Each took a flock of wooden dry sticks back on our backs; held by a rope that kept them tight and together.

It didn’t take too long for us to return, slightly more time than for us to go out and explore, mainly because of the weight that came with us on our shoulders; we hadn’t gone far per se; it was important to stick close to the camp in case we got ourselves into trouble, or the other members did. Sticking to each other was likely going to increase our odds of survival, not that they were too low as long as we were careful with our choices, or so they had told me.

“Welcome back,” the leader opened his arms, welcoming us. “Looks like the harvest was bountiful.”

I nodded at his observation, placing my pile a tad further away from the fireplace that was now lit up, taking a peek and noticing the surrounding snow being dissolved gradually. The earth was visible around the rocks that protected the crispy branches Ryze had used. Perhaps he had dug some of it away so that the water from the melted snow wouldn’t extinguish the flame. Around the bright core nested five brown sleeping bags. This made me aware of their resolution to spend the night outside.

Thanks to the moon season, we’d be sleeping on top of a cushion made by nature itself. In a way, it would be better than the ruthless painful surface of the ground composed of unbalanced earth and diverse-sized pebbles. 

My eyes caught sight of Chris, who looked around with an eyebrow raised, “Ryze, shouldn’t they have returned by now?”

“Hum...” he looked to the path where they moved to not too long ago, pondering on the matter.

“They shouldn’t have gone too far,” I added softly, feeling my muscles tensing up from the nervousness that spread from the surrounding men.

Chris began walking towards the way they had gone and then I saw Ryze’s hand falling onto his shoulder, stopping his figure from taking another step.

“Let’s wait a bit more. Brook is with her. At the very least, one of them would’ve made it back if things were bad.”

They traded serious glances for a bit, leading to Chris taking a seat near the tree, grabbing onto his sword preparing for the worst.

Realizing that things were becoming worse, I positioned myself at the rear, in the direction of home, in case they decided to escape. Everything was better than dying here, even if I had to abandon Tania and Brook; My mother had made sure I understood that much. My hand followed through by adding two of the sticks I brought to the fire, making sure that the tracker and her bodyguard would see the light in this vast darkness of the moon season. To give them a chance to return, to not lose themselves in these dreadful white plains which happened to be the perfect place for a graveyard.

I felt their gazes falling on me, but neither uttered a word. Thus, in my eyes, they saw the blaze playing with the branches, at the way the flame nibbled at the wood, turning it to red and yellower tones. And I must admit that watching over the fireplace brought some calm to my heart, a strange feeling that kept my feet on the ground, disabling my emotions from becoming a burden.

‘Be cold like ice in every situation,’ I muttered the ruthless words my mother had told me during times of need. They had guided my fragile, awkward self years ago, and surely, they would keep me on track for the following ones, or so hopeful my heart remained.

“They’ll return,” I told the two of them convicted, unwilling to accept losing these new companions, expecting that they hadn’t gone too far from the frontier; whereas the protection of the Saintess wouldn’t reach, especially now during the moon season when it was at its weakest.

“They better,” Chris added unhappily, turning his gaze to the side, to the opposite side of where I remained.

My shoulder shrugged at that and a sigh escaped my mouth, allowing the tiny cloud of mist to be swallowed by the flames, blowing a portion of them gently with the little strength it had.

“Enemies! Enemies!” The scouter shouts arrived at us from afar and with them the noise of stomping. I glanced over at the two men close by, noticing their nervous expressions and the way they stood up, unsheathing their weapons.

“Take cover there. We’ll pincer them from the sides!” Without muttering a word, Ryze ran as fast as he could, standing in front of Chris, leaving me and the fire as the top vertice of the triangle. They remained behind a tall and fat tree, each on their own as they waited for the scouts to arrive.

“Enemies! Enemies behind!” I saw Tania and Brook jumping in between the two of them, right into the center of our formation.

“What the hell is happening!?” the leader shouted, monitoring the source of the continuous sounds of what appeared to be a charge that was coming in our direction.

Brook patted the shoulder of Tania and they turned around to the noise, preparing their weapons. Whatever it was, they were keen to fight it. From the rear I kept looking, anticipating as the ground shook, causing my heart to tremble with exhilaration, causing me to bite my tongue to calm down.

And from the dark, brown figures charged at us with four muscled legs. Long and dangerous-looking fangs on each side of their mouths, the tusk boars, monsters capable of running over fiends. Large enough to outdo two or three humans in a ramming contest, with red eyes that glared into our bodies, exuding our courage and thinning out every layer of our inner strengths. Their skin looked thick, covered partially by fur that extended from the top of their heads to their long yet thin tails.

“Prepare for the impact!” Brook blurted, aiming the tip of the spear at the closest one. In the worst case, he’d take the full impact, in exchange for taking the life of one of them with him, or so the young man hoped, clenching his teeth, readying out every ounce of his strength.

I understood then as the monstrous animal charged that we’d all die here if no one came with something more. I aimed my hands at the ground between the trees and exuded my freezing skill on the snow. From my experience, trial, and error, I learned that changing water to my element consumed less mana, even less if it was snow. The brilliant color of my blue circle made my teammates aware that I was about to do something. But their gazes remained on the monsters who intended to run us over, trusting me with whatever was about to happen.

Notice: System consumed 20 mana.

I fell on my knees after spending my leftover mana. Had I not wasted it on their beer, the power would’ve allowed me to do more.

“Aim lower! They’ll slip!” Brook changed his posture according to his words, understanding foremost what I had done. The rest quickly realized what had changed, and they were thankful for having me with them.

I crawled behind the nearest tree, hiding, struggling to not lose consciousness because of the lack of mana which directly affected my mind.

Meanwhile, the first beast went through and as it was, its feet slid erratically, tripping, and even twisting its hocks, meeting with the sharp tip of Brook, who didn’t allow this chance to be wasted hitting the incoming mouth with a piercing skill.

And the wailing from the damaged creature echoed through the nudity of the forest, infuriating its kin. Blinded by fury, the rest came along. Four more through the fallen body, their size bigger than us humans, their raw power ampler than we could hope for. 

“Shit! It’s stuck,” despite his struggles in pulling out the spear, the rest of the creatures came all the way. Accidentally, one of them even went against the deceased boar, clashing with it. Unable to withstand the impact a yell left the young man. Brook then fell on his ass from the collision, being hit by the front section of the big corpse, having his weapon completely impaled, and impossible to take out alone. I could say the same about his legs, which remained underneath the large corpse. 

“Watch out!” The girl next to him yelled, jumping in with her knife, cutting slightly lower than the beast’s eyes, failing the bullseye. Thus, the wild boar resisted and shook its head to her side, forcing the small metal to fly out of her hand, leaving three fingers numb and her soft yell to follow.

The two beasts took over Chris and Ryze, each attacking a single one of my allies. Their strength imperiled their lives, and without a numerical advantage, the odds began running out.

“You were supposed to look for shroomies!” Brook complained, mind filled with despair at the beast, whose mouth increased in size to get a chomp at him. 

Upon his bold and defiant response, Tania’s eyes became watered as she did her best to find something to hold the beast down, fretting everywhere she looked.

The leader’s voice echoed, realizing the situation was only growing worse by the second, grabbing the beast’s attention to him. “Run guys! Run to the village!”

As much as Brook wanted to go with them, the creature didn’t allow it. It chomped his shoulder, pressing its weight onto his chest. And he yelled loudly in pain for everyone to hear.

‘I’m coming...’ despite many struggles to go to his encounter, my mind didn’t listen to me. My commands over my body were null and all I could do was suffer silently as the wild boars killed my companion.

The screams followed, and the roars of the creatures did, too. Eventually, I realized I was behind to serve as food for them, perhaps a dessert, and my body shook at the continuous sounds of their mouths chomping down, gnawing with their fangs and crude teeth on Brook’s flesh, tearing muscles and bones apart like they were not sturdy at all.

I clenched my fists and teeth, understanding finally what an adventurer was all about, and why it wasn’t a remarking job for one to have. After all, we humans were the weakest of all the beings in this world, Artana. It felt simpler to just allow the Saintess’ blessing to defend the kingdom. She didn’t need adventurers or knights; the goddess had blessed her after all.

‘How...' How could this have happened? Was the question I struggled to understand. Weren’t they experienced adventurers? And in my confusion, I recollected their ranks and our conversations. The fireplace and the scouting during the dark. And the piles of hints propagated, eventually leading to an incident that had happened long ago with their other party.

‘Had there been more deaths?’ I panicked, clenching my palms with the curved nails of my fingertips.

If there was desperation in my life, it had been nothing till my next thought. 

‘Will they eat me next?’ I gulped those words down in an attempt to bury them so low that they wouldn’t come out to the surface and become true, causing me to close my mouth and nose with both hands so they wouldn’t hear my breathing. 

The cracking of bones made my eyes look higher into the night, and I pushed the back of my head against the trunk of the tree that kept me hidden. The pain from doing so kept me steady, panting, and feeling like my heart would fly out of my mouth at any given moment.

Once I heard the footsteps going away, a twisted smile surfaced on my face. I felt relieved that the danger was going away, leaving my defenseless self behind.

With all my might, I hoped it to be like that and the will to run away was excessively grand. I did what I could to not move, instead; I remembered the days, the ones when my family mistreated me, the ones from my past life. They helped me to remain frozen. 

And I began recollecting my mother Rosaline’s lessons. Still unstable, I took out my sword, placing it carefully between my legs. I used it to get on my knees, and then, with its support, I stood somewhat firm. 

Like a cane, I used it to take me to the darkened camp. The fire was no longer in effect. Its brilliance disappeared along with Brook’s life. 

I didn’t feign ignorance at the rest of his body, at the parts that remained scattered along with some tattered clothing. 

‘I’m sorry Brook,’ a tear slid down to my cheek. In the greenery inside my twinkling eyes, I saved that scene, a deadly memory of my future if I didn’t become a better adventurer. ‘I don’t want an adventure that will lead to my death,’ that thought was my newly gained resolution. 

I had heard his suffering, the pain of being ripped to pieces, understanding why my father didn’t want me to become an adventurer, and why my mother hadn’t been at it for long during her prime.

Every piece fitted the harsh and arduous lessons provided by them. The many warnings about putting my life at risk. The countless scenarios that my mother drilled into me.

“I’m so weak,” and that marked the designation of who I was as a whole.

I got hold of my things, lifting them in the air, hearing the drops falling from the now-wet ground. 

My hand quickly dropped them and I left through the route we had taken. I learned that bringing things with a scent of blood only triggered predators to chase after my trail. Thus I ran, holding onto the clean sword with my left hand. 

Through the cold and snowy night, I escaped with my life intact, to tell the tale of Brook to any who might want to listen.