I stride through the forest, clutching the map tightly.
I stop, darting my head left, then right, then down.
"It should be here..." I mutter. The map is surprisingly detailed, with sketches of landmarks along the way—almost Dora the Explorer style. He has good taste, I'll give him that, though it's still too realistic for my liking.
I see potential destinations marked, like a house, a cave, or even a fox tunnel. But when I glance down again, I see nothing but dirt. It's not the dirt itself that matters, though—it's what's inside it.
I kneel and place my hand on the ground. Something's there. Tugging on it, I uncover a vine, loose and shallow, as if it should be buried much deeper. Curious, I follow where it leads.
It takes me to a tree. Looking around carefully, I finally spot something odd: several branches on the tree have been ripped off. The branches on this kind of tree grow low, so whoever broke them left just enough stubs stable enough to grab.
I grasp one of the stubs. "Lucky me. My arm's still messed up from that RAT I dueled," I mutter, wincing.
Climbing the tree is slow work, but eventually, I reach the top, surrounded by a canopy of leaves. From here, I spot a small, man-sized hole in the trunk. "Is this tree... hollow?" I crawl closer to investigate.
As I try to climb down into the hole, my hand slips. I fall, throwing my hands in front of my face to brace for impact. Suddenly, a blue sphere wraps around me, and a familiar, still sensation floods my body, absorbing the damage.
The sphere fades, revealing Spera. He lifts me up with urgency.
"OMGAREYOUOK??? MANTHATWASLUCKYIAPPEAREDINTIME—AREYOUOKAY?!" he blurts out in a single breath.
"Spera!" I yell excitedly. Then I pause. "Wait... I can talk?" Yet, my body remains frozen.
"How did you appear? You usually only show up randomly—or when I'm asleep," I ask.
"I don't know. Luck, I guess? But it felt like I was being pulled from your brain," he replies.
"You're supposed to come out of my heart—oh..." I trail off, remembering when my dad smacked Spera into my head.
"Okay..." I close my eyes and focus.
"Huh?" Spera brightens, clearly excited, before suddenly disappearing.
"GGAGGGGGGGAHHHHHHHGHHHHHHHRAAAAAA!" His roar echoes as he vanishes. I stare at the spot where he stood, but he's gone—and I can move again.
I shut my eyes once more, summoning him back.
"Aaaagh..." he returns, screaming again.
"Calm down! Look, it seems like I can summon you at will now," I explain. "Give me 15 minutes, and we'll have a meeting."
"No. You haven't had proper rest in a while. Let me give you five hours of R&R, okay?" he insists.
"...Fine..." I mutter, reluctantly unsummoning him.
As the silence returns, I walk around the hollow tree, inhaling the crisp, fresh scent mingled with faint syrupy notes. The tree was freshly hollowed, it seems.
The room inside is circular but spacious, about three or four meters across. On the left, I spot six medium-sized baskets filled with clothes—mine and my father's. To the right are large cooler boxes and bags, likely holding food. The walls are dotted with small holes, each plugged with shards of colored glass—green and black—which cast beautiful, shifting light patterns throughout the room.
I grab some fresh clothes. Walking a mile barefoot with torn-up shoes, no shirt, and shredded pants wasn't exactly ideal. "I need to check if there's any disinfectant," I mutter, noting my numerous cuts and scrapes.
I head to the bags and coolers.
Far Away
A motorcycle roars into the village. On it sits a dark-skinned, slender man wearing a jacket emblazoned with the words Vixen Hunter.
The man in a suit, talking to some villagers, notices the rider and points in a general direction while making a marching gesture.
The rider sighs, parks his motorcycle behind some bushes, and retrieves a machete and gun.
"I hate kids," he grumbles, heading off into the forest.