Chapter 182: Go Wild

The rain had finally stopped, leaving the forest damp and fresh. The sun had risen high enough to shine between the branches, although the air remained chilly because of the wind. Leaves swayed overhead, and the wet greenery looked brighter than it had before, droplets of water occasionally falling from the branches whenever the wind shook them.

"What do you think will happen next?" Ken asked, adjusting his bow as he walked.

I exhaled and looked ahead. "I don’t know. What do you think?"

"I think Captain Sora will find whoever’s responsible." He put his bow over his shoulder. "I trust her."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Or at least, I’m hoping she will."

"Hmm." I looked down at the muddy path beneath our boots. "I hope so, too. Some things just don’t make sense, especially the suicide note and everything surrounding it."

"The fake Pix probably forged the note so she could disappear without anyone looking for her," Ken said. "She found whatever she was searching for, then got out of here. Simple."

"Yeah."

If only it were that simple.

The fake Pix had stayed behind after killing Jelda. She’d spent time searching for something inside the dormitory, then killed Elena and her roommate after discovering that Jelda had apparently switched shower lockers with Elena. Whatever she had been looking for was important enough for her to keep digging, yet I still had no idea what it was.

There were too many pieces that didn’t fit together.

"Man, there’s mud everywhere." Ken looked down at his boots with a grimace. "Let’s get to the main road. It’ll be less muddy."

"Okay."

We began walking east. Through the low-hanging branches and yellowed leaves, I could see the main road a little further ahead.

The trees and all the greenery were a bit much for a city rat like me, I couldn’t lie. I had struggled to get used to it at first, but by now I was completely comfortable with it. Back in my old world, rain usually came with the smell of shit because the storm drains and manholes would fill up, but here I could actually smell the wet earth after a shower.

"You’ve lived in Toakwood your whole life?" I asked.

"Yep. Greatest kingdom in the world." Ken grinned. "Well, I think so, anyway. I’ve never been outside Toakwood."

"Hmm." I nodded as he stepped over a fallen log.

"Phew, finally. Less mud."

We reached the main road, where the ground was packed hard enough that our boots no longer sank into the dirt. It was still rough beneath our feet, but at least it wasn’t covered in mud like the forest path had been, and I didn’t have to listen to that awful squelching sound with every step.

"Loving academy life?" Ken asked, glancing at me.

"Sure." I replied. "You?"

"I love it. It’s pretty much exactly how I imagined it." He smiled. "And before you ask, my favorite teacher is Professor Meki."

"I wonder why." I kept my expression completely deadpan.

"It’s because of these two very good reasons, my dear Ace. Let me explain them to you..."

The system map suddenly opened in front of me, interrupting him. The large white question mark had disappeared, leaving behind a single dot a little further down the road.

Before I could say anything, a scream tore through the air.

Ken and I immediately turned toward the sound. He grabbed his bow from his back while I summoned my dagger from the system inventory, the weapon appearing in my hand with a faint golden glow.

We rushed toward the scream as quickly as we could. A few seconds later, a deep roar shook the surrounding trees. It was definitely some kind of animal, although I had no idea what. I’d spent most of my life in a city, and the largest animals I’d regularly encountered back home were stray cats, dogs, and the occasional bird.

"There!" Ken shouted. "Shit!"

"Oh," I muttered as I stopped beside him. "Oh, man."

A woman was lying on the ground, her straw basket overturned beside her. Vegetables were scattered across the dirt, some apparently picked from her farm and others probably bought in the city.

Standing between her and the road was a bear. A real, living bear. And it was enormous.

I’d seen bears in pictures before, but that didn’t prepare me for seeing one this close. Its thick body towered over the woman, its claws digging into the dirt as it snarled at her.

Finisher abilities. Right, I could use them now.

╔═══════════════╗

> Heartbeats: -85 MP

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Cooldown: 5 minutes

Duration: -

╚═══════════════╝

My heart beat once, and I chose a point beside the woman.

I disappeared from where I stood and instantly reappeared beside her. Along the distance between the two points, more than a dozen clones of me appeared in a straight line, each one spaced evenly apart as if they were frozen moments of my movement from one place to the other.

My heart beat a second time.

I selected a point beside the bear and disappeared again, instantly appearing next to the creature. Once more, a line of clones appeared between where I had been standing and where I now stood, leaving the space between the woman and the bear filled with copies of me.

On the third heartbeat, I slashed my dagger across the bear’s body and immediately moved away.

All the clones remained frozen along the paths I had taken.

Then they dissolved at once.

Every copy of me turned into black dust, and the particles surged toward the bear from both sides. The clouds of dust converged on its massive body, tearing through its flesh from multiple directions before bursting out the other side.

The bear’s head was ripped apart by the attack, and its enormous body collapsed onto the ground.

"Damn, that’s useful." I dusted off my clothes and looked at the corpse.

╔═══════════════╗

> ENEMY SLAIN

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> +44 EXP

> Mystery Encounter: +100 EXP

╚═══════════════╝

"Roots of Myrrakai," Ken muttered. "How did you even do that?"

I shrugged. "Ten gold and I’ll teach you."

"No, thanks. I guess I’ll just die the next time I see a bear."

"Your choice."

Ken walked over to us and offered the woman a hand. She took it and got back on her feet while Ken gathered the vegetables scattered across the road and placed them back into the basket. The woman looked to be in her sixties or seventies, with gray hair tied loosely behind her head. Once she had her basket back, she bowed to us.

"Thank you so much. I was on my way to the village when that bear came out of nowhere!"

"This isn’t their territory," Ken said. "Where did it even come from?"

The woman picked up her basket and held it against her side. "Gods know where. I’m just glad I came out alive. I wish there was something I could give you two boys."

"No need to worry about it," Ken said. "Were you heading to Froken Village?"

"Oh, yes," she replied with a smile.

"We’d be happy to accompany you. We were heading there too."

"But of course. Come on."

"Thank you, Ma’am."

Ken and I followed the old woman toward the village. It was actually much closer than I had expected. We were in a clearing where two houses stood by themselves afar, while the dirt road continued ahead and zigzagged toward the right. More houses were scattered along it, with small patches of farmland between them.

╔═══════════════╗

> NEW SIDE QUEST

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> Find out what drives the

animals to go wild.

╚═══════════════╝

Another side quest? It had probably triggered because of the mysterious encounter with the bear. I opened the system map and found a blue question mark a little farther ahead. I had no idea why the animals were suddenly becoming aggressive, but apparently the system knew where I needed to look. That was going to be useful.

"Froken Village," Ken said. "I used to call it Frozen because I couldn’t pronounce the name."

"Outsiders mix it up all the time," the woman said with a smile. "Froken was the name of our grand, grand, grand village chief."

"The animals," I said, cutting into their conversation. "When did this start happening?"

"Wild animals began coming into the village a few weeks ago." She glanced back at me before looking toward the road again. "We don’t know why. Even the foxes have started attacking us and Jeren’s flock. He lost four sheep already."

"Hmm." I rubbed my chin. "Have you called for help from the city? Surely the guards would help with something like this."

"We’re just a small village," she replied. "And this has never happened before. Besides, with everything happening throughout the kingdom because of the elves, I doubt the city would have the resources to help us."

"That’s what you pay taxes for, isn’t it?"

"Yes, but like I said, things are difficult throughout the kingdom right now. We have to grit our teeth and keep our heads up."

She slowed down and gestured toward the houses ahead. "Oh, we’re here."