“What is that?” Zumi asked. The four-meter-male-tall humanoid monster captured her eyes. His bare huge belly, limbs, and even its proportion were similar to a human, except for his grotesque face. He had three vertical large eyes and a mouth dripping with green saliva.

“That’s called Riese, and it’s not an ordinary creature. It’s a rank 2 monster! Although their kind is usually peaceful when unprovoked.”

“Crap, you’re right. I’ve read about him before.” She shuddered. “I’m not an easily scared type but I don’t want to go near that thing, let alone fight him.”

“Let’s assess the situation by observing it from a distance,” Kane gave his opinion.

“K-K-Kane? C-can you… p-put me… down first?” Athera sounded. Her hands were still covering her face.

“Ah! That’s right, Kane. Put her down, now!” Zumi shouted.

“Okay, fine.” Kane lowered his arms until Athera managed to stand up. She immediately ran and hid behind nearby tall grasses, planting her face on the ground. When Kane approached her, she would run again and proceeded to do the same act.

“Have you turned into a cat or something?” Kane raised his eyebrow.

“It’s your fault Thera’s like that!”

“Whatever, I’ll just take a closer look. You two must not stray too far from me.” Kane turned around and moved toward the riese.

Zumi pouted when she saw his reaction. She then pulled Athera’s hand, and they followed Kane together.

The three had a clear vision of what was happening between the riese and the participants. Roughly 30 of them were throwing many kinds of spells at the monster. However, the riese kept walking without care. Whatever spells they cast, his seemingly impenetrable blue pale skin brushed them off.

“It’s no use! Our spells don’t work!” a boy with short blonde hair shouted.

“Don’t give up, y’all! We’ll bring him down no matter what! And we can brag about this achievement!” a fat boy wore tattered noble clothing cheered.

A moment later, more people joined the crowd. Some also chose to observe like Kane’s group or just ignored it.

“Come and join us, people! The merrier, the better! If you land the final blow at that thing, its mana core is yours!” shouted the fatty.

“Really!?”

“With about 50 people, we should be able to defeat it right?

“Let’s join them!”

Many observers chose to go closer to the riese and joined the attack. Zumi looked at Kane and asked, “Should we join them too? I mean with that number, I think we can win.”

“Naive,” Kane uttered.

“!”

“Unranked spells won’t have much effect on any rank 2 monster, especially a riese. They have natural magic resistance so any spell below rank 2 is the same as being tickled,” he explained. “And those brats attack recklessly without any brain whatsoever,” Kane said inwardly.

“Wow, you know a lot about monsters. Are your parents an adventurer or maybe a hunter?”

“Sort of,” said Kane. It was a lie to hide the fact he had fought myriad battles with diverse monsters. Not that he abhorred them, but mostly, the battles were unintentional and unavoidable.

“So what’s our next move, oh mighty Kane, the bane of monsters?”

Kane only rolled his eyes and decided to ignore the moniker. “We wait for the riese to be provoked.”

“Isn’t that dangerous? And we should warn them,” asked her again.

“Doesn’t matter because it’ll create many opportunities, you’ll see. You can go ahead tell them, but I don’t think they’ll stop attacking it.” He put a small grin.

Zumi opened her mouth but then chose to close it and stopped asking more questions. She and Athera continue to watch.

“It’s futile!”

“No, we have scratched his skin! See!?” The fatty pointed at the riese’s right thigh. It had a tiny discernible line.

---

“Come on!” A blonde girl with short stature shouted in the middle of the crowd. A blue magic circle appeared on her palm as she chanted.

“Take this, you ugly giant! Water Jet!” A liquid burst forth with high velocity. It spiraled and shaped like a sharp dome. However, it missed the chest; instead, it turned upward.

“Ah, I forgot to aim! Wait...” she said while watching where the spell went. The water hit the riese’s left eye directly .

“Graaa…” the riese cried. He bent down and covered his grazed eye. Opening his mouth, his green saliva drooled and touched the ground. The crowd cheered and the fatty screamed,

“His weakness is his eyes! Go for it!”

Each time the spells hit the riese’s eyes, he staggered a little, which made the crowd roared in excitement. He then opened his large mouth, inhaling air.

“Cover your ears and run,” said Kane out of the blue.

“What? I can’t hear you because of the noise,” asked Zumi. Athera who had been watching far from Kane crawled to be a little bit closer.

“I said, COVER YOUR EARS, NOW!!” Kane yelled at the top of his lungs. He immediately plugged both of his ear holes and ran away.

“GRAAAAA!!!!” The riese let out a high-pitched shriek, facing the sky. Grasses and leaves fluttered in an orderly manner.

Some of the crowds managed to cover their ears when the riese opened its mouth, while others weren’t so fortunate. The shriek shattered their eardrums and scrambled their brains. They died instantly while standing, including the fatty.

“R-run!”

The remaining crowds were dispersing but the riese wouldn’t stand still. He chased the nearby small group and then smashed them with brutal strength. Just like that, a crater appeared and the ground quaked. Their remains got stuck on his fist. Not stopping there, the riese moved to other nearby participants and gave them a lethal stomp. His bloodshot eyes brimmed with hatred, hellbent on killing any human in his sight.

Zumi and Athera released their fingers from their ear holes. They gaped, frozen, watching the horrors unfold in front of them.

“Hey!” Kane called from behind. His word awoke the two. “Are you two alright?”

“They… they are actually still alive, right? Please tell me this is just an illusion…” Zumi put a hollow smile.

“Ah… ah…” Tears rolled down from Athera’s eyes.

“Right, they’re just 13, still young and pure. There’s no way they’ll be fine after seeing this. Still, I had no idea that riese has a sound-based attack. Could it be because of a phenomenon similar to the previous slimes before?” Kane kneaded his temples. He wanted to think more but he realized there was little time for that.

Kane then patted Zumi’s soft cheeks repeatedly until she said,

“W-what are you doing!?” She snapped out. “Stop touching my face…”

“Listen carefully!” Kane’s expression became solemn. “They’re all dead. Try not to look at them. I have an important task for you. Give me a nod if you understand!”

Zumi nodded. Kane then continued talking, “Take care of yourself and Athera from any danger. It’s likely for other monsters and beasts to come because of the smell of blood. In the meantime, I’m going to kill the riese. Get all of that?”

“You’re joking, right?” asked Zumi in disbelief. “Do you have a death wish?”

“I’m dead serious and quite confident I can take that thing down.” Kane glanced behind. The riese was heading towards his direction, fast. “Don’t come to help me unless I get heavily injured!” Finished talking, he then charged at the riese.

Kane grabbed his hidden tomahawk. He threw away the fabric, revealing the polished ax head. A faint yet fierce aura surrounded the weapon.

The riese noticed the approaching enemy. He let out a war cry, not as loud as the shriek, and punched the ground where Kane was at. However, the punch missed because the half oni jumped right in time. While in the air, he slashed the monster’s wrist, leaving a long, shallow cut, then raced towards the mountains.

The riese hunted him down. Every step the monster took caused a mini earthquake.

---

Zumi watched the fight between Kane and the riese. She clenched her sweaty palm and placed it on her folded lip. “Please don’t die, Kane,” she muttered.

Looking back at the direction where the corpses were, she covered her mouth and averted her gaze from the bodies. The pungent stench of blood and guts made her insides rise. Despite that, Zumi was able to swallow them.

Worried about her friend, she looked at Athera, only to find the elf was puking non-stop until Zumi approached her.

“Thera…”

“Uhuk! I’m fine. I want to rest… for a while,” begged Athera, sitting in a cross-legged position. Her eyes were red and moist.

Zumi recalled the half-oni’s instruction to guard Athera. So she grabbed the elf’s hand and said, “Let’s rest somewhere else. It will be dangerous around here.”

Athera gave a silent nod and her hand was pulled up to help her stand. They walked away from the scene.

Behind them, three shadows lurked in the grass, observing from a distance.

---

“Graa!!” The riese chopped low using his hand. It barely missed Kane.

Feeling that he had run far enough, Kane turned around and dashed toward his enemy. The riese lifted his foot for a stomp attack. This, however, gave a window for Kane to attack. Holding the ax with both hands, he jumped and swung it at the kneecap. The crimson light, engulfed in vis, flashed as the ax moved.

When it pierced the skin, it produced a bone splintering sound. The riese immediately kneeled and let out a pained cry. Kane pulled out the ax and landed.

“!!”

The riese caught Kane while in midair. He tried to escape by relying upon his free left arm, but it was futile. The clutch became stronger, crushing Kane’s bones. His right arm and his ribs began to crack.

Suddenly, an explosion occurred that was coming from Kane, causing the riese to loosen the grasp. The explosion was actually one of Kane’s vis techniques. By releasing a considerable amount of vis all over the body, he created an aura burst. It was common among vis users and typically used when in a pinch.

It was indeed useful albeit having a delayed time and costing more than a half of Kane’s vis. He had already used 25 percent of them for the previous attack.

Just right when Kane landed, he dashed toward the riese. It tried to grab Kane again, but this time, he was able to dodge it by kicking the ground with a bit of vis, quickening his speed. He jumped and attacked the riese’s knee once more.

“Graa!!”

The riese fell, crashing to the ground. Kane barely avoided being crushed. He stared at the bloodshot giant eyes and pondered what he should do next. The riese could be easily killed by destroying their eyes, but they were also very valuable despite being only a mere rank 2.

While Kane was thinking, the riese tried to stand up but failed miserably. His body mass was too heavy to be lifted by his arms. That was why Kane had aimed for the knees.

The riese then opened his mouth wide. Knowing what’s coming next, Kane immediately slashed all of the giant’s eyes at once. Blood gushed profusely from the cut. When his life sign was fading and finally dead, his flesh began to melt, leaving only his bones, innards, and the precious material, normal mana core.

Kane collapsed, resting his back on the ground. He was panting and rubbed his swollen arm. When the intense pain jolted to his brain, he decided to not touch it again. Despite the injury, Kane was grinning. It was satisfying to beat a powerful opponent.

“Kane!” Zumi shouted from afar. She and Athera ran towards him.

“What is it? You’re being too loud…” he gave a weak reply.

“Y-your arm!” She gasped upon looking at it. Purple bruises were all over Kane’s right arm. “Thera, do you know a healing spell?”

“I-I don’t know any… but I have… this.” Athera pulled up her robe, revealing a small fanny pack. She took a healing salve and poured the content on Kane’s injury.

“Ah, that’s better. Thanks, Athera. Pour some on my ribs too,” said Kane. His pain had lessened a little, although he couldn’t move his broken arm yet.

Her cheek turned red. She poured the rest of the salve to his chest through his tribal wear.

“You’re a lifesaver, Thera. Are you always carrying that around?” asked Zumi.

“Just for… this test only. In case of emergency,” said Athera.

While the two were talking, Kane felt some vibration. Planting his ear onto the ground, he heard several thumps getting closer and closer. They were human footsteps. He looked toward his left and said, “Someone is coming.”