The dense, shadowy expanse of the Grandram Forest loomed before them, a place few dared to tread. Ancient, gnarled trees with twisted branches formed a nearly impenetrable canopy, allowing only pale, sickly light to filter through. Ghostly shadows danced on the forest floor, creating an eerie and foreboding atmosphere. The air was thick with the scent of damp earth and decaying leaves, a constant reminder of the forest's age and untamed nature.

Navigating the forest floor was a challenge in itself. The uneven and treacherous terrain, covered in wet, slippery leaves and tangled roots, made every step a gamble. Pools of stagnant water dotted the landscape, their surfaces coated with a film of algae. The soundscape was a disconcerting symphony of muffled forest noises—rustling leaves, distant bird calls, and creaking trees—adding to the sense of unease.

A strange howl echoed through the forest, like a miserable wail reverberating through the woods. Charlie stood at the ready, holding his wand. The sound of lightning crackled in the air as he summoned his magic. Before him, monstrous beasts the size of wolves, seemingly made of shadows and smoke with glowing yellow eyes that pierced through the gloom, emerged. They moved with sinister grace, their forms shifting and flickering as if barely tethered to reality.

With a roar, the pack charged at Charlie, their claws tearing through the underbrush with terrifying speed. Charlie's mind raced—he knew he had to act fast.

Waving his wand, Charlie chanted in an obscure dialect, “Fulguris Telum!” A glowing circle flared to life at the tip of his wand, crackling with energy as it completed. Bolts of searing lightning shot forth from the circle, arcing towards the leading beast. The lightning struck true, and the creature howled in pain, its form flickering violently before it disintegrated into a puff of smoke. Seeing the effect, Charlie continued to channel his lightning magic, his voice steady, “Fulguris Telum!” One by one, the creatures fell to his electrical onslaught.

As the three remaining creatures closed in on him, Charlie remained calm. He knew that retreating now would be disastrous. The rune at his feet shone brighter than ever. A powerful gust of wind erupted from the rune, sending the creatures flying upward. They crashed heavily to the ground, disoriented and vulnerable.

Seizing the moment, Charlie waved his wand and summoned another magic circle. “Fulmen Transitus!” A bolt of lightning slithered from one wolf creature to another, chaining through them all. Their forms flickered violently before each one disintegrated into smoke, leaving no trace of their presence.

As the last of the creatures disappeared, Charlie took a moment to catch his breath. He surveyed the area, his mind troubled. Why had these creatures granted him no experience? After such an intense battle, he should have seen an improvement in his experience points. Instead, they remained exactly the same as before the fight.

Bringing his protective eyewear up, as if to get a better view, Charlie heard Huey say, "Well done, well done. I'm impressed." He began applauding.

Charlie shot back, "Don't mock me."

"I'm not. I'm genuinely impressed. This is a huge improvement from the you of three weeks ago. I saw how fast you disposed of those creatures."

While the praise reached Charlie's heart, his focus was on a particular part of the sentence. "Three weeks... three weeks since you've had me restrained in these fucking woods," he lamented, stomping his feet and splashing into the wet ground. "Three weeks of trees, leaves, trunks, mosquitoes, insects of all sorts, and again, fucking trees. That's without mentioning the monsters that are fucking everywhere."

"Come on, Charlie. Aren't woods the natural habitats of you el—"

Charlie threw him a killing stare, one he seemed to have developed in the three weeks they spent in the woods. "Don't you dare finish that sentence. I'm not one of those elves you think all elves are. I'm no tree hugger. I'm an elf who likes his feet dry, his home warm, his soup tasty, not this."

"Aight, sorry, that was just a joke."

"That wasn't funny."

Charlie was on his last straw, and that was understandable. Huey had really brought him to his limits. It was the first time in a very long time that Charlie, who was very much an indoor and somewhat reclusive elf, was put into a situation very similar to this one. The last time dated back to when the man they referred to as "Grandpa" brought them to the outskirts of these very woods to earn their first experience for their first level-ups. With Grandpa gone, everyone who could convince Charlie to return to that place was gone. Huey had tried to convince him to come because, despite Grandpa's departure, Huey still made a routine of trying to level up. But he never managed to get his friend to come, which is why Charlie was stuck so far behind in level despite them being the same age.

Huey said, "Try looking at the good side of it."

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"Like what?" Charlie asked.

"Like what? Buddy, you're a level Memory Keeper now. You've leveled up your [Air Magic] to level 2, [Imprint Magic] to level 2, meaning you can now cast runes to the full potential of both your magic-type skills, and several other useful skills. You may think what you want about how uncomfortable this was, but you can't deny that we made quite the gain here."

After a moment of silence, Charlie admitted, "For that, it was worth it, I admit."

"Right? If we keep up this pace, I'm sure that in less than a year I'll be able to close the gap in level that's been dug between us."

While Huey said that with good intent, Charlie's focus was once again on a section of his sentence. "I was jok—" Huey started, but before he could finish, his attention, just like Charlie's, was drawn to something that appeared in their field of view.

The creature emerged from deeper within the woods, its massive frame covered in tangled vines and rotting foliage. Its glowing yellow eyes pierced the murky darkness, staring intently at them. The creature's body seemed to shift and pulsate, as if barely contained by its form, and a sense of malevolence emanated from it.

"Guess we have a guest," Huey remarked.

Charlie nodded, and Huey added, "Seems like I'll have to help out with this one."

With a swift, practiced motion, Huey reached behind his back and drew forth his weapon – Soul Shredder. At first glance, it might be mistaken for a circular two-handed battle axe, but it was actually a multi-bladed circular axe attached to a spear-sized handle. The weapon's imposing circular blade gleamed menacingly, its serrated edges promising a swift end to anyone or anything that dared approach.

Huey began cranking the end of Soul Shredder's handle—once, twice, three times, four times. After the fifth crank, he glanced at Charlie and mumbled, "After you."

Charlie wanted to say something but decided against it. He began chanting, "Arananthala zyn eloreth," sending a large bolt of lightning at the creature. Despite the time it took him to prepare the attack, the lightning cut through the air with such speed that it seemed like it would hit its mark. But in that moment, with a grace that belied its massive size, the beast sidestepped, avoiding the lightning, which crashed somewhere deeper into the woods.

"Tsk," Charlie muttered in annoyance.

Huey launched himself into the air, shouting, "I got this! Die for me! Skyfall Cleave," as he activated his skill [Feral Cleave], swinging hard at the spot where the creature had just stood. The ground shook with a mini-earthquake, and a large amount of mud was unearthed, creating a crater. But the target of the attack was unscathed, having backed away with the same speed it used to evade Charlie's attack at the last second. In a split second, the creature had withdrawn dozens of meters away from its spot, avoiding a direct hit.

"You're not getting away," Huey said, adjusting his stance, clearly planning to charge and confront the creature head-on.

"Huey, I'm—" Charlie began to warn, but at that moment, the creature let out a howl. Dozens of smaller creatures emerged from its shadow, resembling the ones Charlie had just defeated.

From the moment Charlie saw the creatures defeated without granting him experience, he understood that they weren't normal monsters. Even monsters born from dungeons, which disappear at death, grant experience points upon defeat. These did not, indicating they were summoned through a skill. The creature ahead was the summoner.

The summoned creatures rushed toward Huey. He adjusted his stance, and as they came within reach, he initiated Soul Shredder's spinning action. Soul Shredder, one of their grandfather's last creations, was specially designed for the barbarian that Huey was. It operated on a clever mechanical principle. A central axle ran through the weapon's handle, connected to a series of gears that engaged when Huey turned a crank integrated into the grip. This action set the heavy blade disk into rapid rotation, harnessing Huey's considerable strength to generate immense centrifugal force. As the disk spun, its momentum grew, transforming each swing into a devastating arc of destruction, capable of cleaving through armor and bone with terrifying ease.

Against the creatures, the weapon was deadly. One swing took down two-thirds of their number, and with a second swing, he intended to take them all down. He almost succeeded, but one creature had quick enough reflexes to jump, sparing it from being instantly obliterated. It bypassed Huey and went straight for Charlie, closing the distance quickly.

Charlie had no time to summon his magic, but he didn’t need to. He unholstered Stormstriker and pulled the trigger. The gunshot echoed loudly, and the creature instantly disintegrated as if it had never been there. Charlie blew on the smoking barrel.

As he did, Huey, cranking his Soul Shredder, said, "Damn, Charlie, did you forget what we agreed on about guns?"

"No, we agreed not to use guns for this," Charlie replied.

Much like Huey’s Blitz Blaster, Stormstriker had once been their grandfather's gun. It was an artifact created using unique infusion, a technique of the Memory Keeper class. While Charlie, a low-level Memory Keeper, could only marvel at the magic craftsmanship used to create Stormstriker, the gun’s external infusion meant that the experience gained from defeating creatures with it was minimal, if existent at all. This was why they had agreed not to use guns, as harvesting as much experience as possible was the goal.

"The creatures aren't granting experience anyway," Charlie added. "Besides, I didn't just use a gun because I felt like it. I used it because I didn't have any other choice."

"Hm?" Huey responded.

"I'm out of MP."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"Man, did you even properly level magical attributes or did you end up investing your attribute points on the wrong attributes?"

"I have invested them into the right attributes, 3 points into Perception, 5 into Affinity, it's just that it's not enough to make me have dozens of times more MP than before."

"Alright," Huey glanced at the creature, then uncranked Soul Shredder. "Well, Charlie, what are you waiting for? Retreat."