We had landed in a clearing in the forest. I wasn't sure if Xenon cleared them out before throwing us here or the clearing was already here, but that meant Rocky didn't crush a bunch of trees with his bulk upon arrival.

A pressing question was on my mind, wasn't I supposed to be sent back home? Why the heck were we sent here? Then I realised. The darn goddess fucked up! She freaking sent us to a random place without checking! I tried to calm myself, not wanting a repeat of the beating I got earlier today.

Well, at least I had Rocky to protect me if anything happened, right?

"ZZZZZZUUUUUURRRRR"

Rocky's core glowed a light shade of purple for a second, then the golem slumped face first on the ground. It looked just like an exhausted person collapsing into bed the moment they reached home, just like I did after a hard day of farming.

Wait.

The damned golem was actually sleeping! Recalling a book from the library, golems had sleep cycles where they recharged for years!

"Rocky! Wake the fuck up! I don't wanna die!"

Yeah, real wimpy of me right? Well, I doubt you would do better if you got stuck in an unknown forest, where just about anything could freaking kill you! Or maybe I was overreacting, perhaps this forest was a peaceful location without scary monsters?

Then a tree flew into the air with a bang, whistling as it flew right above my head! Nope, not a safe place. I cursed at my luck, expecting to see a horrifying predator prowl out and attack me.

But two men ran out amongst the trees instead, one man sprinting as fast as he could, and the other casting all sorts of spells at the runner. At least humans could be reasoned with, right?

"Boy! Help me please! I'll give you a half of a Fire Lotus!"

The man upfront screamed for help, not realising how weak I was. In any case, there was no way I was going to fight a proper mage with my current strength, no matter what the rewards.

"Begone nuisance!"

A finger pointed towards me from the chaser and I evaded before he even cast the spell. A splendid dodge!

Not.

It seemes he had experience in fights, re-aiming at me as I dodged.

"Bang!"

A loud crunch sounded out as a shockwave hit my foot, but there wasn't any pain. Good thing he didn't aim well enough to hit any vitals. I swung my hoe, casting Paralysing Weapon and Strengthen Body. The man tried to dodge but was unable to, and my weapon hit him on the side of his head.

"Owww!"

The man rubbed his head but didn't seem too hurt. Despite that, he looked enraged, making me drip with cold sweat. The fucking attack failed, I was going to be screwed!

He then heard the crunch of a branch snapping and a yell from the other man, taking a brief look in the direction the man had ran in. About time the dimwit realised who was his target!

"I don't have time to deal with a weakling like you!"

He launched another shockwave at me, before resuming his chase. Thankfully, it wasn't well aimed and I could dodge it perfectly.

I ran amongst the trees in fear, wanting to get as far as I could from the disaster. Damn, who would have thought finally meeting civilisation would end in such disaster?

Knowing my luck, I expected to be confronted by some monster and attacked, but I found a dark cave to hide in instead. No, I refuse to believe anything would go right, there's definitely a monster inside, isn't there? I took out my lantern to brighten the area, seeing nothing but barren dry stone. Not even moss grew on the walls. Hearing the silence and hoping there really was nothing inside, I cautiously headed into the cave, somewhat expecting something to jump out at any moment.

It was a rather deep cave, but nothing seemed to reside in it. I relaxed, untensed and sat down, sighing in relief. I could hole in here to hide for the time being! Finally, something went right for once.

Then my toes hurt, like FUCKING hurt! It was like a huge elephant just stomped hard on my toes, spattering them. I resisted the urge to scream and took off my shoe carefully, only realising now that it was soaked in blood. I saw a horrid sight, my toes somewhat crushed and bruised to the point of unrecognisable. My toenails were shattered as well.

I assumed the pain was masked by the adrenaline when I got hit by the attack earlier, the crunching sound originating from my toes. I quickly pulled the Body Refining book, hoping it could help stop the pain. Body Refining reformed your physique, so I should heal after a rank breakthrough!

I read the book and followed the instructions, sending my mana through my body to analyse it, but noticed something odd. I was already rank 1 in Body Refining! Whatever the cause, I wasn't in the mode to ponder with the pain as a deterrent.

I took a berry out of my bag and removed the seed, then popped the entire thing down my mouth. Might have been a bad idea, but I wanted to advance as quickly as possible, just so the pain would be over.

Searing agony spread through my entire body as the mana ran rampant, but I didn't absorb any of it with my core, instead following the instructions and slowly fusing it into my entire body.

After half an hour of agony, I was finally freed from the pain.

Toes? Healed.

I sent mana to analyse my body yet again, and found to my surprise that I had ranked up to Body Refining Rank 3!

The power! I felt stronger than ever, having a strong urge to punch one of the walls.

"Bang!"

Ouch! My hand really hurt, my knuckles a red hue after the attack. The wall however got it worse, having a imprint of my fist!

This is awesome! I felt as if I could finally put up a good fight against something, possibly even knocking out the guy I had attacked earlier if I had the strength before!

I decided to check out the Scan spell, picking out the divine spellbook to read.