After quickly eating our overcooked fish in silence I got to work. Cutting up small pieces of the raw fish for Tiny to eat, and the rest of the organs and pieces went to Bastard.

With the moon overhead, we decided to call it a night. With Faron asleep, I couldn’t be wasting time so I trained my mana skills.

I tried out orbs that glowed and tried to brighten and dim their light. Making snakes out of mana that slithered along the ground, and even strings that tied themselves to multiple trees forming simple webs.

With my exercises done and mana reserves gone I was able to meditate into a deep slumber.

The night passed peacefully but Faron didn't let the peaceful stay. In the morning I was woken up by a swift kick to the gut and incomprehensible yelling.

Breathlessly I yelled, “There are nicer ways to do this, you BASTARD!”

“That might be true but this is so much faster,” Faron smiled, tossing me something wrapped in cloth.

Unwrapping the cloth revealing three shriveled strips of meat I asked, “This some kind of jerky?”

“Not just any jerky, the best damn jerky in this part of the woods.”

“You made this didn’t you.”

“I most definitely did, so eat up because we going deeper today!”

“Why deeper, and what about the bear?”

“There’s nothing here, and we’ll still be within the Chief's parameters so why worry.”

“I mean that’s fair,” I agreed, sinking my teeth into the tough meat. Saltiness immediately overwhelmed my taste buds like a mouthful of seawater.

“Ha, look at your face,” Faron howled, falling backward laughing and pointing.

“What about it?”

“Your eyes got so wide, with your whole face going white.”

“Well maybe if there wasn’t enough salt to raise an elephant's blood pressure it wouldn’t be so shocking!”

“But the flavor!”

“But DEATH!”

“It’s a risk worth taking!”

I didn’t even respond because my mouth got so dry. I just started chugging water and taking smaller bites until everything and half my water was gone.

Almost with a look of pride, Faron finished his jerky taking only a tiny sip of water.

“So, where are we going ol’ Captain,” I asked mockingly?

“Well following this stream up a bit more should lead us to this little cave,” He responded ignoring me.

“Well ok, and what happens if we find something?”

“WE FIGHT LIKE MEN!”

“Well, you seem a little young for that but ok.”

“I’m 20, you bastard!”

“REALLY?!?! You look like you’re fucking 12!”

“Look at this scruff I got going,” Faron yelled, aggressively scratching his almost hairless chin.

“There’s nothing there unlike over here,” I yelled back, caressing the tiny patch of hair I called a goatee.

“THAT BARELY COUNTS!”

“BARELY IS STILL MORE THAN YOU!”

“There’s no way you’re that much older than me so get off that high horse!”

“SIR, I am...something...ah shit hold on,” I tried retorting but got stuck halfway through realizing I don’t remember how old I am. Just standing there counting off the years I could remember I finally got to a number, “23!”

“That took way too long,” Faron said, voice dripping pity.

“Look! I never cared about my age when I turned 18!”

“Why!?”

“Because at 18 I was officially an adult and stopped caring about whatever age meant after that.”

“Where in the hell is 18 and adult?”

“Oh, you know down east with a little north sprinkled on top.”

“I hope you know none of that made sense,” Faron sighed.

“I’m aware, THAT’S THE WHOLE POINT!”

“I hate you with a passion, but we can continue later, we gotta get moving.”

“Fine fine, I’ll get ready,” I said, picking up all my stuff, strapping the sword to my hip. Walking over and putting Tiny in a tree, where I told him to stay. Also telling BAstard to stay nearby so that we didn’t lose Tiny. A few minutes later everything was set for us to get a move on.

After walking a little further away Faron asked, “Why’d you leave those two behind?”

“Well, Tiny is too small to hurt most things so leaving him a tree to do his own hunting seems like the best option. Bastard is much too slow so for this kind of thing just leaving him there will do us better than bringing him,” I explained.

“Well that’s pretty fair, and it is nice to not be slowed down,” Faron emphasized that last part a little, giving me the side-eye.

“HEY, I do not slow you down!”

Says you.”

“Yes, says me.”

“Whatever you gotta tell yourself.”

“You know what! Whatever we find I’ll take them on myself,” I shouted, puffing out my chest.

“Oh sure you will, and I’ll be right there waiting for you to come begging for some help,” Faron laughed.

“JUST WAIT!”

After our little fight, we walked intense silence...well tense for me because I didn’t know why I shouted some arrogant words. Faron on the other hand was looking like he was floating on cloud nine, waiting to see me fail.

Following the river up, there was nothing to be seen beside the occasional fish swimming by. Finally, we arrived at a small mountain with an open mouth in full view.

“Look right there,” Faron smiled, pointing towards the cave, “There’s usually a small pack of wolves or some passing mountain cats around this time of year.”

“Oh noooo,” I whined, “There better not be a wolf back in this bitch!”

“If there is, I’m gonna have a hell of a show to watch!”

I glared but didn’t respond, because we started edging ever closer to the cave. Peeking in we saw nothing but darkness, and some claw marks around the floor and walls.

“Nooooo,” I whined again seeing the claw marks, realizing I might actually die. Conjuring up a little orb that emitted a soft light, I let it float around 50 centimeters around me. With the light, I was able to see quite a few bones littered around the ground. Taking in a deep breath I summoned another knife and snuck my way in.

Carefully tiptoeing through the cave, my hand holding the knife was sweating massively. I was getting scared the knife might slip out at this point. But my hand clenched as the little orb moved throughout the cave revealing more bones big and small.

A few meters ahead was a small bend in the cave, at this point, my nerves reached their peak making me swallow nervously. Slowly walking up and just as I was about to peek around there was a loud howl that reverberated off the stones.

It felt like my bones were shaking from the noise. I held down a scream before running back towards the entrance of the cave which was much safer than surrounded by this darkness.

Without looking back once I sprinted straight towards the light and Faron was standing there with a mocking smile. At this point, I started screaming bloody murder, as I jumped into Faron’s arms shaking like a chihuahua.

He caught me before immediately yelling, “WHAT THE FUCK!?”

“There’s SOMETHING IN THERE, and it’s SCARY,” I shrieked.

“WELL GO KILL IT,” He stated, dropping me without warning.

Hitting the ground hard I groaned, “You bitch that hurt.”

“Pain clears the mind so go in there like a man!”

“But the FEAR!”

“OVERCOME!”

“Fuck you,” I whispered under my breath as I dusted myself off. After conjuring another orb of light and taking a deep breath I marched back into the cave.

“Good luck, Buddy,” Faron yelled with a thumbs up and a shit-eating grin.

“I’m going to punch him,” I said under my breath.

Making my way in this time holding the knife a little tighter until my knuckles turned white. Only focusing on putting one foot in front of the other. Soon arriving back at the bend.

Peeking past carefully I saw a big opening littered with bones, big and small. Examining carefully without revealing my position I couldn’t see a single living thing.

What the hell is this, where’s this howling bitch. I swear it wasn’t the wind that made that sound. I HEARD SOMETHING!

With a mixture of confusion and frustration, I walked into the room sending the orb little ways in front of me. Walking in, and stepping on a small bone that let out a loud cracking sound I paused, like a deer in headlights.

Finally, there was the howl again this time much much louder.

Jumping back and gripping my knife harder I stood at the ready. More mana flooded into the orb basically making a small sun lighting up the whole room. Examining the room quickly looking for the source of the howl.

Still unable to see anything, I dropped into a crouch ready to handle anything. Standing there in silence listening to only my breathing, and eyes constantly sweeping the room my focus was stretched taut.

I heard a small sound of movement, drawing my gaze but revealing only more bones.

The same sound came from a different pile but still, I could only see bones.

What the fuck is this, I can deal with animals but how can I deal with this vengeful soul bullshit.

Then the sounds of scuffling came again, this time I saw a small flash of white. It moved too fast for me to see clearly.

Shuffling slowly towards where the thing went, gripping the knife harder. Once in front of the pile, I kicked the bones away, hard, sending a skull flying against the wall.

And then there it was. A tiny, white mouse that had two strong-looking kangaroo-esk legs, with two small arms.

“YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!”