In a Forest a handsome blue haired man was walking on a beaten down path humming a familiar tune, in the air circling the man was a giant silver falcon. If one was to look even closer an iron rock could be seen on the man's shoulder.

Guess I should start grinding for crystals afterall, the sooner I get more the sooner Rocky can evolve and then I could give him back his memories.

The main way to get stronger in zland is killing Monsters for their cores. Those crystals hold the entirety of a Monsters power in a form that is easy for others to consume and make their own. Of course humans can also consume them however, it is far more dangerous plus you would become something that is neither monster nor human. And most importantly it's not as efficient as it is for monsters.

As such during the walk Will ordered Bell to go around and kill Monsters for their crystals. The way they were split was three for Rocky, two for Bell, and one for Will. During the trip the only thing that was encountered was mutated insects and the occasional animal. Before Will stoped they managed to gather thirty six, not bad for casually walking.

"Stop hiding already you have the ability of a toddler when it comes to stealth." I spit irritated at having my walk interrupted.

"How'd you-" questioned Rin.

"Watch out!" I yell tackling her to the ground, just as we will fall (me first since I'm a Gentleman) a shadow could be seen flashing above us before hiding back in a Bush.

"Not you idiot, I was talking about the Direwolf pack. And you were sneaking? I thought you were simply going with me."

"I was that bad? W-wait that's not important did you say Direwolf? Please tell me I misheard the word p-p-pack."

"Nope I ment plural, three to be exact, and stop shivering how are you supposed to accomplish your dream of being the strongest if something this simple stops you?"

"Y-yeah but they shred up beginners plus we're outnumbered three to two."

"Don't worry about it, I could handle all of them myself plus we have Bell and Dragoon." As we were talking a wolf tried to sneak attack me as I was the one not crouched out of the pair. Just before his maw closed around my throat I sync with Rocky and shove my fist down HIS throat. Seeing the poor wolf struggling I couldn't help but laugh.

"Haha hurts to be punched in the throat right?" Before the creature could react I snap it's neck ending it's suffering.

"One down two to go, hurry up and get in there Bell."

Without fear she circled around the beast scratching and pecking the beast slowly wilting down its health before it died from blood loss.

"Alright two, only one left. Go get'em tiger." I say looking at Rin as I stop distracting the last one

"B-but I-"

"No. You, you are my one and only rival, the only person I deem as a equal even if a childish one. So you're not allowed to quit. You have to win even trying is good enough."

"I- No. Your right, how can I be what I want to be if a stupid wolf makes me scared? Dragoon, DESTROY HIM."

Ah there's the fearless badass I know and love, thought I had the wrong person, how could someone who fought me for three days straight be scared? Turns out I just had to irritate her and I'm good at that, REALLY GOOD.

As I was lost in my own delusions Dragoon made short work of the Direwolf shooting so many fireball it looked like a gattling gun, a gattling gun of hate and fire.

The wolf managed to showcase it's agility by dodging the first few however they were constantly coming faster and faster. Eventually he could no longer dodge, and when one hit a dozen more did as well quickly making it a pile of charred meat.

"Guess there is such a thing as overkill? Oh well Rocky would eat anything ANYTHING, the bastard even chewed on my beautiful hair once, had to resist the urge to throw him away". I said rambling on making her accomplishment seen mute.

"W-well?"

"Well what? I don't see any well, I could go for a drink right now though." I say pretending to look around.

"WELL HOW'D I DO? YOU BIG IDIOT." Rin shouted

*chuckle*" The only thing big about me is in my pants, you did good though, I'm proud." I say patting her on the head, I mean it worked on animals?

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Rin looked at me with starry eyes before snapping out of it.

"How dare you? I'm human not a pet!" She screamed indignantly

"Oh? I thought you'd like it sorry about that, I won't do it again."

"N-no you don't have to stop, j-just DON'T TREAT ME LIKE A KID ALRIGHT?" Rin yelled covering her face with her hands as she ran away.

Geez you don't have to yell, plus running like that will cause you to trip. AND you were following ME! Do you even know where to go?

With that out of the way I can restart my walking and, since I encountered what is probably the king of these forests I no longer had to worry about nasty surprises. Even Rin could survive out here on her own, probably, push comes to shove I'd just have to insult her that always makes her get in the mood to fight. Sometimes a LITTLE to much.

Anyway as me and my two companions went through the Forest we started raking in the Crystals( I already collected the Direwolf's) Rocky was getting close to mutating, Bell too as she didn't need as much to do the trick. Me, myself also got quite a few and was probably around 50% stronger.

As we continued walking, well one walking, one flying and occasionally resting on my shoulder, and one SIMPLY USING ME FOR A FREE RIDE. As if hearing my thoughts Rocky burbed. Breath in, breath out, who didn't throw their rock into a volcano? This guy. Calming myself before making a decision I probably wouldn't regret. I met the end of the Forrest

In front of Will was a giant mountain with thousands of tunnels as if a bee hive, in those entrances it could be seen just as many people.

"The Crystal Mines." A hot spot for every type of person, well at least until it runs out however, if I remember correctly it still has a weeks worth of juice left. And that's a lot for this barren place, yep I started out in one of the poorest areas. In actuality this place was one of the most protected against the meteor, while good then, In the long run it meant we had less Crystals and Weaker Monsters hampering economic growth. But you don't want to listen to another history lesson right? As I seem to be doing that quite often now.

"Guess I should go get some supplies?" Still gotta find Rin too.

"Hey girly" speak of the devil "what are you doing by yourself? Come with us and we'll show you a good time" spoke a ugly Mohawked man who looked suspiciously like a hoodlum to Rin.

"Sorry fellas but she's already taken." I say sliding in putting my arm around her. Rin, not expecting my sudden intrusion, blushed looking down lending credibility to my statement.

"Piss off pretty boy we saw her first. Dont make us mess up that face o' yours."

"Saw her first? *Chuckle* I DID her first."

"Wai-" before she could say anything I leaned in and kissed her. Slowly licking her lips I made sure to savor it, not relenting until she started gasping for breath. Seeing her eyes clouded from air loss and confusion I couldn't help but be smitten.

During this time Mohawk and crew had their mouths open wide, who the hell was this guy? He just walked over and stole the girl from us?

"HEY FUCKFA-" before he could finish he had his crotch smashed by Rin's foot. coldly looking at the rest of them she slowly muttered.

"GO.THE.FUCK.AWAY."

Looking at her eyes which were colder then the Arctic caused them to shiver in fear before breaking into a wild run.

In a full 180 she turned towords me with a sweat smile.

"Come on silly. Thats quite an extreme way to make them stop bothering me."

"What are you talking about? You could kick my ass much less theirs, I just felt like kissing you." I said giving my signature smile that stole quite a bit of hearts during my celebrity days.

Rin stood in stunned silence as she comprehended what I said. Causing me to walk right pass her into the general store.

Now that I'm here I should buy some snacks, chips, cookies, candy, basically anything with calories. After ten minutes I got both my snacks and what I came for. I got some camping supplies, a solar charger, and some odds and ends.Rin also went in and got some supplies, of course she got a whole lot more as she likes to be prepared while I'm more of a take it as it comes guy.

"Supplies Check, now to mine some gold!" I shout with enthusiasm as I lead Rin to one of the more deserted caverns. If I remember rightly this is where some no name miner got rich, it was on the news an everything, of course he also got mugged afterwords but that's what he gets for announcing it to the world.

"Now let's get to it!"

"But we don't have any tools for it?" Questioned Rin confused

"What!, do you think we're BARBARIANS? We got Rocky for this, now be amazed!" I say bubbling with enthusiasm and under her shocked gaze she watched as I threw Sir rock at the wall. Even more surprising was instead of bouncing off he started to dig in. Before she could even blink Rocky started mining of the entire wall. In short order we we're already several meters more in and didn't even have to lift our hands.

After half a hour there was already a pile half a person tall(me tall not her tall) at our feet, with no intention to stop anytime soon. After a few hours we were surrounded in them and finally ran out of new stuff to dig.

"HAHAHA! RICH, RICH! Eat your heart out guys!" I say smiling to our Monsters. Without hesitating both Bell and Rocky dig in, Dragoon however hesitates.

"I can't accept thi-" before Rin can continue resisting I close in again and shut her up, after a while she stops trying to speak and I move back abit.

"F-fine i'll take it! Just stop doing that, I'm going to have a heart attack!"

*chuckle* I always win. Quickly our Partners eat as many crystals as they can fit in their mouths. After a huge amount they seem to be satisfied.

After they sat down something weird happened, a cocoon of the same mineral they ate started surrounding them and once they were completely covered it started changing their shapes.

Bell Got bigger with a wider wing span and large horns that faced forward. Even Her appearance changed as it became a much duller shade of silver with a far more noble visage.

Dragoon also got bigger with wings that could now support flight. Its scales grew thicker with heightened fangs and claws it looked a lot less cute and more deadly.

Rocky though, had much more earth shattering changes, he was now half a person tall on all fours and a entire person long. He no longer looked just like a rock but rather a metal Reptile with a Dragon shaped head, growing all over him was also mineral deposits creating the look of a mountain that sprouted legs.

Smiling I went up to him and pressed a certain crystal against him causing it to quickly shatter.

"Welcome back buddy I missed you." yep that's right Cre (the mountain) is back.