Fast steps passed among the trees, followed by smaller ones.

The grass was quickly trampled, and a figure began to leap using the trees for support, soon revealed as Viktor, running with a sword in both hands positioned at his sides.

He looked back and saw nothing, yet continued to run hurriedly until a shadow swiftly caught his peripheral vision.

With a swift motion, Viktor gripped the sword with one hand and the blunt side with the other.

In an instant, a silver-furred wolf stood before him, biting the blade, using its momentum to crash into Viktor, who fell backward onto the ground, still surprised but holding the sword in the wolf's mouth, preventing it from reaching his face.

The beast continued pushing its jaw, Viktor gritted his teeth resisting, feeling the wolf press on him little by little.

However, in a moment, the sound of wind being cut was heard, an arrow hitting the wolf's neck. It weakened, growling upon impact, creating an opening for Viktor, who wielded the sword with both hands, his eyes shining, swiftly spinning his blade, severing the wolf's head as it fell lifeless to the ground.

"Tsk, I can't believe I got caught."

He forced a smile, still sore, as he got up, and a voice sounded.

"If it hurts, you shouldn't be smiling." Alma was leaning on a tree branch, a horn bow in hand. "It was a wolf after all, what did you expect?"

"Don't hassle me, I was lucky those crooked shots hit it, or I'd be screwed."

"But you're still smiling." Alma noticed something coming from their side, noticing five goblins emerging from the bushes. "More of them?"

Raising his head, Viktor saw the monsters in front of him, all wielding daggers, grinning with crooked teeth.

"Three days in a row, they just won't stop coming, I think we're lost." Viktor leaned on the sword, noticing it was even more worn. "Let's end this once and for all."

"Alright."

Again, some time passed, a stone flying swiftly, crushing a goblin's head, which fell groaning but was soon finished by an arrow piercing its head, stopping the creature's movements.

"I remember you said you'd throw stones, but I still can't get used to this sight." Viktor chuckled, seeing Nina by his side holding a large stone in her left hand.

"I admit, at first, it was and probably will only work on a few monsters, but as long as it works, it's fine." Nina dropped the stone and shook her hand. "Although it's a bit tricky to aim without my dominant hand, but they're weaker, so it makes it effective."

"How does it feel to know your little sister is stronger than you, Alma?"

The archer was adjusting the bow on his body, giving a slight smile.

"Shut up, you talk too much for someone who nearly became wolf food. Let's collect the materials already."

Viktor continued to smile, gathering the bodies of the five goblins, bringing them closer to the wolf. Both of them retrieved knives from their boots, starting to collect goblin ears along with their wooden and stone weapons.

While collecting, Alma frowned at the small arrows used by the goblins, with sharp stones at the tips, clicking his tongue, catching Viktor's attention.

"Our luck is that even though they're not perfect arrows, if used with energy, they'll still pierce."

"Yeah, but still, these creatures have better weapons than mine." Alma took some stone-tipped arrows from a quiver, which was nothing more than a leather pouch tied with some sharpened sticks, removing the stone heads and tying them to his arrows. "Even though I have more energy, it still bothers me. But at least you finally seem okay."

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

"Yeah, a bit..." Viktor had a slight smile on his face while collecting the materials, then continued, "Being annoyed doesn't help, and I still think I'll find my father, so I just needed some time."

Nina approached the two, squatting to observe how they collected the materials.

"This thing about using energy, when your eyes shine. Does it somehow make you stronger?"

"Yeah, that's it. Alma and I learned it thanks to my father, who taught us when we were young, that's when we started hunting. Thanks to this, we gain some advantage against wild animals and monsters."

"How does it work?" Nina remained curious.

"Well, you can try." Viktor stood up, dusting off after collecting the materials, along with Alma who crossed his arms. "To start, you need to feel your energy, it's something everyone has in their body. My father said its name is Diyo, which is nothing but your life force in the form of energy. By accelerating its flow, you can distribute it throughout your body, which increases physical capacity. Thanks to this, Alma and I are a little stronger than some guys our age."

"Wow... that sounds... pretty simple..." Nina exclaimed with some surprise.

However, Viktor smiled, turning his gaze to Alma, who also had a smile on his face.

"Well, you can try to feel it, but you won't succeed immediately. We learned this when we were ten, so it's more natural for us, but you'll need a bit more focus and concentration if you want to do it."

Alma spun the knife in his fingers and went to the wolf. "But you can try while we finish with this one."

"It's worth a try." Nina clenched her fists excitedly.

"Enjoy it, but it'll be better if you sit and close your eyes." Viktor finished, approaching the wolf with Alma, starting to remove its fur.

While she tried to concentrate, various questions came to Nina's mind, making her wonder.

'How do I do this? Where is this Diyo?...'

'Should I focus and stop asking questions or...'

In the end, her only conclusion was to stay silent and wait for something.

After some time, she began to feel something more in her abdomen, but a voice sounded and said, "Nina, let's go. Time's up."

Startled, she stood up, eyes wide, seeing Alma and Viktor standing with the leather bags filled with materials.

"B-But I was almost..."

"It's okay, we'll have time later." Alma turned with a slight smile, continuing to walk along the dirt road.

"We'll have plenty of time, it's been three days since we left the cave, monsters and animals seem to keep coming." Viktor spoke, waiting for Nina, who stood up and ran to join the two, continuing along the road.

"At least we're getting used to them, this formation isn't bad, and there aren't any monsters strong enough to force us to use energy. At most, some coyotes." Alma said with a smile, looking up.

"I know, but it feels like we're not getting anywhere." Viktor sighed, grumbling.

"Do you think so?" Alma asked, making Viktor raise an eyebrow in doubt. "Just follow me."

Alma seemed slightly excited, and both Nina and Viktor followed him.

As they walked, more sunbeams filtered through the leaves, and soon they came across a stronger ray of sunlight between two trees.

When they passed through the trees, the landscape unveiled itself as a plain at the forest's edge. The dirt path continued towards the entrance of a city where they could see several people in the streets from afar, along with numerous tables scattered along the road as if in a bustling marketplace.

Viktor whistled in surprise, Nina widened her eyes with a faint smile, while Alma crossed his arms, maintaining his grin.

"While I was up in the treetops, I thought I saw something, and upon searching, I managed to spot this place," he turned his face to the two, still smiling. "Took quite a while, but here we are."

"What relieves me the most is knowing we can sleep in a bed," Nina cheered, starting to run towards the city, still following the dirt path.

"It's much bigger than our village, but as Nina said, there must be some place where we can sleep for a fee. It'll be quite an experience," Alma concluded, uncrossing his arms and running back towards the city with one of the leather bags on his back. "Hey, Nina, wait up."

"Hope we can find equipment there too," Viktor was the last to run, but he followed the two with a smile on his face.

With their sprint, they quickly reached the city's entrance, noticing that the dirt ground was replaced by beautiful light-colored stones forming a street that passed by all the houses.

From the entrance, they could see a higher concentration of people moving around the tables on the street or at the entrances of some houses within the city. There were men and women in flashy clothes that seemed to be armor or battle attire. They all walked peacefully, something Alma observed with surprise while the other two simply smiled in admiration.

The houses were beautiful and well-built, a combination of finely cut stones and wood, surrounded by trees and plants, making the environment a bit more colorful than usual as people strolled around.

Viktor and Nina remained awestruck and impressed. However, soon Viktor felt a touch on his side, Alma pointing to a kind of wooden arch where the trodden dirt road came to an end.

The entire arch was adorned with colorful flowers, and there was a name written on it, which Viktor read aloud.

"Aldanna..."