Elly wakes up in her bed, covered by her blanket. Using her hands, she gets up and sits on the bed, the blanket covering her legs.
E- "Argh! My head is hurtin'— did I sleep with the ponytail on!? Ouch—"
She unties her hair, allowing it to fall over her shoulders, then gets off the bed, looking at her clothes: a casual white T-shirt and black leggings.
E- "I even slept with the clothes I trained in! I should change the sheets now, I guess."
She walks to Taiga's bed to wake him up, but there's no one there. Surprised, she goes down the stairs to look for him.
E- "Where could he be?"
As she reaches the last step, the bathroom door opens, and Taiga comes out with only a towel around his waist.
E- "Aiga!? You were bathing?"
T- "Yeah, I woke up early. I already did my morning workout, so I took a bath."
E- "What time is it?"
T- "Past 9 i guess."
E- "Nine!? And what time did I fall asleep yesterday?"
T- "At ten you were already sleeping! I thought it'd be rude to wake you up, so I carried you to your bed."
E- "That's why I didn't change— makes sense."
For a moment, she gazes at Taiga's face and notices the faint mark of a scratch under his eye, reminding her of what happened yesterday.
E- "Wait a minute! The scratch under your eye— it's already healed!"
T- "Oh— ehm— yes, I guess so"
Elly is puzzled and surprised that the scratch is almost healed up in a single night.
T- "Ehm— can I go put something on now?"
E- "Oh yeah, sure! Go on."
Taiga climbs the stairs to their room, and at the same time, Sinbad comes out of his room, yawning as he sees Elly standing in front of him.
Si- "Elly— you okay—"
Elly turns away, her back to Sinbad. She grabs her arm and slowly walks away from him.
Sinbad sighs and heads to the bathroom, while Elly climbs the stairs and goes to her room. She knocks on the door.
E- "Aiga! You finished?"
T- "One moment!" he yells from inside the room.
After a moment, the door opens.
T- "I'm ready— is everything okay?"
E- "Aiga, I'm really sorry for yesterday. It's all my fault. My uncle is right— I should be more careful about what I do."
T- "Are you thinking of apologizing to him as well?"
She nods affirmatively.
E- "But I'm nervous just seeing him, not even talking to him."
T- "We could—"
Si- "Kids, get down here! I have something to tell you," he yells from downstairs.
Taiga and Elly head down quickly yet again to meet Sinbad.
Si- "Listen up. I considered some things, and I decided that it's time for both of you to take on your first mission."
E- "Really!"
T- "Mission?"
Sinbad- "I have some work to do in the village, and when I return, I'll take a mission for you two. After that, we'll also register you both in the system.Taiga, whatever you need to ask— ask Elly. I'm leaving for the village now. Take care of each other."
Taiga and Elly are chilling in the yard. Taiga lies on the grass, watching the clouds and calling out shapes, while Elly is sparring.
T- "You are kinda off today"
E- "I can't help it! I'm thinkin' about how to say sorry to Uncle."
T- "Just wait for him to return and then talk to him about it— Ee, see! That cloud looks like a house!"
E- "You think it's that easy? Yesterday I even told him that I hate him."
T- "I think you'll be fine." He smiles kindly at her.
E- "Maybe you're right. I'm gonna take a glass of water— need anythin' from inside?
T- "Ts"
E- "Need anythin' from inside?!"
T- "i said no!"
As Taiga lies on the green grass, watching the sky and thinking, he suddenly hears something trying to climb the rock wall before falling into the bushes. He immediately gets to his feet and walks toward the bushes.
He searches through the bushes, pushing branches aside, and discovers a pitch-black animal three times the size of a rat.
T- "What is that thing? I've never seen something like that here."
He tries to rub its chin with his finger, but it bites him. Chills rush through his body, and he immediately starts swinging his hand, hoping to shake it off.
Elly comes back with a glass of water in her hand and sees Taiga running left and right.
E- "What's wrong, Aiga? Why are you doin' that?"
T- "Re! That thing is biting me!"
When Elly sees what's biting Taiga, she freezes in shock and lets her glass fall. She immediately creates her light spear, rushes forward, and cuts it in half. It falls to the ground, split in two, still trying to move.
E- "Kill it now! That's a monster!"
Hearing that, Taiga steps on it and smashes its upper body. The lower half, however, continues to move.
T- "That's a monster?"
More of them climb over the walls, entering the yard and running in every direction.
E- "Catch them and kill them! They'll ruin everythin'!"
Elly moves in front of the entrance, light spear still in hand, cutting down two at once—one through the head and one split from head to tail. Without stopping, she kicks one into the wall, steps on the back of another, and stabs the fifth.
On his way to the back of the house, Taiga sees one running. He jumps on it, falls to his knees, and smashes its head into the ground with his punch.
T- "Opa— ew— what is that? It's slime. Like I punched snot."
Still on his knees, he swings his arm and hits another one, sending it into the rocky wall where it bursts, leaving a black stain.
He continues catching them and throwing them out of the yard, some slamming into the walls as they fly out.
As they circle the yard, Taiga's eye catches a monster perched at the top of a tree, shaped like a chicken. Quickly, he picks up a stone and pulls his arm back. His foot slides slightly as he steps forward on the grass. For an instant, a faint light-blue aura appears around the hand holding the stone. He throws it, tearing through the monster's left wing.
As it falls from the tree, Elly throws her spear and obliterates it.
T- "Do you think they feel pain?"
E- "Monsters don't have organs. You see? They're basically just slimes at this point.
It seems we dealt with all of them."
Elly dismisses her light spear, and they both head toward the door.
T- "Oh, by the way! What is that Light fandon you keep using to make your spears? I mean, you're supposed to have a Beast fandon… right?"
E- "Ah, yeah. It's a Natural fandon. Uncle will teach you one later. There are twelve of them, and you can—"
She stops when she hears something. The branches of the trees start moving, and the earth begins to tremble. From between the tall trees, a gigantic monster emerges.
T- "Re! What is that!?"
E- "I- it's a-a C-rank?" Her voice is trembling.
T- "That thing is about five meters tall!"
E- "Y- yes."
The monster swings its hand, breaking the top of a tree and sending it crashing toward them, but Elly rushes at the falling log and cuts it in half, while Taiga dodges the pieces. With the Light Spear in her hand, Elly launches it and slices off one of the monster's fingers.
The monster strikes Elly, sending her flying into the house's wall. Taiga is shocked and scared; Elly is hurt, and worry grips him. The monster steps into the yard and moves toward her.
Taiga's gaze swings between Elly and the monster, but in a blink, he makes his decision and runs toward it. His steps leave marks on the ground, and on the last one, grass and dirt fly backward as he launches himself forward.
His leg becomes coated in the same blue aura, kicking the monster's ankle and slicing it halfway through, but upon landing, he loses his balance and rolls away. The monster raises its hand to crush him, but a Light Spear flies past and cuts into it.
Elly is standing. Blood runs from her head, past the side of her eye, and drips down her cheek. She creates another spear, takes her stance, and jumps forward. The monster steps back, and at that moment, Taiga gets up, rushes toward its leg, and punches it with all his might, creating a weak shockwave.
His joints crack open and blood stains his skin, but the monster loses its balance. Elly drives the spear into its torso and slides downward as it cuts through, before she falls to the ground.
The monster, clearly frightened and weakened, flees back into the forest, leaving both of them exhausted. Taiga slowly makes his way to a wall, sits on the grass, and rests his back against the rocky surface. He breathes heavily and tries to relax, his eyes slowly opening and closing. When Elly tries to get up from the ground, he sees dog ears and a tail pop out before his eyes.
He is shocked and trembling, trying to get on his feet as Elly crawls toward him. He can't get up, so he tries to crawl away, but she is faster.
He falls onto his back, slowly moving backward with whatever strength he has left. Elly is now a breath away from him. Time seems to stop for Taiga. His heart skips a beat, sweat drips from his chin, and then Elly rushes at him and rubs her head under his neck.
His heart is beating fast, but he slowly realizes that nothing bad happens. With one hand, he pets her, and Elly rewards him with a smile, and she wiggles her tail. Taiga smiles slightly and lets out a big sigh of relief.
T- "Oh mama! I thought I was dead! Thank God."
At that exact moment, Sinbad enters from the entrance in pure shock, grocery bags in his hands. He turns his head left and right, takes a few steps, and when he sees them, he lets the bags fall to the ground.
T- Sinbad--
Elly hides behind Taiga, trying to avoid eye contact with Sinbad. On the other side, Sinbad slowly approaches them step by step, leaving shoe marks in the soft soil, and with a sudden movement, he kneels down and hugs them both.
At first, Taiga doesn't believe it, but slowly tears come out. With one hand, he hugs Sinbad too and rests his face against Sinbad's neck.
T- i was sooo— scared!
Elly's animal ears slowly shrink.
E- "I— I'm— so sorry, uncle— I didn't mean to say all that yesterday! I— I don't hate you."
Tears fall from her eyes, running down her chin as she hugs him too.
Si- "No, I'm sorry for what I said earlier… I should have trusted you… both of you. I'm just glad you're alive right now."