As Erina was about to open her eyes from a great sleep, she realized there was a warmth snuggled up to her. Erina was deathly afraid to open her eyes, of course if she didn’t she would be stuck there. 

Erina decided to sheepishly open one eye, this eye looked for the source of the warmth and found it, in the form of a young girl. Erina raised an eyebrow at this. Why was a girl out in the woods without her parents? Though the same could be said for her. 

Erina shyly poked the top of the girl’s head, who took this as an invitation and buried her face into Erina’s chest. Erina was really confused as to why this girl suddenly decided to do that. Who would take a poke as an invitation!?

Erina then pushed the girl away, the girl who was awakened immediately by this began to pout. Erina of course ignored this and decided to get answers.

“Who are you?!”

“I’m Shelly! What’s your name, pretty lady?”

Erina blushed and quickly responded, “Erina. Now where are your parents?”

This seemed to enrage the little girl who stood up and pouted even more.

“How old do you think I am?!”

Erina was taken aback by this question, this was a ten-year old girl in front of her, right? Once again Erina briefly responded, “Ten.”

“No! I am 17!”

Erina was even more taken aback. Was this ten-year old really lying to her? Erina stared at the little girl in deep contemplation.

“I really am! Uhg! I hate this body!”

Erina then decided to calm Shelly down by ‘believing’ her.

“Well Shelly, what are you doing out here then?”

Shelly responded through her pouting, “Hunting, I was on the trail of quite a rare animal when I noticed your footprints. Seems I made the right choice!”

Erina tilted her head in confusion, not sure what to make of the last comment. Erina decided to try and make a new friend with Shelly, maybe she’d travel with her like Lily did. Thinking of Lily, Erina’s mood did a flip, she was now visibly gloomy, this did not go unnoticed.

“What’s up in there?”

Erina was shaken from her gloominess but a rather loud Shelly who was now only a few inches from her face. 

“Uhm… a friend and I were separated yesterday, she told me to run away while she dealt with a fight we should’ve never been in.” Erina decided to be honest, maybe it would make Shelly trust her more.

“Oh… I’m sorry to hear that, do you think your friend is…?” Shelly felt really bad about being a bother first thing in the morning now.

“No, she’s tough, maybe injured but not dead. No way.” Erina wouldn’t believe or even think that until she saw it, all she knew right now was that they were separated.

“I see… well you rest up, I’ll go grab breakfast.”

Erina nodded in appreciation as Shelly swiftly disappeared into the trees, she seemed to be a natural at traversing this forest. As Erina laid her head back to rest, Shelly had already returned.

“What the fuck!?” 

This of course scared Erina, who thought Shelly would be gone for a few minutes at minimum. 

“This little guy was hiding in a bush right next to camp! How convenient! Now we can spend more time together!” Shelly smiled cheerily as she tossed a horned rabbit over to Erina.

“I’m no good at cooking though so… can you?”

Erina nodded as she went off to begin gathering firewood leaving Shelly to herself. Though Shelly seemed more than happy as she quickly made herself comfortable and watched intently as Erina worked.

After a few minutes Erina had finally gathered all the wood she’d need, but she had a question on her mind.

“Shelly?”

“Yes?”

“Why were you watching me so closely?”

Shelly blushed and briefly spoke, “You’re pretty.”

Knowing now that Shelly isn’t a ten-year old, this compliment carried a lot more weight as Erina blushed as well. The two sat in silence as Erina roasted the rabbit meat, this silence was broken for Erina.

“Erina, if I may suggest, think of cooking as a system skill, like it’s something in the system.”

Erina was confused by this suggestion but nodded, she began to think of her cooking like a skill. After 5 more minutes of silence, a system window showed itself to Erina.

New Skill Learned!

Cooking (Level 1) - With this skill, one can simply cook over a fire, however as this skill levels up they will be able to cook more and in different ways.

Erina nodded in satisfaction, this skill sounds like it will be very helpful in the future.