บท 20: Chapter 20: The Forest

Aliyah and I have been walking for a few minutes now. The gate into Rybim has become blocked by the trees and bushes leading around the path we took.

I was having a great time just taking all of it in, but Aliyah was looking a little anxious. Most presumably because of the monsters in the supposed area.

There are mainly goblins and dark wolves but sometimes an orc or two will appear. Orcs aren't all that rare but their meat can sell for quite a hefty sum in some areas that orcs are rare.

So I'll be on the lookout for some orcs. I want to eat their meat.

That sounded incredibly wrong in almost every way...

While walking I remembered an old video I watched whilst in high school. It was just a documentary on Madagascar and the wildlife there.

I used to watch the fuck out of those kinds of documentaries and shows. I always found most of the animals cute or interesting.

One time when I was 15 years old I wanted to own an Aye-aye. I found them adorable and my mother also thought that they were cute.

"What are you thinking about, Pearl?" said Aliyah.

I honestly forgot where I was for a second while I was engrossed in my mind. I snapped back to reality and said, "I was just reminiscing on some old memories of mine."

I couldn't just say that I was thinking about an island that doesn't exist in this world...probably.

"Is that so?" said Aliyah. She then looked up into the sky with a smile on her face.

I looked up into the sky as well. There weren't many clouds today and it was quite sunny. The light from the sun poked through the leaves in the surrounding forest and it made it quite a beautiful sight to see.

I'm glad I decided to take a journey with Aliyah. I'd have gotten bored without her.

Aliyah and I kept walking whilst listening to the nearby animals and insects. There was some type of bird that resembled a wood pecker but it quickly left once we got closer to it.

After a little while longer I felt slightly uneasy. I activated [Danger Detection] skill and I found three goblins about 10 metres away.

It seems that they've been following us trying to get the best moment to attack. Good thing I had this skill or else I would have not noticed them at all.

I turned to Aliyah and said, "Don't be alarmed but there are three goblins about 10 metres away. They've been following us."

Aliyah then said, "Shall we go after them or let them come to us and turn the tables on them?"

I then replied, "I think letting them come to us would be the smart decision."

And so Aliyah and I kept walking whilst the goblins got closer to our current location.

"They're about 8 metres away now." I whispered.

Aliyah nodded her head and put her hand on her sword. I pulled out my short sword from my inventory under my robe so the goblins didn't suspect anything.

"They're here." I whispered.

After I spoke, a goblin jumped out from the brush on the sidelines and swung at Aliyah. She dodged it and kicked the goblin in the head.

The other two goblins appeared after Aliyah pulled out her sword and killed the goblin that attacked her.

I took out my short sword and took a swing at the closer goblin. It jumped back but it wasn't fast enough. It got cut on the lower abdomen.

The goblin that I injured clutched the wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding. The other goblin then grabbed me by the leg while I was focused on the injured one.

I tripped and fell forwards and my sword fell out of my hand. "Shit." I said.

Aliyah slashed at the goblin on my leg and cut it's left leg off. The goblin then screamed in pain. I got up and grabbed my sword to then kill the goblin that had grabbed onto me a minute earlier.

The last goblin tried to run away but Aliyah got to it before it could. We had won this stupid fight.

I felt stronger after this and I checked to see if I leveled up at all.

[Name: Pearl]

[Age: 5]

[Level: 19/20]

I haven't checked my level since I got to level 10 a little while ago. So it honestly surprised me.

I wonder what Aliyah's level is?

'[Inspect].' I said in my mind.

[Name: Aliyah]

[Age: 21]

[Level: 28]

Ah. She's pretty strong! Good thing I have her in case I get outnumbered.

I put my sword back in my inventory and my robe was now covered in blood. It looks like I got shot by a gun.

Aliyah also had put her sword away and wasn't as blood covered as me. I took my robe of and washed it with some water magic. I then dried it with some wind magic.

The blood didn't have enough time to stain my robe so it still looked pretty good. I put my robe back on.

"Well that was fun!" said Aliyah. I replied, "Yeah. It felt good to fight after a few days."

I never realised it until now but I think I like fighting against monsters. It's honestly kind of fun!

-[1 Hour Later]-

I thought, 'I wonder how close the nearest town is? I have a map of the country so I might as well check.'

I grabbed the map out of my inventory and unfolded it. From my estimation we should be around the middle of the first section of the forest.

By the way, this forest is divided up into three sections based on difficulty and difference in monsters. The first two sections will only have goblins and an occasional wolf pack but not much else.

The third section will have more wolves and sometimes even orcs. I'm not particularly worried about the monsters.

I'm actually excited to be out in the forest because I can find some animals. In this entire forest there should be a type of bird that resembles a wood pecker, a few common birds, foxes, and rabbits.

I personally want to find a fox cub and have it as my little companion. I don't know what I would name the fox but the naming is affected by the gender in most cases.

My mother always said that naming an animal is one of the most crucial things there is to owning a pet. I personally agree with her.

And to this day I still suck at choosing our a name for any pets. It took me two whole days to name my last dog! His name was "Reginald" and it was chosen because he was very fancy about what he did.

And the name "Reginald" sounds fancy no matter who you may ask.

"Now that we are out here, it's a lot more boring than I thought it would be." said Aliyah with a monotone voice.

I then replied, "Yeah. It is quite boring but that is to only be expected at first. We are only in the first section of the forest so far."

Aliyah looked down at me and said, "Yeah. I guess you are right about that!"

Maybe since I have a lot of free time I can work on my magic? I could probably work on water magic a bit more.

Maybe Aliyah can join me while we walk? It seems like it could be worth a shot.

I looked up at Aliyah and said, "Hey. You said you can use magic, right?"

Aliyah nodded her head 'yes'.

I continued, "Then why don't you and I practice some magic together? It could pay off later on!"

Aliyah looked as if she was deciding which options to chose from. "Sure why not." said Aliyah.

And so Aliyah and I began fiddling around with the four basic types of magic. I worked on water and its subclass; ice magic.

Aliyah worked on fire and wind magic.

-[2 hours later]-

I really fucked up. It's around the time it should be getting dark and I've burned through all of my mana. Aliyah was smart and used her mana sparingly.

I'm a dumbass, heh.

"Maybe next time use your mana in moderation..." said Aliyah.

Aliyah had been carrying me on her back, piggyback style, for the last ten or so minutes.

"It's starting to get dark." said Aliyah.

I then said, "Why don't we stop for the night?"

Aliyah put my down on the side of the path and said, "That's probably a good idea."

And so we began to set up a fire and makeshift beds. The beds consisted of a blanket and a pillow. That's it.

I kind of like sleeping on the ground though. It has some kind of nice feeling to it.

-[2 hours later]-

It has now become pitch black around us and we had just finished eating.

I decided that I should turn in for the night. I looked over at Aliyah and said, "I think I will go to sleep now. My mana has regenerated a bit but it's still pretty low."

Aliyah smiled and said, "Alright. I'll stay up for a little while longer and keep watch in case of anything."

I nodded my head 'yes' and laid down.

I sleepily said, "Goodnight..."