***

The next morning.

All the children gathered in the ‘Forest Hall’.

This mansion was built inside a huge ‘real forest’, and the entire forest surrounding the mansion was called the ‘Forest Hall’.

I looked at the children gathered around like chicks.

‘Hmm, the forest smells good. Babies are cute too.’

Feeling better, I smiled and looked around and meet Sislin’s eyes.

“Huh? Sisl! You have an earring I’ve never seen before!”

Sislin answered, fiddling with his ears as if it was awkward.

“Ah.. The teacher said is a power suppression tool”

“Wow!”

‘I’m so envious.’

‘How does it feel to have an ability powerful enough to need to be suppressed?’

Extras wouldn’t understand it for the rest of their lives.

At that moment, an arrogant voice rang out.

“Ah, I’m tired of testing. I must be ‘special 1’ again anyway!”

“Is that so? Our Heinri is really amazing~”

When I answered with a smile, Heinrich blushed innocently even though he boasted about it himself.

“Sheesh, of course. So, I will protect you for the rest of my life.”

“Ah, isn’t that reassuring?”

Heinrich put his fist to the corner of his mouth and coughed, blushing more and more.

“It would be better for my sister to have a strong husband than a weak husband. You know, if you marry me later, I’ll be..”

“Annette! Annette! Look at this! Can you see this?”

“Huh? What is it, Sasha?”

“..Sister, if you marry me.”

For a moment, I was distracted by Sasha, who ran like a rabbit, and I couldn’t listen to Heinrich properly.

“Ta-da, it’s a bunny bell!”

“Hey, Sasha’s rabbit bell is so cute.”

“Yes! I’m going to run around like a rabbit!”

“Wow! So cool, Sasha!”

“..Who the hell am I talking to?”

Heinrich muttered awkwardly, and Sislin, who was watching next to him, shook his head.

Sasha said, clenching her fists.

“This time, I must go up to level 4!”

‘A goal to go up by 1 level! That’s a reasonable goal, Sasha.’

‘As for my reasonable goal..’

I scratched my cheek in embarrassment, lowered my eyebrows and smiled.

“I’ll be happy to just stay at level 5!”

Fortunately, I was a model student, so it was attainable based on my grades in ‘studies’ and ‘attitude to life’.

Normal Awakeneds mostly stay at the lowest level, level 9.

No, actually, there was no need to measure my level.

‘Heck, it makes me sad to say it.’

‘It’s a good defense if I can stay at level 5 even with my poor talent.’

At that time, while I was thinking gloomy thoughts, Miss Rose, who was always in charge of the level test, appeared.

With her characteristic bright, rosy smile, she said, clapping her hands. Clap, clap!

“Now! The level test will be held today as announced. Did everyone receive the necklace?”

“Yes!”

Julien answered the loudest. His sky blue eyes twinkled.

“The Trees that have already participated in the test will know, but I’ll explain again. The necklace is for ‘safety’. If it’s dangerous, call me using that necklace anywhere.”

Miss Rose raised one hand high and said cheerfully.

“Then Teacher will come to the rescue!”

‘Huhu, I’m very safe.’

There was the necklace, and if I wanted to, I could summon Julius with the Pluto ring.

‘Fufu. This test is called ‘laying down and eating pudding’.’

As I was smiling happily, Miss Rose continued.

“The level is measured when you catch a lot of ‘monsters’! Ah! But don’t worry! Monsters look very cute, and usually, they won’t hurt you.”

“Yes!”

“But!”

Miss Rose frowned and raised her index finger to emphasize.

“Each of you is assigned to a zone suitable for your level, so be careful not to deviate from the zone. It’s dangerous to go to a high-level area by mistake! Also, Trees wearing magic suppressors must not remove it no matter what happens. Okay?”

The rules were simple.

1. Catch a lot of monsters (the low-level monsters won’t attack Trees, but high-level monsters may be different.)

2. Be active only in your area.

3. Do not remove suppressors.

‘Hmm. The rules are the same as last time.’

All the children who were gathered together had shining eyes.

Each of them seemed full of will.

“Well then, good luck. Let’s get started!”

Beep-eep—

With the sound of Miss Rose’s whistle, the lights flashed from the children’s necklaces. At the same time, swook! The dazzling lights swallowed the children.

***

“Wow, I’m in the same area as Annette again! I love it!”

“That’s right, Sasha.”

After being teleported to the lower level zone, I looked around with Sasha.

The fresh smell of the forest was good, and the spring flowers in full bloom were also pretty. It was quite peaceful here.

“Let’s work hard, Annette!”

“Yes!”

I nodded my head vigorously. In my hand was a magic wand that was childish, like it belonged to a ‘magical girl’.

It was the only weapon given to the Awakened.

‘Heuk-heuk, it’s cute but shameful.”

That was when I was crying inside. There was a strange noise coming from my feet.

—What?

Huh? What does this mean? A terrifying monster must have appeared!

As I hurriedly looked down at my feet, it was as expected.

The appearance of the ‘first monster’ was.. slime.

..It was a little insignificant to be terrifying, though.

It was soft and bouncy like pudding, and it came toward me and cried.

“Kyuu.”

‘..Oh, I’m sorry, I have to kill you!’

The monsters I had to kill were so trivial that I was a little sad. However, to maintain level 5, I had to catch monsters.

After I had made up my mind, I swung my magic wand with enthusiasm.

“Hyak!”

As soon as the slime was hit by the magic wand, it bounced off and flew away with a ‘Kyuuuh!’ sound.

“Done!”

“Me too, I want to catch monsters!”

Sasha, perhaps stimulated by my actions, ran a little deeper into the forest. I quickly followed her.

How far did we run like that?

We finally met a monster on the trail. It was a small mole.

“Kya-haha.”

..The mole was laughing in a bad way.

With black eyes the size of a millet and a long nose, and while sniffing and grunting, the mole was confronting Sasha.

Sasha recited a summoning spell with a serious face as if she had met a huge monster.

“Pelesto!”

Ppyong! Then something was summoned.

‘..The chick she summoned in class last time!’

—Cheep? Cheep!

A yellow, baby-fist-sized chick was summoned and it tilted its head.

In many ways, it was too small to fight a mole and win. Not surprisingly, the mole sniffed, twitched it’s long nose, and laughed.

“Kikiki!”

“....”

Sasha’s pink cotton candy-like ponytails drooped and hung down.

There was a look of disappointment on her face.

“..I think it’s still too much to get a mole monster with my skills.”

“No, stay strong! you can do it! Sasha!”

I cheered the little child on.

When Sasha heard my support, her eyes became clear. Sasha looked at me and shouted, “Yes!.”

“Pelesto!”

—Peep, peep?

One more chick had been added.

“Pelesto!”

— Cheep, cheep, cheep, cheep.

“Pelesto!”

— Peep, peep! Peep! Peep! Cheep!

Soon a huge army of chicks was formed, and the mocking mole went “Kk-eh!” He snorted and looked surprised.

Sasha exclaimed while stretching her index finger.

“Heroes, attack!”

Soon, the yellow chick warriors flapped their wings and shouted “Cheep! Eep, eep!” and launched a beak peck attack, tok, tok!

“Ki-yaakk!”

The mole hurriedly ran away as if in embarrassment, and then disappeared in a burst of smoke.

Sasha’s face filled with joy.

“Wow, I did it!”

“Wow, that’s really cool. Well done, Sasha!”

That was during the time when we hugged each other and rejoiced. Suddenly, my necklace floated in the air and started to emit a red light.

‘Red?’

It was the first time I had seen this kind of light.

“Oh, Annette?! ..Annette!!!”

The last thing I saw was Sasha’s startled face, then the red light swallowed me up in an instant.

“....!”

***

“Ahh!”

Boom, I fell into an unfamiliar space, my butt hitting the floor.

I panicked and quickly looked around.

A majestic waterfall was pouring violently in front of my eyes, and the trees were so dense and tall that they completely covered the sky.

It was a place with a cold and fishy smell peculiar to a deep forest.

‘Where am I?’

First of all, it was definitely not the beginning of the forest. It was full of trees.

“..Sasha?”

I called out her name carefully, but only the sound of the wind could be heard. It was clear that no one was around.

‘Is there an error with the necklace?’

I looked at the necklace and pondered.

Would it be better to call Miss Rose right now?

Normally I would have taken the safe path, but now I am wearing the Pluto ring.

If something came up, I could just call Julius.

‘There is no need to call Miss Rose for nothing and take the cowardly penalty.’

If she was called and this place was also a low-level area, I probably wouldn’t even be able to maintain level 5 this time.

I calmly got up from my seat and brushed the dirt off my body.

“Okay.”

If so, shouldn’t I make a rational choice?

First, I started by tearing the hem of the pants I was wearing and tying it to a tree to mark the road.

Then I started moving forward.

I was fully prepared – holding the necklace in my left hand and ready to rub the ring with my right hand, which was holding the weapon.

However, there was something I was curious about.

‘..What is Sisl and Heinri doing now?’

***

Heinrich was running through the deep forest. This area, created only for level 1, was a trap at every step, and at every moment, there was a risk of death.

Shh— Ghehehe!

Then white anacondas as large as men rushed toward the boy with their mouths wide open.

While running, Heinri briefly recited a spell while looking to the side.

“Descartes.”

Chijijik, the dark-red sparks that rose from the boy’s hand took the form of a sword in an instant.

Heinrich avoided the incoming attack and neatly cut the snake’s head horizontally.

Whoosh! Whoo-oosh!

Then, several snakes tried to wrap around Heinrich’s body, but likewise, the blade of his sword cut them up like raindrops falling off leaves.

“Hey, you’re attacking me without mercy. But you can’t even brush my collar..”

Heinrich swept up his silver hair, grinned and kicked the monster’s body.

His beautiful and arrogant purple eyes were filled with confidence.

“It’s driving me crazy. Even if I want to lose, I am too strong to lose, right? Heh.”

It was around the time when he was raising the corners of his lips. Suddenly, a thick thorn vine came up from the floor, wrapped around his ankle, and dragged him down to the floor. Whoosh!

“....!!!”

It was a trap.

As the ground crumbled, Heinrich managed to hold on to the ground with one hand, as if hanging from a cliff.

“Ugh.”

He tried to shake off the vines, but he could no longer feel the flow of magic from his core.

As if something was blocking the flow.

‘Is it a monster with the attribute of magic resistance?’

“..Damn it!”

A cold sweat ran down his back. At first glance, the collapsed ground looked quite deep.

The wind blowing from below blew through Heinrich’s silver hair.

‘If I fall from here, I will be seriously injured.’

‘Or die.’

In the meantime, the thorn vine was still struggling to pull Heinrich down.

“Damn it! Shit! Why are these plants here!”

Even though Heinrich clenched his teeth and endured, he was only hanging on with the strength of his hands.

When his strength, which was trembling and worn away, almost reached the limit..

‘I’m going to fall!’

At that time, a hand suddenly popped up in front of Heinrich.

“....!”

The face of the person was hard to see as he had his back against the single ray of light shining through the dense forest.

Thanks to this, he narrowed his purple eyes, and only then did the face become clear through the light.

Black hair as dark as the starless night, and red eyes shining with brilliance like a beast’s.

Somehow, this familiar yet unfortunate feeling..

It was a boy Heinrich knew well.

“Hold on.”

Sislin waved his outstretched hand.

Ame: The kids are just soooo cute! Next update will definitely be just a single chapter haha..