Time passed quickly, and it's been a year since Raven started his life in this world.
Raven adapted to his current situation, living a secluded life in the forest.
Foraging and hunting for food in a daily basis, making their temporary shelters from time to time, and of course most importantly, training his current body while practicing using his newfound abilities.
It wasn't a joke when somebody said that humanity are animals of adaptation. Put them in any environment and they'll somehow manage to survive.
Also, his little buddy Uriel can now walk or run on her own. And yep, our little guy Uriel is a girl. Raven only found it out the day after the two met, when he's about to wash the kid in the river.
Nonetheless, he still considered Uriel as his little buddy. Gender doesn't really matter to him as long as the kid was obedient.
He also taught Uriel the basics of everything. Like talking to people, when to fight or to run, simple cooking, and many more practical stuff.
It was crucial to teach all of these to Uriel since the next part of his plan was to seek a town to settle down; learning the people's culture and blend into the society.
They can't live in a forest forever, especially now that his current task was finally seeing the light of its completion.
*****
It was a gentle and refreshing day, as the two celestial bodies scantly overlapped in the sky. Bathing the entire forest with a fresh breath of natural serenity.
Raven was standing atop of a branch, wearing crude clothing that covered his private parts.
Strong taut muscles was chiseled on his back. His biceps and legs were filled with explosiveness, like a lean, young cheetah of the wild. Strength filled every fiber of his muscles due to the harsh training he had undergone for the past year.
The changes on his stature was so immense it was basically night and day compared to his past-year self.
What's weird though was his skin, the color remained the same as before.
With jade-like qualities, fair as the first morning snow.
His hair was also now longer, reaching just above his elbows.
He was currently observing Uriel's first solo fight. It was against a white animal that looked like a rabbit from Earth.
"Show me what you got, little girl."
He mumbled silently under the shade of the leaves.
*****
What's strange about the rabbit was the sharp nails on its front feet, enough to inflict deep scratches of wounds to its victims.
Uriel was calm though, her blonde hair was tied on the back of her head looking very valiant as her red eyes shone with determination.
She was anticipating the first attack of this 'bitch bunny'.
Raven named it like that because it was a bunny and it was a bitch with all those dangerous nails.
Given, Raven also taught her some techniques when dealing with these little furry creatures.
'When encountering one, use a long weapon to create distance.'
'Also, watch out for its back. It will arch like a bow when it's preparing to pounce forward.'
'It is nimble, so try to find a way to hinder its movements first.'
She clearly remembered every points needed to win this fight.
'I can do this. I can do this! Focus on its back.. and.. here it is..!'
Swish!
The 'bitch bunny' leaped forward, leaving behind a gust of wind in its wake.
Uriel was prepared for it though.
Whoosh~
She swiftly swiped her weapon horizontally towards the incoming enemy.
Her weapon was a crude looking spear made out of a wood, tied with a sharpened rock on its tip. Raven made it for her along with the little weapons that were hanging on her sides.
Kihaaakkkk!
The bitch bunny was hit on the left side of its head. It stumbled backwards from the force behind Uriel's swing.
The bitch bunny bled profusely around its left eye. It was climbing back up, now scared as it prepared to escape the fight.
Uriel knew she have to restrict its movement because it is quite fast when running, but decided against it since she saw that she had the upper hand now.
She hurriedly threw her spear towards the animal to stall for a few seconds of time.
It was her turn to pounce towards it as she untied the crude knives hanging from her hips.
But shockingly, the bitch bunny didn't escape and expose its back like what she had anticipated.
It suddenly turned around and leapt towards her like a crazed beast!
Kiiiiikkkkkkk!
The spear missed the bitch bunny and Uriel was in danger!
Uriel lost her composure at the sudden turn of events. Having very little experience in fighting, she panicked at the very last moment of her attack.
When suddenly...
Pshckkk!
A sharp whistle of wind went towards the enraged animal from above.
Kiaaa...ckkk!?
The bitch bunny didn't even have time to react when it was shot right through its head.
Thud
"..."
Horror painted Uriel's face as the body of the bitch bunny crashed right in her feet.
She was dumbstruck until then, and looked towards where the spell came from.
"B-brother... I-I..."
She saw her brother jumped down from a tree branch, slowly walking towards her.
"A cornered rabbit will bite, much less that bitch. Had I not been here, you'll be the one lying on the floor, not that bitch."
Raven emotionlessly said, speaking harshly at Uriel.
Uriel's head hung low while listening to her brother's remarks.
"You could've used a spell to restrict it from escaping, stabbing it with ease ending the fight quickly. But you rushed forward and underestimated it."
Raven continued.
"I only w-want to do it l-like you would, brother..."
While speaking, tears welled up into Uriel's eyes.
She was also of course disappointed at herself for being conceited and arrogant, but who can blame her?
Through this past year, she picked up these habits because of her brother's display of skills whenever he's the one fighting against an enemy, and thought that she could do it too.
"A lion always use its full strength even when hunting rabbits, you see? And that's not even a rabbit you're fighting, that's a bitch bunny."
Facing her pitiful face, his deadpan expression gradually softened.
He's also at fault here since whenever he fights, he rarely uses spells to fight.
It isn't because he don't want to though, but he can't.
The damage from his soul was far more serious than he had imagined. He can only instantly cast some party-level tricks that has little-to-no use in direct combat.
The spell he used earlier wasn't casted right at that very instant when Uriel faced a grave danger. It has been long conjured by Raven to prepare for any mishaps that will happen in Uriel's fight.
Sighing deeply, he then kneeled in front of Uriel while patting her head with his right hand.
"But I'm proud of you. You didn't even flinch when this bitch got in front of your face. That's truly brave of you Uriel."
"But... I f-failed at the end.."
"Of course you'll fail, what do you want then? Get it after your first solo try? Failures were part of your training so don't mind that. You have a lot of time to practice and someday, you'll be able to do it okay?"
Raven then broke into a rare smile.
The smile was filled with warmth and gentleness. If the people who knew him back from Earth saw his current expression, they'll probably broke down into chaos.
"Mmm..."
Uriel nodded quietly at her brother's reassuring words.
"Now clean yourself up fast, you look like a 'bitch monkey' with that messy face."
Raven ruffled her hair, casually teasing her.
It was a scene of pure wholesomeness.
Uriel pouted as she listened at her brother's words, sticking her tongue out while running away to wash herself up.
"This kid..."
Raven chuckled quietly at himself, now focusing his entire attention on the carcass that was lying quietly at the ground.
"Now then."
'Extract.'
He lightly touched its corpse as the same intoxicating feeling from the past year swam up its way through his right hand.
"Emergency module."
[Soul is damaged. Needs immediate repair in order to function completely.
Find a living object and extract their soul.
Energy: 95.9%
Time limit: 109:11:43
Reward/s: Title 'Host'.
Penalty/s: Death]
It's been a year since he started fighting different kinds of bitches to gather energy and complete the task given to him by the system.
And he was now nearing its completion!
He can't help but feel annoyed and excited at the same time when thinking about how long it took him to get at this current stage, and the possible benefits the system will bring him when the general functions unlocked.
'At this rate, a month was probably the best estimate, more or less.'
Raven thought while skillfully running his knife at the bitch bunny's corpse.
After spending a year in the forest, he became skilled enough to handle stuff like this like a piece of cake.
Bunny bitches might not have that much meat in them, but mosquito meat is still meat, much less a rabbit-like creature the size of an infant so, he can't waste it.
He finished up the dismantling after spending twenty more minutes and was now prepared to go back to the camp.
But the odd thing was, Uriel still wasn't back.
"Strange, it was only a five-minute walk from here.. why isn't she back yet."
He was confused. Uriel wouldn't spent that much time even if she was full of grime all over her body, he thought.
Raven stressed Uriel repeatedly the importance of time and efficiency in all of the things for the past year, so washing her face shouldn't take that long.
'Heck, even bathing won't take that long either.'
He then decided to check her up, and see what's going on but quickly, he stopped in his tracks, remembering what have transpired earlier.
"I see. She's pretty downcast about her first solo fight earlier and probably needs some time alone."
As Raven realized what's happening, he was prepared to head out to their camp to wait for her there.
When suddenly...
BOOOOOOM!!
An explosion rang out from the far distance, towards where Uriel's location was.
"What the..!?"
< Chapter 6 > Fin.