Author's note: Like I said, I might not be able to post on my preferred timing because my weekend was ridiculously packed, so I'm posting this chapter early. So... yeah... you know. *awkward hand gestures*. >.<

Having done this, I bid thee Good night. May the songs of angels sing thee to thy rest.

*

"Isn't it obvious? I aim to be the Emperor one day. I came out here to train myself."

"..."

Children have big dreams indeed...

Now that I had a closer look, he (or is it a she?) was dressed in traveler's garb, and had a small backpack on his (or her) back. He (or she) had short honey-colored hair and blue eyes. Naturally, as a child, he (or she) was short and had a slim build. A scabbard is slung around the back, holding what appeared to be a sword about as tall as the child itself.

Either a little boy or an extremely tomboyish girl. Possibilities have to be noted, after all.

"I see."

"Hey, I'm pretty tough, you know?"

The child performed a guts pose. Rather than laugh at this incredibly precocious child, I decided to ask a couple of questions to satisfy my curiosity.

"Ok, did you get a weapon?"

"Sure I did." The child smoothly unsheathed the sword slung on his (or her bag). Despite its size, he (or she) held it easily without too much strain.

"So you know how to fight?"

"Are you questioning your future Emperor?"

Already an egomaniac at this age?!

Well, if he (or she) is out there now,currently he (or she) should be easily level 10 or higher. Especially since he had that iron sword, which is not easily available to beginners who were just starting out.

Either way, he should be higher than me, a level 6 Spear man that was not even properly armed. But the kid didn't know that, and with my extra stats, I could probably bluff it out. I chuckled to myself and said:

"Hm hm hm... You do have to earn your keep after all."

I smiled as the child nodded happily at my response, but that smile soon turned into a rather evil sneer as I continued:

"... Especially for my meat. You ate too much."

Able to fight or not, he (or she?) did gnaw his or her way through nearly all of my rabbit meat skewers.

"Didn't Mama say that a thank you will suffice?"

"..."

I smacked the self-proclaimed young Emperor on the head with my Spear Shaft, resembling what that monkey did in the Lion King. What? Some of the Woodpecker's anger management methods did rub off on me after on (via my face)...

"Owie..." The child clutched his or her head painfully.

"Your mama should teach you some manners. You'll pay for your meal somehow. You said you can fight now right? Come along now..."

Grabbing the arms, I dragged the child out to the field to hunt. The child struggled, but to no avail. Oddly, this feels like de javu...

Child or not, Girl or Boy, Emperor or otherwise, people shall pay for my food if they eat it. Even if it does probably suck.

**

With my newly obtained... erm... Royal Slave in tow, I went out a bit further into the wilderness where stronger mobs were found since rabbits got boring.

In the distance, I could see hunting parties as they attacked spawn.

...

No, I do not condone slave labor. How dare you imply this. I am offended, dear reader. I am merely collecting on the debt owed to me. Do not misunderstand.

Anyways, it seemed that the hunting party was full, so I decided to hunt on my own. Being in a large party like this would slow me down anyway.

"Alright, time to work up a sweat!! And you, just pay back for all the skewers you ate..."

"Rabbit meat isn't worth much anyway..."

"Exactly, so this should be quick." I acted dumb to his smart talk.

I have also decided that I'm just going to settle for him being a male now. Possibilities be damned.

"There's one!!"

In the distance, a fox appeared, distinctive orange fur with bushy tail standing out in the green field.

"I'll take that one."

Spear shaft in a two handed grip, I jabbed at the fox to see what he would do. He naturally avoided the attack, leaping backwards and landing on all fours.

Naturally, foxes are just as fast as rabbits, but are stronger and just a bit more dangerous. They are predatory animals after all. However, foxes don't attack larger animals. And so, the fox was largely attacking in self-defense here.

The fox stood its ground, hackles raised, hair standing on end. Oh dear, it seems that I provoked the little guy.

He dashed at me with reckless abandon. Judging the distance and trajectory, I took a step sideways, avoiding its attack.

Then, swinging the spear shaft, I spun on the spot and struck the fox hard on the spine, and heard bone crack. With a small bark, the fox fell onto the ground, limbs twitching. A large portion of the hp bar on his head disappeared.

I quickly struck him on the back another time to end his suffering. The fox disappeared in a grey flash, leaving behind a fox pelt.

Fox meat wasn't very good, but the pelt can at least be used to make things and be sold for a good price to traders.

I picked up my loot, and cast around to look for another spawn.

"Oryaaaaaaaaaaah!!"

The child meanwhile, was swinging his sword in wide arcs, trying to get at a fox he had found.

His size meant that he could use different attacks to attack the otherwise small and difficult to hit fox, but his movements were wild and untrained. The fox easily dodged the attacks. Moreover, he seemed to be tiring. It's not a big surprise, that sword's too big for him despite first impressions. At least, I thought that anyway.

I carefully sneaked up to the fox that was taunting my little helper, and struck it once on the head, hard.

[You have dealt a fatal critical blow.]

The fox faded in a grey flash, leaving behind loot.

"I could have had him..." the child sulked.

"Probably not. You were tiring. Swinging your sword like that isn't effective. You have to watch the enemy carefully and strike when the opponent reveals an opening."

Words from my wise mentor, Kite. It was easy for me to say, even if I'm still a novice in the way of combat...

Still, the boy had pretty good grit and determination. And he could have a lot of potential. I patted his head, and took out some bandages and gauze to patch him up a little bit.

"Don't worry, you'll get the next one."

***

The hunt therefore continued. By the time we finished, it was nearly sundown.

I took a different approach this time. I would strike at the foxes to impede their movements, and have my newly-minted "junior" come in for the last hit.

"There!! Go on, attack!!"

I had struck a fox on the side, causing it to stagger. My "junior" came in and stabbed it with his short sword. The fox disappeared in a grey flash, leaving its pelt, and a couple of bones.

"Yeah, I did it!! I did it!!" The child was leaping in joy.

"Come now, runt, it's just the beginning..." I decided to be a killjoy at this point. Can't let him get cocky, he still owes me 10 skewers worth. It was also getting dark, so it was best to get the kid back into the city where it's safe. Besides, we had gained several levels today. It had been a good hunt.

Growl...

"Are you hungry?"

"No, that wasn't my stomach." Thank god, I only had my rabbit jerky left. But with that aside, if that wasn't him...

Instincts screaming danger, I quickly stepped to the side. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a silver blur brush past me.

On the spot where I was, a wolf had pounced on, a raging grey blur of fur and fangs and claws. Wolves were a step higher up from the foxes that we had been hunting. They were pretty large, with a beautiful grey coat, and their limbs were well-muscled. Wolves also often hunt in packs.

"Crap..."

At our current levels, it wasn't impossible for us to beat a wolf, but we had lost some hp fighting the spawn. The wolf had caught us napping. In addition... since it was night...

HOOOOOOOWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...

The wolf howled. It was a bloodcurdling sound, and echoed in the distance.

Mobs also become much stronger at night, and gain certain abilities. They do give a much larger chunk of experience as a result, but the added difficulty made it not worth pursuing unless you had a good party with you, and even then you'll have to hunt at a certain rate to break even.

The wolf in front of me, looking at the name and bar over it, was a level 7 mob. At night, it was the equivalent of a level 10 or 11 monster.

Growl...

And it brought friends, too. Glowing red eyes could be seen in the shadows. I'm guessing about 7 to 10 of them...

The wolf moved leisurely. With such an overwhelming advantage, it could easily take its time to finish us.

"Kid. Move behind me."

"But..."

"Do it!!"

I took a stance. It had first appeared in the skill book when the Ash Spear Shaft was further identified by the Old Blacksmith.

I braced my feet firmly against the ground, and presented my full body to the wolf pack. My spear shaft was held in a balanced manner, with equal space devoted to both sides.

First stance of the Empty Spear: Balancer.

That was the name that I have given to this skill.

First stance of the Empty Spear: Balancer

The first stance of several learnt by initiates of the Nomadic Order of the Spear before heading off on their pilgrimage. This one contributes equal portions to attack and defense, making this a well balanced stance.

Beginner Level 1/0%: Adds 10% STR, 10% AGI and 10% VIT as long as you stay in this stance. Certain movements become easier in this stance. Consumes 1 Stamina per second.

It was the form first learnt and used by the travelling Spearmen who didn't have a proper form for their spear, devoting equal parts to all manner of spear technique...

With this and my inflated stats from training at the Warrior's Guild, I could definitely take out several wolves and buy some time for the kid to get back to town. Or just beat them up anyway and take all the drops for myself, kid be damned. You decide, readers!!

"Hey kid..."

"???"

"When I tell you to run, run as fast as you can back to town, and bring help. I'll hold them off until then."

"Eh? But I want to figh-"

"There's no time for games. Now go!!"

The kid scarpered. That was when the Pack attacked, attempting to get past me to attack the kid. Racking my head for ways to deal with this situation, I then quickly recalled Kite's words:

"When slashing or smashing, it is dependent on the rotation of your hips as well as your hands and arms..."

Acting on this small piece of advice, the spear shaft moved in small, quick arcs, striking each of the wolves on different spots on their bodies. They fell back, whining pitifully.

It was somewhat like rowing a kayak in reverse.

With swiping hooks using both ends of the Spear Shaft, I was able to force most of the wolf pack back. The others that managed to get past me dashed off in pursuit of the kid. I would wish him luck, but he's ridiculously feisty. He should be fine.

I put on my intimidating face. The wolfs cowered a little bit, but recovered and stood their ground.

My Fighting Spirit was still around level 25, so it wasn't very effective yet. However, a little goes a long way.

The fighting spirit stat has this effect of weakening low level mobs. Also;

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

The Fighting Spirit stat also gives a war cry that boosts my strength for a short period of time! The sun set behind me as I begin to face off against insurmountable odds.

I charged at the wolf pack.

****

"Hah... hah..."

The child was running for his dear life. Baying sounds could be heard, as well as the rustling of grass as he made his way through the fields under the dark starry sky.

Behind him, two wolves were chasing him. Their beautiful fur coats reflected the bright moon light, and their foot falls made no sound as they pursued their quarry. They didn't seem to be tiring either.

"Must get to town... Woah!!"

A wolf had instinctively judged the distance to be good and pounced. It was only by good fortune that it missed, but now it was blocking the way. It got up and slowly approached.

Behind the child, its companion also caught up. They slowly closed the gap, two wolves coming in a pincer formation.

The child desperately looked around. The escape routes were slowly disappearing as the wolves closed up the space between them.

"If I'm going down... I won't go quietly!!"

The child drew his short sword. The sword tip wavered as his arms trembled. His pulse was maxing out as he looked nervously from left to right.

The wolves didn't seem to be bothered. They continued to approach, taking their own sweet time, as though mocking him...

As animals, they had little compassion. It was to eat or be eaten. Even this child, in their eyes, can be seen as food.

The wolves pounced. Intimidated by the sight, the child instinctively closed his eyes.

Sounds of crunching and snarling could be heard.

*****

It was like a scene from a martial arts movie. Thinking back on this, it was a pretty exciting experience.

The wolves pounced at me in a bid to slowly wear me down. It was a standard technique used by pack animals against much larger prey. I responded accordingly.

Catching one with one end of the Spear Shaft, I flung him to the ground, and brought the shaft down in a vicious vertical swing. That knocked a considerable amount of hp off the wolf.

I pushed the end of the spear shaft against the ground, allowing me to recover and narrowly dodge another wolf. I didn't dodge it completely, and he grazed my face. The blood felt pretty warm as it ran down my face.

[You have lost 3% of your HP.]

I jabbed my spear shaft at yet another wolf that pounced at me, causing it to reel back in pain. Spinning on the spot, I catch two more with horizontal swings.

So far, so good. Other than losing a small amount of hit points, I am actually holding my own against a vicious pack of wolves. At night. And they are hungry.

....

Only in Virtual Reality.

And yet they still kept coming. Heavily outnumbered and outmaneuvered, I was forced to go on the defensive.

I spun and twirled the spear shaft as the wolves cautiously approach. The movement created a "shield" of sorts, dissuading them from getting too ambitious.

I carefully observed the situation around me. It was best to hunt down the leader in this situation. Once I take down the leader, the others will mill about in confusion, allowing me to make my escape or perhaps, kill them a bit easier. The wolf pelts can be sold off for a good price, or used to make good gear for upgrades. Also, I have heard good things about wolf meat.

"To think I would think of money and food in a situation like this... First, kill your wolves, then think about what you will do with them..." I grinned to myself as I thought of this. This author begs forgiveness for any innuendo that may be derived from that sentence, unintentional as it was.

As I slowly fought back against the never ending sea of grey... I noticed.

There!

A wolf was staying behind, growling and snarling, as though giving orders to the others. It was much larger than the others. There is a good chance that this particular wolf was the leader.

However, between me and the leader, was a vicious, bloodthirsty, and very possibly hungry pack of wolves. I needed to break through somehow, but without getting shredded to dog kibbles by the wolves.

Luckily, Spearmen tend to be good at breaking through defensive lines in most games, and Royal Road wasn't any different.

I dropped the Balancer Stance, and took up the stance that Kite had taught me. Facing sideways, with non-master hand leading. It wasn't recognized as an official skill by the game, but I had decided to dub it the Fencer stance since it reminded me of this from back when I took fencing as a casual hobby back in College.

It adopted an extremely linear approach to offense, and was good in one-on-one fights. It wasn't the stance I would not have used in the earlier situation, but for this one...

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!" I braced my feet against the ground and dashed, the spear shaft pointing forward.

A reckless charge at the leader.

The wolves instinctively parted as though sensing danger. Which makes it all the more easier to get to the leader.

The leader noticed my reckless charge and leaped sideways to try and dodge my attack.

"Where are you escaping to?!"

Momentum provided by the charge, I leapt upwards.

It was a skill I had always wanted to use myself from all the Final Fantasy Games I played in the past. No, it was not Omnislash, or Firega, or something like that.

It was simply known as Jump.

A high jump, using the weight and acceleration to land heavily and attack an opponent. It was a skill that won't be seen in other games, but was made possible in Virtual Reality.

I put my weight behind the attack, pointing the spear downwards and aiming my landing at the wolf.

It worked beautifully. The alpha had just recovered from his jump and had little time to react.

The end of the spear buried itself in the wolf's neck. It may be blunt without a spear head, but the striking surface area was small and therefore created a ton of pressure, crushing the bone and throat and killing the leader, the hp bar disappearing instantly. It disappeared quickly in a grey flash, leaving behind a wolf pelt and some copper coins.

"There, that's one down..." I made to pick up my loot.

Suddenly, I felt claws striking at my back. It hurt, but the chain mail protected me from the worst of the damage.

[You have lost 7% of your HP.]

"Crap..." I shook off the offending wolf, and faced the remainder of the pack.

Who should have fallen into disarray by the death of their leader, yet they had remained cohesive as a group.

I was too careless. I should have switched my attention to the others once I was done with the leader.

Moreover, the death of one of their kind seemed to have galvanized the others. One of the wolves howled.

[Wolf's Bloody Vengeance activated. Wolves gain 30% attack and agility for 2 hours.]

"Eh? They have a skill like this?"

I didn't know this until later, but wolves are very social creatures. They may be savage and kill off those that may hold them back in the hunt, but they are extremely caring and have been seen to express emotions over certain events.

In this case, Revenge for the death of their friend and leader.

As one pack, the wolves charged. It was a different approach from the earlier hit and run tactics they employed against me. It was such a terrifying side, that one cannot help but cower at it.

"Darn it!!"

I shook off the fear, and rushed at the cohesive group.

As the wolves are now bunched up together, it was more effective to use attacks with a wide area of effect to hit multiple mobs are once.

But the wolves milled about and attacked like a swarm of piranhas, making this difficult.

In the bloody melee, finesse and stances were forgotten. Instead of techniques and skills, it was swing and hit and hit and hit!!

It was an all-out battle for survival and supremacy over the other.

I threw all caution to the wind and focused all my efforts into attacking. My excitement grew to a fever pitch.

A wild horizontal swing caught several wolves at once. A vicious vertical swing broke the spine of another. Stabs jabbed into throats and sent them reeling back to be struck hard by the spear shaft.

As the fight wore on, my senses were blurred as blood flew everywhere. Pain was somehow dulled as adrenaline flooded the body. The wolves' attacks were taking their toll on me.

[You have lost 2% of your HP.]

[You have lost 5% of your HP.]

[You are bleeding badly from several places. Your HP will slowly decrease.]

My muscles screamed at the agony of recklessly swinging the spear shaft over and over again. My HP was surely falling into the critical range. I must have gotten half a dozen injuries by now. Yet, somehow, as though by some miracle, I didn't stop fighting.

As though I needed to make my point. Pent-up emotions were unleashed in a roiling fury. My blood flow slowed to a crawl. My blows, far from weakening, actually became stronger instead.

The wolves were extremely frightened by the mad man in front of them that was swinging the long stick wildly in vicious arcs. Several of them retreated with the tail between their legs.

"WHERE ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRE YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOU GOOOOOOOOOOOOOINNNNNNG!!!"

A visceral sound tore out loudly from my throat.

I bash aside the wolves that stayed behind to fight and chased after them, breaking legs and bones with swings from the spear shaft.

And then I saw a little child running over. He was dressed in the traveler's garb.

At this point, I was indiscriminately attacking anything fell in my line of sight.

Screaming bloody murder, I rushed at the child. I probably wasn't in control at this point...

A heavy force struck the back of my head, striking a sweet spot and overloading the brain with many signals.

The world around me faded to grey.

******

"Geez... Howard, I knew you would like this game, but not to that level of immersion."

"Heh heh heh... ow..."

I winced as I rubbed the giant bump that had swelled up on the back of my head.

The culprit that gave me that wound, a girl with a bandanna tied around her long grey hair, handed me a cup of tea as we sat around a fire. The child curled up at the corner, fast asleep.

I took a sip. Bitter... Best add milk and 2 sugars to it. But there wasn't any.

"By the way, who are you again?"

"You haven't lost your memory as well right?"

Bad attempts at humor aside, I had woke up by a fire, body heavily covered by bandages. My body felt incredibly refreshed.

I heard crying at the corner. When I turned my head to find out where it was coming from, I got a faceful of hammer, and fell unconscious again.

Either way, "Lilee" or rather, Lili as I knew her in real life, was red in the face as she recounted what she saw.

"I was passing through the gates when I saw the kid being surrounded by wolves. I smacked them around on the head with my hammer and he told me what happened."

I nodded, slowly drinking my tea as Lili warmed up to her theme, speaking excitedly with hands balled into fists.

"Either way, it was amazing how you managed to take on so many monsters at once with just a stick!!"

"That was not a stick..." I felt incredibly hurt by my weapon being belittled like this, even it wasn't complete yet.

"I don't care. You must tell me what happened so far while you were playing through the game!! Why is your level so low?!"

Apparently, most casual players would have gotten to level 15 or higher halfway through their second month. I was level 8 during that time, although my fight with the wolves had just bumped it up to 9. I allocated the points to Agility, reasoning that speed would increase my damage as well.

By the way, Lili is a Blacksmith, level 60. She had also just started playing Royal Road as well, although she had played the game longer than me, which means that she's ahead of me in terms of experience.

Still, I regaled her with tales of my relatively uneventful adventure so far.

"Owh... so you became a Spearman huh..."

I nodded. As strange and weak as the name sounds, I had the impression from what I saw so far seems that it had a surprising side to it.

"Isn't that a cannon fodder class?"

WHAT?!

"Say that again..." Veins were throbbing as I said this in a threatening tone.

"... It's my first time seeing a class like this so..." Lili shrugged.

Well, the Spearman IS a hidden class...

"So what is it that you actually do?"

"Well..."

I still had no idea what that class did at this point. All I was told was to go on a pilgrimage to where ever I felt like going so as to imprint my immature soul with experiences...

I mentioned the above to Lili, who rested her chin on her hand as she considered this...

"So you are an adventurer then?"

"Well, you could put it that way..."

"Huh... you did get an interesting job after all. As expected of Howard. For someone who said that he will quit within the month, you wasted no time adapting quickly to the game. And to achieve that kind of battle immersion in a small period of time..."

A scowl formed on my face. It was purely out of self defense. Who would have thought that I would get carried away with the fighting? I am a natural-born pacifist (self-proclaimed). I do not strike unless provoked (delusional).

Such denials of bloodthirsty instincts were quickly dismissed in the face of the evidence. Two new skills were generated through the Nomadic Imprint ability during the fight:

Combat Immersion:

Cloud your mind with the heat of battle, sharpening combat instincts and reflexes. Activated automatically during combat, and deactivates when at rest. Pain is dulled when the skill is active.

[Beginner Level 2/5%: +4% Agility, +6% movement speed during combat.]

Berserk Impulse

Lose control of your actions for a massive increase in power and hp regeneration. Activated automatically when your HP falls to a set level. Your actions are automatically set to offensive movements, attacking indiscriminately with no regard for defense. Pain is dulled and bleeding is stopped when the skill is active.

[Beginner Level 1/55%: +20% STR, +10% Fighting Spirit, HP Regeneration boosted by 50% when HP falls below 20%. Completely unable to control one's actions when skill is active.]

Both of those skills are great, but the requirement was ridiculous. Berserk Impulse required me to lose control of my actions in exchange for a ridiculous amount of power. Kind of like making yourself be controlled by an AI that was set on "Easy" difficulty. It was a powerful skill, but it was dangerous. I could easily kill myself and the people around me if I let myself go out of control like that.

And then it turns out that I could not delete the skill. It must be part of the pilgrimage I was going through.

On the other side of the coin, Combat Immersion accelerated the senses. It was a good skill to have, but tricky to utilize in combat. The requirement is relatively safe as compared to Berserk Impulse though. Both skills dulled pain from attacks taken, which could be dangerous, but will be useful for raising the new stat that was generated.

Endurance:

Reduces physical damage inflicted by the enemy. Increases the user’s life by a small amount. Decreases stamina usage

That was the Endurance Stat, which was also generated during the fight. Lili said that it boosted HP and physical defense and can be raised by taking Melee attacks. Alternatively, I could also add points to this, but why would someone do that?

Overall, my fight with the pack of wolves had been a very useful and rewarding one. Even it did prove that my pacifist notions were purely delusional and self-satisfying.

Not that I would mention that to Lili anyway.

"More importantly, what are we to do with the kid?"

I made a gesture pointing out the kid, who was sleeping like a log by the fire.

"Don't look at me, I'm a busy girl. I can't take him."

Lili had taken time off her work at a guild that she's in to come and look for me. She had spent a month away already and was due to head back to clear off the work that has piled up in her absence. She mentioned all this while shooting a dirty look at me. What? It's not as though I knew that she would come and find me, right?

Incidentally, I imagined Lili at the smithy, hard at work. With her heavily tanned skin, the long grey hair that she sported in-game and rather athletic looks, I was given the impression that she looked the part. It's no wonder that she was invited to a guild. The fact that Blacksmithing is a popular skill to have didn't hurt either.

Scowling to myself, I realized that this means that I have to take care of the kid somehow. He probably won't survive out there in the wilderness by himself.

"Besides, he still owes me money," I grumbled to myself. I made the decision to work the poor child harder next time.

Growl....

Was that another wolf?

Growl...

"Owwwwh... I just realized. I'm starving..." Lili admitted while blushing.

I didn't say it, but I felt rather hungry as well. That Rabbit Skewer and bread seemed to be an eternity ago...

"Hang on, I'll make something. I wanted to try something out. For now, eat this."

I handed her a piece of rabbit jerky as I rummaged through my pack.

And dug out a hunk of flesh.

It was from the alpha wolf that I killed earlier. It was the only loot I got from that fight, too, other than its pelt and some copper coins.

"Ah, sweet misfortune..." I wasn't able to get the loot from the other wolves, which considering my level and current financial status in-game, kinda sucked.

It was balanced out by the acquisition of several skills and the Endurance stat, anyway.

I lathered some oil onto the wolf hank, and seasoned it with paprika, salt and pepper.

"It didn't come cheap, so I best use it sparingly..."

I rammed the Spear Shaft through the flesh, and used it as a spit.

"At least you have another use..."

Blatant abuse of the resources available to you!!

The Spear Shaft had an Unbreakable Rune carved onto it, so I'm guessing that that includes not getting scorched and burnt by fire.

"Here, I'll fix that chain mail for you."

"Ah, thank you."

I handed my chain mail to Lili, who tapped the suit with her hammer and said in a loud, clear voice:

"Repair."

A flash of light, and my chain mail was as good as new.

"Amazing!!" I shouted excitedly.

"It's nothing, really. If you come to the smithy I can probably improve it properly."

All this was said with a serious look. When it comes to work, Lili doesn't mess around. I didn't mention to her that I could repair it myself, but her Repair skill was definitely a lot higher than mine, since it restored the Durability of my chain mail all the way to its maximum.

A delicious smell filled the air as the wolf meat slowly cooked.

The child stirred awake at the smell. Rubbing his eyes sleepily, he asked in a groggy voice:

"... What's for dinner, Mama?"

"You'll have to pay if you want to eat..." Veins could be seen throbbing at my temple as I said that.

Lili swatted my head with the hammer.

"Don't be mean, Howard. Share your food."

"Kuh..."

Karma had come to bite me for all my cruel deeds. Or, in this case, swat me in the face with a hammer.

Lili could well be the spiritual successor of my older sister, as surprisingly violent as she could be at times.

The hunk of wolf meat was soon ready to be served.

Despite the blackened appearance, the meat parted easily from the bone, revealing bright pinkish-white flesh, a stark contrast. No matter what others may say about animal abuse, it tasted great. There was barely any fat from the meat, and the meat had the taste of iron in it.

I reached out for another piece... only to find that there wasn't any left. I looked up and saw the kid with a big portion. Of MY meat.

Munch, munch, munch...

"Got another piece?"

That kid eats too damn much!!!

Lili smiled kindly at the kid.

"He's a growing child now. Eat more and grow big and strong."

Don't go on and encourage him!! It's not your food he's eating!!

Sighing to myself, I took out a piece of stale bread from my backpack and chewed it with a vindictiveness that would have killed any aspiring appetites.

Charity is one thing, but I'm being eaten out of house and home here...

*******************************************************************************************************

My word count seems to grow each time I write. Hopefully I don't burn out...

Off to my busy busy weekend.