Chapter 1: Forest of Monsters
Where am I?
Everything around me was unfamiliar. The foggy air, the never-ending forest, the vast red skies, and the orc-like monsters all around me.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
There was no time to think. The monsters were closing in, fast.
I immediately jumped into action, parrying the incoming ax above.
"Arghhh!"
The impact shook my whole body.
They're strong!
Their strength was probably Lv.4, while their speed was upper-tier Lv.3. But—
I'm faster!
"HAAAAAAAA!— Gwooooh!"
Just as I was about to thrust my knife into the monster's chest, A strong pain erupted from my back. I had no armor, so I took on the full force of the attack.
The force blasted me forward, leading me to two more monsters waiting for me as they prepared their ax to strike.
I immediately regained my footing and leaped sidewards, avoiding the attack.
More behind me!
The millisecond my foot touched the ground, I tumbled forward, avoiding yet again an attack from behind.
They're never-ending!
I was stuck in a deadlock. All I could do was keep dodging the moment I land. There were too many of them.
I used their murderous gazes to identify their general direction while using my reflexes to dodge. Thanks to it and my Lv.4 agility, I could keep dodging the attacks from any direction.
But I couldn't keep doing this forever. I needed to breakthrough.
Think! What should I do! What would she do in this situation?
I racked my brain, thinking and imagining scenarios on what should I do.
…huh?
An idea rose through my mind, and I set it in motion.
"There!"
Another attack was coming from both my sides and front. Avoiding their attacks, I leaped and thrust my right arm out, aiming not at the monster in front, but in the air.
"FIREBOLT!"
The flames hit nothing, but the blast propelled me backward at a surprising speed, making me spin in the air uncontrollably.
For it to work, I needed to let every ounce of strength in my body go and focus everything on a single blast of my magic. It was risky, as I had no defense when I get attacked, but it wasn't a worry when I'm basically bursting through the air.
It brought me to a huge tree, and I managed to regain my footing on a thick branch and jumped to another tree.
I jumped through trees like a rabbit. Using the terrain and my newfound agility to create confusion and take advantage of the enemy.
The trees varied in thickness and sizes, meaning it was some were unstable, so a misstep meant death. But,
It's working.
The monsters couldn't keep up with me as I leaped through the air at an insane tried attacking me while I'm in the air, but they failed. Their movements were becoming predictable and their murderous gazes gave away their positions, meaning I knew which directions to avoid. They were unable to keep up and simply resorted to attacking randomly.
"HAAAAAAAAAAA!"
A confused monster was isolated from the rest of them, his back turned to me. I leaped towards it and in one swift motion, I thrust my knife into its chest.
I got you!
…
…huh?
Why hasn't it disappeared yet?
I had thrust my knife right into its chest. Yet nothing happened. The monster only kept shrieking and shaking as if in a lot of pain.
No way… Does it have no magic stone?!
Hearing the loud noise from the monster, the others ran in my direction.
"Shit! FIREBOLT!"
Two consecutive shots.
It burned the entire upper half of the monster, the lower half that remained simply fell to the ground. It burned the grass and trees in front of me as well, producing smokes everywhere.
I immediately leaped to a nearby tree and continued jumping through the air before the others reached me.
What should I do?
The monsters had no magic stones, and I am lost as to what should I do. Never in my life had I fought a monster without a magic stone. I continued hopping around and attacking isolated monsters, but—
The cuts are too shallow. My knife doesn't have enough reach. If only I had a baselard…!
My knife was perfect for the monsters in the dungeon. It had enough reach to pierce the magic stones but, the monsters here had no magic stones. With such a small blade, I couldn't inflict a mortal wound.
Well, I actually could if I try, but it takes too long. Spending over a minute just to kill a single monster out of many would sap my energy at an insane speed,
My firebolt could finish them off, however, it would also trigger environmental damage with consecutive shots of it. The last thing that I wanted was to get caught in the middle of a forest fire. Also, there were too many of them. My chances of getting Mind Down was high if I only relied on firebolt, and getting Mind Down here spelled death.
I only had two choices. To somehow run away, or to finish them off in one fell swoop.
Running away was almost impossible with the thick mist. Most likely, I would just get lost in the middle of the forest.
However, I had an idea for finishing them off in one fell swoop, but—
It's risky. It takes too long and… I haven't mastered it yet. Also, the damage it would cause would be too high, and there was a possibility that I would be stuck here because of it.
But I had no choice but to do it. The rewards outweighed the risks. I could figure out how to get out of here easily with my knowledge from my childhood-the time I used to spend on the mountains-if I wasn't getting chased by monsters non-stop.
And,
If it was her, my Idol, she would easily find a way to do it. She would easily beat every monster here and get out of this predicament.
If I couldn't deal with a challenge of this level, how would I be able to stand beside her?!
The flames inside of me roared. I was determined to do it no matter what. And so I put into motion my plan.
I concentrated my mind, and a moment after, a chime rang, with small pecks of white light gathering around my right arm and slowly got bigger over time.
Heroic Desire: Argonaut.
It was the name of my skill. The skill enhanced my next attack after charging it for a certain amount of time. According to my goddess, it was a "Heroic Strike".
I activated Argonaut while moving through the air at high speeds and dodging attacks-Concurrent Casting. It was a feat that required a tremendous amount of concentration to pull off, and one mistake would cancel my skill immediately and put me in a state of fatigue.
Normally, If someone failed a Concurrent Cast, an Ignus Faatus would happen and it blew up your body. But since Argonaut wasn't magic but a spell, it wouldn't cause an Ignus Faatus. Instead, it acts like I finished the spell, and gave me the aftermath effects of it-draining my mind and my lethargy to the point that I could barely move.
An image of a certain elf came to my mind. Back on the 18th floor when we fought the Goliath, the way she attacked, moved, dodged, and cast her spells at such a tremendous speed left me in awe. And here I was, attempting to do the same thing.
It was a battle of endurance and time. If they manage to hit me even once, I'll lose.
Faster, I need to be faster.
One minute had passed.
More.
Bell kept moving at high speed, leaping through trees without a fraction of hesitation while he dodged enemy attacks and continued casting. He forced his legs to use all of his strength. He kept on pushing to the point that the trees tore and split as he blasted off it.
To the monsters, it looked like blasts of air were destroying the trees. Their eyes couldn't keep up at first but were steadily learning patterns to attack him.
This was the monsters' territory, and Bell had forgotten it. Bell might have knowledge of trees and forests because of his childhood, but the monsters had actual experience longer than him. They knew their home better than anyone.
Some of the monsters had caught up and used that knowledge to their advantage. They preemptively launched a strike on the next tree that Bell was about to land in.
But,
Bell was faster.
He managed to force himself to go faster than before and was able to go past before the monsters even reached the tree.
His focus was unwavering, only fueled by a single motivation: to get out of there alive and become stronger. To achieve it, both his mind and body moved and acted in unison. Once his mind decided on something, his body acted immediately without delay.
Now that Bell's body and mind were fully linked, it showed his true potential as a new level four.
Two minutes had passed
My body was light.
My mind was clear.
My soul was on fire.
Around me, everything was a blur. No sound reached my ears but the constant pressure of the air.
I outran the monsters who tried to attack me.
I blew away the projectiles aimed at me with my knife.
I cut down the monsters who tried to block me in my path.
I figured everything out and moved to the most optimal path in a split second.
Dancing through the air like a certain elf, while applying the techniques of a golden-haired swordswoman. Keeping them both in front of my mind as my inspirations, I kept moving forward without stop.
The monsters stood in terror. Terrified of the human that circled them that very moment.
Moments ago, the human was the one who was being cornered. But now, he turned the tide against them.
They watched as a single human cut and wound their brethren at lightning speed.
They watched as a single human foil every single one of their plans like it was nothing.
Rage filled their whole body. They wanted to— no, they needed to kill that human no matter what.
In the past, none of the humans stood a chance against them. They even raided the human's turf before and succeeded to kill everyone there with ease. The small ones, the tall ones, and even the stronger-looking ones were all killed by them. Since then, they thought the humans posed no threat to them.
Except for this human that intruded their home. They never faced someone like him at all. Someone who can wound them, run away, and move at a frightening speed.
To the monsters, he was the embodiment of calamity itself.
The 'calamity' that shattered their ideas. The idea that they were the strongest.
That's why they needed to kill him. They needed to prove that they were still the strongest.
"ROOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
The other monsters, having the same idea, all united in one banner—to kill the human that posed a threat to them.
And they had a plan set in motion for that.
Three minutes had passed.
"ROOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAA!"
Every monster in the vicinity roared. Their roars shook the very air itself.
I was unfazed and kept ongoing. But, the monster's movement had become weird.
Just seconds ago, they were desperately attacking. Throwing their weapons, jumping at me, or attempting to catch me.
But now, they stopped whatever they're doing, and split in different directions.
From behind!
Six axes were thrown behind me, and they were thrown at the same time, only varying in speed.
I managed to narrowly avoid all of it, but it was a close call.
Right after dodging the axes, three figures leaped in the tree right in front of me. I prepared my knife in my left hand to prepare for combat as soon as I landed.
But as my foot stepped on the tree, ten axes from all directions were spinning in my direction.
There was no way to avoid all of it while in combat, so I went off the path and jumped into a nearby tree to my left that was clear.
As I leaped to the air yet again, eight more axes were thrown in my direction. I managed to dodge it with my speed, but their timing was getting better and better each time they throw.
I put my focus on my destination, but the once empty tree was now filled with monsters.
It was only then that I realized:
The monsters are cooperating?
Throwing axes to distract me, while the others moved to my destination to interrupt. Surely it was a coincidence, right? After all, monsters shouldn't cooperate with each other.
Right as I stepped to the branch, I immediately jumped again towards an empty tree. And again, axes were thrown at me while I was mid-air. And confirming my suspicions, the empty tree became filled with monsters.
You're kidding me.
This is insane!
These monsters I'm fighting right now shattered the teachings of my adviser about monsters.
Unknown Orc-like monsters with a strength of a level 3, had no magic stones and cooperated so well that they could rival third-tier battle parties. None of these were in the guild records as far as I know.
I kept doing the same thing, jumping and avoiding the monsters.
Upon jumping again, something happened.
Huh? No axes were thrown? The tree was empty too.
However, I already knew it.
It was a trap.
The moment I stepped on the branch, there was nowhere to go. Every single direction was occupied by monsters. I was completely surrounded.
"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" The monsters howled as if declaring their victory.
I was trapped with nowhere to run to. My Argonaut would be canceled if I let them hit me even once, putting me in no condition to fight.
One versus One Hundred monsters.
It was over.
Four minutes had passed.
I put all my strength in my legs and leaped as high as I could, soaring to the skies like a bird, and aimed my right arm below me.
Fully Charged.
It was over. For them.
"FIIIIIIIREEEEBOOOOLTTTTTTT!"
A bright white light was accompanied by a deafening roar. The ground shook and the air trembled by the sheer power of the spell, bringing hellfire throughout the entire area while incinerating everything unlucky enough to cross paths with it to ashes.
The fire brought a swift death to the monsters, unable to even resist or move a muscle. The last thing they saw was a bright light brought down by the heavens as they were erased from existence a second after.
Heatwaves spread throughout the entire forest, rising the temperature up to an extreme degree.
What used to be a forest filled with mist now was now nothing but a land of inferno with fire and ashes everywhere—continuously spreading as the wind brought it to other areas.
The area that Bell used to fight in was the only exception. Instead of being filled with fire, it was the opposite—It was completely empty. Nothing but black ashes and smokes rising from it were visible.
A barren land completely surrounded by flames as the blood-red sky enveloped it. If one would see it, they would think it was a vision of hell itself.
And there was Bell, high up in the air as he continued falling, being directed by gravity.
The battle was already over. I had succeeded.
I braced myself for impact. With nothing to cushion me, pain surged through my body as I collided with the ground. Thankfully, none of my bones broke, and aside from some bruises, the impact left no lasting damage.
The aftermath of my attack was worse than I thought. I had trouble standing up, my body felt extremely heavy while my mind felt weary. It was my first time doing a four-minute charge of Argonaut, and the repercussions were worse than before. But I could still move, no problem. As long as I don't use any magic for a while, I should be fine.
But my surroundings… It was what I feared before attempting this plan, and now it had come true.
My surroundings turned into a hellscape. Flames were everywhere-except in the area I was standing on. I feel the heat of the fire from here, and it was kind of hard to breathe.
The power of my firebolt shocked me. Somehow, it was way more powerful than I expected. I think this was the most powerful attack I ever let out. So this was the power of a level four.
But I was too naive. Attacking without care for my surroundings, I really was too naive. It was an in-the-moment decision, but it was still a very bad move. In the dungeon, the walls and the surroundings would just regenerate after a while. But here, I was in an actual forest, and now I'm stuck in the middle of a wildfire.
What do I do now?
"Who's there?!" I shouted and turned to my left.
Ever since I jumped into the sky, I felt non-malicious gazes on me. I thought it was just the monsters getting scared. But now, a single one remained, to my left.
Far away from me, the smoke subsided, and I saw bodies. In the front, was an elf looking at me- his body on the ground, his clothes torn and skin burnt. As my eyes met, his eyes closed, his body giving in.
Behind him… were dozens of people lying down, their skins burnt and clothes tattered. Some of them were lying down, bloodied. Just then, a realization came in-
There were other people here other than me?!
My face paled. I didn't know that there were others here beside me. I recklessly launched a powerful attack and it caught them as well.
What should I do?, what should I do?!
I was about to run to them and try to help them, but,
"Are you the one who did this?" A girl, with clear blue eyes and pink hair, stared at me from above- coming out from nowhere.
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