Five months passed, we’ve been encountered a lot of new monsters. Horned Eagles, Winged Spiders and Ghouls.

Horned Eagle… well, it’s just an eagle with horn, nothing impressive except it’s big as a bison.

Winged Spiders, it’s like my worst nightmare come true. They built their nest on top of trees and their number is astronomical. Fortunately, they are weak and their only advantage is only in numbers. I killed them with one sweep of my black flame and it was over.

And the last but not the least, Ghouls. They feed on human flesh or dead bodies. I’ve met one of them eating a random person’s hand, it was pretty gory. Their form is very skinny, sharp teeth, pale skin, naked, and eyes wide-open like they just drank a mixture of coffee and redbull.

I thought I’m getting closer to a human settlement but I was wrong, not technically.

I found a village actually, but I was too late a century. There’s houses, buildings, parks, and other things… however, the village is pretty ancient. Even little flick would destroy one of those buildings. There’s no clue about what happened to the people who used to live there, it’s just a dead village now.

And so I kept walking and continue my journey with Ren.

In my journey, I’ve noticed something.

My body is slowly transforming.

I’m not growing a third hand or something weird like that, it’s just… the stone covering my body slowly, but surely becoming a skin.

I don’t feel anything from it… it’s just skin, nothing more, nothing less.

And Ren… well, Ren being Ren I guess. A very loyal companion, he’s always by my side wherever and whenever I go. He has this acrobatic moves, like flipping in the air, swinging from tree branches to another tree branches with his tail, and what not.

The both of us has grown to a whole new level, monsters around here isn’t a threat anymore. But it’s better to not get arrogant, it’s a bad habit.

I’ve been absorbing a tons of monster cores and every time I absorb the cores, I noticed that my skin grows. It seems the core has a lot of use, it can increase my overall power and making me more… looks more human-ish?

I still don’t get it. How does it works? How does it created anyway?

We walked for another 3 days, it’s quite peaceful which I find odd. Have reached the exit of this endless forest? Honestly I was quite impressed by the scenery but after a lot of times seeing the same thing over and over again, it’s getting pretty boring.

There! I see a path! Finally!

I quicken my pace and followed the path. I can see it, I can see the end of line of this damned forest.

It’s been half a year since I was awoken in the forest, I’ve met monsters that I’ve never seen before, fighting between the border of life and death and finally acquired strength beyond human and a loyal companion. Everything went so fast, that I almost didn’t notice. It was… quite an experience.

So here I am, taking my first step into the outside world with my best friend, Ren. And I never thought that, the first thing that I would see is a mansion.

A big ass mansion.

The path is leading inside the mansion. Well, a crossroad to be precise.

I looked around. This place is a bit isolated, it’s surrounded by tall trees and mountains.

What is this, I don’t even…

Three story building, has black color and looked very old, I doubt someone is living in there.

But, there’s no harm right? I mean, if there’s no one living in there, it means the mansion is abandoned. Maybe I can find some clues about this world and hopefully, about what am I.

I’ve entered the front door, it’s pretty dark. I’ve signaled Ren to guard the front door just in case.

The windows are covered with curtains, there’s oil lamps and some candles on the table. It’s a guest room… or something.

I touched the table, there’s no dust at all. In fact, the whole mansion looks very clean. It seems I was wrong, there is someone living in this mansion after all.

I closed my eyes and focused on my hearing. I’ve been trained my hearing a lot. If I focused really hard, I even can hear a breathing sound.

Couple minutes passed, It’s very quiet, kinda eerie actually.

Hmm? I’ve heard something. The sound is very very low, I can barely hear it. It’s the sound of someone breathing. I knew it, someone is hiding in the-

*Smack!*

-Gah! Someone, something punched my stomach which made it cracked! I got blown away, smashing the wall and fell on my knees.

Who is it!? It’s dark, but I can still see things quite clearly.

It’s… a woman.

A woman wearing a black gothic dress, red sharp eyes, pale skin, around 17 or 18 years old and red hair.

She’s quite pretty. Is what I would say if she didn’t attack me first. But this woman isn’t an ordinary woman at all, she almost destroyed my stomach. Who is she?

I stand up with difficulty, which made her shocked. I’m a golem, I don’t feel pain.

She gasped and said.

“Who are you? What do you want from me?”

She has this dignified atmosphere around her when she talked.

You took words right out of my mouth. I’m the victim here, I’m the one who should be asking you.

Right, so how do I tell her that?

We kept staring each other awkwardly as I remained silent.

“... You are not going to talk? Then you shall die.”

She said while taking a sword out of thin air. The sword looks very sharp and heavy, but she hold it with one hand like it was nothing.

How the hell did you do that!? Are you fricking kidding me!? This is my first contact with another ‘human’ being and she’s already wanted to kill me!?

She charged at me and when she was about to slash me, Ren came and tried to bite her but her reaction was faster, she dodged it by doing a backflip. Actually, I was about to block it with my Shield Flame if Ren didn’t come.

Ren growled at her and she was shocked, again.

“A new… species? You! Who are you!?”

Calm down woman, you have no right to ask me anything after what you’ve done to me.

She took a stance and suddenly she was enveloped by a reddish aura. I’ve never seen anyone with special power like me until now, I’m kinda intrigued but a bit scared too.

Suddenly, her canine teeth grew longer, slitted pupils and… bat wings? … She’s a goddamn vampire!

I have a few guesses, but I never expected to meet a vampire! I don’t really know what to feels, excited or scared to death.

*Whoosh!*

She jumped at me faster than before. Her strength increased!

I can’t fight her with raw strength alone, I’m gonna need to rely on my flame! Ren seems to know what I was thinking, he knew he isn’t a match for her, so he took a distance and try not to become a hindrance. I don’t even know if I can fight her to an equal footing.

I enveloped my body with my black flame, my strength also increased by tenfold! I form a blade with my black flame, I can’t fight barehanded even though she is a woman.

She looked at me in contempt while frowning. She slashed me with her sword, it gives off briliant light everytime she swings the sword.

I received her attack with my sword. We clashed and sparks flying off everywhere.

“Tell me who you are! Why a golem can use a Soul Weapon!? Answer me!”

I will tell you if I can speak dammit!

Huh? A Soul Weapon? Is that what my black flame called? Soul Weapon?

While I was dozed off for a second, she kicked my chin. If I was a human, I’m sure I was done for. Fortunately, I’m not.

This woman is really agile, is she really 18 years old? I think she’s older than what she appears to be.

She slashed me again, but it’s seems a bit… dull.

I dodged it with ease.

Her face is red, it seems she’s really angry… about what? Tears began to accumulate in her eyes as she slashed me again and again.

What are you so angry about? I’m the one supposed to be angry here. Maybe we came into your house without permission, but we didn’t come to steal anything.

Her reddish aura began to fade away, it seems she has already reached her limit.

“Answer me!!”

She screamed at me.

Hmm? Wait a minute.

Our language… is the same? Maybe… I can speak with her through writing? It’s going to be tough, but I’ve got to calm her down somehow.

I think I just need to buy times until her power runs out.

“Why won’t you answer me!? Are you looking down at me!?” This time, tears is flowing through her reddened cheeks.

What? I’m not looking down on anyone.

I wonder what has happened to her before?

Her attacks is getting slower and duller each time she attacked me, even Ren is just sitting on the ground, yawning.

Where’s her parent? Does she lived here alone? Did she actually cleaned this whole mansion alone?

Finally, I grabbed her sword with my bare hand, I’m not daring enough to catch it without my hand covered with black flame of course.

“Why… why… why won’t you talk to me…?”

She fell on her knees, sobbing. Her canine has come back to its original size. The dignified atmosphere she had before is gone now.

I feel bad, truly. But I don’t really know what’s going on. I do feel a bit familiar though.

I gripped the sword handle and examined it.

It has a very detailed ornament, a red ruby is embedded in the middle of the quillons and looks very precious. What a damn fine sword.

“Kill me… already…”

She cried for me to kill her. No way.

I’m not going to kill you, you are the first person I’ve met.

I dropped the sword and I put off my black flame.

“Huh…?”

She looks dumbfounded. It seems a bit funny.

I pointed at my throat while shaking my head, I’m giving her a sign that I can’t talk. I hope she understand what I mean.

“Huh…?”

She looks dumbfounded more than before. Her eyes look confused while her brow furrowed. This isn’t going anywhere.

I walked around and found a piece of paper. I used her sword to write, that I can’t speak. I give the paper to her.

Her expression is getting worse, she was so shocked that her jaw dropped.

She can read it? Good, it seems I was right, we can communicate with writing.

“You… you can’t speak…?”

She looked at me. She doesn’t seems convinced about it. What do I do now?

I grabbed the piece of paper she’s holding and write another thing.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

‘Please trust me.’ is what I wrote.

We stared at each other eyes for moment, which I feels like forever. In another word, it’s pretty awkward.

“... You truly can’t speak…?”

She said doubtfully at me. I just nodded.

“You… have no vocal cords…?”

I shook my head, confirming her doubts. I’m a golem, made of stones, not flesh.

“Are you sentient?”

What kind of question is that? Of course I am. I nodded to her question.

Her eyes widened and she covered her mouth with her hands.

“Impossible… you are lying! Tell me who you are!”

I ignored her protest and keep looking at her eyes.

“There is no such thing as a sentient golem! They are only dolls controlled by the puppet master! You can’t fool me!”

That actually shocked me but I don’t have a face, so I looked composed on the outside and surprised in the inside. I have the perfect poker face.

But still… there are no sentient golems huh. She called me a golem, which confirmed my doubts about my body… but if golems doesn’t have sentience, then what am I?

How do I prove my existence? Ah I remember.

I covered my right hand with the black flame. She said this is called a Soul Weapon right? I guess this flame come from my soul, which a non-sentient golem couldn’t have, which made me a sentient golem.

“That’s…!”

She was so speechless that her jaw dropped.

I proved my existence. I am sentient. I am me.

Right, I can’t keep staring eyes with her forever. I need answers.

Now that I looked around, I see Ren is laying on the ground. He’s looking at me with eyes full of admiration, what’s that supposed to mean?

I took another page and write another question for her.

‘Can you make me speak?’

I don’t know what else to ask her, so I just wrote the first thing that popped out of my mind.

“I… I…”

She stuttered, she stopped crying and her complexion is much better now. The situation has calmed, I looked at her carefully. She’s quite a beauty, red wavy hair, almond eyes, oval face and she’s wearing black gothic dress.

I waited for her response until she nodded her head.

“I-I can. Use that magic stone, plant it on your throat and try to speak…”

Magic stone? So there’s an actual magic, huh? Is this a magic stone? It’s hexagon shaped and has a blue color. I’m supposed to shove this stone into my throat? Will I die? Is this really safe?

My hand kinda trembled while I shoved the magic stone slowly into my throat. Fortunately, it doesn’t hurt at all.

Surprisingly, the magic stone actually got absorbed by my throat and I can feel a tingling sensation. It feels-

“-Weird…”

Huh!? That voice… was that my voice? It’s just suddenly came out.

My voice sounded a bit hoarse, it’s like a voice came from a radio tape.

“Is this normal?”

I asked her, which has a dumbfounded look. Again.

“You… are you really sentient?”

“What do you think?”

“I…you... what are you?”

“I asked first, why is my voice sounds hoarse?”

“Ugh… It’s because… the quality of the magic stone isn’t high…”

She said with an embarrassed face.

“I see.”

“Y-yeah… wait, answer my question!”

“Fire away.”

“H-huh!? I asked, what are you!? Why did you come here!?”

“I’m… I don’t even know… what I’m. It was just a coincidence, I saw a mansion, so I thought I would stop by and see what’s in here and who’s living in here. That’s all.”

“... No, that can’t be all! You can’t find this place by coincidence! This is the Sleeping Forest! One of the most dangerous place in the world with danger level of S rank!”

“Oh, I didn’t know about that one. Long story short, I was stranded as a golem in this forest without memories about what happened before and here I am, exploring.”

“N-no memories!? How in the world did you survive through the whole forest!?”

“With this of course and my loyal companion.”

I said, while showing off my black flame and pointing toward the sleeping Ren. How can he sleep in this situation?

“That’s a Soul Weapon! How did you acquire that then!?”

“It’s… just simply exist, I don’t even know how I acquired it.”

“T-then… what is your name?”

“I think you’ve asked enough, it’s my turn. What is YOUR name?”

“A-ah… I… I’m…”

“Not very pleasant is it?”

“N-no! It’s not that… It’s…”

She’s stuttered and confused with a slight fear reflected in her eyes.

Huh… I wonder what happened to this place and the girl.

But finding clues about this world is much more important.

“Forget it. Do you live alone here?”

“...Yes?”

“I see… can I look around?”

“T-that’s... “

“Good, where do you keep your books?”

“Huh? I-it’s that way…?”

She pointed at a giant door behind me. This place is big, I don’t want to get lost in this place, it’s embarrassing.

“Lead the way.” I said, while I helped her stand up.

“B-but…”

“What?”

“I-It’s nothing… follow me…”

She walked in front of me rashly, I sensed she feeled uneasy and scared about something when she walked passed me, but what? My presence? Could be, but I think there’s more than meets the eye.

Ren was sleeping on the floor. Something is amiss, he usually doesn’t sleep in broad daylight… or maybe that’s just me.

We have been walking for quite some time now. It’s pretty awkward, talking would be even more awkward, I mean she attacked me and lost. I choose to keep my silence.

However, suddenly she asked me something that I didn’t expect.

“You didn’t come here to take my heart, are you?”

With her red eyes, she looked me deep in the eyes, piercing my soul.

I feel… a bit light headed, but… it’s also… kinda feels nice…

“No… I’m not.” I answered nonchalantly.

She gasped and covered her mouth with both of her hands while taking two steps back.

Suddenly, I snapped back to reality. I was hypnotized! Crap I forgot that Vampires actually have these kind of abilities!

“You! What the hell were you trying to do!?”

I said while formed a sword with my Soul Weapon.

“N-no! I’m just…”

She stuttered. Again.

Her hand was shaking in fear and tears starting to accumulate in her eyes.

“You are what? Trying to hypnotize me? Kill me without me noticing? Is that what you were trying to do?”

“I-I…”

Tears began to flow from her eyes to her cheeks and finally dripping onto the floor.

Ah…

Another headaches!

My memory strikes again.

I remember.

This girl, I know… I’ve been in her place before. Being accused of something you didn’t do… slandered for something you didn’t know.

Why now!?

Why her!?

Dammit! My head hurts! I fell on my knees.

“Ah...!?”

She gasped and confused, not knowing what to do.

I… What was I supposed to do!? Let her go!? She tried to kill me!

An image… A boy… around 12 years old emerged in my head.

He was mocked by kids of his age and they are throwing rocks at him. They accused the boy of something he didn’t do, he was begging for mercy but no one listened to him. He was always different from the others. He was always… alone.

And this boy… is me… isn’t it?

I can’t… please stop… please.

This girl… made me recall one of the darkest memory I have.

She was the same as me, abandoned and was left alone.

What is this, I don’t even…

What am I supposed to do?

Slowly, my mind is getting clearer, I see her standing in front of me. A look of guilt is plastered on her face.

“Sorry…”

I said in low voice. But I’m sure she heard that.

“W-what… no… I’m the one-”

I cutted her off before she finished her sentence.

“It’s alright… Let’s act like this never happened.”

“But…”

“Let’s continue… to the… books.”

Suddenly, I’m feeling very dizzy. I fall on the floor. Am I being hypnotized again? No… It’s different.

“Ah! What’s wrong!? Are you alright!? Answer me!”

That was the last thing I heard before I lost my consciousness.

A voice of a girl worried about me.

===========================

If you found any grammar mistakes, please do tell. I'm a human after all. This one is a bit rushed.