Trust your training.

  That was the key.

  Trust your training and you’re good to go.

  Don’t worry about anything.

  Yeah, right.

  I was shaking by the time I lost sight of the giant beast upon which my Mother and her two trusted aides were seated. Radek waved at me with a confident smile, Mother managed a poker face and Belfray had something of a frown around his lips.

  Location?

  Somewhere in the woods.

  Proximity to civilization?

  Unknown.

  Danger posed by the local wildlife around here?

  Medium.

  The amount of resources?

  Not much, really.

  I’ve got a bag and a sword, and that was it. Inside the bag was a flask full of water, a set of magical leathers, two bottles of ink and a pair of ink pens. There were no clothes. Nothing remotely resembling food, either. The small notebook fitted between the magical leathers that looked like it was a hundred years old was something, I supposed, but other than that I’ve got nothing, and I was supposed to survive a week in the woods all by myself.

  They sure didn’t like kids in this Planar System.

  My attempts at learning more about this so-called Empire everybody kept talking about had met with strict silence. Whatever cruel details were there about this nation would remain under tightly sealed lips for a while. Perhaps, I thought, I would learn more when I was older, but for now, I was to continue to be a subject of this long-lasting tradition even though my ties to the practice were at best questionable.

  And yet, there was something novel in my heart that reminded itself occasionally.

  Expectation.

  In a way, this would be the first time I would get to be free since I was reborn as a baby. Old me would’ve found this more than horrifying and already begun searching for a hole in which he could spend the next seven days keeping to himself. He would, no doubt, chew on grass stalks and endure hunger if that meant keeping his head safe from anything remotely dangerous.

  The new me, on the other hand, was something else.

  You have to understand that being sharpened like a sword on a whetstone for years, enduring harsh training every day, and getting a taste of battle brought with it a certain eagerness. This wasn’t a conscious feeling. It rose from within, and waited somewhere around the heart like a snake hissing out a motivational speech that would put any community leader that had ever existed to shame.

  It lacked patience, as well. After all, what use was all the training if you didn’t do a damn thing with it?

  So there was I, ready to tap into my training and survive the shit out of these woods, but how would I start doing that, exactly?

  I decided to start by making myself familiar with this place.

  ……

  The natural laws of this Grade D plane were simple with a twist. The local wildlife, aka the natives of this world, would be inherently aggressive against anyone who didn’t belong here. The details were a bit blurry, but Radek had told me that basically every creature in this world could smell that I wasn’t born here.

  That meant I couldn’t be careless. I had to live like I was under constant threat and I had to watch out for any signs around me.

  It was easy to say, of course, but the thick treelines made for stinky companions if you wanted to keep a clear sight of your surroundings. I could barely see through them. If that wasn’t bad enough, the whole sky was blocked by a canopy that stretched as far as I could see. What little sunlight managed to seep through the cracks did only so much to illuminate the ground.

  I activated soul vision as I trudged silently between the bushes, across the trees, the damp air plastering clumps of my blond hair into my scalp. There was hardly a place on my body that didn’t itch from the damp air, but that wasn’t any surprise. Forests were humid places. I had expected that much.

  What I didn’t expect was that my first assailants would be smaller than I thought.

  Before I could make myself comfortable in the forest, I was covered by a cloud of flies buzzing annoyingly around my head.

  I slapped some of them flat against my skin and tried to weave myself out of their cluster by sticking close to the bushes, but they had the numbers and they refused to give up on me.

  The good thing was that they seemed normal.

  I managed a circulation of my internal energy across my body, and the itch was gone. I wasn’t going to tire myself by trying to kill every single fly that haunted me. The Undying was more than well-equipped to deal with small bites.

  About a few miles in, I took a breath, perched on a log to drink from my flask. My breaths were coming in steady and strong. I could jog about a dozen miles more if I wanted. That was good.

  Still, I found myself wondering what kind of monsters awaited me deep in the forest. I had to find something to eat, and chasing rabbits and deer was out of the question. That was the whole point of why they chose this particular forest.

  I pondered for a while, finding myself growing unnecessarily nervous at the horrors I imagined without any effort. A man’s mind could be his own worst enemy, Radek had told me once. Better to keep it occupied than give it time to fabricate possibilities. I closed my flask and put it back into the bag, glancing up at the forest to see—

  I froze.

  The creature sat on its hind legs on a branch about ten feet above the ground, bright purple eyes glaring down at me with open animosity. Its pelt was dark and streaked with smooth lines of violet, and it was larger than a tiger. I had never seen a Greytooth from this close, but was well-read about their rather long family line. It really looked like a jaguar.

  They couldn’t utilize mana, meaning that they didn’t have anything magical to my knowledge. They had, like most graded beasts, an Internal Core, which would be my prize if I could take this giant down in the end.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  Soul vision active, I could see the bronze hue it unwillingly radiated from its body. The violet streaks meant that this one was a green male, not really an adult. Females had their streaks crossing in random patterns while males had theirs smooth and long. And adults… well, adult Greytooths were strong creatures of the Golden rank.

  I was momentarily struck by the beauty of the monster, its muscles beneath its smooth fur, its perfectly round eyes gleaming in the dark of the canopy. I was a little curious rather than afraid at having chanced across a member of the local wildlife.

  It obviously didn’t share the same curiosity.

  Then my eyes searched for a way out. I lingered for what felt like a long minute. The instinct to run was strong. I could ditch the creature between the trees thanks to its huge body. It couldn’t keep track of me if I stayed low.

  But I knew I couldn’t. An Undying Knight didn’t run.

  My hand jerked Beatrice from its sheath in one fluid motion, my feet pushing me away from the log and back to the small opening behind. The Greytooth took flight the second I made my move. It was a fast bastard with a habit of catching prey from above. The fact that I noticed it before its move gave me the advantage.

  And likely saved my life.

  Fingers of my right hand crunched around the leathery handle of Beatrice as my Internal Core squeezed a generous amount of internal energy into my arms. I felt the muscles bulging and the strength burning beneath them as I braced against the creature.

  Its claws shrieked when they met with Beatrice’s smooth surface.

  I let the momentum slide me backward while bending my wrist, allowing the sharp tips of the claws to pass harmlessly across the sword’s side and toward the ground. They tore a patch of earth and sent gravel scattering about the air before the creature landed gracefully after having missed its attack.

  On the ground, a Greytooth was still a dangerous creature. A normal Knight in this situation would use the surroundings to his advantage, either taking to the trees or seeking an opening by falling back on defense. Limiting an agile creature’s mobility was a plan any man would find sensible.

  I wasn’t taught like that.

  Instead, I lunged toward the creature, pressing it with a jab to its face. When it instinctively flinched against the metal’s sheen, I worked my wrist around and swept the sword down to its front legs, earning myself a gash as my eyes widened at the sight.

  My joy was short-lived since the cut wasn’t good enough. There was hardly any blood in the wound.

  But… I did it.

  That cut was mine.

  The Greytooth seemed painfully aware of the fact as it reared back and showed me its sharp set of grey teeth. They were long, with a pair of them hacking a way out of the mouth and curving upward from the sides.

  It was on.

  Finally.

  My heart thumped loudly in my chest as we circled each other in the small opening, both of us now aware there was no prey here. The creature was motivated by the integral laws of the plane to kill me. I, on the other hand, could hardly contain the slowly growing panic in me that came out of nowhere.

  It seemed I wasn’t as courageous as I’d thought.

  Not much I could do about it, here.

  I tried to shut that part of me down, but I just couldn’t get rid of the sudden recognition that I was facing a giant creature in a forest.

  Why, then, did my hands refuse to tremble?

  Without giving further chances to my mind to play tricks on me, I lunged in with my Grade 2 Strengthening Rune burning in the middle of my chest. My internal energy fueled the jump with a blast. I saw the surprise in Greytooth’s eyes as I brought the sword down with my entire strength. It slipped from under it with a cat’s agility, scurrying to the side in full panic, sliding to a clumsy stop at the final second right before a looming tree.

  Pulling the sword back, I pushed after it and jabbed Beatrice straight into its now fully open side. The weapon’s tip squelched through the thick fur, underneath the muscles, drilling a clean hole into its body.

  My first real hit!

  There was a pang in my stomach as the surroundings blurred in my vision. A pitiful gasp escaped my lips. It then dawned on me that I’d been sent flying across the opening, the ground sliding past underneath my ass, my feet failing to find purchase in anything solid. There was hardly any breath left in my lungs, then there was no air at all when I crashed into a tree.

  I bounced painfully from the tree and fell sprawling over the ground, Beatrice somehow still clutched tightly in my hands. Dragging my pitiful body back to my feet, I caught sight of the Greytooth’s annoyingly elastic tail.

  Damn.

  How could I be so stupid to actually forget the beast had a tail?

  Who does that, really?

  Shame burned in my chest. I searched around the forest. I couldn’t have Mother see more of my inability to manage a truly confrontational exchange. I was supposed to be an Undying Knight, damn it. I couldn’t let a tail stop me from becoming that.

  I was sure I was bleeding somewhere. Likely my mouth or nose, but that, the Undying could take care of. I still checked my chest to see whether there was anything broken or not, and sucked in a relieved breath. It’d be bruising soon, but it was a good thing that the move was desperate and lacked any real strength behind it.

  Real strength, huh?

  Well, it wasn’t wrong since had it been a true strike, it would’ve definitely broken something in my body. As it was, it stung like a bastard, but I could deal with that much. I wasn’t a stranger to pain.

  Onto the beast, now.

  Back to our friend, here.

  It had a hole in its stomach. That apparently wasn’t enough to slow it down. It still carried itself with a feline’s grace, smooth dark fur almost blending into the background as it circled around me.

  I should’ve known my first true battle wouldn’t be a piece of cake. Worse yet, we were in the middle of the forest and I couldn’t stop counting on Greytooths being asocial hunters. There could be other, different beasts out there watching our little back and forth and waiting for a chance to attack.

  No, I had to be quick about this.

  Okay.

  Vitals.

  I had to aim at this stubborn creature’s vitals.

  It had a solid ribcage. Chances were, if I aimed at its heart my sword would get stuck in between those thick bones. Being an Undying didn’t change that. So, the heart was a no-go. I thought I could go for the neck, but no matter how much I admired Beatrice, she didn’t have the sharpness to cleave the creature’s head clean. The muscles around the Greytooth’s neck were no joke.

  Lungs, though? Now those could work. If I could press it enough to force an opening, I could do this in one go. Get rid of the air, then the beast would be kneeling before me.

  Simple stuff, really.

  I got to work.

  The Greytooth did the same.

  It darted with a burst so fast I could barely track it. A blur of violet streaks was all I could see. I twisted sideways and felt the rush of air scrape past my cheek. The swipe was close. It skidded past me and pivoted with frightening grace. Not letting it turn, I charged after it.

  My boots sank into damp soil as I closed in and thrusted Beatrice forward in a tight arc. This exact move, the whole letting your opponent fall empty after a move and punishing him for putting too much trust into a single strike, was how Mother got me hundreds of times.

  This once, however, I was the one doing it.

  Look who was learning, mum!

  Turned out having my ass kicked by a Celestial Knight did have its merits.

  The Greytooth’s paws hadn’t even finished digging into the soil for its pivot before I was already on it, internal energy surging down my legs in a pulse that felt like a heartbeat spilling into my muscles. I lunged forward, closing the gap with a single, brutal step.

  My blade came down toward its exposed back.

  It twisted, rolling its torso just enough that Beatrice didn’t sink into its spine. But that didn’t matter. I followed the motion, pressing stubbornly closer, refusing to let it reset or regain balance.

  The beast snarled as my shoulder slammed into its ribcage. We collided like two stones thrown senselessly about a lake. Pain flared through my arm, but I held the line, forcing the monster down with sheer momentum. Its claws raked the soil instead of my throat as we crashed together in a messy tangle.

  The beast tried to kick me off.

  I stepped around it and jammed Beatrice under its front leg, right into the narrow pocket where its ribs lay, and shoved. The sword punctured the flesh with a thick, wet sound. Hot blood sputtered down my face.

  The Greytooth shrieked, its entire body convulsing, thrashing, trying to throw me away, but I planted my feet deeper and turned my hips. I drove the blade upward, forcing it to carve through muscle and into the lung. The resistance was awful, but I gritted my teeth and pushed until the beast’s breath hitched into a broken wheeze.

  What a relief.

  Its free paw lashed at me in pure desperation, but I had already expected a response after having tasted that long tail, ducking under it with ease, waiting for the air to whoosh out its punctured lung.

  Then, slowly, I ripped Beatrice free from its body and jabbed it for good measure before ultimately taking a step back. To its credit, the Greytooth did try to stand, but a tremor took hold of its whole body. It staggered sideways, wheezing, maw opening and closing soundlessly as it fought for breath.

  In the end, it collapsed fully to the ground with a heavy thud.

  I nearly did the same, but was able to drag myself to its body and carve out its Internal Core before making for the thick treelines. I couldn’t stop and cherish the palm-sized sphere. I needed some time to recover, and that meant finding a safe place.

  …….

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