I was panting heavily.

“Why… can’t I… run outside?” I drawled, huffing in-between words.

“Out of the question. It's too dangerous. You already know,” Lia answered.

For the past four years, I’ve been stuck here running circles inside my home and making food for my parents. It’s driving me crazy. I want to feel the sunlight. Do they think I am a vampire? Honestly, I may be; my skin is so pale.

“Can you finally tell me why you’re spending a few hours a day running around our house?” She asked.

“You already know. Training.”

“Yeah.” She always gave me that skeptical look when I told her I’m just training. I suppose it makes sense. It’s not every day that you see a mere child, and a girl on top of that, who struggles to upper her body limit. And yet here I am, doing what I can to get stronger every single day. I can already see the results of that.

I am still weak in a general sense, but for someone my age, I'd say my physical condition is beyond extraordinary.

“You know, I wouldn’t have to train that hard to become stronger if you’d let me go outside, but all you say is that I need to get stronger. What else am I supposed to do?”

“You will go out when the time comes.” My mom answered. She eyed me intently without saying a word for a while before she continued. “We’re short on food, so I need to go out. Your father won’t come back until evening, so you’ll stay alone. Don’t do anything stupid, okay?”

Not waiting for an answer, she came out and I was left alone.

Another day of slacking off, and boring myself to death I guess. Seriously, why do my parents keep telling me to get stronger, but they won’t even help me? I asked my mom to teach me magic. She said she wouldn’t. I asked my father to teach me how to fight with a sword. He too declined.

It's not like they're bad parents; they really care for me and mostly answer the basic questions I ask them. However, they don't tell me the real deal of what's going on here, which is making me anxious.

Can I really blame them though? In their eyes, I'm still just a kid.

My father is an elf with green hair and my mom is a demon with white hair and a pair of horns. This household relies mostly on my father; he is the one who leaves almost every day to make money.

My mom used to do chores before I came, but now she only leaves occasionally to collect herbs and other valuables from the forest. Some of them we use and some of them sell, but from what I was able to discern it's not a big addition to the budget.

As for my role, I usually do home chores, mostly cooking, because it gives the most exp. I actually got very good at it, since I did that for the past four years. My parents became really reliant on me in terms of food, so I’d probably have to cook even if I didn’t get any exp from it.

I looked out the window. The sky was mostly clear. The clouds gave space for the sun to shine.

"I want to feel the warmth of the sun too~"

What if I just stand right out the door? Nothing's going to happen then, right? It’s completely safe.

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I proceeded to execute my plan. I unlocked the door and came outside, having my hair pleasantly caressed by the breeze of wind. It felt good, but I was disappointed when I realized that sun rays don’t reach this place. The sun shone from behind the hut.

I took a deep breath and stepped further away from the house. A surge of energy traveled through my body as the pleasant heat of the sun warmed me up. I felt like I could run for hours without stopping.

As expected, there was no real danger lurking outside, waiting to dash at me with murderous intent as soon as I stepped out through the door. In fact, I would have been all by myself, were it not for the rat that skittered below me and halted about one meter away. It sniffed around, undisturbed by my presence.

Hello, little one.

I wonder if I'm fast enough.

Not really considering it thoroughly, I darted forward, reaching my hands out. I barely touched the gray ball of fur. It dodged my attack, scurrying away.

I followed, racing against the wind. The rat didn't give up, swerving in between the trees. But being there, chasing a rat for no particular reason… I've never felt so alive. I was free.

I got close enough and jumped forward, finally catching my prey, but skidding on the ground because of the momentum.

"Gotcha!" I held the rat by its tail as it squeaked and tried its best to free itself from my grip. Naturally, I did not intend to eat or kill it. It didn't look too tasty, and I was not that bad of a hu– half-elf, half-demon to murder an innocent animal for a bit of exp. I just wanted to prove my worth.

I outran a rat. There's no way I'd do that in my previous life. I was so proud of myself. I already changed a lot. Before the reincarnation, I wouldn't even dare to touch a rat, not to mention enjoy chasing it.

I guess the smallest of things give the most satisfaction after all.

The rat froze for a second, but quickly resumed its wriggling and squeaking with even greater force. I considered it as an attempt to break free, so I dropped it, but I quickly recognized it as something more.

I turned around as a low growl reached my ears. My eyes met with those of a hungry lion.

I didn’t have any time to ponder what a lion does in the middle of a forest. Every fiber of my being screamed at me to run, so I did. The lion took off right after me.

I wasn’t that far from home, but the distance between me and the predator was no more than a few meters. The gap was quickly closed, and I heard the lion roar as it lunged at me. If it hadn’t been for its loud declaration of its position, I would have certainly been killed.

Fortunately, I managed to leap to the side in time, tripping and sliding on the dirt once more. The animal chasing me bumped into a tree when jumping at me, so it was a bit dazed. I stood up teetering and immediately resumed my flight.

I had no problem running before, but at that moment my legs struggled just to keep my weight. My lungs were already burning. I felt as if death itself had squeezed its palm on my throat, and for the first time in years, I really wanted to cry.

I fought to keep my tears inside, at least for the time being. I already knew I had no chance to run away from the king of the jungle, but I had to give it a try anyway. I saw the lion catch up to me once more. I scanned my area and ran up to a tree dense with branches.

Helping myself with my hands and legs I climbed up the tree just in time to avoid being nibbled. The lion below me, clearly longing for a snack, pressed its weight against the tree and tried to overthrow it.

I hugged the tree trunk tightly, hyperventilating. My heart was pounding hard, but I was safe. At least for now.

I felt a stinging sensation in my hand, so I turned it over to examine the inside of my palm and noticed a slit and a splinter of wood embedded in it. To my dismay, the cut was growing, slithering up my arm like a snake and not stopping until it had reached the shoulder.

My heartbeat sped up, and with every thump more and more blood gushed out of my wound. Very soon, my whole arm was covered in blood. I took a deep breath.

I need to calm down. If my heart keeps beating like this, I will soon die not from a lion, but from blood loss.

I managed to slow my heartbeat a bit, but it was too late already. Specks of black flew across my vision, and I felt lightheaded. I looked at my hand. It was completely red, with a steady stream of blood dripping from my fingers.

Well, at least now I look like the half-demon that I am. It’s always good to be yourself.

I smiled as the black blobs merged into puddles and completely enveloped my view.

Then I fell.