The rain finally stops. Water drips from leaves. The river flows aggressively. The huge bear was resting in its den peacefully. The sun was setting and the clouds cleared away, revealing a rainbow in the sky. Kenji looked outside the cave, watching the girl cry over a thumb stone made of rocks piled on each other.
"Must be sad to lose someone you value," he whispered.
"Yeah," Bel replied, sitting beside him as both watched the girl. Suddenly, two men appeared, snatching the girl away. One stopped and stared directly into Kenji's eyes. It was Reilly. He pointed two fingers at his own eyes before pointing them at Kenji's.
"I'm watching you..." a message was sent. Everything happened so quickly that Kenji wasn't able to react. The next thing he knew, the girl was snatched away.
In the middle of the night, Kenji was woken by howling outside. It was a howl from wolves. Kenji woke the others just in case. The fire was still burning. He grabbed a stick lit with fire and peeked outside. The flame illuminated the woods, but nothing was there. He heard breathing beside him. He moved the fire towards the sound of breathing and a huge snout was in front of him. The mouth suddenly opened and snapped at him, but Kenji was fast enough to dodge it. He jumped back inside and the three heard barking and growling outside. Footsteps could be heard surrounding them. They heard not just one or two but many of them, running around, waiting for them to come out.
"What's happening?" Bel shouted. They started to hear scratches everywhere.
"It seems like a pack of wolves has surrounded us," Hender replied. He was standing in the middle of the cave when suddenly a paw reached in from the entrance, but Bel managed to push him before he got snatched. The three of them immediately ran to the corner of the room as the huge paw, the same size as them, tried to reach them. Bel screamed as the paw barely missed her. The paw then accidentally pounded over the fire, extinguishing it and burning the wolf. The room became dark, but no one moved an inch. The wolf cried in pain and quickly pulled out its paw, and another paw came in. The night continued, and the three tried to dodge every paw that tried to reach them in the middle of the dark. The scratching, growling, barking, and howling drove them crazy. They were all tired, sitting in the corner. Bel was humming a nursery song, trying to entertain and calm herself down. Suddenly, the scratching sound stopped. The growling, barking, and howling slowly faded away. The room was slowly filled with sunlight. And for the first time in hours, the silence broke in. Hender stepped outside and the two watched him. Hender looked around to assess the situation before turning around, and what he saw next left him shocked in place. The huge stone-like mountain was now reduced to half, with bite marks and scratches everywhere. The two were curious about what Hender saw, so they also stepped outside. Just like Hender, they had the same reaction.
"We can't stay here any longer," Bel said, still in shock. Hender recovered himself.
"Let's leave this place now. It is no longer safe." Kenji also recovered himself.
"Every day becomes even more dangerous than before." He sighed. The guarantee of them surviving was getting slimmer and slimmer. The three started to move around, avoiding dangers from traps and beasts. They saw a body on the ground, another summon.
"That's Chen. I recognize him," Kenji claimed. "We had duels multiple times," he added.
"Maybe he was one of the groups those two belonged to," Bel mentioned, recalling the girl and the boy they met just a day after. Not far from him were two other bodies. They created a proper burial for the three of them, the same way as they did for the man suffering from poison. The three of them were standing in front of the thumb stones when Hender once again felt it. He glanced at Kenji, an anger hinting on his face. His teeth were gritted and his fist clenched. He was emitting the same aura as before.
"Kenji?.." Bel was concerned.
"Those two...." He recalled the face of Reilly before disappearing with the girl. Hender started to walk away. They kept searching for shelter when they came across a cave. Bel was excited, but Hender stopped her. Bel looked at Hender. The cave's wall was too small. Hender and Kenji started to walk away while Bel was confused. They walked past multiple caves. After the sixth cave, Bel finally couldn't hold her curiosity any longer. Bel stopped walking. Kenji and Hender glanced back at Bel.
"I thought we were looking for shelter. Why do you two keep walking past caves like you are choosing a house? I'm so tired of walking and I want to finally rest."
"You're right. We are choosing a house, but it is for safety," Kenji answered her question.
"Safety? What do you mean?" she asked again.
"Just think about it. What if the wolves come back?" Kenji replied.
"We are thousands of miles away already. How can they find us?"
"I don't know? Maybe they have a great sense of smell that can track anyone miles away. We don't know that yet and I don't want to test that theory," Kenji replied, shutting Bel down. Hender and Kenji started to walk away again. Hender stopped and so did Kenji and Bel, who was dragging her hands on the ground due to exhaustion. Kenji jumped into a tree, avoiding strings that were connected to the branches. He saw something in the distance. It was a huge tree peeking through the clouds. The sun was already setting. Kenji pointed in the direction and Hender nodded. After some time, they reached the tree. It was huge and tall, taking many people to wrap around the three trunks.
"This is good. We can stay there," Hender pointed to the lowest branch. Bel complained about the sight of how high it was.
"Ahh, I'm so tired. Can we at least rest a bit?" But before she could finish her sentence, Kenji and Hender had already started climbing, leaving her no choice but to follow.
They were climbing the huge tree. Climbing meant nothing to them since they were trained to do hard things. They were already halfway. Kenji glanced down at Bel.
"Are you okay?" Kenji shouted.
"I'm fine. The wind is strong, but I'm fine," she shouted back. Kenji smiled at her before climbing higher. They finally reached the first branch. They were so high from the ground, twice as high as the bear they encountered on the first day. It was already night when they reached it. Kenji immediately created a fire. The breeze was cold. The fruits of the tree were also huge. Bel glanced at the horizon, revealing a terrain covered with trees and mountains. The moon cast a low light. Fortunate for them, they could easily take shelter in its leaves. Bel glanced at the sky, and the stars shone like gold. The fire lit up. Kenji sat next to Bel.
"I wonder what would happen if we got out of this forest. Would they use us as intended?" Bel asked Kenji.
Kenji laughed and also looked at the sky. "For now, let's focus on surviving," he replied.
Bel stared at Kenji and smiled. "Thanks for being with me since we met. You always encourage me when I'm about to give up. You comfort me when I'm sad and you always sit beside me if I'm lonely." Bel continued to speak, "I have a secret," she whispered.
Kenji was still staring at the moon. "What is it?" he asked.
"I'm actually in love." Kenji looked at Bel and smirked.
"Oh yeah? Who is it?"
Bel went closer to Kenji and whispered in his ear, "You."
Kenji swallowed hard. He could feel his heart race. Bel then pulled away and smiled at him. Kenji covered his mouth and pulled his gaze away. He was blushing. Bel saw this and teased him. She hugged Kenji from behind.
"Hey, do you love me too?" she asked jokingly. Hender was watching them while eating an apple the same size as a watermelon on his lap while Bel teased Kenji.
They were once again woken by the sound of howling. They glanced down the tree and saw the wolves sniffing the ground, trying to find them. There were four of them. One of the wolves glanced up at the tree and saw Kenji staring. The wolf barked, informing the others. They surrounded the tree and tried to climb but were unable to do so.
"Huh! Take that, you stinky dogs!" Bel shouted, taunting the wolves. But regret came after because she couldn't sleep due to the noise created by those canines. The sun started to peek and the wolves left. They all woke up. Hender was stretching. Kenji woke up and saw Bel hugging him. He tried to wake Bel, but she just hugged his arm more tightly. Kenji flicked her forehead, waking her up in pain.
"Oh, come on. Let's just stay like this for a few minutes," she whined.
"No can do. We have to move," Kenji replied coldly. A chirp from nearby caught Bel's attention.
"Awww, it's so cute." Kenji glanced at the bird on the branch. It was the same size as a normal-sized dog. Bel was about to approach it when a swift motion snatched it away. A huge claw grabbed the bird, and an eagle flew off.
"Ahhh!" Bel shouted, stomping on the tree. "Bring the chick back now!" she angrily demanded. The eagle circled with the bird in its right claw, then started heading in their direction, terrifying the trio. They hurriedly climbed down from the tree.
Kenji stretched as he finally reached the ground. "Seven days to go before we finally leave this forest." A noise caught their attention. There was rustling in the bushes. Three summons emerged. Kenji, Hender, and Bel drew their daggers. The newcomers raised their hands.
"Wait! We don't mean harm," their leader tried to calm them. Kenji, Hender, and Bel glanced at each other before lowering their blades. "I'm Denber," the leader introduced himself. He had a young face with long black hair tied behind him. He stretched his hand for a handshake, but the trio just stared at it. Noticing their hesitation, he continued, "This is Fenny," a boy with a delinquent look and red hair with earrings, "and this is Midnight. His original name is Grey, but he prefers Midnight for unknown reasons." Another boy with shaggy hair covering his eyes stood behind him. "We don't often interact in the training ground, but we recognize you. We don't know your names yet, so please, feel free to introduce yourselves." Denber waited for their reply.
Hender finally stepped forward and shook Denber's hand. "I'm Hender. Pleased to meet you." Kenji followed. "I'm Kenji," he introduced himself simply. "I'm Bel," she added, hiding behind Kenji.