He felt blind, deaf, and stupid for not noticing the presence of such a large creature passing so close by them. Obscured by the low-hanging branches of the endless trees, all that Ren could make out was the large, mustard-yellow body of whatever was passing by.

"What is that thing? It's huge!"

Ren asked in a sharp whisper, gripping the handle of his sheathed sword.

"--A Gambon Snatcher, that's a walking five-points right there!"

"That's a Gambon?! Something that big is only worth five--?"

The vibration through the soil each time the gambon took a step made him feel the weight first-hand, just from the brief glimpse he could make out through the foliage, the creature had to be around the size of a small bus.

"Come on, little bro, show me some fire! Give that thing hell, I'll back you up!"

Sirius pushed Ren forward with a slap to his back, causing him to slip through the trees that acted as camouflage for them--meeting face to face with the behemoth.

Upon coming into contact with the bloated creature, coated in a layer of some sort of mucus, Ren let out a surprised yell as he realized what the monster was, "It's a giant frog--!"

Opening its cavern of a mouth, its deathly breath nearly caused Ren to hurl as the smell of swamp garbage filled his nose. It's saliva trickled down from its open mouth, dropping onto the soil below in splashes of gunky fluid.

—I guess this is actually a pretty good opportunity to put what I've learned into practice. After all of those trees I've battered, having a living target is a nice change of pace.

The thousand-yard stare from the Gambon made it impossible to tell just how hostile it was planning to be, as its long, slimy tongue darted out of its mouth towards Ren. Pivoted on his left foot, the amateur spellblade drew his blade--slicing the incoming whip of flesh in two.

A disgusting "splat" was heard as the severed tongue hit the ground next to Ren's foot, sending a repulsive shiver through his body.

"--This thing is disgusting."

"Get back if you value your life!"

Sirius suddenly yelled out from behind Ren, the words stunned him for a moment as he processed their meaning.

--Value my life?

His confusion was answered as a stream of scarlet liquid escaped from the open wound of the Gambon's flailing tongue, the liquid melted away the bark it landed on as if it were acid.

"Dunkel: Veil!"

Ren pushed his hand forward just in time, conjuring the shadow shield as the acidic blood pelted against it like rain against an umbrella. Getting rid of the shield, it seemed the oversized amphibian was caught off guard by the usage of magic, looking at him with its glazed over eyeballs.

"--Dunkel: Slicer!"

Swiping his hand, Ren conjured and unleashed a horizontal blade of dark mana towards the creature. Like a hot knife to butter, the offensive spell sliced through the creature's stout belly.

"I got it!"

Ren proclaimed victory with a smile--shortly lived as another yell from Sirius reached his ears, who was watching this the entire time, "No you didn't! Pay attention!"

"Huh?"

Hearing Sirius' advice, Ren turned to see that both the Gambon's severed tongue and open belly were now closing, as if reversing the wounds entirely.

"--It can regenerate?"

"It uses its own natural mana to heal itself--I'd recommend taking it out in one blow."

Sirius told him, keeping his distance as he watched how Ren handled the situation.

"Then it's time to try that, huh…"

--I only began my training for this a month ago, but I think I can handle it now--the next stage of dark magic, "Araphel".

If "Dunkel" was level one, then "Araphel" would be a jump all the way to level five. Feeling the heat of the Gambon's musty breath brush against his skin, his concentration didn't falter.

While using the Dunkel form of dark magic, the spells were basic in function—not requiring a high mana cast, coming with little to no risk. Araphel, however, was a different beast to handle entirely. A single lapse in focus could result in releasing an overflow of mana, or blowing himself up with his own magic.

"—Araphel: Tyrant Lance!"

An enormous drill, spanning the size of a small tree formed from the shadowy mana generated by Ren.

—Phase one, success! Now for phase two—!

Clenching his fist and turning his arm as if turning a valve, he released another spike of mana as the void drill began to spin rapidly, generating a gust from the generated force. The snapped twigs and fallen leaves fluttered from the drill's wind before Ren pushed it forward against the oversized amphibian like a propelled lance.

"--"This is the drill that will shoot through the heavens!" I've always wanted to say that!"

Ren yelled out with a smile, holding onto his extended arm as he kept the drill's trajectory stable. Against a swift opponent, the spell would leave the caster wide open to counterattacks, but against the almost inanimate gambon--it was perfect. Colliding against the giant frog's recently healed belly, the mana-formed drill pierced it without a hitch, ripping apart the creature's flesh as its entire body spun around the overpowering rotation.

However--there was just one problem with this.

"Uh-oh."

As the drill pierced the gambon like a shish kabob, its acidic blood began to fling in every direction. His first thought was to cast Dunkel Veil again, but using two spells at once, especially an Araphel-level spell would be incredibly risky.

"Ba'al: Ten-Thousand Purging Fangs."

From behind him, Sirius invoked a spell--manifesting countless, tiny bolts of lightning that targeted each and every drop of caustic blood.

Conjured into thin air, the minuscule bolts emitted a purple light through the area, sparkling through the trees as if a festival had spawned from nothing.

The small sparks bounced around the surrounding trees like pinballs, colliding and vaporizing each instance of the gambon's blood within seconds. Trying to understand what was happening in front of him would've sent his brain into overdrive, only understanding that there were countless flashes of violet flying across his vision.

"--Woah."

It was his first time witnessing lightning magic, and it was just as amazing as he suspected.

"That was pretty awesome."

"I know, that lightning magic of yours really--"

"--I meant you, Small Bro."

Sirius corrected him, slapping him on the back with a smile. The drill had finally dissipated, fizzling out until all that was left was a mist of darkness in its place, leaving the gambon behind as nothing more than a pile of shredded skin.

"Huh? Really? But I messed it up--if you didn't step in, I would've been a pile of bones by now."

"A gambon snatcher like that is a helluva' thing to put down, most adventurers in this world wouldn't be able to handle that. You did it with only a few months under your belt--be a bit more confident."

"--"

"Believe in the me that believes in you."

More so than the previous words, the ones that had just left Sirius' lips hit Ren like a bolt of lightning. Paired with the man's charming smile and unwavering confidence, both in himself and now in Ren, those words were so impactful that it made all others he had ever heard sound fake.

"--You understand my reference earlier?! I misjudged you...Brother!"

"I'm glad you've finally come around, Bro!"

All it took for someone like Ren to put his full loyalties into someone was a mutual love for anime, manga, and games. The other Outlanders were all amazing people that he already considered to be like family--but none of them until now shared in his interests--until Sirius.

The two newly-formed brothers exchanged a fistbump, before Sirius walked over to what was left of the gambon, nudging his black, leather boot against the steaming pile of skin.

"That's five-points for us."

"--Wait, how is it even kept track of?"

Ren asked as the idea suddenly struck his mind, there was no way it was based off of an honor system--not with leches like Sora around.

"Don't worry--these lists are enchanted by Beatrice, they update each time one of us successfully puts down one of our targeted monsters."

"That's pretty convenient."

"Isn't it?"

Moving onward, Ren felt lighter--after successfully using an Araphel-level spell and being complimented by someone like Sirius, he felt like he was on top of the world. Marching forward with a wide, all-confident smirk, he was prepared for anything that decided to cross his path.

"That expression is kind of creepy, bro."

"--I don't want to be called creepy by someone like you."

Ren muttered, stopping alongside his partner as they stumbled upon a small cave, somewhat hidden among the perched trees.