The carriage halted with a soft creak as its wheels stopped rolling over the earthy forest floor. Inside the vehicle, Aria, her expression impassive, calmly placed a hand on the door handle and opened it.

“Aren’t you going to wake your maid?” Esmeria whispered from the shadow cast at her feet, her tone tinged with mild amusement.

Though unnecessary in an emergency, Esmeria planned to use the maid as a distraction to buy Aria time to escape if things went wrong.

Aria barely tilted her head toward the voice before replying coldly.

“She would only get in the way.”

This answer surprised Esmeria, as it revealed just how self-assured Aria was.

Esmeria let out a muffled chuckle and murmured:

“Very well, then. Let’s go.”

Without hesitation, Aria stepped fluidly out of the carriage and strode alone into the forest. Around her, the last remnants of daylight filtered through the branches as the sun dipped below the horizon.

As Aria pressed forward, the temperature began to drop, and darkness spread around her, devouring the path behind her.

While this wasn’t a bad thing—it heightened the effectiveness of Esmeria’s powers—most would have hesitated. Yet despite the fading light, Aria neither stopped nor faltered.

She walked with the same tranquility as if she were in a library, unaffected by the forest’s ominous atmosphere.

Ambushing foes in a shop was one thing, but facing beasts for the first time was entirely different. Esmeria couldn’t stop wondering:

Was Aria this confident in her own abilities, or did she believe Esmeria would intervene if things went wrong?

From the shadows, Esmeria watched her with fascination and curiosity. Most humans, even seasoned fighters, would show at least a flicker of tension in such a setting. But Aria… this child betrayed not a trace of fear.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

A crackle echoed through the thicket, cutting through Esmeria’s thoughts. Aria heard it too and, without turning her head, spoke softly:

“Give me directions.”

Esmeria focused briefly, sensing the presence of creatures lurking in the forest shadows.

“Behind us, slightly to the right,” she replied.

Without further instruction, Aria stopped and narrowed her eyes. Esmeria frowned in confusion, but moments later, the first predator emerged from the undergrowth.

A wolf with dark fur, its amber eyes gleaming in the fading light. Its body tensed, ready to lunge at the girl, but the instant it flexed its hind legs to leap, Aria flicked her wrists.

Sharp dark spikes erupted from the shadow beneath the wolf, impaling it in an instant. A howl of agony pierced the air before the creature convulsed and fell still. Warm blood spilled across the ground, staining the earth darker.

The other wolves, creeping closer through the gloom, froze. Seeing their packmate slain so swiftly and brutally, their primal instincts took over.

“Next?” Aria asked flatly, but even Esmeria was at a loss.

Not even she had that level of precision with her powers!

A pair of panicked whimpers broke the silence before the animals turned tail and fled into the trees.

Aria stood motionless for a few seconds, as if waiting for their return. When no further attack came, she relaxed her fingers and spoke in her usual detached tone:

“Locate the others.”

Esmeria, still stunned by how effortlessly the girl had handled the situation, closed her eyes and extended her awareness through the shadows. But all she sensed was the distant echo of retreating creatures.

“I can’t… they’ve fled too far,” Esmeria replied, her voice tinged with disbelief.

“Then is our training over?” Aria asked emotionlessly.

Esmeria chuckled.

“Yes, it seems so.”

Once again, Aria had shown not a flicker of fear or doubt during the encounter—if it could even be called an encounter.

She ended that wolf in an instant!

What Esmeria had dismissed as luck during the shop incident—when those humans had underestimated Aria—this was different. These were real monsters. Yet Aria had faced them with the same calm as reading a book in her room.

‘Will it be because of us?’ Esmeria wondered hastily. Perhaps living in close proximity to beings like herself and Elizabeth had warped Aria’s sense of danger.

For ordinary humans, a vampire’s unleashed aura was suffocating, but the effect of a Night Wraith’s presence was far worse. Maybe prolonged exposure had desensitized her.

Esmeria smiled within the shadows, pleased.

‘Without a doubt… Miss Aria will become a formidable fighter one day.’

Meanwhile, Aria simply turned on her heel and walked back to the carriage, her mind already drifting to the meal awaiting her.