Carried along by the swift current of the river, I repeatedly dove beneath the water to prevent anyone from potentially noticing my escape. Only surfacing occasionally to breathe.

After a decent period of time, I washed up ashore completely soaked and exhausted.

Ugh… I underestimated the difficulty of swimming with only one working arm in a rapid current. Plus that river was freezing cold. Way colder than I’d expected it to be.

Shivering slightly, my body felt heavy from my wet clothing.

The good news is if there were any hidden tracking devices in these clothes or backpack, they’ve probably been waterlogged and broken.

I began examining the surrounding for any important information.

Various trees and plants were scattered around. The river continued to flow from the north to the south. Meanwhile I had washed up on the west bank.

There were several mountains to the north and a large city to the east. To the west, a large forest. It was relatively quiet with nobody around.

Placing my spear and backpack on the ground, I removed my shirt before squeezing it dry. Before doing the same with my pants.

Feeling them afterward, they were still damp and I tried to squeeze them dry again. I gazed toward them whilst sighing, wearing damp clothing will definitely be uncomfortable.

No time to waste waiting around. I still need to move. If anyone discovers the broken grate and my disappearance, they could easily track me to here.

Crack

Suddenly, I heard a crack of nearby branch and froze. My mind briefly flashback to the moment the panther attacked earlier.

Snatching up my spear with my working hand, I pointed it toward the noise before I finally managed to get a good view of the situation.

A 13-15 year old boy hiding behind a bush. Unarmed (unless you count a wooden sword as armed).

Realizing that it was probably a civilian, I immediately relaxed and lowered my weapon.

The kid had brown hair and a childish face that seemed abnormally flustered.

I briefly wonder why before I remembered… I had turned into a girl and was currently undressed in my underwear.

In fact, his gaze was currently locked onto my breasts.

Stared at him with a cold gaze, I emotionlessly stated, “Peeping?”

The boy hastily denied the accusation, “No- I… I was-”

I didn’t give him a chance to continue.

Anyway, this is only an illusionary realm. I needed to bind this spear to myself and this little pervert happened to appear at this opportune time.

Stabbing forward with my spear, I tried to kill him in a single blow.

Unfortunately, as I could only utilize a single hand to hold the spear, the boy managed to barely dodge the blow.

Clearly, he wasn’t trained in combat though. His movements were all of the place.

“I wasn’t… it was an accident!” The boy tried to explain… but I couldn’t be bothered.

I wasn’t actually a girl… so, I couldn’t really bring myself to care about him seeing my body.

Rather, the problem was that this kid had seen me at all.

Leaving a witness to my current disguised form… especially this close to the house I escaped from. That was a massive problem.

If anyone found out, logically they would find it suspicious. That combined with my physical traits would definitely be problematic.

Killing him is both solves the problem of his silence and binds the spear to myself. A double win.

If anything this kid should blame his own bad luck for being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

“Repent with death.” I coldly stated and stabbed forward again.

Sadly, the boy managed to once again barely dodge my attack.

This is starting to get annoying.

Backing away, the boy tried to apply reason. “I only saw your underwear!”

I didn’t reply, instead following after him with continuous attacks. Regardless of how I attacked, though, all my attacks missed.

Despite the kid’s horrible combat skills, his body was at peak state. My own body was exhausted, cold, and had only one functioning arm.

Eventually he began to deflect my attacks with the wooden sword in his hand and my body quickly began protesting against continued fighting.

Tsk… Have I actually fallen so low that I can’t even deal with a weak kid?

The kid was dodging desperately, and yelled, “I won’t tell anyone I saw you!”

His words caused me to pause.

Why does he know exactly what I was worrying about?

I gazed toward him, both assessing the truthfulness of his statement and evaluating whether it was worth it to continue this farce. At this pace, it might take awhile to kill this brat and I didn’t exactly have the time, or energy, to waste.

Did the kid realize the spear didn’t have registration and theorized? Or did he blindly stumble upon my worry?

“Turn around.” I demanded whilst pointed toward my clothes.

The disrespectful brat stared straight into my eyes and rudely asked, “You’re not going to stab me in the back?”

“No.” I coldly replied as I put down my weapon.

I certainly would’ve… but, since you’re actually intelligent enough to ask that and get verbal confirmation, I won’t bother.

When the brat finally turned around, I walked back to my clothes and put them back on.

After picking up my belongings, I began to walk westward and called out toward the kid. “If I find out you’ve informed anyone about me…”

When the kid turned around toward me, I did a gesture of slitting my throat.

“Don’t expect to survive it.” I coldly stated.

The kid gulped slightly before repeatedly nodding.

Huffing in annoyance, I began walking away. The best I could do was intimidate the kid. Even if he broke his promise, I doubt I’d ever get the chance to find and dispose of him.

“Wa-wait!” The boy chased after me.

I glanced back toward him with a frown. It seems I haven’t been intimidating enough.

“You don’t want to go that way.” He said, gulping under my intense stared. “There are monsters. It’s not safe.”

“You think I can’t handle a few puny monsters?” I sneered and continued onward.

You think I’d trust the words of someone I just tired to kill? He’s more likely to lead me into trap than somewhere safe.

The brat moved to block my path and stuck out his arms. “Not in your current condition.”

Does this kid have a death wish? I literally just attempted to kill him. Anyone sane would’ve stayed far away from me at this point.

“I find your lack of faith... disturbing.” I stated with an evil voice. Sadly, my reference fell on deaf ears.

“Heading into the forest in your current condition is asking for trouble.” The boy continued to protest.

“Fine, kid.” I rolled my eyes, “What would you recommend, then?”

“You can hide at my house.” The kid spoke with a determined expression.

That is not going to happen. Still… “Why do you think I’m hiding?” I curiously asked him whilst leaning forward.

Regardless, I wouldn’t consider trusting him even slightly.

No way. I just met him and there’s no reason for him to be helping me. Plus, this kid must have a guardian. They would definitely report me to someone as suspicious.

“Everything about you screams someone who doesn’t want to found. Your suspicious behavior. An unregistered weapon. Large amount of combat experience and no hesitation to commit murder.” The boy answered swiftly, still not moving from his position. “Also, a normal person probably wouldn’t even be able to move with your current injuries and never would consider fighting monsters. You’re a poacher, right?”

“An annoyingly smart kid.” I muttered to myself, before dismissing him. “However, my injuries aren’t that bad. Go home, kid. You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into.”

“I know perfectly well. I’ll give you a place to hide.”

“Yeah? And why exactly would you do that?” I was genuinely curious why this kid would consider risking his life to give me a place to hide. Inviting someone who had no hesitation to murder you into your own home is psychotic behavior.

“I want power.” The boy tighten his fists, “I want you to train me.”

“No.” I immediately refused. “Head home, kid.”

Although I understand his desire for power, I wasn’t in a position to train anyone. The last time I tried to teach people, I failed miserably.

Speaking of my two disciples… I wonder how they’re doing?

Well, Bai Xiaobao’s probably just making trouble somewhere… Did Rin ever send Sidney into Hell Difficulty? I’d sort of got distracted with the whole almost dying thing and forgot to check on her.

The boy begged, “Please!”

“I don’t have anything I could teach you.” I slowly shook my head.

Even if I wanted to train him, my powers and abilities were gone at the moment. How could I possibly train someone in this situation?

The kid bit his lip and a conflicted expression appeared on his face. “If I heal your injuries, can you agree?”

I examined the young boy more carefully. Heal my injuries? What secrets is he hiding?

Having my arm’s functionality recovered would increase my options dramatically, but…

“Do you think my training is worth the cost of healing my arm?” I asked seriously, partly curious as to the extent he valued me.

The kid shook his head and stared at me. “I cannot heal your body’s injuries… only your soul injuries.”

What?

I couldn’t believe what I’d just heard. Compared to healing to my arm, healing my soul was infinitely more difficult. I’d already accepted I would have to deal with my injuries until I left.

After all, the canteen of spiritual recovery stopped producing water after arriving here.

More importantly, though… How did he find out about I have soul injuries? Also, can someone in an illusionary realm trigger actual injuries and healing?

“Who are you?” I asked, watching him whilst reexamining my opinion of the teenager.

“Leonardo Yune.” The teenager stuck out his hand and continued, “You can call me, Leon.”

“That wasn’t what I was asking.” I blandly stated and ignored his outstretched hand. “If you can heal my soul injuries, I’ll stick around and train you until the authorities catch up.”

Honestly, if this boy’s telling the truth it’s worth the risk. Based on the notebook’s words, the weapons of power target the soul. They focus on providing improvement to the soul, and attacking the souls of enemies similar to God-hunter.

However, is it worth training him? This is only an illusionary realm. Meaning the people inside should only be complicated illusions…

Whatever… If he can heal my soul, I’ll keep my word and waste some time to train him.

The teenager clenched his teeth and attempted to bargain, “If the authorities show up, you can take me with you.”

I snorted and directly refused him, “Don’t push your luck, kid. I won’t carry a burden around with me.”

“Fine.” The teenager grumbled before agreeing, “Lower your spiritual defenses and I’ll begin.”

I narrowed my eyes, and immediately lowered my opinion of the teen. Asking for such a thing is simply too suspicious. “Do you really think that possible?”

Actively lower your spiritual defenses exposes yourself to countless danger. Anyone with even a basic knowledge of the soul could directly knock you out. An expert in soul knowledge could directly modify memories and mess with your soul… even cause subtle changes to your personality.

Currently, even with my extremely weaken soul, the soul’s passive defenses are more than enough to prevent such modifications. In fact, any living soul automatically defends itself from such precise and invasive intrusions, even when asleep.

Whilst it might be true that it’s required to heal me, regardless of any potential gains, there’s no way I would ever take such a risk.

“How am I supposed to heal your soul without access to it?” The teenage innocently protested, but I didn’t buy it for a second.

I shrugged and began to walk around him, “It seems our agreement has come to an close.”

He didn’t speak for several second before called out to me. “Wait! I’ll work around it… but it’s far less effective.”

Suspicious… Extremely suspicious.

If he actually wanted to heal me, the kid should’ve mentioned that first. The fact he didn’t means he’s hiding something and has ulterior motives.

I briefly stopped, and I evaluated whether I should actually let him attempt healing me. However, upon pausing, I shook my head.

Everything was too suspicious.

Almost immediately after I escaped, in the exact spot where I wash up from the river, there coincidentally happened to be a young teenager.

Somehow I didn’t notice him until after I’d removed my clothing.

The teenage happened to figure out my worries and managed to lower my hostility of him to an acceptable level… Meanwhile my own body became exhausted enough that I couldn’t continue wasting energy attacking him.

Additionally, the teenager happens to have the ability to solve a massive problem that was plaguing me.

It feels too coincidental… too artificial. I feel like a puppet dancing on a string. A chess piece moving to someone else’s will.

“Sorry, kid. The deal is off.” I coldly stated, and took back out my spear. “I don’t know what you did, but stop it. I don’t like being manipulated.”  

I might eventually die from this choice but, simply put, my instincts say that all of this is too artificial. Everything is too perfect.

Whilst under serious soul injuries, I happen to run into a kid with the ability to treat those injuries? Never in my life have I been that lucky. Everything that I’ve ever gotten has been with some risk of death and hard-fought.

Nothing in life is free. Whether you’re the one paying the price or not... and when something sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

I refuse to believe life suddenly swapped over to easy difficulty.