Alain didn’t get a wink of a deep sleep, but rather closed his eyes and rested the entire time. And perhaps that was sufficient for now. Sleeping while not actually sleeping may be a skill that was required for any Giantslayer spending the night outside. Alain opened his eyes and looked down at his wound. The bandages have turned deep red. He took it off to see that the wound had thankfully closed—most likely thanks to the nectar. But Alain changed his bandage anyway to make sure it didn’t open up again. He looked at his bone armor laying on his side and sighed. He was thankful it stopped the majority of the blow but he was also regretful seeing the hole in the armor it created. He had to patch it up once he returned.

My chances of catching the boy now are slim, Alain thought. But I hope he somehow stayed put or if he did start his journey, that he had not gone too far. Alain decided to put his worry aside and focus on finding the hole near the river where the boy found the blue crystal he was describing in his diary first. He had only three hours of the journey left so must make haste. He put on his armor and prepared his equipment.

Alain exited the hole underneath the tree roots. Everything on the ground was wet. Blades of grass had morning dew on them and the moisture in the air was heavy. He took one ball of water from the plants and drank. Alain’s throat was relieved as it was blessed by fresh liquid. Speaking of liquid, he also drank one more vial of nectar stored in his satchel. He brought four out of the ten he had gotten from the academy, although he still had some more inside his room back at The Sanctuary.

It’s unfortunate I have to drink nectar after every big battle, Alain thought. And well, the nectar worked overtime to heal my wound. As Alain was still a first-level Giantslayer, his body was still incredibly inefficient in digesting the nectar. More experienced Giantslayers would be able to spread the nectar’s energy thinly throughout the body as to not burn through it all in only one battle.

With his energy and enhanced power regained, Alain started his journey again. He stuck close to the ground and was even more cautious than before, looking up into the tree canopy every few seconds. Unlike the grassland jungle, this was a real forest with trees stretching into the skies itself. Each tree was a gigantic tower, and dangerous giants may be lurking on top, waiting for their prey. His extra caution paid off. Alain hid from some of the deadly giants he encountered, not even giving them any chance to detect him. Those threatening giants would require an entire squad, or several, to defeat. Alain walked and hid repeatedly. This was how he spent the three hours until he could see the flowing water of the river up ahead.

I don’t exactly know how I will find that hole. I am technically already near the river but I also don’t know if I have followed the kid’s trail perfectly. Alain thought. His eyes flashed with an idea. He took his small dagger from his hip and started to jump high into the tree next to him. He stabbed his dagger into the tree to hold him in place. He jumped again multiple times until he was quite high up the trees, holding on with the grip of his dagger. Alain started to examine the local surrounding with his enhanced vision. He scanned through the environment carefully. After a few minutes, he thought he had spotted something.

Could that be it? Alain wondered. He thought some of the soil near the ground in the area he was looking at in the distance seemed a little odd. Even with his enhanced vision, it was quite hard to tell whether there was really a hole there. But as he was pondering this inside his mind, something ripped Alain’s attention from the supposed hole. Something perilous. Alain did not even have time to turn around to see what it was. He did not even have time to remove his dagger from the tree. No, he let go of his grip right away and jumped forward with force into the ground below. As Alain was falling down, he turned his body to see what it was that struck him so suddenly.

A Valang! Alain shouted in his mind. What he saw was a flying avian-type giant with brown feathers, a beak pointing downwards, and sharp talons. It was another giant out of Alain’s current capabilities. This was unlike the augmented Karja he fought yesterday where he could fight back just a little and make his escape. With this beast, he would not stand a chance at all. Not even a struggle. And with his injury from yesterday, he would be killed in an instant if he fought the Valang head on. He knew he had to flee right away. Alain turned his body around again to prepare for the fall. He knew he would survive the fall, but he had to make the perfect landing in order to have the momentum to keep running. He took out his giant sword-ax from his back and brought it forward to shield his fall. The sword-ax cushioned his fall and Alain rolled down the ground and grabbed his sword-ax again, then he continued running.

If I burn through all of my nectar reserves right now then I can have enough speed to reach that hole! Alain thought with his mind racing. And so he did, he burned his nectar and shifted all of its energy into his speed. He started running away with force. The Valang noticed it didn’t catch anything in its talons and looked around for Alain. It saw Alain on the ground running and cawed in anger, before diving down to catch Alain once again.

Alain allocating all of his nectar for speed meant he was also taking the nectar away from things like strength and senses. He was dead set on running, fighting was not even an option at this point. The Valang swooped down and almost grabbed Alain, but he was just a little too fast right now. The Valang flew up again and started to prepare its next dive.

There it is! Alain thought as he saw the hole. He was right, it seemed like this was the hole. The Valang dived down again, this time with more ferocity. This time, it seemed like its trajectory meant it would be able to grab Alain. But he had another plan. As he was running, he reached down his satchel to grab the flash bomb he just got from Rostav’s shop yesterday. He pulled the pin and threw it behind him. A blinding flash of light illuminated the tree foliage. Alain didn’t see the flash directly, he only saw his own shadow in front of him as a result of it.

The Valang cawed in shock. Alain glanced behind him to see the bird flailing around panicking. It was blinded by the light. Alain continued running full speed and finally reached the hole. He dived down and entered it without wasting another second.

Shit, was I too late? Alain did not see anyone inside the hole after he dived down. He definitely saw signs of someone being here before but he did not see anyone. After looking around the place, he figured out that this was not merely a hole, it was more like a tunnel. A giant must have made this as a nest but it was abandoned. He felt he still had a small nectar reserve left inside his body so Alain stopped allocating all of it to speed and returned its function to normal. The hole was dark, but with his enhanced vision he could make out the outlines of the surroundings.

“Where do I even begin to search for him now?” Alain said loudly in exasperation.

“Who’s there!?” The voice of a prepubescent boy called out from deeper inside the tunnel.

I guess I won’t have to. Alain thought.

“Hey, Renald! Where are you?” Alain walked closer to the source of this voice.

“I-I’m here!” The boy’s voice was nervous. “Who are you? Why are you here? I’m not going back!” He said.

“I’m here after I investigated your disappearance, Renald. My name is Alain. I’m a Giantslayer.” Alain replied.

“A Giantslayer?” The kid said back.

Alain finally reached where Renald’s voice was coming from. The tunnel led to a wide-open room. Everything was still dark but he could make out the boy's figure and....the giant staring down at him. The Kashik’s yellow and blue eyes shined in the darkness, eyeing him threateningly. Alain was petrified for a second, a Kashik was not something he could deal with and to see it standing in front of him not attacking him was just something else. If the creature wanted to, he could end Alain's life in a flash.

“D-don’t hurt him!” Renald stood in front of the giant Kashik with his arms wide open.

I don’t think I would even stand a chance. Alain thought. “Stand down, kid. I’m not going to hurt him. I know about him. His name is Snow, isn't it? I have read your diary.” He said to the boy.

“You read my diary!?” He said in surprise. Alain could not see the boy but he figured his face must be red now. The boy, however, did not relax his guard.

“I know everything. Look, I want to help you, “ Alain said. “I met your parents, I don’t like them either. You don’t have any destination out there and even if you do find a settlement you’re just a little kid.”

“What do you know about me!” Renald replied angrily.

“I know enough. I will take you off their hands. I know a nice man in The Sanctuary who would gladly take care of you. You would be able to live freely and pursue your dreams.” Alain said in a persuasive tone.

The boy went silent. “What about Snow?” he walked to the Kashik and rubbed his hands on his fur. The Kashik purred in pleasure. “What will happen to him?”

“Nothing,” Alain replied. “I said I was a Giantslayer, but really I’m still a student. I am not affiliated with them yet and I don’t intend to report any of this. I’ll report finding you simply hiding somewhere in The Sanctuary.” He said.

“Really?” The boy’s voice turned a pitch higher.

“Really."

"I don't believe you yet. But..." Renald muttered.

"Now, about the blue crystal you found—”

“Ah!” The boy cut off what Alain was about to say and started walking to one corner of the room. “Come here!” He said.

“What?” Alain muttered. He followed the boy to find something he did not expect at all. A young woman his age laid unconscious on the ground. She was heavily wounded with only rudimentary leaves wrapped around her body to close the injuries. She had short hair almost reaching her shoulders and the rest of her features were too dark for Alain to see clearly. But what he did notice was the scale armor laid down next to her, she was a Giantslayer.

“I found her floating down the river. She’s the reason why I haven’t left anywhere yet, I can’t just leave her here. I can’t heal her so I don’t know what to do. I don't want her to die,” The boy’s voice was followed by a slight sniffle at the end.

What the hell? Alain thought. This was something out of his expectation.