"Do you always play with that wooden sword?"

  On this rare occasion, all of my friends are at my house, chilling under the shade of a large tree in my big backyard.

  "We don't play! We spar!"

  Valerie interjected Gabriel's question as she raised her own wooden mace.

  "Me and Luxa are gonna be super strong when we're older and become Knights!"

  "Eeeh? But my Dad says girls can't be knights." Julian retorted.

  "Yeah! Plus, everyone knows girls are weaker than boys!" Gabriel added.

  While these rude twins aren't technically wrong…

  I bumped their heads with my sword and wagged my finger, "Girls may be weaker, but with the help of mana, girls can be just as strong as boys."

  Like a gun, mana in this world is a great equalizer.

  Still, Julian's father is right about girls being unable to become a Knight. Who cares about that, though? I'm going to be an adventurer, anyway.

  "What's so good about swinging a sword? Isn't it easier just to shoot an arrow with a bow?" Henry asked.

  Ah, right, his father is a Hunter.

  "Smashing things up is cool!" Valerie stated.

  "B-but there are things you shouldn't smash, Valerie…" Amaranth, ever the innocent.

  I walked casually around the big tree and swung my wooden sword around. "It didn't have to be a sword, that's just what Papa uses. I could've settled with any weapon. A bow, an axe…"

  "A mace! Or hammer!" Valerie added.

  "Right, or a mace or hammer."

  Maybe even a dagger, of which I'm most familiar with…

  "…But I just chose the sword because it was available to me. I chose the sword because it'll take me places I wouldn't be able to reach."

  "Reach places? How does a sword help with that?" Gabriel asked.

  I swung the sword down sharply at him, pointing the tip just centimeters away from his nose before he could even react.

  "Places like dungeons! I want to be an adventurer, so I need to learn how to fight!"

  "Ah! Does Luxa want to be an adventurer?! Then I'll become one, too!" Valerie pumped her fists in the air, looking at me with stars in her eyes.

  "Yeah! Let's go on an adventure! This forest is a good place to start!" Julian shouted.

  Julian ran towards the forest that borders the village, with Gabriel agreeing, taking Henry's arm.

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  "Come on, let's go!"

  "I don't…" Henry glances at me and lowers his gaze while smiling nervously.

  "G-guys, I d-don't think you should…!" Amaranth vehemently shook her head as she started to panic.

  "Gabby, Juli! Stop!" I commanded.

  "Too late!" Julian yelled back as he giggled, sprinting into the forest.

  "Didn't you say you wanted to adventure?!" Gabriel laughed as he dragged Henry along.

  "Yeah, let's go!" Even Valerie was taken in by the Twin's enthusiasm, running off to join them.

  "Valy…!"

  Before I could grab her, she sprinted off. When did she get so fast?

  "Haaah… Stay here Amara, I'll get them back."

  "O-okay… s-stay safe!"

  I jog into the forest after the problem children, tracking their scents. They sure are fast kids… Must be puberty.

  "Gabby! Juli! Henry! Valy! Come back now!"

  Despite my yelling, I get no response. There's no way they got so far in such a short amount of time, right?

  And it's not like this forest is dangerous, otherwise people wouldn't build a village this close to it.

  As I'm trudging through the undergrowth, I slowly get curious about all the new smells.

  Just like back in the city, I instinctively react with a flehmen response, but the smells aren't gross like the city was at all.

  It was actually quite pleasant and relaxing.

  There was a myriad of different smells, like the birds, some hares, and old deer scent… as well as numerous smells that were unfamiliar, yet natural.

  I shake my head and shut my mouth, "Focus, Luxanna. Find the kids…"

  I walk along the forest ground for a couple more minutes, tracing the scents of my friends to a big boulder embedded into the ground.

  Their trail went around the boulder multiple times, which kinda confused me as this was the first time I was using my nose so much.

  Huh… this might make for some good training… I gotta practice tracking some more after this.

  "RAAH— ugh!!"

  Gabriel suddenly appeared behind me, but before I even realized, probably out of old habits, I had grabbed his throat and pointed the tip of my wooden sword near his eye.

  "L-Luxanna…?"

  I immediately let go of him and dropped my sword. "Gabby! I'm so sorry! Don't sneak up on me like that! We're in an unfamiliar forest!"

  Gabriel coughed a bit before nodding. "Sorry, Luxanna… I shouldn't have done that."

  I pounded my fist against his head in frustration and worry. "You're damned right, Gabby! Jeez!"

  Now, I noticed that Julian, Henry, and Valerie weren't with him.

  "Where's Juli, Henry, and Valy?"

  "They found this cave over there." He pointed behind me, "I came back to get you so that we can explore it together."

  At this revelation, all the hairs on my body bristle from a foreboding feeling swelling up from the pit of my stomach.

  "A cave…?"

  "Yeah! It isn't so big, but we wanna see what's inside, even if it smells really bad!"

  Bad smells, a cave I've never heard the adults who enter the forest ever talk about…

  "Show me this cave, quickly."

  I ushered Gabriel to hurry, and he did so, albeit confused at the change of my demeanor.

  Now, I wasn't stupid. I've read enough fantasy novels and watched enough isekai anime to know that an unknown cave in an unknown forest is dangerous. Even if the forest itself had no problems before.

  Gabriel and I arrive at the cave in about a minute. The three other kids are hanging around the small clearing in front of the cave.

  "Hey, Luxa! Look at that!"

  I place my finger to my lips and quiet the kids and look around.

  There were tree stumps around the entrance. It smelled of the freshly chopped wood my Father splits every now and then.

  I pass a hand over one of the stumps. It looks like it was cut roughly, but the wood strands were still bendy, not dried up and prickly. And the wood looked fairly clean.

  Which means they were cut recently.

  And the smell…

  It reeked of rotten meat, shit, and terrible body odor.

  "Guys, get away from the cave, now."

  I tightly grip my sword as my tail puffs up in fear and anticipation.

  The kids looked at me in worry, clearly smelling my fear. They did as they were told and backed away, coming closer to me as I glued my eyes to the cave entrance.

  "Luxanna…?"

  I open my mouth and let the reek pass over my vomeronasal glands. The smell of rot and feces is too strong, meaning it isn't old at all.

  It's 'fresh' rotting meat and stinking shit…

  And what often inhabits caves in fantasy media…?

  A bald, ugly green head appears from the shadows of the cave. It's hooked, long nose between two beady red eyes. A permanent, drooling grin on its face. It stood hunched and completely naked, holding a rusted sword in its spindly fingers.

  "Goblins…"