Outskirts of Solria, Silvia Forest (Kyle POV)

We were finally at the edge of Silvia Forest.

About half an hour has passed since we left the city, and we were currently standing at the entrance to Silvia Forest. Lush foliage surrounded the dirt path leading deeper into the forest and the sound of the birds chirping echoed out while a light breeze blew past us.

Hmm, I should probably warn them all before we enter. After all, the ideal scenario is that no one gets hurt at all.

I turned around to make an announcement about safety to everyone.

Halbert and Regnis had serious expressions on their faces, but Zane was still rubbing his guild card with his hands as he looked around at everything with an excited sparkle in his eyes, while Reina and Sophie seemed to be taking this more leisurely.

“Alright, we’re finally here. Now, before we start our little field trip, I’m going to warn you all. Silvia Forest might be classified as a safe zone for beginners, but you shouldn’t let your guard down. It’s still a monster-filled area, so stay alert. And just so you all know, we looking for slimes, so tell me if you see any!” (Kyle)

“Ah. Ky, there’s one right there!” (Zane)

“Where!?” (Kyle)

Zane pointed behind me and I immediately pivoted around while my eyes lit up.

I spotted a slime next to a tree nearby. It looked like any normal slime, just a light blue gelatinous ball with a small sphere inside of it acting as its nucleus. My greed almost got the better of me as I was about to immediately pull out a throwing knife and kill it, but I managed to hold myself back after reminding myself that I should explain how to kill slimes to the class first. I cleared my throat and let go of the throwing knife I was grasping before asking everyone what they knew about slimes.

“Ok, so we’ve located our first, uh, practice target. But before we begin practical training, let me just double check. What do you all know about slimes?” (Kyle)

“Well, they’re a good source for low-level water element monster cores, aren’t they? I don’t know much about fighting them though.” (Sophie)

“Actually, it’s been a while since I saw one, but there used to be a few roaming around my hometown.” (Halbert)

“Yeah, back when we were kids we used to see them here and there. They were pretty weak too.” (Zane)

“If I remember correctly, their weak point is the ball in the center, right?” (Halbert)

“Yep. If you try to hit them with a weapon, you’ll have to aim for the ball thing, but it’s way easier to just blast the whole slime with magic.” (Zane)

“Exactly, which is why they’re the perfect practice targets for our practical training today. One of the advantages of alchemy is that using your own mana is technically optional, so if you’re ever out of mana, or you’re manaless in the first place like me, you can still use alchemy stones to damage enemies that can’t be hurt by regular physical attacks. For example, if I didn’t know alchemy, I would have to do something like this to kill a slime.” (Kyle)

I’m sorry Mr. Slime, but looks like you’ll have to die. It’s for my retirement fund’s sake!

I pulled a throwing knife out of my holster. The glint in my eyes sharpened before I tossed it lightly at the slime, and the knife cut through the air as a nostalgic feeling bubbled up inside of me again.

Man, it’s been… well, let’s just say ‘a while’ since I’ve thrown a knife, but looks like my aim hasn’t gotten that rusty.

An audible clink rang out as the throwing knife tore into the slime and pierced its nucleus. The slime died almost immediately as it popped like a balloon and my throwing knife landed on the floor next to a small blue crystal, the slime’s monster core.

“See, normally I would have to aim for the slime’s weak spot since most physical attacks would just go right through the slime.” (Kyle)

After walking over and retrieving my throwing knife, I picked up the slime’s monster core too, which served as proof of its subjugation for my quest, and returned to the class before showing them the small alchemy circle etched into the blade of the throwing knife.

“But if I had used the alchemy circle on the knife, I wouldn’t have had to worry so much about aiming exactly for the core.” (Kyle)

I glanced around to see if there were any more ‘volunteers’ nearby for my little demonstration, and, luckily, I spotted another slime out of the corner of my eye.

“Perfect, there’s another one right over there. I’ll show you how to kill one with alchemy first, then you guys can practice.” (Kyle)

I put the first slime’s monster core into a bag and made my way towards the other one as the class followed me.

“There are tons of ways you can use alchemy to fight. You can set up a hidden alchemy circle on the ground as a trap, you can use alchemy to add extra magical effects to your weapon, and you can even draw a circle on your gloves, shoes, or armor if you’re going to be in close combat, but the easiest and most direct method is probably just throwing something with an alchemy circle on it at the enemy.” (Kyle)

I waved my arm again and threw the same throwing knife I used before at the other slime.

“【Tempest Arrow】, single cast, activate.” (Kyle)

Goodbye, Mr. Slime Two!

The knife flew through the air again, but this time, it shone with a green light as the alchemy circle on the knife activated. Gusts of wind wrapped around the knife like serpents, forming the vague shape of an arrow and a split-second later, the knife stabbed into the dirt in front of the slime as small, yet razor-sharp blades of wind tore the slime apart. The turbulent winds carved a few small marks on the tree right next to the slime, but by the time the wind got to us, it was just a breeze.

“Well, usually something like a throwing knife would be preferred since it's easier to aim with and there’s more room to draw a complex circle if you need it. But if you don’t have anything like that, even just throwing a monster core is fine as long as you draw a proper alchemy circle on it.” (Kyle)

The wind died down, and I turned to the class again with a nonchalant shrug as my hair settled.

“Alright, with that being said, let’s go find some more slimes so you all can try it. There should be a ton around here.” (Kyle)

“Finally! The moment I’ve been waiting for! Lead the way, Ky, it’s time to do some real adventuring! They’ll all be talking about me by the end of the month!” (Zane)

“I feel like that might be a bit of a stretch…” (Halbert)

“Don’t call it a stretch, Halbert. That implies there’s still a chance that people will be talking about this idiot.” (Sophie)

“It’s ok, Zane. I doubt you’ll make a name as a famous adventurer, but if you make a big enough fool of yourself in public, I’m sure they’ll be talking about you in no time.” (Regnis)

Regnis walked over and patted Zane on the shoulder before Zane cried out in indignation.

“Oi, let me dream at least!” (Zane)

We all laughed a bit at Zane’s expense before I walked over to Mr. Slime Two’s final resting place to pick up my knife again along with my second monster core.

We started to walk deeper into Silvia Forest while keeping an eye out for more slimes, but fortunately, it wasn’t even a minute of walking before we ran into two more of them on the side of the road. They were slowly moving along the trees and I stopped in my tracks a few feet away from them as I cheerfully called out to everyone.

“There are two slimes right there, so who wants to go first?” (Kyle)

“Me!” (Zane)

“Sure, go ahead. Be careful though, it might just be a slime, but keep in mind it’s still a monster.” (Kyle)

“Don’t worry, I’ve got this!” (Zane)

Zane ran up to my side as the excited sparkle in his eyes returned stronger than ever, and he held his metal staff in his hand while taking a stance that almost looked like he was holding a spear instead. A moment passed before he started chanting to activate his body strengthening magic.

“The deepest potential of this body, I desire thee. Let mana course through, and may the will of strength flow through me to transcend my limits!【Body Strengthening】!” (Zane)

Immediately after he finished chanting, Zane kicked off the ground, sprinting towards the three slimes while letting out another, shorter chant for what seemed to be a wind spell.

“Ethereal wind of this endless sky, I command thee, come forth and strike!【Storm Drive】!” (Zane)

A green, two-layered magic circle formed on the tip of Zane’s staff and he stopped in front of the first slime to jab his staff towards it. The moment the magic circles made contact with the slime, a blast of wind blew the slime away while Zane took another step forward. He shifted his stab’s momentum to the side and swept the end of his staff straight through the nucleus of the other slime in one smooth motion. The wind from his spell died down as he turned around, slammed the bottom of his staff against the ground, and struck an edgy pose with a proud smile on his face.

“See, slimes are nothing to the Great Adventurer, Zane Royhardt!” (Zane)

Zane started to laugh arrogantly, but I just stared at him at a slight loss for words before bursting his bubble.

“Uh, well, you’re definitely strong enough to handle a couple slimes by yourself, but there’s no point to this practical training if you don’t use alchemy to kill them…” (Kyle)

“Ah, crap. I forgot...” (Zane)

“Nice job, you dolt.” (Sophie)

“It’s fine. We’ll just find some more slimes. Come on.” (Kyle)

The rest of us walked over to Zane and I picked up the two new monster cores before we moved on.

A few minutes later, we found another slime. Sophie walked up next to me and pulled out a monster core along with a pen from the bag at her waist before turning to me with a confident smile.

“Alright, let me try this time. Don’t worry, I’ll actually use alchemy.” (Sophie)

“Ok, but like I said before, this is a real monster. It can be dangerous, so treat it as such and try to eliminate it as efficiently as possible.” (Kyle)

“It’ll be fine. It’s just a slime, isn’t it?” (Sophie)

Sophie started to draw an alchemy circle on the pale blue monster core she held in her hands and after a moment, she put the pen away before tossing the alchemy stone towards the slime.

“【Ice Shard】, single cast, activate!” (Sophie)

The alchemy stone shimmered as it shot towards the slime, and a moment later, it transformed into a sharp chunk of ice. The ice shard easily impaled the slime’s nucleus and the slime dropped a small monster core on the floor as it died. Sophie turned to me with a proud smile and a twinkle in her eyes that made it obvious she was looking for praise, but despite her stellar performance, I was a little more concerned with something else.

“How was that, Professor Kyle?” (Sophie)

“... Well, your aim was pretty good, but, uh, why did you yell out the name of the alchemy circle?” (Kyle)

I looked at Sophie with a puzzled look on my face as she stared back at me with a similar one on hers.

“I was just activating it. Did I say it wrong or something?” (Sophie)

“No, what you said was perfectly fine, but I told you to treat this as a real fight, didn’t I? It might seem cool and flashy to activate alchemy stones by yelling their names out, but it isn’t optimal at all in actual combat. In fact, it might even put you at a disadvantage, so just activate it normally next time, ok?” (Kyle)

“Eh? Normally? Wait, you mean this isn’t how you normally activate ancient alchemy circles!? How do you activate it normally then!?” (Sophie)

“Just trigger it with your mana, like any other alchemy circle… What made you think activating alchemy circles verbally was normal?...” (Kyle)

“You did! You’ve been activating everything verbally, so I just assumed that was how ancient alchemy circles were activated! How was I supposed to know that using my mana was even possible!?” (Sophie)

Ah. Wait, I guess I never explicitly told them that they could activate alchemy circles with their mana, did I? I mean, they always verbally activated circles in class, but I thought it was just because they wanted to look cool or something while doing it...

“... Uh, well, I’m kind of a special case since I don’t exactly have mana, so I have to activate everything verbally... Ahem. Sorry if I gave you all the wrong idea there, but just so you know, you can activate ancient alchemy circles with your mana just like any other alchemy circle. After all, it wouldn’t be very advantageous for combat if you had to announce exactly what you were about to do, right?” (Kyle)

I waved my hand a bit as I smiled at everyone sheepishly and a moment passed as they stood there at a loss for words before Sophie facepalmed with an exasperated sigh.

“A-Alright, so with that being said, let’s go find some more practice targets for now. I’m sure there are a few more slimes nearby, and if we keep following this road, there should be a rest area for adventurers where we can eat lunch.” (Kyle)

I let out a nervous laugh and picked up the monster core before starting to walk down the road again as everyone followed me.

***

About an hour later, we were fairly deep into Silvia Forest and I was humming a tune as we walked along. A few horned rabbits ran by in the bushes a few feet away from the path, but because of how difficult it was to hit them, they weren’t very good practice targets for the class.

Horned rabbits are another monster native to Silvia Forest, and they’re exactly what you think. Just a rabbit with a single horn on its head. However, despite being low-level monsters, they’re relatively fast and, as such, they’re often hard to subjugate for beginners.

Anyway, I don’t have a quest to subjugate them or anything like that, so we’ve mostly just ignored them and hunted all the slimes around here instead. Everyone’s already gotten a few chances to practice using alchemy on slimes and the collection of 70 or so small, blue monster cores currently jingling around in my bag as we walked was a good indication of just how many slimes we found on the way here.

Actually, I think the overpopulation problem was a bit more serious than I previously thought. I heard it was because the weaker monsters have started migrating for some reason. And the main hypothesis from the guild right now is that a strong monster has probably taken an area nearby as its territory, driving all the weaker ones out. But, honestly, it’s kind of ridiculous how many low-level monsters there were in Silvia Forest. There weren’t that many at the edge of the forest, but as we ventured deeper, they just kept coming. And there really weren’t many adventurers out here either. The only other adventurers we’ve seen so far were a small party of three that we passed by earlier. They were hunting slimes just like us.

Well, besides that though, everything was going smoothly and we were currently heading towards the rest area to take a break for lunch.

“K-Ky, are we at the rest area yet? I don’t think I can take this heat much longer.” (Zane)

Zane’s tired voice rang out and it seemed like he was on his last legs as he panted for breath while trudging along beside me.

“Well, according to the map, it’s just past the right turn up ahead.” (Halbert)

Halbert stared at the map he held in his hands, while Reina walked over to Zane with a gentle smile to console him.

“Don’t worry, Zane. I’m sure we’ll be there in no time.” (Reina)

“Yeah, stop whining. The heat’s not even that bad.” (Sophie)

“Maybe for you it isn’t! I’m dying over here!” (Zane)

“Well, you were the one who decided to wear full leather armor. You even brought your cloak...” (Regnis)

“It’s fashionable, ok!?” (Zane)

“Hey, I think we’ve arrived, guys.” (Kyle)

“What? Really? Finally!” (Zane)

We approached a sharp right turn in the dirt path and after we rounded the corner, there was a short distance to a clearing, which I assume was the rest area.

The warm sunlight shone in, illuminating the small grassy glade, and a few birds flew around in the open air chirping here and there. It was the perfect place for us to have a nice picnic and eat lunch together. Well, it would’ve been if it weren’t for the countless gelatinous blobs roaming around. But fortunately, with our current circumstances, a congregation of so many slimes was probably more of a blessing than a curse.

Muahahahahaha! Looks like lady luck’s finally on my side for once! I hit the jackpot!

I laughed evilly in my mind as Halbert put away the map with a helpless smile and Zane fell to his knees with a defeated face while he held his staff with one hand like a cane.

“Well, looks like we’ll have to do a bit more work before we can take a break. Sorry, Zane.” (Halbert)

“Damn it! Damn it all!” (Zane)

Zane’s distressed cry echoed into the sky as he slammed his fist on the ground, and I let out a light chuckle before turning to the class with an excited smile.

“I think everyone’s already gotten the hang of using alchemy and with the rate we’ve been finding them, there’s clearly no shortage of slimes, so let’s just clear them out normally for now. We can have lunch when we’re done and go find more practice targets to resume practical training after that. How’s that sound?” (Kyle)

“Sure. Sounds good to me.” (Sophie)

“That’s fine with me.” (Halbert)

“No objections here either.” (Regnis)

“Well, if nobody else has a problem…” (Reina)

“... Do I even have a choice?” (Zane)

“Alright, then let’s get started!” (Kyle)

“I can clear out the back area over there.” (Halbert)

“I’ll take care of the middle then.” (Regnis)

“Ugh... You guys can handle it, right? I’m gonna sit down for a bit.” (Zane)

Halbert pulled his greatsword out and stepped forward. The sunlight gleamed off of the steel greatsword in his hands and his voice rang out as he activated body strengthening magic.

“Before me stands an enemy. One who I must defeat, so grant me the strength to go beyond!【Body Strengthening】!” (Halbert)

Regnis’ voice rang out right after Halbert’s, and he pulled out his spear before activating his body strengthening magic too.

“Silent storm flowing through this body, I desire thy rage. Rage strong enough to break any barrier!【Body Strengthening】!” (Regnis)

Hmm, looks like Halbert and Regnis’ have unique chants for their body strengthening magic. They’re a little shorter than Zane’s too, but that might just be a result of their different specializations. Speaking of specializations though, we actually fit most of the generic RPG party roles if you take into account everyone’s ‘class.’ We’re just missing a healer.

Zane’s fighting style looked like it was based around controlling the midrange, and he reminded me of a battle mage. He could still sit in the back and use magic normally just like any other mage, but close quarters combat was no stranger to him. And with the help of his metal staff, a few short spells, and body strengthening magic, he could probably put up a pretty decent fight.

Halbert, however, was definitely a full-on swordsman, and because of that, he was probably much more familiar with the intricacies of body strengthening magic compared to Zane. Regnis was kind of in the same boat too since it looked like he was similar to Halbert, just with a spear.

On the opposite end of the spectrum was Reina who, judging by her outfit, was a pretty traditional mage. If I had to describe her role in our little imaginary party system we’ve got going on, she would be our damage dealer. The immobile kind that stands in the back and blasts the enemy with magic while the frontline tanks, aka Halbert and Regnis, keep the enemy busy.

Sophie was kind of an enigma though. Her light leather armor indicated that she definitely wasn’t a front line tank like Halbert and Regnis, so my best guess was that her fighting style probably relied more on speed instead. It was the kind of armor you would find on an archer, but I doubt she’s an archer because if you look at her, she’s lacking the most essential aspect of an archer, the bow. The closest thing she had to a weapon was the rod-shaped thing wrapped in cloth that she had strapped to the back of her hip and I don’t know what it was, but it definitely wasn’t a bow.

Well, assuming it is a weapon though, it’s too short to be a staff or a spear, leaving the two most likely possibilities of a wand or a shortsword. But she isn’t dressed like a traditional mage at all, so it probably isn’t a wand. And while her attire would match up with a shortsword user, I don’t think it’s a shortsword either since it would be much easier and more efficient to wear a shortsword openly on your hip rather than wrapping it in cloth, which would make it terribly hard to take out in a real fight if it was a sword...

When I came back to my senses, Halbert had already kicked off the ground toward the slimes and he began to mow his way through to the back while Regnis followed behind him.

Sophie had an excited smile on her face while she stood there watching Halbert and Regnis wreak havoc in the field of slimes. I stared at her intently as I tried to figure out what was strapped to her back, but after a moment it seemed that she noticed because she stared back with a puzzled look on her face and a bit of an embarrassed blush.

“What? What is it?” (Sophie)

“Well, I was just wondering what that thing wrapped in cloth is.” (Kyle)

“Yeah, now that I think about it, it’s pretty strange. What is that?” (Zane)

“Is it something you don’t want to show us, Sophie? You don’t have to show us if you don’t want to.” (Reina)

Zane and Reina were now looking over at Sophie with a curious look on their faces too, but unexpectedly, Sophie actually smiled once we asked her about the thing strapped to the back of her hip.

“It’s ok. I was just about to reveal this thing anyway since we were going to clear out the slimes normally.” (Sophie)

The passionate flames in Sophie’s eyes lit up again as she unmounted the object from her back and placed what I assume was the bottom side of the object on the floor with a light thump before starting to unveil the object with a smug smile while holding it steady at the top. However, what I saw under that cloth was something… quite surprising.

“This is one of the latest advancements in the Empire’s modern alchemical technology! It’s called-” (Sophie)

“Ah, it’s a gun...” (Kyle)

Yep, the thing Sophie carried around all day was a gun, well, to be more exact, a rifle. The whole thing was made of shiny silverish metal with some stylish purple designs on it, and for some reason, there wasn’t a hammer on the end of the barrel. However, there was a slot on the side, right above the trigger, with a large red monster core embedded into it.

Huh. Never thought I would ever see a gun again. I didn’t think it would be necessary to develop in a world full of magic, but this one probably shoots magic bullets or something judging by the fact there’s a monster core embedded in it. I guess technology really has advanced over the past thousand years. Either that or some other poor sap from Earth is here now too, spreading our technological advancements around… Actually, it’s probably the latter considering it’s still called a gun. Well, looks like I’ll have to keep an eye out in case any reincarnators or summoned heroes come knocking on my door. I’ve had enough of demon lord this and chosen hero that a long time ago. I want nothing to do with it!

I was slightly shocked for a moment after seeing a gun again, but Sophie ran up to me with an excited look on her face right after I cut her off.

“Wait, Professor Kyle, you know what a gun is?” (Sophie)

“... Uh, well, the guns I’m used to seeing are a little different from this one, but yeah. You could say that.” (Kyle)

“What does it do?” (Zane)

“From what I can tell, it looks like it’s a type of gun called a rifle. And judging from the design of this one, my best guess is that it shoots out some sort of magic projectile. Think of it as a kind of crossbow, but instead of shooting arrows, it shoots magic.” (Kyle)

“Exactly! You load monster cores into the side slot as a mana source and the internal alchemy circles inside the gun compress the mana into a spherical projectile called a bullet before launching it out the end. It might be a bit of a hassle to carry around, but the firepower is no joke. Watch!” (Sophie)

Sophie picked the gun up and took aim at a group of slimes near the front. A moment later, she pulled the trigger and a red light shone from the monster core on the side before a small glowing bullet easily pierced the slime closest to us. A small explosion of flames eradicated four slimes, and their monster cores dropped to the floor as flames started to spread from the immediate edge of the explosion to the grass nearby, setting a few other slimes ablaze.

… And this is exactly why you don’t use fire magic in a forest…

Sophie turned back around to us with another proud smile on her face as she loosely hugged the rifle in her hands while slimes ran around in the flames behind her.

“So, what do you think?” (Sophie)

“Ah! S-Sophie!” (Reina)

“Hey, there’s a fire!” (Zane)

“Eh?” (Sophie)

Reina shakily pointed at the scene of destruction behind Sophie as Zane shot up on his feet again in a panic. Sophie turned around and saw the fire at about the same time Halbert and Regnis noticed it.

“Hey, what happened!?” (Regnis)

“Is everything ok over there!?” (Halbert)

Our frontline duo called out to us with concerned voices as they started to make their way back, but I don’t blame them though. After all, I would be pretty concerned too if I was in the front drawing aggro and my backline DPS just set everything on fire while I wasn’t looking...

“We’re ok!” (Kyle)

I yelled back to Halbert and Regnis while giving them a thumbs up to tell them that we were fine before turning back to Sophie again.

“... Now, Sophie, I know that it’s cool to blast things with fire magic, but please, take the surroundings into account next time…” (Kyle)

She stared at the fire for a moment before turning away with an embarrassed look on her face as she cleared her throat.

“Ahem. Sorry, looks like I got a little too excited and forgot to switch out the type of monster core…” (Sophie)

“Why did you even have a fire elemental monster core loaded in the first place?” (Kyle)

“Well, I didn’t know we were going to be in a forest today, ok? Hmph.” (Sophie)

Sophie crossed her arms and pouted as I let out a sigh before turning back to face the raging fire.

“Alright, I guess I shouldn’t have been so vague with where we were going today. Anyway, let’s just put this fire out before it spreads any further.” (Kyle)

Outskirts of Solria, Silvia Forest, Rest Area (Halbert POV)

It’s been about an hour since we finished securing the rest area and despite a couple, uh, ‘unfortunate occurrences’ near the start, we successfully cleared out the slimes roaming around the rest area with no problem and ate lunch together afterwards. However, right as we finished eating lunch, a wave of a few dozen slimes came along and ran through the clearing while completely ignoring us for some reason. We managed to kill some of them as they ran past us, but the majority of them ended up running away and Professor Kyle told us he would be back shortly before running off to chase after them, so currently, we were talking to each other while waiting for him to return.

“I still can’t believe you set the clearing on fire…” (Zane)

“It was an accident! Professor Kyle even said it was!” (Sophie)

“Hey, speaking of which, when do you think he’ll be back?” (Halbert)

“Well, hopefully not soon. I finally got a break, so let me enjoy it while I can.” (Zane)

Zane let out a relieved sigh as he sat in the grass next to me.

“Do think he’s ok? That was a pretty big wave of slimes he went after.” (Reina)

“It’s only been about 15 minutes, Reina, I’m sure he’s fine.” (Regnis)

“Yeah. Besides, there might’ve been a lot of them, but they’re still just slimes.” (Zane)

“Hmm, I wonder what was up with those slimes though. I heard there was a problem with the monster population migrating right now, but they just completely ignored us and ran through. It seemed kind of strange.” (Halbert)

“Eh, not our problem. We just have to sit here and relax until Ky comes back.” (Zane)

“But what if he gets lost afterward? Shouldn’t we go help him?” (Reina)

Zane slouched over his knees and dangled his arms in front of himself as he deflated a bit while Reina still looked like she was a little worried. I was about to reassure her that everything would be ok, but the moment my voice rang out... a cold eeriness ran down my spine. And I wasn’t the only one who felt it.

“I-” (Halbert)

I immediately shot up with an alert face and activated my body strengthening magic.

“Before me stands an enemy. One who I must defeat, so grant me the strength to go beyond!【Body Strengthening】!” (Halbert)

Mana pumped throughout my body and I instantly felt lighter as I pulled out my sword and took a stance.

“Silent storm flowing through this body, I desire thy rage. Rage strong enough to break any barrier!【Body Strengthening】!” (Regnis)

“The deepest potential of this body, I desire thee. Let mana course through, and may the will of strength flow through me to transcend my limits!【Body Strengthening】!” (Zane)

Regnis and Zane got up right after me and readied themselves for a fight too as Reina and Sophie pulled out their weapons. Without a word, we all grouped up with grave looks on our faces.

Then, I heard a noise. From between the trees in front of me, there were two strange mana signatures and the faint sound of clanking armor rang out, drowned out slightly by the rustling of the bushes.

It seemed like everyone else heard it too. They all turned to stare at the trees with me as we watched two humanoid figures emerge from between the bushes.

A full suit of old scratched up plate armor with faded blue designs and a tattered cape encased the first figure, while a sleek, rounded helmet hid its entire head. And in its hand, it held a badly chipped broadsword. But despite its appearance, I could immediately tell what this thing was. The almost corrosive sensation of its mana signature along with the two softly glowing dots floating in the middle of hollow eye sockets, just barely visible through the slit in its helmet, gave it away.

The first figure standing before us was an undead knight.

And standing behind the undead knight was the second figure, a slim man. A black hooded cloak covered his entire body, and in his hand, he held a long staff with a large black crystal on the tip. His skin was pale and his left eye glowed faintly with a dark green while his right eye was simply brown. However, despite his bizarre and haggard appearance, I was certain that this man was much more dangerous than the undead knight standing in front of him.

The man’s mana signature was like an abyss. No matter how much mana I spread near him, it all disappeared after a moment, almost like it was absorbed.

He’s not an undead, which means he’s probably the necromancer in control of that undead knight... Can we defeat them?... No, we have to defeat them. Now that we know they’re here, there’s no way they’ll just let us get away and inform the Empire about their existence. They’ll definitely try to kill us.

The undead knight stopped and the man stepped past him with a twisted smile as his voice rang out in a gleefully wicked tone.

“Ah, I finally found you... So, which one of you is the hero?... Oh! How terribly rude of me. I almost forgot. When asking others to introduce themselves, you must introduce yourself first. Ahem. Greetings, hero and his allies. I am the Sin of Envy, Zeon. Pleased to make your acquaintance.” (Zeon)

Hero!? Is he the demon lord!?... No, he called himself the ‘Sin of Envy,’ not ‘The Tyrant.’ Which means, he’s probably one of the demon lord’s subordinates instead.

“So, hero, I’ve already introduced myself. Will you not grant me the same decency and introduce yourself? I do believe this is the first time that you’ve met a Sin, and I’m honored to be the first, so let’s make this meeting a good one.” (Zeon)

Zeon cackled like a lunatic as I glanced at the sword in my hands.

Thanks to the high-level illusion magic that I had the high priestess apply this morning, the phantom image of steel covered up the crystal clear blade underneath, but in reality, the greatsword in my hands was the sacred sword that his Highness gave me when I was first chosen as the hero.

After a moment, nobody had moved, and we all waited in silence before Zeon spoke again.

“Now, come on, hero. You’re not even going to tell me your name?... Well, that’s fine. After all, I think I can guess who you are.” (Zeon)

Zeon let out another low chuckle as he stared at me for a moment before the soft glow in his left eye instantly turned harsh, and a moment later, his staff transformed into a copy of my greatsword.

“Oh?... I see. Illusion magic, huh? Sneaky little rat, aren’t you, hero?” (Zeon)

W-What!? Impossible! That was a sixth circle illusion spell! He didn’t even chant!

“Since you’re going to make this difficult, hero, I guess I’ll have to be the honest one out of the two of us. Ironic, isn’t it? Well, to tell you the truth, all I want is his Majesty’s sword. Personally, I could care less about whether you live or die, but unfortunately for you, I still have a debt to pay back to her Highness for this left eye, so it looks like you’ll have to die.” (Zeon)

Zeon laughed maniacally into the sky again as he dispelled the illusion magic and I felt cold sweat drip down my back as he slammed his staff on the ground with the same twisted smile on his face.

“Now, shall we begin?” (Zeon)