Chapter 26: Nicknames

Although some villagers harbored negative feelings for him, Leon's life wasn't that much disturbed. Hence, he spent days following his schedule and working in the smithy.

He sometimes saw William patrolling streets, wearing a weird combination of fisherman outfit and sword hanging on his hip. Those clothes undoubtedly helped him become closer to some fishermen, and Leon even heard about a few of them trying to set the knight against him.

That didn't work, as William wasn't that narrow-minded.

Of course, Leon knew about his other friends hiding in the shadows or in other casual clothes. Those people never revealed themselves, so Leon believed they were either covering their identities or possessed enough skills to hide from low-level villagers and him.

The question was whether those people spied on Leon and Louise?

Having that worry on his shoulders, Leon patiently waited a few days while working on new chains and collars. He then sacrificed the skeleton to the White Sparrow, hoping it'd solve that issue.

Still, without any skills to deal with spies and their hiding abilities, Leon found himself in a hopeless situation. "White Sparrow… Do people from guilds have nicknames?"

"I think so, Master!" Louise replied in a cheerful mood as she trod with big steps.

It didn't seem like the matters of the skeleton and the knight concerned her. It was partially Leon's fault since he didn't want to talk about them and spoke more about their research instead. Moreover, with her master by her side, Louise felt too safe and would instead exude positive vibes.

She tramped as though dancing alongside her soft, fluffy tails waggling behind her!

Because of her, Leon couldn't think about the knight, the skeletons, or even those annoying villagers. "We should think of our nicknames then. Well, I already have one from my pro days, so I will stick to it. What about you?"

Louise shut her lips tightly and pursed them up, thinking deeply about her nickname. "Maybe… Maybe I can name myself Amaterasu like that legendary figure?"

"Why not? Go for it." Leon patted her shoulder, encouraging Louise as that name sounded cool.

He wasn't someone who put too much meaning to names from the far past, and many players from Earth used similar names as their nicknames. Leon didn't think it meant a lot. Louise was the same, though her heart seemed to boil — it subsided in a few seconds.

"Okay! I'll pick that name when we get to the guild and start our career!" Louise clenched her hands, imagined a bright future where she would have at least one percent of the legendary Amaterasu's coolness, and brightly smiled as though some burden had fallen off her heart.

Precisely at that moment, the duo left the village, and a long road stretched ahead of them.

It was time to start the adventure.

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"Have you sensed someone?" Leon asked while his party blended with the forest's background, his face dimming beneath the sky of rustling leaves.

He hadn't felt uncomfortable, but that feeling only notified him of others' killing intent. Yes, he'd learned to find enemies' killing intent, too, but Leon had to be aware of them, and he was far from perfect.

Louise was more or less the same. "I haven't."

"Well then, keep an eye on your surroundings instead. It's pointless to think or focus on an imaginable opponent. We'll deal with all enemies aiming for our lives when push comes to shove." Leon knew they were innocent, and no one should ever aim for their heads, but it was good to be cautious.

For now, the monsters of the forest were their enemies.

From their research, Leon and Louise learned that the village hunters regularly hunted bears and boars in this forest. Additionally, the nests of green-red flying predators were in the same forest, turning it into a high-level hunting zone. Of course, for Leon and Louise, it was more of the leveling zone instead.

"Their levels are from level fifteen to twenty-five. I'd rather hunt bears and turn them into a perfect pet." From all those monsters, Leon wanted a bear to be his pet companion.

He'd fuse many of the same bears into a higher grade with high talent and an excellent evolution path."I want to level up and catch up to you!" Louise stated her honest desire, then chuckled, "I also prefer a bear than a boar or bird."

And with those words, the plan was settled. Leon and Louise simply continued their path forward, invading the territory of the forest monsters and waiting for them to come out to kill them.

Against such enemies, Leon didn't need any traps to lure them out. Those monsters would naturally answer humans and other existences breaching their forest's borders.

At last, three bears barred the duo's way. Each of them sported black and thick fur, looking menacing. Their eyes shone green, piercing deeply through Leon and Louise, and their sizes slightly surprised the humanoid party. They were even more threatening than bears from Leon's world!

"Those are big bears, Master."

"Maybe I'll find a skill to turn one of them into a small, cute pet."

Understanding him, the bears growled and scratched the ground with their paws. They didn't beat around the bush and simply charged at Leon and Louise, whose bodies burst out with their respective mana.

Louise made the first move, kicking the ground and flying toward one of them. She showed her signature move of throwing kicks of swirling specks of flames, which sank heavily into the bear's face as Louise aimed them at his nose — he raised his forepaws in retaliation.

After landing with her tails hitting the ground, Louise replied even faster. She rose again, and with a fast kick, Louise struck the bear's jaw, toppling him backward.

The bear lay with steam reeking off his face, roaring.

It happened so fast that other bears hadn't found a chance to help their brother. One of them also decided to deal with Leon, so only one aided the fallen comrade.

That bear howled, taunting her. In fact, he used a taunt skill.

Feeling her body yearning for the blood and unfamiliar skill taking over her, Louise momentarily stopped moving. Glaring, she scrutinized the bear. Then, as though deeming him insignificant, she remained in one spot. Finally, the bear raised his forepaws to slam Louise with his weight.

But that was him exposing himself to Louise, nothing more. She shrank distance in just one blink, then balled her little hand, punching from below. In an instant, sparks burst out, shining brightly beneath the bear, and his form lost the ground as Louise's strength lifted him up.

He dropped onto his back like his brother.

[Louise Lv. 12 HP: 12 500/12 500 MP: 9600/9600]

[Black Bear Lv. 20 HP: 10 000/10 000 MP: 1000/1250]

"That's why you're insignificant…." With narrowed and somewhat cold eyes, Louise whispered and glowered at the fallen bears, not waiting for them to move first — she pounced after them like a predator!

And while Leon usually would react to each of her moves, he was practicing his skills against the bear, too, not having enough room to spot Louise's difference.

But if he could, would he think of her change as a confidence boost in a battle or find something else within those cold but still lovely blue eyes?