“You are right on that. The first time we encountered these reapers was pretty pathetic,” said Elisa at the same time she took out the monster core. It was small, shiny, and most importantly: her spoils of war. Unfortunately, its quality was too inferior to use it to further increase her current power level.

“Everything is harder the first time you do it, so don’t worry too much, mother,” comforted Mara from the periphery of the group.

Rebeca let out a long sigh; she was still very displeased by her lack of courage. She remained silent, having no intention of reminiscing about something embarrassing.

“If something is harder, that doesn’t mean it is impossible. With willpower, and some external help, everything can be improved. Just like our fear of heights. While it is still present, with the help of Gorn, respectively Ella, plus our efforts, the situation improved greatly,” said Nora while looking towards Gorn with a thankful expression.

Her words were great motivation for Rebeca. ‘Indeed… With someone strong by my side, I should be able to easily overcome my fears,’ thought Rebeca whilst keeping a straight face. ‘I’ll ask Gorn for his help.’ To do that, she wanted to wait for the perfect moment to ask. ‘For maximum efficiency, it must be just me and him.’

Pocketing the monster core, she got up and came to Gorn’s side. Now, she was only a meter away from him. Standing next to him made it easier to notice that she was almost, if not, as tall as Gorn, who had a height of around six feet (1.83m).

‘He looks quite nice,’ contemplated Rebeca, after peeking at him from that petite distance.

“I’m glad that you are so optimistic,” said Gorn. He also noticed that Rebeca was secretly analyzing his looks. She had long brown hair that was tied in a coque for convenience. Her facial appearance was rather normal, and paled in comparison with the other girls present.

On the other hand, the attractiveness of her body was top-notch. Being her tall height, the gap between her inner thighs, her minuscule waist, or all of the above, there was definitely something that put her one level above Elisa, and the twins in terms of physical appeal.

‘Why is he looking so intently at my body?’ thought Rebeca. Her focus turned entirely towards his facial expression. Soon, she got her answer. “Nice body, right?” she asked by only moving her lips and barely making any noise at all. At the same time, she also covered her mouth from the side with one hand.

“The more I look, the more I want to touch it…” answered Gorn automatically. In the next second, he realized his blunder. “I…”

Rebeca started to laugh and interrupted him. “Don’t worry, I like honest men.”

Gorn also started to laugh. Apparently, he was becoming more and more direct.

“What would you like to touch?” asked Ella, in a burst of curiosity.

Looking at Ella’s unknowing gaze was quite the treat: “Nothing important. Let’s continue.” The second affirmation was for everybody. As he started to walk away, everyone quickly followed.

Shortly, Gorn stopped beside a small tree. At least, when compared with the gigantic ones. The tree was around ten meters tall, and plenty of fruits could be seen on it.

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“These are wild apples. Together with the normal blueberries, they are the most common fruits encountered in the forest. They are also the favorite food of wild boars…and the blue spotted dear…”

“Did something happened?” asked Rebeca, who was still the closest one to him.

“Nothing happened. I just remembered that I want to see a blue spotted deer. While not that strong, they are very elusive, and hard to get. If you can catch one of them, that would be very helpful for me,” said Gorn a little louder, making sure everyone heard him.

“I heard my former boss saying that the meat of the blue spotted deer is one of the tastiest. He also said that only the richest of the citizens could afford it,” commented Elisa. “I’ll keep that in mind. If I catch one, I’ll be sure to give it to you.”

“Dead or alive?” asked Ella.

The corners of Gorn’s lips curved into a smile: “Don’t be so serious when asking such questions. Good observation, nonetheless. Alive, I want one alive. If it’s dead, I don’t need it.”

“Why do you need it for?”

“It’s a secret,” said Gorn with a mischievous grin.

Ella’s eyes widened in surprise. “This is the first time you have been mean to me. I’ll be sure to remember it.” She was very displeased by his response. Jumping on the tree, she picked up an apple and started to eat it while turning her back to him.

‘Kids…’

“Let’s have breakfast!” Gorn also grabbed a few apples for himself. The rest did the same. After all, they did not eat anything so far since waking up.

“I want to eat some meat. Can you give me some?”

“Bad girls don’t get to eat any meat,” said Gorn with a plain face. Ella could not believe what she was hearing. She turned with her back to him yet again. The rest of the girls also wanted to eat some real food, but were too ashamed to ask for it. After what Gorn said to Ella, they were even more reluctant to ask.

He could give them food, but that would ruin the purpose of the trip. They had to be able to provide for themselves without being dependent on others. Like that, all of them ate wild apples until their bellies were full.

“Food is taken care of. Now, let’s find some water.”

Gorn was familiar with the area, after all, it was a place where he used to hunt. That, plus the view he got from the air, was enough to know his way around. It wasn’t very detailed, but enough.

Before long, the sound of running water could be heard in the distance. Heading in that direction, they came across a river. A few meters wide, and a few meters deep. Not that big, but sufficient for their needs.

Everyone froze.

In front of that river could be seen the corpses of a few people. Two women, and three men. Some of their body parts were missing, while others were mangled beyond recognition. The stench was nearly unbearable.

Everyone except Gorn vomited after seeing that scene. ‘What the heck happened here?!’ thought Gorn. His stomach also protested heavily, making it hard to resist throwing up.

Seeing people in that kind of state hit very different from seeing the cadavers of monsters. Another peculiar aspect was the fact that the remains weren’t completely eaten by any monsters, even though some time seemed to have passed since they died.

Gorn inspected the area carefully, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. “Looks like they have been poisoned by something…”

“Look at that man’s belly!” screamed Mara while pointing with her hand towards one of the deceased men.

Everyone followed the direction in which she was pointing. The man’s stomach bulged, and something seemed to want to get out. A few moments later, a hideous insect the size of a palm came out through the skin. The creature was as black as coal, had dozens of little legs, and a mouth way bigger than normal. It looked it came out straight from hell.

Gorn tried to inspect it, but nothing happened. Either that creature wasn’t that strong, either the system malfunctioned or had certain limitations. ‘Judging by the way it moves, it shouldn’t be that strong…’

Even if it wasn’t that powerful, being able to eat something that looked poisoned was no small feat.

“What in the world is that?!” asked Elisa on behalf of everyone.

“Unfortunately, I don’t know. Never heard of such a creature before,” said Gorn. The scene was incredibly gruesome. “Let’s leave.”

Gorn headed up stream. Taking water from that place after what happened there wasn’t an option. He wanted to reach the source of that river to ensure the water was as clean as possible. After a few hundred meters, they encountered a small pack of wolves, quenching their thirst from the river.