It was early in the morning on our fourth day out here in the nothingness. There was still no sign of civilization to be found anywhere near, but according to Ofris it wouldn’t take us much longer than a day to finally reach it.

By now I had somewhat learned to deal with the dangers and inconveniences we were facing at nearly every time of the day. The nights had been short, thanks to the loud and foreign noises and calls of a large variety of animals that were likely easily capable of ending my life – again.

On the bright side my strength, agility and vitality has gone up a bit due to my struggles. Long walks increased my vitality, which was the biggest increase, while agility and strength were the rewards of me climbing various hurdles with Ofris’ help. Every single increase came with a warm wave of energy that slowly flowed through my body. As there was no screen to block my view, I only found out what that feeling meant when I checked ‘myself’ during one of our many breaks.

Today had a rough start waiting for me. My sleep had been stolen by an animal scavenging the nearby underwood for food while making sure to make as much noise as a bulldozer. When I saw it, I was close to wetting myself or running away, but Ofris simply forced me back onto the ground for me to sit and stare in silence as the animal passed by without even minding us.

It did not even see us as a possible threat. A single glance on the tough, hippo-like creature was enough to explain where that confidence came from, as it had several rows of dagger-like bones protruding out of its back. Its entire dark brown skin was covered by thick scales, leaving only its paler stomach somewhat unprotected.

I had almost forgotten about this encounter by now, as there was too much to see, smell and sadly... taste. Ofris made me take a sip of his disgusting health potion every once in a while, whenever he judged I was growing too weak and exhausted to continue following his inhuman strides. With all the hurdles that could be found in this wilderness, the mountains, slopes, thorns and roots, he forced it onto me often enough for me to even regret ever having felt glad about him ‘saving’ me before.

Now I was trapped again, with one of his hands forcing me against a tree trunk, the other holding the nearly empty bottle right in front of my face.

“Drink,” he demanded.
“No!”
“I won’t discuss this again!”
“Me neither! I won’t drink it! Never!”

Ofris' expression slowly changed from his typical pitying one to anger and then exhaustion. He clearly had it with my supposed antics.

“Is it my fault my sense of taste is better than his?! It is all that fox’s fault! Where is she anyway?!”

The goddess didn’t answer. She had been silent ever since I had told her she wasn’t trustworthy. Not even once had she indicated that she was still spying on me.

“Did I hurt her feelings?”

I didn’t find the chance to answer the question as Ofris attacked once again. He pried open my mouth with one of his hands to then spill a few drops of the disgusting liquid right onto my tongue. He then placed his hand on my mouth, blocking my chance to spit it out immediately.

“Swallow,” he demanded.

His rough treatment left me no chance but to do as he said. I swallowed down the potion, trying my utmost to keep it in, though it was even harder to do this time as he hadn’t given me any chance to prepare myself. Soon enough, the fiery hotness spread by the potion died down again, leaving behind a comfortable warmth – and a nasty aftertaste.

When he realized his attack had succeeded, Ofris apologized to me for being so rough, to then go and pack up his stuff again. Apparently, he had decided my rest was over.

After carefully storing the potion away so it wouldn’t break if he were to stumble over one of the many roots and stones blocking our way, he turned around to face me once again. He was just about to order me to follow him when something in his face changed.

“DOWN!!” His scream pierced into my ears.

I immediately dropped to the ground, not because he had told me too, but because I was in shock. He had screamed at me, pulled forth his sword and even ran towards me halfway, all of this within a mere second. Before I could even react, he was already attacking.

“NOO!” I heard myself shout. “PLEASE! I WILL DRINK IT! I SWEAR!!”

Ofris didn’t listen. He tossed away his backpack, dashed towards me and, unfazed by my shout, swung his sword with a quick sweep only to hit... something.

“STAY DOWN!” Ofris screamed at me.

It was only now that I realized what had attacked me. It was a creature I had seen only in books and poorly made movies, something existing in prehistoric times, not in the modern world.

“T-Rex?!”

The monster was tiny, even smaller than me, but its head was almost twice the size it should be, making it look as if it was a child’s drawing given birth to by magic. If it wasn’t for its pitch-black fur, the faintly glowing red eyes and four rows of dagger-like teeth, I would have believed it was just another of the goddess jokes, but that couldn’t possibly be. She was rude, evil and everything bad I could think of, but she had never tried to hurt me – not like this.

Ofris’ strike wasn’t nearly good enough to fend off the monster. It simply evaded it, dashed past him and attempted to attack again – with wide open jaws and charging at him like a boar. Ofris jumped to the side, again and again, as the monster kept going for his arms and neck, parts of his body that looked vulnerable.

It was a one-sided fight. Ofris slashed at the monster, kicked it and even tried to make it stumble over his feet or rocks, though despite all of this struggle, only superficial wounds could be found on its body. There was blood running down its back and neck, but Ofris was clearly at a disadvantage.

“He will die! That thing will kill him!”

My body was moving before I realized it. I wasn’t charging at the monster, nor was it trying to find and grasp for stones and sticks to throw at the monster. Instead, I dashed for the backpack which had the most potent weapon I could think of hidden in it. Within seconds, I had reached it, torn it open and pulled forth the cursed bottle.

“OFRIS!”

Startled by my shout, Ofris turned around, only to have the monster dash at him again.

“NOO!!”

I jumped forward, unplugged the bottle and tossed it towards the monster, which promptly snapped at it, catching it mid-air. A gulp could be heard before hell broke loose.

The tiny T-Rex began screaming and tossing its body around, trying to get rid of the pungent taste of the potion. After a few seconds, it started vomiting, again and again, only to become even more of a mess in the process.

Ofris did not wait for a better chance to attack. He charged forward and pierced his sword through the monster’s neck. A loud scream could be heard, then it dropped to the ground where it died within a few heartbeats.

Hot waves of energy hit me as I was rewarded with what I could only explain as experience points. Dozens of screens popped up in front of my eyes, each one removing the ones that came before, until only one remained.

『Level Up! Level 15!

+5 Vitality
+1 Strength
+3 Spirit
+2 Intelligence
+1 Dexterity』

I couldn’t waste a single look at it, too fresh was the life-and-death experience to my shaken mind. I felt cold, hot, restless and deeply peaceful, all at the same time. Ofris wasn’t much better off either. He stared at the lifeless body lying at his feet, becoming more and more dazzled by it. It was only when my adrenaline rush ended and I dropped on my knees that he came to. He stared at me in disbelief, gulped and asked a single question:

“Is it really that bad?”