Peaking its head from the eastern horizon like a baby, the golden sun painted the dark sky blue. Extending its soft beams of red, it illuminated its fluffy friends scattered in the sky. Under the bright rays, the droplets crowned on the sea of grass blades gained such a bright sheen that one might mistake them for beads.
Opening his eyes in the middle of this sea of green, mistaking these small droplets of dew for some precious beads, was the first thing Damian did. As the dizziness of sleep washed away and the realisation hit him, a smile blossomed on his face.
Getting up on his feet, Damian stretched his hands wide as he drew a deep breath.
"Good morning, Serus!" Wishing the mysterious world a good morning, Damian was ready for the new day.
Growing accustomed to his routine of waking the sleeping Brave, Damian searched for her, expecting to find her curled up like a ball somewhere.
"There she is." He wasn't let down as, just as he had expected, he found her slipping on the other side of the now burnt-out campfire.
'Why is she sleeping so far away? She had been acting strangely yesterday. Does it have something to do with the ability to think?' Some moment of pondering was all he did, as Damian shook the cute rat sound asleep.
"Rise and shine, sleepyhead." Unlike the normal days, even after the intense shake and call, Brave was sound asleep.
*Squeak!* Wishing good morning to the master in her way, Brave stood on her feet with half-closed eyes...
"We have to do something about this sleeping habit of yours." She was fully awakened by her master's scolding.
*Squeak!* Not very happy with the way of starting the morning, a sad squeak left Brave's mouth as she lowered her head.
This didn't go unnoticed by Damian. After all, this was the first time Brave had expressed her emotions so clearly.
"Alright, don't be sad. You can have a full bread for today." Feeling bad for his dejected cutie, Damian used a full loaf of bread to cheer her up.
*Squeak!* And it worked perfectly well, as Brave was back to her cheerful self, rubbing her head on the hand of her extremely kind and generous master.
'She is still a child.' That was all Damian could think as he looked down at the adorable furry rat who was affectionately rubbing his hand.
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*Bam!*
'She is a strong child, growing strong very quickly.' That was all Damian could think as he looked up at the dangerous needle-haired rat pushing a monster four times its size up in the sky.
Arriving at the same place as yesterday, Damian had walked deeper in search of slime. Soon, he found what he wanted and captured his prey. When it came to "battling" the "prepared" enemies, Damian was ready to jump into the "dangerous" battle with a thick stick in his hand.
Stopping her master from stepping into the "blood-curdling" battle, Brave had volunteered herself for the job. Wishing to see his now understanding Brave in action Damian had obliged and passed the honor to her.
*Zoop!* Leaving a trail of white blur followed by the sound of something passing through, she split the air in two as she advanced to the Wild rat covered in the blanket of blue slime.
*Zoop!* Another trail of blur was all Damian could see as he found her back in her initial position with ragged breathing.
*Bam!* The sound of the body crashing on the ground was the only evidence of her charge.
Damian was surprised. He couldn't believe how strong she had grown in just a day. Yesterday she was only able to push the body a few meters, and now she was flying it more than a few meters up in the air.
The ability to think alone didn't explain such a boost in her strength, and Damian very well understood that. 'There is something else to it.' What was that something? Damian didn't know.
However, Brave wasn't satisfied. Looking at the body, she could see the damned slimes moving up and down. Unaffected by her charge, they continued their actions, not even sparing her a single glance.
*Growl!* The first growl of her life left Brave's mouth as she looked at the slime. She was angry, very angry. These monsters without a definite shape, always ignoring her, like she was thin air, and worst of all, making her master dirty his hands, made her so mad...
*Crackle! Crackle!* Small sparks of electricity left the two thunder symbols on her face, running to the end of her tail. Her already hardened hair seemed to have gained an extra layer of hardening as a golden sheen passed through her eyes.
She wanted to do nothing more than annihilate the whole species of the damned monsters off the earth's face. She would make sure these filthy things would never even get in the sight of her master.
*Growl!* Bending her body forward Brave was about to make another quick charge, when...
"Alright, that's enough!" Damian's furious scream washed all her momentum away.
*Squeak!* Brave was dissatisfied, and as she felt the sudden surge of power leaving her body, she couldn't help but express her refusal of her master's order.
"I said, that's enough! You are forbidden from using whatever transmission of yours it is again. " Looking at the dissatisfied Brave, Damian made it clear that he wouldn't take the matter easily.
"Step back! You are forbidden to engage in any fight today, and you have your dinner reduced! " Damian made sure to be as harsh as he could be with Brave.
>---
[ Strength: 7 ]
[ Agility: 29 ]
[ Stamina: 02/12 ]
[ Vitality: 18 -2 > 16 ]
[ Mana: 00/04 ]
[ Intelligence: 10 ]
>---
Looking at her status window, half of Damian's anger was directed towards himself for letting Brave do something so risky just because he had half-seen the transformation once before and wanted to see it in full action.
His anger boiled further when he saw the vitality attribute had permanently dropped to 16.
*Blurb! Blurb! Blurb!*
The disgusting sound of the slimes fell into Damian's ears like the sound of a stream in the ears of a thirsty traveller in the desert. Clenching the stick tightly in his hands, Damian took fast steps towards the slimes. He had found his punching bags.
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*Sigh!* Releasing a tired sigh, Damian combed up the wet hairs stuck on his forehead.
'This was a tiring day.' Damian had reasons to call the day tiring. Using unnecessary extra energy during the first hunt of the day was one of the factors, and the other was...
"Uhh!" A yelp escaped his mouth as Damian curled the toes of his right foot, withdrawing his stick from the pulp of Wild rat meat and dead slimes.
During the second hunt of the day, Damian had to run to gather the slime in one place. Running backward, he had stepped on a stone, fell to the ground, and sprained his right ankle.
"Another health potion, gone just like that." Though he could now create health potions, Damian considered using them on a sprained ankle a waste, especially when he had received them due to his carelessness.
*Squeak!* Standing behind her master, Brave felt powerless. He was hurt and all she could do was squeak sadly.
*Gulp!* As Damian gulped the potion down, the hands holding the container froze in mid-air. His half-closed eyelids opened wide. The hairs on his skin stood on edge as his senses seemed to have gone hyperactive.
*Crack!* Sliding off his hand, the glass test tube fell to the ground, turning into a hundred pieces.
*Squeak!* Brave surprised, looked at her master only to find him staring silently into space. *Squeak!* Getting no response from him even after letting out another squeak, Brave ran to him.
Reaching near him Brave hopped on his black shoes and pulled at his black looser. There was no response. Even as Brave pulled harder and the fabric was about to be torn apart, Damian made no move.
Suddenly, Damian's black pupils seemed to enlarge as he lowered his hand. Turning his head to the right, he looked to the west. Turning to the west Damian began to walk further into the forest.
*Squeak!* Brave, surprised yet again by the sudden movement of her master, looked up at him only to find him starting west with a frown on his face.
Ignoring Brave and everything in his way, Damian advanced. He didn't knew where he was going but... Something was calling him.