The sun is setting on a beautiful forest of red giants. These pale red trees tower high above the ground, their branches reaching towards the sky like arms stretched out in greeting. The warmth of the day is beginning to fade, and the rays of light filtering through the branches of the red giants give the forest an autumnal vibe, even though it is still early in the year.

Suddenly, the peaceful ambiance is disrupted by a noise. The background noise grows louder and then crackles to life.

- Kigetsu, do you receive? a slightly distorted voice comes through the radio of a man enjoying the serene surroundings of the forest.

- Yes, I receive you loud and clear, the man responds.

- We've received an emergency call from our client. He is in big trouble. I've just sent you his location, the voice on the radio belongs to a woman.

- I'm on my way. Over and out, the man says as he pushes a button on his radio and looks one more time at the horizon before turning away.

He slowly flexes his legs until they almost reach the ground. A sudden gust of wind starts to swirl around his legs, from the bottom to the top. As the man reaches a sprinting position, the wind propels him at full speed towards the trees.

He smoothly dodges the first tree, using the wind emanating from his feet to redirect himself away from the red giants. He continues his course, dodging trees, bushes, and roots left and right, even climbing and pushing himself off of some trees. He arrives close to the location displayed on his PDA, but as soon as he comes within a hundred meters, he senses four more presences further away. Three of them seem bigger than the last one, which seems a bit more reclusive.

At the fifty-meter mark, the man takes a hard turn to the left, making a half-circle around the position of the other presences. As he goes around, he closes the distance by slowly climbing a tree using the wind. And then he sees them – three forest boars menacingly surrounding a young man whose back is resting against a red giant. The young man is visibly injured, with blood coming through his left sleeve. He is not standing still, indicating an injury to his legs.

Now being closer than ever, the man propels himself towards the first boar, swiftly unsheathing his katana as he comes into contact with the beast. The boar's instincts kick in, alerting it to the danger approaching at tremendous speed, but it is too late. In one motion, with a slicing noise, the head of the giant beast drops to the ground.

The other boars, sensing the danger, run away as fast as they can, but the rescuer is already prepared to pursue them after his landing. With one blast of wind, he comes closer to one of the beasts and, as the boar turns its eyes, he stabs it at the base of the neck, the sharp edge pointing upwards. He then jumps around the head of the beast, from its left side to the right, slicing its head clean off. The boar crashes to the ground as its head rolls away.

The swordsman turns and prepares to charge towards the last boar, but realizes it has already made some distance and it is certainly unnecessary to kill another one. He stands up straight, sheathing his sword, and looks around at his two victims before starting to jog back to the boy. As he approaches, he sees that the boy has a deep laceration in his left forearm. The man quickly puts his palm above the boy and starts to scan him using a water technique. His hands illuminate the skin of the boy in a light blue color as he passes his palm across his body. He notices that the boy has a badly broken ankle after reaching his left leg.

- Are you alright? the rescuer asks the young man, who appears to be his client.

- They got me with their tusks, and I think I broke my ankle when I fell off, but outside of that, I think I'm okay. Kind of, the young man replies.

- Okay, that's good to hear, the man says, I'll do my best to heal you, just hang on a bit.

He puts both of his hands above the laceration, and they illuminate in a bright white color. The boy looks at it with curiosity as the pain slowly vanishes away. When the man removes his hands, the wound has sealed up, leaving a scar behind.

The man then applied the same magic to the boy's ankle, and once again, the pain fades away.

- What kind of magic is this? the young man asks.

- This is a light-based magic, the man explains. It uses the warmth of the light element to relieve pain, and then it will help your body recover faster. Sealing the wound is one thing, but you should still take some rest, otherwise you might reopen it. The same goes for your ankle – it's still broken, but the magic has welded the bone together. Just don't put too much force on it.

The man stepped back and looked at the young man more closely. He was about 18 years old, with brown, messy hair that fell down to his shoulders. He had deep brown eyes, with a slight discoloration in the center that makes them look like flames. His round face makes him look younger than he is. The young man was wearing a tattered green shirt and brown pants, both of which were stained with dirt and blood. Despite his injuries, he looked determined and resilient, as if he had been through a lot and is not easily defeated. The man could see a fire burning in the young man's eyes, a determination to overcome whatever challenges come his way.

- What's your name? the man asks, curious about the young man he has rescued.

- I'm Alex, the young man replies. Thank you for saving me. I don't know what I would have done without you.

- You're welcome, Mitsui says with a smile. It's my job to save people like you. My name is Mitsui.

Raising his head, Mitsui looks up at the sky. The night is starting to fall and it wouldn't be safe to transport Alex in the dark.

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- We might need to stop for the night, Mitsui says, his eyes fixed on the sky as the night begins to fall. It wouldn't be safe to travel in the dark. We'll set up camp just a little further ahead.

Alex nodded, still looking dazed after the events of the day.

- Yeah, that sounds good, he says weakly. I'm feeling a bit tired, anyway.

Mitsui looked around, trying to find a suitable place to camp. They were on a dirt road that winds through the forest. He pointed to a small clearing that's just visible through the trees.

- This clearing is big enough for us, and I can set up a magic circle to keep us safe while we sleep.

Alex nods again, and Mitsui helped him to stand up. They make their way to the clearing, and Mitsui helped Alex sit down while he gathers nearby dead wood using a telekinetic magic. Alex watched in fascination as Mitsui started the fire using a small flame formed inside his palm that he gently pushed towards the center of the makeshift campfire.

As the fire crackles and pops, Mitsui continued to prepare the camp. He used a crystal attached to a wristband on his left hand to create an opening in space and took out two tents. He used wind magic to quickly set up the tents and earth magic to anchor them to the ground.

Next, Mitsui draws a magic circle on the ground, full of symbols.

- What is it? Alex asks, raising his eyebrows.

- This is a magic circle, and the main rune is at the center of it. I am drawing it to create a barrier around us so that we can sleep without worrying about predators sneaking up on us, Mitsui explains as he continues his drawing.

He draws a circle surrounding the main rune and then adds four sub-runes to increase the complexity of the circle.

- These sub-runes provide protection, a repulsive effect to keep things away, an alert if something crosses the barrier, and authorization for those inside the circle to leave and re-enter without hitting their heads on the barrier, Mitsui explains.

Alex watches in wonder as Mitsui performs the complex magic.

- That seems like a complex magic, he says, fascinated by what he's seeing.

- It is a complex process, but once you get the hang of it, you can easily reproduce basic magic circles with ease, Mitsui explains. Alex watched carefully as Mitsui drew the runes, his hand slightly moving as if he was trying to replicate them in the air.

Once Mitsui finished drawing the magic circle, he approached the main rune and placed his hand on it. A burst of magic flowed out of him and into the rune, causing it to glow intensely. A magic circuit formed along the chalk lines that connected the main rune to the rest of the circle. Once the circuit was completed, a bubble started to form around the campsite, a few meters away from the magic circle.

Satisfied with his work, Mitsui stepped back and sits by the campfire.

- It's a bit of a conversation change, but what are you doing in this forest by yourself? he asks Alex. Looking at you, you don't seem prepared at all for this region, and you don't seem to have a magical body yet.

Alex takes on a guilty look, which tells Mitsui that he already knows that.

- I wanted to be an adventurer, Alex admits. I wanted to explore the nearby region, harvest some resources here and there, and have a little battle with some creatures.

He looks down at the broadsword he was carrying for his journey.

- But I didn't know it was that dangerous."

Mitsui looks at him sympathetically.

- Well, at least you had the good sense to sign up with a search and rescue agency to cover yourself for your 'little' exploration, he says. A lot of young people think they're better than what they really are and don't sign up for a rescue contract. They generally never come back.

Alex shuddered at the thought of being eaten alive by the boars if he hadn't signed up with the S&R agency.

Mitsui changed the conversation to make Alex feel better about his situation. He explained how the ranking system worked in the OtherWorld, where people and things are ranked from F to S, with F being people who have not yet developed a magical body and E being people who possess a magical body. Everything else is ranked from D to S, including creatures, materials, ingredients, and regions. He carefully explained that the red giant forest is a D-rank region, meaning that most of the creatures within it are also D-rank or occasionally C-rank. The forest boars he encountered previously are known for their aggression, but they are not generally considered dangerous when encountered alone. However, in a pack they can be quite a challenge. Materials harvesting is a common job in the OtherWorld, and forest boars are popular for their tusks and thick skin, which are ideal for insulation.

As the night went on, Alex began to feel a bit dizzy.

- It's normal for you to feel like this, Mitsui explains. I used a photosynthesis process with my light magic to help your body heal faster. Your body had to work harder to absorb the light, which can be a little tiring.

Feeling exhausted, Alex decided it was time to go to sleep. He and Mitsui said goodnight to each other and headed into their tents. As Alex settled in for the night, he was surprised by the warmth inside the tent. He had expected it to be cold like any other tent on Earth, but there was a low brightness red crystal hanging in a small pouch that was glowing and giving off heat. He approached the crystal and placed his hand above it, amazed that it could produce both light and heat without burning through the fabric.

After marveling at the crystal for a bit, Alex finally crawled under his blankets and fell into a deep sleep, feeling like a rock being tossed into a river.

As he laid in his sleeping bag, Mitsui couldn't help but gaze up at the beautiful night sky. The stars twinkled brightly, casting a soft glow across the landscape. He spotted a few planets and marveled at their vibrant colors, ranging from deep red to shimmering purple. It was a sight to behold, and Mitsui couldn't help but let out a soft sigh of contentment as he admired the beauty above.

Eventually, he decided it was time to get some rest. They had a long journey ahead of them, and he knew he needed to be well-rested to face whatever challenges lay ahead. As he drifted off to sleep, Mitsui couldn't help but feel grateful for the stunning display of the cosmos above, and he knew that this would be a night he would always remember.

As the night falls, Mitsui settles into his tent, his mind racing with thoughts of the journey back to the gate city the next day. Despite the peacefulness of the red giant forest, he knows that danger lurks around every corner and he must be prepared to face whatever challenges come his way. As he closes his eyes and drifts off to sleep, he takes comfort in knowing that he has trained long and hard to be able to handle whatever obstacles may come his way. With his sword by his side and his magic at the ready, he felled into a deep and restful sleep, ready to tackle whatever the day may bring.