“Hey, I’ve got a question before you explain that cube,” I said to Thea as we walked.

“Yeah?” she replied.

“About your system,” I started, mulling over the thought. “I remember you got five stat points. When you got those, do you get to decide how to use them?”

“I kept them,” she answered. “I can assign them myself whenever I want.”

“Must be nice,” I muttered, falling silent for a moment. Thea was leading the way, seeming oddly confident about our destination. “So—the cube?” I prompted.

“Oh, it’s amazing!” She turned to me with a bright smile. “It shows me a map of the area. In my system, I can see the entire town and the forest around us.”

That sounded oddly futuristic, even for the system. It was literally a minimap. “Who makes things like that?” I asked, my thoughts wandering. The spatial gates came to mind too—what kind of technology or magic powered them?

As we reached the edge of a forest near the town, Thea let go of my hand and began stretching. I joined her, copying her movements. “I don’t know for sure,” she said, “but I heard when I was young that there are unique classes outside the main four. Maybe they make stuff like this.”

I nodded but didn’t dwell on it. If these tools required a system to use, they were useless to me anyway. Still, for things like the sealing remedies—those strange pills and elixirs—I wondered if we could make some money from them. Maybe if we recruited someone with a unique class, we could reverse-engineer their skills.

“Thea? Why did you pick this forest?” I asked, curiosity creeping into my voice.

“Oh, I forgot to mention,” she said, pausing mid-stretch. “The map is labeled.”

“Okay…” I prompted, sensing the catch.

“This one is called the Forest of Monsters.”

“And you chose it willingly?” I groaned, running a hand down my face.

“It sounded promising,” she said with a mock pout, as if I’d insulted her judgment. “You don’t think so?”

That face was so unfair. “Ready?” I asked, brushing off my hesitation.

“Ready,” she confirmed, her tone brimming with excitement.

I recalled the commander’s teachings about the creatures we were hunting. Alone, they were supposed to be skittish, but if we chased one, it might lead us to the rest of the group. Perfect for our mission.

Thea and I walked through the forest in silence, staying hyper-aware of our surroundings. We spotted a few tree rodents—or, you know what? Let’s just call them puffer squirrels—but decided not to bother with them.

Then, behind a bush, a little rabbit appeared. Except this one had claws like a bear. It just stood there watching us. It’s beady eyes screaming with hunger.

“Thea?” I whispered, my voice low. “Aren’t they supposed to be skittish?”

She shifted into a defensive stance, and I felt her circulating her energy. “Not if they’re in groups,” she replied.

“Oh.” As if on cue, another rabbit—simultaneously cute and terrifying—hopped into view. Then another. And another. And another…

You get the idea.

We needed three of these monsters for our mission, so it wasn’t necessarily bad that they just kept appearing. More than ten had surrounded us before they finally stopped popping up.

A thought struck me. “So…” I dragged the word out, my voice a mix of disbelief and amusement. “Should we have brought some weapons?”

Before Thea could respond, several of the small creatures leapt at us, their speed catching me slightly off guard. I had to admit, they were faster than I’d expected.

Still, this wasn’t as bad as I’d feared. Sure, keeping an eye on my back for surprise attacks was tricky, and their coordination was annoyingly good, but this? This was the mood booster I needed. After sparring with Thea, I’d almost forgotten how fast I was in comparison to most things.

We moved instinctively, splitting in opposite directions. Thea was a blur, faster than me by a wide margin, darting toward one of the Packclaws. With alarming precision, she grabbed it by the scruff of its neck. It squirmed for half a second before twitching violently and going limp.

That was just unfair. And honestly, I really needed to make sure I didn’t get on her bad side. The way she channeled lightning through her touch was downright terrifying.

Two of the small critters lunged at me, their claws slicing through the air where I’d been a moment earlier. I stepped aside smoothly, dodging with just enough room to spare.

Okay, come on. I have to do more than just dodge. My mind raced for options. I could grab them and try to snap their necks, but that felt... unpleasant. Besides, I had no clue how much force was needed for something like that. Breaking necks wasn’t exactly in my skillset.

Another Packclaw charged, forcing me to roll away and stumble awkwardly into a shrub. Meanwhile, Thea dispatched another with ease, though I noticed beads of sweat forming on her forehead. Was she starting to run out of MP?

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Alright, focus. My shotgun force blast was too powerful for these small creatures. But… if I could condense a needle in my Grand Channel, why not try to shape something similar outside? A more refined bullet.

I shifted my stance, dodging another swipe, and concentrated. The battle wasn’t so overwhelming that I couldn’t spare some focus for this. Gathering energy was second nature by now: pull it in, condense it, and shape it. I could feel it starting to form—faster, requiring less force.

A sharp nick on my neck broke my concentration as I sluggishly avoided another clawed attack. These little beasts weren’t aiming to just injure us—they were clearly going for the kill.

Thea took down yet another one, her strikes precise but slowing. She had to be running low on MP now.

Focus. Extend a thread of energy, refine it, and—

Another Packclaw lunged at me, its claws aimed right for my chest. I raised my hand instinctively, releasing the energy I’d been shaping.

There was no visible projectile—just a subtle ripple in the air. The creature froze mid-leap, its momentum arrested by the sudden force. For a moment, it just hung there, suspended in midair.

I swear, if a bunny could look confused, this one did.

The small blast of air gently rustled its floppy ears as the Packclaw dropped to the ground with a soft thud, then it stood up unharmed. My breath caught for a second. It worked.

“Magnificent,” I muttered, unable to suppress a grin.

“Peter? What are you doing over there?” Thea called out, her voice tinged with disbelief. She was panting, surrounded by a clearing of chaos that probably looked like I was playing with a rabid, bear-clawed, man-eating bunny.

Sure, I hadn’t exactly harmed the creature—yet. Honestly, it probably appreciated my actions so far. But all I needed was a bit more oomph. On top of that, this technique was something I could perform much faster and far more times than the shotgun blast. A win in my book.

Refocusing, I divided my attention between dodging the lunges of the remaining creatures and gathering more energy. My movements became sharper as I fell into the rhythm of the fight. Dodge, sidestep, gather. Dodge again.

One of the little critters lunged at me just as I finished preparing. This time, I raised my hand with more confidence. The result was immediate. A sharp, invisible force pierced the creature’s head—a clean, precise strike. It didn’t fully penetrate, but it was enough. The rabbit plummeted to the ground, motionless.

“I did it!” I yelled triumphantly, glancing over at Thea. Then I froze.

There she stood, surrounded by six motionless Packclaws. Six. Compared to my one. The rest of the pack had scattered during the battle—clearly terrified of me, obviously. Yeah… that had to be it.

We stared at each other for a moment, then glanced down at our respective "bounties," and back up again.

“Nice work,” Thea said, her smirk sharp enough to cut through steel.

The silence stretched as I puffed out my chest, adopting the most prideful look I could muster. “I…” I paused dramatically, savoring the moment. “Have just invented a new skill. Air Lance.”

Thea let out a low whistle, feigning admiration. “Sounds powerful.”

I gestured toward my lone fallen Packclaw. “One-shotted. Interested in learning?”

This time, she nodded wholeheartedly, laughing at our little play. “Yeah, and I still need to figure out that ‘birthday present’ you gave me too. Why don’t you teach me later?”

“I wonder if the system will try to outdo my names?” I mused aloud as we picked up the rabbits, splitting them evenly.

“Well…” She dragged out the word, eyeing me teasingly. “I’m not sure I like your new one, but the other—what was it? Shotgun… something?” She paused, tilting her head as we walked back. “I mean, what even is that?”

“You know what a crossbow is?” I asked.

She shook her head.

“Uh… well… hm.” I hesitated, realizing that explaining modern weapons to her might take longer than just renaming the skill. “Maybe just having a new name is better than explaining this.”

I could’ve called it Scatter Shot or something similar, but that didn’t feel like it did justice to the weapon. I’ll just see what Thea’s system comes up with.

“Let’s go over it together once we get back,” I said instead.

It was a little awkward carrying the limp, clawed rabbits through town and into the Grand Hall, but no one questioned it. Once inside, Thea completed her first mission, earning seventy points for our efforts.

Not bad for a casual afternoon of bunny hunting.

I took it upon myself to select another mission, scanning the wall until something caught my eye. “Exploration?”

I turned to Thea. “Has this area not been explored?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know… but the State is a big place.”

That confused me. Sure, this world might be difficult to map out given the apparent time period, but they had tools like minimaps. If the planet were roughly the same size as my home, gravity should be the same—unless its composition was vastly different. Fantasy world logic.

I shook my head, pushing away thoughts of school. Physics was never my strong suit.

“What are you shaking your head for?” Thea gave me a suspicious look.

“I was thinking. What?” I grinned and added sarcastically, “You don’t randomly move your body while thinking?”

She rolled her eyes. “So, you’re taking the exploration mission? It could take a few days.”

I raised an eyebrow. “And you don’t want a break from this place?”

She paused before nodding. “Good point.”

I registered the mission, noting the week-long time limit and the reward structure based on discoveries.

As we started toward the inn for dinner, Thea studied the mission details. “I think we should bring everyone,” she said, pointing at the paper.

“No problem with that. But why?”

She turned the paper toward me, showing a rough map drawn onto it. “The area we need to explore is a cave a few hours from here… though, for us, we could probably run—”

I cut her off before she got too excited. “No running.”

She looked at me in amusement.

“You know—to conserve energy,” I added.

Thea sighed, shaking her head. “Do you even get tired anymore from a simple run?”

I thought about it. “Well… no,” I admitted, scrambling for an excuse. “But, we could spend the time chatting.” I threw in a little extra sweetness, trying to make it sound romantic.

She rolled her eyes. “Right.”

I smirked but let it go as she continued. “Anyway, the route cuts through the forest pretty deep. It’s a bottom-rank mission, but…” she trailed off.

“We aren’t exactly experienced with everything that’s out there,” I finished for her. “Maybe we should check the Greats for more information.”

“Maybe,” she agreed.

We kept talking as we walked, our conversation shifting between plans and idle banter. Before long, we reached the inn, the warm scent of fresh food wrapping around us the moment we stepped inside.

After the day’s hunt, it was exactly what we needed.