Ferisa

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to spy on you" the girl answers in a shy tone.

Indeed, instead of a monster, he had found a woman with not-so average beauty, long hair and skin-hugging purple armour.

But, he unconsciously stepped back, because...the woman wasn't a human!

"What are you?" killing intent began to radiate from Zephyr's body at this moment.

"I'm a Zinian" she replied without hesitation.

From afar, one couldn't know, but she didn't have a nose and her skin color leaned towards orange. She was wearing a skin tight armour that extended to her two legs all the way to her collar bone leaving her two arms unprotected. On her wrists were pristine blue gloves with green gems embedded in it.

A sword wrapped around her waist with her right hand on its hilt ready to pull it out at a moment's notice.

"Why were you spying on me?"

"I already told you that I didn't mean to. I was moving in the forest when I heard leaves rustling, so I hid to check what it was"

"I had encountered monsters more than once, how could I know you weren't a beast"

"You expect me to believe that?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. The original Zephyr had been tricked far too many times, one of which later led to his death.

Although her explanation was plausible, Zephyr wasn't going to dismiss the idea of it being false. He wasn't going to make the same mistakes.

'Hmm, she doesn't seem to be lying' Zephyr was staring into the girls brown eyes with her doing the same. This continued for a few seconds before...

[I don't sense any irregular breathing, but then again, she isn't human]

[She doesn't seem to have Ill intentions, it also seems you're a notch stronger than her, so…]

Xenon kept talking before noticing that Zephyr wasn't paying attention, which prompted it to raise its voice.

[You idiot, what the heck are you doing] Zephyr was abruptly pulled out of his reverie at the sound of Xenon's voice.

[Shouldn't you ask for her name]

Only after hearing this did Zephyr regain his demeanor, but he failed to notice the eye of the girl glowing briefly before receding.

"What is your name?"

"My name is Ferisa" she replied

"Ferisa, mine is inf-" when his words reached this point, Xenon's voice rang out.

[What are you doing? Are you trying to draw attention to yourself?]

"Huh? Why would I do that?" he blurted out loud with Xenon talking back right after.

[Have you forgotten about the announcement]

"No, I haven't, what about it?" he asked. At this point, Xenon gave itself a mental facepalm wondering why it's partner was so dumb.

[All the 'players' know your name because of it, and you know that such recognition would only bring about-] it suddenly stopped, letting Zephyr connect the dots.

"Trouble" Zephyr answered as he remembered the gazes of scorn and disdain directed at him through his last life.

The surroundings became abruptly eerie as not even the rustling of leaves could be heard.

It was then a timid voice erupted out.

"Hmm, I think I'll be going now"

Only then did the previous ignored existence come into view.

"Ohh, sorry about that, I've decided to believe your words" Zephyr said, only to see Ferisa slowly crawling away.

"Umm, why are you running away…?" he asks bewildered.

"Hiik!" she flinched before turning to face Zephyr.

"Oh, this? I saw you talking to someone so I assumed that you were busy"

"Hence, I moved away slowly so as to not disturb you"

All while speaking, she was visibly panicking, leaving Zephyr dumbfounded as to what was happening.

Luckily, an answer was soon provided.

[Didn't I tell you to talk with your mind when talking with me, she most likely thinks you've gone crazy]

"Ooh, so that's why" only then did it sink into Zephyr's head that he was talking aloud with nobody beside him.

'So she thinks I'm a lunatic or something' thought Zephyr, so he quickly used his 'Otakuness' to conjure up a lie.

"Sorry about that, I just had one of my insights, it's an ability of mine"

Ferisa's attitude took a 180° turn as she abruptly jumped up.

"Ohh, I was just looking for a type of plant, but I couldn't find it"

Zephyr: "...."

He couldn't help but blink multiple times at how this girl's mood swings. Xenon on the other hand was laughing hard, as in, rolling on the floor hard. As even it found this situation quite peculiar.

[Who would have thought we would meet someone like this here]

'I want to ask her to accompany us, what do you think?'

[For now, I see nothing wrong with it]

*Ahem* Zephyr cleared his throat before speaking.

"Would you like to accompany me? You talked about encountering beasts, I think it would be safer if we teamed up"

"So...what do you think?" Zephyr asked.

"Hmm, how are you sure that I'm going to be helpful?" Ferisa asked.

"I'm not sure of anything, but I'll abandon you the minute you become a liability, are we clear?" Zephyr said.

"I haven't even agreed to anything yet but you're already calling me a liability?"

"Are you?" Zephyr calmly replied.

"Of course not, do you-"

"Then there's nothing to worry about, we are partners from this moment" Zephyr cut her off as he put forward his arm.

"So, what will it be?"

She looked at the outstretched hand and Zephyr's face, but couldn't sense any of the previous hostility.

She could only sigh before accepting the handshake.

"Partners?" She asked.

"Partners" He assured.

"So how do you share the rewards when we kill beasts?" this was what bothered her the most.

Instead of answering, Zephyr looked upward only to see the sun almost completely submerged.

"It'll soon get dark, let's go to my hideout, we'll settle it there"

"But-"

ZOOM!

She wasn't given the chance to rebuke because he already sped off.

"This guy!!" she said clearly infuriated, but seeing her eerie surroundings, she quickly ran after him.

Meanwhile…

-------------------------

A few meters away, in a part of the forest dark as night, with clustered trees blocking sunlight, and the ground covered in hard soil, lay three beings.

These three...were also not human! Their eyes are akin to a cat's, with its amber color and glow in the dark, with a black slit running through it. Their skin is the same as a humans, but with a darker complexion. Their ears are non-existent and their hands house long claws easily 30cm length.

On the ground around them, lay the disfigured carcass of beasts as well as beings of other races.

Among these three, one was currently perched on a tree, using it's unnatural eyesight to look for nearby prey when two beings came into view while moving at high speeds.

He jumped off the tree immediately, alerting the other two to ask questions.

One was short and had the physique of a gorilla, with a broad chest, buff arms and legs. He was wearing a blue gauntlet with runic markings on his hands and armour on the lower part of his body while the other was a little taller and had a scar running through his left eye, his body being perfectly slender covered in a black hooded cloak

The third instead has a very skinny body, looking like a malnourished teenager with a black dagger in hand.

"What did you see?" The gorilla-shaped one asked.

"Two players, they were running, I think they were chasing each other, I'm not sure"  the skinny one answered.

"Hmm, how fast? Were they as fast as me?" the one wearing the cloak abruptly asked.

"The man's speed was definitely around your level, but the woman's speed wasn't" the skinny one replied.

"Herean, what should we do?" the skinny one asked the one with the gorilla stature called Herean.

"I'm thinking Erest... you said they were chasing each other?" Herean asked the skinny one called Erest.

"Yes, a woman was tailing the man" Erest assured.

"And Lezar's not going to have any problem catching her right?" Herean asked while formulating a plan.

"We'll divided and conquer" Herean said

"Like the last one?" the cloaked one, Lezar asked.

"Yeah, Erest, what direction are they heading?"

"That way" Erest replied with a hand pointing Northwest.

"Lezar, you know what to do" Herean said to Lezar, who nodded to answer.

"Good, let's move" Hearen said and immediately sped off.

Lezar took charge while Erest moved like a monkey in the trees.

A New ally and potential enemies. Zephyr begins his adventure in earnest from now.