The first one to break the silence was Leo, asking the girl's purpose for venturing deep into the forest. Although Leo's journey so far had been nothing but troubles with goblins, there were also other creatures he had yet to encounter.
"..."
"Don't worry, you don't even have to open your mouth if you feel uncomfortable. I just wanted to make some small talk; we've been silent for quite some time already."
"I ran away."
Leo pondered for a while, unsure if it would be appropriate to inquire further, but he was interrupted by the girl's continuation.
"How about you? What brought you to this forest? It's quite dangerous around here, despite the rare encounters you could have with formidable monsters."
"I just wanted to explore and train along the way. But like you said, it's dangerous here, so why run here out of all places?"
Leo furrowed his brow unconsciously, expressing his concern. Before he could continue, however, he noticed a small serpent slithering around the girl and was about to stand up and kill it. To his surprise, the girl grabbed a dagger from her waist and swiftly slashed at it before Leo could even react.
"I can protect myself."
"Yeah... I can see that."
After finishing their food, they decided to trace back where the serpent had come from. It led them to a deeper part of the cave, surprisingly still illuminated.
They walked for some time and found two paths that were too dark to see further.
"This... I didn't think there would be a cave this big, especially one hidden behind a waterfall."
Leo smiled at the sight before him, silent for a brief moment.
[System Prompt: Host Leo Ignacius has received 'Mana']
[System Prompt: Host Leo Ignacius has a new quest available]
"I guess roaming around for food earlier and exploring this cave did the trick."
Leo focused on the paths in front of him, seeing no apparent difference, so he shrugged and suggested taking the path to the left.
"Shouldn't we just... go back? We don't know what's in here."
"That's why we're here, to find out. Now let's go."
With a sigh girl reluctantly followed as Leo took the lead.
Leo summoned his status and quest window as they continued along the path, which gradually brightened.
[Name: Leo Ignacius]
[Race: Human] [?]
[Level: 1] [85/100 Exp]
[Class: —]
[Job: —]
[Health: 20/20] [Mana: 90] [Aura: —]
[Strength: 5] [Agility: 18] [Stamina: 8]
[Intelligence: 9] [Dexterity: 7]
[Stat Points: 0]
"That rabbit... I didn't even expect it to give experience. I'll gladly take that, though. Now I'm just 15 experience points shy."
[Humble Beginning]
[Learn your first Tier 1 magic. You will be given a chance to pick one from the following.]
[Fireball]
[Aqua Fists]
[Rock Shield]
[Wind Bullet]
[Reward: 10 Stat Points]
"So the magic here has tiers, huh? I guess this will be interesting."
Leo examined the choices, wanting more details on what the skills did, but he found no further information displayed.
"It seems that I can only guess what they do based on the name. It's quite obvious what they do, though."
Without hesitation, Leo chose to get Fireball. Out of the four skills, two seemed to be offensive, while the other two were likely for defense or enhancement. Fireball appeared to be the most destructive and also provided him with some ranged attacks. Though Wind Bullet could also be an option, implying piercing power, it probably wasn't as destructive as Fireball.
[System Prompt: Host Leo Ignacius has received 10 Stat Points]
[System Prompt: Host Leo Ignacius has completed the hidden quest 'Novice Mage']
[System Prompt: Host Leo Ignacius has received 5 Stat Points.]
"Status."
[Name: Leo Ignacius]
[Race: Human] [?]
[Level: 1] [85/100 Exp]
[Class: —]
[Job: —]
[Health: 20/20] [Mana: 210] [Aura: —]
[Strength: 5] [Agility: 18] [Stamina: 11]
[Intelligence: 21] [Dexterity: 7]
[Stat Points: 0]
Leo nodded in satisfaction with his newfound stats as they continued to travel along the path. As Leo was about to summon his Skills panel, they found themselves in a large chamber. And in the middle of it were some rocks mixed with countless...
"Are those... eggs?"
Leo suddenly felt his skin tingle, his hair stand on end, and his body stiffen in fear as he saw a small glint further in the dark.
"..."
"What's wrong? Why are you quiet again?"
"We need to run."
"What? Why?"
"RUN, NOW!"
"Huh? What's wrong with-"
Before they could even get a clear view of what it was, Leo wasted no time, grabbed the girl's hand, and made a run for it.
Amidst the series of events, the girl still managed to see something. Though not enough to identify it, the silhouette projected was more than massive enough to induce fear in her heart.
"WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT?!?"
As if answering her question, in front of them came another tall, massive silhouette, comparable to the one behind them, stopping them in their tracks.
Both their hearts dropped, and their faces drained of color in sheer fear. Then, as if to further mock their fates, at the same time, they received the full brunt of a shrill cry, coming simultaneously from both behind and in front of them.
*SSSSHHHRIIIEEEK!!!!*
*SSSSHHHRIIIEEEK!!!!*
"Hahaha... please god tell me you're joking."