"Lightning Bolt," Lone whispered faintly.

Immediately, as if on instinct, a head whipped around only for the eyes nestled within it to stare right at him.

It was too late though. A silent flash of blue escaped Lone’s outstretched palm and hit its mark with practised ease. Its target, the cranium of a hulking Blue Orc.

The beasts were easily two metres tall, and they had biceps the size of watermelons. Lone was honestly quite intimidated by their appearance, especially the unrefined metal bars that had been roughly shoved through their noses or forehead wrinkles.

This one had them in the latter location of choice. It showed signs of culture but he somehow doubted the things had piercing parlours.

‘Must hurt like a bitch getting those put in,’ Lone thought.

While curious things, however, the metal made killing the orcs far easier since whatever minerals their piercings were made out of, conducted Lone's Lightning Bolts perfectly.

'Man, it’s like I've got a real-life aim-bot. I can forcefully aim somewhere else, but if I just let it go on its own, the bolts always smack 'em right in the nose or the noggin'. These guys certainly aren't pushovers. I guess Lightning magic is just an unfair match-up for them,' Lone concluded as he hid in the bushes and waited.

A moment later, as soon as the Blue Orc that Lone had summarily executed fell to the ground, a small girl in full-plate armour appeared on top of its confused partner's head.

She swiftly lodged one of her swords into the monster's chest and then jumped off of the creature's head before jamming her second short sword into its spine, crippling the monster.

The Blue Orc tumbled over as it lost control over its limbs. Before it could scream, Sophie ripped the sword wedged in its chest free and then cut its throat.

She glanced over to the bush that Lone was hiding in.

"Do hurry up and kill it before it bleeds out or chokes to death on its own blood," she said as she immediately found a spot to go clean her short swords of the blood and spinal fluid that now covered them.

'Man, that's the fourth time she's done that exact thing today, but no matter how many times I see her cut a spine open, I just can’t get used to it... She’s a trained killer. Well, self-taught more so than trained, but still…' Lone thought privately before he stepped forward and jammed his swordspear into the remaining Blue Orc's brain.

There was a little bit of resistance since the orcs had fairly dense bones, still, he managed to crack open the beast's head with a bit of effort.

Sophie glanced up to the sky and frowned beneath her helmet. "Should we return for today?"

Lone nodded. "Yeah. I wanted to rank up, but this is fine too. I know enough about the Blue Orcs now to make a solid plan for ranking up tomorrow."

After saying that, Lone cut an ear off of both of the orcs before he stored their whole bodies into his Dimensional Storage.

"Why the whole thing? We do not see the point," Sophie questioned.

Lone shrugged as he stretched. "Why not the whole thing? My Dimensional Storage literally has infinite space. I've no clue what happens to the bodies of the orcs that're killed by other people, but it seems irresponsible to me to just leave them here."

Sophie found that explanation to be adequate. "We see. By the way, our Sword Mastery has levelled up."

She then held out her hand. “Cloth and oil. We wish to clean our weapons.”

Lone nodded and retired the requested items for her. If Sophie was relaxed enough to clean her swords right now, that meant that there wasn't anything dangerous within the 150 metre range of them.

A good thing in his opinion since he was started to get a bit tired.

"What level's it at now?" Lone asked as he got himself comfortable.

"Beginner-level-seven, although, Short Sword Mastery is now intermediate-level-one, and Dual-wielding Mastery is currently at beginner-level-nine. Small improvements, but they are improvements nonetheless," Sophie said with hints of pride in her tone.

Lone smiled. "That's good. Well, that pretty much confirms that I gain skills and level-ups way faster than normal. Kinda obvious considering Growth Accelerator's description, but it's always good to get confirmation."

"How does this confirm anything?" Sophie asked as she started packing up her cleaning tools.

"Well, you're definitely a genius when it comes to the sword. There's no doubt about that. It’s your perfectly suited weapon after all - two short ones. If I'm getting skills and levelling them even faster than you are, then what the hell could ever prove this blatantly obvious theory?" Lone asked.

Sophie shrugged. "Fair enough. Shall we head off now?"

"Sure," Lone replied casually.

As he and Sophie left the Bengon Forest, Lone made sure to check his status and his latest system notifications.

Status

Name: Lone Immortus Sex: Male Age: 24 Level: 49 Species: Foxkin Rank: H Race: Golden Foxkin HP: 6,120/6,120 [+1,500] SP: 5,743/12,150 [+1,020] MP: 502/12,110 Basic Stats Strength: 496 [+176] Vigour: 1,215 [+102] Dexterity: 476 [+10] Agility: 380 [+17] Vitality: 612 [+150] Luck: 66 [+2] Bonus Stats Charm: 77 Charisma: 46 Magic Power: 1,211

'Not even a lick of Magic Power, huh? I kinda expected as much, still sad though. That’s a lot of Vitality, Vigour and Strength, huh? Makes sense. Big burly fuck-off orcs not giving those in abundance would be weirder,' Lone thought.

With the status out of the way, he moved onto the numerous skill level-up notifications waiting to be read in the corner of his eye.

Congratulations! The host's active lightning magic skill [Lightning Bolt] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 4. Congratulations! The host's active lightning magic skill [Lightning Bolt] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 5. Congratulations! The host's active lightning magic skill [Lightning Bolt] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 6. Congratulations! The host's active lightning magic skill [Lightning Bolt] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 7. Congratulations! The host's active lightning magic skill [Lightning Bolt] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 8.

As expected, since Lightning Bolt was all that Lone had used to kill the Blue Orcs today, it was his only attack-based skill to have levelled up.

He was genuinely surprised and quite pleased with exactly how much it had grown. Five levels in an already evolved skill was certainly a welcome gain in exchange what was essentially just easy hunting.

'Not too long until it's at the intermediate rank now,' he thought as he looked at the other notifications.

The host has developed the passive skill: Light-footed. Passive Skill: Light-footed A skill that allows the host to passively produce 5% less sound while sneaking or walking. Cost: N/A Mastery: Beginner Level 1 Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Light-footed] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 2. Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Light-footed] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 3. Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Light-footed] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 4.

'A new skill? I never even realised...' he thought as he poured over the skill's details a bit more carefully.

Not long later, he was smiling to himself, earning him an odd look from his blind yet observant companion.

'It sounds pretty cool. It'll likely be really useful once it's at a high level. I wonder why I never got this back on the elven island?’ That idea lingered in his mind for a while as he and Sophie trekked through the woods.

‘Was it because I wasn't stealthily stalking the goblins like I was with the orcs? To be fair, I was being a lot less cautious once I realised that we could take out a hob pretty easily...' Lone wondered as Ranton slowly came into view.

'Anyway, still no level-ups in Mental Pain Resistance? Even though I have a very light headache? That skill isn't even past the beginner rank yet, so I wonder why it's not levelling up... Do I need to exceed my mana limits or something? I'd honestly rather not. There're mental pains, then there's literal mental torture,' Lone thought as he and Sophie approached the southern city gate of Milindo's capital and holy city.

"Ah, eight left ears? You two are quite skilled for your ranks. May I have your adventurer plates, please? This is enough to promote your ranks once," the same receptionist from early that morning said as he slid 16 silver coins across the counter.

Lone pocketed the money and did as he was told. "Really? A promotion already?"

Nodding, the guild member began carving Lone's information into an iron plate that he'd taken out from underneath the counter. "Indeed. Most subjugation quests will result in an immediate rank up. Please think of the wooden plate as an induction of sorts. It will take a handful of quests at the minimum to be promoted to a copper plate after this point."

"Ah, okay. That makes sense. Still, is it really so surprising that we took out eight Blue Orcs?" Lone asked to pass the time as he and Sophie waited for their plates to be finished.

"Well, granted, it's not unbelievable considering how you defeated both Quint and Grindol, but Blue Orcs are usually G to C-rankers depending on their age. I can't really tell how old the ones that you killed were from their ears alone. If you happen to kill more in the future and wish to know roughly what ranks they were, please bring me their tusks. The length is a very tell-tale sign of their age, and thus, their strength," the employee said as he finished Lone's new iron plate and handed it to him.

He then started to work on Sophie's as he continued, "I was expecting you two to defeat between one and four Blue Orcs, not eight. Would you mind if I asked how exactly you defeated them?"

Lone shook his head. "Not at all. We ambushed them. I'd generally strike first and then Sophie would launch a sneak attack on the second orc. We only found pairs of two, so it worked the exact same way every time."

"Ah, I see. I'm glad you used your wits. A lot of new adventurers don't yet have the wisdom to employ more dirty tactics like ambushing," the employee claimed.

"You don't offer that advice to newbies taking on subjugation quests?" Lone asked.

"It depends on the target of the subjugation as well as the adventurer in question. As I said this morning, we Adventurer's Guild staff are very talented in reading people," the receptionist claimed with a smile. "We also happen to offer a weekly lesson on basic starter tactics for new and old adventurers alike. Included is a two-hour course on simple skills related to adventuring and how to obtain them. Would you be interested in that, sir?"

Lone raised an eyebrow as he accepted Sophie's finished plate and handed it to her. "Maybe. When is it and how long does it last?"

"Of course. It's held every Seventh Sun between dawn and dusk. Food and bathing facilities are included in the experience. Unfortunately, it isn't free. It costs five silvers to attend," The staff member explained.

'Getting some basic skills does sound pretty alluring, but 12 hours? I can do a lot of shit in that time...' Lone turned his body away from the counter and replied, "I'll think about it. Anyway, we'll be back tomorrow."

Looking slightly disappointed, the guild employee bowed his head and smiled. "Of course. Sir, madam, enjoy your evening, and I look forward to serving you again tomorrow should you arrive during my shift."

"Your Grace," a knight called as he got down on one knee. "I personally searched the reported house, but it seems that it was empty."

The man being reported to - a thin and wizened man who looked to be in his late-fifties - stroked his pointed beard thoughtfully. "Did the passing mage lie, perhaps?"

"No, Your Grace. The house did look lived in, so I don't believe that the mage tried to swindle you. From my investigation, two children were certainly treating that abandoned manor as their home for a while. At the very least, they lived there for a month or longer," the knight claimed.

"Hmm..." The man sat upon the ornate chair at the back of the hall frowned. "Perhaps the mage tipped off the children? Support for the freedom of demis has been growing wildly these past few centuries. Erion, that bastard of a headmaster, he's been spreading those wild ideas of his past Felron's borders as of late..."

"I do not know, Your Grace. It is certainly possible," the knight replied stoically.

"I see... Find this mage and have him executed for high treason. A possibility is more than enough reason to punish him. To have two presumed Crimson Foxkin slip out of our fingers so easily... I'd be ashamed to show myself in front of His Majesty if he knew of this," the wizened man ordered.

"As you will it, Your Grace," the knight replied instantly before he stood up and bowed respectfully. He soon left the hall to perform his duty.

A few moments later, the doors to the audience hall swung open, and a young girl whom Lone would recognise strolled right in.

"Daddy! I missed you!" the girl shouted as she gave him a hug.

A smile wormed its way onto the man's face. "Please, Emma, dear, you saw me this morning, did you not?"

"That doesn't mean that I can't miss you, does it?" Emma replied with a pout.

"I wonder how the servants would react if they saw the feared and respected 'Duke Henry Malik' cuddling his daughter so publicly, hmm?" he teased.

Emma pouted. "You'd just blow them away with your magic if they started any rumours or anything, wouldn't you?"

"Indeed I would. Regardless, you're no longer a child, Emma. Shall I test your lightning magic? You haven't shown me your progress since you returned from Ros, now have you?" Duke Malik asked almost rhetorically.

"Ahahaha..." Emma began sweating as she followed her father through their estate and into a courtyard. Practising magic bored her so much. “I’d, uh, I’d love to…”