A sense of danger

"Now it's done." Gabriella pulled the owlbear beak out easily after slicing all the tendons and muscles keeping it up. Hades stood beside her smiling. He had gained a lot of Favor from killing the beast, Fen did get some favor as well and even leveled up.

Hades: {Favor: 800/3200 => Favor: 1000/3200}

Fen: {Favor: 0/100 => Favor: 100/100}

Fen: {Level: 0/100}=> {Level: 1/100}

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{Name: Fenrisúlfr Loki}{Race: Fenrir}{Level: 1/100}

{Favor: 0/200}

{Stats}{Available stat points: 3}

Strength: 11

Dexterity: 17

Resilience: 20

Intelligence: 11

Magic: 8

Divine: 6

-----------------------------------------

Hades looked at Fen immediately, "You lack strength, get a bit more."

"WAN!" Fen barked jumping around hades with a wiggling tail.

-----------------------------------------

{Name: Fenrisúlfr Loki}{Race: Fenrir}{Level: 1/100}

{Favor: 0/200}

{Stats}{Available stat points: 0}

Strength: 14

Dexterity: 17

Resilience: 20

Intelligence: 11

Magic: 8

Divine: 6

-----------------------------------------

Gabriella turned toward Hades who seemed as if playing with Fen, "You two, we need to…" CRACKLE! She heard a crunch far behind her.

Thud! She turned around to look, but there was nothing. Her nerves started riling, her eyes darted across every bush. She can't get this feeling off her, as if someone was watching them.

"Hades we're been watched, be careful?" She said pulling her sword.

Fen walked ahead smelling the ground, he then turned toward her whimpering with his head cocked to the side.

"If someone was close, Fen would have smelled him. Aren't you getting a bit too nervous?" Hades looked around and saw nothing of interest, just birch trees everywhere and a lot of bushes. Not a single rabbit in sight.

"Father said, one time is a mistake, the second one is the truth. Something is definitely off if I felt it twice." Gabriella said with a serious face. "We need to keep an eye on our surroundings."

Hades cocked his head just like Fen, "Fine, I do not sense anything dangerous around us but suit yourself." He said with a passive face.

The three kept delving deeper into the forest. Soon they encountered a lot of thick foliage with Gabriella cut with her sword. Even though it was hard work, Gabriella actively refused to let Hades work.

"Let me help, give me that sword," Hades said pulling her by the hair.

"No, I need you in top shape to kill powerful monsters. Exhausting you here is risky! And let go of my hair!" She swung the sword at him and leaped away. "Aren't you the one who tried to cut my hair before?" Hades replied with an annoyed face.

"Your hair is too long! You need to trim it up or it will interfere with your fights!" Gabriella stared back at him. Those were the words of her older brother who has been a fencer for years.

"Back at you, why do you let your hair grow longer than a horse tail?" Hades fired back at her, she was the last one he wanted to hear about his hair being long from.

"I do keep it tied into braids, it won't be flapping around my eyes like you…Even…" As she was about to start yelling….Crunch! A small snake jumped at her from a tree branch, it happened in a moment, less than she could react.

"WAN!" Fen leaped into the air biting the snake before it could reach Gabriella. Thud! He landed to the side munching on the long green creature with a happy wagging tail. As Gabriella realized, she was terrified at how fast it happened.

Hades: {Favor: 1000/3200 => Favor: 1010/3200}

Fen: {Favor: 0/200 => Favor: 10/200}

Without Fen, she would have been bitten in the neck, an instant death. "How could a normal party deal with this?" She cried looking at the sake, a death flew at her out of nowhere. If not for Fen (A Fenrir cub with a fast reaction time) she would have died.

"All the knights I saw wore helmets, it's your fault for not wearing one." Hades stared at her with cold eyes. As if disappointed.

"Same as you! You're not even wearing one to talk!" She started screaming.

Hades scratched his hair, "I can't hear well or see well when…" A snake leaped at him from behind and Gabriella saw it, she wanted to warn but she was too slow. "…I wear…" Pop! The snake bounced on an invisible layer from behind his head and fell to the ground. Fen quickly leaped in and ended the snake.

Hades: {Favor: 1010/3200 => Favor: 1020/3200}

Fen: {Favor: 10/200 => Favor: 20/200}

She stared at Hades with a surprised face, "What was that?"

Hades looked behind and then at the snake getting eaten by Fen. "My ability activates instantly unlike my arms and legs who take a while to move. It is easier for me to block with [Repulsion] than dodge or block with my arms." He replied with a smug smile that he picked from Cael.

Gabriella rubbed her eyes, was she just yelling at Hades of all people? 'What gotten into me.' She thought feeling a slight headache.

"Sorry for yelling at you, I don't think am well." She apologized and Hades looked at her with a puzzled face.

"Why apologize? Let's keep moving, we better find more things to kill."

Gabriella smiled upon hearing his words, she was probably just a little bit too nervous. He was far calmer than her, most likely due to his vast experience. 'That right, I'm a novice. As long as he says it's fine, I should think it is fine.' She wanted to be more open to learning from him.

As she tried to take a step toward him, CRUNCH! The sound behind her seemed too close. Thud! She took a quick step, spinning around and swinging her sword without warning.

Slash! Her blade zipped through the air and left a scar on a birch tree, as she bent panting, she glared ahead. "Who's there?" She yelled toward the forest, but nothing replied or moved.

"Aren't you a bit too excited? There is no Favor in killing trees." Hades patted her shoulder with a disappointed look. Even Fen understood that she probably was too scared for her own good.

"Sorry, let's keep moving." She sheathed her blade and sighed, 'I need to calm down.' lifting her hands up, she slapped her cheeks. SLAP!

GRWAAAA! She crouched down crying. She forgot that she was wearing steel guaranteed and now two dents were left on her cheek. But she quickly stood smiling, this helped her calm down, and she can focus ahead now.

The three of them kept venturing deeper and deeper into the forest, killing any monster that crossed their path, and soon the sun fell down.

Hades: {Favor: 1020/3200 => Favor: 1920/3200}

Fen: {Favor: 20/200 => Favor: 200/200}

Fen: {Level: 1/100}=> {Level: 2/100}

Fen: {Favor: 0/400 => Favor: 400/400}

Fen: {Level: 2/100}=> {Level: 3/100}

Fen: {Favor: 320/400 => Favor: 320/800}

-----------------------------------------

{Name: Fenrisúlfr Loki}{Race: Fenrir}{Level: 3/100}

{Favor: 320/800}

{Stats}{Available stat points: 0}

Strength: 20

Dexterity: 17

Resilience: 20

Intelligence: 11

Magic: 8

Divine: 6

-----------------------------------------

Hades gained a lot of Favor and Fen had leveled quite a bit. The two of them seemed to be inspecting the surrounding area as Gabriella used the flint and steel she bought from the general shop to light a fire.

"It's getting a bit late, walking in the forest at night is dangerous so we better spend the night here." She said putting the meat she brought grilling with the salt.

Hades looked around, "I can't see why we should stay, we could just walk back home."

Gabriella pouted, "You're the one who kept asking to get deeper and deeper! I can barely stand now."

After the meal, Gabriella also set the tents alone. Each time Hades tried to help her, he broke something. It was better to not let him do anything that requires a gentle touch.

Later, as she was finally about to rest in her small tent. She looked outside, Fen was standing guard. Usually, she won't trust a cub with such a job, but she saw Fen stay guard at night in the mansion and he was far more furious than normal dogs. Hades was already inside his tent.

She lay on the bed roll and took a deep breath. Her bones finally relaxed. As she turned around to turn the lantern off, CRACKLE! A tree root emerged from the ground gagging her mouth, more tied her feet and hands. She tried to scream but couldn't.

As she struggled, a humanoid being, made of birch wood emerged from the ground beside her. With a faint crackle, his bark started to shift to resemble human skin.

Gabriella couldn't believe her eyes, what she saw was truly terrifying. The being took her image naked and stood. 'A dryad? What is such a monster doing here?' Gabriella wanted to scream so badly.

Now the dryad (Looking like a naked Gabriella) walked out of the tent, heading toward Hades' tent. Gabriella watched from the side of her eyes. Doing her best to scream.

Fen didn't seem to notice, he just looked up and ignored the dryad. He couldn't tell the difference.

The dryad slowly opened the curtain to Hades's small tent, entering slowly. Gabriella was still trying to scream, enough that her head started aching.

After a few seconds…Thwack! With a loud crack, Gabriella's naked body (The dryad) got flung from the tent like a rag doll with a dented face and torn-off left chest.

Gabriella felt a shiver down her spine, even though the one who got hit was the dryad.