Ethan walked out of his bedroom and down toward the large courtyard. Once there, he paused, panning his gaze over, finding that nothing had changed in the days he had spent in the training room. Then he advanced toward the tunnel leading out of the castle and soon found himself at the now-familiar guard room.

He checked the door leading outside and judged it undisturbed before leaving the hidden cave. Once outdoors, he relished the cacophony of sounds meeting him. After spending so much time in the stone training room with the ever-silent golem, he had forgotten what it meant to be outside. Ehh, the sun, he marveled as he took in the space around him.

He did not forget the dangers, however, and slowly advanced toward the spot he had fished before. He proceeded cautiously, in a half-crouch, attentively listening for any stray sounds coming his way. At the same time, he paid attention to his footing, avoiding branches and dried leaves where he could.

Ethan knew that he was no hunter or tracker. Back in Iceland, he did not get to spend much time outdoors with his stepfather because he and his mother always worked. Therefore, he was confined to being a city boy during his childhood. Consequently, he knew that this hunt he embarked on now was the first actual trek in the woods with purpose, not running away from some beast.

He also knew that this decision was foolish and impulsive. After all, the woods were a dangerous place. However, he could no longer take his daily routine, always seeing the same room, having the same food, and training with the same opponent. At least the beating it delivered varies, he chuckled to himself.

Once at the river, Ethan observed the spot he had fished on and found no sign of the gulper he had encountered before. No tracks, nothing. Even his fishing rod with the makeshift lure was gone. He walked closer to the water, advancing slowly, expecting the monster to pop out until he noted some paw prints where he had been standing before.

What is this? Some small animal checking out my tracks? he considered, crouching down and putting his finger against the print. The paw marks looked to be similar to a dog’s. They looked fresh, the best he could tell. Not being a tracker, he decided to follow them the best he could away from the river and back into the forest.

Ethan tracked the prints for fifteen minutes, losing them several times until he came into a smaller clearing. He stopped, observing it behind the cover of a green bush. He licked his finger and put it in the air, noting that the wind was blowing away from him.

He gazed back at the clearing, noticing something red and furry scuffling across it and stopping. The creature raised its head, then the other one, and listened. Ethan froze. A fox? Why does it have two heads? he thought.

As the fox listened, Ethan observed it, noting the differences from the animal he knew from back home. This specimen was large, as everything in this world seemed to be. It was almost the same size as a cane corso and had two equally large heads. Its tail was as fluffy as he remembered, albeit fire-red with a small flame at the end of it.

Damn, it sure looks like a pokemon, he thought, sizing the fox up. Ethan focused on the monster and tried to trigger some explanation from the grey windows, and a description popped up.

[Two-headed blazing fox] (apprentice rank)

A mythical creature with two heads, a fox-like appearance, and the ability to control fire.

Same rank as me, huh? Ethan thought as the fox sniffed the air and moved closer to where he was hiding. Let's see what you have got, little fox. You should not be more dangerous than Gloomy, Ethan thought, and then remembered the books he found and almost smacked himself on the forehead. I should have read the bestiary I found!

By the time the creature was five meters away, Ethan had made up his mind and decided to proceed with his attack. He crouched low, shifting his weight forward, and jumped out of the bushes, simultaneously summoning his sword. The fox reacted almost instantly and hissed loudly, spewing flames at Ethan’s charge.

He shifted his weight upon landing and dodged the small cone of fire, fully expecting the move, given the creature’s name. His movements, however, did not help his hair and clothes as the fire singed them, leaving steaming marks. But, being used to various surprises from his trusty training golem, Ethan spent half his mana conjuring a trustworthy shield made of mana and advanced again.

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The fox repeated its attack as Ethan’s shield easily repelled the stream of fire coming from the creature's muzzle. He immediately noticed that his mana was depleting rapidly to keep up with the defense. Without much room to move, Ethan jumped in front of the creature, slashing down at its throat. The fox tried to dodge away. However, it was too slow and received a gashing wound, spilling black blood in its wake as it retreated.

Ethan observed the fox, seeing that his attack had made a deep cut on the monster’s neck, and smiled, I can do this. The fox growled menacingly and crouched before jumping straight at Ethan and enveloping itself in flames.

Ethan bashed the fox with his shield, stopping its charge, and followed up by a backhanded cut aimed at the back of its head. The sword cut true and formed a deeper wound than the first. Ethan spun around and thought to follow up with another attack but was surprised to see the creature stagger and fall on its side, blood leaking out of its wounds.

You have defeated [Two-headed blazing fox]!

Do you want to loot [Two-headed blazing fox]?

Yes/No

Ethan blinked at the notification and thought, That easy? Seriously? After I hid away for weeks and endured all that abuse from Gloomy? The short fight left a sour taste in his mouth. Coming outside, he did not believe it would always be so simple, but he welcomed the change in pace either way.

Checking his progress, he saw that he had not made any during the fight and slumped, mentally accepting the prompt to loot the monster. The only difference he could note was that he had recovered some of his spent mana, triggering the absorption part of his ability.

[Two-headed blazing fox] has been looted!

* [Monster essence (tin)] has been added to your storage.

* 25 [Aspect tokens (tin)] have been added to your storage.

* Acme gem: Fire

“Almost the same as the rat,” he observed as the loot was automatically added to his storage. The last item, however, caught his eye, and he pulled up its description.

[Acme gem: fire] (tin rank, crafting material, common)

A precious stone encased in intense, blazing flames.

“Now, this is some proper fantasy stuff, he muttered. “A gem made of fire.” He pulled the item out, surprised that it did not scorch his fingers. In contrast to the aspect seed, the gem was a scale smaller, around the width of a dollar quarter. The small orb was on fire, just as the description promised. However, it did not emit any heat. Not seeing any immediate applications, Ethan returned the item to his storage.

He looked around and saw that the fox had already dissolved into nothingness, all of its black blood - gone. Then, thinking over his next steps, he recalled the short fight and decided that he had overestimated the monster. Well, that leaves me with only one way to gain experience. Let's see if I can find a few more of them, he thought.

He went through the small clearing and proceeded further into the forest. After a few minutes, he encountered another of the foxes and fought it with a similar result. His spirits at an all-time high, he continued to track and fight the fox monsters, unknowingly moving toward the area he had woken up in.

Wait, these trees look familiar, he thought as he observed a tree covered in stripes to his left. Then something cracked to his right, in the bushes he could not see through. He froze, listening closely, not wanting to be ambushed, and heard a familiar growl.

God dammit! I am such a dumbass, he admonished himself as the large head of the tiger monster parted the bushes, sniffing loudly before growling again. Ethan quickly observed the beast, a description popping up.

[Boreal liger] (adept rank)

A hybrid between a tiger and a lion. If you see one - run.

Thanks, I gathered as much, Ethan cursed at the description and sized up the creature as it was doing the same with him. He understood this was going to be a whole different fight as opposed to him massacring the small foxes. Damn, this fucker is enormous, he thought, slowly backing away.

The monster growled again and got ready to pounce, a terrifying sight by Ethan’s account. However, he did not give the beast the privilege of opening the fight and summoned a spear made of mana.

He immediately threw it at its eye, the aim unsurprisingly off by a large margin. Nevertheless, the attack managed to graze the monster’s large body, and it roared in annoyance before jumping at Ethan.

To Ethan’s surprise, the tiger hybrid was slower than Gloomy, even if it was of higher rank. Nevertheless, he evaded its pounce by jumping to the left and rolling over before quickly getting back up.

He summoned his sword again and took a defensive stance, deciding to observe what the monster could do. If it is just the usual jump and swipe, then it should not be so bad, he thought, hoping it was the case and the liger did not possess some magical ability to blast him to bits.

The monster roared again and turned around. Then, seeing that Ethan was not running, the creature growled and proceeded more carefully as if sensing that something was off. They circled briefly before the liger decided to take the initiative.

It pounced again, but instead of trying to jump at Ethan, it landed next to him and swiped with its paw. Ethan’s gaze widened as he saw a huge paw approaching him, not anticipating it being that big. He parried with a slash of his sword, drawing first blood.