V3 Chapter 65

Abundant and calming, the greenery provided people with a place to rest their minds and bodies.

That's what Rain always felt whenever he walk through this sea of trees.

As someone who had grown up in a modern world, living in this forest is like a dream. Fresh air, calming scenery, and heart-melting peace. It felt like retiring in the countryside, or something.

Rain enjoyed his time as he walk toward the location where 'that' strange creature appeared.

He looks around, collecting things that fancy him. Fruits, herbs, and even flowers. The forest floor wore anemones, wild strawberries, oversized roots, flowers— all of it opening occasionally into clearings, then into deeper woods and darker, older trees.

"...... No matter how many times I see it, this place is really quite amazing."

He said softly, embracing the feeling of nature around him.

He was walking through the dense forest, the thick trees blocked out the sky as huge trees grow tightly together. But still, not as dark as one expected it would be. The banded foliage and vast trees that breathed its rich air offered much to the creatures inhabited within it, including him... though, as beautiful as the place could be, he was aware that this beauty could also devour a thousand of lives in a microsecond of their uninterrupted, unfathomable time.

Indeed, it was beautiful, but at the same time, lying beneath this beautiful paradise-like world is a horrifying hell that could snuff out one’s life in an instant. Truly, a beautiful rose has its thorns lying beneath it.

Finally, he had arrived at the place where the small lights he had seen appeared. But he found nothing. Not even a little squirrel or wolf. After taking a glance at the large trees that were around him, he squatted, pinching a bit of the soil off from the ground.

The dark brown soil felt slightly damp. It's the moist soil unique to the forests. However, there was no trail. No footprints, no hints of someone or something being in here just a while ago.

But the lights had stayed, or at least, passed through here.

How is it possible there are no footprints or even a hint of trail left behind?

Perhaps, it’s flying?

Rain wondered about something being here in the ground and look in the sky, looking for anything that would give a hint to what he was looking for.

It would be something else if that unknown creature could fly.

But what flying creature could release such human-like voices?

His curiosity deepens. He thought, perhaps it would be one of the humans that is currently in the Desolate Cave. But it doesn’t seem like it.

He closed his eyes, and his perception spread widely. Inside his mind, he could see everything in a radius of 5 kilometers like a radar. He could see the animals and beasts clearly, from the smallest Poisonous Cicada to the Rampage Boars and Mad Grizzly that were wandering around, looking for food. There were even stray Goblins that seemed to have illegally trespassed.

But for all the monsters he had seen, there was nothing that fits the bill of the creature he was looking for.

What is it?

Though, whatever it was, it seems to have disappeared already….

Was I, perhaps, too late?

Rain opened his eyes in doubt.

He tried to find it, but it didn’t even show itself on the map on his smartphone again.

Scratching the back of his head, he let out a helpless sigh. No matter what, he can only decide to proceed, perhaps he might even find some clues on the way. He dislikes leaving without knowing what kind of creature that was. But since he didn’t know where to go, he can only walk around, wandering, hoping for it to once again appear.

As the flowers die away, the evergreen seems to come out with a winter-like freshness; the holly and ivy have a greener and glossier look. Even the alder still retains its vernal hue, and the hedges are hung with the crimson hips of the wild rose, the dark red berries of hawthorn, and the gushing scarlet and emerald branches of the nightshade.

Descending a steep path from an elevated mound, Rain walked on purposefully, a branch scratched against his arm but it didn’t bother him.

Not with his body, which was now tougher and stronger than hard rubber. A single branch can’t possibly bother him. The uneven ground was no barrier either, and he walked tirelessly. It almost didn’t feel as if he were walking, as he glided over the ground as if he were weightless.

Walking on uneven ground like this, really shows how useful and practical the Martial Arts and Footwork he had learned from the Cultivation Book really is.

He seemed light as a feather, walking as if carried by the wind, almost like gliding in the air. He didn't even lose any elegance as he traversed the rocky animal trail. Though he is only at the initial level, it still works wonders for him.

Now the whole landscape is occasionally buried beneath a mist, the progress of which can be traced as it first slowly arises from the great river, spreads over the low meadows beside its banks, burying in its folds hedge, and stile, and tree; and looking as if the clouds had dropped down, settled upon, and shut out the scenery.

The meadow paths are now wet and damp; there is clammy moisture about the fallen leaves- a slipperiness on the footways which the trees overhang- a reeking of vapors that ascend in the air. Then, suddenly he heard bird cries.

Something is coming...

Rain immediately hides behind a large boulder for a good view, and there he saw a few meters in front of him, a large flock of [Serviates]- meter-sized birds, though, they are more like chickens since they cannot fly. However, they are dangerous monsters that can create chilling winds with the flaps of their wings.

They are mostly found in the cold part of the desolate cave, somewhere in the south he heard, where there’s a cold cavern there that is cold all year round.

However, perhaps, because of the coming winter, they came out and wander, looking for a good place to make a nest throughout the Winter Season, and find food.

Rain stared curiously at the [Serviates].

The first time he had seen the likes of them, still, he heard plenty about them from the Lamians.

They look more like ordinary oversized chickens, but from what he heard from them, their ice-based powers are incredibly strong.

I wonder if I could get some to bring back...?

The [Serviates] is much bigger than an Ostrich, and even the biggest of them was as big as a Cow.

The [Serviates] or [Ice Chickens] which he prefers to call them, huddled in their wings just beside the riverbanks. Some are drinking water, while a few, which were much bigger are standing around a large tree not so far from the river. With even a whisper sound could rattle them, turning their head alert, for sneaking thieves, a nest of twigs cradling large white spotted eggs, as big as an ostrich egg could be seen behind them.

[Ice Chickens] are quite delicious, as well, as their egg. Though, he had not eaten even a single one before, nor their eggs, since they hardly come out before winter came. But he had heard from Drova and the others before that they seemed to be quite a delicacy in the Desolate Cave.

Apparently, they are one of the few monsters who wander around in the cold winter, so most of the monster tribes made them one of their staple food in the season. Of course, that is if they could hunt it. The likes of Goblins and other weak monster tribes, result in stealing their eggs though, and only rarely they would even succeed. It's a do-or-die heist, so all those failures resulted in death.

But Rain doesn't have any fear of failure. With his current strength, defeating these monsters would not be a problem. And since he had found them, it would be a waste not to take some back for souvenirs.

With that decided, he started to move. Activating his [Concealment] and [Silent Step] skills, he moved while hiding behind the thick foliage as cover. Some of the more alert ones raised their head, looking panicky around them. But they could not see anything, and tilted their head, before finally returning to what they are doing.

Rain let out a relieved sigh. These monsters are too cautious. He became even more careful. He even invoked several skills for a better result; [Primeval Awareness ], [Hunter’s Instinct], and lastly, [Lurking] that enhanced his hiding skills.

When he was finally a bit closer to the nearest prey, he took out his bow from the Grimoire's Inventory, and slowly knocked an arrow. He would not miss at this distance. He was confident. He could kill a monster by shooting straight through its head. As long as he could hit the head, even a monster with great vitality would fell.

His eyes narrowed in full concentration.

But suddenly, as he was about to attack he realized.

Wouldn't it be bad if he startled the group and scare them away causing them to move their nest this winter?

Thinking about it, his hands stopped. He thought for a moment, and finally, he let out a sigh. He is confident of bringing back two or three [Serviates], but killing all of them here would be a waste. Especially, a few of the Ice Chickens seem to be laying eggs.

Hunting them after they finished laying eggs wouldn't be too late.

In any case, this place is much closer to the village and is still the territory of the Lamians. He was not afraid that some other tribe would attack these monsters, beating them to it.

Thinking like that, he gives up. He decided to wait and be patient for better rewards.

Still, I certainly like to eat some and try their rumored best meat.

But attacking them now would surely cause them to run away. That would be a waste! So he can only sigh. However, the opportunity he had wanted, came quite sooner than expected.

Using his perception that covers a wide area, he found a pair of [Ice Chickens] straying off from the flock, and building their nest not so far away from the river. However, even if they made noise, the chickens who cannot fly wouldn’t be able to cover that distance immediately. Thus, they are the best prey.

Once again, Rain felt excited.

But just to be safe, he thoroughly searched for other Ice Chickens.

Jackpot...!

His lips curved upwards.

Seeing that this resulted in no other monsters being found, Rain decided to attack. He hurriedly runs towards his new prey.

... ...

Standing in position while hiding behind a tree, he entered concealment and jumped into the air.

With the sword pointing straight downwards, he leaped towards the nearest Ice Chicken. The Ice Chicken seemed to have felt danger, and was about to jump down, however, expecting this, his body disappeared, and reappeared in the direction where the Ice Chicken was trying to run away.

Crouching down with wide legs open, the sword in his hand, reverberate. A blue aura swelled up and wrapped around the sword, gleaming brightly. It seemed like it could cut through anything. It’s the sign of a sword skill activating.

Trying to kill it as fast as possible, he had activated [Sneak Attack], [Rapture], [Blade Edge], and more instant-kill skills to ascertain its death quickly.

Then, without hesitation, the moment the Ice Chicken let out the first sound of its cock-a-doodle-doo, Rain had already turned around, swinging the sword at the large chicken’s neck. The Ice Chicken’s head made a somersault in the air, splattering red blood.

Seeing its companion killed, the Ice Chicken spread its wings, and let out a loud cry. Immediately after, a freezing blizzard blasted toward his direction. Rain stretched his hand and called out the Magic Skill: [Blizzard] as well, a magic skill he had acquired from Zarda through their intimate connection.

If before, he might had a problem dealing with Ice Chickens due to their elemental power. But not now,. The two blizzards clashed, forming piled-up snow around then. When the Ice Chicken was about to cast another spell again, he immediately slams his hand on the ground, Bone Spikes appeared around him, and some had reached the Ice Chicken’s location.

Still, it was alive.

The Ice Chicken’s sense of danger is really something else.

Before the Bone Spikes appeared, it had already taken flight. However, its wings were hit, causing it to sway in the air. Still, Ice spikes materialized in the air and shot towards him. The Ice spikes pierced through the ground. The area they have struck was frozen in ice.

[Blade Edge]!

Rain appeared behind the Ice Chicken like a ghost and stabbed his sword. The azure light-covered sword streaked in the air like a blue meteor and stabbed through the Chicken’s neck. With a thud, it fell on the ground. Dead.

With a sigh of relief, he landed on the ground with a soft thud. He looks in the direction of the river and sensed a dozen monsters rushing in this direction. Without hesitation, Rain rushed towards the two dead Ice Chickens, and hurriedly placed them in the Grimoire’s Inventory. He also didn’t forget to collect the three Ostrich-sized eggs inside the newly made nest, and immediately run away.

I should tell Lafetti and the others about the Ice Chickens as soon as possible.

Making plans, he speeds through the forest.

"...hm?"

Happy about his spoils, Rain was on his way back in excitement, when suddenly, he heard the voices again.

He stopped this time the voice was much clearer as if they were close by.

“[email protected][email protected] #[email protected]#@ # % @man… oh, #$!# #@ ^eard about him…”

“Ah, &*^t’s righ*&, I also @#heard about him. A human in a Monster Lair, the one being watched over by the Lamians,”

At first, the voices are incomprehensible-either their voices are that low, or their language was much different than what he knows. However, his [Language Comprehension] activated, and immediately, he was able to understand what these voices were saying.

They didn’t seem to have disappeared. Are they watching him? He wondered, but he could not find anyone around him. Despite that, he can hear their voices clear as if they were just beside him.

Rain took his phone and opened his map system. And there, indeed, at the position where he was at, silver dots were revolving around him.

“What’s that? He took out something, look,”

“A magical item?”

“I’ve never seen a magical item like that before. What does it do anyway?”

As expected of one of his cheat-skill [Language Comprehension], there really is no language in this world or the other, he couldn’t understand.

[Fairies]

His eyes widened in shock as he saw the words that appeared on the screen of his phone.

With the creatures so close to him, the smartphone was finally able to recognize these playful voices.

But to think they were Fairies…

[Fairies] refers to an infinite variety of mythical creatures. Originating in European myth, this creature is a type of mythical being or legendary creature which is said to be in a form of a spirit, often described as metaphysical, supernatural, or preternatural.

Some of the stories depicted them as pranksters or mischievous, while other stories made them guardians or helpful spirits. Nevertheless, for Rain, this was the first time he had seen or even heard of them existing in reality.

But this is weird, I can hear them but I cannot see them…

Rain smiled wryly as he looks around, trying to see even a silhouette. However, he couldn't see anything. But he knows they were there.

As he was thinking about what to do, or should he call out to them, revealing the fact that he can hear them, suddenly out of nowhere the Grimoire appeared, floating in front of him while being covered in gleaming light.

It flipped its pages by itself, and then when it stops, a light shot out from the book to his temple.

Suddenly, an incredibly vast, but strange information entered his head, and Rain felt as if something inside his mind was open, unshackled.

When the light came out, his perception of the world seemed to have changed as well. Something like a sensation of unfamiliarity came over him as he saw the forest, which should have been already familiar to him. But now, it felt different. Especially the arcs of light that seemed to swirl in the world.

It somehow looks the same when he perceives magic.

No way…are these strange lights, Magic Power? Mana?

“Hm? Something seemed to have happened. Look, the human is staring entranced, and don’t you think the flow of mana around him seemed to change so suddenly?”

“Is that a Grimoire? Oh my God, to think this human has a High-Grade Grimoire…”

“I think I heard about the rumor mentioning the possible existence of a High-Level Grimoire in the Desolate Cave. Something like being responsible for changing the laws around the nearby Lamian settlement. It seems like he really is the human the Lamians are caring for.”

“Ho…amazing an ordinary mortal can actually hold something like that. And more so, without losing his sanity,”

Losing without my sanity?

What are these fairies talking about?

“Well, doesn’t that prove his strength? Hm? Wait, something’s wrong with this human. Why is he standing like that? Could it be, he can see us?”

“Hehehe, that’s not possible. A mere mortal couldn’t possibly see us in our ethereal form. Even the Lamians who were gifted and blessed with Magic can hardly sense us even if we came close. A normal human can’t possibly do that. He must just have constipation.”

“Who’s having constipation?!”

Suddenly, out of reflex Rain made a sudden retort. Then, the whispering stopped, and the world seemed to be enveloped by a strange, painful silence.

“Eh?!!!!!!! no way, did he, did he just…”

“He can hear us?! No, he’s looking at us, he’s looking at us!”

“Oh my God, I can’t believe this! He’s looking at us. Not only that, but he can also hear us! And does he even understand us?!”

Several white lights started flying around Rain, to the point that he felt he was becoming dizzy from how they circled around him.

“Wait, can you please stop doing that?” he couldn’t help but ask, as he swatted his hands in front of his face.

“Can you really see us, human?”

One of the lights stopped.

“If you keep buzzing around me like that, then, of course, I can,” he muttered, somewhat annoyed.

“Wow, amazing! This is the first I found someone who can really see us. Really, really amazing,” the little fairies don’t seem to care about his annoyance, and buzzed around him as if trying to look at him from all angles.

“But is this okay?” asked one of them. It was the green-colored little fairy.

“He can see us, wouldn’t be that dangerous? I heard humans tried to catch us whenever we show ourselves- that’s why it's dangerous for us to appear and wander in the material plane,”

“I don’t think that’s a problem,” the red one said. “He could see us, so it means he possesses the Fairy Eyes. It’s an incredibly rare ability and said to only be possessed by humans with pure souls. Pure souls mean they’re good, right?”

“Oooh, so it’s like that?” The yellow one, the annoying fairy said. “Are you a good human?”

“I’m not, and if you keep buzzing around me like that, I might actually catch you, and boil you in a soup,” Rain scowled.

“Hiii, see, he’s not a good man.” the yellow fairy shrieked in fear and hurriedly flew away. “You lied to me, see he wants to eat me. Human, I’m not good to eat. I’m not delicious!”

“You’re stupid, he was just messing with you,” the more matured, red one said with exasperation. Then, she flew towards Rain and stopped in front of him.

At this moment, Rain can finally see her true appearance amidst the blinding light covering them. The red fairy has beautiful, long red hair that is tied up in twin tails on both sides. In addition to the pair of strong-willed huge eyes that seemed to be impertinent, her pink moist lips, sheer white skin, and physiques look so delicate as if they will crumble upon touching.

Looking closely, her attire resembles that of the famous Tinker Bell and they seemed to be made out of real leaves. Though, only the color varies from each fairy.

“Say, human…you’re the one hanging around with the Lamians recently, aren’t you?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“But I heard Humans dislike monsters, so why are you with them?”

She's quite a curious fella, isn't she?

“That’s because I’m different,” Rain smiled. Then, he raised his hand and opened his palm just beneath the red fairy.

The red fairy seemed to understand what he wanted, so she gently landed on his palm- she’s really tiny.

"Different? How so? From what I know, Humans hate monsters and Demi-humans...they kill them and hunt them without remorse. I saw many people killing them, and capturing them many times..." the yellow one muttered as she flew around Rain.

“I don’t have anything against the Demi-humans, so why can’t I be with them?" Rain felt exasperated. The question once again came. "And also, there are people I love living there, so of course, I will be with them. Races are not a barrier to love, as long as you love someone, why can’t you be with them?"

"Hm, so you say you love the Lamians? I have seen humans before loving demi-humans, but all of them ended tragically. Some died, killed by other humans, while others ended with betrayal... humans using demi-humans for their own benefits, and betrayed their lovers. Why do you think you would not be the same as them?" the red-haired said sharply. Though she looks cute and beautiful, she has a sharp mouth. And she's quite intelligent as well as mature compared to how she looks.

Rain smiled wryly. "You know, that’s childish. In the first place, I just don’t understand the fixation of monsters and demi-humans being naturally evil, nor do I have an interest in understanding it. For me, whether it be humans demi-humans, or monsters, as long they treat me with respect and love, I will reciprocate the same.” he answered with a gentle smile.

"Hm? Even if that thing or someone in front of you is a treasure, more precious and worth of gold?" the red-haired fairy once again said.

This girl...

Rain rolled his eyes, "You are really precocious, aren't you? But I will answer the same. Humans are greedy, I admit. But there are many types of greediness, not just one. Greedy for wealth, for power, for authority...for love. Indeed, I can also be greedy, but I am more inclined to be greedy for the latter. Humans, or Demi-humans, I can love them all, without trying to hurt them. My heart is more open, you see... vast as the sky and deep as the sea. After all, I know...not all treasure is silver and gold." he smirked, even doing it jokingly.

"...?!!"

"...So you can rest assured that you don’t have anything to worry about from me." Rain grinned with an evil smile. "However, if you are an enemy-well, that would be a different matter.”

“I see,”

The red fairy nodded, and with Rain’s superhuman vision, he can clearly see the beautiful fairy’s face smiling.

“You are indeed a strange human, you didn’t lie.”

“So you do have the power to see through lies... how scary,” Rain said in surprise. His eyes narrowed.

“And you're smart!” the red fairy seemed to be quite surprised as she looks at him. “Wow, you even know that. That’s right, we the fairy folks have the power to see through lies or illusions. So there’s no use in lying in front of us.” she said, her expression tall and proud. She even puffed her chest, which is actually quite big for her small body.