"There, there, Coconut," Harry said as he soothed his horse and fed it a carrot. "You're such a good girl."

"C'mon, let's go," Zero called out as he got back on his horse after the quick stop. "We're almost there."

Harry reluctantly stopped petting his horse and climbed on its back. The two had been traveling for close to three hours and were almost at their destination. As they traveled, the trees surrounding the road started thickening as traces of humanity slowly disappeared. The road they were currently using was old and worn out.

This area did not receive many visitors and was secluded from the outside world. As Zero continued riding toward the village, he could swear that he felt countless eyes staring at him from the dark, but when he looked around, all that surrounded him was the eerie swaying trees. The wind whistling through the branches created an uncanny melody and even the sunshine seemed cold to the touch.

After a couple more minutes, the uncomfortable feeling suddenly disappeared as Zero and Harry spotted the outlines of the village in the distance. As they approached closer, they could see a figure waiting by the entrance of the village, waving. It was a young woman with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a beautiful smile.

"Welcome to Woodland Village!" She shouted as they were coming closer. "Are you two here on any business?"

"We accepted an assignment that was posted to the Mercenary Guild," Zero replied. "Someone from your village has requested help?"

"Oh yes!" She laughed. "I nearly forgot about that! My name is Ezia, by the way!"

"I'm Zero and this is Harry," Zero said as he slid off the back of his horse. "So what's wrong?"

"The villagers have just been hearing a lot of noises in the woods surrounding the village lately," Ezia responded. "We fear that it might be a pack of Moonfang Wolves."

"Moonfang Wolves?" Harry asked. "They usually don't inhabit areas near human settlement, unless another predator took over their previous area. I wonder what could've driven them away from their home?"

Zero and Harry led their horses inside the village as they spoke to Ezia, resulting in many stares from nearby villagers who greeted them and waved.

"Everyone here is really friendly, huh?" said Harry.

"More people are always welcome," Ezia answered.

Zero then spotted something plastered over the walls as they walked through the village.

"What are all those ripped pieces of yellow paper?" Zero questioned the young woman.

"Oh, that?" Ezia laughed. "They're just talismans that the villagers used to put up to ward off evil from attacking the village."

As the conversation continued, the duo were led to an empty stable where they could leave their horses.

"They'll be well taken care of here," Ezia said. "Now let me show you two around the lovely village."

"See you later, Coconut," cried Harry as he petted the horse one last time. "We won't be long."

Ezia led them away from the stable and toward the other buildings in the quiet village.

"Here is the school where we teach our young."

As Zero and Harry walked closer, they suddenly heard a burst of laughter coming from the school as they saw children running around in the schoolyard. Two children were aimlessly kicking a ball back and forth while the rest were playing some sort of tag.

"Here is the tavern which serves some of the most delicious food I've ever tasted."

When the two of them walked near the tavern, they began to hear rowdy laughter and chattering abruptly emanating from the building.

"I encourage you to try some of our delicacies later," remarked Ezia. "We'll make sure to give you a discounted price."

"I don't think we have the time for that."

"Please, I insist," Ezia said as she slowly blinked her hazel eyes. "You're helping us, after all. We'll be honored to have you dine here."

Zero distinctly felt something was wrong, but couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Alright, then," Zero relented.

Suddenly, one of the villagers walked up to them, saying, "One of the children has run into the woods. We've tried searching for her to no avail. We're worried that if we're too late the wolves might..."

"We got it." Zero interjected. "Lead the way. Where was she last?"

The three followed the villager to an area that was not properly fenced off like the rest of the village.

"What happened here?" Zero asked as he nudged aside one of the broken posts with his feet.

The fence looked like it had been ripped off from the ground and thrown aside with great force. The splinters from the broken wood littered the surrounding ground.

"It's the wolves," the villager replied. "Has Ezria told you about them?"

"Yeah. Let's get going before the kid meets one of them," Zero said before he entered the woods.

Zero, Harry, and Ezia split up to hunt for the kid while the villager returned to the village to ask for more help.

"Call out if you run into any trouble," Zero reminded Harry and Ezia.

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The uneasy feeling of being stared at returned as Zero continued searching for the missing child. Countless eyes seemed to stab into Zero's back while he looked for any hints of the kid's whereabouts. Before long, he found a clue. It was a splash of blood on the bark of a tree.

However, the blood was dried and was a dirty brown color instead of the bright red it should have been if it was recent. As Zero tried to look for more traces of the blood, a sudden scream sounded out.

[Skill Acquired: Spirit Scream]

[New feature unlocked.]

It was a high-pitched scream that seemed to rattle Zero's brain inside his skull. Zero turned around and ran toward the source of the scream, as that was where Harry had gone off earlier. The scream was continuous, increasing in intensity and effectiveness as Zero got closer.

He felt as if someone was directly stabbing his brain with a burning hot needle, causing him to almost lose his sense of balance. When he eventually stumbled to the source of the noise, covering his ears as best as he could, he saw Harry alongside Ezia.

Harry was unconscious on the floor while Ezia was grabbing her face with one hand and trying to crawl away with the other. Zero quickly looked around and located the origin of the scream. It was a small toad dotted with bright red spots all over its body stretching its mouth impossibly wide for something of its size.

Zero hurriedly grabbed his bow and shakingly notched an arrow onto the string before letting it fly.

[You have slain a Soul Splitting Toad. +15 EXP.]

The arrow killed the toad without resistance before exploding and sending parts of the toad everywhere. Zero then ran over to Harry before casting {Major Heal}, restoring a bleeding wound that he had on the top of his head. He turned to Ezia to check to see if she was okay.

She had recovered and was walking toward Zero and Harry with a worried expression on her face.

"Is he alright?" Ezia asked anxiously. "I see the blood, is he badly cut?"

"He's fine now," Zero answered. "What happened?"

"When that monster started screaming, he fainted and hit his head on a rock," Ezia explained embarrassedly. "I was trying to crawl away for help."

"I thought you two were exploring different areas of the forest," Zero raised an eyebrow. "Did you find something?"

"I-"

Ezia's sentence was cut short as the plants around them rustled and several wolves emerged from the darkness. The giant wolves snarled and revealed their razor-like teeth.

They must've been attracted by all that noise earlier. Shit. There are eight of them and I have to protect the other two. This is bad.

Zero tried to inch closer to Harry to protect him, but the movement caused one of the wolves to growl and leap at Ezia. She froze in apparent shock but an arrow came whistling through the air and struck the leg of the wolf. The Moonfang Wolf yelped in pain and stopped its movements before the arrow exploded.

The wolf's leg was sent flying a few meters away in pieces while a portion of its body was also scorched from the explosion. It stumbled to the ground in shock as the rest of the pack came to assist the wolf. Two of the other wolves turned their attention to Zero and lunged at him.

Zero quickly leaped back, casting {Dark Fireball} at each of the wolves, blasting them both and burning them. They howled in pain as they rolled around on the ground, trying to put out the burning purple fire to no avail. Zero then shot one of them in the skull with an arrow, blasting its head apart and killing it.

[You have slain a Moonfang Wolf. +20 EXP.]

Before Zero could end the misery of the other one, another of the wolves came forward and dragged the injured wolf back toward the rest of the pack. They warily stared at Zero before they growled and ran away, dragging their injured comrades with them. The remaining Moonfang Wolf corpse was left behind, the smell of burning flesh still lingering in the air.

Behind him, Harry groaned and stirred as he slowly woke up.

"Where am I?" he muttered as he held the back of his head.

Ezia rushed to his side and said, "It's fine now, the wolves are gone. Your friend scared them away."

"He did? That's good," Harry said as he tried to stand up.

Zero suddenly heard noises in the distance and he prepared himself for another battle with the wolves. As the figure got closer, he saw that it was the villager from before.

The villager ran to them shouting, "Good news! We've found the girl!"

"Alright," Zero replied as he dusted off his clothes. "Then let's head back. I doubt those wolves will bother you guys again."

They all returned to the village without any further attacks from the wolves or accidents.

"Let's go back," Zero said, planning on returning to the stable to retrieve their horses.

He disliked the uncomfortable sensation of having his every move watched. Now he could finally leave since the assignment was completed. Before he could get far, Ezia stopped him and then smiled.

"Don't forget your promise," Ezia chuckled. "The chefs at the tavern will be pleased to cook for you after all your help."

Zero frowned.

"We-" he began before getting interrupted by Harry.

"We'll be happy to," said Harry as he nudged Zero with his elbow. "Aren't you hungry after all that?"

"Fine," Zero sighed.

Ezia smiled, "Perfect!"

She then led the two of them to the earlier tavern before leaving and saying, "Enjoy your meal."

Zero and Harry walked inside to be met with the sound of glasses clinking and tableware clashing with the plates. The tables were all occupied other than one.

"They're really popular here, huh?" Zero remarked as he looked around.

A waiter immediately walked up to them and sat them down at the table.

"Azia told me about you two," the waiter said with a bright smile. "We'll make sure to show you our best!"

"Yeah, Ezia has also told us about your food," Harry responded. "I'm excited."

"Then we'll give you two servings of tonight's special," declared the waiter. "It'll be a surprise!"

"That'll do," nodded Zero.

The waiter walked off as Zero started chatting with Harry. After a few minutes, Harry grimaced and rubbed the back of his head.

"Ow, it still kind of stings."

"Is your head okay? I knew we should've just gone back. That Soul Splitting Toad really did a number on you earlier."

"Soul Splitting Toad?" Harry questioned. "I thought it was the wolves that attacked me. I didn't even hear the toad earlier."

"What?"

"Yeah, I felt something hit me in the back of the head before everything went dark."

Before Harry could continue explaining, the waiter walked up with their food. He handed out two plates, each with a sizzling cut of meat surrounded by garnish.

"Wow, it looks good!" Harry said, eyes shining.

"Enjoy your food!" the waiter smiled before walking off.

Before Zero began to eat, he suddenly remembered that earlier in the forest, the system had sent him a notification.

[New feature unlocked.]

[{Inspect} unlocked.]

System, what's this?

[As you gain skills and level up, more features will become available to you. Try using the {Inspect}. It reveals information about objects around you.]

Zero activated the {Inspect}, causing his MP to start draining. He looked down at the cut of meat in front of him, resulting in him freezing in shock. He then glanced around him at the other diners, as he suddenly reached a hand out to Harry to stop him from eating.

"Let's go," Zero said solemnly. "Put that thing down."

"But why?" Harry whined. "Our food just came out and I'm hungry. I didn't even get to eat a bite."

"Let's go," Zero reiterated as he tried to stand up. "It's urgent."

The waiter from before suddenly walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Where are you going, sir? You haven't even touched your food yet."

"We're not hungry anymore," Zero replied coldly. "We're leaving now."

The waiter then placed more force into his hand as he began pressing Zero to sit down back into his chair.

"Please, sir. Our chefs spent a lot of time making this meal for you."

"Let's just eat, Zero," Harry hissed. "Everyone's watching now."

Harry was right. The tavern had gone dead silent with all the other diners staring at their table. The tension in the room mounted before Zero finally relented.

"I see," Zero said with a smile as he began sitting back down. "Then I'll just enjoy my meal."

"That's good," the waiter responded, removing his hand from Zero's shoulder. "If yo-"

Before the waiter could finish talking, Zero had already removed the dagger that was concealed at his waist and slashed the waiter across the throat. The waiter's eyes bulged as black blood began gushing from the wound.

"ZERO!" Harry screamed. "WHAT THE FUCK!"