Lenthor Forest.

A forest made home by the many creatures and Magic Beasts within.

It seperates the land of the Beast-kin and the land of the Spirits.

It is also land of the Old Lenthor Ruins. The very ruins, a certain party wants to challenge.

In this very forest, that same party is travelling towards their destination.

Among them however, is a young girl, carrying a backpack, and leading the rest.

"How much further are the ruins, Sam" -asked the Tiger, Ashuran.

"It should be just a few more miles from here, according to this map." -Sam replied.

The map she was carrying had a detailed description on the surroundings of the forest. Currently the path they were following was alongside the River, as the River had the least amount of Magic Beasts around.

Sam looked around. The forest was quite silent, strangely enough. No rustling leaves in the trees, no crickets, nothing. Even the sound of the river was quiet. Although it was strange, It felt peaceful to her.

As they kept walking, however, she and the rest of them would finally hear a sound. A rustling in the bushes, to her right. She was surprised for a bit, but she didn't pay it any mind. The thing rustling in the bushes took this opportunity, and struck-

"Kya!" -Sam gasped as she got pushed out of the way by Goyu, the Fox Archer. The reason why she got pushed is due to being almost struck by a Raging Red Boar. It is classified as a C Level Threat, mostly being taken care of by Bronze ranked Adventurers. However, that does not mean it is to be taken lightly of.

Goyu, immediately after he pushed Sam out of the way, shot the boar with an arrow. The Boar squealed in pain as the arrow pierced it's leg. However, the Boar didn't stop there, and continued it's charge back at the two. But just as the Boar was about to hit the two, Ashuran stabbed the boar in the head, stopping it in it's tracks.

"Take this as your first lesson, Sam. Always be wary of of your surroundings." -said Ashuran as he pulled his sword out of the boar.

"O-oh, ok- argh" -Sam tried to get up, but couldn't due to spraining her ankle. Nie, the Mouse priestess came up to her.

"Let me see your ankle for a bit." -Nie said.

Sam did as she was asked. Nie touched the sprained ankle and examined it closely. Sam tried to act tough by not letting out any sounds, but had a teary eyed face. The others had commended her in silence, while also thinking how adorable she looked trying to act tough.

After examining it, Nie picked up her Scepter, and started chanting

"Oh heavenly moth'r of the f'rest, prithee he'd mine own praying, and healeth mine own comrade!" -Nie chanted. As this was happening, her Scepter glowed brightly. Sam's sprained ankle also started to glow in the same bright light as the scepter, slowly getting healed. After the chant ended, Sam's ankle completely healed.

"Can you get up?" -Nie asked with a gentle smile.

Sam tried to get up, and she was able to, pretty easily. "Yeah! It feels better than before!" -she replied.

"Glad to hear that." -said Nie.

"Now," -Aruha said, getting everyone's attention. "I hate to ruin the mood, but it's getting dark, so why don't we advance to a more safe spot and set up camp there?"

"You're right. I will take the lead from now on, just to avoid any further accidents." -said Ashuran.

Sam gave the map to Ashuran, and Ashuran led the way, with Aruha following after. Just as Sam was about to follow them, she turned around to see Goyu approaching her.

"...Sorry for spraining your ankle." -He said quietly.

"Ah! It's no problem! I actually wanted to thank you for saving me from that boar...so, thank you!" -Sam said with a smile.

Goyu looked at her for a second and muttered a single "Nn", before joining the other two. Then Sam joined them, with Nie alongside her.

"That's just how Goyu is, the reliable-silent type." -Nie said.

"Yeah, It was pretty cute." -Sam said.

"Ohh, it was cute now, was it~?" -Nie teased.

"I-it's not like that!" -Sam said embarrassed. Nie laughed with a smug look on her face. However, she started getting a bit more serious.

"You're scared, aren't you?" -Nie asked. Sam didn't answer, as she didn't wanna worry Nie or the party anymore than she has. However, she couldn't lie, so she stayed silent, while having a troubled look.

"I was scared during my first actual Job." -Nie said, while Sam looked surprised at her. Nie continued.

"A Minos had been seen near the village, so the Adventurer's Guild made a Job request for anyone of able mind and body to participate in. Not many did since it was a minos afterall. The Guild managed to round up ten adventurers, including me, so we set off to fight it. Unfortunately, we were woefully unprepared for the battle. The beast had cornered us and killed three of the adventurers. I was so scared that I stopped in place as it approached me. I mean, I was just a Copper ranked Adventurer, how was I supposed to fight that thing!" -Nie said. She paused for a second before continuing.

"As it approached me, I thought that that was the end, and just accepted my fate. That was until Ashuran, who was also among the adventurers gathered, intervened. He was so cool, that he inspired the others to fight again, he also inspired me. Everyone from the current party was there too. Together we were able to kill the Minos, and were rewarded handsomely, If i do say so myself." -Nie said with a proud look on her face.

"How come you never talked about that story?" -Sam asked.

"Well, It was a long time ago, and..." -Nie paused.

"And?" -Sam asked again.

"It was a bit embarrassing." -Nie said, trying to hide her face in her robes.

"...Heh." -Sam snickered a bit. The two continued their talk, and soon joined up with the others.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

"It's already night, let's set up camp here." Ashuran said. The place where they set up camp was near the ruins, and wasn't so infested in trees and Magic Beasts. Ashuran and Goyu went to find some logs for the campfire, Sam and Nie took out the tent from Sam's backpack. Aruha on the other hand wasn't there.

"Where did Aruha go?" -Sam asked Nie.

"Oh, she flew up so that she could get a better look at the ruins without getting close to them." -Nie answered. Sam had slight envy of Bird type Beast-kin due to them being able to fly, but having one as a friend is good for her too.

The first to come back was Aruha, who flew elegantly to the ground. Looking around, she finds that only Nie and Sam were there.

"Jeez, they can really be a bunch of slowpokes sometimes." -she says. Aruha then cleans up the ground around her, and sits down.

"So, how did the ruins seem like to you?" -Nie asked.

"Hm, well it's a lot less intimidating than I assumed, I was expecting a fortress with the way people talked about it! Turns out it's just some old ruins." -Aruha said, as if she was a critic reviewing a dish a restaurant served.

"You know, if you act so cocky, we might end up getting in a lot more trouble than we asked for. Especially if it's from our prized mage, you know?" -Nie said annoyed, veins appearing on her forehead, while maintaining a smiling face. Aruha got flustered and muttered a "I'm sorry". Sam meanwhile chuckled at the exchange.

Soon afterwards, Ashuran and Goyu joined them with a good chunk of logs for the fireplace. Ashuran noticed Aruha came back and asked her how the ruins seemed. Aruha only responded with "It was fine", which made Ashuran laugh knowing what happened. Ashuran and Goyu set down the logs, and immediately after Aruha started to chant quietly. After she stopped chanting, a small wisp of fire appeared from her hands, which she used to set the camp fire.

"Wow, that's so cool Miss Aruha!" -said Sam, amazed by what she saw.

"Oh, this? Well, It's a 'Fireball' spell that I augmented slightly for personal use, it doesn't use up too much mana and it's useful for when you need light or a fire source." -Aruha explained.

"Well, still, I wish I could use magic..." -Sam sighed.

"Hm, I wouldn't discount the possibility of that if I were you." -Aruha replied.

"W-wait, really?" -Sam got excited again.

"Of course. Most people who can control mana develop at the age of 16," -Aruha explained. At times she can have this mature look, as if she were a teacher. However, she mostly gets carried away by her own ego. "Although, of course you have geniuses such as I who develop early, so you can always count on me for lessons!"

Sam was delighted at the fact that Aruha wanted to teach her, so she couldn't keep her excitement bottled up anymore. "Thank you so much Miss Aruha!"

Like this, the party had a nice time camping in the forest, under the night stars. After a while they all fell asleep, even Goyu, the night watch, as he ascertained their safety. If only they knew what outcome would await them, at those Fateful Ruins.