After leaving the manor, Jiran’s first stop wasn't Micah’s house. He instead ran out of town and leaped into the air. Fueled by mana, his jump propelled him nearly six meters into the air.

Flames burst from below his boots, propelling him through the air far faster than he could run. Using flames from his hands to stabilize his flight, he flew over the trees further and further away from Feylon.

He did not fly in a straight path but zigzagged across the treetops until he found what he was searching for.

Jiran dropped back to the ground amidst shattered trees and torn-up ground. Two powerful beasts had fought here, exactly what he had been looking for. He carefully surveyed the damaged terrain until he spotted the tracks of blood leading away from the battle site.

It only took him an hour before he came upon the victorious beast. A two meter tall spider, covered in brown hairs with green highlights. The follicles were as long as Jiran’s hand and as thick as his fingers.

Those do not look soft.

The beast made no sound as it spun around to face him. Eight long legs, with sharp tips, worked in perfect unison to reorient its large body. Mandibles opened wide and a green glob of spit the size of Jiran's head flew straight at him.

With a blast of flame, he evaded to the left. The disgusting attack flew past him and impacted a tree. It left a hole the size of his chest in the trunk as the acidic ooze burned through the bark in seconds.

Jiran arrived before the beast’s head. His arm flickered as carefully controlled mana propelled the limb far faster than he could with muscle alone.

A bright blue flame, thicker than Jiran’s arm, melted through the spider’s biggest eye, digging deep into its head.

A sudden feeling of danger assaulted Jiran, so he jumped back and created the strongest pressure shield he could with his mana body.

The large hairs covering the beast’s body launched in every direction, laying waste to the forest around them. His shield had been enough. The several dozen hairs which would have impacted him bounced harmlessly away instead.

The entire area erupted in acidic smoke as each hair released a payload of deadly ooze. Jiran was extremely thankful for unlocking his mana body early. He wasn't sure he would have been able to avoid that attack so easily without it.

The massive spider fell to the forest floor, it had already been dead when it released that final attack.

“Tsk, what’s the point of a suicide attack for a beast? Not like you’ll be alive to eat me afterward.”

Jiran circled the beast, methodically removing the acidic hairs so he could carry it without worry.

A noise from behind him was his first warning that something wasn’t right.

Flipping around in a defensive crouch, Jiran sighted thousands of eyes glinting in the fading light that filtered through the forest canopy.

Oh… That’s why.

The sight of all those eyes triggered a phobia he never knew he had. Flames erupted from his hands in the largest wave of fire he had ever created. The colony of spiders burned without a single screech. The eerie silence was just as disturbing as the innumerable eyes had been.

Wanting to be away as quickly as possible Jiran rushed through dislodging the rest of the spikey hair. As he hoisted the monster onto his shoulder, a webbed sack fell from beneath it.

Assuming it was another monster the spider had killed, he weaved his arms through several of the strands of thick, sticky silk. With the sack secured on his back, he once more hefted the spider and took off into the air.

Using easily controlled, flame-fueled jumps, Jiran made his way back to town.

He arrived near town well after dark. Instead of running up to the gate with a massive spider slung over his shoulder, he left it a ways from the wall. After notifying the night watch of his intentions, he went back for the disturbing remains.

Finally in town with his catch, he headed to Micah’s house.

When Niya answered the door, the first thing she saw was a massive half-melted spider’s head staring at her from the dark.

Her scream was exactly what Jiran needed to put a huge grin on his face.

“Jiran, I hate you so much! How could you do that to me? I’ll never forgive you.” She cried.

“Really, never? Even if I say I, ah, bought this Tier four monster just for you? Yes, that's right, I bought this with the, uhh, money I made from being Lord Feylon’s squire. Yup, I spent a lot of money on this for you, Niya.”

“Wait, what!? That’s a Tier four beast? Did you really buy that for me? Why?”

“To help you tier up, obviously. We can’t have you staying in Tier one forever.”

Niya backed away from him, waving her arms defensively in front of her chest.

“No way Jiran, that’s too much. Skandor hasn’t killed another Tier four since the one last season. I know Lord Feylon goes hunting often but those meals are always served in the manor, they never make it to town. If I accept this, everyone is going to be so mad at me!”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“I don’t care, it’s for you. I’m not going to be around for a while, so I wanted to give you something before I have to leave.”

He couldn’t maintain eye contact any longer, looking at the floor. Shame and loss threatened to overwhelm him but he pushed the feelings down. This was his last few days with Niya. He wasn’t going to let it be spoiled by his melancholy.

“What, you’re leaving? Where are you going? When will you be back? Why are you leaving?”

Jiran couldn’t help the return of his grin as his cousin’s usual familiar barrage of questions was leveled at him.

With a light chuckle, he responded as best he could.

“I’m not entirely sure where Lord Feylon and Master Filibree are taking me, or how long I’ll be gone. But I promise to send you letters until I return. Okay?”

“You never answer any of my questions! Fine, whatever, I don’t want to know anyways and you can just send those letters to the Shrelks, I don’t want them!”

“Don’t be like that Niya, I don’t have a choice. When either of those two tells me to do something, I have to do it. You know that.

“Let’s talk about it later, how about we cook up some of this tasty-looking critter?”

“That does not look tasty at all,” Niya responded with a disgusted look on her face.

“You just say that now, when it’s on a plate in front of you, cooked and salted, you’ll be begging me for more!”

“No, nope, no way, definitely not going to happen!”

Jiran enjoyed his bickering with Niya as he cut up the monster meat and set it over the communal fire pit in Micah’s house. The drying process would take a couple of days since he didn’t have room to roast the entire carcass at once.

The sack he carried did indeed hold another beast's corpse. A dehydrated boar. Jiran thanked the spider for doing the work of draining all the blood for him.

Their meal was indeed delicious.

“Niya, you must never judge a meal by its hairy, eye-filled, terrifying exterior,” Jiran said with a mouth full of delectable gooey spider meat.

“No! Don’t talk with your mouth full, you're spraying it everywhere!”

The following three days, he spent with Niya. He assisted her with work, followed along on her errands, and harassed her every step of the way.

It was the happiest he could remember being in a long time.

He spent time at night laying in Micah’s bed reflecting on his recent adventures.

I can’t believe they just threw me out into the woods like that. At the time there is no way they expected me to survive Tier three and four monsters. I need to keep my guard up around those two, I bet they have much worse planned for me on this trip.

He shuddered at that thought and pressed on, not wanting to give his nightmares any more fuel.

Why do we even have to run anyways? What are they trying to protect me from? I doubt they would tell me but I should ask anyway.

Maybe it has something to do with completing the cube, or that my shapings are stronger than an emperor’s daughter.

Sweat broke out across his body at the thought of the impossibly powerful emperor.

Think about something else, think about something else! The cube, there we go.

I guess that thing wasn’t really easy. If my mana hadn’t upgraded my brain to be able to think about multiple things at once, it would have been impossible. Whoever came up with that training method and made the cube was a serious genius. I should do some research about them when I get a chance.

Then there’s the mana body. I have way more questions than I have answers. Why did it have its own sentience before I unlocked it? Where did that mind go? It had memories from the day I was born. Was it born at the same time as me or before?

Lenton’s not going to answer any of those questions, I wonder if I’ll ever find out the truth.

Jiran couldn't help but grin.

So many secrets to discover. Ahh! I can’t wait to get to that academy and tear their library apart!

His self-reflection ended as blissful dreams of ripping books off shelves and being chased around by librarians morphed into nightmares. Visions of blood, mountains of human corpses killed by his own hand, and the bodies of his loved ones that he failed to protect.

On the third day, Micah arrived. He led a caravan of seven wagons loaded with goods for Feylon. It seemed that every person living in town came out for their arrival. He decided to stay out of the crowd and wait for things to calm down. Taking Niya with him, they waited for Micah’s arrival at home.

Several hours later he arrived, weary from the road and from dealing with the throng of people all wanting a piece of whatever goods had been brought in. Niya pounced on him immediately, hugging the huge man while assaulting him with a hundred questions far too quickly for him to answer.

Jiran hung back, waiting for his chance to speak.

“One question at a time, ya little stinker!” His outburst was accompanied by a bear hug and a ruffling of her short black hair.

With a glint in her eye that Jiran recognized as nothing but trouble, Niya laid her first trap.

“Did you find me a new mommy yet?”

Micah’s jaw dropped at the question, he spluttered as his face turned red.

“That is none of your business, little lady.”

Jiran, seeing the opportunity to strike, happily joined in.

“Uncle, surely you have a woman in every town from here to the capital by now. Why don’t you just bring all of them home so Niya isn’t so lonely? Sometimes, it feels like you don’t even care.”

The range of emotions on the middle-aged man's face brought tears to Jiran’s eyes. He couldn't help but laugh as Micah tried to defend himself.

“You know what they say Jiran, a thousand fish in the sea but not one of them for me!”

“A thousand, uncle Micah!? I don’t know whether to be proud or ashamed. How could you have a thousand and not bring even one home?”

Micah cracked his knuckles as he approached Jiran with the grin of a crazy man.

“Just two towns ago we had to take down a Tier four, Jiran. After a few good meals, I even tiered up. It’s past time someone gave you a little discipline!”

His leap came far too quick for Jiran to dodge in the tight confines of the house. The tickle fight that ensued between the adult and two children was exactly the homecoming that Micah needed.

Hours later, as Second Father’s light faded, marking the end of the day, a knock came at the door. Even with all of his memories from another life, his emotions still came from the body of a child.

With a heavy heart, he said his goodbye’s to the family that stuck with him when his life had fallen apart.

After a final look at the two happy faces that he may never see again, Jiran walked into the night.