The small spear that the Imp was holding could greatly threaten Diether. Not because he was unable to fight against a spear-wielding opponent but because the Imp could fly.

Diether wasn't accustomed to flying beasts yet so Reiji reacted quickly. ​​

As soon as the Imp realized that Diether noticed its presence, the Imp decided to attack! They have to be quick!

[ Overload activated. ]

[ 10 SP was consumed. ]

[ Overload Timer: 30… 29… ]

'Focus on hitting the spear as many times as you could!'

The higher the number he hit the spear, the better he could control its weight…

Diether didn't panic even though the attack was coming from above him. Since he has a small frame, he was trained by Reiji on how to receive attacks that were coming from above.

Step. Step. Step.

Bang!

His footwork was effective. He calmly dodges the point of impact of the spear's attack and hits the weapon using the shinai…

Bang! Bang!

He hit twice imbued with his Spiritual Energy.

"Good! Just a few more and we'll give him a surprise!"

He was full of energy at the moment so he felt confident in this one versus one battle.

"Yes, Master!"

After being praised, the young man's mood improved even more and decided to take the initiative!

This forward steps was unlike the kendo's footwork but it effectively closed their distance!

"Eeerk!"

The imp felt glad that its prey didn't run away after the first exchange and even decided to come over!

Diether was again aiming for the spear but the imp made an unexpected attack!

The creature's eyes turned completely dark!

Darkness suddenly surrounded the young man and he was unable to see anything. Reiji noticed the kid's status due to his connection with him, so he quickly gave instruction.

"Jump to the left!"

After a moment of uneasiness, Diether regained his composure after hearing his master's voice!

'That's right! As long as I hold the Shinai, my master would help me… I shouldn't panic… This is just like the hanging wood training!'

"Step forward! Raise your sword!"

"Step back! Thrust your sword!"

"Vertical Slash!"

Diether followed his master's words and he was really hitting something that he couldn't see.

"Haa!"

After about 10 seconds of blindness, Diether's eyes could see again.

He saw that the imp was looking shocked since he had managed to dodge or parry all the attacks it sent during those ten seconds… He felt that he even did some counter-attack during that brief time.

"Grrrrr!"

The imp was obviously angry… Although it was physically weak, it was very good in Arcane Magic and it thought that using the "Darkness" was enough to deal with the kid. Unfortunately, it only wasted its energy.

It then decided to use more complex magic and kill this little human.

As its eyes turned to a different color, Reiji realized that it was about to use another magic.

'Overload!'

The spear that it was holding tightly had suddenly dragged him down! It became extremely heavy and it was unable to lift it.

"Aaarrgh!"

It interrupted its magic execution and created a backlash.

As it hit the ground, a perfect opportunity came!

"It's over… Haaa!"

Bang!

It was a perfect Men Strike with a perfect weight control from Reiji. After adding Diether's spiritual energy, the strike was a critical hit. Even if it was a high-grade evil beast, as long as it was hit on its head, the damage would be incredible.

Its head caved in seemingly about to explode.

"Whew!"

Diether's mind was exhausted. After seeing that the creature was no longer moving and Reiji wasn't telling him to strike it again, it must've died already.

"Alright, tie this creature and bring it back. It might be worth something. It was only mentioned in Mapan's book but since high-grade evil beasts were rare, there was no information about its part that could be sold aside from its core that has an expensive price…"'

The young man nodded at this.

After he collected all the daisies he needed, he tied the imp on his back while the bag he used to carry the potion ingredients were on his front.

He also tied the imp's spear on his back since his master seems to be interested in it as well.

"Ugh… Its heavy…"

"Think of this as a training…"

"Y-yes, Master."

The battle just now was extremely dangerous. Without Reiji's guidance, the kid would've surely died. The mission he accepted shouldn't be an F-Rank at all.

A mission that involved a High-Grade Beast should be ranked D or even C in some rare cases.

However, if it involved multiple High-Grade Beasts, it should be considered as B-Rank or even A-rank mission depending on the beast that was involved.

In the end, collecting low-quality herbs should be a low-rank mission but the previous existence of Rare Apple Lure changed it, it destroyed the balance of beasts within the forest.

'I should warn the Association aside from selling this beast. Haa~ I hope that I'll earn a lot this time…'

Diether thought as such since he felt that earning a lot of money would similarly help his master's plans.

Aside from buying a Magic Weapon, he was also planning to visit the marketplace of the academy as part of his previous reward. He'll be needing a lot of money for that.

***

The sparring at the plaza ended after all the students had enough practice. It was a very helpful experience since real battles wouldn't happen often within the academy grounds.

Some of the Hunters went back to the association's building, some spent the money they just earned in a nearby tavern, and some went to repair or buy new weapons. It was because after battling the students, their weapon's durability was affected.

"Whoa!"

"What was that?"

"A small devil?"

"It looks scary…"

"Urgh… I want to throw up…"

Noises were suddenly heard as a crowd of villagers gathered at the southern road of the village.

Many passersby got curious about it and joined the discussion.

"What's happening?"

"Ahh… You didn't see it? One of the young Hunters seems to have hunted an unexpected beast."

"Is it? What kind of beast?"

"I'm not sure… It looks like a devil… It doesn't look like a goblin since it has wings…"

"Maybe a large bat?"

One of the villagers suggested.

Since the experienced hunters were not present, many of them failed to properly identify the unusual creature and could only guess at the time.