As Bell walked into the forest, one by one, the rest candidates changed their minds and walked in too but some of them still stayed back, a handful of candidates just gave up and walked back home, leaving their dreams behind.

Bell looked back at them and felt a little bit relieved, at least he won’t be alone but he doubt anyone will be willing to work with him, most of them seem to only care about their own interest, besides it’s better he stay alone then let a stranger be with him.

[NEW QUEST AVAILABLE]

[PASS THE EXAM WITHIN THREE DAYS]

[Time starts tomorrow]

_Great_ Bell thought. Luckily, entering the forest then has given him about twelve hours headstart.

He had walked a few metres deep into the forest then looked back again just to be sure there was still people around him but he didn’t see anyone. He immediately panicked and stopped, maybe everyone was just behind because he was walking to fast.

But no one showed up, it was clear he was alone, just him and his sister.

_It doesn’t matter, I’ll just keep going straight._ he thought. _the faster we move the quicker we’ll leave this place_

Bell held his sister’s arm tighter and kept on walking, Ryu didn’t say anything, she just followed. That was until a few more minutes of walking, they hadn’t ran into anyone or anything, it was hard to tell what time it was since the towering forest trees had blocked the sky making it look like it was nighttime even though Bell was sure it was still noon.

_i’m not seeing the point of this exam, there’s no monsters or traps and I doubt the entire exam is about navigating a forest_ He thought as he looked around and noticed they had walked through that same path before. He turned to Ryu and noticed she was sweating profusely and her breathing was heavy. "Ryu are you okay?"

"No, I’m fine" Ryu shook her head. "We should keep going"

"Nonsense!, I don’t think you can keep up. Let’s find a place to rest"

"No, I’m okay. Let’s just keep going" Ryu insisted and pushed on, walking past Bell then fell down just after a few steps.

"You can’t keep going" Bell walked to his sister and squatted in front of her then patted her head. "Don’t push yourself. We’ve been walking for a while and I should have let you rest before"

"But..."

"No buts, just let me take care of you." Ryu looked away shyly then nodded, Bell quickly took off his bag and wore it on Ryu then carried her on his back. As he stood up he looked around, it was getting dark, or darker than usual, he had to find a place to rest. "I guess going forward is a bad idea, let’s find a place to camp for tonight"

"..." Ryu nodded again as Bell headed west, drifting into the grass and out of the mail path but before then he had marked the tree with his dagger and drew a arrow pointing to where they were headed. Bell repeat this process again and again till a got to a large oak tree that was surrounded by other tall trees, they didn’t look like any he had seen before but they looked normal except they had pink leaves instead of green.

Bell dropped Ryu right inside the opening on the oak tree and sat down beside her, with his back resting on the tree he sighed, Ryu leaned slightly towards him and rested her head on his shoulder.

They both stayed still, enjoying the night

"Big brother, why do you want to be an adventurer?" Ryu suddenly asked an unexpected question.

"Why would you ask that?" Bell asked back. "You already know that I want to raise money for the family"

"If it’s because of the money, you could have gotten a job at the Duke’s mansion in Aria, or the work at the mines in Drakenforge, or even join the royal guard at the capital?" Ryu pointed out. "So, why didn’t you work there"

"Well, it kinda complicated" Bell sighed and rested his head on the tree. "You won’t understand if I explain it to you."

"But if you don’t try to explain it, it’ll make me more confused than I already am" Ryu did have a good point and Bell couldn’t deny it.

"Are you hungry?, I’m sure you’re hungry" Bell immediately changed the subject, he reached out to their bag and counted how much fruit they had with them, sadly, there was only two. _Damn it! Ryu must have eaten more than three while I carried her on my back_

Either way, he thought it’s only right he gave both fruits to his sister but Ryu refused.

"But I ate more than you asked me too, you should have both instead"

"And let’s you spend the night hungry?. That won’t be taking care of you now, would it?" Bell gave the apples back to Ryu. "I promised Mom I’ll take care of you. Beside, I’m not even hungry"

"Then take at least one bite" Ryu said pushing the apple on her right arm to his face.

"Hey, I told you I’m not hungry"

"I won’t stop till you take a bite" Ryu answered.

"Okay, I’ll take a bite. If it’s want you want" Bell finally surrendered and took a bite from the apple. Ryu held it on her hand, using her fingers to rub the surface of the apple, as her fingertip touched the bite mark of Bell, she immediately bit off that exact spot, chewed and swallowed.

"Big brother?" Ryu called out after a while.

"Huh?" Bell answered. "Is the fruits not enough"

"Hmmm mmhmm" Ryu shook her head. "That’s not it. I’m cold"

Ryu said with a slight shivering, she leaned closer to Bell and rolled herself into a little ball.

"Don’t worry" Bell said standing up, letting Ryu lean onto the tree instead. "I think I saw some sticks on our way here, I’ll find some and use for firewood"

Ryu gave a slight nod as her brother walled back into the bushes.