The faint wind rustled against Joy's face, carrying the scent of grass and earth. She looked at Tyler, her expression a mix of confusion and mild concern. Tyler, arms crossed, grinned at her, almost bursting with pride. He stood ten feet away, watching.

Joy struggled to move. The weight was too much. Tyler had attached four heavy steel bricks to her back. One vine wrapped around her waist, another coiled around her chest, securing the burden.

Tyler pinched his chin, his eyes narrowed. "Did I… put too much?" he muttered, mostly to himself. "I mean, I thought they weren't that heavy… but then again, my strength has… shot through the roof lately. I am an A-rank, so, maybe it's much heavier for a G-rank."

He put his hands on his waist, as he observed the little goblinth struggling to take a single step towards him.

"Yeah," he admitted, "It's a bit much."

He moved towards her and knelt, beginning to undo the bindings. As he loosened one of the bricks, the little pet suddenly wrapped her tiny, soft hands around Tyler's neck, pulling him into a hug.

"What the…?" he muttered, startled, as Joy rubbed her cheek against his.

"Okay…" he said awkwardly, his voice strained as he slowly removed one of the bricks. It shimmered in his palm before disappearing into his inventory. He gently removed her hands from his neck and quickly stood up, looking at her and said, "Seriously, what's with you and hugging me?" He rubbed the back of his neck, trying to hide his awkwardness.

"Okay," he breathed, regaining his composure. He stepped away from the goblinth, ready to begin again.

Joy grit her teeth and, with a grunt, took a step towards Tyler. Then another… and another!

Tyler's eyes widened. "Finally! It's actually walking this time!"

Suddenly, she stopped, her gaze fixed on him, and he tilted his head in confusion. She grabbed the vine with both hands, groaning, as she clearly wanted to rip it apart.

"No! Don't! Don't do that!" Tyler yelled, raising his arms to stop her.

The little goblinth stopped, looking up at him, her eyes wide with a mix of surprise and a touch of fear. She didn't understand. Why did he tie these heavy things on her back? And it was almost as if he was trying to stop her from removing them.

Tyler pinched the bridge of his nose, and sighed. *How the hell am I gonna train this thing? he thought, frustrated. She doesn't understand a word I'm saying.*

He took a few steps away, then crouched down, spreading his arms wide, a gesture of invitation, a sign that he wanted to embrace her from afar. "She likes hugs, right? Let's see if this works… Or maybe she's just going to try to rip the vines off again."

Joy's eyes widened with understanding. This human… This human didn't want her to take off these things. He wanted her to get to him. Was this some kind of test? She groaned, taking a few more steps towards Tyler.

His eyes widened, and he smiled, chuckling a little. "Come on, come on… You can do it."

Joy struggled with each step, the distance seemingly vast. Tyler, thirty normal feet away, seemed even further to her, as the tiny feet carried the heavy burden. The determination to reach him burned in her gaze.

She struggled, step by step, inching forward. The morning sun beat down, and she began to sweat. She was just an inch away from Tyler. Tyler just looked at her. He didn't move. He didn't go to her. He just crouched there, his arms wide open.

Finally, she reached Tyler and embraced him. Tyler's smile widened and he lifted her up quickly. "Wow, you actually did it! Good job!"

The little creature felt warmer against his arms, her breath hitched, and she was breathing heavily. Suddenly, her stomach growled.

"Oh," Tyler said, his expression softening, "You must be hungry." He slowly put her down, the steel bricks still weighing her down. "We didn't eat anything before we came here. Well, luckily, I bought some apples yesterday. They're still in the inventory."

He opened his palm, and a red apple shimmered into existence. Joy's eyes widened, her gaze fixed on the bright fruit. She looked at this thing. She didn't know what it was.

Tyler handed her the apple. She took it with both hands, the size of it making her hands appear small, and then she looked at it, confused. Tyler materialized another apple in his hand, and with a loud crunch, took a bite. She looked at him, then looked at the apple in her own hands, unsure.

She sniffed the apple, drawing in the scent. It was new, but it didn't smell like anything harmful. It must have been fine to eat. She bit into it, the apple crunching under her teeth, and the juice squirting into her mouth. She chewed, and this thing, this thing that the human gave her… It was delicious.

The little monster's eyes widened. A slight red shimmer flashed across her cheeks, and she started to devour the apple, quickly eating it. Juice rolled from her chin, dripping onto the short green grass.

Tyler smiled, swallowing another bite. "Oh, slow down a bit," he said, "I still have a lot more in the inventory."

To his surprise, she finished the whole apple in moments.

Tyler muttered under his breath, "So fast!"

Joy looked from the apple core, to Tyler's hands, and then, she extended her hand, her palm open, squeezing it shut and then opening it, a gesture of wanting. Tyler then said, "Oh, you want another apple?"

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Suddenly, an idea sparked. He stepped back two steps, holding the apple out.

The little monster walked towards Tyler, easily to reach out for the food.

Tyler smiled, as he looked at her. Wait… This might actually work. She reached for the apple, and she took it, and started eating.

Tyler thought, Why don't I just use food to train this thing?

He watched as she devoured the core, then licked her lips, her gaze fixed on Tyler. She still looked hungry. Tyler opened his palm, and another apple materialized. "If you want another one…"

Joy's eyes were glued to the apple.

Tyler took a step back.

Joy approached him.

Suddenly, Tyler turned and ran, sprinting away from her, towards the familiar tree. It was the same one Grone had made him run to during training, the leaves rustling as the wind passed through it, a perfect, green umbrella. He waved his hand, beckoning. "Over here!"

The goblinth's eyes widened. She let out a confused hum.

Then, the little goblinth started marching towards Tyler. It looked to be moving a bit faster now, almost as if it was adapting to the weight. Her teeth were clenched.

Tyler watched her from a distance, putting his hand on his hip. Wow. This thing is pretty far, isn't it? He thought. This is going to take a while. He sat down comfortably under the tree, and then said. "I do have a lot of these in my inventory." He then began to eat his apple, taking a slow bite.

He swallowed the bite, and thought to himself, Right, now it's time to test that theory.

The system panel appeared, writing "Craft Steel Fang Dagger?"

Tyler mentally selected "yes" as he took another bite.

Immediately, the system panel disappeared. Another panel, showing a circular loading bar, rapidly filled. He smiled, after swallowing another bite. This actually works. After I destroyed the room, I put the steel bars in my inventory. That flat ceiling alone could make a lot of daggers.

He took another bite, his thoughts racing.* I haven't sold any steel daggers yet, and these things give incredible effects. I'm going to craft a lot of them, enhance them right here, then sell them at Hector's shop. He grinned, his excitement rising. *Now that people know about armors and weapons that can give you an additional skill… These things are going to sell pretty quickly!*

As the system panel appeared, signaling Crafting Successful, he opened his palm. The steel fang dagger materialized, looking exactly like his other one, but this one gleamed even more brightly under the sunlight that pierced through the leaves.

He chuckled and it disappeared into his inventory. He quickly stood and said, "System, craft 20 steel fang daggers."

The system panel responded with: "Craft 20 Steel Fang Daggers? (Yes/No)"

Tyler's smile widened, his eyes gleaming with excitement as he muttered instinctively, "Wait, that means I can actually craft them?" He cleared his throat and murmured, "Yes." The system panel vanished, replaced by another displaying a circular loading bar.

This one filled slower, inching forward at a sluggish pace, but Tyler's heart raced with anticipation. He hadn't expected it to craft so many items at once, let alone steel-fang daggers.

Dismissing the panel with a thought, he glanced ahead to check on Joy. She was still far off, her small figure straining under the weight.Joy struggled with the steel bricks tied to her back, her teeth clenched in determination, each step a labored effort that dug her tiny green feet into the short grass. Tyler watched her, his smile lingering, and took another crisp bite from the apple in his hand, the juice tart on his tongue. *She's really trying, isn't she? he thought, chewing slowly. Still, she has a long way to go. I'll train her hard today. I've got food and water for her. By the end, she needs to run back and forth without breaking.*

He chuckled softly, recalling his own early struggles, how he'd collapsed once and blacked out for a moment. Meanwhile, Joy's tiny green feet brushed against the short grass, each press forward sending a faint rustle through the blades. Tyler was still far ahead, but her resolve burned fierce. That human… no, her human. She had to reach him. Flashes of memory surged, her life in the monster zones, rejected by goblins and ogres alike, creatures that mirrored her yet cast her aside.

Joy's ears jutted like an ogre's, pointed and broad, while her skin gleamed a deep green, the hue of a goblin's hide, her black eyes reflecting the same shadowy void. She felt a pull toward both creatures, as if woven from their essence, yet they shunned her in those brutal times.

The truth was, Joy didn't realize she was a fusion, a rare anomaly born in the monster zones, where the lingering auras of slain goblins and ogres had twisted together during a respawn. What emerged was bizarre, unprecedented, a creature that defied existence itself. So, each kind rejected her, casting her into isolation.

From the shadows, she watched goblins cradle their young, arms wrapping in tender embraces, even the ogres offering rough but warm touches. But Joy never knew such affection, her world a cycle of death and rebirth across endless monster zones.

She learned contact only through slaughter, killing or being killed, grasping lifeless forms that felt cold and unyielding, devouring them to survive.

That emptiness gnawed at her, a pain that twisted deeper than any wound, as if it were eroding her soul while she clung to life.What hurt most was the indifference of the others.

Monsters died, revived, and repeated the carnage without a flicker of change, no sorrow, no questioning. They simply existed within the chaos, unquestioning of the natural order, embodying it without pause.

Joy had glimpsed humans in the monster zones before. They had slain her three times in the two years of her existence, their blades and spells cutting through her fragile form. But she always sensed humans were different, unique in their fragility.

They didn't respawn like other creatures, she had witnessed beasts reforming in a swirl of energy right before her eyes. No, humans simply vanished, retreating to some unseen place, only to return another day. And they produced these sounds, these murmurs, much like the ones her human made toward her. It felt like a bridge, a whisper of connection, a way to understand. She just needed to decipher what this human meant, perhaps later. For now, she had to reach him.

She didn't grasp what Tyler was doing, this strange ritual of bricks and distance, but a quiet joy bloomed within her. She was relieved to be free of those zones, to have this human. He was warm, alive, a presence she could embrace without the sting of death.

He wouldn't strike her down. Meeting Tyler filled her with a rare contentment, as if she finally belonged somewhere. He felt like a reward, one she refused to lose, and that fierce attachment fueled her through the grueling training.

The gap between them twisted like a threat, as if he might slip away forever. Hunger gnawed at her, the apple's scent tantalizing, but deeper than that, she craved him, his nearness, his existence.

Tyler pressed his cheek into his palm, eyes fixed on the system panel's circular bar, its progress inching forward at a torturously slow crawl. He sighed, a wave of impatience washing over him. *Man, this sucks. Why's it taking so long? Is it because I'm still level 2 at crafting weapons?* Leaning back, he planted both hands on the coarse grassy ground, the blades cool and prickly against his skin. His gaze shifted to Joy, still laboring under the steel bricks.

"This is gonna take a while," he muttered, voice laced with resignation.

Meanwhile....

Anna soared through the sky, her white coat billowing, with it's pale reapers emblem whipping against the wind's relentless gusts. Her long black hair streamed behind her like dark banners, her sharp dark eyes locked on the horizon as thoughts swirled. I wasted too much time with the vanguard. The journey dragged on, so I left them behind. And they doubt I can handle this alone? A vein pulsed on her forehead, her tongue clicking in sharp annoyance. "How dare they underestimate me," she muttered under her breath, voice edged with fury. "They'll see. I'll finish this quick."

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