"How long have we been walking?"
Two young men were making their way through the forest.
"Eric, try complaining less. You've been doing it for at least... let's say since the moment we started walking."
"Then at least tell me why."
"Why what?"
"Why we've been walking all this time!"
"Obviously to find a safe place where we can set up some kind of base."
Eric shot the other boy an annoyed look before letting out a sigh.
"Such obvious answers from the legendary Sergei..."
The two continued walking in silence, though Eric clearly seemed bothered by it.
"Can we at least talk about something on our journey into the unknown?"
"What do you want to talk about?" Sergei replied, sounding bored.
"I don't know. Like, what were you doing before you got kidnapped by a bunch of gods?"
Sergei stopped and seemed to think about it.
Eric stopped as well, curious about the answer.
"No, I don't want to answer that. Ask something else."
"Oh, come on! After all that silence and suspense you built up, you're not even going to answer!?"
Sergei resumed walking as if nothing had happened.
Eric stared at him, irritated by his behavior.
"Fine then. If you don't want to talk about your life... I'll talk about mine!"
"Nobody asked."
"Well, when I was little—"
Eric cut himself off as he walked straight into Sergei.
"Oh, we've arrived. You'll tell me everything next time."
With that, Sergei turned toward Eric with a smug smile and continued walking.
"Don't forget which one of us has the higher level and a Divine Weapon!" Eric protested as he followed after him.
Sergei completely ignored his words.
"Wow..."
The dense wall of trees suddenly opened up, revealing a vast clearing that seemed carved into the very heart of the forest.
Not a single bush, not a wandering root—only bare earth and silence, broken by the imposing presence of the tree at its center.
Eric and Sergei slowed their pace, their eyes fixed on the colossal plant-like giant.
It wasn't just tall. Its crown nearly brushed against the clouds painted by the setting sun.
It was massive, with a trunk so wide that they could have spent several minutes walking around it.
"I don't think I've ever seen a tree this big..." Eric murmured.
The bark, weathered by time, radiated an ancient aura, while the long shadows cast by the dying sunlight wrapped around it like a cloak.
After a long moment of silent admiration, the two resumed walking.
Sergei scanned the area carefully.
"It doesn't look like anyone's nearby."
When they finally stopped in front of the colossal tree, something caught their attention.
The trunk wasn't intact.
A dark opening, tall enough for a person to walk through, had formed in its surface. A cold, damp draft flowed from within, carrying the scent of rotting wood and deep earth.
Eric stood before the opening for a moment, trying to see through the darkness.
Then he took a step forward.
The sharp crack of a twig beneath his foot shattered the silence.
The moment he crossed the threshold, he was swallowed by a warm, suffocating darkness.
The echo of his footsteps bounced off the inner walls, revealing the sheer size of the hollow space.
"It's enormous..."
"It really is..."
Sergei peered inside with curiosity.
Then he stepped back outside and noticed that the sun was almost completely gone.
"Let's start a fire."
"Yeah," Eric replied, leaving the hollow as well.
[A Short While Later]
The two boys sat in front of the campfire, eating their meal.
"Good thing we managed to hunt something," Eric said with satisfaction as he bit into the meat.
"Yeah."
Eric looked at his companion with a tired expression.
"Do you seriously not know how to hold a conversation? I've been talking to you for days, and all I get are one-word answers."
"Because I don't feel like talking. I think you've noticed the situation we're in."
"Sure, but that doesn't stop you from speaking."
Sergei closed his eyes for a few moments.
When he opened them again, he almost looked defeated.
"I can't really argue with that."
"See? Then let me ask you a question, even if it's a simple one."
Sergei was about to take another bite.
"Can I stop you?"
"Four days as allies, and we've never talked about this once..."
"You want to ask which deity I serve, don't you?"
"Exactly. It feels weird that the topic never came up."
"Fair enough."
Sergei took another bite of meat.
Eric waited for an answer.
One that never came.
Eric tilted his head slightly, one eyebrow raised and an irritated smile tugging at his lips.
"You're not going to answer this one either, are you?"
"Correct," Sergei replied immediately.
Eric pressed a hand against his face as if trying to contain his frustration.
"Then let's hear the reason this time."
"Because it could create problems for our alliance."
"Why would it if—"
"If we serve the same deity, our alliance would become stronger. That's what you were going to say, right?"
"Exactly. But apparently not in your eyes."
"Let's say we tell each other our deities. As you can imagine, there are two possible outcomes."
Sergei raised two fingers.
"The first, and most likely one: we don't serve the same deity."
He lowered one finger.
"The second, and less likely one: we do serve the same deity."
Eric nodded.
"Alright."
"Now tell me, which of those outcomes do you think is the bad one?"
"Obviously the first."
"No."
Sergei lowered his last finger.
"Both of them are."
Eric looked confused.
"I don't think I understand. So you're saying there's no positive side at all to telling each other which deity we serve?"
"And I'll explain why."
Sergei stared into the fire for a few moments.
"In the first scenario, I think you've already figured it out yourself. The downside is that we're enemies by default, and we'd eventually stop trusting each other."
He paused briefly.
"As for the second scenario, it's tied to the rules and the intentions of the subordinates."
"What do they have to do with it?"
"Ugh... do I have to explain everything?"
Eric grew slightly annoyed.
"Sorry if I can't keep up with your war strategist logic!"
"I'll keep it simple enough for a child to understand. That deity... Bragi, said something very important about skills: 'Some skills can only be unlocked by completing a personal trial.'"
Eric's eyes suddenly lit up.
"Right! He also said that once you obtain that skill, other subordinates serving the same deity lose the chance to obtain it as long as you possess it. So when you talked about intentions, you meant that someone might want to kill that subordinate!"
"Exactly. Looks like that little brain of yours still works."
Eric frowned at the remark.
"So if, for some unfortunate reason, even an ally of yours obtained one of those unique skills, knowing they served the same deity would give you more than a few reasons to kill their."
After saying that, Sergei stood up.
"If that's the case, then I can do without knowing."
Having finished his meal, Eric lay back on the grass to relax for a moment.
Sergei picked up a fallen branch and a piece of cloth torn from a shirt he had been carrying around.
Eric noticed it.
"Isn't that the shirt of that guy we found dead?"
"Yeah."
Sergei tied the cloth to the tip of the branch and lit it using the campfire, turning it into a torch.
"Try not to set the tree on fire," Eric joked.
Sergei stepped inside the tree and began examining its interior.
Almost immediately, he noticed words carved into the inner walls.
"Shit..."
"What did you find?"
Sergei tried to decipher the writing, but the symbols were completely unfamiliar to him.
After a while, he came back out and extinguished the torch.
"We're leaving again tomorrow."
The moment Eric heard that, he started despairing.
"No! Again!?"
"We have to. There are inscriptions carved all over the inside walls of the tree."
"Really? What kind of inscriptions?"
"I don't know. I can't tell whether it's a human language or something else. Either way, whoever made them could come back at any time, and we have no idea how many there might be. Or worse, it could be a mythological creature."
Eric immediately looked concerned.
"No thanks. We've fought enough of those already. Fine, we'll leave tomorrow morning."
Sergei headed back inside the tree.
"Glad you've understood the situation. So you'll take the first watch tonight?"
Eric, who had been lying on the grass, sat upright in an instant.
"Wait, what?"
"Relax. I'll take over halfway through the night. For now, good night."
Sergei lay down in the darkness and fell asleep almost immediately.
Eric stared in his ally's direction with a discouraged expression.
Apparently, we don't need to know each other's deities to have trouble getting along...
He reached for his scythe.
[Divine Weapon: Jaguar Crescent]
He spun it above his head.
At first glance, it looked like an ordinary weapon, but when he extended his arm, a hidden chain attached to the base of the blade suddenly unraveled.
The scythe shot forward several meters, tracing a wide arc before returning to him with a flick of his wrist.
Eric stared at it for a few moments.
"This is going to be a long night..."
[In the night]
Eric yawned in front of the campfire, surrounded by the pitch-black night.
"Good thing he was supposed to take over halfway through..."
He turned toward the inside of the hollow.
"Look at him sleeping so peacefully. He has no idea I'm about to drag him up by force if he doesn't wake up soon."
Stopping his gaze on his companion, he started scanning the surroundings instead.
Then he turned to his left.
A human face on an animal's body was staring at him from just a few centimeters away.
"Holy shit! Where the fuck are you from!?"
Eric jumped back in shock, gripping his weapon.
Then he got a better look at the creature and made a disgusted face.
"Man, you are ugly as hell!"
He studied it more carefully.
It only had a human face.
The rest was a disturbing mix of animals: the body of a lion and a scorpion tail covered in sharp stingers.
"Sergei, wake up! We're in danger!"
Sergei didn't react to Eric's shouting.
Seriously…
The creature slowly approached.
"You're peaceful, right?"
In response, it revealed a mouth full of teeth and let out a roar.
"Yeah, I'm guessing not..."
The creature lunged forward.
Eric barely managed to dodge.
It's fast! And I even boosted my speed with the points I got from leveling up…
He opened his status screen.
[User: Eric Laurent]
[Level: 8]
[Strength: 24
Agility: 15
Dexterity: 15
Vision: 12
Endurance: 25]
It's faster than my Agility 15…
Eric dodged another attempt to bite him.
"Sergei, this is not the time for a nap! Wake up!"
Still no answer.
I'm leaving him here to die!
Suddenly, the creature unleashed a volley of spikes from its tail.
Eric was distracted.
"Shit!"
He still managed to dodge them all.
"Human head, lion body, and scorpion tail… I don't know you, but you've got some serious identity issues!"
The two kept sizing each other up.
I can't stay on the defensive forever!
"Come on, attack me!"
The opponent leapt toward him with an impressive jump.
Eric threw himself to the side in a roll, landing right behind it.
He immediately tried to strike.
But the creature blocked the attack with its tail.
Too tough! I can't cut through it!
Eric waited for another attack.
The creature did the same.
It's not attacking anymore…
It's smart. It figured out I can counter its moves.
The being began to advance slowly.
What do I do!?
Just as the creature was about to launch another attack, a small stone hit it on the head, distracting it.
"Hey! You know you're really ugly!"
The creature turned to Sergei, who had just emerged from the tree.
"Oh, sorry. Wrong guy—I thought it was Eric!" he said in a mocking tone.
"Not the time, asshole!"
The creature immediately lunged at Sergei.
"Now, Eric!"
In an instant, Eric appeared behind the creature, ready to strike.
But the tail was already swinging toward him.
Eric shifted to the right, slipping into the creature's blind spot.
"Now you're mine!"
A moment later, the creature's claws slashed across Eric's left arm.
But he didn't lose focus.
He threw the scythe.
The weapon slipped beneath the creature's body, tracing a perfect arc through the air.
On the other side, Sergei caught it mid-flight.
"Nice move!"
Sergei drove it deep under the creature's stomach, carving open a massive wound.
The beast collapsed to the ground, slowly bleeding out.
Sergei handed the scythe back to Eric.
"I didn't even need to use my sword…"
Eric looked at him with an incredulous smile.
Sergei noticed and frowned slightly, confused.
"What?"
"Anyway, earlier I didn't quite hear you… what exactly did you say?"
"What are you talking about?"
"When I threw you the scythe…"
"Oh. I said: nice move…"
"Hmm… so you can say nice co—"
"Nice move for someone like you!"
"Huh!? What's that supposed to mean!?"
The two ended up face to face.
"I meant it was too clever a move for someone like you!"
"Maybe you meant 'thanks for saving my ass from that freak'!" Eric said, mimicking his voice.
"How dare you! Don't talk about your own kind like that!"
"What did you just say?!"
"Yeah, you're a freak just like it!"
Sergei pointed at the creature, which had started preparing another attack: a fireball forming in its mouth.
They both stared at it for a moment before realizing what was happening.
"Oh shit!" Eric shouted.
The creature spat the blazing sphere.
They dodged at the very last second.
A moment later, the creature collapsed, dead.
But the fireball still hit the tree, setting it ablaze.
Eric and Sergei stared at it in disbelief.
"Shit!" they shouted in unison.
A level-up screen appeared before both of them.