It was afternoon that day. The luscious Great Forest of Drys, one of the largest forests on the continent, was brimming with life. Numerous species of monsters and insects could be seen struggling with their survival. Several floras, such as rare trees, shrubs, and plants, could also be found in the forest.

     However, a newly formed settlement could be found in this uncharted forest that lies two hundred fifty meters away from Fiur Mountain, which has a height of three hundred ten meters above the ground. A huge entrance to a cavern could be seen on the opposite side of the mountain.

     After the discussion between Soru, Reika, Alguis, and Veylir, all of them did their personal activities. Reika and Alguis helped the old man, Silas, roam around in order to identify and assess the problems that the newly formed settlement was facing.

     Meanwhile, Soru started his training session with Aeden on learning the "Phantom Combat Technique."

     "There are two core steps when executing this technique: your movement and timing. The first thing you do is that when you move towards the target, the target shouldn't detect your presence, or else executing your offense would go to waste."

     "You musn't let the target notice your presence and avoid its perception. Once you are at a certain distance from the target, then you immobilize them by either kicking their legs in order to disrupt their balance or pinning them to the ground by simply tackling them."

     Soru listened to her explanation in silence. On the other side, Völun was standing beside Aeden.

     "Now, I will demonstrate to you how it is done. Völun, stand over there."

     "Why am I included in this?" Völun asked Aeden.

     "Enough with your complaints and do as I say."

     "Alright!" Völun exclaimed.

     When Völun reached the designated point, he looked back towards Aeden.

     Aeden took a single step, and suddenly Völun saw her vanish in front of him with his own eyes.

     "So sudden..!"

     Völun immediately searched around the area, looking for her traces. While looking around, he heard a single footstep on his right side. Thinking that Aeden was there, he looked on his right, but Aeden was not there.

     "This is the first step of the Phantom Combat Technique: move without the target detecting your presence."

     Völun heard that the voice was behind him. He was about to prepare a counterattack, but Aeden was faster. 

     Aeden kicked Völun's lower legs, and he immediately kneeled to the ground. Then Aeden held both of his hands behind his back to restrict his movement and immobilized both of his legs with hers.

     "This technique wasn't that complex, yet the delivery and action were hard to execute. You need to train in repetition so that you can do it faster." Aeden said to Soru.

     "Ow. Would you please unhand me now?" Völun said.

     Aeden stood up and released Völun from her restriction. Völun also stood up and cleaned himself from the dust.

     "The sun is still up; you're still up for the application of the techniques?" Aeden asked him.

     Soru nodded in silence and walked closer to Aeden. Seeing Soru's enthusiasm, she smiled and taught him the various techniques of the Phantom Combat Technique.

     Hours passed, and the evening came. Alguis, Reika, and Silas were finished assessing the situation around the settlement. Also, Soru, Aeden, and an exhausted Völun finished the training.

     "Kid, why did you use your ability to transfer your fatigue over mine? Even though I sat there the entire time, I feel like I was the one training there!"

     "Manners, Völun! Remember what his majesty instructed us when speaking towards him!" Aeden scolded Völun.

     Völun fell silent, but his mood hasn't changed.

     "Sir Soru, you musn't do that next time. Fatigue helps your muscles gain experience, so that the execution of the technique becomes much more efficient," Aeden said to Soru.

     "I won't do it next time," Soru replied.

     "Hey! There you are, Aeden, Völun, and Sir Soru!" 

     The three of them noticed the familiar voice calling them ahead.

     "Your Ma— Sir Alguis!" Aeden exclaimed.

     "You two go first; I... need to take a rest," Völun murmured as he walked away from them.

     Aeden and Soru walked towards Alguis.

     "Where did Völun go off to?" Alguis asked Aeden.

     "He's just a little bit tired and took a rest." Aeden replied.

     "Well then, we'll eat our dinners first, then head to the meeting room. I want you two to come along with us for our discussion." 

     "Discussion?" Aeden said in confusion.

     While the three of them walked towards the dining table, which is situated outside the large house, they saw Reika eating her dinner while having a conversation with Sylva. Reika isn't wearing her uniform, but rather a casual outfit that Sylva lent her.

     Reika noticed them, including Soru, but she didn't pay any attention and continued her conversation with Sylva.

     As the three of them ate their fill, Silas walked outside the house's door.

     "Sir Alguis, the meeting room is ready." 

     Alguis stood up and placed the dishes on the table. 

     "Let's go."

     Reika and Sylva also heard Silas and stood up.

     "We'll talk later, Sylva. We will have a discussion with Mister Silas."

     "Mhm, I need to check on my siblings to see if they are asleep," Sylva replied, walking away.

     The four of them entered the house and walked straight to the room.

     What they saw was a simple room that had a long table at the center, with chairs around it. The three of them sat on the chairs, while Aeden stood behind Alguis.

     "Aeden, you can sit beside me," Alguis said.

     Without hesitating further, Aeden sat on the chair beside Alguis.

     "Now, I would like to address the problems that the settlement currently or might face in the future. The first problem was the food source. Although we don't lack clean water thanks to the well and the river nearby, our food was our utmost concern," Silas said.

     "Hunting is the most efficient way since you recently moved here. I, Aeden, and Völun will handle that problem of yours," Alguis said to Silas.

     "It may be possible to solve our food problem, but it is not good on a long-term basis. We need to stand up for ourselves so that we shouldn't be dependent on you in the future."

     Alguis lowered his chin while Reika was staring at him.

     "Now that the first problem has a possible solution, the second problem arises from it, which is the safety of the hunters."

     "The Great Forest of Drys was home to many monsters, and now that we are situated deep within it, the danger of being attacked by those monsters is high."

     Alguis raised his hand, which Silas had noticed, and nodded his head. Alguis lowered his hand and started talking.

     "I have a proposal. We will train your men with some basic combat training so that they will be able to defend themselves against hostile monsters the next time they hunt by themselves."

     "That was a good idea! Although we only had a few guards left, the manpower isn't enough to combat those pesky monsters!" Silas exclaimed.

     "Um, hunting is not efficient if we keep up this pace," Reika murmured.

     Silas and Alguis heard her and shifted their attention.

     "Do you have any explanation for your claims, Miss Reika?" Alguis asked her.

     "Well, according to the book that Silas' son made, only four types of species are edible in this forest, right? Since the rest absorb aeon to their bodies, which is poisonous to a normal human. Plus, the taste of their meat is bad," Reika answered.

     Silas pondered for a moment.

     "You're right. If we solely rely on hunting, the selection of edible monsters would be few. Plus, we forgot to include the possibility of hunting scarcity."

     "Hunting scarcity?" Alguis asked.

     "It is a phenomenon where the predator monsters are at their active peak, and the prey monsters, which are the edible ones, hide themselves, which is too hard for us to hunt and capture them," Silas answered.

     "So we need to find an alternative way, huh..." Alguis murmured.

     "What if we grow some plants for our consumption?" Reika said.

     "Oohh... That might be a good idea!" Silas exclaimed.

     "Our previous village tried to grow some plants in the past, but due to the soil quality, it isn't enough for plants such as fruits and vegetables to flourish, and only wheat could grow on such soil."

     "We only managed to obtain fruits and vegetables because we bought them from wandering merchants, and now the stocks are completely exhausted due to those incidents,"  Silas added.

     "Since this is a forest, the soil quality here must be rich. I'm certain that crops that we'd plant will thrive," Reika said.

     "But... how do we find the seeds to grow some?" Silas asked her.

     "Well, you don't have to worry about that."

     A confused Silas silently watched as Reika took something out of her pocket. Silas saw three pouches on her hands, which she carefully placed on the table.

     "Luckily, Sylva had some seeds from her hidden stash that she gave me this afternoon. She said that it was lettuce, carrot, and tomato seeds she bought from a wandering merchant. She heard about our food problem and helped us by giving these seeds," Reika said.

     Silas was glad to see that there were vegetable seeds available, but his expression changed seconds later.

     "Uhm, that is good, Miss Reika. But the thing is... we don't have any knowledge on how to plant those seeds. We only knew how to plant wheat, and that's all," Silas said.

     "Don't worry about it! I have little knowledge on how to plant these vegetables!" Reika exclaimed.

     "As expected from Miss Reika! Since we, dwarves, were situated in a mountain range, we don't have the opportunity to plant any edible plants, and any knowledge about farming and plantation is what we lack," Alguis said to her.

     "Now that we have those seeds, plus knowledge on how to plant them, we don't have to worry about our food problem!" Silas exclaimed.

     "Now that the matter has been solved, are there any particular problems that you might add?" Alguis asked them.

     "Beside the housing and clothing problem, which is still manageable, there's nothing in the meantime," Silas answered.

     "Then, this meeting is concluded," Alguis said, standing up.

     The other four in the room also stood up and nodded their heads in agreement.

     While Alguis and Silas were having a conversation with Aeden beside them, Reika and Soru went out to get some fresh air.

     "Hahh... Finally, it's finished. I am not comfortable sitting there for a long period of time," Reika said.

     Reika looked towards Soru, whom she noticed staring at the night sky.

     "Hey, I noticed that you've been with Aeden this entire afternoon. Did you guys do something?"

     "I watched them train together," Soru answered bluntly.

     "That's kind of lame..." Reika said.

     "Not really. Their technique piqued my interest, so I decided to learn it," Soru replied.

     Reika was surprised to hear that Soru found an interest despite his seemingly disinterest in affairs that had nothing to do with him.

     "Really? Why is that so?" Reika asked him.

     "It could help me do minimal casualties on my opponents."

     Hearing such an unexpected response, Reika chuckled.

     "Pff... Yeah, considering the fact that all you did was leave them with serious injuries!"

     Soru didn't reply and simply continued staring at the night sky.

     "How do you feel after learning something new?" Reika asked him.

     "It's nothing much," Soru replied.

     "Nothing much?"

     "It's the same sensation I felt during our physical education exercises, where we use our bodies for the sake of our grades or learn new knowledge from textbooks in our lessons and utilize the obtained information on our exams."

     "Doing something to obtain a goal in the end... It's all a monotonous act which humans follow till the end of their lives. It's kind of pointless."

     Reika stared at him as he continued to share his thoughts.

     "If you thought of it that way, then you're solely mistaken."

     Reika looked above the night sky and felt the gentle, cold breeze as it passed through her. 

     "You only view what's the start and finish of it, like judging a book by its cover. To seek further, you must open it and discover its pages, where you would see it's true purpose."

     "The process within it lies several opportunities behind it: experience, interaction with peers, and sensations you've never experienced before are a few of the examples."

     "There might be only two doors: an entrance and an exit. But the windows along the way are the opportunities that you can't ignore..."

     Soru looked into her eyes, and a question arose from his thoughts.

     "By that logic, if I comprehend the process instead of looking solely at the goal, maybe I could gain something I desire without my knowledge or intention?" Soru asked her.

     "Hmm... Maybe it could. You might encounter unexpected things that your inner self truly desires, like passion or emotions!"

     Soru looked back at the sky upon hearing her reply.

     "It seems like thinking two-dimensionally is inefficient."

     Soru paused for a moment.

     "Do you think... if I'd continue with my training, my emotions would ignite during the process without my notice?"

     Reika smiled upon hearing his conclusion. She patted his shoulder and gave him a thumbs up.

     "It is possible! Since the reason you've begun was because of your desire to master it, probably it'd help you overcome your problem regarding evoking your emotions!"

     Soru looked at her for a brief moment, then looked back at the sky in silence. 

     "Is that so..."

     The two of them observed the beautiful stars scattered across the sky, flickering majestically above.

     Suddenly, their observation in such spectacle came to an end when a familiar voice called them from behind.

     "Miss Reika, Mister Soru. I apologize to interrupt you, but I must inform you that Mister Alguis has finished his preparations for the room where you'll be staying in the meantime.

     Reika looked behind her and saw Silas calling their attention. She remembered that Alguis mentioned before that there was a room he had prepared for her to stay in.

     Reika followed the old man inside the large house, along with Soru.

     Up ahead, the three of them saw Alguis standing at the door, which she assumed was the entrance to her room.

     "Miss Reika, Mister Soru, I prepared a room for the both of you."

     Reika was surprised that Soru would share the same room as her.

     "W-With him? Don't tell me..!"

     Reika's expression changed when she saw the interior of the room. Alguis noticed it and asked her out of concern.

     "What's wrong, Miss Reika? Wasn't the room to your liking? You seem disappointed—"

     "N-No... It's totally fine!"

     "I-Is that so?" Alguis replied.

     Inside their room lie two beds that were separated by a table. A torch above it illuminates the entire room, but it has a low combustion rate to prevent it from igniting the wooden structures around it.

     "I apologize for my poor craftsmanship. I only used simpler designs for your beds, but it is durable otherwise," Alguis said.

     "No, it's okay. As long as we could sleep soundly, then there's no greater gratitude than that, Mister Alguis," Reika replied.

     "Glad you've appreciated it."

     "We'll be off then and head to our separate rooms. Just call us if you need anything," Silas said, going to his room.

     Alguis went outside their room and closed the door. Soru and Reika went to their respective beds.

     "I'll sleep on that bed near the window. You'll sleep there," Reika said to Soru.

     Without uttering a word, Soru walked to the other side of the room and sat on a bed.

     Reika noticed that Soru's clothes seemed clean. After all their encounters since they came to this world, she didn't see Soru changing his clothes even once.

     "H-Hey... I noticed that your clothes' condition was fine after all this time. Did you perhaps...?"

     "I transferred all my clothes' stains to someone else's in order to prevent my uniform from accumulating dirt," Soru answered.

     Reika sighed. She already anticipated Soru's obvious reason behind its cleanliness, which put her in dismay.

     Thinking that Reika wouldn't ask further, Soru laid on his bed and closed his eyes. He fell asleep right away.

     Reika also laid on her bed. She checked on him, only to find that he was already sleeping soundly.

     "That was too fast..."

     "Even though he's a powerful individual, he sure is a carefree one." A familiar voice spoke beside her.

     Reika noticed that the familiar voice was Veylir herself.

     "You've decided to show up now, huh?" Reika uttered.

     Veylir landed on her bed and laid in a curled position. Reika was baffled by the dragon's action.

     "What are you doing?" Reika asked Veylir.

     "Um... Sleeping?"

     "Sleeping? I've heard that souls don't require slee—"

     "Argh, I know that! But I really want to take a rest, so don't judge my actions and do yours too," Veylir answered, closing her eyes.

     Reika noticed that the dragon was already asleep and followed her.

     "What a sassy dragon..."

      As she was about to fall asleep, she looked towards Soru, who was sleeping soundly in his bed.

     Her vision became blurry, and her perception was slowly consumed by the darkness. Without her notice, she fell asleep in her bed.

     ...

     "Soru, I'm heading out to buy groceries. Would you please stay here and watch over the house?" A familiar voice spoke to him.

     A young Soru could be seen standing near the entrance of a house, while a woman was wearing casual clothes with a basket on her shoulder.

     The woman noticed that Soru hadn't closed the door yet. She smiled and walked towards him. She gently pats his head.

     "Don't worry, I'll be back soon."

     The young Soru didn't utter any words and remained silent while the woman in front of him continued patting his head.

     Seconds later, the woman stopped and headed towards the gate. The young Soru went back inside and closed the door.

     ...

     It was already morning when Soru opened his eyes. His eyes rolled, and he found himself in a room that Alguis had prepared for them yesterday.

     "A dream..."

     He stood up and walked toward the door. He was about to go outside when he heard noises outside the large house.

     When he opened the door, he noticed that the villagers, along with Alguis and Reika, were wearing a farming outfit. They gathered at the center of the settlement while waiting for others to finish their preparation.

     "Oh, there you are, Soru!" Reika exclaimed upon seeing him.

     Soru went to the crowd and headed towards Reika.

     "Where are you going?" Soru asked.

     "We will begin our plantation today, that's why we're gathered here while waiting for others to finish their preparations," Reika answered.

     Alguis saw them having a conversation with each other and approached Reika. Reika noticed that Alguis' expression looked different.

     "Is there a problem, Mister Alguis?" Reika asked him.

     "Do we need to gather this many? With the number of seeds we possess, we would only need a few people to plant them."

     "You're right. I will select fewer people from them—"

     "How many seeds would you need?" Soru asked her.

     Reika stopped and pondered for a moment.

     "If we consider the total number of individuals that would help us, we probably need another two each of these individual pouches," Reika said to him.

     "Give me those three pouches." 

     Wondering why Soru asked for it, Reika handed it to him in confusion.

     "Sir Alguis, Reika, open your palms wide."

     The two of them were baffled by Soru's strange orders, but their confusion changed into shock upon witnessing his actions.

     In a second, they saw that the three pouches that Soru was holding suddenly vanished. To their surprise, four pouches filled with seeds appeared on Reika's palms, while Alguis had five pouches appear on his palms. They appeared right after the disappearance of the pouches that Soru was holding before.

     "This...!" Alguis exclaimed.

     "Was that enough?" Soru asked them.

     "Yes, this is more than enough!" Reika exclaimed in shock.

     "We need to gather more people this time. I'll tell Silas about this!" Alguis said and went to look for Silas.

     "Is this the work of your ability?" Reika asked him.

     In response, Soru gently nods his head.

     "Your power never cease to surprise me..." Reika murmured.

     Moments later, Alguis came back and informed them.

     "Reika, Silas instructed us that those who are already finished will depart with us at once. The others who are not finished will follow afterwards, accompanied by him. I already told him the location so that they will know where to head." 

     Reika nods her head and prepares the farming tools she brought.

     "Soru, you hadn't eaten breakfast, right? Eat your fill, then follow with Mister Silas afterwards."

     Soru didn't utter any words and nodded in silence. Reika turned around and approached the villagers along with Alguis. They departed at once.

     Soru went to the table where his breakfast was prepared and ate it alone. 

     When he was eating, Silas approached him.

     "I knew it; you're still here, Mister Soru. Once you're done with your breakfast, we'll depart with others."

     Soru noticed three women and two men beside Silas. They were the village people who'd help plant the seeds; they were around the same age as him.

     Soru finished his plate and stood up. He placed the plate on the table and departed with Silas and others, heading to the area where Alguis instructed them.

     While on their way, Silas was having a conversation with Soru, asking for his thoughts.

     "May I ask Mister Soru?" 

     "What is it?" Soru replied.

     "On that day that the Wildfire Dragon attacked our village, I was baffled by its demise. Who is the one that killed the dragon with such strength?"

     "That's why I asked Miss Reika about it. I thought that she's the one, since she had abilities and was with us at the time, but she denied it and told me that it was you who slained that dragon."

     Silas went in front of him and bowed. The others followed and lowered their heads.

     "We thank you for saving us. Without your help, all of us will perish along with the history of our Signas Village."

     Soru halted and stood for a short period of time. Seconds later, he also bowed his head in response.

     "You're welcome."

     All of them lifted up their heads and smiled at him. After that, they continued their journey with joy.

     One of the village men approached Soru, wearing a bright expression on his face.

     "You're awesome, Mister Soru! I was mesmerized by your strength!"

     "Indeed! And it's not an ordinary dragon, but a renowned one! How did you do it, Mister Soru?" one of the village women asked him.

     "I simply used the sun to burn it to death," Soru answered.

     "S-Sun?" The five of them asked in unison.

     "B-But still, that was impressive. It means that your strength is close to or comparable to the dragon itself!" 

     "Now that Mister Soru resides in our settlement, we don't have to worry about our safety!"

     "In the watchful eyes of the 'Dragon Slayer', none of the enemies shall pass!" one of the village men exclaimed.

     "That's lame!"

     The five of them chuckled together while Soru listened to them in silence. Silas, who was in front of the group, smiled while listening to the youthful conversation.

     Several minutes later, they finally arrived at the said location.

     There, they saw several soil beds, which they didn't have any idea were being tended to by their fellow villagers. Some of them were building a canal from the river and connecting it to a shallow well with wooden planks surrounding it. Reika and Alguis could be seen there too, along with Aeden and Völun.

     "There they are," Silas said.

     Silas and others began to help the others, followed by Soru, who went on with Reika. Upon his arrival, he noticed that Reika was placing a whitish-brown substance inside the tiny holes on the tilled soil beds.

     "That is..."

     Reika noticed his presence, but she continued with her work while having a conversation with him.

     "This is a bone meal. It is a fertilizer made from dried bones of animals that is grounded into a fine powder."

     Soru silently watched her as she placed the bone meals carefully in each hole.

     "Miss Reika, was this 'bone meal' you mentioned enough?" Aeden asked her.

     Soru looked towards Aeden and saw her holding a large bowl filled with bone meal.

     "Uhm... We need that same amount of bone meals in each of these soil beds."

     Aeden counted all the soil beds that the villagers dug on Reika's instructions. There are a total of 10 soil beds. 

     "Excluding the one soil bed that Miss Reika was tending now... Völun! We need 8 more of these!"

     An exhausted Völun changed his expression upon hearing Aeden's instruction.

     "Eight!? That one large bowl worth of bone meal is difficult to procure, yet we need eight more?"

     "Enough with your complaints. Go crush those remaining bones and place them on that clay pot, and I'll cook them later!"

     "Fine! Sheesh..." Völun exclaimed and continued with his work.

     Meanwhile, Alguis was busy uprooting the remaining tree stumps from the trees they cut before in order to make space for the plantation. 

     Seeing him working alone, Soru decided to help Alguis and walked towards him.

     Alguis noticed his presence and stopped for a while.

     "Mister Soru, what makes you come here?"

     "Why are you doing this by yourself?" Soru asked Alguis.

     "Ah, it's because the stumps are few enough for me to handle it by myself," Alguis answered.

     "Is that so..." Soru murmured.

     "Then my help won't be needed then."

     Alguis heard it and sensed that Soru was trying to help him, so he offered him a task.

     "Well, there are a total of eight stumps remaining. Go take four over there and place them here."

     "Got it," Soru replied.

     While Alguis was about to uproot a stump from the ground, he noticed consecutive thudding sounds behind him. He looked around and saw that the four tree stumps were already uprooted by Soru.

     "Already!?" Alguis exclaimed in shock.

     "Is this enough?"

     A surprised Alguis stared at the perfectly uprooted stumps and shifted his eyes towards Soru.

     "Yes... Thanks for your help." 

     Without saying a word, Soru bowed his head and left the scene. Alguis was baffled by Soru's sudden departure.

     "I thought he would help me uproot these remaining stumps of mine..."

     Alguis scoffed and turned away.

     "Nah... He's already done enough with his part. I should do my part too by myself."

     While on his way, he observed the enthusiasm of the village people. He saw them making holes in the soil bed and inserted bone meal on it before placing the seeds. Someone covered these holes filled with bone meals and seed with soil, repeating the process on the next soil bed.

     With their combined cooperation, they finished it all in just three hours. All of them celebrated their completion.

     "Here are the refreshments!" One of the village women exclaimed, calling the attention of the exhausted villagers.

     "Finally!" One of them exclaimed.

     They began to flock to the shed, getting their own refreshments and drinking them. Reika, Aeden, Völun, and Alguis also followed.

     Soru was about to head into the crowd when he heard a familiar voice calling him from behind.

     Upon looking in the direction of the voice, he saw Veylir hiding in a tree. The dragon seems to want to have a conversation with him.

     "Psssst! Master Soru, please come here for a second!"

     Soru went in Veylir's direction without hesitation. Upon arrival, Veylir hid further away from the villager's sight.

     "What do you want?" Soru asked Veylir.

     "I'm sorry to bother you, but I need to ask you a favor..."