"Thanks for the food," I said as I walked away from the table. "I'm going to the library," I said to Maa, to which she nodded acknowledgingly.

With that said and acknowledged, I made my way upstairs, in the direction of the library.

Upon entering the library, I went to the secret room and returned with a seemingly light leather backpack, but the thud the bag made upon being placed on the table suggested that it was much heavier than it appeared.

I received this backpack earlier in the week. This was that which I ordered from the merchant about two weeks ago.

When I forwarded my order, with Maa around, I was naturally bombarded with questions on what use it could be for me, but my already-prepared-in-advance response was straight and arguably,

"I don't need one, I just want one." I announced without elaborating any further, like a proper rotten-spoiled brat would. Well, to be fair, it was a half-truth and a half-lie. After all, though the backpack would help, I could’ve also done well without it.

After being done inspecting the backpack’s contents and ensuring that I hadn’t forgotten anything, I announced to myself, "All right, now that everything is in place, the operation can officially begin."

Today, I, Ronandt, after weeks of preparation, will finally venture to the neighboring forest.

As to what time of the day I settled myself on doing it, I settled myself on the afternoon, just after lunch. It was around that timeframe that Maa and the others were generally having lunch in their own baraquement.

The afternoon was also proved by my observation to be the only time of the day around which the manor residents were the least active. Besides, by venturing in the evening, I could also use the twilight provided by the approaching as a cover for my return from the forest.

So, after that much preparation and plotting, here I was, regardless of being able to pass through the barrier, ready for my first expedition beyond the manor domain.

Putting my backpack on, I went to the library’s door, from which I peered through the small gap into the corridor. Upon noticing that nobody was around, I, as stealthy as I could get, sneaked to the adjacent room, the living room.

Since the doors and windows on the ground floor were obviously not an option for me to pass through due to the high likelihood of coming across someone remaining on the ground floor, I had to take a rather unusual route: the windows from the living room.

Walking across the living room, I went straight to the windows, which I opened, and gave me a clear view of the manor’s domain along with a great overlooking view of the manor’s backyard.

"Yep, this is quite high."

I had expected it, yet it was still a very overwhelming sight.

"Theoretically, as long as I fortify my le-no entire body with Aina, I should be fine. Right?" I monologued, trying to reassure myself, only to end up doubting.

"Aaaaah~" I screamed internally.

I was confident in my ability to use, mold, and wield Aina, but this would be a premiere for me to willingly expose my body to danger. That could end with a similar, if not worse, injury than the one I got on the elbow that day. Besides, it was difficult to predict or ascertain how much damage my aina-fortified body could withstand inside the library. There were various weapons in the secret room, but even I wasn’t dedicated or bold or straight up stupid enough to intentionally inflict self-harm just to see how much damage I could withstand. "Aaaah!

" I raged internally, pumping myself up. "This is the reason we’re going to the forest in the first place, Ronandt. Let’s get this done." Getting myself started, I went to a corner of the room. "Come on, big boy, it's only a small jump. What are you scared of? "

I began enhancing my body as a whole on Aina, and once completed, and my summoned courage at its peak, I prepared myself to take the big leap.

"A man must do what a man must do." I mumbled, as I made a full speed dash for the windows, from which I took my leap.

One might wonder why I ran and then jumped out of the window when I could have simply jumped out of it gently. The answer was simple: if I was going to break my legs, I might as well do it in style.

For a brief moment, I felt as if I were running in midair, but gravity quickly noticed that a strange creature was overstepping its bounds, and I, obviously, fell toward the ground like any other normal object bound by the law of gravity.

With the dexterity of a crane, I safely landed on the ground, "It seems that my worries were for nothing." I sighed in relief," before with renewed confidence, wasting no time, dashing toward the fence at full speed.

This was essentially the first time I ran so freely with my body fully enhanced, but still the speed was quite fast and the task of doing so was effortless, if maybe a little clumsy.

I was getting closer and closer to the fence, but having seen what my enhanced body could withstand, I didn't slow down. Instead, when I got to a ten-meter distance from the wall, I took a jump, which sent me leaping way over the wall, only to land perfectly on the other side.

A smirk took shape on my face, for the first part of the plan went perfectly well.

Now there was only the second part of the plan left.

Hehe, just kidding.

From here onward, there was no more planning. Everything in this small expedition was up to luck. I didn't have a belt like the one Syrius used to have when he was still in the legion. I came here with the assumption that there could be a possibility where no special items besides the one I had with me would be required for nobles to pass through the barrier.

How the barrier works will determine whether or not I will be able to pass through or not.

Glancing ahead I did not yet see the forest, for this place was merely the outskirts, but I knew and saw from the faraway tree towering high in the sky, that ahead lay along the barrier, the Iharana Greatforest.

After a last glance at the fence behind me, I dashed toward the forest, not wanting to waste any more of my valuable time.

After a while, I arrived at the very outskirts of the forest, the place where the separation between the human and monster continents lay.

From the manor, from a distance, it was imperceptible, but as I got closer and closer, it looked more and more discernible. Standing tall there, in front of me, was the barrier, the church’s barrier. It was there in front of me, spreading all along the forest outskirts and becoming completely invisible in the distance.

The barrier was described by Syrius as translucent blue, but I would personally describe it as more watery blue than anything else. From then on, the surface of the barrier oscillated in a water-like fashion at a consistent rate.

I was tempted to approach the barrier, but after realizing my carelessness, I decided to first look around for a rock, which I then, from a safe distance, threw at the barrier to see how it responded.

The barrier's reaction to the rock thrown at it was none, inexistent, or to be exact, it did react, but in the same fashion a sturdy wall would react to a rock thrown at itself. The rock bounced off the same way it would against a sturdy wall.

Inspecting the rock, I noted that it didn’t seem to have been damaged in any way. Nonetheless, I repeated the experiment several times. Since the unfortunate accident in the library, I had lived by the motto "Better safe than sorry."

Using different throwing strengths and angles, I went on with my experiment for several minutes before I finally mustered the courage and assurance to approach within arm’s reach of the barrier.

Being so close to the strange water-like barrier’s surface, I was tempted to reach over the barrier, so I used my left hand to do so.

The moment I did, even before my fingers touched the barrier's surface, I was taken aback by the abrupt sensation of my arm being engulfed in something liquid that immediately prompted me to withdraw my arm away from the barrier.

Panickingly looking over at my arm, I saw, with great relief, that it was completely uninjured, not even wet as I had assumed it to be.

Though it happened in a split second, I could swear I saw the barrier where I reached my arm out, assuming a liquid or at the very least viscous form to engulf my arm.

It took me aback, but a glance at my arm revealed to me that, as panic-inducing as what had earlier happened was, it was harmless.

"I suppose it's a go then." I said, before once again reaching for the barrier.

Just like earlier, the barrier engulfed my arm once more, and just like earlier, I felt the same unsettling sensation, but now convinced that the barrier was harmless. I took a step forward and went headfirst into the barrier.

My body was completely engulfed, albeit for a brief moment. I felt myself submerged by a strange sensation of being underwater but not drowning, which prompted me to keep my eyes closed despite my knowledge of its harmlessness. When I opened my eyes again, I was no longer inside the barrier, but on the other side.

Looking behind me, I came to realize that I no longer was on the human continent and was instead now on the monster continent.

***

The first thing I did upon entering the forest was to change myself into extra clothes I brought over from the manor.

Extra-clothes were one of the most essential pieces of furniture I had to make sure to not forget upon leaving the manor. In fact, carrying my clothes was one of the backpacks I had acquired from the merchant's primary functions. After all, it wouldn't be a good idea to return to the manor in clothes that were both soaked in sweat and in the forest scent.

After finishing changing clothes, I retrieved the second reason I really wanted a backpack for.

From the backpack, I retrieved two scabbarded daggers, which from sight alone were nearly impossible to tell immediately, were daggers, for their grip was, from the crossguard to base, shaped like a dark intertwined trunk.

It was only upon unsheathing that the difference between the two daggers came across. The blades were of different colors; one was black carbon, while the other was red sangria.

These daggers were hidden in a drawer in one of the secret room’s closets. The moment I set eyes on them, I immediately recognized the two blades.

Upon becoming an official member of the clergy, a cleric is gifted these two daggers by the Church for them to use for their mission and duty as a shield of the Church.

The red one was called "Anaka," which translates to "Descendance." The blade, also known as the "Oathkeeper," was primarily used for rituals, particularly those requiring the shedding of blood. A member of the clergy must be present during a noble birth. A noble umbilical cord must be severed using this "Anaka."

The black one was dubbed "Faty," which translates to "death." Unlike its red counterpart, this black one, also known as "OathBreaker," has no other purpose than to kill humans. Despite their role as humanity's "shield," the clergy have been involved in numerous acts of violence throughout history. If a problem required blood to be shed in order to be solved, clerics would use these daggers to do so.

These blades most likely belonged to the ancestor who converted the barracks into what is now known as Rosetta Manor. I'm not sure if this black sword has ever been used to murder someone, but I certainly wasn’t going to give up such a beautiful dagger for a murder committed six hundred years ago.

"Right, Martha ?" I said while glancing at the black one.

Yes, I did decide to rename them, Oathkeeper and Oathbreaker were too reminiscent of a dark and edgy past. The new names I assigned suited them better, I called Martha, the black one, and Olga, the red one.

I had brought them with me into this forest for a reason, I had always wanted to train myself on aina using weapons, not imaginary ones but proper weapons.

The armory had everything, from shields to greatswords, from things that could be used to protect oneself to things that could deal damage, but if there was something that the armory didn’t have, it would be something suitable for anyone below 1 meter 80.

These daggers were the only thing that would suit someone in my frame, so it was this or nothing.

Well, I'm complaining, but hey, these daggers are by far cooler than any weapon in the armory.

Unsheathing both from their respective scabbards and crossing their blades together a pleasant sound stifled.

"Beautiful." I said, smiling and nodding as I gathered my belongings and resumed my journey a little deeper into the woods.

***

As excited as I was about the little trip, I didn’t rush myself. Instead, I took my time to appreciate the scenery.

As strange as it might sound, but as potent and overwhelming as these giant trees were, I liked this place.

I'd felt it from the moment I left the barrier. It was a different feeling than discovering the library or the hidden room; it wasn't wonderment, it was a feeling similar to discovering something, but it wasn't just that. Perhaps it was because I had spent the majority of my life looking at it from afar, but being here felt as if I had stepped out of a bubble and was wandering to completely foreign lands where new sensations that I had yet to name and explore awaited me.

After about ten minutes of walking, I arrived at a location that seemed appropriate for what I wanted to do. The location was perhaps half a kilometer from the barrier; it was just at an appropriate distance, not too close to the barrier, but still several kilometers away from the five-kilometer and beyond threshold where monsters dwelt.

However, it doesn’t mean that I lowered my guard. From the moment I passed through the barrier, enhancing my senses, I remained extremely wary of my surroundings.

Ah, yes, enhancing sense, I was able to do that as well.

As strange and mysterious as the process of enhancing senses is, it came naturally and rather effortlessly to me after mastering the art of body-enhancement.It was the epitome of "It just works."

"All right, it's time to get started on what I came here to do. But first…"

I put Martha and Olga in my backpack and placed it on a corner.My initial goal in coming here was to train myself without having to hold back like I had to in the library.

I could now unleash the full extent of my aina-training here. I caught a glimpse of it on my way here. It is now time for me to demonstrate my true abilities.

I approached one of the forest’s giant trees. A tree so massive that I could tell it would take at least five of "me" to properly hug its trunk.

Fully enhanced, I took a fighting stance. I took a deep breath; I clenched my fist as hard as I could, before unleashing it onto the tree’s trunk.

"Shaaaaaaaa!"

With a loud "boom", my rock-hard fist crashed on the trunk, leaving a large crater where it had landed on the tree. Though already vanished, smoke was coming from between the crater and my fist, making the whole thing that had unfolded somewhat surreal.

I moved my hand away from the crater and examined my fist. I saw no injuries, not even a bruise on it.

"Yosha!" I rejoiced, shouting at the top of my lungs.

It was my first real punchy, technical-wise, since so far all I’ve been punching was thin air and imaginary punching bags.

This was my first punch, and for a first one, the results are extremely satisfying.

I was no longer able to contain my joy, and I began to dance happily like an idiot. Little did I know that, at that time, I had guests enjoying the spectacle I was giving.