It was hard to get out of bed, even knowing that it might be the last month in the bear territory for a while. I practically rolled out of it and hit the ground.

Then I went to take a bath, and took my time, cherishing the warm water. I really didn't want to get out, but I knew that I just have to. I finally forced myself and went to the cafeteria to have a nice, warm meal. They had curry rice with bits of fried chicken. I really enjoyed it.

After that, I finally started packing my thing. I gathered carts with the help of my shadows, and then spend some time in line, waiting for my turn to use the device. I bought provisions necessary for a month out there, In the wilderness.

I evolved every Weapon master skill to the fourth level because they all seemed incredibly useful, and I just couldn't decide. It cost me six million points, but I still had plenty left and could keep upgrading. It took me some time to decide which class should I focus on.

Eventually, I chose fire elementalist, since it gave me the possibility to create light. Necessary thing if I was to fight in dark spaces. I leveled all three of its skills to the fourth level. The rest of the points I decided to keep since it was useful to have some safety cushion in case of something unexpected. Besides, the next valuable upgrades were all pricy.

With that, I finally was ready to go, which made those standing behind me, very happy, since I spend quite a while shopping.

I took the last look around the city center, admiring what we managed to achieve, and departed, heading to the gate, leading to bear territory. It took me some time to get there, and I was actually met by little surprise, as I found Ki'rei in her chicken form, standing in the middle of the path leading behind city walls.

She ran at me and jumped into my arms. I managed to catch her, then she hugged me with her wings.

- What's wrong? - I asked immediately.

- Bawk!

I shook my head and put her in one of the carts.

- Yeah... Thanks for the answer.

- Bawk!

- Yeah, yeah... Let's talk later.

I had no idea what made her show this sudden manifestation of, I don't know, friendship? But it felt nice, as I really liked this strange small creature. Maybe she saw something in the city, or maybe she didn't see me for long enough to start missing my company? I couldn't tell, and I was not sure if I ever will find out.

We pushed for the next few hours, finally reaching the wolf territory, and catching up to Blue's forces. I just passed by them, killing the few animals that tried to attack me. I left the crystals, and just kept going, eventually killing a bunch more, the further from hunters I got.

By night we reached the usual camping spot between tall, thick trees. I had to lighten up the path with my skills, but when it came to eating, I wanted to have both hands free, so I actually used one of the torches and made shadow hold it.

Ki'rei transformed to her original form as soon as I did that.

- Knife! - she said with excitation in her voice and big smile.

Her eyes got all big and sparkly, and she extended her hands to receive the gift.

- Knife? - I asked, a bit puzzled.

- Knife!

- Oh... Yeah... Knife, of course... Uhm... I forgot about it.

She was completely taken aback by what I said. I saw the excitement slowly die, just as her curved by smile mouth turned back in a mostly straight line. She remained frozen like that for a couple of seconds, before just storming into the darkness.

- Oh, fuck. Wait! I'll bring it next time! Hey! Hey... Oh, fuck.

She didn't turn around, she didn't stop but just kept marching until she vanished from my field of view.

- I simply forgot!historical

There was no answer. I felt bad, but on the other hand, justified. So much happened in the city that there was no way of me remembering such a small and a rather insignificant thing. She seemed so hurt though. Like I betrayed her, which made me feel like a damn traitor.

I ate my meal pissed off at myself, then I waited thinking that maybe she will return, and I will have a chance to explain everything. Unfortunately, she didn't, and I ended up wasting time, precious time that I could spend sleeping.

At some point, I just decided to call it a day, since there was no indication of her returning. I wasn't afraid that she might get hurt, because she already proved to me that she can take care of herself. Like a parent that just lied to their kid, broke a promise.

It was a devastating feeling, but also made me realize the truth about how I felt about our relationship. This little creature felt like a daughter to me. Which was so damn abstract, and absurd, that I just couldn't stop thinking about it.

I tried to figure out when did it all happened, and also how strong my feelings were. Definitely strong enough to make me feel like shit because I forgot something that I promised her, which seemed to be pretty significant to me.

It was also a weakness since she was an agent of a foreign force. Bunch of aliens that could potentially be enemies. It was a terrible predicament. I needed to find a solution to get out of it before it became a real problem.

So as you probably already figured out, there was no sleeping on that night at all... Just a head full of thoughts, that just seemed to multiply into infinity.

The day came to an end with 4 268 790 points remaining on my account, and forty-two class points.