Adventure

 As days and weeks passed, Maizy started opening up to Avis, on their endless walks through the city, around the docks, and through the valley, he listened to her feelings, giving advice where he could, and spilling his own demons.

 As he was an orphan, he always felt out of place, an outcast, the closest thing to a father figure for him was the instructor, and even he wasn't much more than a washed-up adventurer. But the stories of Maizy's father, they awakened something in him, how he was ready to sacrifice his life for his people filled him with admiration, the raw power of his spirits was enough to blow a hole through a mountain, he wanted, no, he needed to meet this man.

 "Maizy, I beg of you, when it's time for you to go back home, take me with you."

 "I… I can try, but I can't promise anything, I am not even convinced he would take you in."

 "I will clean the toilets if need be, I'd do anything for a chance."

 "Sounds to me like you fell in love with my dad rather than me."

 "Of course not… Ah!… Umm, you know, the chivalry your father displays is simply amazing, I want to be a man like him, I would give anything to not become a drunk who drowns his sorrows with liquor, to not be a bum who begs for food. I want to be a proud knight to protect you." He said, trying to be as charming as possible.

 "Fufu, you sound like a child."

 "Please tell me I have a chance."

 "If it was up to me… But don't worry, father loves me dearly, it's his own fault for sending me here, does he really expect I would come home empty-handed."

 "Not even a dragon could turn me on my path to becoming a great knight! I will be the strongest someday!"

 "My father is much worse than a dragon… Even mother is, actually."

 …

 After some waiting, the instructor arrived for the monster hunting.

 "Hey, Avis… Is she coming with us?"

 "Instructor Milan, I hope it's not a problem, I won't be a bother, I just want to watch." She said.

 "Alright, but you should be on guard, it's all on me if you lose your life."

 "I hunted monsters before, it shouldn't be too bad."

 "Alright, instructor, do you have it?" Avis asked.

 "I almost forgot, here it is." As he said this, he pulled out a shoulder pad made of tough skin meant as some light armor.

 "Sweet, it's brand new."

 "Yeah, I got you a pretty good deal, but it was probably made by an inhuman race, one of the pesky wood driads, to be more precise, it was evolved too so it was unusual for its armor to be so cheap."

 "Whoa, the ones made of wood, right?"

 "Yeah, so-called "protectors of the forest", but all they ever do is kidnap children and rip them limb for limb, simple monsters, it's what they are, I tell you! But we shouldn't meet any, since I have a map of the monsters that appeared, I was thinking we could hunt…"

 They went over the route they would take and the monsters that appeared, and soon they were on their way. They snuck out of the town by climbing an old building and jumping over the wall. The wall wouldn't offer much protection in case of an attack, but the monster wave never reached this part of the country.

 Over the wall was a field, not so much for farming, as imports and fishing were the primary source of food, but for visibility. That is why they picked the morning to sneak out, the guards were changing shifts and no one was alert.

 As they reached the forest, a dense aura started descending upon Avis, but as he looked at the other two, they were unbothered by it.

 'Must be nice to have a useful spirit.'

 "There is a monster."

 The instructor crouched behind a bush and the two followed. In a clearing some way down, a bug the size of a small child was happily eating a deer carcass, its head and torso were covered in chitin but for the most part, it was soft tissue.

 "Sharp pincers and a stinger, but weak and soft, easy prey, go ahead." Said the instructor.

 Avis nodded, if he spoke, the monster would run away as he couldn't suppress his voice like the instructor.

 Luckily the insect was facing away from him, so he could sneak up, as he got closer the smell of the rotting carcass almost made him gag, but he resisted it, only one step from the monster, he raised his sword, and stabbed the creature beneath its head.

 The monster tried to swing its stinger but it did not have the dexterity to wield it properly, as it was more of a deterrent than a weapon. Its screeches were gagged out as Avis cut the right part of its neck while pulling his sword out, and the creature slowly stumbled to the ground.

 Milan gave him a thumbs up, and Avis appreciated it, but as he was about to go to him, in the corner of his eye a small creature appeared.

 Two eyes placed on a somewhat translucent and ethereal ball, it was flying from tree to tree, every so often making a noise through unknown means.

 *Kkruu?* It went, in a questioning manner.

 'Is it looking for something?' Avis waved the teacher over and pointed to the ball.

 "Never seen one before… It doesn't seem to be very dangerous, but it will fly away if you're not careful, I'd say go for it."

 He nodded, crouched behind a tree, and waited, as he saw the creature turn around to a tree in the opposite direction to him, he charged. His leather boots didn't make much sound against the grass on the ground, but a sound was still made, and without turning, one of the creature's eyes shifted from the front to the back, squinting at the boy in a questioning manner.

 Avis slashed at the creature, but it dodged effortlessly, not because of its speed, but because it simply slipped around the sword.

 "You slippery bastard!"

 Another strike, and again, it slipped, but this time, it went on the offensive.

 From the outside, the extreme attack that threw Avis into a nearby tree must have looked like the monster lightly touched his sword as he used it to block the attack. But to him… an enormous claw flashed into being as the monster got closer.

 "Wha!..."

 The cute monster revealed its body for a split second, and what was seen could have come right from hell, the monster was in actuality just the head, attached to it, through a long narrow tube was an abomination, a big plump white body in the shape of an L with six pointy legs and hands that were long enough to touch the ground standing, armed with sharp claws. In the time he saw it, Avis could think of a single thing.

 'Death!'

 …