As Nasa stepped out of the library, he caught the hushed voices of maids nearby. He tilted his head, pressing his ear toward the sound, straining to catch their conversation.
"Did you hear? Someone else was killed in the forest," one maid whispered, glancing over her shoulder.
"What forest?" the other asked, frowning.
The first maid lowered her voice even more. "The Bloodfang Forest."
On hearing this, Nasa strode away. A grin swept across his face as he muttered to himself, "Bloodfang Forest… now that's interesting."
Nasa finally reached his room.
Today, he had made up his mind to head for the Bloodfang Forest. Pulling out a map, he traced the routes with his finger, spending nearly an hour figuring out its exact location.
"Fuck… It's a whole hour away," he muttered under his breath.
It's risky, it takes an hour to get to the forest and another hour back. What if the maids return and find me gone? Nasa thought, worried.
"Nah… who cares. I'm a genius, I'll figure something out," Nasa said, a wide grin stretching from ear to ear.
So Nasa sneakily packed a bag with everything he might need.
When night fell, he propped a pillow under the blankets and climbed out the window.
The cool night air hit his face. Silent as a shadow, he disappeared into the darkness.
He walked and walked, and at last, he reached the edge of the forest.
"Hah… I'm… finally… here," Nasa said, catching his breath after walking nonstop
He looked up at the forest. Shadows clung to the trees, twisting their branches into claw-like shapes that reached for the sky. The wind whispered through the leaves, soft, but sharp enough to raise the hairs on his neck. Every step deeper made the air colder, heavier… as if the forest itself was holding its breath.
Like the characters in a horror movie, he was about to step in and explore the forest.
He stepped forward, beginning to explore. For some reason, each step felt heavy, but he ignored it and kept walking.
But no matter how far he walked, he found nothing. No living thing was in sight, only trees, endless trees, stretching as far as he could see. Then, suddenly, he saw it monster.
The creature resembled a rabbit, but its legs stretched unnaturally long, and its hands were twisted, ending in sharp, clawed fingers.
"Whoa… a monster. A real monster," Nasa muttered, a twisted smile creeping across his face. He gripped his sword tightly and lunged at it.
The monster twisted and darted aside, a blur of impossibly long limbs. It struck in a heartbeat—fast, too fast—but the impact barely grazed him, leaving only a sting.
It lunged again. He met it head-on, steel singing through the air. The blade bit deep, and with a single, clean sweep, the creature's head toppled to the ground.
𝘞𝘰𝘸… 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘸 𝘰𝘧𝘧, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘰𝘧…. 𝘢𝘳𝘵. 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦, Nasa thought, a sinister smile creeping across his face. He wiped the blood from his lips and continued walking, searching for another monster to kill.
He lifted his sword, his eyes glinting with madness, and he killed anything that breathed. Blood spilled everywhere, yet he didn't stop.
But then he ran into a massive monster. It had 8 writhing arms, a bloated back, and emblazoned on it was the number 221.
He lunged at the monster, swinging his sword with all his might, but it was too fat, too tough to take any damage.
He struck again and again, relentless, but not even a scratch appeared on its thick hide.
"GRRROOOAAAHHHHH!!"
The monster's roar shattered the air, rattling his skull and making his ears throb with agony. He charged, teeth gritted, but the monster struck him with bone-crushing force. He was hurled through the air, slammed into a tree with sickening crack. He felt a blinding pain in his chest and blood burned in his throat as he coughed violently.
𝘍𝘶𝘤𝘬… 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘴… 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩… 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵'𝘴… 𝘴𝘰 𝘧𝘶𝘯. 𝘚𝘰 𝘍𝘜𝘕! 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦, Nasa thought, a wild grin spreading across his bloodied face. He stood, licking the blood from his lips, gripping his sword tighter than ever. "I'm going to enjoy every single second of this battle, my first battle."
He charged, sword flashing, each strike landing with a clang of steel on clawed flesh. Again and again, he drove into the creature, sparks flying as metal met bone, his arms aching but refusing to stop.
𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩. 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘴. 𝘚𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘮𝘴𝘺, 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘰𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘵 — 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘵. 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵. 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘮, Nasa thought.
After a while, Nasa noticed several weaknesses: six of its arms were trembling while only two still moved with strength, its mouth was drooling as if exhausted from chasing him, and blood leaked from its head where it had smashed into trees again and again.
"Now's my chance!" Nasa growled as he lunged at the monster. "Winterheart Sword Arts, Stage 3 — Cold Thrust!" he roared, his blade flashing toward both its arms and head at once.
"GRRROOOAAAHHHHH!!"
The monster roared, but it was too late. No scream could save it now. Its head and arms lay scattered on the ground, staining the dark-green grass a deep, blood-red.
"Hahaha… man, that was thrilling. The fear, the rush, even using a bit of my brain, it's perfect," Nasa said, sitting on top of the monster's corpse.
grumble
Nasa's stomach growled with hunger. His gaze slowly shifted to the corpse, eyes glinting with a dangerous thought.
(…..)
"Ughhh… this is disgusting! I thought monster meat would taste good… bleeehhh!" Nasa started vomiting violently, his stomach rebelling against the foul flavor.
After cleaning himself and wiping the blood from his sword, he set off on the long journey home, each step heavy with exhaustion.
At last, he reached his home and he slipped inside through the window. Without hesitation, he sank into an ice-cold bath, the chill biting through his tired muscles.
"Hah… nothing beats a cold bath," Nasa said, leaning back and letting the water wash over him.
Steam still clung to his skin as he shrugged into fresh clothes, the fabric cool and crisp against him. He sank onto the bed, the sheets soft beneath him, and let out a long, tired sigh.
"This night was fun, and I didn't even explore half of the forest. I'll explore the rest tomorrow," Nasa said, looking at the night sky through the window. Little by little, he drifted off to sleep.