My name is Bo. I am a stage 2 ko-o warrior at level 29.

All the men in our town of Ko-mark would eventually advance to become ko-o warriors. Any ko-o man that advances to become something else would be considered a coward.

But I am different from everyone else. I am smarter.

That is why, after the faux kats invades, as soon as I saw the commander get caught in a faux kat's tentacles, I turned around and ran back to town, dragging my childhood friend Thro along with me.

The punishment for running away from war is a beating from our commander and the disdain of our people.

But our commander would have been dead soon, and after the town gets invaded, our people would scatter. Only the stupid would care about those punishments.

"Daddy, where are we going?"

Right now, we are walking through the forest northeast of Ko-mark. My immature son, still only 1 and a half meters tall, asked me a question while holding his mother's hand. They both seem nervous.

After fleeing back to town, I gathered them all of a sudden and took them out along with me.

"We are searching for a place to live, far away from town. Ko-mark is too dangerous now. It's been taken over by faux kats."

"Those kats are so evil. When I grow up, I will kill them all!" My son said, in his still childish voice.

Looking at his determined face, I smile. "You have to grow up and you have to grow strong. Faux kats are not easy to kill."

"Yeah!" My son nods energetically.

"But are we really going to live in a forest?" A somewhat gruff voice said, sounding displeased.

I look over. The one who spoke was my friend Thro. On my suggestion, he brought his family out too.

"The faux kats came from the south. Other species' towns, cities, and villages are in the west. The north is desert land. Those are all places we can't live in. So we can only move into the forest for now. Here, there is enough food and water."

"I'm used to hunting in the forest, started doing it since I was a teen, but never tried living in it. Creepy monsters pop up here at night. My daughter also isn't wanting it." Thro said.

I peek at his daughter, who is being led by his wife and looking around at the forest with a gloomy expression. She's a cute kid, a little younger than my son. It's hard to believe she was fathered by the slovenly Thro. She must take after her mother instead.

Most female ko-os never leave town since they are born. When they advance from ordinary ko-oos to stage 2, they become ko-o laborers, who are not strong at all. Unless there's an emergency, the men won't let them out of the town.

"Hey Bo, up ahead. There's a clearing." Thro said, pointing ahead.

"Great. If the space is wide enough, we can set up house there."

I look forward as we continue walking forth.

Soon, we enter the clearing.

It's a wide space, with only 1 tree in the center.

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That's good, but there's a problem.

"That's a monster tree." Thro said.

It's a tree with long thin branches, the most common blue leaves, and a face on its trunk. I heard its name before. It's a Facis Arbor.

"Yeah. We have to kill it."

People can't live with monsters.

I pick up the stone sword tied to my back, while Thro picks up his stone ax.

We tell our wives and children to back away.

Then we raise our weapon and charge at it, letting out our ko-o battlecry. "Ooo-oo!"

"!" The Facis Arbor became startled.

It starts to wave its branches.

But we will arrive first.

This is not the first time I fought a monster tree. I'm sure we can defeat it.

"What's that?!" Suddenly, as we approach, from the corner of my eyes, something black flies out towards Thro.

"Ouch!" Thro quickly raises his arm and blocks it. But the thing still buries itself into his forearm.

"A piece of wood?" I said, confused. Did the tree shoot it?

"Watch out!" Thro shouts.

I quickly duck.

The tree branch passes over me, kicking up air and leaves.

"Fuu~"

I hear a sound and instinctively raise my sword.

Dunk.

Something hit my sword and bounced off.

"It's there!"

Following the direction of Thro's pointing finger, I see a hollow stick floating in midair.

I understand now. This stick must be some kind of new small type of monster, able to shoot sharp pieces of wood at people!

"Ooo-oo!" I shout, as I rush over like wind.

I swung down my stone sword, cutting the floating stick monster in half.

RIPPP~!

"Oww!!" I howled, as intense pain was felt in my guts.

I quickly back away, holding my bleeding wound. It feels like 3 sharp blades slashed through it. It must be thanks to the thickness of my diligently trained abdominal muscles that the wound didn't go too deep.

Looking at the space where I stood before, I see something invisible covered in my blood. Another monster!

"Watch out!"

Thro suddenly appeared in front of me, swing his stone ax. The dense stone ax cut through the tree branch that swung down at me, loping it spinning into the air. The Facis Arbor's face showed an expression of pain.

"Oof! What the heck! Get off of me!" Thro shouted, as something latched onto his face, tentacles clutching his big and furry head.

The thing is no longer invisible. The tips of its tentacles are still dipped in blood, proving it is the monster that slash me.

"Faux kat!" For a moment, I was alarmed. A thought to retreat appeared in my head.

But judging by its light gray color and small size, it had not yet advanced. It may even still be a baby.

If it's a baby, I can kill it!

"Thro, hold on! I will save you!" I shouted, raising my sword and striking with its side.

KLANG!

The flat of my sword struck the head of faux kat, causing it to flatten, squished between my sword and Thro's head. I could see its wicked kat-like face wince in pain before its pitch black eyes spun.

"That hurt, stupid!" Thro, who was trying to pull off the faux kat with one hand while his other held his ax, was also knocked over. It seems he also felt the impact.

"Who are you calling stupid?!" I raised my sword and smack it again. This is the only way!

But before my sword could hit it, the faux kat quickly jumped off of Thro face.

"Oof!!"

Thro's head was struck hard by the flat of my stone sword. His teeth flew out and his eyes rolled up.

"Oh shit!"

Suddenly, I heard a rustling sound.

I quickly turn around and swung my sword.

Pieces of a long branch broke off and scattered, but the larger part struck my chest, knocking the wind out of me.

For a short time, I soared a few meters off the ground, then land and rolled against my will.

Clutching my aching chest, I look back up.

There, standing atop the chest of the unconscious Thro, that small faux kat, with its tentacles wrapped around Thro's stone ax, having raised it up, dropped it down on his head.

SPLAT!

"Throoooo~!!" I shouted, in terrible grief.

Then, I grit my teeth, rise up, and run away.

Only the stupid would seek revenge when they are outnumbered.

I was too naive. When I noticed that a faux kat was our opponent, because of what happened recently to the town, I focused more on the faux kat and less on the Facis Arbor. That is why I lost.

The wound in my abdomen makes me slower than before, but I have already been knocked out of the range of the monster tree's branches.

I can get away.

"Don't worry, Thro. After I escape, I will take care of your wife as my wife. And my son will take your daughter as his wife." I muttered.

This is a tradition for ko-o. If ko-o men die in battle, our wives and daughters are passed to our brothers and close friends. This way, our people can be replenished quickly. A lot of the older ko-o men have two or more wives.

"Ouch!"

As I was running, I felt a sharp pain in my back.

I reach my hand behind my back and pull out something.

"What's this?"

It's the same as that black piece of wood that hit Thro before.

It didn't look like it did anything to him, so I don't need to worry about it. I resume running.