Eventually, Kyle did as he was told and walked into the dark forest.
He had been in the forest during the dark a couple of times, but Theodor sent him much deeper into the forest than the last times.
His reason?
Apparently, it wasn’t dangerous enough near the edges.
’What the fuck is his problem? I don’t want to put my life on a coin toss! Seriously, if I die, it’s his fault!’
Kyle walked through the underbrush, and the sounds of his movement echoed throughout the quiet forest.
During the day, there was more noise in the forest, and the sounds of his footsteps weren’t that out of place.
But during the night, Kyle felt like the entire forest heard him.
Whenever a bush rustled, Kyle felt like he heard its echo several times.
That made him feel quite exposed.
’Seriously, I need to learn how to sneak. I should talk to Lancel and ask him to teach me. He seems pretty good at sneaking.’
After walking for a bit, Kyle saw a pile of leaves.
He remembered what that pile of leaves actually was.
“Hey, think I can take this thing?” Kyle asked.
“I wanted to let you walk right into that anyway,” Theodor answered.
“You what?” Kyle asked in shock.
“You’re supposed to encounter dangerous situations,” Theodor said.
Kyle grew annoyed.
This fucker wanted to let him walk right into this thing!
“Fine! I’ll give you danger!” Kyle said with annoyance as he walked right to the pile.
Theodor didn’t say anything.
Kyle stepped onto the pile.
BANG!
The leaves rose up around him, intent on crushing him.
Kyle just jumped backward, easily avoiding the crushing maw.
Then, he spun in place and struck the side of the maw with his hammer.
BANG!
The entire thing was uprooted and crashed against a tree.
“You ruined it,” Theodor said. “This was supposed to be dangerous. This is not danger.”
Kyle looked at the uprooted maw.
Its roots were slowly wiggling around in the air as the maw slowly opened and closed helplessly.
Kyle just snorted and continued walking.
“You’re not eating that?” Theodor asked.
“Something is going to finish it off,” Kyle said. “It’s just a plant anyway.”
“Also, I don’t like veggies. They suck.”
’I’m in the body of a toddler,’ Theodor thought.
Kyle continued walking while Theodor looked at the squirming plant.
’Normal people would feel an empathy response,’ he thought. ’I don’t, and my inheritor also doesn’t.’
’We might have more in common than I thought.’
’That just means I have to be that much more careful.’
“You wanted danger, right?” Kyle asked with a raised brow.
Theodor got a bad feeling.
“Yes,” he answered.
“Sure thing, Boss,” Kyle said neutrally.
Then, he held his hammer in one hand and formed a fist with the other.
BANG!
And he hit the side of his hammer’s head with a fist, creating a loud sound that reverberated throughout the dark forest.
“Hey, I’m here!” Kyle shouted.
If Theodor had lungs, he would be taking a deep breath right now.
“Are you insane?!” Theodor shouted in Kyle’s mind.
“What? You wanted me to be in danger,” Kyle answered.
“Stop throwing a tantrum like a toddler! This is supposed to be controlled danger! You are summoning uncontrollable danger!” Theodor shouted.
“Well, you should’ve been more specific,” Kyle said, feeling satisfied that he managed to rile Theodor up.
“You knew exactly what I wanted!” Theodor shouted.
“Huh?” Kyle shouted. “I can’t hear you over the sound of fucking absolutely nothing approaching!”
“Shut up, you idiot!” Theodor shouted.
Kyle just snickered.
“Do you have something to report?”
Kyle nearly jumped out of his skin as someone silently appeared in front of him.
The person in front of Kyle wore a black cloak that hid their body and face.
Based on the voice he had just heard, that person was male.
“Eeehh,” Kyle answered, not knowing what to say.
“Report!” the man said. “I don’t have time for this nonsense!”
Kyle’s instincts were telling him that the person in front of him was quite dangerous.
“I… eehh… you know,” he said.
“Know what? Spit it out! Speak like a normal human!” the man said through an annoyed sneer.
“I… eehh… I’m on a walk,” Kyle said. “You know, training. Putting myself in danger. Like, being loud and attracting stuff so that I can… you know… fight it. Stuff like that.”
Kyle felt the atmosphere changing.
“You’re not with the Baron?” the man asked, his voice darkening.
“We have a Baron?” Kyle asked.
The atmosphere became tenser.
“You heard nothing. Am I understood?” the person asked in a threatening tone.
“Sure!” Kyle shouted. “What Baron? There’s no Baron! We’re not in the middle ages anymore!”
“Stop being so loud!” the man said through gritted teeth. “If I find out you snitched, I will kill you.”
’Snitched? What, are we gangsters now?’ Kyle thought.
“No, sir. No snitching here,” Kyle said with a salute.
The man looked at Kyle for a while before nodding.
Then, he jumped on top of one of the branches of a tree and left.
He hadn’t made a sound during this entire process.
Kyle released a breath.
’Shit, that was close,’ he thought.
“You do realize that he’s going to kill you, right?” Theodor asked.
“I’m no snitch,” Kyle answered quietly.
“Jump behind a tree, idiot!” Theodor shouted.
Kyle’s body acted on instinct, and he jumped immediately to the side.
Ding!
He heard something quietly hitting the ground.
As Kyle looked over, he saw an arrow sticking out of the ground.
“You absolute imbecile! He was trying to get your guard down so that he could assassinate you quietly!” Theodor shouted.
Kyle quickly scrambled behind one of the iron trees and turned his back to it.
His heart rate had already shot through the roof.
“Ever killed a human before?” Theodor asked.
“No,” Kyle answered through breaths.
“Well, today will be your first time,” Theodor answered.
“Do I have to?” Kyle asked as he looked around the trees.
“He wants to kill you. If you run away, he will search for you in the town. He knows what you look like. You don’t know what he looks like.”
“When he finds you, and he will find you, he will assassinate you.”
“You know where he is right now, but you will not know the next time he strikes.”
“You have to kill him.”
“Otherwise, he will kill you.”
“Welcome to the real world, child.”