heart of the problem. Given the gulf between your character levels, it was unlikely for you to successfully execute the skill and avoid the bear's attack. And your health isn't high enough to withstand even one hit from the bear. That's why I said you were more likely to die from an instant kill," she explained.

I sulked at her remarks. The evil minx sure knew how to knock a man down! But her explanation did make a lot of sense, though. The gaming system in this world apparently placed more emphasis on character levels than other games I've played before. Some games focus more on skills and abilities and use them to determine the character's level. Not so in this world. A character's level determined how many skills the character can have and the success in the execution of such skills against another. This meant that to succeed, I would need to grind and raise my character level by a lot. I groaned inwardly at this realization because it will take a tremendous amount of work on my part.

Suddenly, my master grabbed my right arm. "We need to go this way," she said cryptically as she pulled me along.

I saw that we were approaching a thicket of trees surrounding a large rock.

When we arrived in front of the rock, Kalistra released my arm. She gently lifted a few branches with her arm, revealing a nice hideaway within the copse.

Suddenly, I received a pop-up notification which read, "New location ACQUIRED: Kalistra's Hideout. +50 XP." I called up my map and sure enough, I had a new destination added.

"Climb in," she ordered as I looked at her with puzzlement.

I obeyed. I had to duck under her arm, but I climbed on the rock on my hands and knees. Once I was inside, I looked up and I saw the branches interlocking with one another to form a roof over my head. I tried standing on my feet but I discovered that the ceiling was too low for my full height. The rock that formed the floor of the hideout was surprisingly wide and spacious enough for two people to sit, or one petite-sized cat girl to sleep on. In a corner, I saw a leather satchel. I was tempted to grab it, but I quickly remembered that this was my master's secret place and therefore, the bag was hers. Thus, I made no attempt to touch the bag. I sat cross legged and leaned my back against a tree; the opening was to my left and the satchel to my right.

Kalistra climbed in behind me and released the branches, which fell over and covered the opening. She sat across from me and also leaned against a tree. "We're going to spend the night here. There are wolves and other predators that hunt in the forest after dark. We'll be safer in here," she said.

"Nice place you got here," I remarked. "How did you find it?"

The cat girl's whiskers twitched. "Two years ago, before I entered the Melee Tournament that I eventually won, I was traveling to Bristol for the first time on my own. I had gotten lost in the forest and I stumbled upon this place out of sheer luck," she said. What was left unsaid was the fact that Kalistra tripped and her face landed on the rock; when she looked up, she discovered a nice hideaway. "There should be a bag somewhere in here. Can you pass it to me?" she requested.

I quickly grabbed the leather satchel and gave it to her.

My master unfastened the strings at the top, opened the bag and dumped the contents on the ground between us.

In the dying light, I saw a small pouch, a waterskin, and a bundle of cloth.

Kalistra grabbed the bundle and opened it, revealing some dried beef jerky. She grabbed the food and put it aside. She removed her backpack, took out some beef jerky, put them in the cloth and re-bundled it.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Replacing the two-year-old beef jerky with new ones," she replied with a sigh. Wasn't this obvious? The cat girl decided to answer the question anyway because otherwise, I would hound her about it.

"Um, I understood that part. Why?" I asked.

My master put the wrapped bundle back inside the satchel. She opened the money pouch and carefully poured the coins on the ground. She did a quick count. There were 20 each of gold, silver, and copper coins. She put the coins back into the pouch and then into the satchel. She grabbed her waterskin from her backpack and took a gulp of water from it. Then she put the new waterskin into the satchel, tied the drawstring, and placed the satchel on the side. Finally, she answered my question. "This is a contingency in case I'm on the run from the Church and its supporters."

My brows shot up. I guess she was serious about rebelling against the Church.

"Can you open your backpack and share your rations?" the cat girl requested. "I'm hungry."

"Sure," I replied and quickly complied. Removing my messenger bag from my neck, I took out a portion of my food. We split the bread, some fruits, and dried meat.

When nightfall arrived, Kalistra spoke up in a low voice. "Get some rest if you can. But do not make any noise whatsoever, or else the predators will know we're here," she warned.

I nodded, knowing that the cat girl could see me in the dark. Leaning my head back, I closed my eyes and eventually drifted off to sleep.

#

I was jolted awake from my peaceful slumber by a howl, which was followed by several more howls. I felt something covering my mouth and started to struggle against the restraint.

"It's me!" Kalistra hissed as her pale green eyes glowed close to my face.

I nodded and ceased struggling.

She leaned to my right side and whispered into my ear. "We stay here unless I tell you otherwise," she ordered.

I nodded again.

Satisfied with my response, the cat girl moved her head away and returned to her previous position across from me.

We heard the sound of barking and then someone yelled out, "Quickly, form a circle."

In response to the command, there were many footsteps and swords were drawn.

We heard growling and then heavy steps of something running. Soon, a battle was engaged in earnest as men and animals yelled out in pain.

I really wanted to leave the hideout and help the humans fight against the wolf pack.

However, my master sat serenely across from me . . . and meditating! Apparently, she was content to stay out of the fight.

I was very unhappy with her decision. Weren't we the good guys? Weren't we SUPPOSED to help others in need? How could Kalistra square her lack of action with her precious Honor? Whenever the combatants leave the area, she and I were going to have a long and serious discussion about this.

The fighting ended a few minutes later. But we didn't know who won. Finally, someone spoke up. "That's a nasty pack of dogs."

"Are you blind? Those were dire wolves!"

"Stop your bickering," a low voice said. It was raspy but still authoritative because the men quickly shut their mouths.

"Why are we out here anyway?" A voice spoke up a few minutes later.

"My contact said the nobleman was chasing after a cat girl and they were spotted moving in this direction," the leader replied.

"Maybe the wolf pack got them," someone laughed.

Whack! The harsh sound of something striking flesh made me wince.

"Anyone else feels like joking?" the raspy voice asked. After a few seconds of silence, he continued. "I remind you that our contract is to intercept and eliminate those two before they reach Bristol."

My jaw dropped open and I quickly covered my mouth with my hands before I blurted something out.

"But why are we searching in the darkness? We're human beings. The cat girl will probably spot us before we find them."

"The human master will make camp for the night. I'm hoping to find their camp and take them out in their sleep," the leader replied. "The cat girl is a former Master Champion of the tournament. We wouldn't be able to defeat her in a fair fight even if all eight of us attack her in unison. Now let's keep searching and stay quiet! I want their camp found!"

We heard footsteps close to our hideout as the group of hired killers passed by.

My heart started pounding heavily in my chest as my panic attack broke out.

However, the men did not notice our hideout and their footsteps drifted further and further away.

Kalistra opened her eyes and looked at me. "I'm going to follow them for a little bit. You will stay here and wait for me," she ordered.

"Yes, master," I replied in a low voice. By this point, my panic attack was receding.

Using her scabbard, the cat girl lifted the branches covering the entrance. She quietly stepped out and allowed the branches to drop back over the opening. Now out in the open, the predator began her hunt.