Chapter 9: In the Forest

The light within the forest grew increasingly sparse, resembling cold water tinged with ink. The temperature plummeted, prompting an involuntary shiver that made one hunch their shoulders. The once-clear silhouettes of the trees began to blur, stretching out into twisted shadows. Yet, the entire forest was unnaturally quiet. Only the whimpering wind brushing through the treetops remained—a harbinger that the nocturnal Demons were about to awaken.

On the journey back, the two maintained that tacitly agreed-upon safe distance. Raine walked in front, his footsteps as light as if treading on cotton, utilizing Stealth Step to evade potential risks. The Female Swordsman followed behind, her steps equally light. The rustling of her leather boots brushing against the grass and her soft, steady breathing indicated that she hadn't fallen behind.

However, she was clearly unaccustomed to the woodland environment. Before they had gone far, a drooping cluster of thorns snagged her crimson hair. She reached up to tug it free, but the moment her fingertips brushed the thorns, she tripped over a protruding tree root and stumbled.

Raine, on the other hand, was different. During the latter half of his tutelage under the Sloppy Ranger, the man—whose injuries had gradually healed by then—took him to camp in the dense woods near the village for over half a year. As for why the Sloppy Ranger hadn't left after recovering, Raine guessed he was hiding from enemies.

During a brief rest, the Red-haired Female Swordsman stood over ten meters away, looking somewhat embarrassed as she silently plucked blades of grass from her hair. A moment later, she broke the silence. Her voice sounded somewhat abrupt in the stillness.

"My hometown doesn't have forests this vast, so I'm not very good at walking on this kind of terrain," she said. After a brief pause, she added, "You can call me Kaelin."

Raine gave a slight nod and offered his own name in return. As for whether she had given her real name, neither of them probed, sharing an unspoken understanding.

Adventurers were a mixed bag. For various reasons, many were unwilling to reveal their true identities. In fact, to a fledgling Adventurer, a name held little significance. Perilous Secret Realms like the Demon Shadow Forest were countless in this world, drawing throngs of Adventurers every year. Far too many people came here, and far too many were swallowed whole. A new friend made at the tavern today could easily become a Demon's lunch tomorrow. Therefore, no one went out of their way to memorize the names of the soon-to-be dead, unless they were old acquaintances in an established party.

More often than not, Adventurers were accustomed to calling each other by nicknames. Kaelin hadn't offered one, meaning she had likely only become an Adventurer recently. Raine, however, was a different story; he carried a whole slew of titles like "Coward," "Craven," and "Jinx."

Raine's lips twitched into a helpless, wry smile. He had to admit, this body's reputation was absolutely abysmal. But it didn't matter. He would simply rewrite it through his actions. Making those monikers a thing of the past was the very fuel driving him forward right now. Even if it was just to secure a comfortable life later on, he was going to shut everyone up.

Using the faint light during their break, Raine discreetly cast a few glances at Kaelin. Her face was smudged with dirt, and the hem of her clothes was stained with Goblin blood, yet none of it could conceal her delicate facial contours. She had a high-bridged nose, and those bright, previously sharp eyes now seemed a little softer under the weight of exhaustion. The most striking feature, however, was her fair skin. This was a rare sight among bottom-tier Female Adventurers.

Most of them spent their lives running amidst bloodshed and death. Years of exposure to the harsh wind and sun left their skin rough and flushed, often littered with shocking scars. For Kaelin to maintain such a pristine state, she was either brand new to the profession, or she possessed resources and strength far beyond that of a normal Adventurer, shielding her from the harsh environment's erosion. Raine leaned toward the former; after all, a veteran Adventurer would hardly get lost on the outskirts of a forest.

Not long after the two resumed their journey, while Raine was slightly distracted checking the map in his mind, Kaelin suddenly let out a gasp of alarm behind him. Her voice was kept very low, but she couldn't mask the underlying panic.

Every muscle in Raine's body abruptly tensed, his adrenaline spiking in an instant. A threat capable of making a Female Swordsman who had slain five Goblins lose her composure was absolutely no trifling matter.

"Damn it, did we actually run into some powerful Magical Beast?" Raine thought rapidly. Visions of Warg Mounts, Bear Goblins, and even worse adversaries flashed through his mind.

He whipped around, his gaze shooting toward Kaelin like a bolt of lightning. His fingertips pinched the tail of an Arrow. In a heartbeat, the newly acquired Short Bow was drawn to the full, primed for a bitter fight.

However, the anticipated behemoth never appeared. Within Sight, Kaelin was simply frozen in place. Her slender frame leaned backward like a petrified statue. She held her Longsword out in front of her, the tip trembling slightly as it pointed straight at a thick, low-hanging tree branch overhead. Dangling from that branch was a multicolored spider the size of a washbasin. Its eight long, hairy legs were curled up, and its plump abdomen bore unsettlingly vibrant patterns. Swaying gently with the breeze, the spider hung just inches from her pale cheek.

It really was a "big" guy.

Raine's taut nerves deflated like a popped balloon, and a look of sheer speechlessness washed over his face.

"Duck!" he barked, aiming the tip of the Arrow dead center at the massive spider's bloated abdomen.

Almost out of pure reflex, Kaelin obeyed Raine's command and hurriedly crouched down. Immediately, his Eagle Vision activated!

In that fleeting instant, the entire world seemed to freeze before Raine's eyes. The trajectory of the wind, the swaying arc of the spider, even the quivering of every single bristle on its arthropod legs—all of it was etched crystal clear into his vision. The micro-adjustments of his arm muscles, the tension of the Bowstring, the weight of the Arrow; everything moved as naturally as an extension of his own body, as if he held absolute control over reality itself.

SWISH!

The Arrow left the string, blurring into a dark streak that precisely pinned the giant spider to the tree trunk behind it.

SPLAT.

Cloudy yellow fluid burst forth, splattering all over the bark and exuding a faint, fishy stench. The entire sequence was remarkably clean and decisive, concluding in the blink of an eye. A distance of over ten meters posed absolutely no challenge to Raine under the enhancement of Eagle Vision. It was no different from shooting a stationary target.

"That wondrous sensation when Eagle Vision activates... It's like entering bullet time! This Skill seems even more powerful than I imagined. I definitely need to practice it diligently later!" Raine thought to himself.

Just as Raine was savoring the aftertaste of that moment, Kaelin stood back up. She quickly scrambled backward several steps, only managing to somewhat compose her expression once she was three or four meters away from the shriveled spider.

"I'm not afraid of spiders. It just appeared too suddenly." She cleared her throat, attempting to explain away her previous loss of composure, though her voice carried an unnatural stiffness. "Anyway, nice shot."

"Thanks for the compliment."

Raine shrugged, opting not to puncture her feeble excuse. Everyone had things they were afraid of; there was no shame in it. For instance, his body's original owner had been terrified of Goblins and his older brother's wife's sour, sweaty feet, which always left the mill reeking of an acrid stench. As for Raine himself, before crossing over, his greatest fear was hearing the specific notification chime from his company's work chat on a day off. Even in the dead of sleep, that sound would make his stomach drop with pure dread.

In comparison, Kaelin's fear of a washbasin-sized spider was perfectly reasonable, even if she had just slaughtered five Goblins without batting an eye.

Raine first motioned for her to keep her distance before stepping forward to retrieve his Arrow. He glanced at the dead spider that had dropped to the ground. The Hunting Chapter in his mind remained entirely unresponsive. This indicated that the spider was merely an ordinary creature devoid of any real value.

"Let's go," Raine said. He slid the Arrow back into his Quiver and turned to continue onward.

They were already within a stone's throw of the Demon Shadow Forest's exit.