Another day in the Jungle

After midnight, the jungle became eerier. Huvel felt uncomfortable as time passed. He was not that scared of ghosts and stuffs, and he believed he could deal with it if a wild animal or monster approached. Even so, it was the first time he was alone in a jungle at night and thus making him nervous.

He was quite excited and eager to move the day before so he did not notice that the night in the jungle was scary. But now, he could only wish for morning to come fast. He looked at the Flying Leaf Nymph whom he came with. He wanted to talk with him to ease his mind but the nymph was already in deep sleep.

"He is of no help at all!" he murmured. "I doubt that a strong nymph like him needs sleep. I should ask him to stand guard for me tomorrow night."

He cussed the nymph about every hour and finally, dawn arrived. It became a little bit brighter as the sun rose. Although the sunlight could not reach the ground yet as the trees were too dense, the little light was enough to make Huvel sigh in relief.

He got off the tree and stretched his body. He was very bored the whole night so he wanted to set off immediately to find a monster. He woke up the nymph and told him to go in separate ways. He suspected that monsters were avoiding him because of the presence of the nymph behind him. So, he wanted to find the monsters all by himself.

It would be dangerous if a monster stronger than him were to pop up but he wanted to complete his mission and go back home as fast as he can. It would be the best if there is no need to spend another night in the jungle.

"As I expected, I run into a monster as soon as the nymph doesn't go with me!"

Huvel picked up the presence of a large amount of mana through his [Dark Shroud] and since it was not dispelled, he was confident that the monster was weaker than him. He found the monster after running in its direction for a while. The monster looked like a hare but it was almost as big as an adult kangaroo.

Huvel casted a few dark magic spells to weaken and prevent it from running away. Although hares are active at night and affinity with dark element, the hare monster could not resist Huvel's spells. It fell down to the ground.

"It's weaker than I thought," Huvel murmured as he watched the monster writhed in agony. He closed his eyes and casted [Dark Blade] to finish it off. Blood spewed out from the cutting the spell made and the monster stopped moving.

Huvel felt gruesome as he watched the monster's motionless body. Since he was born in an aristocrat family and was exiled before he could participate in a hunting, he had never killed an animal bigger than an ant. Even in his past life, he did not cook for himself so let alone killing, he did not even touch raw meat.

Nevertheless, he held back the unpleasant feeling that was stuck in the throat and began to collect the monster's blood in bottles. He then cut up the monster into smaller pieces that he can carry in his backpack. But he knew that he would not eat that meat he just butchered.

He looked for monsters after resting for a bit but he could not find any until noon. While he was contemplating to go back to his castle, the Flying Leaf Nymph came to him. He knew the scent of Huvel so it was not hard for him to find him.

Huvel showed him the monster blood he collected and told him that he was going back. The nymph looked at the blood and shook his head.

"The mana in this blood is too low," said the nymph. "And the amount of blood is low as well. This won't do. Get at least thrice this amount."

"What the… No way! I don't want to spend another night in this place."

"Hey, aren't you a grown-up man? Why are you afraid of?"

"I'm not used to sleeping alone in a dark forest like you, okay?!"

"But… but you should do well while I'm helping you!"

"Help my ass! All you do is sleeping all night and scaring the monsters away!"

"Huh?! I scared monsters away?"

"Of course, if not for you why won't we see any monster yesterday."

The nymph did not encounter any monster all morning so he thought what Huvel said might be true. He felt a little guilty and Huvel used that chance to trick him.

"I did not sleep all night so I'm tired now. I can't go hunting in the afternoon. I only want to sleep. So, if you want me to hunt tomorrow, don't sleep tonight and watch guard together with me."

"… As I said before, I feel weak at night. I can't stand guard all night."

"Fine. Just stay awake for the first half of the night. Is it alright?"

"Alright, I guess."

Huvel looked for a new place to rest and ate the dry food he brought as lunch. The nymph did not need food to live. But he kept watching Huvel eats so Huvel felt uneasy and shared him food. After having food, Huvel made a hammock on a tree by tying its ends on a branch. He knew for a fact that most monsters would not come near while there is the nymph around so he slept without a care for anything. The tiredness caught up with him and he fell asleep quickly.

He slept so soundly that he woke up only after the sun had completely set. He looked around with his half-opened eyes and saw that the nymph was watching him. He felt a little uncomfortable to be watched in his sleep.

"What are you looking at?" he asked.

"Your crotch," answered the nymph.