Early morning, somewhere around the Creek Forest.

  ‘Simon, wake up!!!’ The old man’s voice echoed in his mind, as vivid as if he were still there, punctuated by the phantom ache of a fist knocking against his head.

  Simon blinked groggily, his eyelids heavy, the memory fading as he came to. Slowly, he sat up, rubbing the remnants of sleep from his eyes. With a yawn, he reached for his bag and began pcing his belongings inside, his movements deliberate and unhurried.

  He paused occasionally to stretch and yawn again, but still managed to meticulously double-check each item, ensuring nothing was left behind. He had a bst yesterday, feeding himself from the spoils of the thieves.

  ‘That was a day off!’ he smiled, now ready to go on. ‘Ah, my coat!’ he stood up and took the coat that he had fixed by himself yesterday.

  Simon could function normally for two days without rest easily, and five days at max, but he was trained to have rest every day.

  He kicked off some of the soil to cover the firepce he made.

  Then one final long stretch before he resumed travel again.

  Walking off-road did make the travel a bit complicated, but it was a great way to train oneself to always be on the edge. Unlike travelling on the main roads, where random enemies appeared, from humans to monsters, travelling in the forest allowed Simon to pick which ones he would fight.

  ‘A bird… a rge bird.’He spotted a forest bird sunning itself on a rock. According to the old man, birds—and most monster birds—were usually safe to eat.

  Simon slowly drew the old man’s sword and set his things down.‘I’ll be quick,’ he murmured.

  A few hours ter, he had finished processing the monster bird’s carcass, even taking the time to dig a grave for it.

  Simon enjoyed walking, losing track of time as minutes turned into hours. Sightseeing monsters and animal habitats, from test-tasting berries and occasional fighting. Simon followed his whims, journeying in one direction until he finally stopped when his feet stood at the edge of the Umbra Forest.

  The towering trees, distinctly different from those behind him, marked the boundary where the Creek Forest ended.

  It was almost noon, and going in now or ter didn’t matter, as long as he could find a source of water, he would be okay.

  What he was worried about was his food supply. ‘I’ve got some bird meat and berries, but… If I can’t control myself…’ The old man had always been strict with him, and these past few days were his first time traveling alone.

  The old man had warned him about his eating habits, and he did have a feast after his sleep yesterday, something that he felt he should do to cover up the feelings of emptiness inside him; rather, it felt instinctual (stress eating).

  The worst thing was that he immediately fell asleep after eating, which was why he had to waste one more day. ‘I will do better.’ He promised himself.

  Now, focusing on the forest ahead, he could feel both danger and excitement looming.

  ‘Smells different,’ a thought to the scent coming from the Umbra Forest. With the first step, he continued on.

  The journey into the forest would likely take a week or more, based on the time they’d traveled by ship. But that was assuming he went in a straight line—which he fully intended to do.

  He was taught to trust his instinct and had confidence in his judgment, but reality hit him hard after a few hours when things began going south.

  The topography, the y of the rge forest of giant trees, their roots that created corridors, the uneven rock formations, and vegetation—he tried climbing up, but the trees offered no good branches to jump around.

  And the worst was the monkey monsters that hated his guts; they were weak but knew how to be as annoying as possible, throwing rocks and banana peels, taunting him, and even throwing their own shit as an insult. He had killed a few already, killed more in spite, but they didn’t seem to decrease in numbers.

  Simon knew he wouldn’t st.

  There were also times that he was harassed by the monkey monster at night; it seemed that the monkeys were attracted by the fire he used to cook. Luckily, he had already finished eating before that tragedy occurred.

  By now, he hated the monster monkeys, even vowing to cleanse the forest of them somehow.

  Two days quickly passed, and Simon was already worn out. Worrying about the monkeys’ ambushes while he ate had taken a toll on him, but he pressed on.

  It was another day. The light was a bit deyed when the sunrise came; it was because of the tall trees that covered the entirety of the Umbra Forest. The rays of light had a hard time penetrating the canopies of the rge span of trees. Simon was packing his things when he thought of a good idea.

  It felt so natural to him that he had never even considered that he could see in the dark. ‘I should’ve done that from the start!’ he thought, rubbing his face in annoyance.

  If he traveled at night, he could cook in the mornings, and as long as he stayed on the ground after sundown, the monkey monsters would have a harder time harassing him.

  “Ugh.” He accepted his own foolishness with a grumble.

  It was already morning, so he decided to continue anyway.

  But just after a few hours of walking, a problem walked into him: it was around two meters tall, the abysmal eyes that nded on him were as rge as the boy’s head, the rigid cws that it used to carve and kill, it was a giant mantis.

  “No shit…” ‘Well, the scythes look really sharp.’ He drew out his sword, the old man’s. ‘I’ll target the joints first… what does it even taste like?’ he thought, running a good look at the monster of an insect.

  The rge mantis didn’t waste time; with a shriek, it extended its bdes, aiming to injure the boy. It rushed into Simon.

  Simon pivoted his left foot to dodge while checking out the form of the rge insect’s arms. He nded a ssh on the joint, but it was really hard; the old man’s sword bounced.

  It didn’t escape the mantis’s eyes, and it unched another flurry of attacks again. Simon dodged the same way and nded another hit on the other joint, and he felt his sword cringe.

  Simon sighed. ‘The old man used Bisa to sheath the bde in light so it could cut cleanly.’

  But whenever Simon tried to use it, the sword rejected him. His Bisa wouldn’t settle, only dispersing instead.

  ‘Sorry, old man…’

  Without that protection, its failure was inevitable.

  He skillfully dodged another attack and maintained a good eye on the Giant Mantis. There was a small crevice from his first ssh. ‘The next one should cut it off.’ Simon was sure of this.

  He created the same distance when the giant mantis rushed to attack the first time. He concentrated now.

  As expected, the giant mantis followed the same pattern as its first attack, and Simon dodged in the same manner, his eyes tracking the sweep of its serrated bde and jointed limbs. The bde snapped back, resetting for another strike. ‘The joints are weaker during the return,’ he noted, confidence growing.

  With quick footwork, he reset the distance, baiting the Giant Mantis into repeating its monotonous routine.It fell for it hook, line, and sinker, unching the same attack from the opposite side. Simon timed his movement precisely, ready to strike.

  “CHOP!!” A ssh created by the momentum of his dodge and the mantis’ attack. “SCREECH!!” and the sound of the giant mantis’ cry.