Chapter 25: Adventure in the ForestVill Ager Pov

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  The demon is back! The demon is back! I'm scared! Every time I look at her blindfold, I get the shivers, as if there is some terrifying beast hidden behind it! I'm ten years old! I should be all grown up! But she is still so scary! No! We must run away!

  Shortly after making our decision, our group of five leaves the vilge. Even though our parents warned us and said that there are scary things outside, nothing is scarier than that demon king in the vilge! But I wonder when she came back. After all, her birthday was already two days ago. If she truly came back for her birthday, does that mean we lived with that demon in our vilge for two days? And we only found out because our parents mentioned it! I'm getting shivers every time I think of that possibility.

  We, of course, took our parents' weapons with us. All in all, it's two swords, three crossbows and some crossbow bolts. They should be enough to defend ourselves from any monsters.

  And so, full of fear, we set out. Just because that monster behind us is scarier, it doesn't mean we aren't scared of the monsters in front. An hour of wading through the forest ter, we are exhausted. "Vill," one of my friends talks to me, "let's rest. We are all exhausted. We still need to guard against monster attacks."

  "You're right," I agree. We find a fallen tree and rest on it, our backs to each other to guard in every direction.

  "I'm thirsty," one of my friends suddenly excims. I realise we made a mistake. In our haste to flee, we forgot to pack food and drinks. Quickly, I ponder. Should we go back, stay here or go further? Going further, we could get farther from that demon. If we stay here, the likelihood of the demon finding us increases, but we always have a chance to go back to the vilge for food and water. Going home would naturally mean running into the demon. From this, staying here is clearly the best choice.

  I share my thoughts with the group, suggesting that we return in the evening, hoping the demon is already gone by then. They agree. The next eight hours turn into hell for us. I never imagined living alone in a forest to be so exhausting. Every rustle has you on full alert, fearing a monster popping out. Your hunger and thirst become unbearable after several hours, with even a slight swallowing hurting your throat.

  And then there is going to the toilet. You don't dare go to the toilet outside because a monster could attack at any point in time, but going to the toilet in front of your friends is so embarrassing that you'd rather not go at all, especially with the two girls in our group. I know I'm not the only one who has had these thoughts. After all, it's hard not to smell the stench coming from the girl on my right. We all wisely chose not to notice it, though.

  After the sun starts setting, we prepare for our return journey. It is harder than the journey into the forest. Another miscalcution. Half an hour ter, we go by a big tree. It is particurly memorable because it only has branches going up. We are happy. It means we have completed a third of the journey. We continue, and the surroundings become more familiar. Soon, an hour into our return journey, we spot a tree. It is particurly memorable because it only has branches going up—wait, what? Suddenly, I realise something before looking at the others. Looking at their fear-filled expressions, I know they came to the same conclusion as I. We are lost.

  We try again, and half an hour ter, we reach the tree again. One of the boys breaks down. "I want to go home!" he shouts, with tears in his eyes. The others are affected by him and break down. We all break down. We all want to go home, go to our parents, leave this accursed forest. We want to leave. We all start crying.

  Suddenly, there is rustling, but we are too absorbed in our despair to hear. But then, one of us suddenly screams, as if having seen a terrifying monster. We look at our companion—and then in the direction he is looking. Small green creatures stealthily approach. They are about our height, their ears have peaks, their skin is crumpled, and they are completely naked, not caring about any social customs.

  We freeze up. The creatures use the moment to throw stones at us. We can only squat down, our hands over our heads. The goblins approach, and our fear increases. I want to retaliate, but the cws give me second thoughts.

  What do I do? What do I do?! WHAT DO I DO?! I'm scared! What will happen to us now?! Why does that demon back home suddenly look so friendly?! No! It's that demon's fault! If that demon had only stayed away! Then nothing would have happened! I'm scared! I'M SCARED! IMSCAREDIMSCAREDIMSCAREDIMSCARED!!!

  A rustling sound breaks me out of my thoughts. Those creatures have reached us. Our arms and legs are grabbed, rendering us powerless. Then we are carried away. We are brought to a cave, and they rip off all our clothes. After that, we are separated by gender. The pee pees of the creatures around the girls suddenly stand up. Meanwhile, they bring a big stone and start pulling back to smash the stone onto our heads.

  At that moment, a commotion happens at the entrance of the cave, and then, a girl steps in. Weaing shorts and a shirt, she should not fit into the cave, and yet her red eyes make her seem even more primal than the other creatures here. She charges in with her sword, her speed significantly faster than ours, and beheads the creatures one by one, her body becoming soaked in their green blood.

  I look at the girl in awe. We look at the girl in awe. But this time, what overwhelms us isn't fear. It's admiration. This was her demonstration. Her method of showing us how we could have dealt with the attack. She was using the strength of a ten-year-old, and yet all these creatures were easily dealt with.

  Then the ground under us opens up, and we fall down, falling right in front of our worried parents.

  At that moment, we all make a choice. We will become knights serving under her. For we had the honour of being personally saved by her.

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  Luna Pov

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  Barely made it in time! I, by sheer coincidence, saw the various parents gather and anxiously discuss something. When I asked what the matter was, they told me that the five children my age had gone missing. Deciding to do a good deed where I could, I used tracking magic and found them in a cave surrounded by goblins.

  I teleported in front of the cave, wiping out the goblins there. Then I used swordsmanship to clear the cave because my Magic Power reserves had severely shrunk when I initiated the longevity spell.

  Then I teleported them all back to the vilge, before cleaning myself and teleporting back as well. After that, my Magic Power reserves were already close to being used up.

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