Chapter 65

“Thank you, Daniela. I’m fine now.”

So saying, I slowly draw away from her long embrace.

“I wanted to hold you a little longer…”

“We can save that for when we get out of here.”

I patted her on the head as she pouted with annoyance. I had found a single path inside of me. Fighting to protect people. That was what we were currently doing. It was not possible to mourn the death of every life that was snuffed out, and I would not blame myself for that anymore. I wasn’t a Hero or a saint. I didn’t want to kill to save lives, but it was not possible to save everyone either. I could not be a pacifist here. The only thing I could do was fully dedicate myself to what stood in front of us in the present.

For now, we would kill these monsters and prevent a stampede.

That was all. That was all that I could do.

“Damn, I think we rested for too long, when there is no time to lose.”

“No, it was necessary. Do not worry. We will just move at twice the speed.”

Daniela says with a laugh. I nod and take off my bag. The hollow bag. I open it and take hold of the supreme weapon, the ancient elven sword, and attach it to my belt. The elven shortsword quickly follows.

“So you are quite serious this time?”

I smile mischievously and nod. I was above serious now. We would trample them. I was prepared for this fight more than ever now. There was no hesitation, and I had the most reliable partner by my side.

“I’ve been thinking about it for a while. About what I can accomplish with these weapons. And I’ve now found the answer.”

“Hehe. I see. That is good.”

For an instant, we seem to be wrapped in a warm and calm air. But that quickly dissipates and we find ourselves on a battlefield. It was because Presence Detection caught something. It wasn’t the dragon vein, but something big.

“Daniela, this…”

“Hmm, something that was hiding in the depths, it has started to move… Up ahead.”

I stare hard into the shadows. We were prepared for this, there was no problem. I glance over to Daniela who stood next to me, and she nodded with a smile that showed she was ready to fight. She really was reliable. She always helped me. I needed to become stronger to be able to support her equally. But first, we would kill what was up ahead. I would not allow the beautiful plains to be trodden over and destroyed. Never.

We walk down the tunnel. Presence Detection picks up several forms, but they disappear whenever my sword is swung in their direction. And then everything becomes quiet.

Once we were out of the tunnel, the scenery changed. The cave ceiling had been little more than two meters high, but now it was altogether gone. But it was still too dark to see how high it went. But it must be quite high if the lantern’s light could not reach it. We could also not see the walls. This was a wide area. What could be down here? So deep underground?

“Be careful, Asagi. The large presence should be somewhere around here.”

“Yeah, I can sense it. If only we knew the direction it would come, I could attack it.”

There was something huge in this wide area that was still far from us. And as it didn’t move, we had no choice but to go forward. But, since it had appeared so suddenly, does that mean it came to us? Why wasn’t it moving now?

There were a lot of questions that wouldn’t be answered unless we moved. We just needed to be cautious and we could get through this. Daniela knocked an arrow to her bowstring. I unsheathed my one-handed sword and short sword. The pale, silvery green glow gave me a kind of strength. I created a small ball of fire above our heads to replace the lantern.

According to Daniela’s findings, I was not very good with fire magic. And even when I did use it, I could tell that the magic consumption was higher than with ice magic, and yet the ball of fire was still only the size of a tennis ball. There wasn’t much to say about its inefficiency, but I wondered if it could be more than just a power used as a bridge between ice and water magic. However, our hands were full now, so this was the only thing we could use to light our way. Thankfully, all the monster slaying had helped me increase my MP…I think. I haven’t actually checked my status recently, but I was confident that it had gone up after so much hunting.

My MP had been going up gradually since I started using magic, so I was hopeful. I felt like I hadn’t reached my limits yet. Who knew how many ‘ice swords’ I could make in succession? Of course, the new equipment also helped. ‘Jack of all Trades, Master of None’ even showed me that I could create a light rain.

We were slowly making our way forward and should be within shooting range soon. Even fire magic should reach it. I put on the hood of my poncho and take in deep breaths. Once I felt calm again, the only thing left to do was kill it.

“I’ll shoot at it with fire magic. Unleash your arrows as soon as you catch sight of it.”

“Understood.”

She nods, I launch the ball of fire forward and slightly at an upwards angle. All it took was to concentrate on the magic like ‘Jack of all Trades, Master of None’ showed, and the fireball launched like a flare and slowly descended. What appeared beneath it was a large, large mole. It must be an elite type of hole mole. The thing was densely covered in hair as its head raised towards the ball of fire above its head.

“It is a mega mole! Let us go, Asagi!”

“Yeah, I can do this!!”

Daniela shoots. And at the same time, I sprint forward. Her arrow reaches its target first, piercing into the mega mole’s body and causing a shriek that echoed in the chamber. It used its long nails to carefully grab the arrow and pull it out. I did not miss this opportunity.

“HAHH!”

My foot digs into the dirt as my one-handed sword swings down. And then the ground beneath me disappeared.

“Wha…!?”

The bastard…! He made a pitfall!! That’s why it didn’t move!”

“KGIIIII!!!

I had let my guard down. And just as I looked up in surprise, the mega mole’s claws came swiping down. I frantically blocked them with my sword. As I gritted my teeth against the weight of it pressing down, another arrow shot into the mega mole’s body. It let out another piercing cry. Now that it was weakened, I use ‘Legs of the Forest Wolf’ to kick the air and jump out from the hole. As I launched myself up high, I send out balls of fire in all four directions. The chamber was now illuminated, and I could see for a moment that the place was in the shape of a dome. The ceiling was likely around ten meters high. This guy must have dug it up…he had even made a pitfall.

“Daniela, there are pitfalls around it!”

“Then I will only use ranged attacks!”

With great skill, she continued to successively let loose her arrows. Indeed, if close-range combat was too dangerous, you just needed to attack with some distance.

I put the swords back in my sheaths and thrust my hands in front of me. I would visualize an ‘arrow’ much like the arrows Daniela was using. ‘Jack of all Trades, Master of None’ made this easier, and I quickly generated a whole row of over a dozen arrows. They were all pointing at the mega mole. I would call this spell, ‘ice arrows.’ I never claimed to be good at naming things. But it’s good to keep these things simple!

“Hah!”

With a shout, I launch the arrows towards their target. They start firing from the right side and savagely break into the mega mole’s skin. The echoing cries make me cringe, but I send every last arrow at it.

Now the mega mole was still. I control the wind around my feet and slowly descend while unsheathing my sword. I can hear the sound of a string being pulled behind me. My backup was perfect. Making sure to not fall into the hole again, I try to confirm if the mega mole is dead.

I move between the holes and finally reach striking distance. And then I stab the sword right into its body. …There is no reaction. I try again, and again, but there is no sound, no movement.

It had gone completely silent. We had won.

“Pheww…”

“Good job, Asagi.”

“Ah, you too.”

As always, we made fists and bumped…and at the same instant, Presence Detection caught something large.

“What, what is this all of a sudden!”

“I don’t know…but, doesn’t this…’

Yes, this size was reminiscent of something. It reminded me of the time when we met Beowulf. It was the same feeling I had when we fought him in the ruins.

“But then again, Presence Detection didn’t react during his ambush…”

“It is likely that…he had a high skill level for blocking detection. And the ambush was during the night. This monster clearly doesn’t have the same skills with blocking detection. But where could it have come from…”

“Indeed…perhaps it is a mutated elite monster from some magical pool…”

I recalled Macbel’s words, ‘As a monster, he is one level above the rest.’ He hadn’t evolved like this mega mole right here. He was something much more abnormal. Thinking about those words, I scan through our surroundings. I can sense the thin presence of kobolds on the outskirts.

“I think that it’s some kind of abnormally evolved kobold.”

“Aye, kobolds usually evolve into kobold warriors or kobold mages, specializing in attacking and magic. But this one is clearly different.”

“Has that happened before?”

“Aye. They are called assault kobolds. They are said to be very shrewd and aggressive.”

Shrewd, eh?… And there was something awe-inspiring about the speed at which it was approaching us. It would reach this hall within a dozen or more seconds. This would be the second abnormally evolved monster we have met after Beowulf.

Now, which of us would be the faster? …I could hardly wait.

This is my favorite chapter title. Sorry about the chapter mixup earlier.