Nico’s lips parted in a vicious grin as he watched his opponents prepare to fight. Two newbies, a slime and one outlaw. Nico didn’t need five years of raiding experience to guess that Theo would be the most troublesome. His outlaw acquaintance had been extremely light on equipment when they first met. Now, it was clear that Theo had profited from the blood moon. Theo’s new vambraces seemed to bolster his defense, but Nico was more worried about those boots. If Theo could really accelerate at any time, then Nico would need to keep a strong guard. Theo had also exchanged his ratty black cloak for a tan, almost skin-like, one. Nico couldn’t imagine what kind of enchantment it had. Fortunately, Theo didn’t seem to have any other upgrades.

Theo pivoted slightly and then suddenly vanished. The ground beneath his feet exploded as he was propelled forward. Nico prepared to block another ramming attack, but Theo’s target was elsewhere. One of the dire wolves yelped as Theo slammed into it. This particular wolf had already been slashed by Marco’s sword. Theo and the wolf tumbled to the ground, but only one of them got back up. The outlaw hastily retrieved his dagger from the wolf’s chest while Nico grit his teeth.

Without any command, the two nearest wolves flung themselves at Theo. Their target jumped backward and raised his weapons. Obviously, this wouldn’t cause the wolves to hesitate. Theo’s cloak began to glow as he swiped at the air in front of him. A strong gust of wind pushed the wolves, who were already in mid-air, to the left. Theo stepped to the right, dodging them. The wolves tumbled away, leaving Theo open to accelerate again.

Nico didn’t want to see another wolf get taken out by that attack. He prepared to whistle and call them together, but then a lightning bolt crashed into his side. Nico staggered, but he shrugged it off. Well-enchanted equipment absorbed magical attacks better than normal gear. In the meantime, Theo had already darted to the other side of Nico’s formation. Another wolf was taken out in an instant. Though, Theo seemed to be breathing heavily after using such a brute-force tactic.

The dire wolves weren’t as smart as Nico, but they had their own plans. After watching one of their siblings die to Theo’s ultra-fast attack, they were already prepared for a second. As Theo got up to retrieve his dagger, another wolf was bearing down on him. Theo hastily battered it with wind, but he had to abandon his weapon. Two more wolves flanked him from each side.

“Too…fast.”

Blue tentacles shot towards one of the wolves. Mavis tripped the beast and then jumped on top of it. Theo knocked the second one away with another gust of wind.

“Can’t…help…when…jump…stop that.”

“I don’t really have a choice. Killing even one of these things is difficult.”

“Then…don’t.” The slime huffed. Mavis pointed a tentacle at Vivian. “Push…to…Vivi.”

“Um, ok?”

At this point, three wolves were near Theo. One was being held down by Mavis while the other two rushed towards him. Two more were running back after being knocked away by Theo’s first gust of wind. The last one stood calmly by Nico’s side. Of the original nine, only six were still alive. As Mavis finished off the one it was holding, that number dropped to five.

Nico ran towards Theo, but another lightning bolt blocked his path. The tamer grimaced and pointed towards Vivian. The wolf by his side charged at her.

“Uh…” Vivian balked as a flash of white shot across the battlefield. “Marco!”

The swordsman had been inching away ever since Theo appeared. He froze when Vivian called out to him.

“Why the fuck is this even happening!?”

Marco chucked his sword at Vivian and it sprung to life in mid-air. The blade plunged itself into the wolf’s thick neck. Vivian took advantage of the wolf’s injury to place it under a charm. The beast began to stagger around as if it were sleep walking. Meanwhile, Marco was running away.

“You should run too!” Marco yelled without looking back.

“Vivi…one…more.” Mavis called out.

The mage turned to see another wolf heading her way. Unlike before, this one wasn’t trying to attack. It had been tossed via Theo’s cloak. Vivian threw out a lightning bolt to paralyze it and prepared to cast another charm spell. At that moment, her cat’s eye gem flashed and she quickly recoiled. The grass beneath Vivian’s feet suddenly stiffened and grew into numerous green spikes. Vivian managed to dodge and the grass slowly shrank back to its normal size.

She looked at Nico, who had buried his hands in the dirt. The outlaw’s cloak was merged with the surrounding foliage. Nico turned towards Theo and Mavis who were fighting the other three wolves.

“Get back!” Vivian yelled. “Especially you in the tan cloak. Jump to the left!”

Theo glanced at Vivian, but he didn’t hesitate. Mavis dodged as several blades of grass tried to skewer it. Theo jumped to the left and narrowly avoided being wrapped up by a nearby tree branch.

“Another one with a boring magic tool.” Nico muttered. “Are you seeing the future, or just reading my thoughts?”

Meanwhile, the wolf that Theo had thrown at Vivian was already on its feet. The mage slowly backed away as it glared at her. As her focus shifted, she failed to notice Nico disappear. The trees began to shake violently and Vivian’s heart nearly leaped out of her chest. One tree after another quivered until Nico’s hand shot out of the ironbark next to Vivian. The mage tried to run, but she was blocked by the wolf. Nico stepped out of the tree and channeled some mana into his gloves. A bestial arm swung towards Vivian, but then it hastily pulled back. A dagger sailed between the two humans.

“Help…more…”

“I know!” Theo grumbled.

Mavis expanded its body to hold the three wolves back while Theo turned towards Nico. The tamer braced himself just before Theo slammed into him. After a moment’s resistance, he lost his footing. The two men tumbled away from Vivian.

Because of his defensive enchantment, Theo was the first to get on his feet. He sent a blast of wind towards Nico, but blades of grass wound themselves around the tamer’s body. Nico weathered the hit and stood up.

“What are you going to do without a weapon?” Nico taunted.

Theo had lost one of his daggers inside a wolf while the other had been thrown to protect Vivian. The raider showed his open palms as he shrugged.

“Dunno.”

Nico flexed his clawed hands and grinned as he rushed forward. Theo attempted to send out another gust of wind, but Nico grabbed his arm and the wind dispersed. The tamer raised his free hand and slashed at Theo’s chest. Gritting his teeth, Theo kicked Nico in the stomach. He took the outlaw’s claws to avoid a follow-up attack.

“Theo…use!” Mavis yelled.

As Theo disengaged, a golden orb fell at his feet. He quickly grabbed the treasure core before Nico could react. Theo had no idea where Mavis had gotten such a thing, but he also didn’t care. After a flash of golden light, Theo was holding a silver necklace with a lopsided cross as the pendant. It certainly didn’t look like a weapon.

“Fucking seriously…” Theo moaned.

Nico’s boots glowed as he stamped his foot, causing a shockwave to fly out. He readied his claws and charged as the force knocked Theo over. The necklace glowed dimly while Theo appraised it. He rolled backwards and faced Nico with a strange grin.

“Nico, I don’t really want to kill you. Will you yield?”

“After killing so many of my children? What do you think!?”

Nico’s claws grew even longer. He slashed at Theo again, only to be blinded by a flash of light. In the next instant, he was lying on the ground. Nico groaned in agony while clutching his throbbing arm. His pupils constricted as he stared at a mangled beast paw lying in front of him. The tamer slowly looked up at Theo, who was holding a silver short sword.

“I think you should yield.” Theo said, pointing his weapon at Nico’s severed hand.

Nico let out another low moan and doubled over. Even if a comeback was possible, Nico knew that he would die of blood loss before it happened.

“…Fine. I yield.”

“Thank you.”

Theo raised his weapon and it shone with a white light. The sword suddenly shrank until it turned back into a necklace. Nico whistled sharply and his wolves stopped attacking Mavis and Vivian. They rushed to his side and growled at Theo. Nico waved his good hand, holding them back.

“I’ll leave…” Nico glared at Theo and then looked at the wolf corpses that had been strewn about. “But you don’t touch a single hair on their heads. Understood?”

Theo nodded.

Nico rummaged around in his pocket and took out a storage crystal. He promptly tossed out a bunch of old supplies and other miscellaneous goods. After he’d made enough room, Nico stumbled over to each of his fallen wolves and stored their corpses.

“Y-Your hand…”

Theo felt that he needed to remind Nico not to bleed out.

“I’ll deal with it back at camp.”

Nico turned to the remainder of his wolves, whistled and then waived his hand. They ran away into the forest. Nico watched them go and then pulled a thrumming coal-black feather out of his storage. He snapped it in two and a dark glow slowly covered his body. When it finished, Nico disappeared.

Theo grunted as blood dripped from his chest. While he was watching Nico walk around with a severed hand, he had forgotten about his own injuries.

Mavis quickly slithered over to the outlaw. The slime’s hair twitched as it examined his body. The largest wound was, of course, from Nico’s claws. Theo had avoided almost every attack from the wolves, but his body was still covered in dark purple bruises and bloody scrapes. Mavis realized that this was the cost of using those boots to zip around the battlefield. Even with his vambraces’ defensive enchantment, Theo’s body had paid a heavy toll.

“I understand Nico wanted to bury the bodies…” Theo muttered. “But he didn’t leave any cores behind.”

Vivian staggered towards Theo and Mavis. She hadn’t taken any damage, but casting that many spells left Vivian feeling like she’d run a marathon.

“Um, I can help with that.”

“Thank you.” Theo and Mavis spoke at the same time. Though, Mavis was the only one to add ‘Vivi’ at the end.

Vivian placed her hand on Theo’s shoulder and uttered a short chant. The outlaw’s wounds closed up right before his eyes. After several dozen seconds, he was fully healed. Theo looked himself over in disbelief.

“That was pretty fast.”

“I’m much better at supporting than fighting.” Vivian replied. There was a hint of pride concealed within her shaky voice.

The mage turned to look at Mavis, who cocked its head.

“So…can one of you explain how a slime is talking?”

“Can…talk…no…understand…how.”

Theo felt apprehensive, but Mavis seemed to trust this person. Besides, he rationalized, she’d already seen this much.

“I found Mavis living in the first layer. Despite being a slime, she has a lot of human qualities. Honestly, I don’t understand it either.”

Vivian blinked. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. After reluctantly closing her mouth, Vivian turned to Theo.

“Ok, I’ll believe that for now…”

“Eh?” Mavis cut in. “Believe…me…is…true.”

Vivian shook her head and sighed.

“I’ll believe that for now. But who are you?”

Theo met her gaze and Vivian flinched. After watching this guy fight, feelings of amazement and terror clashed inside her head. Theo didn’t look much older than her, but he was clearly more experienced. In fact, if Vivian had seen an older man fight like that, she would have immediately assumed they were a veteran.

“Theo…outlaw.” Mavis spoke, taking advantage of Theo’s hesitation. “Very…dangerous…deceiving…person.”

Vivian froze like a deer in headlights.

“I’m not going to hurt you.” Theo hastily clarified. “But…yes, I am an outlaw.”

Vivian stepped back.

When Nico surrendered, Vivian had felt extremely relieved and even a little invincible. The monster tamer was famous for being the most dangerous raider in the second layer. After fighting someone like him, what else did she have to fear?

Vivian shivered as she stared at these two. Now she had her answer.