Strong River's mane of fiery red hair flowed behind him as he dashed through the outer boundary of the Primeval Forest's indigo zone right as the sun's first rays were peeking from afar. He had spent the rest of the night fruitfully, pushing his physical limits and testing his newfound might against the beasts of that layer. Creatures that before presented a challenge were now handled with ease. His strength, his speed, and his stamina all were several times higher now than they had been when he entered the forest at the peak of the fifth-grade Human Realm. In two nights and one day, he had passed through two whole bottlenecks in his physique, and through constant fighting, he had acquired a sense for battle that before had only been raw instinct.

There was also a new gain for the young man on his way out of the indigo forest: Mister Black had imparted a new art to him, the Blood Reservoir. Forcing open a small space in his body with blood vitality, he could now store a quantity of that vitality to use Blood Ignition Acceleration and other blood arts without having to pull from his own blood or that of an immediately recent extraction.

"How's the camp doing, Mister Black?"

"As you'd expect," the old ghost replied, "they're all waking up and going about their morning routine. So eager for a bowl of whatever it is they scrape out of the kettle already?"

River laughed. "No," he said, but his stomach then rumbled, betraying him. "Okay, maybe a little. Blood devouring is... amazing, but there's something to be said for a full stomach, isn't there?"

Mister Black snorted. "Glutton."

The young man shrugged. "Hey, it's not like there isn't an entire world of food out there I haven't yet sampled, either. Thin gruel can keep you alive, but there's so much more I want to experience."

Mister Black could only mutter at that admission while River laughed more.

The young warrior approached the periphery of the Primeval Forest itself and started to slow down, throttling his approach to a speed no higher than what he could manage when he was at the fifth-grade Human Realm.

"Have your story straight?" Mister Black reminded him.

"Yep."

Exiting the forest and entering the vast grasslands, he located the fence that marked the Flowing Water clan's camp. It was only a couple moments of travel before he reached it.

"Halt!" The pair of sentries on duty shouted together. Given that he was to all appearances a random long-haired man with almost nothing in the way of clothing, and the fact that someone or something unknown had recently butchered a few of their warriors, River was not at all surprised at the stern greeting.

A few warriors led by Blue Ripple came out of the compound, hard-eyed and wary at a stranger's approach. Seeing Blue Ripple, River could not help but grin. Momentary confusion played over the blond-haired warrior's face before his jaw dropped.

"Strong River?" Blue Ripple's voice was husky, almost a whisper.

River nodded, his grin widening.

The large warrior propelled himself at the new arrival, grasping him in a bear hug as the rest of the warriors looked on in shock. Blue Ripple clapped River on the back, standing there gripping him.

"Uh, man?" River asked, concern coloring his voice.

"Yeah?" Blue Ripple's voice was less hushed, more back to the boisterous, garrulous man everybody knew.

"It's nice that you're glad to see me and all, but I'm not really wearing all that much, and some people might get the wrong idea..."

The assembled warriors overcame their shock and laughed raucously at the quip, maybe a bit too much for the actual humor in it. Blue Ripple joined in that laughter, a relieving catharsis from the past couple of days, and let go of River, stepping back and staring at his hair.

"What happened out there?" he asked as the laughter faded.

"A lot," River replied. "It's a long story. A very long story. Do you think I could come in and, uh, maybe get something to eat and wear before I get into all that?"

Blue Ripple chuckled. "Yeah, let's get you taken care of. Back to what you were doing, everybody!" Blue Ripple turned and shouted at the warriors. "We all know Brother River doesn't like that kind of attention, so you can stop staring now already."

The warriors laughed and returned to what they had been doing as Blue Ripple hung an arm over River's shoulder and guided him into the camp and back to their shared tent. Entering the tent, Blue Ripple rifled through his belongings and presented a pair of soft tanned hide breeches that were superior to anything River had ever owned. "Here, you shouldn't burst out of this pair. I'll be right back; I have something else for you."

Blue Ripple dashed out of the tent as River changed into the new pants, discarding the torn pair like rags on top of his bundle of junk. One of the changes in River's body had him now at a height comparable to that of Blue Ripple, and so the leggings made for the tall warrior fit him easily if but a hair tight.

The tent opened flapped as the blue-eyed warrior returned, a red fur bundle in his hands. "Here. This is yours," he announced without ceremony, thrusting the finished hide at River.

Gently, caressing the soft fur lightly, he unfolded the garment. It was the hide he had chosen a couple of days before, finished and trimmed to make a warrior's cloak. With Blue Ripple's silent help he managed to wrap the fur over his shoulders and secure it with the finely tooled supple leather straps that had been sewn into it.

Stepping back to regard the finished product, Blue Ripple let out a low whistle. "Man, that's kind of weird. It even matches..."

"You did all this?" River asked.

"Yeah," Blue Ripple shrugged in feign nonchalance. "It's not like I could do much else the past couple of nights, right? I knew you'd come back. You had to. Now, what happened out there?"

River took a deep breath. "Before I go out there and talk about the rest of it, there's something I have to say that probably only you should hear."

"Okay, shoot."

"Soaring Wave tried to kill me out there. Not just put-the-fear-of-his-betters scaring. Actually killing."

Blue Ripple sighed. "I should've known. I should've let you come with me. I'm sorry."

River shook his head. "Don't be sorry. I'm alive, and he isn't, right? There's no point in worrying over what's done already. But you at least need to know that, because I don't want to tell everybody. When we get back, his uncle's like to cause a mess over this whole thing, though."

"Not for very long, he won't," Blue Ripple replied a bit too darkly for his usually sunny disposition. "My uncle will stand behind you if it comes to it, I promise you."

River nodded. "I'm about to eat myself here, so let's go out there and get started."

Blue Ripple laughed and pushed open the tent flap with a theatrical flourish, letting River go out first and head to the cooking fire. One of Blue Ripple's men already had a bowl of spicy stew ladled out and handed it to River as he sat down on a rock and had a few bites while the others situated themselves around the fire to listen.

River narrated the events according to the story he had prepared. The four warriors had gone out to face the mossbacks and were hard-pressed in that battle when a shrouded figure all in black emerged and killed Archer near instantly. The mysterious devilish figure then chased after the three of them, slaughtering the mossbacks with terrifying ease in the process of following after them. The three were split up, and River hid, trying his hardest to avoid the notice of the black-clad devil.

Being late at night, River lost his bearings in the forest as he fled, and he fell into a ravine with a strange pool beneath a waterfall where he fought a beast over a small tree bearing a single fruit. Narrowly defeating the creature and tearing up most of his clothing in the process, he then sated his hunger on the fruit. Utterly exhausted, he fell asleep half-submerged in the water. When he woke up, he was as he was now, having broken through to the fifth-grade Human Realm in a single stroke. He then clambered his way up and out of the ravine.

His audience was rapt at the telling of the tale, mixed parts awe and envy at the adventure the young warrior had braved in the face of death. It was the stuff of stories that would be passed down within the clan for generations, after all.

"...and returning, of course I know now that the fruit tree has a sense of humor. Why else would my hair now be a perfect match for this wonderful cloak Blue Ripple put together for me?" River concluded the tale with a humorous note.

The assembled laughed at that, Blue Ripple most of all. He clapped River on the back and smiled. "Well then, now that we know what happened, and knowing that there's something bigger than us out there that might kill us with the snap of a finger, I think we should pack up today and head out at noon. We've secured enough materials for a while, and the elders and veterans can decide what they want to do about this mysterious devil in black."

Nobody argued with that assessment, and the dismantling of the camp was soon underway even as River helped himself to another bowl of stew.

It had been a dangerous expedition, but the gains were also enormous. It now ended, but River vowed he would return to the forest soon enough to continue his training and continue to grow stronger.