Debut III

PH1RE'S P.O.V

Standing at the edge of the forest, the unsettling silence clung to me, heightening my nerves. The eerie tranquility made me feel like we were being watched, and my instincts were on high alert. Every rustle of leaves or creak of branches put me even more on edge.

"Would you calm down already!" I shouted at Maya, who kept fidgeting next to me.

Her behavior was completely out of character, which only irritated me further. Honestly, shouting like that was out of character for me too. I guess being woken up too early made me grumpy.

"Where's Ethan!? We've been standing here for hours!" she complained, throwing her arms up in frustration.

"Stop exaggerating. It's barely been one hour," I corrected her, sighing.

"Though, yeah, that's still too long."

"Why can't we just go to the butcher's shop? He's still not here," she grumbled, pacing back and forth.

Now it made sense. If it involved money, any odd behavior from her made perfect sense. We had gone to the butcher's shop earlier, but since she woke us up too early, the work on the Sparkhogs wasn't finished yet. I should've known that would affect her one way or another.

"Oh! Now I get it, you've been thinking about nothing but the money all day, haven't you?" I said, pointing at her.

Maya shot me a sideways glare, crossing her arms defensively. "It's not about the money," she said, though her tone betrayed her. "We worked hard for those Sparkhogs, and I don't trust leaving them for too long. What if they try to cut down on our deal?"

I rolled my eyes. "Who in their right mind wants to get on the bad side of anyone in a guild? Besides, the butcher seemed like an honest guy. You're way too suspicious."

She sighed, glancing at the treeline with a worried expression. "I know. It's just—waiting around like this makes me anxious. I'd rather be doing something useful than standing here feeling... exposed."

I couldn't disagree with that. The forest was unusually quiet, and Bryn's earlier comments about the absence of wildlife still echoed in my mind.

Every rustle of leaves, every whisper of wind seemed amplified in the silence. It felt like the whole forest was holding its breath, waiting for something to happen.

Just as I was about to respond, I heard footsteps approaching from behind us. I turned, expecting to see Ethan finally dragging himself over, but instead, it was Bryn, his carefree grin still plastered on his face as if he hadn't just spent hours in a dangerous forest.

"Guess who's back!" he announced, stretching his arms like he'd just had the most relaxing day.

"So that's where you were all morning," Maya muttered.

"Where's Ethan?" I asked, scanning the path behind him.

Bryn shrugged, looking completely unconcerned. "Last I saw him, he was napping by the inn. Figured I'd let him catch up on his beauty sleep while I checked things out again."

"So, you left him to sleep... while we're out here waiting?" Maya's voice was filled with exasperation. "He's supposed to be leading this expedition!"

Bryn chuckled. "Don't worry, he'll show up when it matters. Besides, he's probably just avoiding doing any real work."

I shook my head and sighed. "So, did you find anything useful this time?"

His grin faded slightly, and for a moment, he looked more serious than usual. "Same thing as before. Nothing but dead silence. No creatures, no signs of life—nothing. I couldn't even find a scent trail belonging to those Sparkhogs. It's like the forest is... holding its breath."

I stared into the forest, letting his words sink in. Then something clicked. "Wait. If you're here, who's watching the workers building the wall?" I asked.

"Leo is," Bryn answered casually.

"Alone? You sure that's a good idea?" I asked, more worried now.

"Well, someone had to stay," he responded with a shrug.

Shouldn't that someone have been you? I thought, but bit back the comment.

"So, what now?" Maya asked, her frustration still evident.

Bryn got down on all fours, a grin spreading across his face. "Keep an eye out. Whatever's causing this silence is good at hiding. But everything's gotta eat."

Before we could react, Bryn bolted into the forest, moving so fast that it was impossible to keep track of him.

Maya and I followed Bryn as best as we could, but he was far too fast. His movements were fluid, barely making a sound as he wove through the dense foliage, not even bothering to use Plus Jump and instead leaping effortlessly atop branches.

"Does he always run like that?" Maya panted, glancing over at me with an exasperated look.

"Only when he's showing off," I replied, focusing on using Plus Jump sparingly. Unlike Bryn, I didn't have the luxury of automatic activation, and I didn't trust myself to use branches as footholds like he did. "But if he's moving like this, it means he's onto something. He wouldn't take off like this for no reason."

We continued chasing after him, but the deeper we ventured into the forest, the quieter it became—eerily so. I didn't think the silence could get any worse, but somehow, it had. The usual sounds of rustling leaves and distant wildlife were completely absent, replaced by an oppressive stillness that made the forest feel suffocating and stale.

Suddenly, Bryn came to a stop, raising a hand to signal us to do the same. Maya and I skidded to a halt behind him, breathing heavily. Bryn knelt down, his eyes fixed on the ground ahead.

"What is it?" I asked, stepping closer.

He pointed to a patch of dirt. At first, I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, but as I crouched down beside him, I saw what had caught his attention—tracks. Deep, uneven tracks that had been gouged into the earth, leading further into the forest.

Maya squinted, inspecting the prints. "What kind of creature leaves tracks like this?"

Bryn's expression darkened. "Something big. And probably not friendly."

"Great, have we found our suspect?" I asked, the pit in my stomach growing.

"No. At least, I doubt it," Bryn said, his voice thoughtful.

"So, do we follow it?" Maya asked, her voice tinged with hesitation.

Bryn shook his head and started walking away. "No, we're here for another reason."

I exchanged a confused glance with Maya before asking, "What reason?"

Bryn stopped and pointed to the scenery around us. "Notice anything?"

Maya and I followed his finger, and as our eyes scanned the area, the devastation became clear. The trees around us were shredded—splintered and torn apart as though something massive had barreled through the forest, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.

"What kind of crazy wild beast could've done this?" Maya muttered, her eyes wide as she took in the damage.

Bryn deadpanned, "Um, I did it."

"Oh... why?" Maya asked, bewildered.

"With no trees, the fire can't spread," Bryn explained matter-of-factly.

"What fire?" I inquired.

"The fire you're gonna start," Bryn said, pointing at me.

"Huh?"

"I've given up trying to find whatever it is. If I couldn't find anything with Leo's sense of smell, then I doubt I'll track it down without him. So, my new plan is to smoke it out by burning any suspicious area of the forest—anywhere I find fresh tracks or food sources like berries and fruits. Whatever's hiding out there still needs to eat, especially if some of them are herbivores."

"So your solution is to start forest fires?" I asked blankly.

"Yes. Is there a problem with that?" he responded, deadpan.

"...."

"I think you should just do it," Maya said nonchalantly.

"Are you being serious!?" I exclaimed, incredulous.

Maya shrugged, crossing her arms. "Well, it sounds crazy, but Bryn's plan might actually work. We're not setting the whole forest on fire—just enough to smoke them out."

"Yeah, Loid," Bryn chimed in, an annoyingly pure smile spreading across his face. "Just a little controlled chaos. Besides, you're the fire guy. Perfect opportunity to show off."

I stared at them both, completely dumbfounded. This couldn't possibly be the best solution. Starting forest fires—controlled or not—sounded like the worst idea possible. But when I looked at the destruction around us, at the shredded trees and the eerie, oppressive silence, I had to admit that we were out of options. Whatever we were dealing with was lurking somewhere, hidden, and not coming out on its own.

"Fine," I muttered, "but if we burn the whole forest down, I'm blaming you."

Bryn laughed and clapped me on the back. "That's the spirit! Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on things. Worst case scenario, we can always run."

"Comforting," I muttered under my breath as I extended my hand toward the nearest pile of shredded bark.

I took a deep breath and focused on gathering mana, feeling the familiar warmth building up in my core. The fire spell was simple enough—Fireball was still the only spell the gods had deem fit to gift me, so I didn't have to try too hard to cast it. I summoned the flame to my hand and hesitated for just a moment before releasing it toward a pile of dry leaves and bark. The fire caught quickly, crackling to life and spreading across the forest floor.

"One down," Bryn said, satisfied. "Let's move on to the next area."

As we left however I took one last at the fire slowly spreading and with a sigh walked away.

"Been a while since I set anything on fire,"