Leaning against the closed door behind him, Damian exhaled in relief. His emotions had gotten the better of him and he ended up betting against Frank on whether the beast would arrive. Of course, after dying to it multiple times, Damian already knew that he was going to win the bet. However, the bet wouldn’t even matter if they didn’t survive this night.

After saying his goodbyes to Mary, Damian departed from the chief’s house to Emilia’s. Her house was located near the middle of the village within the cluster of houses that made up the majority of the villagers’ homes, including Damian himself. As he walked along the gravel path to the heart of the village, the descending sun reminded him of the little time he had left. Based on how low the sun was, Damian estimated that there were about two hours left before sunset. In those two hours he had to set up the trap which was hopefully finished by now.

[Good thing I rushed the harvesting. If I didn’t I probably would have taken too long.]

Emilia’s windows were decorated with a few colorful flowers that she picked from the forest. They were placed in rectangular clay pots which were filled with dirt on the outer windowsill. Every morning she would water them to keep them from withering away and every night she would make sure that the flowers were still nice and pretty for the next day before going to bed. Because of the flowers Damian never confused Emilia’s house for any of the other identically structured houses and again today they directed him to the correct building. After knocking on her door, Emilia answered and let him in. The interior was more or less the same as the rest of the village houses since everybody had the same wooden furniture.

“Ah, before I forget, here’s your pay.” Damian scrapped the fifteen dollars out of his pocket and handed them to Emilia.

“You sent the harvest to Frank?”

“Yeah. I figured it was easier if I just did that.”

“Thanks.” Emilia took the money, stuffing it in her pockets. “Wait here, I’ll bring the trap out.”

Damian quietly took a seat on a nearby chair and a minute later Emilia re emerged with a grass rope that was as thick as two fingers stuck together. It was long enough that she had to hold it with both arms to keep it from reaching the ground. She set it on a table for Damian to admire.

He grabbed hold of the rope with his left hand and felt over it with the other. The grass weaves felt tight and secure. It couldn’t come out any better than this.

[As expected of the grass weaving expert Emilia.]

He wrapped it around his shoulder.

“Woah this is pretty heavy. By the way, do you have a felling axe?”

“I have one in the back. Let me get it for you.”

Emilia disappeared into a room and came out with an iron axe.

“Here you go.” She said as she struggled to hand over the heavy tool.

“Thanks.” Damian gratefully accepted it.

In one hand he held the felling axe and on the other shoulder, the enhanced grass rope. He had gotten what he came here for and decided he shouldn’t waste any time getting the trap done.

“I’m gonna head out now. See you later.” Damian waved with his back turned to Emilia.

“Wait, Damian.” Emilia called out to his back. “Don’t do anything dangerous, ok?”

A slight smirk creeped up Damian’s lips as he turned his head to the side to look at Emilia who was behind him.

“You worry too much. I’ll be fine.”

Without another word, Damian left the worried Emilia, keeping his wistful smile until the front door was finally closed.

“Don’t do anything dangerous, huh?” He jokingly mumbled to himself.

He wished he could take Emilia’s advice. If he didn’t have to do anything but continue living the peaceful life he was living, he would’ve done that instead. But he had to act. In order to protect the peace of the village, the one he had come to love so much, he was willing to fight. To put himself in danger. And after discovering his new ability, even die.

With the axe and rope in hand, Damian broke into a sprint towards the village gates. On the way he was approached by Alisa Deron, an eldery lady in her eighties. She wore a plain white dress that went all the way to her knees.

“Damian, dear, where are you off too late? You know it’s dangerous to be out late.” She advised with concern for the young adult.

“I forgot to set one of the traps so I’m doing it before it gets dark.”

“Oh, you. Get back soon. You wouldn’t want to be eaten by the Kreeves!” She chuckled.

The Kreeves. Damian read in a book about them once. Apparently, they were the name of an infamous demon clan that ate any humans that they could get their hands on. The demons of the Kreeves clan were ostracized and casted off by the rest of demonkind since their actions were judged as distasteful and unethical. They disappeared in time and the clan is now used as a bedtime story to deter children from staying out too late.

“Yeah, I will.” Damian cheerfully waved as he raced past her.

At the village gates Richard and Timithus were on guard, sitting on their empty wooden boxes as usual. Instead of their usual spears, the duo had swords at their hips. Probably in preparation for the fight.

“Damian, ya off to set the trap?” Richard said, eyeing the rope and axe in his arms.

“Yeah I am. Actually can one of you come help me?”

“I’ll go.” Timithus grunted as he pushed down on his knees to stand.

“Great! With your help this shouldn’t take more than an hour.”

Damian gingerly handed Timithus the felling axe. He effortlessly accepted it with one hand. The two jogged through the woods, as per Damian’s request to quicken their pace. A light jog got them to the clearing where the trap would be set in eight minutes. There, Timithus waited expectantly for further orders.

“Alright. I'm gonna need you to chop down two smaller sized trees. Around eight feet or so.”

Timithus nodded to notify that he understood Damian’s instructions and went off searching for any trees that fit the description. To relieve his beginning to ache shoulder, Damian casually dropped the heavy rope, which landed with a loud THUMP.

“Now..”

In order to complete the trap, Damian needed to scavenge for some sturdy branches that could be used as pegs to hold the rope, which would be tied to the trees, in place. Normally, instead of trees, small rocks were used but that obviously was not heavy enough to lift the beast off its feet. After painstakingly searching for branches that fit the criteria, he finally was able to gather up a few that would work. While plunging a branch into the ground for foundation, Timithus returned, casually holding two eight foot trees over each shoulder.

“Woah. That Blessing of strength sure is nice to have huh?” Damian noted in awe. “Oh, you can put it down there.”

Timithus gently placed the tree under the base of a larger tree which would be used for the trap. Damian took the rope laying beside him with both hands and began making a circular motion with his right wrist before letting go with his right hand and holding on with his left. The rope flew over the tree and landed on the other side next to Timithus.

“Can you give it a hard tug?” Damian called out to Timithus.

Timithus picked up the rope and gave it a tug. Damian, who was holding onto the other side of the rope, was propelled a few inches off the ground without a warning. A slight shriek escaped his lips and he landed on his behind.

“That was too hard!” Damian protested as he massaged his aching butt.

“Sorry.” Timithus apologized nonchalantly.

“You could show a bit more remorse, you know? Anyways, tie up the trees you cut down with the rope.”

While Timithus tied up the trees, Damian finished up placing the rest of the pegs in place. He also tied a noose, which would be what caught the beast.

“Timithus can you come here for a sec.”

Timithus promptly emerged from the other side of the tree at Damian’s call.

“You finished tying up the trees right?”

Timithus nodded

“Then I need you to pull the rope on this side so that the tree will be suspended in the air.”

Timithus picked up the rope and began pulling. The trees on the other side began rising bit by bit.

“Keep going…...There! Hold it!”

Timithus complied and held his stance. Damian hurriedly placed all the components in their respective positions.

“Ok. Now let go slowly.”

Finger by finger, Timithus released the rope from his grasp. The rope did not immediately give out and the trees remained suspended in the air.

“Yes! It’s good!” Damian pumped a fist into the air.

“...How does it work?” Timithus questioned.

“I’m glad you asked! Basically, when the beast steps on this stick here,” Damian pointed at a long stick on top of the noose. “It’ll start a chain reaction which will tighten the noose on the beast’s ankle and drag it above the ground. The beast will be left flailing helplessly upside down. Now while it's confused, you and RIchard will do your thing.”

Damian puffed his chest and waited for the praise but Timithus remained as neutral as ever.

“You’re not impressed?”

“Well, it’s just a normal snare trap.”

“...You didn’t have to put it like that.”

“But it’ll be useful. Good work.” Timithus awkwardly patted Damian on the shoulder to his surprise.

[Ah he sucks at social interactions. At least he’s trying. Just a month ago he could only show a pissed expression and he always kept to himself. Today he volunteered to help me out and is even praising me. Now thats character development.]

The sun was dangerously low in the dark orange sky. They needed to get back and meet up with Richard and Rose at the village gates.

[The battle with the beast is gonna start soon.]

“Timithus. We’re heading back now. No wait, actually you stay here. There's no point in making you go back and forth.”

“Ok.”

“I’ll go tell the others that we are ready. Richard will be here soon.” Damian said as he raced off to the village gates.

He rushed back to the village gates to discover Rose and Richard already waiting for him.

“Is everything good to go?” Rose asked.

“Yeah. Everything is set. Richard you need to head to the clearing. Timithus is waiting for you there.”

“Ah, ok. Ya better not die ya hear me.” Richard yelled as he sprinted towards the designated clearing in the woods.

[Awkward.]

Damian couldn’t escape the sense of awkwardness he felt. He and Rose were alone but no conversation was initiated between them. While Rose seemed to be indifferent to the awkward vibe, Damian was sweating in it. There was still a few minutes before nightfall and even more before the beast arrived. Since they had time he figured talking about something would help calm the both of them down, though it was really more for himself.

[I should say something. But what should I say? I should ask her something. Like what her blessing is. Wait. I haven’t asked her if she has a blessing! How stupid can I be? She might have had a blessing that we could have used to our advantage. But maybe she doesn’t have one seeing as she never spoke up about having one. I should ask anyways.]

“Hey Rose, I know it's a bit late but do you have a blessing?”

“...No, I don’t.” She quietly answered as she broke eye contact.

“O-oh...I see…”

[That was sus. Why’d she respond like that? Is she trying to hide something?]

Damian sighed.

[Well I guess it's fine. I can’t just pry into whatever I want.]

“Do you have a blessing?” Rose asked.

“No. I’m blessingless as well haha.”

Silence again. Damian figured he should ask something else to get a conversation going.

“Oh yeah, where are you going after this? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“I’m going to the capital. I enrolled in the military school there: Fortem Academy.”

“Fortem Academy. Never heard of it.”

“Really? It’s the academy that gave rise to great war heroes like Julian, Sasha, and Percy, to name a few.”

“I remember hearing tales of those heroes from the older villagers. They graduated from Fortem Academy? And you’re going there? Thats awesome! It must’ve been hard as hell to get in though.”

“I somehow passed the entrance exam. I’m just glad I got in.” Rose jokingly admitted.

“This is great. We’ve been blessed by the assistance of a future hero. What a great day.”

“S-stop saying that. It’s embarrassing. And I don’t even know if I’ll make it pass the first semester.” Rose fanned her flushed face with her hand.

“Aw, don’t think like that! You got to be confident!” Damian cheered.

While Damian continued to encourage the abash Rose, a rustle from the bushes interrupted the wholesome moment.

[Oh shit, when did it get completely dark? I was having so much fun that I lost track of time. There are no cricket sounds either. It’s dead silent. That could only mean one thing.]

Rose also finally realized the unnatural silence of the woods.

“Rose, prepare to cover me! Stay in the trees!”

“Got it.” She retreated into a nearby tree.

The rustling of bushes grew louder and closer with each passing second. A single drop of sweat slid down Damian’s temple down to his chin. It was here. The beast in all its unwanted glory stepped before him with its cocky smirk. What else could Damian do but return the smile? He smiled and extended his arms like a show host introducing the show to its viewers.

“You made it! Now get ready die you stupid beast!”