Once again, the two adventurers stood in front of the entrance to Palio Forest, one showing a hint of nervousness while the other displayed a more determined look.

“Hey, tell me what to do again, I want to be prepared.”

His green eyes looking at the determined, pale-skinned Aliza, Ace wanted to be reminded of what the quest entailed.

“C’mon, I already told you, don’t forget so quickly. We’re going to replace the barriers in the forest.”

Ace continued to gaze at her face, with an expression wanting to know more of how that’s done.

“We’re going to take these cubes that we got and switch out the old ones. We need to watch out for monsters while doing it though, because the barriers are set a little deep into the forest.”

Now satisfied after hearing the explanation repeated, Ace started trotting into the forest, closing his eyes as he walked.

360 Days

1:45 PM

Level

Map

Support

Skills

With his menu open, he focused on the word, “Map”, to check if it was any different from the last time he checked.

“Oh.”

Inside of his head, the forest was painted more green than last time, showing the distance he’s traveled inside.

“What happened?”

Following behind Ace, Aliza noticed the small noise he let out and was curious as to what had happened.

“Nothing much, the map in my head just got uncovered a little bit.”

“I see...”

It was difficult to picture how that would look in her head, so she brushed it off and sped up in front of Ace.

“Let’s move a little faster, we might be able to get two quests done today depending on how long this takes.”

“Got it.”

Aliza increased her pace and Ace followed behind, walking for about 10 minutes into the forest.

---

------

“Okay, we’re here.”

Said Aliza, pointing at a tree emitting a purple light.

“See that cube sticking out the tree’s trunk? That’s the barrier.”

“So, we’re just going to take out that cube and put in the one we got? Seems easy enough.”

“Yeah, it’s really easy and gives a decent pay, perfect for what we’re going for. It’s just that some monsters have a higher resistance to its effects than others, so we would normally have to watch out for those.”

Ace caught a word that he thought felt out of place as she spoke...

“Normally...?”

He looked over at Aliza as she explained, confused on why she would say normally...

“Oh no...”

Aliza looked back at Ace with a nervous smile, not wanting to say the next line...

“You’re going to fight one of those monsters today.”

“*sigh* I knew it was coming...”

“Sorry... I know you fought just last night, but you need to keep getting stronger.”

“It’s fine, I know that I need to keep getting better, so I’ll fight whatever you throw at me. It’s just hard not to complain, I haven’t had the best experiences so far...”

His gaze shifted away from her and he grabbed his left shoulder, thinking back on his previous fight.

“Yeah, I know... I don’t feel too good aboutthrowing you into another fight right away... but I want you to keep getting better, until you can complete your goal.”

“Thanks... I can tell you’re looking out for me.”

His gaze returned along with a small smile, but it didn’t make Aliza feel particularly happy.

It hither with a feeling of guilt, because it felt like she was the one forcing him to fight all these monsters and faceall these unwanted situations.

She turned away from him, unable to face him as she felt this way.

“Yeah...”

Was all she could say as she received gratitude from the person she didn’t think she deserved gratitude from.

The two continued to walk, until they reached the tree that glowed purple.

“Okay, we just need to take out that cube and drop in the new one.”

“Kay, I’ll do it, send it over.”

Aliza handedAce the new cube and he walked up to the tree. He grabbed the old cube and took it out of its placeholder that was sticking out of the tree.

The purple light disappeared as he took it out, but once he placed the new one in, a brighter purple was emitted.

“Is that it?”

“Yeah, we just need to replace a few more barriers,thenwe’ll go fight.”

“Got it.”

And they continued into the forest, taking out old barriers and putting in new ones.

---

------

After using up all the cubes they were given, they stopped underneath the tree that held the newest barrier.

“Okay, we’re done the quest, do you need a break, or should we start right away?”

Aliza asked, as Ace sat at the trunk of the tree, worrying about if this fight would go like last time.

“I’m not too tired and there’s no point in holding it off, so I might as well start it now... But before we go... let me talk to the god. I forgot to talk to him yesterday.”

“Oh, sure, go ahead.”

Ace closed his eyes, opening the menu in his head.

360 Days

3:17 PM

Level

Map

Support

Skills

He focused on the word “Support”, summoning the god that speaks to him inside his head.

“~Deepa here! Want to explain why you didn’t call on me yesterday?!”

Ace could envision the voice that sounded like a little boy, pouting inside his head. He started speaking out loud, responding to Deepa.

“Sorry, I forgot with all that happened. I’ll get right into it.”

“Go ahead~”

“I don’t have any specific questions for my current situation, so I’ll go with some more general ones. First, can you give any information on the ‘enemy of the kingdom’? What’s he like, what’s his powers, anything like that?”

“~Sorry, can’t do that. Anything else~?”

His first question being brushed off, Ace immediately continued, knowing his time was minimal...

“tch-- Okay, fine, next question. You gave me a backpack with a bunch of stuff on my first day. Some of that stuff looked custom made, like my dagger. Can you make me anything and give it to me?”

“~I’m a god, I can make whatever I want and send it to you. Buuuttttt... do I want to~?? That wouldn’t be very fair now, would it~?”

Hearing this made Ace start to heat up, because of the god’s carefree attitude, and because of the reason behind not supporting Ace...

“Why?! You summoned me here to get rid of him, why wouldn’t you help me?!”

“~Aceyy, I have my reasons. It’s best to take my answers and move on~.”

Ace decided to try to keep his cool and move on, instead of trying to force answers out of him. It would only waste the minimal time he had, and he had a feeling that Deepa wouldn’t budge...

“I don’t understand you at all...”

“Just stick to your goal~.”

But after trying to keep his cool, what Deepa just said made him furious once again, making Ace punch the floor where he sat.

“My goal is your goal! So help me ou--!”

“Nope, noooppee~”

Ace was still mad, but once again, he thought of it as pointless to be. Before his anger could dissipate, he threw a threat at Deepa, putting his anger on full display...

“I swear I’ll mess you up one day, along with the enemy.”

Deepa’s voice may be kiddish, but after hearing Ace’s threats, his voice dropped.

“As if you could ever reach where I’ve reached...”

Ace wasn’t expecting a response, but that left him with another question he needed answered.

“What’s that supposed to mean...?”

“Aaaaannnnddd time’s up~! See you later, Aceyy~!”

But, before he could have it answered, Deepa’svoice disappeared, leaving Ace with another mystery.

He thought back on what Deepa said in their brief conversation.

“So, I can’t have any information on the enemy, no more items from Deepa, and Deepa’s apparently from somewhere I can’t reach. Real helpful... *sigh*”

As he sat there, Aliza realized he was done and spoke up.

“Are you done speaking with him?”

Ace looked up at her, his eyes looking discouraged after their conversation.

“Yeah, it wasn’t much help though.”

“I could see that. You sounded like you weren’t getting very positive responses.”

“Yeah, he just left me with more questions than answers. Hey, Aliza?”

“Yes?”

“Is there any information on the gods you can share with me?”

Aliza looked a little puzzled hearing that come from Ace.

“Are you planning to reach Deepa somehow?”

Ace didn’t know the answer to that question yet, because his main goal was getting back to his home. But, getting to sack Deepa once in the face didn’t sound too bad if he ever got the chance.

“I’m not too sure yet, but it might be helpful.”

“Okay, I’ll tell you a story, although I don’t know if it’ll help.”

She looked up at the sky with a thinking look on her face, as if she was trying to recall a memory.

“I read a book once while I was traveling. It was about a baby boy, born into royalty, who was said to have a disease that was impossible to cure. It was said that he would die if not cured within 2 days, so his parents tried finding a method to cure him, hiring the best healers and doctors across all the countries. None of the people hired could find a cure, so the parents started grasping at straws, wanting to save their baby boy. The family was from the country of Zineen, the human country, where there is said to be a special alter, one that connects directly to the gods. The parents placed their baby on the alter and prayed to the heavens for their baby to be saved. They received no response, so they grasped at straws once again, thinking they needed a sacrifice for them to receive a response. They gathered all their maids and butlers and sacrificed them for the sake of their child, not sparing a single one. The gods received the sacrifice, and the baby was dragged into the heavens along with the blood and bodies of the sacrifices, not leaving a single thing behind. Although they couldn’t see their baby anymore, the parents believed that he lived once he was carried into heaven, so they lived happily ever after. The end.”

Ace only asked for info on a whim, he wasn’t expecting a whole story on it.

“Wow, wasn’t expecting a story like that. That was helpful though, thank you. Seems like I have to get to that alter and get myself dragged to heaven to sack Deepa in the face.”

Half-joking as he spoke, he didn’t know if the story or the alter was even real. He decided to just set aside the problem with Deepa for now and stick to one thing.

He stood up, patted himself down, and looked over at Aliza.

“Okay, I’m ready now, let’s go.”

Aliza gave a nod, and they started moving again.

---

------

After moving further into the forest, Aliza stopped them abruptly.

“Hold on... we’ll move slower from here on out.”

Ace gave her a nod quickly, to make sure he was following. She was practically an instructor to Ace, so he trusted in her instincts and warnings.

They continued to move forward, slowly and quietly, Aliza leading and Ace followingwith his dagger in his hand, still sheathed.

---

------

“There, we found one.”

Aliza stopped them once again, this time not as surprising, because of how cautious they were already being.

Ace peeked behind the tree they were standing behind to see what type of monster they would be fighting.

“Woah, it looks like a bigger version of a squirrel.”

He observed the animal that stood in the distance not too far away. As he said, it resembled a squirrel, but it was bigger, about the size of a big dog, and had a more pointed face.

“It’s called a Sqat, and can use a certain type of water magic. It shoots sticky, bullet-like water shots from its mouth. They knock you back quite a bit if you’re hit head on, so watch out. Other than that, it attacks with its claws, has a good nose, and it has some speed to it, so you need to be careful of that too. That should be everything.”

“Thanks. That’ll be helpful.”

He observed it once again, just wanting to get one final look at it to get prepared.

Aliza noticed his observation and gazed at his face as he stared.

His eyes were fixated and stern as he gazed, giving off a determined, but cautious look. His hands were gripped harder on his dagger than normal, showing that he was fearful, but ready to use it when the time came. His legs were standing straight, not shaking or tapping, to show he was focused and concentrated. His hair was messy but gave off a mature look when matched with his determined expression.

She noticed herself staring and looked away quickly with a small blush. She did it unconsciously, but she was still left feeling guilty after realizing he had to go fight another monster.

---

Ace finished his visual breakdown of the monster and looked back towards Aliza.

“...?”

He noticed her looking away but couldn’t figure out why. Was something wrong with the monster? Her expression bothered him...

“Aliza? What’s up?”

Still feeling embarrassed, she gave a small stutter along with her blush.

“Huh? Oh... n-nothing's wrong...”

“Hey, don’t leave info from me. It’s too late for that.”

“Oh, no it’s nothing about the monster, just a me thing.”

What could she possibly be worrying about other than the monster at a time like this? Ace was still feeling worried and wanted this fight to go better than his last, so he pestered her.

“C’mon, tell me, you’re worrying me.”

“No! I can’t!”

“---!”

--What could be that serious right now?!

Ace needed to get it out of her. He tried dropping the tone of his voice and tried to sound a little nicer to pry it out of her.

“Aliza, please, I don’t want this to go like last time. I’m going to be worrying about something unexpected the whole time if you don’t tell me.”

“Nope! Nope! Nope! It won’t get in the way, so just go out there!”

Her voice raised as she opposed Ace.

“Oh, shoot...”

Noticing her mistake, she peeked behind the tree once more to check on the monster.

“---!”

Her eyes met with the monster’s almost immediately after peeking her head out.

“Ace, it saw us! Get ready!”

She didn’t have time to worry about her romance issues anymore, Ace’s safety and preparation mattered more.

“Got i--!”

It’s big, black eyes had already made it behind the tree before Ace could finish his sentence.

“SHOOT!”

He immediately started running, already frightened by the thought of being used as a chew toy by another monster.

“It’s up to you now!”

Aliza also retreated behind a tree to let Ace gain experience on his own.

---

Ace was too busy trying to slip away from the Sqatto respond to Aliza’s instructions.

“SHOOT! I need to lose it!”

Ace was running around the forest, taking random turns at trees, not knowing how to find the opportunity to slay it.

--Okay, I’ll try this...

Having thought of a plan, he immediately went to execute it.

“Quick First Step!”

He activated the skill he only recently received, and his feet started to glow a soft crimson, indicating the activation of the skill.

As he activated it, he took a sharp turn and started dashing in another direction.

Before the monster could take the same turn, he took another turn, and quickly hid behind a nearby tree.

He tried to be as silent as possible as he hid, but after a few seconds, he couldn’t avert the feeling of wanting to check where the monster was.

“Please be lost...”

And he peeked his head out of the tree to look around...

“---! Falling back!”

He quickly activated another skill, one that boosted your first backstep upon activation.

“SKREE!!”

A claw came plunging at him, ready to kill its prey.

Ace’s feet lit redonce again, and he stepped back, avoiding the squirrel-like monster’s attack, causing it to rip into the tree he was camping at.

He looked in the other direction and began dashing once again, his first plan failing, almost at the cost of his skin and other parts that would’ve been ripped in the impact.

“SHOOT! What do I do?!”

He continued to run, and tried to think once again, on ways he could get a strik--

“AHH!”

His body was thrusted forward, landing on his face as he fell to the forest ground.

“Augh...! What was that...?!”

He sat up and felt a sticky substance on his face.

“Is this...”

He recalled Aliza’s advice on the monster.

“This is the monster’s magic...”

Before he could look anymore into it, he looked up to see the Sqat slowly making its way towards Ace, who was on the ground, sticky and hurt from the fall.

“Shoot, I can’t get hit by another one of those, they hurt...”

He stood up and got in a comfortable fighting stance to stand his ground against the monster.

“SKREE!!”

The long-faced squirrel screeched and started running at Ace, who had his dagger in front of him, prepared for the attack.

Ace’s skills had finished their countdown, so he had all his assets ready for the attack. He kept his stance until the monster got closer and ready to attack.

“Quick... First... Step!”

The Sqat swung at Ace with its right claws, but Ace quickly ran to the right, avoiding the attack.

“Durability!”

He activated a protection skill, as a backup if something went wrong in the next few seconds.

The monster quickly recovered from its attack and ran at Ace.

It was now side-by-side with Ace, and quickly swung with its left.

“Falling back!”

Ace stepped back, avoiding the monster’s attack once again, by the inch of a hair.

The monster now had no time to recover after striking... Ace took this opportunity.

“Sharper Tip!”

Making his blade’s tip sharper, he went in for the attack, his dagger acting as his claws.

“Take thi--!! Augh...!!”

The monster shot another one of its water-based bullets at Ace’s chest, sending him flying to the floor once more.

“Agh... my chance... it just got lucky though... the next one will finish it...”

The sticky part of the bullet hadn’t really affected him so far, but the knockback was painful.

He could take a few more hits, but Ace truly did not want to take another hit from one of those bullets.

He resolved himself to finish this battle in the next chance he got.

He stood up once again, not as sturdy as last time, but still able to run and swing a dagger.

“Come get me!”

His skills hadn’t cooled down, nor did he have a plan, but he didn’t want this fight dragging out any longer.

The Sqat accepted his invitation and started running at him, also ready to finish off the prey that’s been sitting in front of its eyes.

It drew close and swung its claws at Ace’s head, wanting to take an eye along with his life.

“Woah!”

Ace quickly ducked and was under its head. It was unable to attack Ace with its bullets or claws, so Ace took the chance.

Unable to make his tip sharper, he went in for the old-fashioned slash.

He dug his blade into its chest and slashed down, gripping his handle tight.

“SKREE!!”

He couldn’t let the monster get a hit in.

“Hard Hitter!”

He activated his blunt-object damage booster and made his free hand into a fist.

He removed his blade and punched at the wound, doing increased damage to the squirrel.

Not giving it the chance to think, he slashed at it once again with his blade that had “Ace” printed on the handle in gold.

“SKREE”

As he slashed, Ace remembered the water shots that pained him a few moments ago.

He focused on the monster’s face and slashed his dagger into the bottom of its mouth, wanting it to lose its ability to shoot bullets at him.

But that ability didn’t matter anymore... because the monster fell onto Ace.

“Oh...”

He realized he didn’t need to attack anymore.

The monster had died with that final slash to its lower-head.

“Ah...”

Fatigue, or something mentally, Ace didn’t know, but he dropped to his knees as he stood there, holding his bloody dagger.

“It’s done...”

Another one of his trials, completed. It was hard to get used to, but he would need to start doing this regularly from now on, killing monsters, and leveling up.

He took the monster off himself and called out to Aliza, who was still hiding in the trees.

“Aliza! I’m done!”

She emerged from the forest after a few seconds, walking up to Ace slowly.

“How’d it go?”

“Not bad. Not as much damage this time.”

“That’s good. It feels better to see you come out of a fight with not as many injuries.”

“Haha... feels better on this side too.”

“Okay, we’ll finish up with that for today. Stand back, I’ll take its core.”

“Oh... okay. What’re we using that for?”

“We can sell it for some extra money.”

“Oh, that’s good.”

Ace stood up and Aliza pulled her sword out, removing the core from the Sqat.

As she did this, Ace closed his eyes to check if there was a change in his level.

360 Days

4:08 PM

Level

Map

Support

Skills

He focused on the word, “Level”, and opened the portable status plate.

“Level 8...”

He had gone up 1 level after fighting the Sqat, a one level decrease from when he fought the Welfio and went up 2 levels.

“I have a lot to go...”

He thought of the ‘enemy of the kingdom’. If he was as strong as the rumors say, Ace thought he would probably need to be level 80+ if he wanted to win.

“Okay, let’s go.”

Aliza finished retrieving the core from the monster. It was similar to the Toriel’s core, but a little bigger, and a maroon color instead of purple.

Ace gave a nod and stood up, following behind Aliza as she walked.

“Hey, can I see the core?”

“Sure, here.”

She threw the stone over to Ace, who caught it and held it up to the sun.

It shined as he held it up, giving off a small glow, which Ace thought looked cool.

“You better sell well...”

And the two went back to Furio Village, finishing up their third quest...