The sun dipped below the horizon, bathing the sky in hues of gold and crimson. The fiery orange light dipped through the heavens like molten gold.
Ricky didn't know why but his mood was ecstatic; he felt extremely happy as if he had just won one billion dollars in the lottery.
Maybe he was happy because he managed to evolve or because he managed to hoodwink the spiritual fruit from the spider.
Or maybe he had gotten a new friend…
He hummed a light tune while riding a fierce air current.
"My ding-dong is the best in the world, there's nothing that it can't pierce…"
However, the sound that came out of his mouth was incomprehensible buzzing that could even annoy the most distinguished gentleman.
Without him realizing, darkness descended and a gigantic silvery moon appeared in the night sky.
Once the night began, the forest started to show its true colors.
Bestial howls echoed in the distance, their wails capable of making even a vengeful ghost shiver.
Numerous eerie vertical eyes filled with ravaging hunger emerged from the distance.
Feeling the dreadful atmosphere, Ricky's figure came to a sudden halt.
His compound eyes narrowing dangerously, he could feel numerous heat signatures suddenly appearing all around him.
Some as big as a lion moving fiercely while others as small as his own figure moving forward cautiously.
"What is happening..." Ricky muttered in confusion, although he had already been in the forest for so many days, but he had never seen so many monsters all at once.
The sudden feeling of ignorance made him greatly annoyed.
Just as he was thinking, his vision was stung by a searing heat.
Unknown to him, a pulsating glow had appeared within the range of his lifespan sense, like a shooting star it outshone all the glows around him.
It was undoubtedly someone with high vitality.
"Huh?.." Ricky's mandibles trembled as his vision finally adjusted to the glow.
Contrary to what one might have thought, Ricky didn't feel any joy at discovering this bountiful target, his heart only felt dread.
Ricky's proboscis felt dry, and without him realizing his body was moving upwards, trying to get as far away as he could from this place.
…
"I am getting closer to where the teacher's aura vanished…"
Jack Velcrast muttered, his golden armor gleaming under the moonlight. The symbol of a rising sun was engraved on his chestplate, burning like an eternal flame.
In his grip was a three-foot-long sword, radiating an orange glow.
With a single swing, Jack effortlessly cut through all obstacles in his way.
Each strike was precise. The severed stumps of trees scorched with heat, as if freshly branded by fire.
After waiting for his teacher for some days, Jack had gotten anxious; he realized something: his teacher seemed to have met with an accident.
Upon thinking up to this point, Jack's expression turned ugly. While he was enjoying a life of luxury in the Village, his teacher might have encountered something dangerous, so without hesitating for a second he adorned his trainee armor and set out.
Just as he was thinking, his nose twitched, Jack felt an aura that he was deeply familiar with.
"Teacher…"
He was immediately overjoyed and rushed toward the aura at full speed. Mirroring his excitement, the sword in his hand also seemed to have lit up with its edge spitting fiery flames.
Roar!
The fiery glow terrified some of the monsters who were watching the scene from afar.
Feeling terrified, they ran for their lives, scattering in all directions.
It was pure chaos!
Jack Velcrast remained completely indifferent as if the commotion had nothing to do with him, his eyes only focused in one direction.
His figure seemed to have turned into a ball of fire moving at extremely fast speed.
"Teacher... it's me Jack…" Half way through his sentance Jack suddenly stopped speaking, as he realized something.
The aura he had been chasing wasn't coming from his teacher.
It was coming from a pest.
A mosquito.
A mosquito that was trying to escape.
Something inside Jack snapped.
If his teacher's aura was on a pest that would mean only one thing.
His teacher was no more in this world.
His hands trembled. His jaw clenched.
"No… you filthy pest—COME BACK HERE!"
Jack roared, swinging his sword.
The air screeched.
Flames erupted, forming a storm of fire that raced toward Ricky at insane speeds.
"No fucking way... this guy knows magic.." Ricky screamed atop his lungs and tried to fly as fast as possible.
If he was hit by the fiery storm, he would definitely turn into nothing but ash and scatter.
Thankfully his body had reacted before he could even identify the danger so there was a respectable distance between him and the storm giving him enough time to react.
Blood infusion! Robust Iron Frame!
Ricky's thoughts moved with extreme clarity, in the blink of an eye he activated his two most reliable skills.
Immediately his body inflated like a balloon, his thin legs growing thicker like a small tree branch, A gray metallic sheen coated his exoskeleton.
Buzz!
Ricky's body accelerated backwards at insane speeds and barely avoided the blow by a hair's breadth.
However, just as he was about to sigh in relief.
Jack noticed his escape and coldly snorted.
"You pest, don't even think about escaping.."
Jack's heart burned with hatred; although he wasn't able to bury his teacher, he was going to bury everyone and anyone who harmed him.
The entire Forest beneath his feet lit by an ocean of fire moving towards him with the intention to drown him whole.
"WHAT THE FUCK! I DIDN'T EVEN DO ANYTHING TO YOU, YOU PSYCHO!"
Ricky screamed, darting frantically to escape.
But sadly he wasn't as quick as the last time; he wasn't able to move his forelegs away on time and they completely scorched.
Sssssss…
"AAAAAARGHHH!"
Pain. Agonizing pain.
For the first time ever, Ricky felt a pain so intense that he almost fainted.
After all, before coming to this world, Ricky was a normal human being; the most painful thing that he experienced was striking his toe against the table or cutting his finger slightly.
The amount of pain that he felt now was nothing in comparison to the past.
The feeling of being burned alive was one of the most painful sensations that any living being could experience.