Stupid forest…doesn’t it know we aren’t a traveling buffet?!

  It seemed like every single bug and plant in the woods wanted a piece of us. And I didn’t have any pesticide skills to ease the suffering.

  Well, I could breathe an acidic fog but I think that would kill everyone, not just the bugs…

  Would you like to use the skill to kill everyone?

  No! No, of course I don’t. I’m trying to save everyone, remember?

  The harsh conditions of the forest of death were taking their toll on all of us. Even the text box seemed a bit more testy than usual. And even with my small body making it easier to move around, it was harder to keep a steady pace with two new people to watch out for. Frey, Leif, Hodi, and Lucus were doing the best they could, but every step in this place was sapping them of what little stamina they had.

  I used to heal each of the tamers slightly, but I also had to use for the first time. It was a skill that improved morale for a short time, and during a few instances where it seemed like they couldn’t take another step, it became a necessity. Once activated, a golden glow emanated from my open mouth, and a soothing sound echoed around us. Each of the tamers I was escorting began to glow the same color briefly as the morale boost took effect, and I immediately saw a change in their demeanor. If not for that skill, they may have given up during some particularly difficult terrain where the grass itself felt like it burned our skin with each touch.

  However, forcing them along was starting to have an effect on me as well.

  My EP is running low. I’m not sure how many uses of these skills I have left in me. I’ve never been this close to running out of energy points, so this is the first time I’ve even noticed how much each skill costs. Some of these aren’t cheap…

  Current EP - 260/780

  I knew Frey had one energy potion remaining from Nanna, which could restore virtually all of my lost EP. However, I didn’t try to get it from him. In a place like this, it felt best to save it for an emergency.

  It’s also pretty tough to communicate without a voice…or hands…

  I decided to take things slow, and avoid using unnecessary skills. As much as I may have wanted to use to make less noise and avoid monsters, I couldn’t waste the energy.

  We trekked onward, taking our time and hoping to come in contact with the other lost tamers as soon as possible. And after quickly defeating another acid-spitting butterfly that nearly melted Frey into the swampy ground, I heard our first sign of the others.

  It was hard to miss the high-pitched screams.

  “That’s gotta be Nanna!” Hodi called out.

  “We have to save her. If she’s shrieking like that, something terrible must be happening.” Lucus said, and all of us moved as quickly as we could towards the source of the scream.

  However, once closer, we realized that it wasn’t Nanna screaming…it was Braum.

  “Save meeeEEEE!” The large bodybuilding tamer yelled at the top of his lungs from a small clearing in the forest.

  I would never have expected those screams to come out of that body.

  The Almanac has been updated with the entry for

  “destroying preconceived societal expectations”.

  Can you see me rolling my eyes?

  Nanna was, in fact, nearby with her monster, Sansom. She was having a better time defending then Braum and his small mouse Cheep, but all of them were struggling against a group of monsters I was furious to see again.

  The monkey monsters that had nearly ripped me apart by stretching my limbs.

  Species - Manic Monkey

  Type - Earth > Forest > Wood

  Rank - D

  Level - 3

  Tamer - N/A

  Status - Normal

  Skills - ??

  “If you save us, I’ll let you take anything from the shop!” Nanna yelled as we entered the clearing, but then thought about what she said for a few seconds. “Well, take anything from the shop…for…half price.”

  Although the monkeys were relatively low level compared to the unknown high levels of Cheep and Sansom, there were dozens of them. The sinister monkeys were doing what they did best: annoying Braum and Nanna to death.

  I’m glad I didn’t inherit their annoying nature when I finally leveled up.

  Annoyance is not a skill, it is a lifestyle.

  Ignoring my sassy text box friend, I jumped into action to help Braum and Nanna. Though overwhelmed by the monkey monsters, their situation didn’t appear as dire as Lucus and Hodi’s was. Sansom was keeping them away from Nanna well, pulling out weapon after weapon from his cute, little bag. It was odd seeing a pink rabbit fight off evil monkeys with armfuls of swords and daggers, but I had long become used to the weirdness of this world.

  Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

  Cheep on the other hand was having a very hard time. The Meek Mouse was at its strongest fighting enemies of greater size and strength. Then its skill could really shine, using the enemy’s power against them. But the monkeys were actually quite weak and small. After the days I spent running for my life in the forest of death, I found they were actually some of the weakest monsters I encountered. But their power was not in stats or skills. It was in their demeanor.

  Emphasis on MEAN.

  The monkeys surrounded Cheep, grabbing at his tail and pulling hard. Every time the little mouse turned to face an enemy, they fled into the branches above or into nearby bushes where they were safe from harm. And safe to toss rocks with deadly accuracy.

  Cheep was well trained by Braum, and was doing a good job against so many enemies. But for every hit he got on the monkeys, they got a dozen on him. It was only a matter of time before he would be defeated. And with Braum squealing and running around in circles, he was no help to any of them.

  We got here just in time.

  I slithered towards Cheep, potentially the first snake in history to defend a mouse instead of eating it. The monkeys hesitated for a minute when they saw me, but their sadistic temperaments couldn’t keep them calm for long. Soon, they tried to do to me what they had been doing to Cheep. The first monkey approached and reached for my tail…

  “GRAHHHhhh!”

  It screeched in excruciating pain as it grasped my tail only to have its palm cut and seared from an acidic blade.

  

  The rest of the monkeys, instead of running away, became enraged at the mere sight of one of their own being hurt. They all charged towards me with pure hate in their eyes. Even the ones that were attacking Sansom and Nanna turned their attention towards me.

  Which was exactly what I wanted.

  I knew how easy it was to anger these monsters. And I wanted every single one of them as close to me as possible.

  As the monkeys leaped and bounded towards me, I wrapped my tail around Cheep and tossed him towards Braum. Couldn’t risk the little guy getting caught up in…

  

  A concentrated cloud of fire and ash encircled me and singed every single monkey. While screaming in anger and pain, they ran from the fire and fled deep into the woods.

  “Frey, your monster saved me!” Braum yelled out and ran towards my temporary tamer, pulling him up into a vicegrip-like hug. “My hero!” Frey’s eyes bugged out of his head as the large lion-looking man squeezed him tight.

  “We could have handled that if you weren’t such a big baby…” Nanna said to Braum, who finally freed Frey from his deadly embrace. However, from the way Nanna slumped down the second we were safe, I knew she was exaggerating. They were both exhausted. If we hadn’t come by when we did, who knew what could have happened.

  With the monkeys successfully defeated (hopefully for the last time), we finally had a few moments to take a breather. And everyone needed it. Including myself. Nanna and Braum were even too tired to question why Leif was amongst them.

  Nanna set up camp. Sansom pulled chairs, canteens, snacks, and some first aid supplies out of his pack of portals. It was an emergency situation, so Nanna said she would only charge us a nominal fee for using her camping supplies. And she’d even wait until we were out of the forest to collect payment.

  How kind of her…

  While we rested, I looked at my Status in the menu. It wasn’t just that my HP and EP were getting low. Going this long without proper rest was doing much more than I feared. The limits of my skill were being reached. With exhaustion creeping up on me, most of my stats were taking negative hits. Each one was currently lowered by 5%. On top of the negatives from the bulk brace, some of my stats dropped by as much as 20%.

  That explains how my only singed those weak monkeys.

  Until I got a full night’s rest, I would never be back at full strength. No matter how much food or water or short breaks I had.

  It seemed like the only stat I had that wasn’t low was my experience. Although I didn’t see a set number, only a bar that filled up a bit more after each encounter, I was clearly closing in on leveling up again. When I had gotten to Level 2 I had improved my stats and some of my skills, but I also saw a lot of my HP and EP restored to match the increases to both stats.

  Something tells me I may need to level up just to get enough energy to use my skills.

  Considering how many skills I had used in the apprentice trial and here in the forest of death, I was expecting to see several of them level up with me.

  If I survive this, I’m going to be a pretty strong little wyrm!

  In order to utilize the benefits of a level-up, you must be alive.

  You don’t say?

  “I’m not sure if anyone has asked this yet, but…what the hell is going on?” Lucus said, breaking the silence as everyone sat around the campfire Nanna prepared. “Is this still part of the trial?”

  “Meebur would never do this to us.” Braum said. And as Meebur’s number one fan, everyone took his word for it. They also couldn’t imagine their guild leader being this cruel.

  “No, something is definitely wrong.” Frey said, checking every inch of his egg for scratches. I was as surprised as he was that it was undamaged. “Someone did this to us. But it couldn’t be him. Could it? Well…maybe it could be. I don’t really know.”

  Frey looked over at Leif, who was sitting quietly away from the group. It was obvious that the others were confused as to how she got here, but no one had the energy to question or point fingers. As Frey said, Leif was there to help them. An unexpected ally in this wild situation.

  Little did they know, she had unintentionally been a part of the reason they were in this mess.

  But that wasn’t her fault. Whoever did this forced her into it. She isn’t to blame.

  I slithered towards Leif and lay near her. I couldn’t communicate in words, but my intent was to tell her that she was a part of the group. We were all in this together. She was as much a victim as everyone else was. If not more.

  “You don’t have to be near me if you don’t want to.” She whispered to me. “You can go rest with your friends. I’ll keep watch. I owe it to them…”

  I didn’t budge from her side. For the short time we were able to rest, I stayed next to Leif. Which was a good choice. Despite her desire to stay awake and vigilant, she was asleep seconds after speaking to me. Whatever happened to her before the apprentice trial had done more damage than anything any of us had experienced since.

  It’s amazing she’s been able to keep up with us. Text box, I feel like Leif was forcibly tamed. Is there any way for me to confirm that was what happened to her? Or is her current state just the effect of that cursed mask?

  You do not have a connection with the target that allows me to verify that information.

  I see…so I’m stuck here theorizing with only a hunch to go on.

  That is correct.

  Great…

  After as long as we dared rest in this place, everyone began to wake and get ready to move on. Cleaning up the campsite took no time at all. Which everyone appreciated. The break seemed to only make everyone’s exhaustion more pronounced. As all the tamers packed chairs, canteens and supplies back into Sansom’s pack of portals, we mentally prepared to continue our trek through the forest.

  Towards the last tamers who were lost in the woods. Astrid and Violet needed rescue, and Meebur was still unaccounted for. Once we found them, hopefully we’d get out of this terrible place.

  And please…please let me never come back here again.

  Initially, I was unsure which direction to go in next. There were no sounds or smells I could discern to get us closer to the other lost tamers. I also hadn’t visited much of this part of the forest so my Map was practically empty.

  But then the woods provided exactly what I needed. I could sense an enemy nearby in a battle of life and death. Its aura was so haunting and sharp, it felt like a sting to my skin. I feared for whoever was fighting with it because this powerful force was very familiar…

  It was the Harrowhawk.

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