Chapter 8: Encounter

She could hear the screams getting louder as she made her way towards the area where the girl is.

What she saw was honestly kind of surprising. It was a girl, around 15 or so of age. She had golden-blonde hair that went down to her shoulders. She had on what seemed to be leather armor and a sword that was around a meter long. She wasn't exceptionally pretty, but definitely not from some random village.

The girl seemed to be alone which was quite strange as most people don't come to this forest alone unless they have the strength to back it up or have no other choice. This girl obviously lacks the strength and survival skills necessary to be alone so something must've happened for her to be in this situation. Even though she doesn't have the strength or skills to be here alone, she is far from ordinary. From the looks of it, she is in the Organ Refinement stage.

Her opponent is much stronger than her though. It's a full-grown Moon Bear. It also looks especially angry. Like someone took something of theirs. The girl was holding her own but was losing.

'Hmmm, I could try to help but not much I can do against a Peak-Rank 1 magical beast. My scythe should be able to cut it as right now it's a mortal ranked weapon, but one hit from that thing and I'm dead. I guess I'll wait and see if an opportunity arises for me to help this girl. Then I might be able to collect some information, especially about this forest. I barely know anything, I don't even know the rank 2 beasts here.' Mira said in her mind as she waited for an opportunity.

The girl kept getting pushed back by the beast with every hit. Mira decided to sneak up behind it and climb up a tree to drop down on it and kill it in one strike. She slowly made her way behind the beast making sure that she didn't make a sound then started climbing up a tree slowly. As she was making her way up the tree, the girl was on her last leg.

"Please don't kill me! It wasn't my fault I swear! Please!" the girl started begging as she fell to the ground. She was balling her eyes out but covered them with her hands as she waited for the claw of the beast to remove her from this world. She waited like that for a couple of minutes, but death never came. Or maybe it did come and she just hasn't realized it yet. She tried to take a deep breath, but her breathing was still ragged. She finally removed her hands from her face and opened her eyes. What she saw almost took that break away. She noticed that the bear's head was separated from its body, but that wasn't what made her gasp. It was the little girl in front of her. She looked at her wine-red eyes, her bright-silver hair flowing in the wind and this giant scythe that was almost twice her size. She was wearing animal pelts for clothing. She looked like some kind of Primordial Death Goddess.

"Goddess...?" she said that unintentionally as it turned into a question there at the end.

"No, I'm not a goddess."

"I see."

...

The girl seemed to be in a trance and Mira thought that she was going to say more.

"What happened?"

The girl awoke from her stupor and realized that she had just been staring at this...kid? For several minutes.

"O-Oh umm, I was with a group but they ended up throwing me behind them as bait since I was the weakest of the group. The reason that this bear attacked us was that one of my members stole her cub to form and life and death contract with it."

"I see. What a bunch of idiots. These bears don't even get to rank 2. Your members shouldn't be too far off from reaching Qi Condensation. What makes them want a Peak-Rank 1 magical beast so bad?"

"Ummm, You're right. They are in the Marrow Tempering stage and are around 18 years old. Maybe a gift for someone? I'm not too sure. I joined in their expedition because my father said that I need to gather a little experience of the world instead of staying in the house training all day."

"So that's it. I see."

"U-Uh, what's your name? I've never seen or heard of someone who looks like you."

"Mira."

"That's a pretty name! My name is Maria Zaria, I'm 15 years old, I'm in the Organ Refinement stage and I'm from Lunar Fox City."

"I see. Say, do you have information about this forest, such as the beasts located here, herbs that are here along with their use, and any other miscellaneous information. Actually, I don't even know how far I am from the center."

"What!? You have no information about the forest?! Then why are you here? Are you trying to leave? If so, you can just follow me and I can lead you out. After all, you are my benefactor."

"Well I do have some information, but only a little bit. I came here to train. I'm trying to go towards the center to train and I don't need you to lead me out. After all, my survival skills seem to be better than yours. I made it this far didn't I?" Mira replied nonchalantly.

"Y-Y-You came here to train? How old are you? You can't be over 10."

"Yes, I came here to train. And I am 8 and a half years old."

"Why are you training while being so young!? Don't you know that's dangerous? It can also halt your growth! Plus how did you end up even coming here anyway!?"

"I understand, but I know what I'm doing. Plus I don't intend for it to halt my growth until I reach 13 or 14. Well, that's the plan anyway. And for the reason I'm here, it's because my village was destroyed 3 years ago and everyone in it was killed except for me. What do you think people will do if they see me, a five-year-old mortal, that has the appearance of this? Nothing good! I can assure you of that. I will either be a sex slave, taken away by some young master that thinks that in a few years I will be a beauty then decides to use and abuse me or I die to bandits as I almost did before. I chose this way because if I die, at least it will be on my own terms and through my choice."

Maria was stunned silly. She never thought that a little 8-year-old girl would have that kind of mindset. What was her life like until now? She's been living in this forest for over 3 years? Came from a village? Maria's mind was racing with questions and pity.

"Then why don't you come back with me? My family can help you train! After all, you did save me and I need to repay this somehow!" Maria exclaimed looking excited.

"I refuse. All I want is information. I came here to train and I won't go to a city until I am strong enough to protect myself. One more thing, I don't need your pity. Anyways, just tell me all you know about the forest and that will suffice as payment for saving you."

"I...I understand. I don't have a lot of information, but it should still be useful for you."

"Alright. Let me get a fire started so I can start cooking this bear and you can tell me about the forest as I cook."

"You're going to cook the bear? Why right now?"

"For rations. I'm living in the forest you know and a giant hunk of meat like this doesn't come every day, also there is no way I can challenge a Peak-Rank 1 magical beast right now."

"I see. Well, I will start telling you about the forest then."