Dark and deep, as if directly connected to the subterranean abyss.

In the heart of the dark forest lies the "Valley of Despair," stretching from east to west.

In the human world, this place is like the edge of the world, to this day, no document reports anyone having crossed the Valley of Despair and come out alive.

Some say the bottom of the Valley of Despair is the lair of demons, others say that on the other side of the valley is another world...

There are countless speculations like these, but none can be confirmed with precision.

"What do you think is down there?"

At the inner edge of the Valley of Despair, Shirley tilted her head and looked into the unfathomable depths of the valley.

She knew the answer to what lay beyond the Valley of Despair, she just had never asked her mother what was down there.

Despite being only fifteen years old in this world, she felt her mother was almost omnipotent and omniscient, and her position was vaguely superior to other racial leaders.

For example, when her mother returned the small princess of the Night Wolves, confusion within that clan ceased instantly, without even a sound.

Therefore, even without asking directly, she thought her mother should know what was below the Valley of Despair.

On the other side, Karina thought for a moment and then clapped her hands as if she had an idea.

"I know!"

"Ah? You really know!"

Shirley showed an incredulous expression.

She had asked out of curiosity, not really expecting an answer.

Karina was only ten years old, and from the perspective of the races, was an innocent child.

The idea that Karina knew something she didn't gave Shirley a sense of frustration.

"Hmm..." Karina nodded with her arms crossed over her chest. "To find out what's down there, we can only go down and see!"

After that, she lifted her head with a look of "I'm amazing, praise me."

"Idiot!"

Shirley pushed Karina's head aside, thinking it was a mistake to expect anything from her.

However, was there a way to descend into the Valley of Despair?

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Thinking about it, Shirley looked again at the bottom of the valley, examining the rocky walls for any possible shortcuts.

"Hey, Shirley."

Karina suddenly poked Shirley's arm.

"What is it? Don't bother me..."

"Shirley—"

Karina poked even faster.

"Is there something you want to say? Why do you keep poking me?"

Shirley looked at Karina and realized she was staring intently at something behind them.

"What’s behind us?"

Following Karina’s gaze, Shirley froze as well.

Behind them, a flock of birds with red eyes and black bodies was silently flapping their wings, forming a large circle around them.

The fierce glares and sharp claws of the birds clearly indicated that the situation was very dire.

"Why didn't you say anything earlier?"

Shirley forced herself to speak, with the corners of her mouth trembling.

"I only just noticed..."

Karina also looked a bit embarrassed.

There was no choice now but to flee.

Shirley looked around, hoping to find an escape route, but they were completely surrounded with no direction to run.

Since she had recently learned magic, she didn’t have the ability to create a blood path, and Karina was in an even worse situation.

Looking at the endless bottom of the valley, Shirley swallowed hard and met Karina’s gaze.

"You jump, I jump."Shirley forced a smile and, with a trembling voice, said to Karina.

"What, what are you saying?" Karina looked at Shirley with an innocent expression, seemingly forgetting the crisis.

"Is this some kind of spell? Do I need to cooperate in some way?"

Seeing Karina’s reaction, Shirley felt embarrassed.

"What I mean is, should we jump from here?"

"From here!? It's so high, jumping from here could kill us!" Karina screamed.

At that moment, the fierce birds began to attack.

"And now, would you rather be eaten by these strange birds?"

"Being eaten is better than crashing, let's run away!"

Karina shouted while pulling Shirley in an attempt to escape.

The birds covering the sky obscured their vision, Shirley couldn’t see anything, only being dragged by Karina and gathering magic to try to relieve the pressure on them.

The birds’ sharp claws soon tore at their clothes and caused wounds, making them even more clumsy.

Suddenly, the pressure around them decreased abruptly, and Shirley sighed with relief, thinking they had escaped.

She thought about how the birds would pay when she returned!

However, she felt like she was stepping into the void, and saw the shadows of the birds moving away quickly.

Looking down, an endless darkness seemed to want to swallow them.

"Ah!!!" Shirley screamed, "Didn't you say not to jump off the cliff!?"

Shirley and Karina embraced in the air.

"I didn’t want to, but I couldn’t see the path!"

It seemed that this was how it ended...

Shirley thought that maybe, from the beginning, giving up the fight and jumping off the cliff might have been a more peaceful death.

"Use magic, don’t you know how to fly!?" Karina also screamed.

"How can I fly in a situation like this!?"

Shirley had learned a flying spell, but the speed of the fall was too fast.

With the magic and control she had, it was insufficient to counteract the force of the fall.

Still, she continued casting spells.

As they fell, the red magic circle continued to be constructed, broken, reconstructed, broken...

"It’s over, it’s over, it’s really over..."

Exhausted of all her magical energy, Shirley felt a strong dizziness.

As she had feared, the fall showed no signs of stopping.

"This is impossible, dying like this is too cruel. Your spells are so useless, maybe being a warrior would be better!"

"A warrior is useless! A warrior would just die from the fall, a mage can still fight."

"Fighting like this only makes everything more terrifying."

"And if we survive? Are you a loser?"

"What does being a loser have to do with it?"

"A loser is..."

Feeling the proximity of the ground, Shirley twisted in the air, hugging Karina and preparing to brace for the impact with the ground.

"No dreams!!!"

As if emitting the last cry of her life, Shirley screamed with all her strength.

But, with the sound dissipating, her consciousness also fell into the endless darkness.