It was just total darkness, until she felt herself gasp for air.

Amaya’s eyes shot open as she nearly jumped out of bed, sweating and panting.

Huff…Huff..Huff…

‘Oh… I guess It really was a dream.’ She thought to herself.

That was until she looked around, realizing that this wasn’t her house. It looked like the inside of some medieval home.

“Nevermind, it wasn’t a dream”

She crept out of the bedroom she was in, onto the rest of the house.

When she reached the living area, a woman’s voice shouted.

“W-wah? No no no no. You shouldn't be standing with a wound like that!”

A red-haired woman rushed over, grabbing Amaya in case she collapsed.

Amaya tried to explain, “But I feel fi-” but was cut off mid sentence by the woman’s panic.

“We need to get you back to bed. Having that wound open is the last thing we need. The doctor left for the city this morning. I don’t know how we’d save you again without him.”

Amaya let herself be guided back to the bed, where the woman removed her bandages, making sure the wound was still closed.

“Oh my god!” She shouted. His expression was hard to read. It was either pure amazement or pure panic.

“Am I alright?” Amaya asked while tilting her head.

The woman nodded, holding the same expression.

“Yes…Actually, it’s like nothing happened. There’s no sign of the wound at all.”

“What?” Amaya had to take a look for herself.

Sure enough, there was no wound or scar, it was just a normal torso. No sign of any injury whatsoever.

The woman was still in disbelief.

“T-This shouldn’t be possible. Unless maybe you’re an adventurer with some healing ability.”

With no risk being present, Amaya felt safe to stand back up.

“I’m just a normal girl. I’m not special like that.” She honestly didn’t understand it herself. The only conclusion she could come to was that she was living her own story and this was just Plot Armor of some sort.

The woman cleared her throat and regained her natural sweet expression.

“That is indeed very amazing. Nonetheless, You must be hungry. Breakfast is already cooked if you wanna come eat.”

As if all the fear from last night never happened, Amaya’s eye’s lit up.

“Sounds great.” She said with a smile.

While at the table, the two made small talk over breakfast, as well as made introductions. The red-haired woman’s name was Ailene, and apparently, she had been living in this small village since her teen years. Occasionally she travels to other places, but has some knowledge gaps about the world.

This was unfortunate for Amaya who was hoping to learn some stuff. However, she did find out a few things.

Elves, beast people, dwarves and other races like that exist in this world. Just like the ones in movies. She was currently in the kingdom of Thergo, a pretty kind and neutral kingdom compared to the others. Though, she didn’t get much information about the others.

Her plate was cleaned of all food, it was time to learn one more piece of info.

“Which way is Fieldor from here?” the name of the town she bought her knife at.

Ailene finished taking a sip of her morning coffee before answering.

“Oh. So you’re from Fieldor then, I assume. If you’re looking to get back there, I can have one of the neighbors take you by wagon. And don’t worry, they're super friendly. The ride should only take an hour or two.”

This was a great offer, much better than going by foot.

“Actually, I’d like that. Thank you so much.” Said Amaya.

“No problem at all. I wouldn’t wanna have you walk and get attacked by another monster.”

___________

Amaya rushed over to the well, helping an Elderly man lift a couple buckets of water.

“Here, I’ll take that for you.”

The old man was relieved that he wouldn’t have to worry about the back pain from such a task.

“I thank you, young lady. Aren’t You’re the one Ailene asked me to take to town with me?”

Amaya nodded, “Yep, that’s me.”

“Ah. Well, just help me take these buckets back to my place then we’ll head out.” the old man replied.

After Amaya placed the buckets inside his home, the elderly man asked one more favor of her.

“Oh, and if you don’t mind, I need help with something else. I was going to ask some of the village men to help, but you seem more capable somehow. You lifted those buckets with ease. I think this won’t pose much challenge for you either.”

Amaya offered to help without a second thought.

“You’re giving me a ride after all. Of course I can help. What do you need me to do?”

The old man pointed to the corner of the room, where multiple boxes sat.

“If you can just move these to the back of the wagon for me, we’d be set to go.”

Several minutes later, Amaya was carrying the final box over. She was sweating intensely and all the muscles in her face were twitching. It was a struggle to not drop the box and its contents.

“What…are in these boxes anyway?” She asked, placing it in the wagon.

Bmp!

“Just a whole lotta iron and crafting materials. Nun much. Now that’s done with, we can head out now.” The old geezer climbed on the horse and waved for Amaya to hop in the back, which she did.

The horse set in motion, pulling the wagon into the forest.

___________

Of course, Amaya sat back and rested during the ride. But she was sure to listen for monster sounds, paranoid about her terrible luck.

As long as she didn’t run into that creature from the other night, she would be alright. Still, she couldn't help but remember what it said.

“Keep.On.Running. I’ll still find you.”

This still sent shivers down her spine, weighing on her mind.

Part of the reason she even survived was because the creature let her escape. But why did it let her go and why didn’t it come back to finish the job?

Amaya shook her head, it wasn’t relevant at this moment in time.

‘I’m just glad I lived. I’ll think about it some other time. Maybe there wasn't any big reason.’

ROARRRR!!!!

An animal’s angry roar made the air quiver for a moment. The wagon came to a rough stop and Amaya jumped up, clutching her knife's handle.

‘Oh no. It’s back!’ She thought to herself.

Her gaze studied the path ahead of them, but there wasn’t any threat in sight. She was confused where the roaring had come from, but the old man gave an explanation.

“Yup. That sounds like a shadow bear to me. It Must be attacking prey or something nearby. It wouldn't be wise to head that way. If we run into it, We’ll make a good meal for it.”

Amaya was still a little shaken, but was relieved for the most part.

‘Good. It’s just a bear or whatever. I thought I was done for.’

Out of the blue, a little girl came running full speed from down the path.

“Help me PLEASE! It’s trying to eat MEEE!!!”

Her foot got caught on a root, and she landed face-first in the dirt.

Thump!

Hot on her tail was a large shadow bear, drooling with hunger.

This kid was going to become it’s next meal.

The distress on the old man’s face was clear. He wanted to save the child, but with his old age, he was unfit for a task like this. He would only become fodder.

The old man gripped his cane with anger.

“Damned Monsters, Always taking innocent lives, regardless of who it is.”

All he could do was watch as the bear lifted its claws, preparing to rip the girl’s face apart.

But it wasn’t going to end horribly. Amaya wouldn’t allow it to.

Fwsh!

Her knife shot across the air, piercing through the Bear's eye.

Shnk!

Blood squirted out as it roared in agony, stumbling back.

“I was wondering when I’d get to see another shadow bear. Now I can test how much stronger I got.”

She had a hobby of throwing knives when she was bored. It was a good thing all the experience paid off.

Now, she needed to make an attack while the monster was still stunned.

She leaped forward, throwing a kick towards Its face.

Before the strike could land, the bear opened its remaining eye.

Then with rage, it backhanded her like a truck, tossing her into a bush.

Fwsh!

The pain left her laying motionless. Long enough that the Elderly man in the wagon thought she had died.

“No…”

Amaya rose back up, wiping the blood from her mouth. She was still a bit dazed, but alive at least.

‘I would’ve been shredded if it’s claws hit me instead. That’s scary.’

[ Hp: 24/90 ]

She took a breath and held up her fists in a bold fighting stance.

This was the moment she trained in martial arts for. Not necessarily to fight a Bear, but to fight a threat in melee combat.

“Come get me!” She stuck her tongue out, tauntingly.

The Bear charged forward, slashing at Amaya, but she dodged and punched its rib cage.

Bmp!

It didn’t do much, angering the monster even more. Its arms lifted then slammed downwards, nearly smashing Amaya as she dodged around it.

Smash!!!

The ground crackled and dirt flew up, blocking vision for a brief second.

‘I would not have survived if that hit me !!’ Amaya thought to herself.

With the Bear having poor sight, she snuck behind it, jumping onto its back. Then with a firm pull, she yanked her knife out of its eye.

The Bear cried in pain as it shook Amaya off, and followed up with a slash which she weaved away from.

Fwsh!

The monster then ran at her in a tackling motion, anything in its way would surely be sent flying. However, Amaya was well prepared for an attack like this.

She jumped into the air and tensed each muscle in her leg.

“I’ll just use that momentum against you then!”

Her heel slammed into the center of the Bear’s face, knocking it on its back. It was most definitely seeing stars afterwards.

Time came to wrap things up.

Amaya climbed on top of the Bear, then pushed her knife through its heart.

Shank!

[ You Have Leveled Up ]

( Level: 4 | HP: 115 | MP: 25 | AtK: 45 | Speed: 13 )

“I actually did it…I beat a bear. Nice.”