The midday sun, fractured into a thousand shimmering shards by the dense canopy, barely pierced the gloom of the forest. The air, thick with the scent of damp earth and decaying leaves, held the tension of Rebecca's desperate flight. Her breath came in short, controlled gasps as she ran, the rough bark of trees a fleeting touch against her arms. Behind her, the relentless pursuit of the Gloomfang dogs echoed through the trees – a chilling symphony of snarls and snapping jaws.

  One, a monstrous canine silhouette of rippling blue fur and razor-sharp teeth, launched itself from the pack, its Rush skill a blur of motion. But Rebecca was ready. With the practiced fluidity of a seasoned hunter, she spun, her body a coiled spring releasing its deadly energy. Her bow, a familiar extension of her will, sang as she loosed a Wind Arrow. The arrow, a shaft of polished wood imbued with potent wind magic, screamed through the air, a living thing of emerald light and howling wind. It struck the charging Gloomfang with the force of a battering ram, the impact a sickening crunch of bone and the eruption of a geyser of blue-tinged blood. The creature’s head, severed clean, sailed through the air before landing with a soft thud in the undergrowth.

  Four more Gloomfangs, their eyes burning with predatory hunger, pressed their relentless pursuit. Their blue fur gleamed in the dappled light. Rebecca's heart pounded a steady rhythm against her ribs, a controlled beat against the encroaching threat. She was fast, agile, but out numbered.

  She vaulted a fallen log, landing lightly on the other side. As she landed, she launched herself upward, twisting in the air. With a controlled breath, she drew her bow, her movements fluid and precise. The Wind Burst arrow, a single shaft tipped with the concentrated essence of a raging storm, left the bowstring with a sharp *twang*. It arced through the air, then exploded on impact with the ground between her and the pursuing Gloomfangs, creating a devastating gust of wind that sent the creatures sprawling. The force of the blast also caught Rebecca, throwing her backward. She skidded across the ground, leaving a small furrow in the soft earth before coming to a controlled stop, the impact jarring but not debilitating. A small crater, testament to the arrow's power, marked the spot where the wind magic had erupted.

  Rebecca quickly moved to the edge of the small crater. She nocked an arrow, her movements economical and precise. The first downed Gloomfang received a swift, clean shot through the heart. Another arrow found its mark in the second creature's chest. A third arrow finished off the third, its body twitching once before stilling.

  The fourth Gloomfang, its eyes blazing with fury, began to rise. Rebecca, anticipating its move, nocked two more arrows. As the creature launched itself at her, its Rush skill activating, Rebecca loosed the first arrow. The Gloomfang, with surprising agility, leaped to the right, narrowly avoiding the shot. But the second arrow, fired with deadly precision, found its mark—a direct hit to the eye. The Gloomfang collapsed instantly, its life extinguished with brutal efficiency.

  Rebecca let out a long, slow breath, the tension finally leaving her body. She placed her bow across her back, drawing a dagger from its sheath. "Finally," she murmured, a hint of satisfaction in her voice. "I can take these hides. I guess it's true that when you become a C-rank in this monster zone, things tend to get easier. I thought level 40 Gloomfangs would be much faster than this. Then again, there was only one level 40 or higher among them, I guess." She knelt, examining one of the fallen creatures. She ran a hand along its ear, then checked the length of its tail. "Yep, this one definitely isn't above level 40 yet. I guess the first one I killed was above level 40."

  She began to carefully cut the hide from the Gloomfang, her movements practiced and efficient. "I never even got to try out my ultimate skill," she mused. "Guess I'll have to go accept quests from Veridia now."

  Meanwhile, Tyler and Emily walked toward Hector's shop. Emily, her curiosity piqued, finally asked, "I'm sorry to ask, sir, but how did you come to know my name?"

  Tyler smiled. "Oh, right. It's because of a skill I have."

  "A skill?" Emily's eyes widened.

  "Yes," Tyler confirmed. "I have the Uncover skill. But it's kind of complicated," he added with a shrug.

  Emily's eyes widened further. "Wow, you have an Uncover skill? That's a rare skill," she murmured, impressed.

  "Yes, it lets me see people's names and levels," Tyler explained. "That's how I knew your name. I learned it the first time we met—do you remember that day?"

  Emily's cheeks flushed crimson. She quickly knelt, bowing her head in the street. A few passersby stopped to watch the scene.

  "Oh, what are you doing?" Tyler asked, surprised by her sudden action.

  "I'm sorry," Emily mumbled, her voice barely a whisper. "I want to express my gratitude for freeing me from prison, but I don't have anything to give you right now. So the only thing I can think of is kneeling. Or maybe, perhaps…"

  "Perhaps what?" Tyler asked, gently interrupting her. "Come on, get up quickly." He took her hand, lifting her to her feet. "The first time we met, I came off as a despicable person, and for that, I'm sorry," she said, bowing her head again.

  Tyler gently but firmly grasped her shoulders, lifting, straightening her and she met his gaze. "You have to stop that," he said, his voice firm but kind.

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  Tyler noticed a deep scar on Emily's forehead, almost like a jagged cut, though it appeared old. Emily, sensing his gaze, quickly lowered her head, using her hood to obscure the mark and letting her hair fall into place.

  "What happened?" Tyler asked gently.

  Emily hesitated, then said, "It's a long story. I can't tell you now. I'm sorry."

  "Nah, it's alright," Tyler reassured her. "You don't have to apologize for that." He smiled reassuringly. "Let's keep going; we're close."

  They continued walking, Emily now walking beside him. Tyler found himself thinking, *Who would have thought a girl who goes around stealing stuff has such a shy attitude? I thought she'd have more of a rascal attitude.*

  As they entered the marketplace, Emily became even more self-conscious, covering her face more and lowering her eyes. *Oh man,* Tyler thought, *she probably stole from these people too.* *I want to ask her why she was stealing, but since she said she's an orphan, it's kind of obvious.* *She just told me she's from Lyria, but I didn't ask her anything further. I need to know her more.*

  They arrived at Hector's shop. Tyler opened the door and stepped inside, expecting Emily to follow. But when he looked back, she was gone.

  "What the…?" he muttered, looking around. Hector wasn't at the counter. Instead, Tyler heard the rhythmic clang of a hammer from the back room—Hector was working. Tyler immediately turned and left the shop.

  Tyler scanned the street and spotted Emily running away. A serious expression settled on his face as he took off after her. His speed was astonishing; he moved with a blur of motion, pushing past startled onlookers with effortless ease, catching up to Emily in a matter of seconds. He gently but firmly turned her around, holding her arms.

  "What are you doing?" he asked, his voice low. "Why are you suddenly running away?"

  Tears welled in Emily's eyes. "You just want to punish me, that's it, right? You're getting revenge for me stealing from you. I stole from that man, and you're bringing me right back to him," she accused, her voice trembling.

  Tyler looked at her, his expression softening. "Are you stupid? Why would I pay seven gold just to get you out of a dungeon so I could let him beat you up? What kind of dumb thing is that? If I wanted you to get what you deserved, I would have left you there, wouldn't I?" He realized he was gripping her arms too tightly; he saw tears welling up in her eyes as she bit her lip, reacting to the pain. He immediately loosened his grip. "Oh, I'm sorry," he said, his voice laced with genuine remorse. "That's not what I meant. I didn't mean you totally deserved what those people were about to do to you. What I meant is…"

  "No, it's fine," Emily interrupted, her voice choked with emotion. "I did deserve what was coming to me."

  Tyler shook his head, placing a hand on his forehead. "No, you didn't. What I'm trying to do here is help you. Don't you remember what I said to that guard when you were in that dungeon? I'm trying to get you a job."

  Surprise flickered across Emily's face. *Get me a job? So, he was serious about that?* she thought.

  Tyler continued, "Listen, just follow me, okay? We're going to go into that shop, and I'm going to try getting you a job from him. I'll be right beside you, so don't be afraid. Okay?"

  Emily hesitated, then nodded slowly. "Hmm, okay."

  Tyler's expression turned serious. "Really, because if you turn back and run again, I'm not going to go after you. I'm trying to help you here, but if you try to make things harder, then I can't help you. Because, in the end, I don't really know you."

  His words hit Emily like a punch to the gut. Her heart pounded in her chest; a strange, unfamiliar hurt bloomed within her.

  "Oh, alright," she mumbled hesitantly.

  Tyler turned and walked back toward the shop. Emily followed, her steps hesitant. He entered the shop, then looked back to see Emily still standing outside, her nervousness palpable. *Man, she looks so nervous,* Tyler thought. *How can a person like her even steal stuff? What, does she not get nervous when people aren't there?*

  "Come on, get in," he called to her.

  Emily slowly, hesitantly, took a step inside.

  Tyler yelled, "Hector, I'm back!" Emily's heart leaped into her throat.

  "Hold on a minute," Hector's voice called back. "I'm trying to finish this."

  Tyler went into the back room. He saw Hector plunge a red-hot sword into a bowl of water; a hissing cloud of steam erupted as the metal cooled.

  Hector placed the slightly curved, now sharpened black sword onto the others on the iron table beside him. "Did you bring her? We have to do this fast because I have to work on a chest plate someone requested earlier while you were gone."

  "Oh, yeah, I brought her," Tyler replied, but as he turned to look for Emily, he found she'd vanished again. "Oh, come on," he muttered, heading outside. He found her by the side of the door, her head bowed. "What are you doing? Come in here, he's waiting for you."

  "Oh, okay," she mumbled, finally entering the shop.

  Hector's eyes widened as he saw Emily. "Wait a damn minute, I know her."

  Tyler nodded. "Yeah, I figured you might. She's the one who…" He started to explain, but Hector interrupted.

  "She's one of the orphans from Lyria. What is she doing here?"

  "I visited Lyria's orphanage often. There was someone I knew there… and I just saw her a couple of times. She was little back then. But because she's grown, I guess she's not allowed there anymore. Hey, what's your name?"

  Emily looked up, her voice barely a whisper. "Oh, my name is Emily."

  "Emily," Hector repeated, "and your last name?"

  Emily shook her head. "I don't know my last name."

  Tyler exchanged a confused glance with Emily. *Is she lying to him?* he wondered.

  Hector seemed to understand. "Ah, of course, I forgot you're an orphan. Anyways, where do you live in town?"

  "Oh, I didn't have a place to stay, so I just lived in different places," Emily explained quietly.

  Hector looked at her thoughtfully. "Different places?"

  Emily nodded.

  Hector sighed, then looked at Tyler. "Do you really want me to hire her?"

  Tyler nodded firmly. "Yeah, we'll be helping her with that."

  Hector hesitated. "I don't know… all right. She'll work here, but if she spills anything, or anything happens, I'm gonna blame it on you, understand?"

  Tyler chuckled. "Oh, um, yeah, yeah, I understand."

  Emily's heart pounded in her chest again.

  Tyler looked at Emily, offering a reassuring smile. "Looks like you're hired." He turned his attention back to Hector. "So, when will she start?"

  "I don't know, anytime. She can start today. My right arm hurts right now, and my back… so she can start with the cleaning."

  Tyler turned to Emily. "You have to take the broom from the back and start sweeping. There's a lot of cleaning here to do. You're going to have to clean a lot of stuff."

  Emily's eyes widened slightly, but she nodded. "Yes, thank you, sir."

  "Oh, just call me Tyler," he corrected gently.

  "Yes, sir… Tyler," Emily replied, still a little hesitant.

  "Just Tyler," he repeated with a smile. He then turned to Hector. "Oh, what about the payments? What are you going to pay her?"

  Hector looked at Tyler with a surprised expression. "Wait, I'm going to pay her? I thought you were going to pay her!"

  "What? I mean, I don't… I mean, I thought…" Tyler stammered, slightly embarrassed.

  Hector chuckled. "I'm just messing with you. I'm obviously going to pay her. So, what are you going to do? Are you just going to craft more items?"

  "Yeah," Tyler said, a small smile touching his lips. "I have a lot of items to craft right now."

  "Good," Hector said, his eyes gleaming with interest. "I'm looking forward to it. I want to see the kind of items you craft. It's my curiosity as a blacksmith. The sword you showed me that time, and the daggers… they were really good-looking, but they weren't really strong."

  Tyler nodded. "Yeah." He paused, then asked, "Oh, do you still have those metal scraps out the back?"

  "Yes, I still have them," Hector confirmed. "A lot of them."

  "That's great, then I can use all of them, right?" Tyler asked, already heading towards the back.

  Hector shrugged. "Why not? We can use all of them. With your unique skill that turns useless scrap metal into something useful, it's good. Plus, if it allows you to make more weapons, it just means more money for me, right?"

  Tyler nodded. "Yeah."

  Emily, meanwhile, quietly went to get a broom. Hector followed her, saying, "I have to go back to making that chest plate."

  "Yeah," Tyler replied, also heading towards the back room. He exited through the back door and found himself facing a large pit filled with various scrap metals. They shimmered faintly blue for a moment before vanishing, silently transferring into his inventory.