Our Pride

A clear stream flows slowly, the sound of water splashing about the rocks accompanied by frogs croaking and birds chirping. Surrounded by lush trees, in the middle of the stream is a 15-year-old boy washed all over his body, visible scars crossed in front of his body. His face wrinkled seriously thinking of something.

'My wound is perfectly closed, although there is a little scar'

The healing speed of the wound is much faster than he expected, it is even faster than the speed of recovery in his previous life, he thought he needed to meditate a few more days considering his initial injury. He thinks about the possible factors that can cause this fast rate of healing speed, maybe this body has a high suitability with magical energy or this world has a high-level concentration of magic power.

For the first possibility, he has no way to test it at the moment, while the second possibility it is because of suspicious timing of the demonic beast attack to his village, it is outside the month of the demons.

Months of demons usually last for 3-5 months and are marked with the first snowdrop, this is where the magic power reaches its peak, causing ordinary animals become demonic beasts also witches awakening at this time is usually stronger than witches who awaken at other times.

In his previous lives, the demonic beast attacked villages always at months of demons, when the number and strength of the demonic beast reached their peak. But now the demonic beast is attacking the village at a strange moment, it creates an uncomfortable feeling in his heart. He needs to go back and check the village.

There was a rustling from Gerald's behind as he put his clothes on. He looked back and saw that Alice who was coming want to walk to the stream of water.

"Oh hey, what do you want to do here Alice?"

"I wanted to catch a small animal to cook but could not find it, so I came here to wash my face and throw my body into the river,"

"Are you carrying a weapon Alice, the forest is quite dangerous if you are not armed. If you want to eat, you can just tell me,"

Alice shook her head and said

"No brother, I just want to try to be independent, and not too reliant on others. I can not always be depending on you, big brother,"

Gerald paused and watched Alice's expression for a moment.

"I understand I will teach you how to hunt animals, but for today I will hunt and cook it, you can start by heating the meat late afternoon,"

Gerald stood up and prepared to hunt for small animals after a few steps he paused and said

"Oh and Alice, you can always depend on me forever, that's the pride of every big brother"

===

In the middle of the forest, Gerald cooks a meat soup in a bowl made of turtle shell. Earlier, when he examined the animal traps he had made the previous day, he found that five traps had caught a few rabbits and squirrels, making him no longer need to hunt.

Alice who just finished washing her body helped cooking and also keep the wood burning. It seems like Alice often helps her brothers cook when they're together.

After they finish cooking, they eat while chatting and bantering. Gerald, who had already finished his meal, talked to Alice about his plans to return to the village.

"But why big brother, that village is already destroyed and the inhabitants are unlikely to return to the village,"

"Listen to me Alice, you have to know that we are right now lucky enough to meet only small animals. If we meet a wild animal like a tiger or a bear, we might not survive without a proper weapon, while the only weapon we have is,"

Gerald showed her a sharpened bamboo and a stone knife sharpened yesterday morning before Gerald went hunting. He uses both weapons only for hunting and skinning animals that he caught.

"In addition, we also need other things to survive, such as drugs for common diseases. There are some plants that can be used as a medicine, but we can not keep it for a long time. We also need to pay attention to the poison from plants, insects or poisonous snakes, after that..."

Gerald continues to talk about survival techniques as well as about anything that could harm them. Without realizing Gerald, he has entered the teaching mode.

Alice listens attentively, this is a fresh experience for her, her brother teaching life skills. Previously her brother always looked after her like a garden flower. She could always solve every problem pretty well, often without even Alice knowing.

Alice learns a thing or two when she looks at her brother solve a trouble, but her brother never explains what happens, if Alice asks about a problem he just taps his chest and says 'leave it to me', when Alice finds out the problem is over.

Alice knows her brother is just trying to keep her from the bad sights of the world, but Alice's desire to support her brother and work together with each other is always inside her.

Gerald understood what she wishes and did his best to fulfill it. He will teach Alice how to be able to stand with her own feet.

===

After checking the perimeter and ensuring Alice's safety, Gerald went into the village on his own with the direction given by Alice. He did not bring Alice because of her injured leg and promised to return before the late afternoon.

There are some things Gerald wants to make sure, and he needs to search in the village remain before taking the next step. Besides scavenging goods like medicine and money when they want to go elsewhere, he also suspects that there is something Gerald had hidden based on Alice's story.

After arriving at the village, Gerald noticed a lot of wreckage and an incomplete corpse. There was only a silence around him, even the noise of the bird that had been with him long ago faded before he reached the village.

Gerald tries to scavenging at the ruined inn where Alice and her older brother lived before. He found things like money, clothes and some relatively good medicine. Other than that, he also found swords, not the best kind, but he can use it when fighting wild animals.

As he searched for an object in the former inn, there was a pair of eyes watching him from the rubble of the building. A demonic beast watched Gerald carefully as there was fresh meat in front of it while drooling. The demonic beast removes his killing aura and slowly approaches from behind. He grinned sharply realize that his prey was not even aware of his existence.