The stronger the better

"Not again! Fuck you, Albert!"

Alric let out a loud shout out of his frustration. He couldn't have believed that he had fallen into the same trap twice now, but he did.

He felt really disappointed in himself, not liking one bit how he fell for the same trick twice.

But now was not the time to ponder over this trivial matter.

Just when he was getting ready to use his ability to get out of Melissa's grasp, he was reminded where he was: he couldn't run anywhere, he was now out of operations, and he gave up.

Melissa just looked at Albert and smiled "Good work voice captain"

Albert smiled too "No worries captain"

Alric eyes started to tear up, he felt like he was about to start crying any moment now, but he just couldn't, not now at least, maybe at night in his room when it was all dark and no one could see him.

Melissa just simply jumped from the deck of the ship and gripped Alric like he was some starry cat.

Alric wanted to rebel, he wanted to run, he wanted to be free, to not go in that same forest; it looked like a literal death zone... or it was one at best! But in the end, he just didn't do anything, not because he couldn't, simply because even if he did so... it would be futile, nothing Alric could do would work... yes he could have gotten out of her grasp using his powers, but in the end, he would have still ended up having to go in the forest, he had no choice here.

According to what Melissa told him, Alric was supposed to kill a literal titan in that forest.. he simply did not know how he would even go against a titan... forget about killing one.

Albert and the rest of the crew finished packing up their equipment, and soon they all started to follow Melissa, who was still holding Alric from the back of his neck like he was a cat.

Alric felt hopeless.

A shiver ran down his spine as Melissa took a step into the thick and vile fog that was covering the vast expanse of the primordial forest carrying him, he then slowly gulped, feeling cold.

Melissa kept walking deeper into the gigantic trees that made up an entire forest. Who knew how big it truly was?

If he knew correctly, this land was approximately around the same size as the entire human continent, or even bigger.

And the fact that this was only one of the tens of continents that humans and others have explored made him shudder in fear. And those were not even the end of it... who knew how many more continents there truly were?

Finally recovering from the hopelessness, Alric found new determination within him even in the situation he was in. "OK! OK! Put me down; I won't run; in fact, I don't even have anywhere to run now!" Fed up with being carried, Alric shouted.

Melissa just let go of her grip on him, causing Alric to fall on his face.

But this time, thankfully, Alric's nose did not break.

"Ah! That hurt!" Alric shouted as he covered his nose.

Melissa tried hard to suppress her laughter, and she even almost failed at doing so.

Alric got up from the ground and dusted his clothes off a little.

They all started walking again, and Alric was right behind Melissa, seeking her shelter... or maybe trying to use her as a meat shield.

"Aaaaaa!" Melissa let out a flustered growl "It's just a titan boy! Nothing much!"

Alric lost his mind "Nothing much? What the fuck do you mean nothing much!? It's a dame titan!"

"And you're a user" Melissa countered

"So what!? I'm literally just a teenager!" Alric did not back down.

Melissa sighed lightly, keeping on walking "And I was ten when I killed my first titan. You have no excuses, boy; what's your age? 30? 40?"

Alric was speechless, seriously? Ten?... he couldn't say anything. He could just think that it was a lie... but when he looked at that woman's face... he knew it, it was the truth... how did he know so? Well, of course, he knew, how couldn't he? He was a liar himself, and the best of the royal palace at that... after all, he grew up in the royal palace, and he had to lie more perfectly than those lying bastards. So he knew it... she was telling the truth... just then, he remembered something else that woman said...

"30!? 40!? The fuck you mean by 30, 40!? Huh!? I am 16 OK!"

Melissa just chuckled, and Alric realized it; she was just teasing him.

"You dame woman!"

Just when he said that, a loud noise echoed through the gigantic trees.

Alric hugged Melissa's right arm tightly out of instinct. Like a child seeking protection from his mother when his father was trying to beat him after coming home from gambling, fully drunk.

And was it just him, or did that voice sound like a... cry? What could possibly create that noise just by crying? That monstrous cry was probably coming out of a titan...

"That's your target", Melissa informed Alric.

"Wait... wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait what? No! No!... no, no, no, no, no, no, no" Alric rebelled while still hugging Melissa's right arm tightly

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, now go!" Melissa did not back down even an inch.

Seeing no choice, Alric let go of her arm and stood up straight. "You will protect me if anything happens right?" Alric asked with puppy eyes out of desperation.

"It's just a titan! You can do it, OK!" Melissa scolded him, "And yes, we will protect you... ain't that right, mister vice-captain?" Melissa said with a smirk looking at Albert.

Albert carefully slapped Alric's back with just enough Forse for him not to lose his balance like he did before.

Alric carefully stood on the ground, trying not to lose his balance and embarrass himself as he did before.

"Good luck, good luck, you can do it, Alric! You can do it!" Albert cheered Alric, and soon the rest of the crew started to chant Alric's name... Melissa did not join but just smiled darkly... remembering that bloody night... when she killed her own first titan... she had almost died that night, fighting a titan at merely the age of ten was a great fleet, in fact, she did not even know of someone who had ever done something like her before. That night was like a scar to her... a scar that would never be healed.

"Melissa... Melissa... Melissa!" Alric shouted trying to get Melissa out of her dream world.

Melissa decided to let go of the past for now.

"I don't think this dagger would do shit on that thing" Alric placed his beautifully made dark dagger into Melissa's hands.

"We'll see about that" She placed the dark dagger back into Alrics hands.

"W-what? Can't you just give me a... good weapon? You know, how you usually... pull out weapons" Melissa raised an eyebrow at that strange sentencing.

She then slowly sighed, and her hand reached into the gap between her breasts; there was a small pouch in between her breasts... she then processed to pull out a beautiful long knife that was sharp and thin and seemed to be made out of some dark emerald and black colour materials from that pouch.

She handed that long knife to Alric.

Alric was still not used to, well... seeing this and before he could think deeper about this matter.

"Don't think anything weird, it's a pouch made by the user of space" Alric finally felt peace, sighed heavily he thought 'Why haven't I thought about this before, I was scared for nothing I guess'

"Oh... ok... sure, must have been expensive", Alric replied to her.

"It was" Melissa replied too.

The creature let out a loud cry again, but this time, Alric did not shutter in fear as he did before, he was ready; he was ready to kill that son of a bitch.

Or so it just seemed like it, deep down within his heart, he was still afraid, afraid that he would not make it in time, afraid that Melissa and Albert and the crew would not make it in time, afraid that would might happen to him if he failed to kill that thing, afraid that what if he happens to die while trying to kill that fucking thing? Afraid that what would happen to him after he had died trying to fight that thing? He was afraid of the thing they called death... from which you can not return, not no more enjoy the sweet fruits of life.

He let out an exaggerated sigh; no matter how scared shit he was, at the end of the day, he still had to do it, not because Melissa had told him to do so and not because Albert had told him to do so; he had to do it...he had to do it... if he wanted to get stronger, as strong as Melissa and Albert, he wanted to be their equal now, yes! He had a new dream to chase now... to get stronger, to become a force to be reckoned with.