The sound of whatever the hell was roaring at us faded as we ran as fast as we could to the north. We ran for at least an hour, only stopping once to take a few breaths and to shove the gear we scooped up into our packs before running again. The thing had been so fast. We looked like nothing compared to it, and it was a baby! However, despite feeling like nothing in that moment, I thanked Renard for all the running and training over the past year. Without it, I absolutely wouldn't have made it.

"I need a break." Tristan groaned.

"Yeah, okay. Me too." Before I even finished my word, we both collapsed onto the ground. It was late, and now we didn't have a fire. Luckily, the moon was bright, so after resting for a while, we were able to gather some wood and start another fire. It may not be the smartest thing in the world, but it was cold.

"Tristan..." I said as I plopped down next to the little fire we'd made.

"Yeah...?" He sounded unsure.

"That was awesome."

"Yeah, dude." He laughed. "That was fucking crazy. Did you see it dodge those attacks? Like whoosh, and then I'm swinging at nothing. Man, it was fast."

"How do we get that fast?" I asked.

"I mean, level up and all that."

"What about now? Like, what are we doing wrong?"

"Well, it's a monster, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, even the weakest monsters are stronger than most people."

I thought for a minute. "That's not what video games taught me."

"Video games?"

"They're like books, but visual. They show you things on a screen, and you make characters that look and act like whatever you want and go around fighting monsters and people and stuff. A lot of the time the protagonists start weak, but the monsters start weak too."

He laughed. "Yeah, well this isn't a book or a 'video game.' This is real life, and in real life, you die. And we're weak. Really weak. We have one shitty class between both of us, no abilities, and crap equipment. That thing could have killed us. We're lucky it was alone and whatever else was out there didn't want to eat us."

I hadn't thought of that. I'd just assumed that the monsters would be around our level. But it didn't matter. "You know something? I don't care. We're gonna do it anyways."

"Do what?"

"Become heroes. Or, at the least, kick ass and have a good time doing it."

He sighed. 'I dunno, man..."

I wasn't about to tolerate that lack of belief. "Seriously, you gonna wimp out because of one monster?"

"No. I just..." He stared at the fire. "I want to be a hero too, but it's just gonna be hard." He sighed again. "You know, my dad was a hero."

"No, you never told me. Was he famous?"

"Not really, but he was known in the region. He was a hero, a real one. He got a Heroic Class and everything. It was amazing. He may not have been super powerful or anything, but he was my hero, you know?"

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"Damn. How old was he when he...?" He'd told me before his parents were dead, but I never knew why.

"I dunno. He died when I was young."

"I'm sorry." I realized this wasn't the most uplifting conversation right then, but I was in too deep.

"It's okay."

"What happened?"

"He got sick."

"Oh."

"It's alright. Mom was already gone by then, so the temple took care of me. They're great people."

"So why the priest thing?"

"Well, Dad always wanted me to be a hero like him, but when he died, I thought..."

"Thought what?"

"That maybe if I became a priest, maybe I could bring him back. or at least stop others from dying like he did. I learned later that I couldn't do the former, but I definitely can train to do the latter. I dunno if I can, but I want to try. Even if I can just keep people from dying, that would be something. And the more powerful a priest gets, the more likely they are to be able to help people. It's just hard, and sometimes, when things are difficult, I feel like quitting."

I sat up and looked at him. His eyes were shimmering in the firelight. "Well, you know what?"

"Huh?" It looked like he'd teared up.

"You're not gonna quit. Not ever. You're gonna keep going. We're going to keep going, and we're going to make a name for ourselves. You and me. We're gonna be legends, Tristan. Legends."

He laughed, then looked back into the fire. "I'd be happy with just being a priest."

"Aim higher." I stood up and pointed to the sky.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm showing you how high we're gonna rise!" I thrust my finger into the air. "Come on. Stand up and do it with me."

"You idiot." He wiped his face and stood up. A moment later, his finger was pointing to the sky.

"That's my man." I drew my sword and pointed it at him.

"What now?" He shook his head.

"Let's make an oath."

He shook his head more but pulled out his mace and set it on top of my sword.

"To the Goddess and the world. To our friends and family. To us. We're going to become heroes. Tristan and I are going to do this thing. We're going to kick ass, become heroes, and be the best goddamn men we can be. And if the world won't accept us, we'll go somewhere else. I'm already in my second world. What's another?" I smirked at him. He looked at me like I was crazy. "We're going to make a difference."

"You idiot. We're going to get killed."

"Probably. But first, we're going to make a name for ourselves."

He laughed, and a tear rolled down his cheek. "Alright, man." He wiped his cheek. "Let's get some sleep before you get even more crazy."

"No. No, no, no. You're not getting out of it this so easily."

"What do you mean?"

"Make your oath. That one was mine."

"Alex, come on. Let's go to bed."

"Right now, you big baby. How you gonna be a priest if you can't even make a vow?"

"Oh Goddess, alright, fine. Jeez, you're such a dick sometimes."

"To the Goddess. Alex and I want to be heroes, and we're going to do it. You just wait and see."

"Hell yeah, now repeat after me."

He groaned.

I, Tristan."

"I, Tristan."

"Swear to the Goddess and the World. I will become a hero. I will kick ass and take names."

"I swear to the Goddess and the world that I will become a hero. I will kick ass, and I will take names."

"Good. And I, Alex, will do all the same shit, but even more than Tristan." I smacked his shoulder and grinned at him. He gave me the largest eye roll I'd ever seen. However, as my words faded into the trees, my system interface opened.

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[Oath of Aspiring Heroes] (Quest, Shared): Fueled by youthful determination and dreams of glory, you and Tristan vow to become heroes who will bring hope to the downtrodden. Though your journey begins with uncertainty and inexperience, the bond you share will serve as the foundation for your growth. You both vow to support one another as you learn and grow.

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"Tristan, did you just see a message pop up?"

"Yeah..." he murmured. "That's never happened before."

"It says we've started a quest. Do you know what that means?"

"We got a direct quest from the Goddess. Those are rare."

"Yeah, but no."

"What?"

"You know what this means?"

"No, but I'm sure you're going to tell me."

"It means the Goddess wants us to kick ass and take names."

He smiled, his white teeth flashing in the dim light. "Yeah, I guess."

"This is the start, man. This is the start of our story. The Legend of the Awesome Duo."

"I've told you a hundred times, we're not the Awesome Duo."

"So drop out of the party. I dare you. But if you do, I'm not sharing any loot."

"Fine, you're right." He sighed again. "You're a bastard, you know that right?"

"You'll get used to it.

"Ugh." He groaned and sat back down. "Come on. Let's sleep."

Against my wishes, I yawned. "Yeah. I'm exhausted."

I threw out my bedroll and snuggled up into my covers next to our fire. Soon, the cracking of the fire and the whistling of the wind were all I could hear. A while later, just as I was about to fall asleep, I heard Tristan's voice.

"Hey, Alex."

"Yeah?"

"You're a great friend."

"You too, man."

A short while later, we passed out on the side of the road.