I had no memories of things I had done, but the experiences I must have gained were still engraved into my mind. My mind was filled with this knowledge of the most essential things, but there was more than that.
Skills had been ingrained into me, and many different ways to fight, but I couldn't recall where I had learned any of them. Lost in this world, but not completely useless, so there was that.
I pulled my focus back to the forest and concentrated on my surroundings. I slowed down as I got closer to where I had awoken and looked around, but I saw no sign of Cindy at first.
Then I noticed where some moss had been stepped on and torn, leading deeper into the woods. I started to jog, but I was warier now; this was past the point that I had been with Renna, and she hadn't seemed worried then.
Still, I didn't know what she meant by monsters since neither she nor that old Elder had given me any clues. I would just have to consider anything that wasn't human a monster for now unless they started talking to me; then, I wasn't sure.
"Raaaawr!"
I heard sounds of battle coming from ahead, and soon I could see Cindy's back. She was facing some kind of massive green-looking lizard creature that was nothing short of what would be called nightmare fuel to most. The creature was on all fours with a large frilled sail back that ran from its head down to its tail.
"Are you okay?" I called Cindy, and she didn't look back at me or say anything.
I ran beside her and looked at Cindy; her face was frozen in fear, but it was unnatural, and she wasn't moving. This creature had done something to her, but I knew nothing about the creature, so I was not about to try and engage it. My job was to save this stupid woman. I would come back and kill this at another time, even though I was itching to do it now.
I grabbed Cindy, threw her over my shoulder, and ran away. The creature was over fifteen feet long, and I had large clawed feet.
I ran until I was back at the mossy patch where I had awoken and stopped, putting Cindy down slowly. I had to lay her on the ground because she was still unresponsive, and the look of fear was still on her face.
I leaned over her and tried to shake her, but that didn't do anything. I wasn't sure how to deal with this, but I tried the next step up on my list of ideas, and I slapped her.
"Oww!" Cindy complained, her face snapping out of the fear-stricken look.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"You just hit me! What do you think?!" Cindy declared, rubbing her face, and I rolled my eyes.
"Do you not remember being frozen in fear? You were almost eaten by a green lizard creature!" I exclaimed, and Cindy's eyes went big.
"Did you kill it?!" Cindy asked, and I laughed.
"Sure, with my bare hands, with no idea what it was or how it had caused you to freeze up like that! Of course not, you dummy! I made sure that you were safe. We can go back and hunt that bastard down together, but with weapons," I explained, and Cindy gave me a strange look.
"What is a bastard? Better question, how are you so much stronger than me? I must have been heavy for you to carry, wasn't I?" Cindy asked, and I shrugged.
"Not that bad. I am sorry I had to carry you on my shoulder, but I had to get you outta there. What was that creature?" I asked, and Cindy sighed.
"I guess you are not going to tell me your secret. That was a lesser Terror Lizard, and normally you can just scare them away with yelling, but I made eye contact with it. If you have fear in your heart, it will paralyze you and eat you alive," Cindy explained, and I nodded.
"You are right, I can't tell you how I got this strong, but that is because I can't remember. What you can do is train with me every day. Once I start working out, I am sure it will return to me, and you can copy me. Now, let's talk about what happened in the village," I said, staring at Cindy, and she looked away from me.
"What is there to talk about? You are now the strongest, so you can do whatever you want to me," Cindy said quietly, and I sighed.
"You women are far too trusting of a man like me, but you don't know any better. I don't care about who the strongest is. I want to know what reason you would hit Renna or anyone else? You were the strongest, but what does that word mean to you?" I asked, reaching forward, taking Cindying's chin in my hand, and turning her face to look at me.
"It means that you get to tell people what to do! I would hit her and take you to the Elder Lily!" Cindy said defiantly, but I shook my head.
"Nope, that is not what the word means. Not sure where you got that bullshit from, but let me explain. If you are the strongest in the village, people should be able to rely on you to know that you will protect them. You should not use your strength on those you protect, or what is the point? What you want is power, which has nothing to do with strength," I explained, and Cindy frowned.
"Why should I protect people that just talk behind my back?" Cindy asked, and I sighed.
"Did these people always talk behind your back? Or was it only after your partner left, and you decided to feel sorry for yourself and take it out on everyone else?" I asked, and Cindy tried to look away, but I wouldn't let her.
"They all hate me now! What am I supposed to do?" Cindy said, tears starting to form, and I smiled, letting go of her face.