I woke the next morning, not feeling particularly refreshed. I woke up in the girl’s tent. It turned out that Lillia and Altria really did want to more than just watch me. They didn’t stop at removing my armour. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t mind at all, at least until I woke up this morning. I looked around the tent, it seemed that Lillia had already got up, just Altria was still inside sleeping away. I quietly got dressed and went outside to join the others. Serin and Lillia were both sat around the fire talking away as I walked over to join them.

“Good morning.” I said as I sat down.

“Morning Theo.” Replied Lillia.

“Good morning Theo. How are you feeling this morning?” Asked Serin.

“Pretty good, just a little tired. How are you today?”

“Good thank you.” Serin replied blushing ever so slightly. “Thank you for keeping me company when I couldn’t sleep.”

“Oh err, yeah. No problem”

“Are you hungry? I was just about to start cooking some breakfast.” Asked Serin.

“I am… Shouldn’t we wait for Altria though?” I asked.

“She’ll get up as soon as she smells it cooking.” Answered Lillia, seemingly talking from experience.

“Then I’ll start cooking.” Serin said grabbing a pan and putting it over the ashes at side of the fire.

It looked like we were having bacon and egg sandwiches for breakfast this morning. Just as Lillia had said the smell of the food cooking seemed to wake Altria and just as we were serving it up, she appeared from the tent, wiping the sleep from her eyes as she went.

“You’re all up already. What time is it?” She said as she sat down with us.

“Don’t worry it’s still early, only about eight o’clock.” Lillia reassured her.

“Oh good.”

Despite it being early, we still had a lot to do today. So as soon as we had finished eating it was time to pack up camp and get on the move again. Today we had to make it to one of the spots they had planned for training and then make it to the next camp spot before night fell. Packing up the site didn’t take long, each of the girls seemed like an old hand when it came to packing away the tents and equipment. The entire place was put away in next to no time.

We set off as soon as we had finished packing. We were heading in the direction of a set of hills in distance. I was told that our first destination was just on the other side. From where we were it didn’t look that far, but I was told that it would still take us about three hours before we reached it. As we walked along the trail, we separated into two groups of two just like on way here. Lillia and Altria were in front while Serin and I brought up the rear.

“Look, about last night, I’m sorry…” I tried to say.

“Sorry? Don’t be, it was as much me as it was you. Despite Lillia and Altria finding us like that, I really, really enjoyed myself. I hope we will be able to do that again, that is if you want to?”

“Definitely.”

“Good… Just at a more appropriate time and place in future. I don’t want to be scolded by Lillia again!”

“Me either.” I laughed. “Lillia didn’t mention what it is we’re going to hunt today. Do you know?”

“I do, they’re a type of bear monster. They spawn in the forests that cover the far side of those hills.”

“Bear monsters… These aren’t going to burst into flames like the wolves, are they?”

“No these aren’t flame bears. Don’t worry, although these are more dangerous that the wolves that you faced, but in a party of four, we should have no trouble in dispatching them.”

For some reason I had an easier time believing Serin when she told me something like this than Lillia, who seemed to miss out important details. Like she’s going to throw down a potion to attract tons of the monsters or that they cover themselves in flames once they’re aggravated. Little things like that. I felt fairly certain that Serin would have told me if anything like that was going to happen, especially after I had asked.

“Bear monsters, okay. So how would we go about killing them?”

“Our usual plan of attack would be to have Altria to scout out ahead and try and pick up one of their tracks. Once we do Altria would move to the back row with Lillia. When we get withing range Lillia will hit them with a status effect, Altria will hit them from range with her bow. You and I will be on the front row. I’ll draw their attention with the first few strikes, and you will try and make the finishing blow. We want you to gain most of the experience points after all.”

“Okay, that sounds easy enough in practice.”

“They’re a little less agile than the wolves, but they are quick. Just watch your distance and timing.”

“Got it.”

After what felt like forever but was probably more like two hours’ worth of walking, we had crossed the grassy plain and had started to reach the bottom of the hills that I could make out from our campsite this morning. The path we had been following up until now split in two. The larger of the two took a longer route around the hills. The smaller path and the one we would be taking zig zagged its way up the largest of the hills. It was just on the other side of this that the forest was located where we would be hunting the bear monsters. We followed the smaller path for a short while until we reached the foot of the hill, when Lillia called the party to a halt.

“We’ll take a short break, before we climb.” She announced.

The hill didn’t look particularly steep or high, but it was nice to stop for a minute before we walked up. It was a chance to get off our feet for a couple of minutes and take some water onboard. Lillia came and sat on the grass next to me as I drank.

“How are you feeling?” She asked as she sat.

“Pretty good considering we’ve been walking all morning.”

“Good. The monsters spawn on the far side of the hill, but there’s a chance we could run into one from here on out. So, keep your wits about you.”

We had only been sat for a couple of minutes before it was time to set off again. The path shrank as we climbed the hill and soon became single file. Altria took the lead as our scout, Serin was next in line, I followed her and Lillia took up the rear. For the entirety of the climb most of my vision was filled with Serin’s behind. I wasn’t about to complain, as it was a nice sight, but watching her perfect ass wobble as she climbed the hill was, well distracting. As it was, I counted myself lucky not to have stumbled once by the time we reached the top.

It took us about forty minutes to reach the top and once we did our destination was clear to see. A little less than halfway down the hill the forest began. It stretched for many miles in every direction, to the west it ran as far as the eye could see. I wouldn’t want to get lost inside there, that was for sure. Our route would take us across the eastern corner, the shortest route to the plains on the other side. The hope was we would come across some of these bear monsters as we crossed the forest.

It then took us about another twenty minutes to descend to the tree line from the summit. This wood had a nicer feel to it than the one which Lillia and I fought the bunny monsters in, despite it being huge. This was a broadleaf wood; the trees were spaced further apart than the other forest and the sunlight passing through the leaves gave everything a pleasant looking slight green tinge. As soon as we stepped inside Lillia called the party to a halt once again.

“You’re up Altria.” She called over.

“Okay.” Altria answered before jumping up the nearest tree.

I was a little taken back by Altria’s sudden display of athleticism. She leapt from ground level onto the closest branch that looked as if it would support her weight. From there it only took her another two jumps to reach the highest point of the tree that she could safely stand on. She stayed there for a couple of minutes surveying the area, before jumping back to the ground in three steps. She definitely had agility comparable to a cat.

“Spot anything?” Lillia asked once she was safely on the ground.

“Nothing.” She replied shaking her head.

“Then I suppose we’ll have to do this hard way. Hopefully, we pick a trail or two on our way through. Okay everyone, time to move.”

Altria ran some way ahead checking for signs of bear trails, serin and I followed behind, while Lillia took up the rear once again.