The Hooded Samurai

Chapter 2: Inforestation [Part 1]

Emily looked for a specific piece of paper on the quest board and plucked it right out.

"C'mon, follow me!" She gestured and started to head out of the guild.

"Wait up!" I quickly followed behind her.

We both jogged all the way to the village gate and left. This is gonna be so wild.

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It was Wafflez' first time leaving the village. He thought to himself, "Woah, finally being able to fight monsters!" But he seemed to forget that he had no weapons and had a skill issue.

Emily led him toward an open field with bushes here and there. They hid behind a decently sized bush and watched the many kind of adorable animals roaming around.

Emily pointed at a specific bunny, charged up a beam and was about to shoot. Wafflez yelped and was about to stop her, but it seems that the bunny heard them. It instantly turned around and let out a horrific screech as it revealed an extremely sharp set of teeth. It's mouth stretched open wide enough to fit a human.

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WE'RE GOING TO DIE!!! WHAT IS THAT THING?!!

"Now do you think it's cute and harmless??" She continued to aim her charged up beam at the monster-rabbit thing now running towards us extremely fast.

"Uh yeah, totally harmless! I could beat it instantly!" Shut your mouth right now.

"Alright, why don't you kill it then?" She pulled her hand back and crossed her arms.

I panicked as I looked back and forth between her and the monster running at us. I TAKE IT BACK, PLEASE DON'T LET ME FACE THAT THING!

"Psh, watch me." WHAT AM I DOING?!

I stood up and stared dead at the monster. It was running with it's jaw hanging open and I'm pretty sure it was only a matter of seconds until it arrived. I couldn't take it anymore. I panicked and ran the complete opposite way.

"I'M SORRY, I TAKE IT BACK, I'M SO BAD AT THIS!! PLEASEEEEE HELP MEEE!!!" I ran as fast as I could, knowing that it was probably faster than me considering it's size. How can something so small be so deadly?!

She just watched from the bush as it chased me. STOP LAUGHING AND HELP ME!!!

She charged up her beam once more and I ran in a straight horizontal line across from her point of view to let her aim better. She then took it down with one shot. I kept running to get a few more feet away from it, but I ended up slipping and slamming my face into the ground, sliding for a few seconds.

"Oh my gosh, are you ok?!" Emily yelled as she ran to approach me.

All I could do was groan in pain. I'm so glad I was quick enough for it to not catch up. Guess my speed does come in handy, huh?

She squatted down next to me and giggled as she seemed to use some of her healing magic on me.

"You don't have to...I'm fine, see?" I gently pushed her hand away to stop her and tried to get up, but I could literally feel my legs aching and my face felt red. I couldn't tell if it was from embarrassment or from my face skiing on the dirt as if it were ice.

Emily shook her head and continued to heal me. All I did was sigh and watched her do her thing.

"Sorry, I should've just killed it. This was my fault."

"What? Not at all! I shouldn't have been so cocky. I'm not even skilled enough for the privilege of boasting!" I chuckled but winced in pain. I felt it soon clear up when she finished.

"Yeah, of course. C'mon, let's keep hunting for more." She held out her hand and I took it. We then kept looking for more enemies to defeat.

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After a long day of hunting, we managed to kill a whopping 9 whole enemies! Well, she did most of the work while I watched. I mean, what else was I supposed to do? Get in her way? Yeah, I don't think so.

We went back to the guild and turned in the plunder, from which we received about 900 gold! Just imagine how rich we could become with this!

"Damn, just enough to buy a shirt."

"What?! So I can't buy a katana for 900 gold?"

She shook her head and replied, "Nope. You need around 150,000 gold for a decent weapon that won't break easily."

My jaw dropped. Are you kidding me?! 150,000 gold??? This is so lameee! I sighed and drooped over.

"Aw, it's alright. I'll let you borrow the one I have." She smiled and patted my back. I straightened up and smiled.

"Really?! You'd let me?"

"Of course! Just make sure you take good care of it. Remember, It's going to be borrowed."

I nodded quickly and smiled widely. I then sat down at a nearby table and took out my card.

"Hey, how did you do that thing? Y'know, with the..." I flipped it over and it was empty.

"Just wave your hand over it. duh."

I facepalmed and wove my hand over the back of the card and the ability list showed up.

"Aw man, I need 3 points for the first abilities? This sucks."

"Huh? How many did you earn on this quest?"

"One."

"We probably should've picked a quest you could do on your own."

"I should've had a weapon in the first place! Why didn't you tell me you had a katana?!"

She stuck her tongue out at me and laughed while I just pouted and nudged her.

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We went back to the quest board and I noticed one that caught my attention.

"What about this one? Clear out 20 or more tree branches from 'The Forbidden Forest'?" This one didn't seem too bad, but Emily gave me a concerned look and shrugged.

"It's not too dangerous, but can you handle them?"

"I'm sorry, 'them'? Don't tell me they're alive."

She chuckled and replied, "Totally not! You'll handle them- I mean, the mission, perfectly! Just make sure to take some gloves. Branches are pretty sharp after all." She then smiled at me. Alright, I'll trust her word then. What's the worst that could happen?

I went off to buy some decent gloves with the gold we earned and I wore a robe to protect my skin. I then left the village in search for 'The Forbidden Forest'.

It took me about 2 days to finally arrive, and I set up camp just outside the entrance. I ate the bread I had packed along with some fruits while I watched the stars. It's so nice tonight. I hope this will go well.

I put out the fire and fell asleep. I'll go in once the light arrives.
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