"What's your first impression of Alice?" Erik asked Luna as they were standing at the back, watching Alice taking on the Hunter Bear on her own.
"My first impression...?" Luna was pondering.
"She seemed unapproachable, almost cold." she began. Luna recalled the sight of Alice entering the hunting fields with her people. Although everyone in that group acted the same—sternly and determinedly—Alice still managed to stand out.
"The way she carried herself was noble, almost as if she were at the top of the social class." Luna continued as she tried to search for more words.
Indeed, the person carrying the title of the family head's daughter was someone from a higher status and acted accordingly in public to not damage her family's reputation.
"However, I also think that she seems like a normal girl... She's cheerful, and sometimes she shows a clumsy side of herself."
When Alice approached the trio, it was as if a switch was flipped. Her previous impression had faded and had been replaced by that of a normal girl.
"I see." Erik chuckled.
"The thing is, the side that she showed only to us is actually her real self." Erik added.
Neither the bear nor Alice had moved. The two still stared at each other closely, attempting to figure out each other's first move.
"The cheerful version of herself is just Alice, whereas this version is..."
Alice lowered her body, with her hand ready to unsheathe her sword at any time. Meanwhile, the bear's right shoulder twitched shortly. But that was enough for Alice to act.
"Alice Kilgen."
Before the Hunter Bear could even stretch its right arm toward Alice, wanting to tear her apart with its sharp claws, Alice sliced off its arm in a heartbeat.
"W-what the..."
The bear let out an agonizing growl, and as its cut-off arm hit the ground, it attempted to strike her with its other arm in a rage. However—just like before—the other arm was cleanly slashed from the bear's shoulder when it barely moved that arm forward.
"Ugh...!" Luna groaned as she covered her ears as the bear's roar turned louder and more deafening than ever.
Blood sprayed from both places where its arms should be attached. With wounds like that, it would be only a matter of time until it would eventually bleed out. The Hunter Bear knew it, and it definitely did not want to meet such a pathetic death. Instead, it wanted to at least take down Alice with him.
"Meaningless." Alice muttered, devoid of emotion. Since she swung her sword so fast, Luna could barely catch a glimpse of her unsheathed sword. But when Alice shook off the blood from her blade, it was in clear sight.
It was a katana. Its form was similar to other katanas, and only one side was sharp. However, it was so pure white that it looked like it was glowing in the dark. Alice readied her sword when the bear took its stance.
It crouched down a bit, as if it was trying to charge at Alice like a bull. Its legs were flexed, with the veins almost popping out. Then, it leaped off—or so it thought.
Its upper body was moving forward, but it did not feel like it was moving its legs or even connected to the ground. Like a sandbag, it quickly dropped down and turned its head back. Once again, it screeched painfully after seeing its cut-off legs still remaining at the same spot when it tried to rush at Alice.
With only its head being attached to its limbless body, it realized it could not do anything anymore. Swimming in its own puddle of blood, it could only wait for its death. However, Alice did not grant that bear such an ending.
Emotionless, she jumped on its hard chest, with her sword raised in the air. And not even a second passed before she landed the killing blow, beheading the bear without any signs of resistance.
"I..." Luna stumbled upon her words. She desperately tried to say something, but she could not. She was speechless at Alice's performance. From its looks, even Luna had to admit that it was a scarier opponent than a Haunting Tree, which had caused enough trouble for her and her party. Yet, Alice sliced her opponent apart, looking like a chef cutting their ingredients.
"Wasn't that a bit excessive?" Erik asked, laughing dryly. He suggested that Luna should watch Alice closely, but it seemed like he also did not expect such a scene to play out.
Alice cleaned her sword of the blood by swinging it in the air before sheathing it again. Warmth returned to her expression, and she finally faced the group.
"I deeply apologize." she genuinely admitted her mistake.
"But I wanted to show you that I've turned into a dependable and strong person!" she followed up, her eyes filled with conviction. Her gaze was especially directed at Jay, who remained silent for the entirety of her performance.
Jay glanced at Luna.
"Don't copy her way of fighting, unless you want to exhaust yourself quickly." he stated bluntly.
"Even I wanted to, I couldn't!" Luna retorted, almost comically.
"Anyways... Let's move on. Maybe we can find another Hunter Bear for Luna. They'll earn you almost a gold coin, you know?" Jay said, being the first one to move from the spot, and ignoring Alice and Erik in that process.
"C-can't I just stick with Killer Rabbits...?" Luna muttered, sensing an awkward atmosphere in their group.
"Don't be scared. After all, Alice will jump in if something happens." Jay replied, showing a faint smirk that was also directed at Alice.
Alice's face lit up in delight, and she quickly walked behind Jay.
"Something wrong, Erik? You look like you're in pain." Luna asked out of concern for Erik, who did not move yet, and instead, just looked at Alice, who was following Jay.
"It's nothing." he responded after taking a deep breath.
Time passed, and the group still had not encountered any monsters since the Hunter Bear. The sunset also started to dye the sky in deep orange and red, which would usually signal people to return, but most of the group were unfazed by the fact that it would soon turn dark.
"By the way, Alice, what's your exclusive skill? It looked like you didn't use any particular skills when you fought that bear." Luna said, her eyes glowing out of curiosity.
"Normally, it's rude to ask a person a question concerning their status window, Luna." Erik scolded her lightly as he heaved a sigh.
"W-wait, really?! I-I'm sorry for asking, Alice...!"
"It's alright. I'd gladly tell you about it." Alice answered, smiling genuinely.
She raised her finger before she started to elaborate on her skill.
"First of all, it seems like there's a misunderstanding, Luna. I was using my exclusive skill the whole time while I was fighting." Alice began talking to Luna like a teacher would to a student.
"Huh?"
"My exclusive skill [Ultimate Focus] allows me to become 120% focused, no matter the situation and no matter what happens to me."
Even when Alice was to use that skill while falling down from a high place, she would still be 120% focused, whereas regular people could not focus and panic.
"120%...? How could it be beyond 100...?" Luna wondered, amazed.
"Well, skills are able to make the impossible things turn into reality." Alice giggled softly.
"I think I got the gist of that, but..." Luna stopped in the middle of the sentence, averting her eyes from the confused Alice.
"You're wondering how it could be used in battle, where one would be concentrated nonetheless?" Erik chimed in.
"Y-yeah..." Luna confirmed sheepishly. She was reluctant to say that out loud, as that would sound like she was deeming it a useless skill for combat.
"Look. Nobody aside from Alice is able to view the world with a 120% focus. However, I could roughly tell that Alice was concentrating deeply on the smallest movements of her opponents. Being able to detect such things can be the key in some battles." Erik explained, after taking a breath.
Since Alice was able to notice the smallest movements during her fight against the Hunter Bear, she could predict how it would move, and thus, she could act preemptively. And because her focus was that high, each action was carried out with great precision and meaning.
"It's a pretty convenient skill! It also helps me when I have to face the elders of my family." Alice chuckled awkwardly, hiding her smile behind her hand.
"Should you really be saying that out loud...?" Luna murmured, impressed by Alice's casualness.
Still, Luna was happy to have met Alice. Although there were still many things she did not know, including her family and her strengths, she felt like she could trust Alice.
"Luna." Jay suddenly called her, stopping in his tracks and crouching down behind a bush.
The others vigilantly followed Jay's action and only let their heads peek out from above the bush.
"Ah, so it's that one..." Erik whispered.
"I'm sorry for overstepping, but is it really a good idea to let her do it?" Alice asked.
On the other side of that bush was a small open space, and at first glance, it looked ordinary—if it were not for the monster patrolling that very space.
"It's the contrary. This is the perfect target for her...!" Jay proclaimed, flashing Luna a confident grin, albeit the latter not sharing the same sentiment.
Trembling, Luna pointed at the monster. Its head resembled a deer—but that was also the only resemblance it had to a deer. Its chest and stomach were toned, and it had muscular arms with human-like hands. Furthermore, it looked like it was standing up.
However, its lower body was missing. Like a ghost, it was floating above the ground, with the lower ends of its stomach gradually transparent. And like the Hunter Bear, its eyes glowed red.
"This one is nocturnal, and almost as rare as a Hunter Bear. And the best thing is, it will earn you one and a half gold coins!" Jay said, sounding like he was promoting some kind of product.
While Alice and Erik appeared relaxed, Jay slapped Luna's back repetitively.
"Good luck!"