The trio

"Dumbass~"

*WHAM* *CRACK*

Viria snorted mockingly before delivering a skill-augmented left hook at the monster's completely exposed head which ended up in the only possible way.

When the hit connected, the beast's neck snapped like a dry twig and the creature couldn't even let out its final screech.

After snatching the corpse and turning the bones into trash to restore the durability of his soul artifact, Viria grabbed the biggest scrap of the freshly stripped monster skin and wrapped it around his left hand the best the circumstances allowed him.

"Since it's late at night, there should be no packs and the spawning rate should drop significantly... Wouldn't that turn the spawning ground into a perfect training ground where I can even earn while honing my skills?"

"SCWEEEE!"

Viria laughed under his breath and opened the gate and immediately became the focus of attention for the new mole-rabbit that showed up lured by the smell of blood.

"Bring. It. On."

While the monster was leaning close to the ground preparing for launching itself at Viria, the young man hummed to himself and made sure to lock the gate properly so nothing dumb as a monster could escape.

------

Three children that barely qualified as young teenagers were walking towards the first barrier with rather unhappy expressions.

"...do you think that the nice mister will get better...?"

The child with a long fringe covering their eyes, Tir, asked timidly the other two.

"Sure he will! Boss is a great healer, and he was really doing his best!"

The fearful one, Laor was acting tough when there was no trouble in sight and waved their hand dismissively.

"Before worrying about him, you two better try harder to act like boys! No matter how handsome that guy is, we can't trust anyone. You've heard Lithsar too, right? Girls have it rough here!"

The resolute girl, Kirri scolded the other two shaking her head in disbelief.

"Especially you, Tir! That mister definitely thought that something was off, you are way too meek! It's just like Lithsar said, bad men will eat you up if you stay like this!"

Kirri stomped her foot and declared pointing at the one with the long fringe.

"...uuu..."

...causing Tir to tear up immediately...

"But Kirri, if that's the case then why aren't you trying to disguise yourself as a boy as we do?"

Laor also looked like she was about to cry and asked in a sulky voice.

"That's because I want to be like Lithsar! Besides, it's okay for me to be the center of attention because I have this!"

Kirri declared, proudly puffing out her chest and reaching out her hand forward.

The next moment with a faint glow a pink silk ribbon cascaded down to the ground from her palm and the resolute girl wrapped herself in it.

"Silk ribbon may be trash grade soul artifact and have no use except her nice looks, but the description says that when she reunites with her brother, she will become unbreakable!"

Kirri declared with confidence before making her soul artifact disappear.

"...but... what if something will happen to you before you find that whole brother...? And, what that brother could be? Can soul artifacts even have siblings? Isn't that just you daydreaming?"

Laor tilted her head and began asking in a worried tone.

"Guh...! I said I will be okay, so I will be okay! Worry about yourselves!"

Kirri blushed heavily and stomped her foot to hide her embarrassment.

Laor and Tir didn't respond to that and only exchanged worried looks – just as Kirri was worried about them, they were worried about her.

"Anyway! Since the handsome mister is out of commission, we will go and hunt monsters on our own! We can show him that we are capable, and he will want us to help him often! Maybe he will want to train with us too! He killed so many mole-rabbits, he is definitely super strong!"

Kirri went off and began boasting about her plan while Tir and Laor followed behind her leaning toward each other.

"...I was only worried about him because he was nice to us..."

Tir muttered watching Kirri go on and on about the plans and possibilities that hanging around the handsome mister could bring them.

"And she was the one to warn us to not trust him... just look at her, she will be the first one to agree to whatever that mister will ask us to do..."

Laor sighed and both of them nodded in agreement.

"Do you think that I should learn how to cook just in case? I mean, I know that the spawning grounds here on the first floor aren't big, but in an off chance of us exploring it and getting lost and having to spend the night there, it would be best to have someone who can cook with us, right? In that case, it should be me, and if so then I would like for you and the handsome mister to enjoy the food I would make and..."

"..."

"..."

Even Laor and Tir were stunned at how far the imagination of their resolute friend could go when she let loose and wasn't constantly cautious around the adults.

First of all – for someone to get lost on the first-floor spawning grounds would require that person to have no sense of direction whatsoever as it was a cave with few branches – either looping to the man area or so shallow they would not require proper exploration to see the opposite wall after entering them.

The two girls dressing up as boys to ward off potential trouble sighed but said nothing- and for a moment they thought that Kirrie stopped talking before she realized what embarrassing stuff she was saying.

But they were wrong.

Kirie didn't stop because she enter the phase of self-reflection.

She stopped and was lost for words because the three of them arrived at the first gate and she was the first one to have a good look around.

"Who knew? The old instructor at the gym was right. Wrapping your fists is an essential ability after all."

Viria who has cut the mole-rabbit skin into a single extremely long stripe was saying out loud while finishing wrapping the makeshift bandage around his left hand and arm.