"Something is wrong."

After hours of walking, a faint seed of suspicion had wormed its way into my heart. For End Forest to look as deserted as it was, even when taking into account the light drizzle, made me wary in a way that set my teeth on edge.

"Is it really that suspicious?" Amara expressed doubt at my skepticism, which was understandable when judging from her perspective. But I knew better. End Forest was a death trap, and we hadn't triggered a single one yet. The entire experience made me leery.

I recounted the various tales I had heard about this place, and Amara listened with an eager expression, as if a little girl hearkening to the fairy tales by her father. All the while I discreetly took note of her actions.

After that earlier incident, which I now realized was an opportunity in disguise, Amara had shifted her demeanor altogether. Whatever she had realized, I was thankful that we are on the steady path to progression.

"Maybe we aren't in the End Forest after all?" I postulated. "It's not like I have much knowledge of the wider world."

"Either way, our only option remains to follow the determined path and hope we stumble upon some clue."

Despite understanding that it remained our only option, I couldn't help the feeling of unease from gripping my heart.

Our path took us through the plague-ridden forest with the muddy sludge providing minor annoyance. The light drizzle showed no sign of stopping, and I was thankful for the cover of solid shadow staving off the rain from drenching my body.

I took the chance to pose some questions for Amara.

I had accepted the windfall of 100 stat points each level so as to not look the gift horse in the mouth, but I was admittedly curious about the stat gain correspondent to the rarity.

Amara expressed her lack of knowledge regarding Supreme tier rarity, though she did know that a Divine Origin awarded 50 stat points and a Supreme Origin twice that. It was an utterly insane concept to me because a single level of this rarity equaled 24 levels of Uncommon Origin.

Despite most of my points being allocated to Spirit, I was miles better than many Common or even Uncommon Origin hunters just by virtue of harboring a SSS-Rank talent. Of course, my curiosity was far from sated.

I had noticed the difference in our races, which I didn't have much to comment on, but I did find the tags associated unusual.

"Why does your race have Ascendant, while mine has Awakened?" I questioned.

"Most of those who awaken their Soul Record are designated as Awakened due to being able to interact with the Mana and the World Records, or Aetheric Records." Amara explained, leaving me utterly confused at each new term and interpretation. "However, those who surpass the A-Rank are able to interact with the Records on a much deeper level. You might even call it domain-based influence on the laws of the world."

Apparently Awakened were still fledglings learning their ways about the Soul Record, but those who had touched upon the illusive peak would shed their mortal shell and become Ascendants. Not only did they live absurdly long lives, but the force they wielded at their fingertips was outrageous, to say the least.

Amara's Night Queen Origin put her near the peak among all the Ascendants.

"There are vampire clans in the west. Would you like to pay a visit to them?"

While my origin was an enigma, I found it too absurd to believe that Amara could've been synthesized on the spot. She must have had a past, a life she had spent among her loved ones; I refused to believe otherwise. It made sense that I would offer her the opportunity to visit what may very well be her distant relatives.

Stolen novel; please report.

"While I appreciate the offer," she said with a soft smile adorning her face, "I think it would be better to consider further affairs after we have solved our current plight."

Of course, End Forest remained the hurdle barring us from earning that much-needed respite.

Suddenly Amara halted. I offered a curious expression and was rewarded with a frown.

"Something's here." Her eyes darted to and fro, while a crimson gleam sparkled within her eyes. "Right there!" She withdrew her sword in a swift manner while I followed her gaze to catch a shadow flickering behind the bushes.

"Keep vigil." Amara warned and lunged forth. I looked at my empty hands and mumbled a short curse before focusing ahead. In that time she had arrived before the bushes and slashed out.

GROWL

A snarl echoed from behind the underbrush, and a blue-spotted panther crawled out.

Height-wise, it would reach about my chest, while its muscles were thick and robust. Its sharp teeth were full on display as it eyed the vampire.

Amara flourished her sword, and a dim shadow overcast the glade. I looked above to see the rain had stopped and found the reason to be a thin membranous dome of shadows surrounding us.

Just then Amara pressed her foot on the ground and shot forth. The monster dodged the charge with an instinctual reaction. It then swiveled on its hind legs and launched forth.

Amara stood ready as a red mist shrouded her blade, and she slashed out.

"Crimson Rain."

Sharp needles of blood pelted against the monster's fur, poking holes and drawing rage-induced growls. The duo danced under the cover of the shadows, claws seeking flesh while the blade always delivering true.

It occurred to me that the monster was actually quite strong, perhaps near the peak of E-Rank. Seeing them battle it out filled my heart with yearning.

As the monster retreated from another rain of blood needles, Amara backed away. My confusion lasted for moments only as I saw dark constructs manifest above the monster.

"Shadow Blade."

With an impervious expression and a soft voice, Amara flicked her finger downward, and the blades descended with the fury of a storm, shredding the monster like grilled cheese.

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]

Your summon has slain a level 21 monster: Blue-spotted Panther (E)

You have earned XP (+100%).

Extra XP is being rewarded (+77.96%).

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]

You have leveled up!

You're now level 5!

You have 5 unallocated stat points.

I saw Amara heave a relieved sigh. With the increase in my level, her attributes had experienced another enhancement. And holy shit...!

100 stat points in one go!

While my attribute aggregate rested close to her own, a third of that actually went into my spirit. While Amara's attributes were true attributes.

"That felt good." Amara opened her eyes and smiled at me. The dome of shadows was gone, and our impromptu umbrellas were back in place. She peered into my own eyes, a compassionate smile hanging on her face.

I turned my head to take a quick stock of her Soul Record, finding her attributes absolutely monstrous. Except for strength and perception, everything was well above 100 points.

I felt a smile stretch on my face. Finally relishing in the feel of having overwhelming strength in my grasp. All the dreams and hopes I had harbored since young, nursed them in my breast, now blazed with a celestial spark.

If it was this much, then I could become anything I wanted. I could go anywhere I desired. I could, because I boasted strength to stand against anything the world could throw at me.

The rest of our walk was spent in blissful silence. I even saw Amara's Favorability increase from 31% to 33%. It was an unexpected increase and made me give the Queen vampire an inquiring look. That earned me a glare because apparently I wasn't supposed to know about it.

It was during the afternoon that the rain stopped, leaving a cold breeze to blow over the canopy. In that time, Amara and I didn't encounter any other monster.

"Hmm? What's that?" Amara asked, pointing at the thicket obscuring our view of the wooden cottage. My eyes brightened to an unnatural degree, and relief and excitement coursed through me.

"That," I said, "is the confirmation we needed all along."

At her prodding, I provided an explanation. Basically, the Guild had built a number of emergency shelters that were stocked with food deep within the forest in case a hunter happened to need them.

After seeing the insignia of the Hunters Guild—a red banner with a golden halo surrounding the sword in the center—my suspicions were all but confirmed. It meant we were within the End Forest and preferably not farther from the Erdwatch.

"That's good news indeed." Amara nodded.

"Quite so." I offered a jubilant smile of my own.

With renewed vigor and hopeful hearts we resumed our march. Yet I still couldn't shake the feeling of agitation from gripping my heart.

Taking a deep breath, with my resolve firmer than steel, I promised to face any obstacle standing in my way and overcome them all.