"Fen dear, it's time to get up!"

"Ahhhhhhh!" A young girl yawned as she slowly rolled over before arching her back in a satisfying stretch. "Morning mom."

"It's good morning mother"

The simple wooden door to the room opened with a squeak, allowing the older woman to step into the small room that also served as the family's storage room. With a basket of dirty laundry in hand and a green bandana tying back her short black hair, The woman, Fen's mother, watched on with a smile as the small mass of chaos under the covers slowly started to wake up.

"Good morning Mother." Fen parroted back, eliciting a bemused eye roll from her mother.

Walking over to the small hole in the wall that was the room's one window, Fen's mother pulled the simple canvas curtain open, rays of light now illuminating the few particles of dust that were lingering in the air. Fen continued to blink, rubbing her eyes at the bright light streaking through the window before a look of realization hit her. In a flash of lavender and faded white, the young girl threw off the covers and began hurriedly changing into the clothes she planned on wearing for the day, the same ones she had worn every day that week.

Squeezing her lavender covered head and ears through the top of her white shirt that was far to small, quickly tying the cords on the leather vest she wore over that before cinching up the two belts that would hold up the remains of an old pair of stained, canvas pants that had been 'slightly' modified to accommodate the matted tail that now presented itself. Fen hopped around as she furiously tried to keep her balance while pulling on her simple leather boots.

"Hehe! Oh my… And where are you off to in such a rush this morning?" her mother asked, a small smile on her face as she watched her daughter go through her rushed routine.

"Lily and Jean want to play adventurers today! We're all gonna meet in the square!"

"Oh… I see. You certainly seem excited. I thought that Lily didn't like playing adventure with you?"

"Eeeeeee!" Fen let out an excited squeal, doing a little dance in place before latching onto her mom with a hug. "Lily leveled up! She said she went with her dad for an offering! She said she can keep up now so she wants to play!"

Groaning under the surprisingly strong squeeze of her young daughter's hug, Fen's mother smiled and patted her daughter's messy hair. "Now now dear, calm down. Hehe. I know you're excited to play with your friends. But I need to do the washing this morning before I leave for the Mayors."

Hearing what her mom said, Fen quickly released the hug before attempting to bolt towards the door to the room.

"I need you to collect water from the…"

"OKAY MOM!"

Before her mother could finish her sentence, the girl had already disappeared out the door and was running down the cobble and dirt street towards the square where her friends were waiting.

"Dirk…" A longing smile appeared on the woman's face, "what am I going to do with our daughter."

Already out of sight of the house, Fen made an excited dash towards the square, loose dirt and dust flying into the air with every energetic step. All over the village, hanging over doors and windows, small green, blue and white banners gently swayed in the crisp autumn wind. The few adults in the village that hadn't already made it to their fields were lazily moving about the small village cleaning up the remnants of the previous day's festival.

Seeing her dash by, a few of them noticed and offered a small wave before returning to their cleaning. Normally the children of the village would also be helping with the cleaning around town, but with it being the last festival for the year, Fen and her small group of friends were told in no uncertain terms that they were to spend the last few days of nice weather playing. In the hopes that it would exhaust them enough to make it through the brutal winter season that was rapidly approaching.

As she rounded the last corner to the square, Fen spotted the other children in the village, those she was glad to call her friends. Seeing that they all wore their 'Equipment' for their day of adventuring, Fen's wild excitement finally boiled over.

"HEEEEEEEEY!" She screamed with joy as she rushed up to the group in a cloud of dust.

"Oh! Hey Fen!" The oldest boy in the group, Jean, called back.

"Oh my, Fen, you are certainly early. Did your mother not have anything for you to help with this morning?" Risa, the second oldest after Jean, asked with a mocking tone as she sidled up next to Jean.

"Oh Right!" Fen said, still trying to catch her breath. "She wanted me to get some water for her!" Fen said, fidgeting with excitement. "But now that I'm here, we should hurry! Come on Come on!"

Without a moment's delay, Fen began nearly skipping towards the gate that was little more than a gap in the fence that surrounded the small village.

Jean shook his head, "Hey. Fen, I know you're excited…"

"Too excited if you ask me…" Risa mumbled under her breath.

"But how are you supposed to collect the water?"

"ACK!" Fen froze mid step, her eyes screaming that the world was ending as she slowly turned around to face Jean.

Seeing the look on her face, the rest of the group all collectively began shaking their heads at the entirely too predictable behavior.

"Uh… uhmm… I left the bucket at my house…" Fen said, wearing a fake innocent smile on her face. "Oh well. It's just the wash, mom'll be fine. Come on Lets gooooo!"

"He… ha… haha… ah hahahaha. You were sent to get water and didn't even think to bring a bucke… EEK!" Risa laughed before quickly sliding behind Jean as Fen got in her face.

"What did you say!?" Fen yelled. "I don't want YOU of all people telling me what to do. Take it back!"

"Haha, why should I? You won't remember it tomorrow even if I apologize."

"Uhhh… Risa… Fen… Can we not…" the youngest boy of the group, Kai said sheepishly as he tried to step in between the pair.

"STAY OUT OF IT!" They both shouted at the same time before glaring at each other again.

"Alright Risa, you're going too far." Jean said, as he looked down at the much shorter Risa with a serious expression.

"You should just go get it really quick. We're already going to the river, so you can just come with us to get water." The fresh level 2 hunter, Lily said.

"Ugh… fine." Fen mumbled before turning and starting to dash off.

"Fen…" Jean called out, stopping Fen in her tracks.

"What?"

"Don't forget your knife too."

Fen quickly reached down and felt for the missing sheath.

"RIGHT! Thanks Jea…"

"Ah hahaha… little miss adventurer didn't even bring her knife. Were you so excited to pretend to be a 'real' adventurer that you forgot the most important part? Ahaha."

"You wanna say that again! I could beat you even without my knife."

Risa raised the short staff in her hand and pointed the small red gem at Fen.

"OoOoOoh what's the scary Miss Risa going to do? Heal me to death? You only got like 2 chants."

"Alright, alright. That's enough." Jean said, pushing Risa's staff down and stepping between the two again. "Go on, You should hurry up if you want us to wait for you at the gate. Axzel wouldn't let you leave by yourself, you know."

Hearing this and picturing the young and strict guard at the small gate telling her that she couldn't go, Fen's eyes began to dart around in panic.

"Jean's right… Now go get your stuff." Lily said. "I really wanted to show you how fast I am now!"

"RIGHT!" Fen said as she turned and began running back to her house. "I'll be right back! WAIT FOR ME!"

As the group watched her leave in a cloud of dust, Risa looked up at Jean with a frown. "Why do you always take her side?"

"Whaa!?" Jean made an exaggerated surprised face. "I didn't. You were picking a fight and I don't want to be responsible for having to separate you two. That's all it was."

"Hmph." Risa turned her nose up and started walking away.

"Really… that's all it was…"

After rushing back through the tight village roads, a plume of dust in her wake, Fen reached the door and nearly took it off its hinges as it slammed open. Still in a rush, Fen bolted through the door before running straight into her mom with a "Oomph." and falling backwards.

Looking up, Fen saw the cold eyes of her mother staring back at her.

"Eek!" Fen let out a pathetic squeal as she turned and started to crawl away in a panic.

"Not so fast, little lady." her mother said, grabbing Fen's collar to keep her from running away. "Do you remember what I asked you to do before you rushed off?"

"Uhhh… uhm… have fun? Maybe?" Fen waffled, an impish grin on her face.

Fen's mother shook her head. "No… not quite… I asked you to gather a bucket of water so that I could do the wash this morning. You remember me asking you to get water?"

"Yes Mom."

"It's 'Yes, Mother.' and how did you suppose you were going to gather water without the bucket?"

"..." Fen looked down at the floor.

Seeing her daughter's meek expression, she couldn't help but smile gently. She knew that Fen was just excited, but it was a parent's job to make sure their children understood their responsibilities.

"I'm not angry. I just want you to be more aware. I asked you to get the water this morning because I needed to prepare some things before I went over to Chief Hazel's house. Do you know what today was?"

Fen cautiously looked up at her mother, "The day after the harvest festival?"

"That's correct. Do you know what Chief Hazel does on the day after the harvest festival?"

"Uhhh…"

"The Barons officials come to the village and collect the harvest taxes. Do you know what that means?"

"No."

"That means that a noble might have come to the village to speak with Chief Hazel and because I work for the Chief, I need to ensure that my clothes are clean and everything is prepared for his arrival."

"~Ack~"

"Hehe, it isn't something a 12-year-old needs to be worried about. However…" Her mother said as she released Fen's collar. Fen instinctively tensed.

"I need you to help me this morning, I can't do everything by myself."

"Alright mom."

"It's 'Yes, Mother.' and so long as you understand." She said before walking over to the small box for winter clothes by the door.

As she opened the box, the smell of old and musty cloth immediately assaulted their noses. Picking up a small something off of the top, she closed the box and turned back to Fen before handing the small bundle to her daughter.

Fen reached out and took the bright red piece of folded cloth. Feeling the soft yet durable fabric in her hands, Fen's eyes began to sparkle. As she unfolded the fabric, Fen realized what it was.

Made from an old piece of equipment her mother had, the 1 and a half meter long scarf seemed to glow as it reflected the morning light coming through the window.

"I know it's a bit late but… ~oof~" her mother began before her daughter grabbed her and squeezed her waist in a powerful hug. Seeing her daughter's radiant expression, she gently patted her head. "Happy birthday, my dear Fen. I hope you like it."

"I LOVE IT! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!" Fen shouted as she twirled around with the brilliant red fabric held out. Red light reflected off the scarf's fine thread, tiny red sparkles seeming to dance throughout the room as Fen continued to spin.

"I need to show everyone! Risa's gonna be so jealous! Hahaha"

Fen quickly wrapped the scarf around her neck before rushing to her small room. She grabbed the old, but polished knife and carefully slid it into the simple, handmade leather sheath on her belt. With the knife, her new scarf, and eyes screaming that she couldn't contain any more excitement, Fen rushed back out of the room and raced for the door.

Just before she managed to escape again, her mother stepped in front of the door. "Hey. Aren't you forgetting something?"

"RIGHT!" Fen yelled, quickly grabbing the bucket and holding it up for her mom to see, her face radiating pure joy.

"Alright Fen… I know you're really … Really… excited to play with your friends today, but it's really important to gather the water."

"Yes, mother. I will gather the water and come straight back here."

The wry smile softened as her mother stepped away from the door. "Alright. I will see you shortly then. Have fun. And tell Axzel I said good morning and that we are expecting a noble today."

"OK, MOM!" Fen said before rushing through the door and down the simple dirt path back to the road.

With a noticeably larger cloud of dust in her wake and an incredible power in her steps, Fen ran to the small gate that led towards the river. Her friends all seemed to be waiting for her to return as they stood around talking with Axzel about the recent happenings in the forest around the village.

"Alright, you guys be careful out there," the young guard, Axzel, said as the group began their walk towards the river.

"Thanks! We will," Jean said.

"Don't forget! A noble's coming by later!" Fen yelled back with a wave.

"What?!"

"COME ON GUYS! LET'S GO GO GO!" Fen cheered as she pumped her fists in the air. "Hey Lily, wanna have that race?"

"You're not going to beat me this time!" Lily said as she flexed her arm. "My ALACRITY went up! So don't be surprised when I leave you behind."

"Risa, you race too!" Fen said, shooting a mischievous look at the older girl.

Risa's blonde ponytail swayed to the side as she turned, her expression saying, 'Do you seriously expect me to say yes?'

"Oh come on? What? You scared of losing?"

The look of exasperation on her face turned into one of suspicion as Risa narrowed her eyes at Fen. "No, I am not worried about losing in the slightest. I simply wish to get to the river without tiring myself out."

"Sweet! Catch!" Fen shouted as she tossed the empty bucket in Risa's direction.

"Eeek!" Risa squealed as she hurriedly caught the bucket. "Hey, I'm not your—"

"READY?! GO!" Fen shouted.

"HEY!"

Ignoring Risa's angry shout, the two vanished as they sprinted towards the river, the sound of their boots striking the hard dirt road resounding off of the trees around them. Lily's violet braid and Fen's red scarf whipped up behind them as they charged forward through the crisp autumn air.

Lily, having experience chasing after small game, managed to pull out in front right away.

"DASH!" Fen shouted. Her legs tensed under the strain of activating a skill for the first time. With a sudden burst of speed, the gap between the two closed in an instant, just as the small river came into view.

Seeing the streak of red shoot past her, Lily lowered her stance and focused her remaining strength into her legs. Not wanting to be outdone by Fen, Lily concentrated and activated a skill she had learned for chasing small game.

"PURSUIT!"

Lily's senses sharpened as her eyes locked onto the back of Fen. Normally, the 'pursuit' skill would give her an advantage in speed whenever she was behind her target, but even the extra +1 to her ALACRITY wasn't enough to retake the lead from Fen. The two reached the small bridge that served as their finish line with Fen only a meter or two ahead.

As the two slowed to a stop, Fen bent over with her hands on her knees, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath. Lily collapsed at the foot of the bridge, desperately trying to force air into her lungs.

"~huff~ … haha … ~huff~ …"

"haa … ~huff~ haha …"

The two couldn't help but laugh through their labored breathing as the euphoria settled. After catching her breath, Fen was the first to speak.

"That… was… a good race," Fen said.

"How… are you so fast? ~huff~ ~huff~" Lily asked.

"I just… ~huff~ really wanted to win," Fen said, holding her hand out.

"Eeep!" Fen squeaked as Lily pulled her down so the two were sitting next to each other.

"Ha… haha… Ha…"

"Ha, haa, haha…"

Jean, Risa, and Kai reached the bridge after a few minutes, giving the two girls time to catch their breath and recover.

"Wow," Kai said to the two, "I didn't know you were both so fast."

"Who won?" Risa asked.

Fen threw her arms up in the air.

"Fen," Lily said, "She's too fast… How?"

Fen gave a thumbs up. "That's a secret!"

"Are the two of you going to have enough energy to play adventurers still?" Jean asked, a bit of amused concern on his face.

"WOO! COME ON LILY LET'S GO!" Fen said as she tried to pick Lily up.

"Ah ah ah ooh, sore."

---===---===---===---

~Rustle~ ~Rustle~

Fen came to a stop as Lily raised her hand. Carefully, Lily pulled an arrow out of her small quiver, setting it on the bowstring.

~Rustle Rustle~ ~Rustle~

Looking through the underbrush, Lily pointed at a brown creature. It cautiously hopped through the tangled floor of the forest, stopping every few hops before looking around while its pink nose sniffed the air for any signs of danger.

Lily called these Brown Rabbels. Despite their similar look to a large rabbit, they weren't actually related. Rabbels were a type of monster, and the brown variety was the second weakest. Their meat was also delicious, and the two fangs growing out of their lower jaw were valuable. After resting, the group moved a ways off of the river to a small area Lily had told them about. The area was one where brown rabbels made their burrows.

Now, after several failed ambushes, Fen and Lily had finally managed to get close enough for her bow to reach their target. The biggest rabbel they'd seen that day.

Silently, Lily drew the string on her small bow back, the limbs creaking slightly as she nocked an arrow and lined it up. The rabbels' head turned, its long ears shooting up straight as it scanned for the source of the noise.

"On my mark," Lily whispered.

There was a loud ~THWAP~ when Lily loosed the arrow.

"GO!"

With an explosion of leaves and breaking twigs, Fen leaped out of the bush, diving after the arrow as it plunged towards the surprised animal.

"Damn it!" Lily cursed under her breath. The arrow sailed over the head of the rabbel as it tried to dart off into the trees. Only a few steps behind the rabbel, Fen chased it between the trees.

Chase it to Jean, chase it to Jean, chase it to Jean…

Fen repeated her one job in her head as she rushed after it. The rabbel continued to bound around trees erratically, forcing her to make hard turns at full speed. Even with its speed being slower than her own, its evasive behavior and familiarity were slowly allowing it to slip away from her sight.

"DASH!"

Fen activated her skill again. Her body surged as she burst forward. With dash giving her a +2 to her ALACRITY, bringing her to 12, her speed increased and she was now able to nimbly slip through the brush. When she saw an opening, she rushed forward and cut it off, forcing it towards the clearing.

After chasing it closer to Jean, using her speed to direct it, the rabbel suddenly turned to avoid the approaching clearing. Fen lunged out with her knife, causing the rabbel to jump away. In order to dodge, it planted its feet on the trunk of a tree and used its small but powerful legs to change directions in an instant. Right towards Jean.

"IT'S COMING YOUR WAY!"

"Got it!" Jean yelled back as he prepared his wooden sword.

"EEEEEEEEEEE!" the small rabbel squealed as it burst out of the brush, coming face to face with Jean's blade, poised to strike.

"HAAAA!" the blade whooshed through the air, closing in on the panicking monster.

~Thud~

The wooden blade slammed into the ground, leaving a small crater from the heavy impact. The rabbel's quick reaction gave it just enough time to jump towards Jean with its fangs bared. Jean pulled the sword back and switched to a defensive stance. "Haa! WAA! HAAAA!" Jean shouted, quickly striking out at the rabbel as it lunged at him.

~Whoosh~ ~Whoosh~ ~SLAP~

Jean's wooden blade finally caught the rabbel's side, but the lack of a sharpened edge caused the sword to bounce off of its body. The strike only managed to stagger the rabbel for a brief moment. Trying to correct his stance after the strike, Jean pulled the sword back as he stepped forward. The rabbel scrambled back to its feet before making a lunge at Jean's front leg.

"AHHHH!" Jean yelled out as the rabbel clamped its fangs onto his leg. A stream of blood began flowing past the rabbel's teeth, staining Jean's pants and forming a small puddle near his foot.

"GET! OFF! HEAVY STRIKE!" Jean activated one of his skills.

~CRACK~

There was the sound of wood striking bone as Jean slammed the blade into the side of the rabbel's head, breaking its hold and sending it tumbling across the ground. The rabbel furiously shook its head as it tried to right itself.

"JEAN!" Risa screamed from a few meters behind him. Quickly raising her staff, Risa aimed the red gem set in the tip at the wound on Jean's leg and began to chant, "Cover Injury!"

The red gem flashed for a moment as the wound began to scab over. The magic 'Cover Injury' was the first spell someone looking to become a disciple could learn. For minor scratches and cuts, it could completely recover the damage, but for anything worse, the magic was only effective at stopping the bleeding and dulling the pain. At level 3, Risa was limited to just 2 uses of cover injury at a time, and she only recovered 1 of those uses per day.

"Ack… I'll be fine. You two stay back," Jean said as he moved to put himself between Risa, who had Kai hiding behind her, and the dazed rabbel. "LILY! FEN!"

~THWAP~ ~THWAP~

Two more arrows streaked through the air in rapid succession. The first grazed the rabbel's side, opening a small gash, the second buried itself in the ground just in front of the monster. The rabbel turned its attention to where the arrows came from. Suddenly, a red blur burst out of the trees in the rabbel's blind spot. Fen lunged, attempting to stab her knife into the small creature's back.

The rabbel managed to leap away just in time to avoid the lethal blow. Fen's attack only managed to leave a small slice on its backside.

"NOT SO FAST!" Fen shouted, diving after the rabbel. Grabbing one of its feet, she wrapped her other arm around it and attempted to wrestle the monster to the ground. Despite her age, Fen was about as strong as an average adult. Fen's arms and legs burned as she grappled the thrashing rabbel. Its strength was enough to toss Fen's small body around as the two rolled over and over again, but it wasn't enough to throw her off. Fen kept tightening her grip around the monster's torso while it tried to shake her off, scratching and kicking at her as it tried to slam her around.

"FEN!" Jean yelled as he rushed forward.

"ACK!" Fen grunted as the rabbel managed to swipe at her face with its paws before using its powerful legs to kick her into the ground and jump away. "NO! DON'T LET IT GET AWAY!"

The rabbel scrambled towards the bushes as Fen rolled over and began to chase after it again. There was now a small cut above Fen's right eye and small scratches across her face from its nails.

"WAIT!" Jean called out to Fen, but it was too late.

The rabbel rushed straight into the bushes where Lily was hiding.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!"

Lily was forced to suddenly leap out of the way to avoid being trampled by Fen as she sprinted after the rabbel. "Eeep!" Lily cried as she tumbled to the ground, Fen barreling over the spot where she was just standing.

As she crashed through the brush, Fen saw a large fallen log up ahead. Before finding this rabbel, the group had tried to set up an ambush next to this particular log, knowing there was an old burrow on one end.

"DASH!" Fen yelled as she activated her skill for the third time. After this, she wouldn't be able to use it until the next day.

Fen used the extra boost to quickly change directions, moving around to get in front of it. The rabbel could only go one way once it got to the log. As she closed the distance to the log, Fen jumped into the air, planting her feet on a tree to kill her forward momentum and charge her legs like a spring. She made an immediate 90° turn and exploded forward.

Fen let out a "Haaaa'' as she lunged towards the rabbel who was unable to avoid the sharp end of Fen's hunting knife. The carefully polished blade smoothly slipped into the body of the surprised rabbel. The rabbel twisted to retaliate as Fen smoothly pulled the blade back out.

"QUICK STRIKE."

Fen activated her other skill, making a smooth slash across the rabbel's neck. With a small spray of blood, the rabbel rolled away before its labored breathing finally slowed to a stop.

"HAHA! WOOO!" Fen cheered as she jumped up. Just as she was throwing her hands into the air to celebrate, Fen felt a familiar warmth bubble up, followed by a small burst of energy.

"WOOOOO! LEVEL 3!"

"~urk~ ~huff huff~ ~hurk~" Fen heaved as she carried the large rabbel through the brush back to the clearing.

There was a small red flash as Risa activated her skill again, this time pointing the red gem at Lily, who was holding her ankle. "Cover Injury."

Jean and Kai's eyes went wide. "WOW! It's so big. It looks much bigger up close," Kai said, poking the rabbel's soft body with his finger.

"Right. Good job taking it down," Jean said, placing a hand on Fen's shoulder as he looked over the body. "These fangs should sell for quite a bit."

"Oh my, Are you alright?" Risa asked, having finished healing Lily's ankle.

Fen reached up and touched the small cut over her eye with a wince.

"I'd love to use my healing for you, but I just used my last casting on Lily," Risa said with a fake smile. "You know, a little scar on your face might finally make you look like a 'Real' adventurer. The boys might think it's unsightly though… EEEEK!"

"Grrrrrr!" Fen growled before tossing the rabbel's body at Risa. Risa dropped her staff and quickly tried to grab the rabbel, only to be dragged to the ground under the weight.

"Ewwww! Ewww! Ewww! Gross! Get it off get it off!" Risa panicked while trying to squirm out from underneath the blood-soaked monster.

"Ahahahaha!"

By the time Jean and Kai managed to pull the dead rabbel off of her, Risa's once white and green dress was already stained blood red. "Eww, eww eww… this is never going to come out…" Risa mumbled to herself.

"It's so heavy!" Jean grunted. "How did you carry this thing?"

Fen put her hands on her hips and puffed her chest out. "I just hit level 3!"

Jean and Kai began congratulating her on gaining another level. Lily, on the other hand, hung her head at Fen's declaration. "But I'm supposed to be the hunter…"

"Hehe! Next time I'll help you catch one too!" Fen said, patting Lily on the back. "Then you can level up too!"

"R-right." Lily looked up with a small smile. "Thanks. So? What are we gonna do with this now?"

"EAT!" Fen shouted. "We can fry it, oooh, or roast it, oh oooh or grill it, oooh oooh or—"

"Haha. Calm down. We should probably share it. We all helped out catching it, you know," Jean said.

"My parents know how to butcher rabbels, we could take it—"

"WAIT!" Fen shouted, "Why don't we use it as an offering! Then all of us get something, Kai might even level up too!"

"Hmm…" Jean thought for a moment, "We could. I'm sure something this big would get us quite a bit of experience, even split five ways… that's good thinking Fen."

"That's what a real adventurer would do!" Fen said, shooting Risa a fake smile.

Risa looked away, "Th-that's right, but are you sure you want to do that? You were the one who managed to kill it."

"Mhmm! I'm sure, Jean says we all helped so I think we should share!" Fen said as she lifted the large rabbel off of the ground with a ~Huup~ and started walking off. "LET'S GO!"

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Not so fast… Didn't you come here for a reason," Jean said, pointing to a small wooden bucket.

"ACK! I-I-I Forgot! Oh no, oh no oh no…" Fen panicked. After dropping the rabbel to the ground, Fen grabbed the bucket and turned towards the river. "I gotta go! Mom's gonna be so pissed."

"Hold on."

"~urk~ what!?" Fen said as Jean grabbed her collar to keep her from dashing off.

"Just slow down, you're already late. If you rush back by yourself, Axzel is going to think something happened."

"..."

"Besides, we can't carry that thing alone. Even me and Kai had to struggle to move it. So how about this. I'll carry the bucket of water, and you carry the rabbel."

"Hmmmm."

"It was your kill, it's only right you get to carry it back," Jean said. Hearing this, Fen's mood immediately brightened.

"RIGHT! I GOT IT! Thanks, Jean!"

After filling the bucket, the group began the half-kilometer walk back to the village gate. Fen bounced and skipped along behind them, despite carrying a creature heavier than a full-grown man.

---===---===---===---

"WHAAA!" There was a shout as Axzel saw the group approaching. Grabbing his spear and rushing forward, he called out to the exhausted group. "Are you alright? What happened? What's that!?"

Axzel pointed his spear at the large rabbel, his voice full of worry.

"Hey, Mr. Axzel!" Fen stuck her head around the side of the creature, her face radiating excitement. "Look what we caught!"

"Uhh… caught?" Axzel slowly lowered his spear before walking over to inspect the creature. "You're telling me you caught this?"

"We caught it, yeah! Jean and Lily were amazing! Lily's bow was all like…" Fen began animatedly describing the short fight, extra sound effects and embellishments thrown in here and there. "Jean was like BAM! Then Risa was like, 'NOT MY JEAN!' as she cast her healing. Then…"

"THAT'S ENOUGH OUT OF YOU!" Risa screamed, putting her hands over Fen's mouth, her cheeks a bright red.

"Hehe." Fen snickered.

"That certainly sounds like an adventurer's tale," Axzel said, a slight glint in his eyes as he looked at the rabbel. "Do you… perhaps have any plans for it? I'd be willing to…"

"It's gonna be an offering!" Fen said.

"A-An offering?" Axzel said, a sense of disappointment in his voice. "B-but… rabbel meat is so—"

"YEAH! We're going to share it. It might even be enough to level up Kai!" Fen said before whispering. "He's only level one."

"R-right. Ok. well… I'm glad you all returned safely. Sharing the experience among yourselves is a good way to use this… delicious… juicy… huh?" By the time Axzel snapped out of his daydream about the rabbel's taste, the group had already walked past and started making their way to the village square.

"BYE MR. AXZEL!" Fen yelled from a distance with a wave.

Walking through the village, the mess from the harvest festival had now been mostly cleaned. There were still a few banners hanging around, fluttering in the soft wind. As they walked past, the adults' heads turned to follow the sight of the small girl carrying a dangerous monster that was larger than her small body, all while skipping and humming to herself. Or perhaps they were looking at the group of kids that looked like they just got back from a horrific war. Risa, in particular, looked like she sustained serious injuries with the dark blood that soaked into her ruined dress.

Entering the square, the usual group of adults and small stall carts were gone. In their place was a small carriage with beautifully carved designs and carefully done painting covering it. Standing at attention by the side of the carriage, two large men, both wearing matching heavy metal armor and helmets, looked out over the square. One of them raised an eyebrow as the group of children entered the square.

"Whoa, who is that?" Kai said, pointing at the carriage.

Jean quickly grabbed his arm and pushed it down. "Hey, don't point. That's a noble's carriage."

"Wha? A noble?" Kai tilted his head, "Why would they come here?"

"Oooh. Mom said they were gonna come collect the taxes or something today," Fen said as she stared at the cart with sparkling eyes.

"I've never seen something so pretty before," Lily said.

"Yeah… it's strange. Normally, they just send a commoner official," Jean started, "I wonder why a noble came all the way here just for village taxes."

"Hmmm… but don't the nobles handle the taxes?" Fen asked.

"They do, but not for a village like ours. We aren't worth a noble's time all the way out here," Risa said as she slid in between Jean and Fen.

"Just don't get—"

"What do we have here?" a young boy's voice echoed across the mostly empty square.

Standing behind them, in the elegant clothing of a young noble, was a boy somewhere between Fen and Jean's age. Raising a hand, he brushed back his jet-black hair and looked down his nose at the group.

"Haha. What? Is my presence too much for you? Or did you forget how to greet someone of nobility?"

Grabbing Kai's hand and pulling him down with them, Jean and Risa immediately dropped to one knee and bowed their heads to the arrogant boy. "Pssst. Lily! Fen!" Jean whispered. Lily then panicked and also bowed. Fen, with a slight scowl on her face, remained standing.

"Oooooh, such insolence… hehehe," the noble boy cackled, "What is it, girl? Do you not recognize who I am?"

"Nope… Who are you?" Fen asked.

"Hahaha! Right, a stupid commoner such as yourself would never be able to recognize the crest of the baron."

"Aren't you a little small to be the baron?" Fen asked.

"Tsk! Brat. My name is Leonard Genis Levin, second son of Baron Levin. You would do well to remember my name and your place, girl."

"FEN!" Jean said through his teeth.

"Fine." Fen said before reluctantly dropping to one knee.

"Much better. You may raise your heads," Leonard said. "Now, I was near the gate when I overheard that the five of you managed to capture that large creature there. A rabbel is it? I will now buy it from you."

Leonard snapped his fingers and the woman standing behind him stepped forwards and offered a small pouch to the baron's second son. With an obvious jingle of coins, he pulled something out and tossed it to the ground in front of them. Laying in the dirt was a single copper bit, the lowest denomination of currency in the country.

"Using such a large amount of delicious meat as an offering for poor and dirty peasants would surely be a waste. Now that I have paid, I shall take it home with me. I'm sure my father will be pleased to—"

"No," Fen said.

"..." Leonard's face stiffened as Fen interrupted him. "What did you—"

"I said no. We caught it ourselves. We're going to offer it to the gods and take the experience."

"You dare—" Leonard's face began to redden. Behind her, Jean and Risa's faces had gone completely pale. The armored guards by the carriage were staring at Fen with a look of shock.

"I wouldn't want your noble money, even if a rich boy like you was gonna pay us enough."

"YOU! WATCH YOUR DIRTY MOUTH! How dare you speak to the son of the baron like this!" Leonard snapped, spittle flying out of his mouth as he screamed at Fen who was now glaring back at him.

"FEN! STOP—" Jean started to say.

"I don't owe you any sort of apology. It's my rabbel, I killed it. I'll do what I want with it!"

"GUARDS! TAKE THE RABBEL! We will be taking it as an apology for this insolent girl's behavior," Leonard shouted, "Be glad I'm feeling merciful. Today, I'll let you walk away with your life."

"Fen…" Jean said, stepping towards Fen and the rabbel, "Take the bucket and go to your mom."

Kai stepped forward and the two began to try and take the rabbel from Fen's firm grip.

"But…"

"Go," Jean said, the look in his eyes and the tone of his voice both cold.

"Fine… I'll be right back, then we can go to the shrine," Fen said as she picked the bucket up.

"Ha… Haha… That's right, go on, run away! The rabbel is rightfully mine now anyways."

"Grrrr." Fen growled, but Jean put his hand on her shoulder and pushed her forward before she could say anything else.

"OoOoOh… Ouch… My LeG… It SuDdEnLy HuRtS… Oooops!" with a malicious smirk, Leonard began faking pain as he stumbled and stuck his leg out in front of Fen. Unable to avoid him, Fen tripped over his foot and fell face first into the bucket as the contents spilled out onto the dry ground. "Oh, my… Are you alright? Hehe. I'm SoOoOo sorry."

"Grrrrrr." Fen glared up at him, her eyes narrowed as her hand slid backwards towards the hilt of her knife. Seeing this, Jean went to move, but Risa and Lily were faster, almost tackling Fen to the ground and covering all three of them in mud.

"Haha! That's right!" Leonard said as he kicked a glob of mud at Fen. "Dirty peasants like you belong in the mud like this. GUARDS! Grab the rabbel and load it into my carriage. I'm done with them."

"Yes, sir." The two guards walked forwards and lifted the rabbel, struggling slightly under its weight. Jean could see the apologetic look on their faces as they silently walked past them and loaded the rabbel's body into a compartment at the back of the carriage. Leonard and the woman following him then stepped into the carriage before closing the door behind them.

Jean walked over to Fen who was being held down by Risa and Lily. As he walked up, Risa and Lily released Fen, who immediately tried to run towards the carriage. The guards tensed slightly at Fen's murderous glare.

"Fen. Stop," Jean said, his voice even colder than before.

"..." Fen silently glared at him.

"That's what happens when you disrespect the nobility."

"BUT THAT BRAT STOLE OUR—"

~SLAP~

The loud sound of Jean's hand striking Fen's face echoed across the village. Fen's eyes went wide as she reached up and put her hand on her cheek. Small tears started to form in her eyes.

"Are you alright?" Jean asked. The coldness in his tone started to subside as he looked down at Fen. "You can't just fly off the handle like that. What would you have done if you had attacked him? Huh? Do you know what would have happened?"

Jean looked back at the rest of the group, Fen's gaze following his.

"They would have killed you, and probably us too, because we're friends," Jean explained. "Attacking a noble would give them enough of a reason to kill everyone in this village. Is that what you want?"

Tears started to stream down Fen's face as she looked towards the ground.

"Please… Just, think next time. We're not always going to be here to stop you when you get angry. Alright?" Jean said, placing his hand on Fen's head.

"I-I'm sorry," Fen said as she lowered her head. "I don't want any of that… so… Thank you for stopping me."

"It's alright… I am rather fond of my life as well, you see," Risa said, brushing the dirt off her dress before shaking her head at the now completely ruined fabric. "I give up."

"Sorry you got dirty stopping me. Lily, are you alright?" Fen asked. Lily had a wry smile as she rubbed a spot on her forehead that was starting to swell.

"Yeah, it's alright. I should have realized how strong you were when you carried that monster rabbel all the way back by yourself. Hehe," Lily said. "You're not going to get angry 'cause he spilled your water, right?"

"WHAAAA!" Fen shrieked, only now remembering that the water was supposed to go to her mom. "WHAT AM I GONNA DO!?"

"Haha, calm down," Jean said, holding Fen's shoulders down to prevent her from running off into more trouble. "How about this? I'll give you some water out of my family's barrel, and you come with us tomorrow to catch another rabbel."

"Y-YES! YES! THANK YOU, JEAN!" Fen cheered as she hugged Jean.

"Do you really have to be that nice to her?" Risa said.

"Grrrrrr," Fen snarled, shooting a glare at Risa. Lily jumped back and Kai hid behind her.

"Ha… haha… HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" They all began laughing as the drama finally settled and their group returned to normal.

---===---===---===---

"MOM! I'M HOME!" Fen exclaimed.

The house was silent as Fen walked in, carrying the bucket of water.

"Hmmm…"

Fen took the bucket into the kitchen and poured it into the barrel. Looking around the house, Fen found the small basket of laundry sitting in the corner of the kitchen by the washbasin, still dirty. Fen's expression stiffened, realizing that her mother was going to be upset with her for not returning right away with the water.

Oh no oh no… I needed to go say I'm sorry.

As Fen turned to rush out of the door to go look for her mother at Chief Hazel's house, she brought herself to a halt. Passing by the small, scratched mirror by the door, Fen saw the bright red cut over her eye was now scabbed over. Her gray, almost white hair was stained with mud and dirt, and she was covered in filth from head to toe.

Not wanting her mother to see how dirty she got while playing adventurers, she dashed back to her small room and opened the small trunk with her clothes. She quickly stripped out of the dirty adventuring gear and changed into a simple tan shirt and pants. She brushed the mud off of the leather vest, letting it fall to the floor before pulling it back on. The first snowfall of the year was only a few weeks away and it was cold enough outside that the extra layer had become necessary.

After slipping her boots on, she grabbed an old rag out of the laundry and dipped it into the water she had just brought home. In a rush, she scrubbed her head to knock some of the mud out of her hair and wiped her face as best she could. Tossing the rag back into the laundry again, Fen checked herself in the mirror before leaving. Her mother had developed this habit after she began working for Chief Hazel. Her hair still had some brown spots in it and her vest looked a little dirty. Not wanting to waste any more time fiddling with her appearance and making her mom even angrier, she opened the front door and rushed in the direction of the Village Chiefs.

Looking up at the Chiefs' house, there was no one outside. Knowing that a noble was in the village, Fen expected to see at least one guard standing watch by the door.

"Hmmmm… ok!"

After thinking about it for a second, a bit of curiosity and the adventurer's spirit inside her pulled the young girl along as she cautiously walked towards the front door. After taking a look around to see if anyone had noticed her, Fen placed her ear against the door and listened.

She could hear the very muffled voices of someone within the house, but they must be somewhere deeper in the building. Deciding to investigate further, Fen turned the knob and quickly slipped into the entryway, quietly closing the door behind her. The muffled voices became louder, but they were still somewhere deeper in the house. Fen's ears twitched as she tried to focus on where the voices were coming from as she slowly worked her way deeper into the house.

Reaching a more ornately decorated door with a shiny brass knob, Fen could now clearly make out the voices of two men arguing over something. The older and gruffer of the two voices belonged to Chief Hazel, so the younger voice must be that of the noble. Unable to contain her curiosity any more after coming all the way here, Fen pressed her ear against the door and began to listen in on the conversation.

"What I am asking of you is that you explain why there is such a large discrepancy between this year's harvest and last?"

"Sir, with all due respect, I don't know how else to say that we were left severely short-handed this year with the viscount's conscription…"

"That point is irrelevant. Your lack of manpower is nothing more than evidence of your poor management of this village. When my father granted you the right to settle here, he instructed you on what was expected."

"Yes, he did, sir. To which I am truly grateful but…"

"Are you suggesting that his instructions were lacking? Or is it that you simply could not understand what it was you were told to do?"

"N-no. I fully understood what Baron Levin had asked of—"

"Then you were knowingly disobeying the orders of your Lord?"

"No Sir. I would never—"

"Then we had nothing further to discuss, I would be taking the amount owed to the Lord as was expected."

"B-But we would starve without that food! We've already lost 14 due to conscription, if we lost anymore we would—"

"You dared suggest that my father did not know the states of his lands and people? That was true insolence. And in front of a member of the Lord's family no less."

"I-I apologize, I did not mean any disrespect. Please, Sir Bach, was there no way we could renegotiate the year's taxes? I-if we didn't have the grain to make it through the winter we would have an even harder time with taxes next year."

"~tsk~ What was it besides this village's poor quality grain that you would offer to the Baron? Or were you going to offer us flowers as well?"

"I WOULD NEVER DO SUCH A THING!"

"HAHA! Then I expected the grain to be loaded and the documents signed."

"Wha! D-d-documents? What documents?"

Fen heard the man reach into a bag and roughly pull out a piece of parchment. Fen could hear footsteps move across the room as someone came to grab the document from him. She then heard the voice of her mother as she began reading the contents of the letter to Chief Hazel.

The language was flowery and there were a lot of expressions Fen didn't know, but she seemed to understand what the letter was telling Chief Hazel. Next year, the village would be expected to pay an additional 40% in taxes and the taxes must be paid with more than just the grain that had been used up until now. Along with the increase, all villagers between the ages of 15 and 18 who had not yet served under the baron would be collected and taken to the city. There they would be trained and serve the baron for 2 years before they were released and allowed to return to their village.

"Sir… I don't understand. What was it Lord Levin—"

"Do you truly not understand? If need be, I would ask my father to consider positioning someone new as the head of this village."

"I-I apologize."

"Good."

"What would happen if we were unable to provide the amount Lord Levin is asking for?"

"Simple, this village would be designated a failure and reseeded."

"Th-that wouldn't be necessary, we would ensure we had all that had been asked of us."

"Very good. Now, I am a busy man, have your people bring the grains to my cart near the gate."

Suddenly, the sound of the noble's boots on the hardwood floor approached the door from inside the room. Fen's face stiffened as she began to panic. Quickly looking around for a place to hide, Fen realized the closest door was too far to dive inside before being noticed. While she was still panicking in place, the door opened and the noble man walked out, bumping right into Fen causing her to fall over.

"~oof~"

"HOW DA—" the man began before suddenly stopping as he looked down at Fen. "Hmmmm. And what were you doing here, little beast girl?"

"I-I-I-I uh—" Looking up at the man, her face went pale. The young man, in his twenties maybe, looked down at her with a narrow, cold gaze. His eyes scanned her from top to bottom while she stuttered and tried to stand back up. She recognized the symbol on the man's vibrant coat, she had seen the same one earlier on Leonard. Standing just behind him, Fen's eyes fell on her mother, her eyes giving off a colder aura than the Noble she just offended by being in the way. "I-I… please e-excuse me sir."

Fen tried her best to suppress her terror and put on a normal expression as she tensed. A jolt of fear ran down her back as the man reached out and touched the red scarf around her neck. His cold eyes focused on the fabric in his hands as he analyzed its texture.

"This scarf, where did you find it?" Bach asked her, his voice now containing a hint of curiosity.

"I uh…" Fen's eyes darted around in a panic before her mother stepped forward into the noble's view.

"I apologize on behalf of my daughter, and ask for your understanding." Her mother said with a bow. "She did simple chores around the house and was not yet familiar with how to properly address one of your status. The scarf she was wearing was my gift to her for her birthday."

"Hmmmm." He narrowed his eyes as he looked between Fen and her mother, where his eyes seemed to linger. "Indeed. I wouldn't expect a commoner beast child to know how to speak with nobility."

His gaze returned to his hand as he felt the smooth fabric of the scarf again. "This is an exceptionally high quality fabric for such a simple scarf. It is impressive a commoner such as yourself was able to afford such a thing for this child." His eyes glanced back up at her mother. Fen thought she noticed a glint in his eyes for just a second before his face stiffened again. Quickly, he turned back to Hazel who was standing with a stunned expression. "Hmph. I can't afford to waste any more time. Hazel, have the grain loaded. I must report what we discussed to my father."

"Y-yes sir," Hazel's body stiffened almost to attention before he offered a low bow.

Bach's eyes watched Fen as he walked by before quickly turning and showing himself out of the house. As soon as the front door closed behind him, Fen let out a sigh of relief.

"Hello… My dear Fen…"

Every hair on Fen's body stood on end. She instinctively snapped to attention as her mother's cold voice entered her ears. Any color that momentarily returned to her face disappeared in an instant as the long anticipated scolding began.

---===---===---===---

~Splash~ ~Scrub~ ~Splash~

Standing over the washbasin, Fen aggressively scrubbed at the fabric, trying to get all of the dirt out of her clothes from yesterday. After receiving a scolding from her mother about the importance of listening and remembering what she was asked to do, Fen's mother dragged her home by the ear and had her start working down the list of chores that had been neglected over the last few days.

Sweeping and mopping the floors, scrubbing the walls, cleaning the soot out of the fireplace, washing the winter bedding and storing away the summer sheets. Boarding up windows and pulling out their winter clothes to be washed before the weather got any colder.

~Splash~ Scrub~

Fen took her thoroughly scrubbed white shirt and hung it on the small line in the front room to dry next to the rest of the laundry. After dumping the dirty water in the small ditch outside, Fen finished by scrubbing the washbasin out and putting it away next to the sink in the kitchen.

"Aaaaah. Finally done." Fen let out a sigh of relief. Looking over the small house, everything seemed to sparkle in the light coming through the window.

"Oh my, You certainly seem happy." Fen's mother said as she walked into the kitchen.

"Eeep." surprised, Fen stiffened, the tone in her mom's voice said she was still slightly upset, but the harsh tone from the night before seemed to have mostly subsided by now. "So… uhmmm?"

"Yes, Fen dear?"

"Am I allowed to go play with my friends now?"

"That depends."

"Urk…"

"Are you going to listen to what I ask of you from now on? Or do we need to start the chores again from the top?"

"I-I-I'll listen. Promise!"

"Hmmm… And what will you be doing with your friends?"

"Uhh… Jean said we would go catch another rabbel today, since Leonard stole ours yesterday."

"That's 'Sir Leonard'. You must remember how to address the nobility if you plan on becoming an adventurer."

"Yes mom… Wait. I mean, Yes mother. "

"That's better. And you say you want to catch another rabbel. If you are going to the forest, I want you to collect as many Fyellanium's as you can find. Do you remember what those are?"

"Those are the mushrooms with the pink stripes on the stem, I think."

"Yes. Don't confuse them with any others."

"Errr… I don't know if we'll have time…"

"This is an official request from the 'guild'. Now I wonder, would a good adventurer turn down an official request?"

"Yes, I accept the request." Fen said with a playful salute. Her mother's face softened as she patted Fen on the head.

"Alright. I'm trusting you to gather them, I plan on making a stew with them tonight." Hearing this, Fen's eyes sparkled. The mushroom stew her mother made was one of her favorites.

"Can you… Uhh… Maybe… Teach me how to make it?"

"Oh? You've never been interested in cooking before. I would be glad to."

"I need to learn how to cook for myself someday. And your mushroom stew is sooooo good!"

"Alright. Then tonight we will have your favorite and I will teach you how to make it. If you happen across any Phoenix Grass while you are out, I'll make it extra spicy, just how you like it."

"REALLY! I WILL FIND SOME TOO THEN!"

"Hehe, ok. If you can promise me you will collect the Fyellanium's, then I don't have any more reason to tell you that you can't go."

"THANK YOU MOM!" Fen said as she squeezed her in a tight hug. "I'LL GO GET MY THINGS!"

After throwing on her adventure clothes and grabbing her knife and a small bag for collecting the mushrooms, Fen dashed out of the house towards the village square. By then, the sun had already almost peaked in the sky, its warm rays helping to fight off the chilly air. Looking around the square for her friends, Fen could see a couple small carts set up from some traveling merchants. They usually stopped by around this time of year to purchase what they could of the fresh harvest before the snow began to fall. Standing near one of the carts and looking over the things they had set out on a simple table, Fen saw Lily thinking seriously about something.

"LILY!"

"Oh… Hey Fen. I didn't think I would see you today. Jean said he could hear your mom all the way from his house."

"Eek. He could hear that?"

"Haha, well, it's not unusual or anything."

Fen hung her head for a second before noticing what Lily was looking over. "Are you thinking about getting some of these?" Fen asked while pointing at a small basket with some simple iron arrowheads in it.

"Yeah. I really want some but I don't have any money."

"You the kids that brought in a rabbel yesterday?" the owner of the cart asked after noticing what they were looking at. "I heard it was a healthy lookin' one. You bring me some of the meat, I'll cut you a deal. Say 5 arrow heads a pound?"

"Really?"

"Sure. Ain't many hunters bringing in meat like that these days."

"OK!" Lily replied with a toothy grin.

"Wait… I thought we were going to use it as an offering?" Fen asked.

"Yeah but Jean and Risa aren't here and Kai can't leave the village without Jean."

"WHA! But we all talked about going together!"

"Jean and Risa are helping their families with winter preparations today. Granny Lestal said it's going to snow early this year."

"Awww." Fen said as her mood deflated.

"Just let me kill it this time, haha." Lily said, reminding Fen of what she told her the day before.

"ALRIGHT!" Fen's mood brightened again as she turned towards the gate. "LET'S GO!"

"Haha, wait up, I gotta go get my bow first."

"FEN! I FOUND SOME MORE OVER HERE!" Lily shouted while pointing at a small patch of bright white mushrooms with red and pink stripes running across them.

"COMING!" Fen said as she trotted over. "Hmmmm… this one and… uh… this one."

"Wait, what about those?"

"See how those are red? We only want the pink ones," Fen said as she pointed out the mushrooms she was leaving behind. "And see how these have stripes on the top, those ones are dangerous. They make you real sleepy if you eat them."

"Wow. I didn't know you knew so much about mushrooms."

"I don't. Just what my mom told me about how to pick the edible ones," Fen said, stuffing the two pink striped Fyellanium's in her bag, filling it. "I brought those ones home by accident once and we didn't find out until noon the next day. Mom was really angry about that."

"Haha. That sounds like something you would do."

"HEY!" Fen glared at Lily before turning back to looking for more mushrooms. "Too bad we haven't seen any rabbles yet today."

"They're probably all hiding after yesterday."

"Do you know any other—"

~BOOOOOOM~

The leaves in the trees shook, the forest went into a panic. The sound of animals running and birds leaping into the sky echoed around the two. The ground quivered beneath their feet as a shockwave rolled across the sky. As the two looked up in shock, dark clouds began rolling in, casting a shadow over the world as the vibrant colors of the forest became muted and gray.

"What was that!?" Lily said, looking towards the sound.

"The sky exploded. We should go back," Fen said, quickly jumping to her feet and rushing off into the forest with Lily close behind her. "We need to hurry!"

~Drip~ ~Drip~

As rain began to fall, the two began sprinting through the forest. Lily led them in a straight line back to the village. As they got closer, the muffled sounds of smaller explosions going off in front of them could be heard. Fen felt her heart rate quicken as her mind ran wild with worry and panic as more explosions continued to go off.

Reaching the edge of the forest, Fen and Lily's eyes both went wide. Above the small village, there was thick black smoke, trails of it billowing out of houses across the village.

"WHA! Fire!? What's going on?" Lily said, the panic evident in her voice.

"I-I don't know."

~BOOOOOOOM~

Just as they began running towards the gate in the distance, a flash illuminated some of the houses around it. The loud explosion caused Fen to skid to a stop and cover her ears. Looking up, a plume of dust and smoke could be seen, thrown into the air by the blast as another house caught on fire.

"We need to keep going. DASH!"

"Wait! PURSUIT!"

The two of them activated their skills and sprinted towards the gate again. As they slowed near the gate, they saw the body of someone in the road. Their faces went pale. Fen felt her stomach tighten.

Laying in the mud under the gate, Fen and Lily saw the cold body of Axzel. A crude spear had been driven through his heart, his stomach torn and bleeding into the puddle that was forming around his body.

Fen went to run over to him, but after only a few steps Lily grabbed her shoulder. "We need to go, we can't do anything for him."

"B-b-but…"

Grabbing Fen's arm, Lily began pulling her as they ran into the village towards the square. The sound of people screaming and metal clashing against stone and dirt could be heard over the crackling of the houses that were on fire. The streets were filled with dark smoke and the smell of iron as the village continued to burn around them.

As they got closer to the square, dozens of bodies of the innocent villagers lay spread across the muddy road. Tears started forming in Fen's eyes, both from the smoke or the distress. Fen's breathing became panicked as her eyes darted around. No matter where she looked, the carnage could be seen.

"MOM! I NEED TO FIND MY MOM!" Fen suddenly yelled, pulling away from Lily's grasp and running ahead.

As the two reached the entrance to the square, the sound of people screaming, coughing, and dying filled the air. Grouped up in the middle of the square were a dozen or so villagers, mostly women and children, surrounding them were six massive creatures.

Standing on two legs, the creatures were almost double the height of the average person, their bodies covered from head to toe in dark brown to black fur. They had long snouts with gnarled teeth and long ears like dogs, pierced with bits of bone and shiny baubles hanging off of them. Besides their grotesque adornments, their bodies were covered in damaged scraps of leather tied together with some kind of red and white cord, forming a patchwork of armor and scraps. One of them ran the tip of its clawed finger along the bloody edge of its weapon before bringing the finger to its mouth, inciting a cackling laugh from the others around it.

"HyaHahaHahaHya!"

Fen felt Lily's hand suddenly grasp her own, and she could feel the young hunter tremble in fear as she began to slowly pull Fen away. Carefully, the two backed away before turning and dashing between a pair of houses towards another street. As they burst out onto the road again, they saw a group of small children panicking and running together towards the gate.

"IT'S JEAN!" Lily yelled, causing the young man leading the children to turn and look in their direction.

"LILY! FEN! RUN! IT'S NOT SAFE HERE!"

"I'll help you get the kids out!" Lily yelled as she ran over, Fen only a few steps behind.

"Jean. Where's Ris—"

~BOOOOM~

Without warning, a burning hot sensation blasted over Fen. The world went white as her body was thrown backwards. After smashing into a wall and falling into a crumpled heap on the ground. The world around her became silent with only a painful ringing in her ears remaining. Her skin burned and she could feel small scratches and bruises covering her body. There were small tears in her clothes from the debris that was kicked up after the explosion went off right in front of her.

"J-J-JEAN! LILY!" Fen yelled as her eyes rolled around before finally focusing back on the spot where her friends were just standing.

For a moment, Fen's mind refused to recognize what she was seeing, her eyes instead flitting around, searching the street for the direction her friends must have run. Where they had been standing only seconds before, there was now a large smoldering crater, surrounded by splatters of flesh and blood.

*Drip*

Feeling something fall on the back of her hand, Fen looked down and saw splatters of blood and dirt staining her skin and clothes. Still dazed, her hand glided up to the warm and sticky liquid covering her face.

"WhAaAaAaAaAaAaAaA!!!!!!" As the horrific scene in front of her finally registered, Fen let out a pained scream as she stumbled forwards before falling to the ground. Her nails dug into the muddy ground as she tried to pull herself forwards towards the remains of her friends.

"HyaHahaHahaHya!"

Before she managed to drag herself more than a few inches, the loud cackling of one of those creatures could be heard from the rooftop above her. Her body began shaking uncontrollably with a feeling of pure terror. Her skin went cold.

~Thud~ ~Thud~

Two of the creatures slammed into the ground near the newly formed crater. And began maniacally cackling between themselves as they looked over the destruction they just caused.

Trembling, Fen pushed herself back into the alley, scrambling in the mud, desperately trying to get away from the brutal monsters in front of her. She hid herself behind a small crate in the dark alley and hugged her legs to her chest as she uncontrollably shook. Through her muffled sobs, covered by the sound of rain and destruction, Fen began to plead…

"P-p-please… someone… save me."

*Clang*

Hearing the sound of metal clashing against something solid, Fen's mind began slowly working against the instinctual fear that was telling her to do nothing but run as far away as possible. As the clashing of metal sounded again, Fen's mind latched onto the sound of someone's struggle and before she could comprehend what that meant, her body was already scrambling through the alley towards the sound.

At the end of the alley, Fen realized she was looking out over what remained of the small town square, where she and her friends would always meet before going out to play. The merchants' carts were in flaming pieces, with smoking craters littering the ground. The simple, stone walls of the only proper store in town were covered in deep gouges from the rock that was thrown violently into the air by the repeated magical explosions.

*Clang! Swoosh! Clang!*

Dashing around the center of the now decimated square were two figures. One of them, a hulking dog-headed beast, covered from head to toe in black and gray patches of leather and steel, cords of raw flesh tying them together into a grotesque suit of dented and rusting armor that was gaining new scrapes and scratches as it faced off against the much smaller opponent.

Facing the hulking monster with nothing more than a simple straight saber was a woman wearing a familiar set of leather armor that Fen had seen hanging in the corner of her mother's closet. Her usually warm smile was gone, replaced by the discerning gaze of a veteran adventurer. The eyes that looked at her adopted daughter with love, now stared down a creature more than twice her size with an icy coldness that Fen had never seen.

As the two lunged at each other, Fen watched her mother move as if she was gliding across the ground, skillfully using the flat of her blade to nudge the ferocious claws of her monstrous opponent away before quickly drawing the blade down and across the creature's tattered armor with a loud screeching sound. Her nimble movements allowed her to dash in and out of the relatively slow monster's reach, letting her one-sidedly slice and cut up the creature who was threatening her and the remaining few unconscious townspeople around her.

While Fen watched on, unable to do anything to help her mom, the battle suddenly changed. After sliding under the monster's arm, narrowly avoiding the razor-sharp claws, the two of them took distance from each other. The monster raised its clawed hands and with a guttural growl, raised them above its head, a swirling red ball forming between its palms. Fen's mother lowered her stance and poised with the tip of her blade pointed towards the creature's face. For a moment, the two froze in place, both appearing to wait for the opportune moment to unleash their next strike.

Seemingly unwilling to wait any longer, the monstrous creature brought its arms down, throwing the violently glowing red ball directly at Fen's mother.

"Tempest Step."

As the ball flew forward, Fen's mother muttered the name of one of her skills, one that those who knew her from her time as an adventurer would have recognized as her signature move. The air around her seemed to tremble before her mother vanished from her spot, accelerating forward like a rocket, the air exploding from the force of her body forcing it out of her way.

"MOM!" Fen screamed, no longer able to remain hidden after seeing the results of their final clash.

Fen's mother, now standing behind the creature with her blade outstretched, seemed to let out a breath she had been holding before collapsing to the ground where her other arm now lay. The creature, who managed to slice her mother's arm off in a last desperate struggle, fell to its knees, thick red blood seeping through the matted fur on its throat.

Fen burst out of the alley, falling to the ground next to her mother as tears started to form in her eyes. "Mom!"

Hearing her daughter's voice, Fen's mother's eyes opened before slowly focusing on the blurry figure of her daughter in front of her. "Fen… My dear… Fen," she whispered as her remaining hand brushed a tear off of her daughter's cheek.

"D-Don't worry mom… I-If we go to the church then…" Fen started, her voice shaking as her mind scrambled to find a way to save her mother.

"Fen."

"I'm sure Risa o-or the other cleric can…"

"Fen."

"We… We have to go… You're going to be…"

"Please… Fen." Her mother said as she cupped Fen's cheek and forced the panicking young girl to look her in the eyes. She could feel her own life ebbing away, and the pain in her daughter's eyes, causing her heart to break, knowing what she was about to say. "Please… My Dear… Fen… Listen to what I'm about to tell you."

For a moment, the chaotic scene around them seemed to fade away as her mother imparted a final request to her daughter.

"Fen… You don't… have much time… Please. Take me to the church."

"Y-Yes mom." Fen said, nodding her head through her tears before carefully lifting her mom who felt far lighter than she should have. Without waiting for anything else, Fen rushed towards one of the nearby alleys, avoiding the burning houses as she made a run for the lot on the edge of town where the small church was located.

Fortunately, the other monsters that were still lingering in the town were preoccupied with terrorizing any surviving villagers, allowing Fen and her dying mother to safely reach the front doors to the church before they were violently kicked open, allowing Fen to rush towards the front of the chapel.

"EEEEP!" A shrill scream followed by muffled sobs could be heard as the doors were slammed open.

"Place me on… the shrine." Her mother said, her voice growing weaker by the minute as blood continued to flow from her severed arm.

As Fen placed her mother on the shrine, Fen noticed a trembling figure huddled behind the shrine looking up at her. The young girl's blonde hair was covered in ash and soot, and the radiance in her blue eyes was clouded over by a look of terror. For a moment, the girl didn't seem to recognize Fen, her mind entirely consumed by fear.

"F-Fen…" Risa muttered, a small glint reappearing in her eyes as she started to recognize what was happening right in front of her. As the world came back into focus for the young healer, her eyes fell on Fen's mother, who seemed to be fighting with everything she had to hold out for just one more moment. "I-I-I… Let me…"

"It's… Ok." Fen's mother said, her voice becoming raspy as she stopped the young healer. "There is… nothing you can do… for me."

"Mom… D-Don't… Don't say that… Please…" Tears began falling from her eyes again as she squeezed her mothers hand that was starting to lose its warmth.

"It's alright… Fen… Please… I don't have… much longer…"

"..." Fen's voice caught in her throat. She desperately wanted to scream out loud and beg for her mother to be saved. To be able to assure her mom that she was going to be fine. But seeing the look in her mothers eyes, the words refused to form.

"Fen… Do you… Know the Prayer of… Offering?"

"..."

"I-I do…" Risa weakly answered.

"Good…" Fen's mother said, a small smile appearing on her face as she stared into her daughter's eyes. "Fen… Risa… Please… This is… All I can do for you now."

"..." Risa's eyes widened slightly at the woman's words.

"No… No… MOM! YOU CAN'T!" Fen wailed as she pressed her moms now cold hand against her face. "You can't… Please… Don't leave me…"

"I'm sorry… My dear… Fen… I wanted… to tell you so many things… You… still have so much… to learn… I want you… to see the future… still… so please… let me give you… one last gift."

"Please…" Fen begged, her voice becoming quiet as her tears fell to the floor.

"In reverence, I seek your divine presence,

Offering my heartfelt sacrifice at your sacred altar.

With humility, I surrender myself wholly,

An offering symbolic of my devotion and love."

Fen's mother began chanting, her voice no more than a whisper.

"May this sacrifice be a testament of my faith,

A gesture of surrendering my desires to your will.

In this act of devotion, I seek your blessings,

Guidance, and grace to illuminate a path."

Fen, still clutching her mothers hand, and Risa, kneeling next to her continued the sacred prayer.

"I give this offering, in service to all creation.

I surrender my desires, my ego, and my attachments.

May this sacrifice be a catalyst for transformation,

May it kindle the sacred fire of growth,

Igniting a divine spark within my soul."

As the prayer came to an end, Fen's mother, laying atop the simple wooden altar, began to glow, wisps of red energy swirling around her body.

"Fen… You must… Become stronger… To protect what you love." Her mother said. "I can't go with you… But… I will always… watch over you…"

"Mom…" Fen choked out, no longer able to see through the tears falling from her eyes.

"I… Love you…"

"MOM!" Fen screamed as her mothers arm went limp in her hands, her eyes closing.

"My dear Fen." She said, as her body flashed, turning into particles of red and green light that rose up to the sky.

"Mooooooom! Please, I don't want to be alone… Someone… Save…" Fen's pained scream echoed throughout the small church as she collapsed to the ground sobbing and pleading before finally losing consciousness.