Chapter 7: Danger Unfolds

After all the necessary preparations were met and done, Renan together with Ars departed from the Adventurers Guild and set out toward the infamous sea of trees located on the east side of Elisa town. It was a fairly long trek that took about 15 to 20 minutes, but when they finally arrived at their destination the sight was easily something to behold.

"So, this is the infamous sea of trees I keep hearing about, huh." Renan remarked, looking particularly impressed at the imposing spectacle before him.

"Yes, this is it. Many players have had the fortune or misfortune to find either treasures or dangers in this area." Ars replied calmly.

"Mhm. Then I take it that you've already been here a couple of times, Miss Ars?"

He casually threw a question at her, to which she answered: "Hmm… I think it's already my tenth time being here."

"That's good then; it means I don't have to worry about a thing with you, a veteran, staying by my side. Isn't that right, Miss Ars?"

"You flatter me too much… Relatively speaking, I can only be considered as having explored the outer regions of this place. Moreover, even seasoned experts have a hard time making out of here alive when they've ventured in too deep."

"My, my. That sure sounds uplifting, doesn't it?" Renan made a cheeky smile. "Anyway, shall we get going?"

And so, the pair of cat and wolf dared to wander inside the forest's gloomy and subduing depths where all manners of light was consumed by endless stretches of darkness.

…

Meanwhile, occurring on the other side of the forest.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, SHIT…!"

A party of five people were running desperately for their lives as they were being madly chased by an eight foot tall beast. It had the head structure and horns of a buffalo, the arms and body of a bear; the eyebrows of a gorilla, the jaws, teeth, and mane of a lion; the tusks of a wild boar, and the legs and tail of a wolf.

"Dammit! How the bloody hell did it discover us!?"

"Yeah Shuu, how?! Come on spit it out!"

"I-I don't know! I'm pretty sure I got out of there in time before my stealth bar ran out!" The man addressed as Shuu protested, but even he was left at a loss on how the situation turned out this way.

"Haa… Haa… Please tell me you at least got the cub?" Another man chimed in.

"Yeah, no worries I got it!"

"Good! That's all that matters. We'll get our chance to escape eventually."

A dangerous glint flickered in the man's eyes as he continued to flee alongside his companions at breakneck speed. A commotion was currently breaking out in the forest, and unbeknownst to them, Renan and Ars would be caught smack-dab in the middle of it.

…

"Hmm? What was that just now?" Renan raised his head and said.

He immediately stopped in his tracks and strained his ears, trying to see if he could catch that sound again. And yet, nothing of note happened as the trees and grass in his surroundings remained perfectly still like a painting, no matter how long he waited. But, he could've sworn he heard a heavy, bestial roar resounding somewhere further into the forest.

"Is something wrong, Renan?" Ars curiously came to his side and asked him while carrying a cluster of strangely colored flowers.

"…No, I might just be hearing things." He closed his eyes and shook his head dismissively, then carried on walking. "Let us resume with our gatherings, Miss Ars."

Ars tilted her head suspiciously when he tried to gloss over the question, but she still chose to follow him nonetheless. They were now heading deeper and deeper into the forest, their objective: finding two types of plants and slaying the monsters stated in the quests.

"Man, it's so good that you decided to tag along with me, Miss Ars. It definitely makes things much easier and a whole lot less boring when there's good company around."

"Mhm, I agree. Because I've been by myself all this time I can easily notice the differences between being alone and being with someone when questing." Ars immediately concurred while nodding her head vigorously.

While Renan, being reminded of her sad past once again, made a wry smile even as he winced inwardly.

'Hnnggg… You just had to add in that depressing thought at the end, didn't ya?'

As the two of them walked a couple more meters in front, they happened to stumble upon a green-skinned man-child with a short blade attached to its back. It had long narrow ears and expectedly, a very short stature only measuring to about 3 feet tall.

"Hmm? Look Renan, it's a goblin!" Ars shouted.

"I see it, and it seems to be alone right now. Don't these midgets usually move in small groups?"

"Yeah, you're right. Maybe they're somewhere nearby."

The goblin must've noticed their presence too, as it began to turn tail and run away like a frightened hare seeing its predator.

"Hmph. Where do you think you're going little guy?"

Without much delay, Renan moved at once and darted after the creature like a primitive hunter in its natural environment. He sprinted so fast that the goblin only managed to cover a few meters of distance before he was smashed in the head by a flying kick.

"Guuaaah!" It grunted out in pain and was sent hurling farther away.

"Hahaha! Think you could run away from me?!" Renan savagely grinned as he felt the satisfying impact of bones fracturing under his full powered kick.

The goblin unsteadily got up from the ground and slowly, it backed off with fear lingering in its eyes. It produced intermittent cries of sorrow while displaying a pitiful expression on its wrinkly face. Seeing this, Renan smacked his lips together and muttered out, "Disgusting." before inching closer to the creature.

"It's time to meet your end."

But before he could deliver the finishing blow to this ugly thing, he heard a short cry of a damsel in distress from behind him.

"What the—"

Turning around, Renan was greeted by a horrifying sight: surrounding Ars were ten or more goblins holding an assortment of small and short weaponry that fitted their tiny posture. They were all wetting their lips sadistically while looking up at her as their eyes glimmered with a dangerous light.

"Well damn, we've been baited good." Renan calmly remarked.

Because he was turning his back towards it, the goblin let out a cackling laugh and lunged forward at Renan's seemingly defenseless backside.

"…You know that I can hear you, right?"

Without any warning, Renan suddenly spun around to face it again. Then, he activated the one and only skill available to him in his desolate skill slot to show this fool the consequences of underestimating him.

'Fury Swipes!'

Like a great gust of wind, Renan launched a flurry of assaults at the airborne goblin and made quick work out of it. Starting from the center, the goblin's body and innards exploded forth in a shower of blood and gore before shooting through his sides.

"By the way, it totally doesn't help that you were laughing your ass of while doing a sneak attack." Renan pulled his arms back that was dirtied by the mangled meat and said, "Now, how do we go on about this…"

But without waiting for him to take any sort of action to try and save her, one of the goblins brazenly shot forth and raised his club overhead, intending to knock the living daylights out of this girl. Clenching hard on her pearly whites, Ars lifted her hands along with her staff at chest-level, and quickly she chanted out a spell.

"O most holy Fire that burns eternally in the wake of the sun, heed my call and shoot off like a blazing sphere—Firebolt!"

The goblin that was single-mindedly running over with its club raised, abruptly widened its eyes when it saw the huge incoming fireball. The flames then made contact and instantly engulfed its tiny body; forcefully, the goblin was knocked-back towards two other of its goblin friends, and they in turn were set on fire by the splash effect.

'Oh, looks like she can handle herself quite well actually.' Renan gave a pensive smile before hurriedly joining into the fray.