I am walking through the plain following that Panthos and slave boy. Elf and Dark Elf have excellent hearing even compared to other races so I follow them from a far distance hoping that they won't notice me.

The distance is at a point where I will most likely lost them if I lose my concentration but I need to compromise with this.

The purpose of why I follow.... honestly, it's because of the state of that boy. Despite him doing his best, he just gotten beaten up as a result.

I might not be able to symphatize easily with strangers. But I still can get angry at unreasonable behaviour. I want to scold that Panthos guy so bad but I don't think that B-ranked adventurer will hear it.

So for now, I need to learn anything I can about them. Then decide what to do after that.

"...!"

I see 4 figures are running towards them.

Those four figures are Swold Wolves.

The slave boy stops walking and looks cautiously at the wolves. But Panthos just continue walking as if the wolves do not concern him at all.

I also ready myself just in case the wolves come to my direction.

As the wolves are approaching, he raises his spear which has green-coloured blade on it's spearhead.

Green light suddenly envelop the green blade. That's a magic weapon that has its own mana storage.

The four Sword Wolves quickly jump at the same time towards Panthos with their blade tails ready to stab him.

*swish!*

Panthos slashed all the wolves' head in 1 swing before their blade tails reach him.

*thud!*

The Sword Wolves were killed in an instant and fall to the ground.

... strong...

I needed plans and still went through so many troubles just to kill one.

And he killed 4 of them with 1 swing.

From the mana output alone, I can tell that his spear can cut through even my Light Sabre-enchanted short sword like a butter cake.

So this is the power of a B-ranked Adventurer.... and how weak I am compared to him.

As they start entering a forest, a thought occurs to me.

This direction... if I remember correctly, this is the forest that has lake that I avoid before coming to Liasr Town.

I avoided the lake because I sensed an astral body of a very big monster inside it. Animals and plants do not have astral body and the size is too big for a person. It is undoubtedly a monster that has the size of a building with 5 floors or more from my previous world.

I make my way to the forest while trying to be as stealthy as possible.

_______________________________________

*Interlude*

Inside the forest, Panthos is walking together with his slave.

He just took a quest about a mysterious monster residing on the Darlia Lake. Usually, a subjugation quest like this need to have few parties considering the unknown danger that it might hold.

However, he wished to defeat it without help of other party to test something. It's fine if the slave knows though, he thinks that he won't understand anything and he is not a person, just a slave.

It's all in order to beat down the person that insult his pride, the bastard elf. In this Elverwad environment where might is right due to the lack of government system, he needs to defeat her in front of everyone in Liasr Town to regain his lost authority.

He still remember how that bastard elf standed in front of him while he was lying on ground after being beaten up by the elf's sheathed katana.

He knows very well the difference in power between him and her. That's why he always bought strengthening pills and similar items whenever a travelling merchant comes inside the town.

However, none of them made him feel like he is strong enough to defeat that elf.

Until he and the slave boy met a certain hooded merchant in back alley.

That merchant offered him the thing called "Sweet World", a syringe filled with pink liquid. Panthos thought that it is a weird bottle because he never see it before.

At first, he was suspicious to the merchant's explanation on how to use it and the fact that it enables him to increase his Astral level. So he pulled the slave boy's right arm and injected a little bit of the liquid into the boy's right arm.

After he pulled out the syringe, the boy grab his heart because his heart felt so hot that he might die out of incineration inside his body. That happened for about 20 seconds. The boy's condition became better so Panthos was convinced that the "Sweet World" does not have any poisonous effect on the body except the minor pain on the voice.

However, Panthos noticed that the amount of mana inside his body is increasing. And it never goes down ever since then. That is when he decided to buy "Sweet World".

However, when Panthos asked for more of the same item, the merchant said that it is a very rare item and only 1 in stock for him.

The merchant left while Panthos felt slightly annoyed. Whenever he feel that, he usually give an impossible order for the slave boy so that he can have excuse for beating him later on. It's his new hobby because straight up beating the slave boy is not fun for him anymore.

After long consideration, he decided to use it on the way to subjugating the mysterious aquatic monster so that he can test his power freely right after testing the "Sweet World" himself.

However, there is a slight problem. He noticed that an adventurer is following him. He noticed long ago that the one who is following him is the black-haired adventurer girl with bangs long enough covering her eyes. She is famous by the nickname of Herb Princess.

He would usually ignore someone like her. But because she also has the long black hair similar to bastard elf's hair, he dislike her so much that he don't mind killing her here.

"Master?"

Panthos suddenly stopped walking so the slave boy becomes confused.

Meanwhile, Shion is trying her best to walk without being noticed because she is unaware that Panthos already know her attempt.

Then she steps on something soft that doesn't feels like a soft ground.

She looks on what she just stepped only to find out that she stepped a tail of a sitting animal wolf. The wolf then turn its face and look at Shion fiercely.

Shion's carelessness comes from the fact that she is more focused on sensing astral body to detect nearby monsters. However, she forgot the fact that animals do not have astral body and her eyes are too focused on Panthos and the slave boy. That's why this carelessness happened.

"W- wait- WAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!"

"!?"

Shion's voice surprised the slave boy followed the sound of footsteps of a person running away.

"Ignore it."

Panthos ordered the slave boy to ignore the sound simply because he lost interest in Shion. He feels that idea of killing her is pointless when he realized that the girl can't even handle an animal wolf.

He then decides that this is the best time to use the "Sweet World" because the lake is already nearby. He brings out the syringe and inject the whole pink liquid into his own left arm.

*thump!*

He can felt his heart pulse rises and his chest starts getting hotter and hotter.

"!? HRRRGGHH...!?"

The slave boy was a little bit surprised when his master's face suddenly get distorted out of pain.

*End of interlude*

_______________________________________

*boom!*

Even after I ran outside of the forest, the wolf does not have any intention of stop chasing me. In order to chase away the animal wolf away, I had to throw a bottle of Rorean fruit extract to the ground behind and let it explode.

Fortunately, the wolf really hated the smell so much that it instantly ran away upon smelling the extract even a little.

*pant pant*

Damn... I'm tired... Why did that wolf sit there out of all places it can sit?!

Two minutes after ranting in my mind at no one. I immediately remember my objective and walk back towards the forest.

"!?"

Right after I entered the forest, I see Panthos grabbing the slave boy's neck while lifting the slave's body up.

Wait, what happened!?

The slave boy looks suffocated- wait, this is no time to observe! He's dying!!

I immediately grab the dagger that I usually carry around as an adventurer and run to them.

That's my plan but my body cannot move after I got ahold of my dagger and the world around me become pitch black again.

"Wha..."

A being that looks like my father from previous world stands again in front of me.

He points his gun at me again.

Just like when the Sword Wolf was about to kill me, he is about pull the trigger.

My body cannot move an inch due to my own fear of death.

Run away immediately. Saving that boy is not worth it if it risks my own life. That is probably the best course of action for me.

That just how this world works... and most likely no one will reprimand me for it. I really should not consider that all the norms of this world is the same as my previous world's. In a world where death can take my life easier than my previous world, it's normal that I should be scared by my own death.

However...

*remember the time when I was about to die in previous world.*

If there is one same thing that I learnt from this world and my previous world...

*flashbacks of my previous mother's death in the hospital. Flashbacks of my mother's death in this world. Flashbacks of Kaina's, Bielly's and other maids' deaths.*

... IS THAT THERE ARE FAR MORE SCARIER THINGS THAN THAT!!!

I finally move my body and pass the illusion of my fear.

I run towards Panthos from his right side and grab my dagger.

The moment I reach the right side of his back, I immediately jump forward and slash his back neck.

*CLANG!!*

"Huh?"

Before I know it, the dagger is no longer in my hand.

After I landed on the ground, the first thing that I felt is the numbing pain on my right hand.

"!"

I look behind with disbelief, the back neck of that dark elf is so hard that it bounced my dagger away.

He did not use any magic to do that. Because if he did, I would have noticed it right away and used it to my own advantage.

"Uuuuh?"

Panthos noticed me and release the slave boy from his grip.

*thud!*

*cough cough!*

The slave boy fell down and touch his neck out of pain.

Then Panthos looks at me directly. It was then I just realized that his eyes are pink-coloured.

... I don't really remember the exact colour of his eyes but it is definitely not pink.

He is still holding his spear using his left hand. I really hope that I can finish this fight without ever to face that weapon.

"Run.... away....!"

The slave boy said that despite the pain in his throat.

I look at Panthos' face again and he looks different compared to his usual self.

"... HAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!"

Panthos puffs up his chest and a green magic circle suddenly appears on the ground where he is standing. The wind begins to swirl around his body so fast that it instantly create a mini-tornado around him.

"!?"

The storm instantly blow the slave boy away.

"Ugh...!?"

I look at the magic circle beneath him.

"Storm of Hearth". The strongest wind magic that I have ever seen. There is no way for me to upgrade that magic with my current knowledge.

However, this is also my chance!

I overtake that magic and let it slowly crush him who is inside that storm.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!"

The storm slowly becomes narrower towards Panthos.

The storm clashes against his body.

*boom!*

After around 10 seconds, the tornado blasted off creating strong shockwaves around it.

I quickly crouch down to avoid the shockwaves.