“Ah…Arcus san, wait up!” (Yuuya)

I call out to Arcus san, who already left the village, and was heading out into the forest. Arcus san and Gillareal san always go party hunting, so I thought it would be important to go with them, so that I’ll have at least some experience in party play. That said, Arcus san firmly rejected me coming with him, since last time, the Great bear crept up on me too. But somehow, me and Gillareal san persuaded him, and we agreed to meet up the next day. Master also consented, and gave me exempted me from training for the day.

That said, Arcus san is trying his best to leave me behind and go out hunting so that I’ll be safe. But I know Gillareal san will stop him and ask him to wait for me somehow. Gillareal san, please do your job properly!

I head into Baras village, searching for the herbalist’s shop.

Baras is as lively as always. It’s a wonder how they don’t run out of stuff to sell. But like every other day, they sell the meat for weapons, or weapons for meat. Food and weapons. Those are the only things that can ensure survival in this area. That said, the sheer number of Slayers here are shocking. There must be at least a thousand people here. And of them, 700 might be slayers. One slayer has enough ability to slay even immortal beings who can never be beaten. No wonder the Slayer village was sealed away. They could tip the power scales on a whim if they wanted.

But that is, if they wanted to. But those people, they sealed the slayers here, just because they got revenge on someone for killing their comrades. I admit, that someone was a god, but this entire plot seems suspicious. Its most probably an orchestrated plan to remove one of the most influential pieces from the playing field, in order to secure one’s own position. Politics. What a disgusting subject.

I head down the path I remember perfectly. Straight, third left, second right and there it is. The herbalist, Biriona san’s house. I’ve visited her ever since I got to this village, since master frequently sends me out on errands to buy herbs and what not. I knock on the door.

“Come in♪”

Biriona san’s voice comes out from the inside. Her voice is truly like a song. She even speaks as if she’s singing.

“Ah Biriona san. I need some of the Ripsien grass. Do you have any in stock? “

“Ah~It’s Lil Yuu! I do I do! Take a seat. How much do you want? The usual? How about some tea?”

Biriona san starts off with her machine gun like speech as usual. I nod and politely decline the tea, using hunting as an excuse. Biriona san is about 170 cm tall, with dark green hair cut into a messy hairstyle. She never styles her hair, saying ‘Natural hairdos are the best’. Two pointed ends peek out of each side of her head. Yup. She’s an elf.

“Here you go~ Here you go~ Three bags of Ripsien grass, all fresh and washed~! I plucked it today morning you know~? Scaary monsters attacked me too~! “

Even though she acts weak, the barbaric mace that was on the counter destroys it. Yup. Contrary to her weak and playful appearance, Biriona san is a Mythical beast slayer. A specialist. If described in power, she alone could hold off Master for more than 10 minutes. By the way, Arcus san can hold her off for one minute at most, and I …. A second if I’m lucky…

I thank Biriona san and head out. I climb down the mountain like the others, using the sloping sides as a shortcut to slide down the mountain. It’s fun. Ah. Like I said, there are various races in Baras. They’re mainly divided into humans, demi humans, beast men, demons, spirits, fairies, and undeads. Elves and dwarves were all demihumans, while people with animal characters were beastmen. Isn’t that rude? There are women too you know? Spirits were the beings who had energy for a body, while fairies were nature’s guardians, who kept a place lively. The demons were, well, demons, and undeads were,…..undead?

I drop the bags near the cabin’s door and head out. Arcus san is standing near the gate, and he looks very tense. On the other hand, Gillareal san looks almost carefree, and was munching on a bun like food.

By the way, Arcus san and Gillareal san were monster slayers.

We head out. It seems today’s targets are Reguluses. A flaming lion, the Regulus always roamed in prides of three to five of them. Their meat was extraordinary, and their strength even more so. I still haven’t revealed my cooking skills though. I have a gut feeling which says that it might be troublesome.

Gillareal san moves ahead of us, occasionally checking the ground and the trees. He must be looking for clues. Arcus san on the other hand just swings his axe and practices his techniques. The atmosphere seems a bit tense.

It’s because the Regulus were only second to monsters like the demon bird. Mid boss level monsters, so to speak. And recently, their population had a huge spike, so the slayers decided to send the expert duo, Arcus and Gillareal to subjugate them.

Its been two months since I came to Baras, and I’ve already made them my best friends. I’ve trained constantly, and master says the improvement was good. She taught me magic too. Elementary class. From all five elements. Luckily, since I was possessed, even though for a short while by the demon’s energy, I could use the ability of the demon slayers, Magic mastery. So I learnt five new spells!

Fire magic: Flame

Water magic: Water stream.

Wind magic: Gust

Earth magic: Earth spike

Lightning magic: Spark

Every basic magic was drilled into me, so that I could use it properly. Using magic was quite different from what I imagined. It was all about visualization. If I imagined the mana flowing in me to convert into what I needed it to become, a chant will automatically be learnt by me. The chant, is a prayer. It’s a prayer to the elements to receive temporary control from them. And by setting basic chants, the elements ensured that the development of magic will always be limited, and not exploited.

Seems like Gillareal san found something. He immediately starts dashing, and so do we. We run after him, moving quickly through the forest. Thanks to the slayer body and the endurance training by master, my current limit is 1200 km around the village. That’s 10 times the amount Master asked me to do.

I keep up with them thanks to the enhancements, and see them. The regulus.

There were 7 of them, and it seemed they were having an internal dispute. A territory was, I guess. GIllareal san and Arcus san look distressed. 7 might cause casualties after all.

“What do we do, Gil? There’s only 7 of them. The meat won’t even nearly be enough”

Ah of course, they were worried about the meat. I made a quick suggestion.

“Why don’t we split up? Of course, remain within running distance of each other, but fight separately? We can get ‘meat’ quicker too”

I put emphasis on the meat part. An immediate effect.

“True… Meat is important. “

“Right. Arcus, these are mine.”

Gillareal san already moves, going in for the kill. Arcus san looks distraught, since he totally forgets about the Regulus before him. Then, he sniffs something and moves off. He tells me to keep safe before moving though.

But my objective has already been spotted. The minute hole straight in front of me. The Regulus’s den.

I reach the entrance of the den. Thanks to Arcus san and Gillareal san, none of them notice me. I slowly edge towards the entrance. I slip in, and darkness surrounds me. I can’t see.

Aren’t lions related to cats? So they can most probably see in the dark, right?

“Burn through all my obstacles, ‘Flame’ ”

I cast the elementary magic Flame, and a little ball of fire becomes bright in my arm. The surroundings light up. I move in, carefully and slowly. This time, I won’t make a mistake.

It’s a labyrinth. I’ve encountered none of the Regulus so far, but I’ve reached really deep into the cave. Now, I mostly use Flame occasionally, just to check it whenever necessary. My mana pool is dangerously low. Meaning I need to use it sparingly.

I finally get into a huge hall. It seems it’s a huge wall though. There is wind blowing, and I can even see a little bit of light in the roof. But something feels wrong. The lack of monsters was wrong from the start.

I cast flame once again, and I can see the situation.

13 Reguluses. All sleeping. Their chests rise up and down, and all of them are in deep sleep. Luckily, It might be their hibernating period. Now to slip quietly ou—

*RUMMMBBLLEEE*

The entire floor rumbles. I can say who it is even with my eyes closed. Arcus san.

All the lions tremble from the tremors and jump up, ready for battle. And I’m right in the middle of them. Well damn me.

I use my sword to parry the REgulus’s fangs. That is my only way for now. I can’t use the Slayer energy yet, since it’s not necessary for now. Three Regulus jump at me, from three directions.

“ Blow everything away, ‘Gust’ “

I use the Gust on the Lion that’s jumping from my front, quickly draw the two swords, and slash their heads apart.

That doesn’t make my situation any better though! I’ve killed four Regulus, and the other nine are attacking me even now. The heat from their mane constantly raises the room temperature, and it’s making me feel more slow and sluggish. I need to finish this fast! Right!

“ Douse the flames that block my way, Water stream!”

I use the water stream, and a small jet rushes to the monster. It evaporated even before it even hit the Regulus. Their strength is phenomenal!

I quickly put some distance between the monsters and prep myself. Alright. Calm as a river.

I need to slowly release the bare minimum energy and increase it slowly. I can feel it. The all so familiar pale green energy reconstructs my body, and I can feel it bulging up a bit. Not too much, just a bit.

Right! Ready for the fight.

I rush back in, and I can already see how the third and fourth Regulus were trying to corner me in from the back, while the first, fifth and sixth were trying to keep my interest from off their brilliantly obvious tactic. But too late for that now.

I swing the sword in an arc and cut off the Regulus head perfectly. His two attendants, were shocked and tried to charge in and kill me. I let one of them bite my forearm, while I swing the sword around, in order to kill the second and parry the claws of the fourth, who tried to execute his sneak attack. The second Regulus tries to desperately bite through my skin, in vain. My skin is harder than steel now, you know? But the heat on my forearm is uncomfortable. Before the Regulus could figure out what I was going to do, I swung my arm in an arc, and batted away the other Regulus with the one stuck on my arm. Immediately, I used my katana to stab through it’s heart.

Right. 7 left. I dash in on the replacements who try to cover the dead one’s place, and immediately execute a roundhouse on its head. Waiting for the moment it exposes the side of its face, I accurately drive my sword in through its temple. The pseudo Rebellion is amazing, without a doubt.

6.

Four of them try a new tactic now, by using one to intimidate me and the other three to jump in from other directions. A good tactic. I roar, and release a bit more Monster energy. The strain increases tremendously, but I can do it. I charge into the lion which was supposed to intimidate and distract me, and wrestled bare hand with it. The other Regulus could only stand and watch. I had already sheathed my sword, so with my bare hand, I plunge it into the Regulus’s chest area and kill it.

5.

I throw my two swords at the perfectly careless opponent, and drive my fist into the face of another Regulus. It’s sent flying away. I close in on him, and deliver the killing blow to it.

2

The other Regulus were just small fry.

I cancel the transformation, and slump onto the wall. My muscles come swelling down, and my physique changes to how it was before. The fatigue that hits me Is no joke . Good thing all the monsters came at once, so there won’t be any additional damage.

“Haaah? Slayer ….techniques?”

I had already finished the Regulus subjugation and returned. Arcus san was mad at me for not telling him about the den, since he could have gotten more meat. Like always, Master was in my cabin. What's she talking about? Slayer techniques?

“That’s right. The basis for a Slayer. There are some procedures to kill certain monsters after all. And some skills you can incorporate into your fighting style. So you’ll need to learn all of it. The slayer techniques will help you to conquer the weakness of your no sword style form. If you get the basic idea of the two blade style, you can become much better. By the time you leave, I require you to complete all these books.”

Master puts a bundle of huge books on my table, and walks off.

The first book was…

“Eh? Master? This is… ‘The Chaos manual?!’ “

“That’s right… I found it in my storeroom when I was going through my old stuff. It’ll be important for you, Yuuya”

I was shocked. Even the chaos slayers had techniques. Meaning, I’m just starting to become strong. I understood that a long time ago. Compared to my master, i'm still a fledgling. My OP level is too low.

I still got a long way to go….