In the second region of the Tolin forest, a young man with silver hair looking raggard and a beast kept hunting wild beasts one after the other, to the point where most of these beasts began avoiding them. 

Of course those two were Eugene and his new found friend Lucy or little Lu as he likes to call her, after they set off from the cave Eugene began hunting and experimenting to get more familiarised with his abilities and skills. He rested, ate and began hunting which is what he constantly kept on doing 

"Phew, this has been quite rewarding, my energy level actually increased a little thanks to low energy absorption" muttered Eugene as he sat down beneath a tree eating a roasted meat with Lucy

"Hmm, I think I should stop here for now, I should go wash up and head back to the cave. Can't also stay in this forest for long, need to return to that village and organize myself from there"

Eugene finished up his meal and waited for Lucy to be done after which he went to the lake to wash up before returning to the cave.

Five days later at noon time, Eugene was seated in the cave after finishing his daily hunts and practise as he began planning what he would do once he leaves the forest

"Hmm that's right, from Besoly's memories there's an institution which teaches people how to use energy, I've got low energy absorption but it doesn't hurt to learn a few things because I do not want to rely solely on this system, that'll be catastrophic"  thought Eugene as he looked at Lucy

"Little Lu, it's time to leave the forest so we-wait, no!" he paused as he immediately thought of something, from the memories he realised it would do more harm than good if Lucy actually leaves so he recanted his statement 

"Little Lu, I'll be leaving and you'll stay back since it's risky out there"

Lucy whimpered lowly and felt sad before Eugene stroked her fur and smiled "I know, I'll miss you too but you have to stay here because the outside world is dangerous, you must become very strong so we can travel together, I'm going to get stronger as well and if you're too weak when I return, I'll leave you here" 

Eugene kept on stroking her white fur but she wasn't as lively as usual seemingly sad, although slodons are proud and arrogant, they're also very smart and Eugene realised she could actually understand what he was saying, he felt a little embarrassed when he found out because he had always been talking loudly to himself. 

Eugene picked up his dagger and put it in a poorly made holster he managed to make from animal skin, he tied the 'holster' on his thigh and was about to leave the forest before Lucy whimpered and tugged lightly on his trouser

"Hey, I thought I told you already that I need to leave, be strong and only then will you set off with me" said Eugene as he patted her head lightly.

He didn't want to leave her as well but he knew that she was a rare beast and would be hunted if she were to step out of the forest, besides he's also too weak now and can't protect her which is why even if he was reluctant, he had to make sure she remained here. 

"I'm gonna give you a mission, make sure you become at least master ranked by the time I return to come see you" said Eugene seriously before he stroked her fur one last time and left her there as she stayed back even though she was unwilling to.

Eugene left the second region of the forest as he began to make his way towards the village, he was running all the way as part of his self training to increase his stamina, he rested sometimes, killed an animal to eat, wrapped the rest in leaves tightly and continued running all the way. The forest was huge and once he reached the entrance to the forest in the first region it was already nightfall.

"It's about ten kilometers to the village from the entrance here, hmm I guess I should find somewhere to rest and continue in the morning"

He quickly found a tree nearby as he sat down to prepare a fire to roast another meat "Yeah, I never thought the day would come where I'll actually get tired of eating meat" sighed Eugene as he ate

Morning arrived and Eugene woke up as he did his routine stretches before he ate some of his leftovers and began making his way to the village.

***

Leandro and the rest of the group were in front of the village gate checking their equipments as they were getting prepared to go hunt in the forest and fetch some woods. Firsa was adjusting her boots but noticed Brody who seemed a little off as he was leaning on the wall with his hands behind his head for support

"Hey Brody, what's wrong?" asked Firsa worriedly 

"..."

"BRODY!!" shouted Firsa as she broke the silence, directing all their gazes to him

Brody was startled as he was abruptly snapped out of his thoughts "Ah, oh it's nothing, just not feeling it today". He paused for a bit and spoke to Firsa again

"Firsa I'm gonna stay back and just do guard duty for now, I'll go talk to the village head and hunt tomorrow instead"

"..."

"Huh? si-" Firsa didn't get to finish her sentence before Leandro interjected  "You know we always hunt together brother, if you're feeling sick or something you can just rest" 

Sabine immediately spoke after Leandro with a smile on her face "Yeah Lee's right Brody just rest, It's gonna get hotter during the day you know"

"Firsa I'll go see the village head, will see you later" said Brody as he ignored both Leandro and Sabine. Leandro just smiled and seemed not to take offence but Sabine frowned as her smile vanished from her pretty face. 

"No I'll go with you, you'll need help if you're sick" said Firsa with a smile on her face. Brody didn't mind as he nodded in agreement, paying no heed to Leandro and Sabine

Firsa turned and looked at Leandro before speaking "Leandro we'll see you guys later, we might as well all go hunting tomorrow since Brody might be ill". After she spoke, she headed back into the village with Brody leaving Leandro and Sabine all alone

"Seems like today's hunting will have to be postponed to tomorrow" sighed Leandro as he looked at Sabine before having a smile on his face

"That was quite rude from Brody you know, he didn't need to ignore us like that" Sabine was obviously displeased when she was ignored earlier on.

"It's fine just leave him be, maybe Besoly's death is still weighing in on his mind"

"Do you think he knows we had somet-"

"-Hey you shouldn't speak of that, we were all there so no one suspects a thing but even if they do so what?, It can't be proven" whispered Leandro in Sabine's ears as he grabbed her arm "Don't speak of it again, let's just head back inside". Sabine immediately kept quiet as she knew she almost made a mistake

"Sorry, you're right let's go" she lowered her small head and followed Leandro back inside

***

Firsa and Brody were still walking towards the village head's house in silence before before Brody spoke up "Firsa, I've been thinking about something a lot"

Firsa frowned as she looked at Brody "Don't bother, I know what you want to say, it's about that incident right?"

Brody was surprised as he looked at her not expecting that reply "You!...you've thought about it as well?"

"Of course I have! do you think I'm stupid?! I haven't said anything because there's nothing to be said, I know you suspect Leandro and Sabine, frankly I do too but there's no evidence pointing towards them and we aren't even sure they're guilty of it....besides have you forgotten we also ran away"

"..."

"Just keep it to yourself Brody, I wish I could say I should have a second chance so I can save Besoly but the truth is, I'm pretty sure I'll just run away again because we both know that sort of beast isn't something we can defeat. It shouldn't even have been at the first region in the first place"

Brody kept quiet again and clenched his fist because deep down he knew that she was right, he himself also had the same thought but came to the same conclusion as Firsa, he knew his strengths and weaknesses, he knew that even if time was turned a thousand times he couldn't defeat a rogul. The atmosphere became silent once again as they continued walking.

***

Nightfall arrived and at the gate of the village, two burly men holding spears were keeping watch and chatting nonchalantly during night guard duty 

"Ugh, I should have picked daytime shift, now I'm gonna miss Mira's dance" said one of the men as he was scratching his head

The other man looked at him and frowned "Mira again?, you should confess to her you know, you're always talking about her every goddamn day"

"I will, it's just I don't know how to-huh?" the man didn't get to finish his sentence because he noticed someone coming towards their direction

"What is it, finally realised that you're actually spineless?" 

"Huh?! no that's not it, who's that?"

The other man stopped talking as he turned his head and also saw someone approaching them, he quickly gripped his spear in a battle ready stance as the other man followed suit but as the person got closer, they instantly recognized him and their eyes were widened in disbelief

"G-GHOST!!" shouted one of them as his face grew pale with cold sweat all over him, the 'ghost' heard them and stopped "Seriously? I've had a long day and I'm tired, as you can see I'm no damn ghost"

"B-But y-you died didn't you?"

"And I'm telling you that I'm no ghost and I didn't die so I'm heading in alright, see you guys later" and as he said that, he quickly departed still leaving them in a daze before one them snapped out of it and spoke up

"Quickly go inform the village head, I'll stay here and keep watch"

The other man nodded and immediately went in to go find the village head, the other burly man who stayed back quietly sat down on a stool and sighed with a light smile on his face "he's still alive huh, what a relief...the village head will be extremely pleased when he finds out".

 

Thank you for reading! If you have any questions or advice please feel free to comment :)