Deep in the forest, the usual work was underway. The crack of wood and the clang of axes echoed between the pines. Eliza wielded her axe effortlessly, sinking the blade straight and deep into the trunk, while Clerk's men worked hard alongside her.
The work was moving at a good pace until a terrifying roar suddenly shattered the forest silence.
The sound was so powerful that birds suddenly took to the sky, and the ground beneath their feet trembled slightly.
Clerk's men dropped their axes instantly. With terrified screams, they scattered, bolting in the opposite direction of the roar.
The only one left standing was Clerk himself. He gripped his axe and tried to brace for a fight, but the next moment, a gigantic, dark monster with glowing red eyes stepped out from behind the splintering trunks. Massive, wide, and knotted horns grew from its head, sweeping outward.
At the sight of the beast, Clerk's legs began to shake uncontrollably with fear.
Noticing this, Eliza stepped forward and stood right in front of Clerk, shielding him with her body.
"Get back to the camp, now!" she snapped, not taking her eyes off the monster.
"Uh... But what about... you?!" Clerk stammered out, trying to fight through the paralyzing terror.
"I'll handle it. Trust me," Eliza said calmly.
However, despite his fear, Clerk didn't want to leave her alone and kept stubbornly shifting from foot to foot.
Eliza frowned.
She made a sharp, provocative lunge to the side and swung her axe, drawing all the monster's attention to herself. The beast roared furiously and brought a massive fist crashing down—right into a pine tree standing half a meter from Clerk.
BOOM!
The devastating strike blew the trunk to splinters. The shockwave and wood debris showered Clerk in dust, and the ground leaped beneath his feet. Coming that close to death, Clerk screamed in terror and bolted toward the camp.
Eliza only gave him a fleeting glance:
"Perfect."
She gripped the axe with both hands. The monster charged her with a roar, winding up its paw for a sweeping strike.
Eliza easily dodged to the side, letting the fist pass over her head. Seizing the opening, she drove the axe into its right leg with all her might. The metal bit into the hide but couldn't chop clean through—the blade lodged slightly in the dense muscle.
Eliza instantly yanked the axe back out. The giant barely seemed to feel it: the wound merely trickled a bit of dark blood.
Realizing she couldn't pierce that hide head-on, Eliza ducked behind a pine trunk in a single leap.
The monster spun around, letting loose a furious, deafening roar that shook the thicket. It violently threw its arms wide.
BOOOM!
A massive wave of energy blasted outward from its body in all directions. Tree trunks splintered, and the surrounding canopy, leaves, and small branches were literally blown to pieces.
Eliza was saved by the thick pine trunk, which absorbed most of the magical surge. The powerful gust of wind whipping past the tree only whipped her hair around and made her knees buckle for a second.
As soon as the wave died down, Eliza darted out from behind the tree and, with a precise motion, hurled her axe right at the beast.
The blade sank into the monster's right shoulder. The beast staggered back with a snarl.
Taking advantage of its confusion, Eliza was about to jump straight for the stuck weapon, but the creature's free paw swiped at her, blocking her path.
Mid-jump, Eliza corrected her trajectory. Dropping her palms to the grass, she executed a backward handspring, dodging the swipe and landing behind the nearest tree.
Hiding behind the trunk and catching her breath, Eliza cast a fleeting glance at the axe buried deep in the monster's shoulder:
"Damn it... Gotta get it back somehow..."
The monster came charging right at her, its heavy footsteps thudding.
A second before its fist smashed into the wood, a tiny black-and-purple sphere appeared right in front of its knuckles.
Eliza caught the pulsing magical point in her peripheral vision just in time. Wasting not a fraction of a second, she tucked in and made a lightning-fast dash to the side.
BOOM!
The small sphere fired a narrow beam of dark energy. The beam burned straight through the pine trunk and bored deep into the earth.
Not giving the beast a chance to recover, Eliza scooped up a handful of small twigs from the ground as she ran, along with one medium-sized branch with a sharp, splintered end.
She hurled the small twigs right into the monster's face. The beast instinctively flinched and covered its face with its paw for a second.
Eliza lunged forward and drove the sharp, medium branch straight into its exposed eye.
The monster staggered, clutching its ruined eye. Eliza vaulted right onto its shoulder, yanked her axe free, and without hesitation, started hacking at the beast's neck.
A strike! Another! And another!
The monster spun wildly, trying to buck her off or swat her away with its paw. Whenever a fist flew her way, she dodged, pushed off its very fingers, vaulted higher, and grabbed onto the axe wedged in its neck again, or onto the beast's horns.
Winding up for another massive swing with both hands, Eliza brought the axe blade crashing down into the mangled neck with all her might.
CRACK!
The monster's massive horned head separated from its body and rolled across the grass. Dark blood sprayed from the stump, and the carcass crashed to the ground.
Eliza jumped off the falling body and landed smoothly on her feet.
Exhaling heavily, the girl lowered her axe, looked at the decapitated monster, and said dryly:
"Way too stupid..."
Leaving the slain beast in the thicket, Eliza strolled unhurriedly back to camp.
The moment she stepped into the clearing, Clerk rushed toward her as fast as his legs could carry him, followed by the rest of his crew.
"Eliza! You're alive?!" Clerk yelled in a panic.
"Eliza, your clothes are covered in blood! Are you okay?! How can we help?!" the men clamored over each other.
Eliza just calmly waved them off with her free hand:
"What are you all stressing about? It's just someone else's blood. And I already killed the monster."
Clerk froze with his mouth hanging open, lost for words, while Eliza walked right past them without stopping, heading to the center of the camp where Elyria was still toiling away.
Wooden debris was now scattered all over the clearing: here a lone wall had sprung up, there a roof was stuck with no foundation, and somewhere else a single corner post jutted out. Elyria was panting heavily, rubbing her forehead in exhaustion, but stubbornly trying to materialize the next house.
"Hey," Eliza walked up to her. "Can you wash this blood off me?"
Elyria turned around and, seeing her, her eyes instantly widened:
"Blood?! Are you hurt?! How?! Who did this?!" The spirit immediately became furious: "Was it Clerk?! I'll put him in his place real quick..!"
"No, no, it's fine," Eliza rushed to interrupt her. "It's just someone else's blood. I fought a monster in the forest."
"Seriously?" Elyria squinted.
"Yeah," Eliza answered calmly.
"Well... alright then," the spirit exhaled and snapped her tiny fingers.
In that same instant, a wave of green energy rippled over Eliza's body. All the dirt and blood evaporated from her clothes, skin, and hair without a single trace.
Finishing up, Elyria gave her a once-over from head to toe:
"Are you... a knight or something?"
"No, not a knight," Eliza shook her head. "I just had to spend a... rather long period of time with a weapon in my hands."
"Got it. Alright then," Elyria grumbled and turned back to her construction site.
Eliza, meanwhile, looked around the camp. Amidst the half-finished walls towered two complete, wooden houses.
Eliza walked up to the first house and pushed the wooden door. It was completely empty inside, and the walls lacked windows. Nevertheless, Eliza noted to herself that the space itself felt quite cozy.
Closing the door, she moved on to the second house.
Pushing open the door to the second house, Eliza froze in surprise. Iron was lying on a springy mattress to the right. He was staring at a single spot on the wooden wall. Unlike the first one, this room already had finished windows and a bed.
Eliza took in the scene, silently stepped back outside, and pulled the door shut behind her.
Outside, Clerk's men were still huddled in a group. They were eyeing the edge of the forest warily and whispering anxiously about something.
"Still spooked..." Eliza scoffed mentally.
She walked to the edge of the clearing, went up to a pine tree, and leaned her back against the trunk with a sigh of relief. Sliding smoothly down, she sat right on the grass.
Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. Slipping one cigarette out, she flicked the flint, brought the flame up, and took a drag. Exhaling smoke into the thick foliage above, Eliza closed her eyes, enjoying a long-awaited rest.
At that moment, Iron walked unhurriedly out of the second house. Spotting Clerk's men crowding nearby, still nervously glancing toward the forest, he headed toward them.
"Why are you standing around here?" Iron frowned.
One of the guys shifted nervously from foot to foot:
"There was a huge monster in the forest just now... We don't know if it's safe to keep working out there."
"Alright," Iron replied calmly. "And where is this monster?"
"Eliza... Eliza killed it," the guy answered.
"Eliza?" Iron was surprised for a second.
"Yeah... that's right."
Iron nodded slowly, processing what he heard:
"Fine. But as soon as your fear passes—get back to work immediately."
"Y-Yes, sir!" they replied in a ragged chorus.
Iron turned and looked across the clearing. Spotting Eliza sitting under the tree, he walked over to her and wearily leaned his back against the very same trunk.
"Is it true you killed a monster?" he asked quietly.
Eliza, not shifting her relaxed posture, let out a short puff of smoke:
"Yeah."
"If that's the case, then great job."
Silence hung between them for a while.
Iron kept glancing at the glowing tip of her cigarette and, after a few seconds, said:
"Got any left?"
Eliza turned her head to him in surprise:
"Wait, you smoke too?"
"Well... I used to," Iron answered.
Eliza pulled another cigarette from the pack, lit it, and handed it to him. Iron took it, brought it to his lips, and took a deep drag.
"So how long ago did you quit?" Eliza asked, watching him.
"About four or five years ago," Iron replied, exhaling smoke.
"Wait, how old are you right now?"
"Nineteen. Turning twenty soon."
Eliza did the math in her head and looked at him with mild irony:
"So that means you quit smoking at thirteen or fourteen? And how long were you smoking before that?.. Looks like you're quite the tough guy."
Iron was slightly caught off guard by that and coughed awkwardly:
"..Yeah, I guess that's how it was."
"Wow," Eliza scoffed. "And why did you quit? Bad for your health or what?"
A thought instantly flashed through Iron's mind: "I can't exactly tell her I just got transported to another world and completely forgot about them because of everything going on..."
After a brief pause, Iron said aloud:
"Well... It was a really stressful period. Way too much external pressure—so intense that I forgot about cigarettes and eventually just broke the habit. But when I saw you with a pack... it was like I remembered all over again how much it used to help. So I decided to see if it still works."
"And?" Eliza asked. "Just as good, or different?"
"Not sure yet... But they really do help calm the nerves a bit."
"Makes sense."
Iron slid smoothly down the trunk and sat on the grass. Taking another drag, he added quietly:
"This is gonna sound weird, of course, but I don't know why... you remind me of someone I used to know."
"Cool," Eliza responded softly.
Iron looked off into the distance at the camp under construction, looking exhausted, and sighed:
"Man, there's still so much work to do..."
"Yeah," Eliza looked at him. "But I think we can get it all done..."
"But that just makes it all the more satisfying," Iron interrupted her with a smile.
Eliza froze at that, staring intently at him. At that moment, it felt as if something flashed through her mind and instantly dissolved.
Iron stubbed his cigarette out on the ground, kept the butt clenched in his fist, and got to his feet:
"Alright, I'm gonna go. I still need to put the windows in and make a second bed."
"Yeah, sure," Eliza nodded.
Iron stepped toward the camp. Eliza watched him walk away, and then said quietly:
"Weird guy..."
Leaving the pine tree behind, Iron headed for the houses.
"Lumon, run a diagnostic," he requested mentally. "Is there any actual biological harm to the body from nicotine and tar?"
Lumon's even voice immediately echoed in his head:
"Analysis complete. The biological harm caused by nicotine is exactly zero percent. All traces of tar are completely eliminated from the body within a few seconds. There are no negative effects."
"Perfect..." Iron replied in a quiet whisper.
He returned to the second house, grabbed the glass sheets laid out on the mattress, and headed to the first building.
Armed with directed high-pressure vectors, Iron quickly fitted the pre-tempered sheets to the dimensions of the window openings. With a soft click, the transparent panes slotted into the wooden frames, perfectly sealing the seams and blocking out the chilly forest draft.
Half an hour later, the work was finished.
The sun was already dipping toward the horizon.
Clerk's men gradually calmed down and were looking at the buildings in quiet awe. Elyria was sprawled out on the soft grass, completely exhausted, and Eliza continued to watch the transformed camp in silence.
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