“Ouch,” I groaned, gritting my teeth in response to the pain I felt as Yukina tended to my wounds.

“You did well in your fight; your instincts were sharp….”

“Still useless,” I remarked, cutting her speech short. 

“I could tell that the casters that attacked us were at most augmented-class casters, and I was pretty much helpless against them.”

I wanted to yell and vent my frustrations, but what good would that do? What happened earlier was an eye-opener for me. Having faced a glimpse of reality, my once optimistic self became a shadow of itself. Every confidence I had fled from me as I learned the hard way that I could still easily get killed, even with Yukina by my side. I wanted to get stronger, but I didn't know how to do that. My sword skills, which I had spent the last four years of my life honing, proved insufficient.

Yukina stood up and walked away from me; maybe what I said got her angry, but I didn't dare ask her if she was. I tried to weigh my options but didn't even have enough. 

The rattling sound that the bodies created as Yukina dragged them over the floor attracted my attention as she piled them up in one corner.

“You know, it's not late. You could still ride back to Stafford tomorrow and do whatever you see fit; hopefully one day, your Feel might finally manifest and you could go back to your father.”

When she was done with the bodies, she washed her hands and face with water from a canteen one of the casters carried. 

I was helpless, sad, and angry at the same time as tears flowed in trickles down my cheeks. I did my best not to sniffle, so she wouldn't notice that I was crying, wiping the tears from my eyes with my palm. She finally settled into sleep, using her backpack to support her head and wrapping her body in a blanket. I wasn't feeling sleepy, not even a bit. I still sat gazing at the fire, which was now burning dimly. I tucked a few sticks into the fire to rekindle it.

“It’s okay to feel frustrated and angry, I totally get it and if I were in your shoes, I would feel the same.”

Her voice startled me, as I was expecting her to be fast asleep. I couldn't hide the tears in my eyes; it was apparent that she had already seen them.

“But a win is a win, no matter how little or undeserving it may appear to be. Tonight, you faced a real opponent, and you won. That's all that matters, so instead of being upset about things you can't control, take positives from the ones you can and continuously aim to improve on them.” 

The sound of her voice was calm and soothing. I had almost forgotten I was injured.

“Do you believe in fate? I do. I believe we are part of something big and all we need to do is to search for our place. Get some sleep. We have a long day tomorrow.”

She turned on her side when she was done talking, and it was apparent that she was finally going to sleep.

“Fate? Let's see.” 

I prepared my makeshift bed, albeit I struggled a little as I had to use one hand to set it up. Lying on my back and staring at the moonlit sky full of stars, I slowly drifted to sleep.

* * *

I woke up to the sound of chirping birds before I heard Yukina's voice.

“Hope you had a good night’s sleep.”

I turned in Yukina's direction as she was already packing her backpack.

“How are your wounds?” she asked.

“Wow, what did you do? I can barely feel any pain,” I remarked, genuinely astonished.

“The ointment I applied to it is a very rare and powerful one; only houses like Choryth could be in possession of one. Try not to get injured often or else you will be covered in scars.”

“Point taken,” I replied.

I packed up my belongings and was ready to head out.

“What about the bodies?” I asked with concern.

“Don't worry, I left a note for whoever finds them. No one would dare to ask why a respected member of the Choryth house killed her assailants.”

“I guess you didn't have your privileges revoked,” I teased, and with a faint smile across her face, she replied,

“No, I didn't.”

We mounted our horses and rode away at a trotting pace towards the Ausbane forest.

“I noticed something during your fight against those casters. Does it mean you can't use two or more stillbrings at a time?”

“You are very observant, I will give it to you and no, at least not yet. I am still working on it. Though it's incredibly difficult, I don't think it's impossible. That's the reason battle instinct matters a lot. You have to know when and what abilities to use, or else even with any kind of powers you've got, you could still come up short.”

I nodded my head in approval, wondering how she was able to react instantly to every attack thrown at her with the ideal stillbring to match the situation. She wasn't just strong but experienced too.

The trees around us became more condensed as everywhere around us had a shade of green. There was no denying that we had reached Ausbane Forest.

“What do you know about this forest?” Yukina asked me as we rode deeper.

“From the books I've read, I know the forest is home to many mysterious creatures that have weird abilities. One book claimed that there are shape-shifting creatures residing in the forest, but besides that, I think it's just a normal forest.”

“Something doesn't sit right about this forest, but what's even more weird is that nobody seems to notice it.” Yukina said.

“What's odd about it?”

“There must be a reason why the forest is home to uncanny creatures. Hopefully we would get a glimpse of it.”

“Although you might be making some sense, I don't really think there is. I mean, guilds send their members here often and many adventure parties traverse the forest. Don't you think someone would have found out if there was something really special about it?” I queried.

“Maybe I'm just being overly optimistic, but we are here nonetheless, so let's make the most of it.”

We ventured deeper into the forest until we came upon a brook.

“Finally!” Yukina exclaimed cheerfully as she unmounted from her horse.

“Let's wash up and fill our canteens My body is already reeking,”  she continued.

“I will scout the area while you have your bath.”

As tempting as it was, I had to show some respect towards Yukina, as any gentleman would. 

She swiveled to face me, 

“Are you joking right now? I can't have you out of my sight, at least for security reasons.”

“But….” I muttered in some sort of protest.

“Just close your eyes until I am inside the water.”

I tried my best not to peek at her while she undressed. It was somewhat of a form of torture because it took a toll on my mental strength. I heard the water splash, so I finally opened my eyes. Her head slowly emerged from the water; her blonde hair, now loosened, glistened like it was sun-lit as she wiped her face with her hands. Unfortunately, all that was visible were her head and hands.

After spending quite some time in the stream, she was done bathing. I had a quick bath, and we set out, continuing our venture into the forest when I was done.

Our journey was beginning to seem uneventful. We came across different creatures that either fled or hid as we approached them. Just as I was about to take my mind off the dangers that the forest might present, I felt a powerful jolt, which sent both my horse and me flying in different directions. Thankfully, my fall was cushioned by a bed of soft twigs and vines.

Reacting almost instantly, I stood up to see what was behind my fall, and the sight before me made my heart skip five beats. A giant humanoid figure with a wolf-like head stood at least seven feet tall and bore enormous curved horns. It had very long arms with vicious-looking claws, each as long as a short dagger and likely as sharp. It was entirely shredded, wearing a very thin skin that exposed every muscle in its body. Its eyes were blood-red, and its mouth had two long canines jutting from it. 

“A falx….” I mumbled in a trembling voice. I had read about them once, but never believed they existed, as I thought they were just folktale creatures. Seeing one, it was pretty evident I had tough luck, but considering the fact that it was my horse that suffered the strike from the heinous-looking creature, maybe I was still lucky after all because I would have been long-dead if the roles were reversed.

“Over here, you bastard!” I heard Yukina scream, but it completely ignored her and walked toward me. Not much was noted about the creature, so I didn't know much about it. The truth was, I only saw it once in a drawing which stated that the creature was called a falx. I've never heard stories of adventurers coming across the creature, so why did I happen to be the one to encounter it?

I watched the falx lunge towards me, and in a quick reflex, I dived away from its projectile. I saw Yukina jumping on its back with her swords pointing directly at its neck. 

I smirked. 

“It’s over.”

The smirk was suddenly washed away almost instantly as I watched in horror; the falx, with a back arm swing, sent Yukina flying and crashing onto a tree trunk. Her sword couldn't pierce it. Yukina was coughing and puffing as she struggled to stand, but I knew she would be okay. My priority was to run. I had to find a way to escape and hope that Yukina would find a way to beat the falx because a single blow from it would most definitely spell my doom. 

Collecting myself, I searched for any path I could run to and hide, but I was late. With a roar from the falx, I quickly unsheathed my sword, not sure about my next line of action.

I saw its right arm swinging towards me, just about to give me a deathly gash. Suddenly, something felt weird. My vision blurred as everything seemed to disappear. Everywhere around me appeared grey as the atmosphere felt heavy and condensed, almost viscous. Though I didn't see the falx as it should have appeared naturally, its silhouette created some sort of distortion in the atmosphere as black flames evaporated every part of its body.

“What is this? Is this the Feel? No it can't be.”

Yukina once told me that when the Feel is activated, there is a constant spark-like sensation all over the body, but I wasn't experiencing that. Instead, some sort of warmth radiated all over my body. I could have sworn that maybe I had inhaled a hallucinogen and was suffering from its after-effects, but my mind was as clear as day.

I couldn't tell or understand what I was seeing or why I started seeing it at that moment, but it appeared to work in my favor. I saw the flames condensing on the falx's arm as it approached me, but it seemed slow, like it was acting against some sort of resistance from the viscous-like atmosphere. It looked pretty easy; I just had to dodge it.

Unfortunately, it was easier said than done. I was stupid enough to assume that somehow, I wouldn't be affected by the viscosity of the atmosphere. I just had to arch my torso to avoid the falx, but it wasn't proving easy. I was arching, but it was unfolding unbelievably slowly before my eyes. Gathering all the might I could muster, I finally arched just in time to avoid the sharp claws of the falx, which appeared as a silhouette. 

I could see black flames condensing in its other arm almost immediately. I could quickly tell from experience that it was preparing to strike again. Predicting the pattern from which the flames coalesced and how the silhouette was shaped, I started to prepare another maneuver on time. I didn't need to put in much effort to move my body through the viscous-like atmosphere because I began to move just in time, leaning my body more towards the right and, once again, avoiding the claws of the falx.

I saw another silhouette appearing to the left of the falx’s silhouette. From its shape, I could easily tell that it was Yukina's. She was covered in flames that shone blue, unlike the falx. There was a dense concentration of flames around her arm, which she used to land a blow on the falx, hurling it above the ground and sending it flying.