It was early in the morning, and this time, Simon was looking for a good pce to start a fire. ‘It would be wonderful if a bird challenged me again! Its meat is good!’ he thought, smiling leisurely.

  One thing that he had confirmed after eating the rge fish and the rge eagle. ‘Any beast who can use magic tastes good!’ Simon was in good spirits, but it didn’t st long.

  He abruptly stopped his walk as he sensed a presence. He had long known that there was something, if not someone, following him.“There were three of you?” he questioned.

  From the trees, 3 shadows nded in front of Simon.

  One of the cloaked figures stepped forward, removing the hood from his head, revealing a tall, dark-skinned being with long ears and a slight hint of fur. They were all clearly armed with either a sword or a bow on their back.

  “I am Afara... Afara Drakan, and you, Forest Devourer? Who are you?” With a smile, the forest folk introduced himself.

  ‘Forest Devourer?’ Simon stood his ground, and with a bnk face, he tried to return with a proper introduction too, “My name is Simon, just Simon, and I'm heading into the east side of the eastern frontier. They said this was a good route to take.”

  The other Forest Folks, upon hearing his reason, appeared visibly furious at the casual way he introduced himself. Yet, it was a true reflection of his nature—simple, yet brutal.

  Afara then contempted recalling the story and report of his son.

  ‘Throughout his trek, the boy didn’t bother hiding, and the monsters who found him tried to attack him. He killed them all; they were all just meat for him.’ Then he remembered the face of his son when he told him the next part, ‘He even killed a Storm Hawk! A STORM HAWK! He is a forest devourer!’

  And Afara agreed. ‘Forest Devourer is very fitting indeed.’

  Unlike the younger generation of the Forest Folk, Afara was well accustomed to interacting with outsiders since he had traveled around the world before and seen many things. ‘This boy is dangerous, I can tell that he can overhunt this forest... and those eyes.’

  The boy stared at him; two amber balls were glowing dimly.

  ‘And this is considered a Css S territory,’ Afara thought.

  Although Afara was taking the situation logically, the other two forest folk were agitated by Simon’s —They said this was a good route to take—it wasn't the boy’s intention, but they perceived it as a clear mockery.

  “You don't know what you're saying! This is the Umbra Forest unless you—Argh!” Then the agitation was shut down by a sp in the head from Afara.

  Simon grabbed his sword with a gre.

  “Stop agitating him!” Afara warned one of the cloaked forest folk, who suddenly spat out.

  Simon began to exude bloodlust far from his look and age. “I don't want any trouble. I tried riding a ship, but they tried to rip me off…” The tter part was a quick excuse. Simon knew there were trust issues between humans and nonhumans, and he hoped it would paint him in a favorable light.

  “We want your weapons,” then Afara approached closer to Simon while extending his hands. “We'll guide you out to the east, but in exchange, you'll leave us your weapons,” Afara said.

  “That's extortion... You know I can travel alone…” Simon's bloodlust diminished, but he was still holding the hilt of the Fin Bde.

  Afara nodded. The boy was not a fool. But it would be a problem for them and for the forest if he stayed longer. “If you let us guide you, it'll take less time,” Afara said. ‘Or you will destroy the forest!’

  It was a reasonable offer. “Hmm... I'll give you some of the materials if we kill some monsters. You can create your own weapons, like mine!” Simon decred, dispying the Fin Bde and the Eagle Cw Knives.

  Although most of the forest’s monsters were aligned with the Wind Root—an advantage to the cn—the Forest Folk refused to hunt them. By their mantra, they were caretakers, not conquerors. The monsters were part of the forest’s bance, living beside them in harmony.

  Such was the creed of the Forest Folk. ‘And it has made us stagnant.’

  Afara was different—he had traveled the known world and was not afraid of change.

  ‘I’m part of the problem too,’ he thought bitterly. He could hunt the monsters himself, yet he feared the ire of his cnsmen. And now it was a good chance to get materials without dirtying his hands.

  He nodded in agreement—he couldn’t say no to Simon’s offer.

  Simon extended his hand to seal the deal. An act he always saw when the old man was making deals.

  But one of the Forest Folks was not satisfied. “I can't believe this human child is…aargh!” Afara hit the head of the same person who burst out earlier.

  “Check his eyes…” Afara said on a low note, he was not sure, but Simon could be one of them. ‘Could he be a Banal?’

  One stroke, perfectly timed, and nding perfectly. That was how the forest folks saw the sshes Simon executed to bring down the monsters and beasts they encountered. Despite the forest folks' attempts to avoid the creatures, Simon insisted on engaging in combat.

  “Young one... You are powerful,” Afara remarked as he watched Simon dismember the sin monster's parts. The forest folks knew Simon would attempt to eat it or pack it up, as he did with the rest of the monsters they encountered along the way. “And perpetually hungry,” Afara added, observing the rge eagle Simon had felled with one strike.

  “These cws would make a good weapon... take it!” Simon offered him the bloody cws by pcing them on the ground.

  Afara awkwardly grabbed it, taking out a cloth to cover it. Then a forest folk approached Simon.

  “Teach me how you do that!” Demanded one of the hooded forest folk.

  “Forgive him, he is very young... he hasn’t seen much of the world,” Afara apologized for the forest folk's cocky behavior.

  Simon suddenly pulled sour face number three. It caught the Forest Folks off guard, and they burst into ughter.

  “I’ve never seen a stupid face as stupid as-” but the young forest folk's words were cut short when Afara nded another hit on his head.

  After traveling with them for a while and engaging in conversations, Simon realized that their concept of time differed greatly due to their longer lifespans.

  Recalling the words his master, the old man, had taught him, Simon shared, “Think first from the beginning of your movement to its end, then move without hesitation.”

  They finally arrived just a few meters from the edge of the forest. Simon was saying goodbye to the forest folk who guided him into the forest. They even gifted him a jar of dried fruits and a new cloak.

  Despite having plenty of meat on his back, the forest folk declined his offer. “Are you sure you don't want any meat?” he asked once more, just to confirm.

  “No... these materials are what we want... thank you,” Afara reassured the boy.

  “Maybe I will be coming back to visit! I love those birds!” Simon said smilingly as he remembered the taste of the bird.

  That comment made the forest folk smile in an awkward manner.

  “Enough is wealth; more is a burden,” Afara said, the words heavy with insight.Simon stared at him for a moment before replying, “It’s not a burden if it’s food.”

  With a sigh and believing the boy, Afara approached, and he took a piece of leaf in his pouch. “Blow into the center of the leaf, and we will find you. I will inform the others,” he handed it over to Simon.

  “What for?” Simon asked, since it looked like a normal leaf to him.

  “You will probably overhunt the forest of the Storm Eagles, which will damage the bance of the forest. We have to put a check on you,” Afara eagerly said. They would have to monitor the boy if he ever visited again.

  Simon smiled and nodded, remembering the name of the rge bird.

  “Goodbye for now,” were Afara’s st words.

  Simon nodded and was convinced, “Sorry, I don’t really understand, but if you say so. But I will still hunt a single eagle, whenever I visit!” and he left.

  The three carrying the materials they acquired from Simon began the trek back to their vilge.

  “How can he do that... even thinking about it, it seems impossible to cut down the monsters in one swoop,” remarked one of them.

  “Well, for his age, he was good... but with these materials, we can progress our cn now. We can raid the dungeon in the north,” Afara said, smiling at the thought.

  There was a new dungeon that sprouted northwest of the Umbra Forest. The request to the Elfords to tame the dungeon had been fulfilled, and they were about to reap the rewards.

  “Now we can use magic weapons! Yeah!” His son raised his hands.

  But Afara knew it wasn’t that simple. The Eagle Cws and the Fin Bde had submitted to Simon because he had sin the monsters they were forged from. What Afara sought was different: compatibility and efficiency, weapons aligned with his cn’s predominantly Wind-based Root.