10. The Dog-Eared Clan and Her Worries
Day two.
We'd veered off the cobblestone highway onto an unpaved path.
Deep in the forest, the trail was just wide enough for a single carriage.
Monsters started showing up now—ones camouflaged as trees, wolf beasts. The tree mimics were called Warwoods. They excelled at ambushes, so it was easy to take a hit on the first strike, but their lack of mobility made them simple to finish off.
The wolves were trickier. They came in packs with quick, coordinated movements that threw you off. Apparently, there were regular wolves too, but since both kinds attacked, we just called them all wolves.
We were facing down three of them.
"Don't fixate on just the enemy right in front of you. Take in the whole picture."
Fam was up front, tanking attacks from two wolves. She was trying to handle them one by one, but without focus on both, she kept getting pressured by the unchecked one.
I tried throwing some earth magic to distract them, but Fam and I weren't synced—our attacks piled on the same target and got dodged.
The third wolf circled around and bared its fangs at me. Caught off guard, I couldn't evade.
Aidan nailed it with an arrow, dropping it.
Now free, I moved to Fam's side and backed her up.
One-on-one, we could overpower them. Fam and I each took down our foes individually.
"Nice, a mana seed dropped."
It came from my kill. I scooped it up.
"By the way, how should we split the drops?"
I asked Aidan.
"Thou felled it, so keep it. I need it not."
"Nah, can't do that. Being in your debt forever would suffocate me to death."
"Hmm. Then sell it in town and split the coin half-and-half. Hold it till then."
"Gotcha."
I nodded and stowed it in my storage. Aidan watched the whole thing.
"Speaking of, thou spotted a mana seed in that goblin scrap five days back too. Slave traders and the church deal in them as well."
"You know about special skills?"
No point hiding it, so I spilled.
"The 'Ten'ei' ones, aye? A gift from the heavens, separate from job skills—one per person."
Apparently, you could only have one special skill normally.
"Mine boosts the whole party's rare item drop rate."
"Ah, so that's a thing."
"Aidan, you got one too?"
"Aye, a combat sort."
He didn't seem keen on details.
"Fam doesn't have one. Any way to get 'em?"
He gave me a weird look. Fair enough—I already had one, so I should know.
"Thou knowest. Not everyone gets one. That's why it's a heavenly gift."
Makes sense. Maybe Rakushel could hook her up.
We ran into two more wolves and dropped them.
"Thou lettest the individuals steal thy focus too much. See the whole. Perceive the whole as individuals."
Tough ask.
"It's thine eyes. Thou star'st too hard at the foe before thee."
With the front enemy filling my hands, I had no bandwidth for the rest.
"Wolves move in sync. Thou lack'st that."
No rebuttal possible.
"Well, can't master it in days. First things first: ye are allies. Think more of each other."
Me and Fam's teamwork, huh.
"Fam, why do you charge ahead to fight solo?"
Aidan asked, and Fam glanced at my face before looking down.
Even back on that gathering quest, whenever a monster popped up, she'd always wedge herself between me and it, insisting on taking point.
She didn't seem to love fighting. More like she didn't want me fighting.
"Cuz I'm weak, so you're shielding me?"
"No. I don't want to answer."
The flat refusal caught me off guard.
But I had to pry it out.
"One-on-one's fine, but multiples demand teamwork."
"...Yes."
She replied, but no intention of explaining.
I shrugged dramatically—something I'd never done back home, but always wanted to try.
"Aidan, sorry. Can't push further. Mind if we scrap the quest?"
"Eh?" Fam's eyes went wide at my words.
"No good? Can't I just train harder and get stronger?"
"Let's head back to town. Figure out the future."
If Fam wouldn't open up, pressing on was too risky.
"I have secrets too. Does Master have to know everything?"
"Nah, some secrets are best kept from everyone. I've got a mountain of my own. But this one's life-or-death."
Sticking with our current style meant high odds of Fam getting hurt. If it was just recoverable, fine—but anything worse? Unbearable.
"...Town was full of people. But I was alone. Only Master noticed me. You're all I have. I don't want to be alone. I want to protect Master."
Fam suddenly went full maiden mode. Well, she was a girl. Sounded like a confession, but probably not romantic.
"It's only day three since we met. Why go that far?"
"Days don't matter."
She cut in over my words, pure and blinding.
I rested a hand on her head. Amid all the harassment, I'd forgotten—she was still a kid.
Standing on her own would take time. She needed someone's hand. And she was dumping that on me. A pain, sure. But... not unwelcome.
Made me kinda happy, even. Gave her head a good ruffle.
"Got your feelings, Fam. Basic combat: you main tank, me on support. But that's just the baseline. Gotta drill other patterns too, situationally. We'll test 'em this quest. Aidan'll verify."
"Really...?" Fam trailed off, like she wanted to probe further.
I had zero plans to make her the permanent main. Call it a "test," settle on a different formation in the chaos, and let it slide. Experience would shift her mindset eventually.
"Fam, cool? Aidan, speak up if issues."
"I mind not." Aidan nodded.
"Yes." Fam nodded too.
We found some tree shade and took a break.
Longer rest than yesterday.
Tent camping took practice. Watches cut into sleep.
Had to acclimate our bodies to the road.
Fam sniffed out some fruit and went to pick it.
Just me and Aidan.
"Scold her not so harshly. 'Tis her race's trait," Aidan said.
"Hm? Fam?"
"Dog-eared folk have sharp insight, read emotions keen. Warriors especially pledge lifelong loyalty to their chosen master."
"That so? Then I don't want her up front forcing it. Injury's bad enough."
Aidan nodded.
"Thou fearest battling monsters. She senses it, fights in thy stead. Her resolve shows in her chosen job too."
Right—I'd told her I was scared. But she'd done it even before. She really read my heart, huh.
And back home, the Mibu wolves had their internal beefs, but the core guys were pure loyalists. That light blue garb was their ideal of the faithful retainer. She was gunning to be this world's version.
Just then, Fam returned. Convo cut short.
We ate the fruit Fam found. Like cherries.
"Sour."
Fam said.
Yeah, lacked sweetness—but wild fruit, what ya gonna do.
"Acidity hits harder when you're beat."
Aidan noted.
"Is that so?"
"Mine own experience."
Listening to them, I stretched.
Seemed like summer was closing in. Sun beat down fierce.