"Not bad for a beginner." Howaph taunted me with a smirk as he circled me while carrying the spear he uses to fish. "You've been trained well, I think. Or maybe I'm just not good at combat related stuff."

  "The last one. Definitely." Trained well? I wouldn't say that, it's only been a week since Onoga started training me and I haven't gotten the class that I wanted just yet, I'm also still only level 11. "You can also argue that I'm not used to combat but we both know that's false, I've been killing aberrants."

  "Yeah, with your traps." My brother didn't stop moving and we talked and I was the same. Both of us continued circling each other like we were tigers looking for the opportunity to pounce. "Right? You mainly used your traps when hunting those things?"

  "Not always." Did I need to mention that I sometimes use myself as bait? Nah, that's completely unnecessary in my opinion. "How about you? Do you always fight the fish you're hunting with dad or are they just regular catches most of the time?"

  "Rontress, it's not autumn yet." He rolled his eyes and that was his mistake.

  I kicked off the ground, my boots leaving an indent on the spot I just stood on from the force of my lunge. My arm tensed up and I raised my spear, the tip pointed towards Howaph's chest before I pulled it backwards then like a spring, I stabbed forward.

  My brother naturally saw through it, his class gives him a lot of dexterity so I'm basically like a snail to him which honestly makes me feel safe. There aren't any healers here so if I accidentally wound him I wouldn't be able to forgive myself.

  "Did you just?!–"

  "What was that about autumn?" I innocently asked while tilting my head, he can complain all he wants but I was playing fair no? Him getting distracted by his own explanation is an opening I can exploit. "Howaph? Brother?"

  "You little scoundrel! You think you can call me a brother after that?!" His words didn't have heat in them. "How dare you!"

  "An opening is an opening, you know that." A chuckle escaped my lips when he pointed his spear at me, I couldn't help it. "You said to treat this like I'm fighting seriously, isn't that what you wanted?"

  Howaph paused, his expression turning into shock before he became contemplative and I guess he didn't learn his lesson just now because that is another opening for me.

  Once more, I lunged and just like last time, he quickly saw through it and dodged in time. Seriously, that's so unfair. I get that stats can do a lot when it comes to boosting physical feats but dodging surprise attacks in the middle of thinking?

  Man, why am I still so weak?! I wanna get over a hundred in my dexterity stat too so I can do that kind of thing. 23 simply isn't enough for me.

  Howaph being several times larger than me may also help him dodge but it's mostly stats. Who cares if you're bigger than your opponent if you're slow as shit? Seriously, at times like these I'm reminded of just how unfair of an advantage the system is.

  As I spent time inside my head thinking about random stuff, my body kept moving. The spear that I am holding went forward over and over again, stabbing places where Howaph has been. Emphasize on has.

  He got away every time, and isn't that a bit too unfair? Then again, I can tell that he's getting tired so it may not be long before I can land a hit.

  "Stop!" Howaph suddenly yelled and pulled my spear back.

  ... Or I guess it won't be long before he asks me to stop trying to hit him. One of those two.

  "Brother, you know you can't just keep dodging forever right?" I crossed my arms, for someone who's class revolves around using the spear he's a bit bad at combat isn't he? And no, he can't use the excuse of him being a [Spear Fisher] against me because that's clearly bullshit.

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  "And if I do?!" My brother pointed at me accusingly. "Rontress, how are you already this good at using the spear? You don't even have a class associated with it!"

  "Okay? And?" What is he trying to get at? "Just because I don't have a class related to the weapon doesn't mean that I'm not gonna be able to use a spear."

  Such a stupid argument, and Howaph seems like he believes it too. Actually do people of this world believe that type of thing? That classes matter more than they should? I wouldn't put it past them.

  "And? You shouldn't be able to beat me..." He grumbled.

  "Are you whining? Older brother?" I smirked at him, seriously? He's sulking because he can't find an opening when fighting me? I genuinely thought that he was just playing around and kept dodging because he didn't want to hurt me.

  "Yeah, I guess I am." He rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled. "Good work, Rontress."

  Okay, wow. Guess he decided to act like a proper older brother after all! Sighing, I sat down and closed my eyes, I wanted to catch my breath before we started sparring again. Howaph not looking tired wasn't that shocking, honestly the weirdest thing that happened is him admitting that he's somehow struggled against me.

  Laself eventually came to us while carrying two packs of food, she gave one to me before heading over to where my brother was and feeding him.

  Howaph chuckled as Laself gave him one spoonful after the next, he looked just as elated as his girlfriend.

  ... Are they flirting while I'm around? Wow they've gotten bold. It's only been a short time since they got together and now they're suddenly feeding each other openly like this! As someone who is single, I feel offended.

  Blatant. So blatant. My god. I looked away and ate my own meal, which is packed with bread and meat per my request. Carbohydrates and protein are always a good thing when building muscle. Or so they say. I haven't actually been actively physical before, not even in my past life.

  Chubby would be the best way to describe me back then, I've always eaten without restraint and preferred to not exercise so building up some fat on my belly was practically an inevitability.

  Work being harsh was the only reason why I haven't gotten any heavier back then but I'm not really all that thankful for it since it was basically torture in disguise and I'm not a masochist so it wasn't for me.

  Fortunately for my current self, I wouldn't need to worry about building up fat for a few years. A lot of things will happen as I grow up and while most are the backstories of important characters in the capital, ones from villains and powerful monsters are also among them.

  The timeline is a bit hazy for me. I've never really read up much about that part of the lore and on top of that, after spending 8 years here I've practically forgotten the details related to them.

  Names, locations, and uh, the season are the only advantages that I have. It's not a lot of things considered.

  For all I know, there might be someone out there who's going through the events that will lead them to the path of evil or that there's a monster that's growing out of control.

  Since I'm still a kid, I know I can't do anything about them but I'm pretty sure that my feelings will change in the near future so yeah, I'll be a paranoid wreck when I grow up. Can't wait for that to happen.

  "Rontress? You said that you're going to stop coming to Ghorise in a week?" Howaph's question broke my train of thought. I turned to him and nodded. "Oh. Why?"

  "I have things to do." Like searching for one of the mender's cottages, specifically one close to the Humus Dungeon. "Important things."

  "Oh, okay." My brother nodded and left it at that. A bout of silence, then he adds, "you've been earning a lot from your stall though right? I really don't see the point of you leaving that behind, I think you can live peacefully with just selling food."

  "Then aren't you happy that Laself will be the one managing it soon?" I smiled, tilting my head.

  "... Yes. Thank you." Howaph looked away, before he did I briefly caught a flicker of something complicated crossing his features.

  Usually I wouldn't admit this but I'm not exactly a stranger to the whole "gifted kid" thing. I went through something similar when I was young, if I'm a naive little girl right now and found the same success I'd constantly want to replicate it without understanding that sometimes?

  ... Droughts just happen. I'd lose courage, possibly lose myself to the point of wasting my youth, and then... Grow. I guess. Like in my previous life.

  It's thanks to experience that I recognize the upcoming festival as the source of my abnormal income, I actively sought it even.

  A girl who's unaware of the world would feel insecure once her income dwindles after the festival ends. She'll cry, others will bring her down then, and after that? Her potential gets lost.

  Burnout, they say, is unexpected.

  "For the unwise, maybe."

  "Did you say something Rontress?"

  "Nope!" The smile I directed at Laself was bright, way brighter than usual. "I just said that you and my brother are too sweet together!"

  "Hey!"

  I laughed.