Sometimes it's not smart to tempt fate. And sometimes it's best to be silent until the day ends.

After he heard the scream echo through the forest, Luc knew that his bad luck would not end with just his bitten leg.

With one hand on the tree and one on his blindfold, he tried to get a peek at the source of the scream, but just bushes filled his view.

He picked his stick up and walked closer to the place where he assumed the screams were coming from.

Another one filled the air.

Luc hasted his steps; every few steps he pulled his blindfold down to have a peek at the scenery. A clearing opened in front of him.

His eyes begin to hurt again after taking repeated peeks. Tears filled his eyes, and the sun was blinding him. But blurred, he saw a small girl running over the clearing; she let out another scream, and the source of her terror jumped into the clearing.

It looked like a giant toad, big like a pony, with bulging eyes and leathery skin. It let out a big croak, the vocal sac bulging, and then it opened its mouth. The sight was disturbing; sharp teeth filled the large mouth, and a slimy tongue was wiggling in its depths. It jumped again, mouth open and spit flying around. The girl screamed, and Luc reacted. With all his power, he threw his stick through the air and called. "Here, come here!" The stick flowed straight to the monster, a powerful figure against the sky. The tip bows and hits the frog on the back. And... bounced off without leaving even a scratch on the brownish skin, the only reaction; was an irritated body shake.

Luc gulped. Plan B then. He snapped his hands around the girl's wrist and began a strategic retreat.

"Tell me the way; I can't see!" He shouted to the girl. "We need a tree or something to climb." He told her.

"Doesn't work," she pants. "Its tongue will get us before we get high enough." Luc cursed. "This is getting worse and worse," he muttered.

The frog was surprisingly agile, maneuvering easily between the trees, and following close behind. They needed a plan; if things continued, this monster would get them soon. And he was sure of one thing. That he would not die to a stupid frog on the first day of being integrated into some magical and unknown society.

"I see some rocks in the distance." The girl said, "Maybe we can find cover between one of them?"

"Then I need a new stick or something to hold this tongue away, the last one" His face slightly blushing. "was not so successful. She nods before realizing that Luc couldn't see her and told him. "I think I see a good one, but it's a bit to the left and still stuck on a tree." "That has to do it," Luc replied.

They turned a bit left, some branches hitting Luc's face. He looked again and saw the possible stick not far from him, and without hesitation using his full body weight, he ran into it.

For a second, it felt like time had frozen, with the stick not breaking and Luc's body hurting, but then, with a relieving sound, it broke from the trunk and Luc fell with it to the ground. He looked behind him, the monster's tongue filling his view. He let out a small scream. With a desperate roll, he jumped to the side, the tongue missing him by a few centimeters. He got on his feet again, his hand clutching the broken stick, the girls' hand gripping him again and pulling him away; his breath got choppy as he realized how close this was.

I nearly died. Fear crept into his mind, but was forced to the back of his head by his instincts screaming for survival. Finally, they reached the rocks, they were bigger than they seemed from further away, reaching a height of 5 to 6 meters. After circling around them, they saw a small niche and without hesitation pushed into it. The little girl first, and he with his back to her and looking for the monster.

Hopefully, this works, Luc thought. The niche was not really deep, about four meters, but it had to be enough to defend against the frog. Even with his short stature, he was still bigger than the frog, and the stick and the walls of stone surrounding him gave him new confidence. The sound of something hitting the ground comes closer, and a few moments later, the mouth of the frog comes into view. The bulging eyes were filled with a spiteful shimmer. Even with his body being not as large as Luc's, it was still wider, bulkier, than him.

It tried to press itself into the split but didn't fit and had to stop after half a meter to not get stuck between the stonewalls. An angry croak vibrated through the place. The mouth began to open, and the thick tongue was flying at his prey. Luc took the blindfold off when he heard the frog's angry croak. With a mental scream, he opened his eyes.

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Pain is better than death, and I need to see if I want to have a small chance. His eyes started to burn, but for the moment it was at a bearable level. The tongue buzzes through the air. Luc had just the time to get his stick between himself and it. Behind him, the girl starts screaming again. I-I blocked it? He thought surprised.

But before he could celebrate, the tongue flew again. A barrage rained down; his eyes were hurting, but somehow he managed to block every thrust of the angry frog. His confidence started to grow.

If I hold long enough maybe it sees us as escaped and searches for easier prey. Concentrate, Luc; you've got this. His whole mind was fully focused on his task; his hurting eyes and body were pushed to the back of his mind. Thrust. Block. Thrust. Block and again and again.

The barely visible thrust became clearer and his arms started to tire, but even then something in him grow and a smile crept across his face. "Not today, you stupid frog!" He screamed triumphantly. The next moment he stopped in his movement, and Luc felt his left leg giving away, no longer able to hold his body. The world started to spin, and he felt himself falling to one side. The monster's tongue flew with new eagerness and hit him on the right shoulder, he screamed again, but this time from pain. It stuck to his shoulder and started to pull him in the direction of the dripping mouth. It knew it had them. Luc could tell by the look in these black, cold eyes, and he imagined the giant mouth smiling with a horrid grin.

The girl cried out, gripped his ankle, and tried to hold him, her little arms shaking but the tongue pulled without struggle. Luc tried to hit the tongue; with all his might, he punched the slimy flesh, but his fist was unable to hurt the soft, tough meat, and the frog didn't care at all. Panic filled his being as the distance grew smaller and his doom was smiling upon him. Is that it, really? By the hands or tongue of an overgrown frog? He wanted to change his fate, and he tried, he really did, but nothing helped. He struggled with all his power and tried to resist with everything he got, but reality is a cruel thing and the wish alone couldn't change his fate.

A feeling of weakness and hopelessness forced its way into his thoughts, tired, he closed his eyes. In this short moment, before saliva hit his body, Luc thought about his life, the good things, the safety, and the opportunity his foster parents had given him, but also about the depressing feeling of not being loved and understood like the other children, the real children. This bitter hole in his heart just suffocated by another, a stronger feeling.

A feeling he never really liked to accept. If he was honest with himself he was bored of his life, of living a planned life. He always had his future planned by his parents, of course not in great detail but still within strict boundaries. Something in him always longed for the unknown, for the exciting, undiscovered ways of the world. But he was stuck in thoughts of safety and stability; he never wanted to give away the privileges, the stroke of luck that life outside of the orphanage had made possible, and he never wanted to be ungrateful. But the moment he woke up in this strange place, he felt excitement, comparable with his first trips to his hiding spot, but way stronger. He felt awake, full of good spirits, he wanted nothing more than to roam this place and experience, one of the adventures he had read so much about himself.

And now this short-lived fire of adventure spirit was close to being extinguished.

Luc felt the first drops of salvia hitting his body, he took a breath, Maybe in my next life. The amber in his breast flared and then the world was filled with fire.

He felt his body being hit by a heatwave, and the smell of burnt hair hit his nose. His body hit the surprisingly sturdy body of the small girl behind him and Luc felt like he had hit the rock wall. She made a grunting sound. His head rang, and the bright light of the flame left, even though his fast-closed eyes, the forms of small dancing lights. His torso hurt and he could feel the pain of small burns climbing in his awareness. He ignored every pain and tore his eyes open to look for the enemy. The pain spiked, and he felt something warm running down his face. His consciousness began to slip, and soon he felt himself in the waiting arms of Mother Darkness. The last thing he blurred saw before losing consciousness was the charred remains of the frog, his near and unavoidable doom reduced to a small pile of ash with some blackened bones in it. The sound of a system notification blinking on the edge of his field of view.

*!Ding* Congratulations! You have learned the general skill [Defending Lvl. 1]

[Defending] leveled up: 1 -> 3

*!Ding* Congratulations! You have learned the resistance skill [Fire Protection Lvl. 1]

[Fire Protection] leveled up: 1 -> 2

*Assisting in killing a [Stone-skinned Kappa Lvl 7]*

*Experience gained.*

*Error*

*Missing class detected.

Class choice is now available.

Experience lost.*