When morning came, Ethan found himself sleeping beside Bernadette. He'd never been this close to a woman before, not even with Leonore. They never had a kiss, not even once, and he felt uncomfortable seeing his arm stuck between Bernadette's melons. Slowly, he pulled it out, but the woman was clinging to him so tightly, not letting him go until she woke up.
"Master Shadow. Good morning," Bernadette said while rubbing her eyelids like a little girl. She didn't seem to have any idea that she'd been holding on to Ethan all night, as she had a nightmare about the giant worm that tried to eat her.
"Good morning," Ethan replied, trying to smile, though he felt uncomfortable and wondered if it was a right choice to let Bernadette follow him. "You must be hungry already. Let's find something to eat. By the way, thanks for helping me set up the barrier yesterday. We're safe because of that."
"Anything for you, master," Bernadette replied.
So, they began looking for food. Ethan discovered a river nearby, washed his face and went fishing, while Bernadette was in the forest, collecting herbs, mushrooms, fruits and anything edible. A few moments later, they met at the spot where they had set up the barrier. Using stones, sticks, twigs, and dry leaves, they formed a fire and began cooking their food.
"It's really inconvenient that we can't use magic," Ethan said.
"Talking about magic, why won't we go to Renaria? The city of magic?" Bernadette suggested. She opened her bag and pulled out an old map she borrowed from high priestess Fatima. "We're currently right here, on this plain near the forest. If we follow this river, we can reach Renaria before afternoon."
"There must be a lot of monsters along the way," Ethan said, considering Bernadette's suggestion. He felt grateful that Bernadette owned a map and had knowledge of this world. "We should finish cooking and eat quickly so that we can start our journey and arrive there soon."
After having their breakfast, Ethan stood up and stretched his body, warming up to get himself ready for another long journey. "Status," he said, and the status screen appeared in front of him. There were unread messages in his inbox. He tapped to read them and saw his unclaimed rewards for completing the urgent quest yesterday.
Ethan tapped to claim the rewards. A set of rare swords, armor, gauntlet, boots, belt, pants and accessories appeared in his inventory bag. He also received 15 AP, which he used to upgrade his vitality and strength, and 5000 gold coins.
"Ahm, what are you doing, master?" Bernadette asked, confused as to why Ethan was tapping something she couldn't see.
"Nothing," Ethan immediately closed the window. "Are you ready?"
"Yup," Bernadette replied, already carrying her backpack.
"Alright. Let's go then."
Ethan and Bernadette began their journey to the land of Renaria, also known as the city of magic. Along the way, Ethan stopped when he sensed powerful monsters lurking ahead of them.
"What's wrong, master? Why did you stop?" Bernadette asked.
"I sense a horde of monsters ahead of us. Right on that wooden bridge," Ethan replied.
"Are they strong? Should we take another route?" Bernadette asked.
"Nope. Let's wipe them out. It's an opportunity to level up. I need your assistance," Ethan said.
"Got it. I'll support you from the back," Bernadette replied.
They continued walking until they reached the wooden bridge. Beyond it, was the Hares' territory. Those were large, rat-like monsters with an annoying attack pattern. Although they weren't that strong, they'd leap towards you and stun you until you die without making any movement. Dying against those rabbits would be the worst thing.
"They don't look so strong," Bernadette said, her hand on her forehead, surveying the bridge ahead.
"Still, we need to study their behavior before attacking," Ethan replied.
Bernadette agreed with Ethan's over-cautiousness. After a while of observation and knowing their attack pattern, Ethan finds an opening to attack when the hares stop moving. Meanwhile, Bernadette stayed behind him as a support, enhancing his stats.
Suddenly, Ethan felt a powerful presence. All those small fries were gone, and a massive hare appeared in front of him. It looked so ominously powerful. Bad news. Its name was written in red.
Nana: Queen of Hares
The massive hare suddenly leaped towards him. The ground shook wildly as it landed. Ethan took his time dodging its attacks, running as fast as he could to avoid being flattened. He knew he'd surely die if he got stunned by it. After five consecutive landings, the hare stopped attacking. Ethan immediately equipped his items, dashed towards the queen and slashed it several times. She took damage, but not high enough to kill her.
Ethan had to repeat the process again and again, dodging its consecutive attacks before countering, until the queen hare only had low HP left. Enraged, it changed its attack pattern and went berserk.
The Hares Queen released poison that surrounded its body and shockwaves that could stun enemies while leaping towards its targets. This time, Ethan found it hard to dodge its attacks. He thought about retreating. But he couldn't just accept defeat without even trying.
Under pressure, Ethan told Bernadette to enhance his agility and apply a holy light barrier around him to minimize the stun effect. But he still had one more problem: how to avoid the poison. Despite that, Ethan attacked the Hares Queen, applied stun, and for a moment, the poison stopped leaking, giving him some advantage.
Ethan stabbed the Hares' queen and landed his final blow. With his enhanced strength, he had killed the giant monster. He heard the system notification for leveling and picking up dropped items. But his HP gradually decreases caused by the passive effect of the poison.
Thanks to Bernadette's holy light, Ethan was cleansed, and the aftermath was solved. Both of them leveled up. Ethan reached level 12 and unlocked another skill: revive, while Bernadette unlocked Immune.