Shadowing the ground and dwarfing every other creature in the forest, a majestic yet terrifying beast flew in the sky with its body covered in silver-white plumage and two snakes in its tail. All it takes is one glance to tell how horrific its strength was.

It is said that one would be lucky to see one in their lifetime, truly a sight that will leave anyone in awe.

「What a large bird! I wonder what it is,『Appraisal』!」Grey

-----------------------------------

【〔Beast〕】

【Species】Cockatrice

【Sex】Male

【Age】39 (Adult)

【Status】Healthy

【Mana Capacity】1,385 【Mana Quality】A

【Combat Power】2,698 【Threat Level】A

【Attribute】Wind 【Magic Control】88%

【Physical Enhancement】92%

【Intelligence】91

【Description】

A large bird-type beast with a deadly set of talons, often reaching a wingspan of 8 meters during adulthood. It can be easily distinguished with two snakes protruding in its tail which is often said to have brains of their own. It's meat is also considered as one of the most exquisite delicacies in the world.

-----------------------------------

A-rank! The most powerful creature I've encountered yet!

With a wingspan of 8 meters, it must be about the size of a small fighter jet! And it even has snakes for a tail! But what interests me the most is its meat!

If it's considered as "one of the most exquisite delicacies in the world" then that means its meat must be insanely good!

I'm already drooling just imagining what it tastes like.

It's also a creature stronger than me, about 35%, I guess. This will serve as a proper training since I'm outside the dungeon, and if worse comes to worse, I can just use a 【Divine Potion】, but if I win, I can eat cockatrice meat for days!

「Yosh, it's decided! I'm gonna create a meal out of you!」Grey

Stoked about the taste of the cockatrice meat, I quickly stored the wild boar I just hunted into my 『Storage』and chased the cockatrice with great enthusiasm.

「Meat, here I come!!」Grey

I dashed my way through the forest, running the fastest I've ever been in my life. With speed faster than a cheetah, I was able to tail the Cockatrice. But...

Haah... Haaahh... Haaah...

... it's been 10 minutes and it still hasn't landed! If only it's altitude was a little bit lower, then I could've hit it with a spell. Currently, I'm resting under a tree to restore a bit of stamina.

Haaah... That damned cockatrice.

Whilst cursing the bird, I grabbed the 【Enchanted Water Jug】from my 『Storage』and drank a lot of water to rehydrate.

Ahhh... That was refreshing～ I'm suprised I lasted this long, but my leg muscles are aching like hell!

If only its meat wasn't deliー I mean if only I didn't need you for training then I would have given up fighting you.

Grabbing the opportunity, I took my time to cool off and breath in fresh air whilst enjoying the scenery.

Birds of different colors flying in all directions, Trees that bear all sorts of fruits and berries, a cascade of water streams gushing in the mountains and horned rabbits?

「Haha, this isn't Earth after all.」Grey

Hup! That break should be enough. Now where did that bird go?

I quickly stood up and searched for the general direction the cockatrice flew to but what I found was...

「Huh? Smoke?」Grey

... a few kilometers away, a large column of smoke could be seen rising from where I was standing. Even from this far away, one could determine how big the fire was.

A forest fire?... There shouldn't be any fire-attribute beast in the Haltea Great Forest, did someone start it?

Whatever, let's check it out. I've got a bad feeling about this.

Without wasting a breath, I ran towards the source of the smoke and arrived in less than 2 minutes.

But the scene before me was something I did not expect.

「A village?」Grey

Hundreds of houses were being burned to the ground and corpses of people burning to cinders. It was so grotesque that the previous me would probably be puking by now.

Thanks to slaughtering thousands of monsters, I got used to this kind of scene. But unlike monsters, people don't turn to mana shortly after they die.

Although I can stand how grotesque it is, the same can't be said for how cruel it is. Slowly being burned to death and watching your loved ones suffer the same way, not only adults but children as well, the way these people died is just too cruel.

I'll make sure that they at least have a proper burial. For now, I'll put out this fire.

「《Downpour》!」Grey

Clouds quickly formed on the sky and heavy rain started to pour down the burning houses. The flames were quickly extinguished and white smoke replaced the once dominant black smoke.

《Downpour》is a high-level water spell I learnt a while back. I often practiced other types of spells and arts whenever I have the free time, so I have quite the experience with other spells but it's still no match to my original attribute and class.

After the spell ended, all that can be seen are remnants of the recently burnt wooden houses and dead bodies covered in mud. White steam rose from the extinguished houses and covered the village completely.

Whilst the steam was rising, a silhouette could be seen from behind the curtains of steam, a silhouette one size larger than a horse with an aura more terrifying than a lion.

Grrrrrrr Rrrrrrrr Grarrrr

「So you're the one responsible for this.」Grey

As the steam cleared out, a massive canine-type beast was revealed. Jet black fur and blood red eyes, along with insanely sharp fangs, it is a figure that can truly be called demonic.

-----------------------------------

【〔Beast〕】

【Species】Demon Hound

【Sex】Male

【Age】28 (Adult)

【Status】Healthy, Agitated

【Mana Capacity】938 【Mana Quality】A

【Combat Power】1,633 【Threat Level】B

【Attribute】Fire 【Magic Control】78%

【Physical Enhancement】86%

【Intelligence】87

【Description】

A medium sized canine-type beast which is endemic to the Polakras Volcanic Plateau. It is known for being territorial and often uses its fire breath to fend off the intruders.

-----------------------------------

It's a B-rank beast, about the same level as a Greater Golem.

But I'm still stronger than it by at least three times. Rather than strength what's bothering me the most is it's description.

It's supposed to be territorial so it doesn't make sense why it's here. After all, the Polakras Volcanic Plateau is located at least a thousand kilometers from here. Even if it's fleeing from a predator, I doubt it would go this far, and from what I've learnt all these time in the wild, creatures who are running from their predator should have "Panicking" in their 【Status】, not "Agitated".

This only means one thing, this incident is manmade!

And whoever planned all this, I'll never forgive them. Not only did they take their lives, they also took the children's future. I swear I'll make them pay.

But before that, defeating this thing comes first.

Grrrrrrr Rrrrrrrr Grarrrr

With the demon hound growling at me vigilantly with eyes full of hatred, I readied my fist and coated it with mana, preparing myself to strike any time an opening appeared.

The hound seeing my fighting pose, quickly pounced at me like a tiger to its prey, too bad for it, he's the prey not me.

Seeing the opportunity, I closed the distance between me and the hound and evaded its attack. I then delivered a blow straight towards it's chest.

「《Magnum Caliber》!」Grey

Gahuuhhkkkk

The hound yelped upon receiving my punch and got blasted a few meters off the ground, colliding with a couple of debris before crashing into a ruined house.

The punch drilled a small hole into the hound's chest yet it was able to stand as if nothing happened, still having not learned its lesson, it pounced at me once again but this time I didn't close the distance, instead, I released a more powerful art.

「《Megaton Shotgun》!」Grey

With my left fist acting as the medium, mana flowed out of my body compressing into a bullet-like projectile and blasting everything in front of me into smithereens, yet the hound was able to withstand such an attack.

Even a mid-level art won't do, huh. As expected of a B-ranked beast.

Then, if that won't work then have a taste of a high-leveー huh?

Before I was able to release my attack, the hound sensed danger and backed away a few meters in a single jump. After landing on the ground, it released a scorching breath that turned every flammable thing in its path to ash.

A counter!?

I quickly avoided the attack by propelling myself into the air and created a sphere of wind to cushion my fall.

Whew, any later and it would've been a direct hit, not that it would endanger my life, but I would surely take quite a bit of damage.

So it finally realized that it wouldn't be able to win in close-quarters-combat and is now switching to long ranged attacks. Too bad for you, I'm also well versed on that aspect as well.

「《Gale Waltz》!」Grey

A barrage of wind blades rained down towards the hound, each with the power enough to cut down boulders and speed rivalling that of sound.

With no chance of escape, the hound used its mana to create a wall of fire in hopes that it would stop the attack, but all hope was in vain, although the wall managed to stop a couple of blades, the remaining ones easily tore through its body.

With its body in tatters and covered in its own blood, the hound was struggling just to stand barely. Breathing heavily, the hound glared at me with eyes full of hatred.

「I'm surprised that didn't finish it off.」Grey

Grrawooooo～

With little life left in it, the hound decided to do a final struggle and used up all its mana and focused it into a single point, preparing to release its most powerful attack.

It was desperate, ready to do anything to take down its attacker.

「Oi oi oi, are you serious? If that attacked is released, not only me but this already ruined village will really turn to cinders.」Grey

There's no time to waste, I need to end this quickly. I'll need to use my best spell!

Wind... Tornado... Increase the rotation... Add another tornado to accompany it... Decrease the area... Focus it on a single point... Just like a spear... A spear that can mow down a forest... Now!

「《Twin Spiral》!」Grey

A strong burst of wind was brought forth into existence and formed a spear of two tornadoes. With the release of the spell, it quickly approached the demon hound and obliterated everything in its path.

The hound was torn into pieces and the mana it tried to release was overwhelmed by the sheer strength of the "spear".

If one were to view the forest from above, the attack's result would seem like a scar in the green forest.

Haahhh... Hahhhh.. It's over... That was quite... draining.

Exhausted by the sudden use of a large amount of mana, I was forced to swat in the muddy ground due to fatigue.

Now there's only one thing left to do.

I searched every house in the village and gave a burial to every single corpse I found. There were some corpses completely turned into a crisp and some that died because the house collapsed, regardless, either way is a cruel way to die.

I wonder why but whenever I gave someone a burial, I felt responsible for their deaths. It might have been due to the fact that if only I had arrived sooner, then I could've saved them.

I know I'm not the one at fault, but it still bothers my conscience.

And to the one who is the cause of all this, I swear, after I finish my training, I'll find you and you will pay for the lives you stole.

It's almost sunset and I'm still a little bit off from completing my task. Although earth magic helped quicken the job, it still takes quite some time to clear the debris and give someone a proper burial.

I also realized after seeing their corpses that this village is an elven village. If only the situation wasn't something like this, I would've been full of excitement.

「Alright, This should be the last one.」Grey

I walked towards the last house in the village and cleared the debris. What I found under the debris was a pair of perfectly burn-free corpses near each other. A couple? Looked like they died from house collapse.

Whilst I was removing the reclaiming corpses, I saw something I didn't expect to find.

「A girl!?」Grey

There was an unconscious girl under the couple's corpse and furthermore, she's breathing!

Happy about the fact that there was a survivor, I quickly but carefully evacuated the girl into a safer place. And just to make sure,『Appraisal』.

-----------------------------------

【〔Anthronoid〕】

【Name】Yuna

【Race】Elf

【Sex】Female

【Age】13

【Status】Mildly Injured, Unconscious

【Mana Capacity】173 【Mana Quality】G

【Combat Power】26 【Threat Level】G

【Attribute】Ice 【Spell Proficiency】10%

【Class】None

【Physical Enhancement】12%

【Ability】Detection

-----------------------------------

It seems that she only has mild injuries. A simple spell should suffice,《Heal》.

After ensuring the safety of the girl, I continued the burial of her parents and with that, it should be everyone in the village.

「May all of you rest in peace.」Grey

After completing the burial for everyone, the girl was still unconscious so I decided to take her home with me. After I arrived at home, I laid her on top of the bed and covered her with a blanket.

Whilst waiting for her to wake up, I decided to prepare dinner. Even though I haven't eaten since breakfast, I don't feel like eating. I wonder if it's because of what happened.

「And done, I wonder if it's too bland or somethー」Grey

「Huh... Where am I?」Yuna

I was taste testing the meal I cooked when I suddenly heard a voice from the bedroom. Looks like she's awake already.

「Wasn't I in our house? And it was collapsiー right! The house was collapsing after the monster destroyed itー the monster! Where's the monster!? 」Yuna

「I defeated it.」Grey

After finding out that she's already awake, I quickly cleaned myself up and headed to the bedroom. When I arrived, I found Yuna talking to herself so I decided to cut in. But when she saw me, she immediately tucked herself into a corner.

Ahh... she's wary of me, of course, who wouldn't be wary of someone who took you to his home without your permission.

「Don't worry, I'm not a bad guy. Also, this is my home.」Grey

After hearing my introduction, she calmed down a little and relaxed a bit.

「Is it true that you defeated that monster?」Yuna

「The demon hound? Yeah, I did.」Grey

「Then everyone in the village! Are they all safe?」Yuna

The moment she asked that question, silence quickly enveloped the whole room. It was as if the whole world stopped. And to that question, I don't think I'll know how I'll to respond to it. I can only say two words.

「I'm sorry.」Grey

「No, you must be joking. You're joking, right? That can't be realー」Yuna

「The village was already in ruins when I arrived, you're the only survivor.」Grey

「No... It can't be...」Yuna

Yuna's eyes were overflowing with tears at that moment. I couldn't do anything to cheer her up, all I could do was tell her everything I knew.

The day after that, I took Yuna with me and visited her parent's grave. There, she cried her eyes out all day. All I could do was watch her as she grieved over her loved ones.

By the end of the day, Yuna's tears dried up and her eyes were as lifeless as a corpse. She didn't even resist when I took her back to my house, it was as if she was just a shell of who she was.

A few days passed and she hasn't eaten anything, she won't move from the bed, she would just stare lifelessly into the ceiling all day.

「I wonder what I could for her.」Grey

I was outside wondering what I could do for Yuna when suddenly, I heard a loud crash from the kitchen.

I dashed as fast as I could to see what's wrong and found Yuna attempting to pierce her chest with a kitchen knife. Without wasting a moment, I snatched away the knife from her hand.

「What were you thinking!?」Grey

「I don't want to live anymore... hic... I already lost everything I have... My parents... My friends...hic... They're all gone... hic... I have no more reason to live.」Yuna

Once again, Yuna was crying her eyes out. It's not like I don't understand where she's coming from. But I can't just let her throw away her life like that!

I don't know what will happen to her in the future, nor I know what she has been through, but while she's under my care, I'm responsible for her.

With everything I've got, I braced myself for the worst possible outcome. I kneeled before her, grabbed her shoulders, and gave her quite a bit of scolding.

「Snap out of it! Why do you think you're still alive!? It's not just a coincidence, your parents sacrificed their lives just so you could live! Do you think they sacrificed their lives just for the heck of it!? They did it because they wanted you to live! So don't go around saying you've lost everything because you still have the memories you've spent with them. If you're gone then who will remember them? That's why , if you can't live for yourself, then live... for their sake.」Grey

After giving my piece of mind, the whole room became as quiet as the dead.

「I know I have no right to meddle with your choices in life, I'm just a stranger after all. But if you ever need a crying shoulder, I'll be right here for you.」Grey

Yuna's eyes were already trickling with tears. It seems that she's back on the right state of mind. One more push and I should be able to convince her.

「Maybe there's a reason why God let you live, don't you want to find out?」Grey

「Uhhhh... Uhh... Uhwaahhhh... Wahhhh....」Yuna

After that, Yuna cried her eyes out once again, the only difference this time is that the life in her eyes have returned. And the dark night soon came to an end.

CHAPTER 4 END