I Was a Sword When I Reincarnated (LN) - Volume 13 - Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

The Lingering Scent of Raydoss

“SO THERE IS a high likelihood of the necromancer no longer being in Alessa,” Klimt concluded.

“Hm. No one was there today, either.”

“I see. Well, I have no reason to call your investigation into doubt. Thank you, Fran.”

It was the day after we stayed at the inn. We were reporting our findings to the guild after double-checking the underground passage. We told Klimt everything, from the passage and to the coffin we found inside it. Knowing how thorough Fran was, Klimt checked the quest off as accomplished. He even threw in something extra for our trouble.

“Will you be heading to the Demon Wolf’s Garden now?” he asked.

“Hm.”

“Keep your guard up. You know how dangerous it is there.”

“Of course it’s dangerous. I can’t train if it isn’t.”

“Naturally,” Klimt said. “I’m not sure whether to be impressed or exasperated.”

“Huh?”

“Be careful out there, Fran. You may be strong, but you’re not invincible.”

“Thanks.” Fran smiled, bowed her head, and left Klimt’s office.

The Guildmaster would continue investigating the underground passage. I could see the glimmer of jealousy in his eyes. He still wanted to go adventuring like Fran did. We left the guild to the sound of Klimt giving orders to his men.

Let’s get going.

“Hm.”

Next stop, the Withering Forest. We said goodbye to Delt and stepped outside of Alessa. The trip had taken a few hours on Randell’s carriage the last time we were here, but these days we’d be able to get there in no time.

“Come on, Jet.”

“Woof!”

Jet took to the skies. Estimated time of arrival was less than an hour.

Fran pointed at our destination as Jet cut through the winds.

“Teacher! It’s that forest!”

That’s the one, all right. An unforgettable forest, as ominous as it was solemn. A strange forest which could unsettle you just by looking at it…the forest where Fran and I first met. And it hasn’t changed a bit.

I now had a bird’s-eye view of the Withering Forest.

Two hours later…

Oh, put that one here.

“Hm.”

We’d landed in front of the Withering Forest and had begun to cook all of the ingredients we got in Alessa; we had to replenish our food supply since the capital had drained most of it. I made a shed and kitchen out of land magic and was currently cooking with a combination of fire, water, and wind spells.

Well? Did you do it?

“Like this?”

That’s it. That’s a good length for it.

“Got it.”

For once, Fran was helping me out. I wouldn’t have minded if she had just played outside, but she was strangely motivated today. I guess she wanted to get to the Demon Wolf’s Garden as fast as possible.

And that’s how you make creamy shrimp pasta!

“It looks great,” Fran drooled.

Careful! You’ll slobber all over it!

“Whoops. That was close.”

Suddenly, I felt a presence in front of the shed. The presence knocked on the door…

Who could be brave enough to come here?

Earlier, I’d felt some adventurers loitering about, but no one dared approach the strange shed in the middle of the plains. Those adventurers knew better and left us alone. 

Jet was also lying on the front door. The mere presence of a familiar was enough to fend off onlookers and even bandits. When it came to being a guard dog, Jet was top dog.

So there shouldn’t be anyone who could possibly come close to the door, right? But the fact that they could even knock on our door meant that they’d placated Jet somehow. Jet wasn’t in battle mode; maybe it was someone we knew.

It’s just one person. Strong mana. Definitely not a greenhorn adventurer. Who could it be?

“I’ll have a look.”

Careful out there.

Fran trotted over to the door—magic though it was, the shed still had one of those, though it was really more of a door-shaped stone. Fran was strong enough to open it, of course, or to at least push it open. I hadn’t expected the door to be used at all, really. I was going to cook everything up in two hours and destroy the shed with land magic after we were done.

I’d ordered Jet to chase anything that approached us away unless it was an emergency. The only exception was if he saw adventurers or travelers getting attacked by monsters. Was the person outside in some kind of danger? Hmm…they seemed too strong to be in any real danger.

How’d it go?

“Hm. It’s Aristea.”

Uh. Aristea? Godsmith Aristea?

“Hm. Aristea.”

Aristea was a Godsmith who’d taken care of us recently. Godsmiths were blacksmiths who could create Godswords, the world’s most powerful superweapons. She was currently the only Godsmith left in the world, and she had traveled the world, crafting various miraculous items as she did. She was an elusive sort, not one you could exactly schedule an appointment with.

So what was she doing here?

Well…let her in, I guess.

I’d pretty much finished cooking and was only left with the washing up, which could wait.

“It’s been a while, Teacher,” Aristea said.

It really is you. I thought you were supposed to be in Belioth. What are you doing here?

“I was,” she paused, “Until a fight between Godswords broke out. I couldn’t let that go unchecked.”

I forgot that you Godsmiths could detect where Godswords were.

She must have hurried to Granzell when she sensed the battle of the Godswords in the capital. Her sixth sense was probably how she located me here, too.

“I can sense them as long as they’re in their unleashed state. They were near the capital of Granzell, last I checked.”

Belioth was a country to the north of Granzell. Aristea would have to go through Alessa in order to reach the capital.

So you’re looking into the Godswords?

“Yes. Would you happen to know anything about them?”

Know them? I’d been caught in the crossfire with them! I think I was the only one who’d fought both Aschtner and Fanatix.

Like you wouldn’t believe. I got caught up in the whole thing. I almost died or got destroyed or…whatever.

“Really? Can you tell me what happened?”

Telling Aristea about all that Godsword stuff was probably the best way to go. She was in the business of making them, after all.

Sure. I’ll tell you everything I know.

“Thanks.”

And so I told Aristea about Fran’s great adventure; right from the moment she stepped foot in the capital up to the point she left.

Aristea fell silent.

What is it?

“Well, I know Fran’s place in the whole story, but you didn’t tell me much about the Godswords.”

Whoops. Sorry.

I got excited halfway through the story that I ended up talking solely about Fran. I made sure, now, to tell Aristea what I knew about Fanatix and Urslars who showed up to fight.

“So Fanatix survived and managed to operate on its own,” she mused.

It was already broken, so I don’t think it could use all of its powers.

“And you said it talked? That Godsword lacked such abilities, as far as I know.”

My guess is that it was an amalgamation of all the people Fanatix had absorbed.

At the end of our info-swap, Aristea sighed. “So Fanatix is completely destroyed now.”

Uhhh…sorry about that.

I knew Aristea had strong feelings about Godswords. I wasn’t sure how she would react to the news, but she didn’t seem all that sad about it.

“It’s all right. Fanatix was ruining the lives of many. It was only right that it was destroyed. I won’t hold it against you.”

She might be a touch sad, but she knew it had to be done. Fanatix had gained a will of its own, going so far as to manipulate its user to wreak havoc upon the masses.

But something had been bothering me for a while. When I destroyed Fanatix, I absorbed its powers using Cannibalize. Do you see any changes in me?

It’d be bad if all the personalities the Godsword had absorbed affected me, but diagnosing a sword without the proper equipment was hard, even for Aristea.

“Changes? I would have to analyze you properly in order to see those…”

Right. Never mind. That’s going to take too much time.

“Are you in a hurry?”

You can say that.

We were in a hurry to get to the Demon Wolf’s Garden, but I wasn’t sure if I could tell her that. I didn’t mind, of course, but considering that I didn’t know just what we were dealing with…the prospect was a bit concerning. Let’s say the mystery man was a god or had connections to a god—would it be all right for me to divulge this to Aristea when, perhaps, it ought to be kept secret? Granted, I wasn’t told to keep it under wraps, but it could still cause trouble. Gods were a strange-minded and capricious sort.

There’s somewhere we have to be after this. I might learn more about myself there.

“What? Really? Now that you mention it, we’re near the Demon Wolf’s Garden.”

Yeah.

“Ugh. I would love to come with you if not for the Godswords…but I can’t just ignore the existence of the Fanatix replicas.”

The Fanatix replicas were of great import to the Godsmith. I happened to have some of those replicas in storage after I’d destroyed them. Maybe I could give some to her?

You mean this?

“You have a replica on you?!” Aristea was shocked. Her eyes were completely fixed upon the broken replica I had taken out. Unfortunately, I had to curb her expectations. This specimen was already dead.

I think it lost all of its powers after I destroyed it.

“Even so,” Aristea mused. She analyzed it and then sighed. “Well, it really is broken. But I don’t know whether that’s because it was destroyed itself or because the true, original Fanatix was annihilated. Still…being a copy of Fanatix, it might cause trouble again.”

I’d never considered that. I thought the battle was won after we destroyed Fanatix itself…but was there a chance of the replicas gaining sentience?

“I need more information.” Aristea shook her head and put down the broken sword. She couldn’t get all the details by merely inspecting it.

I see. By the way, the blacksmith involved in the production of the Fanatix replicas would like to meet you.

“Oh?”

His name is Garrus, Granzell’s greatest blacksmith. Ever heard of him?

“Of course. He’s the only blacksmith alive close to becoming a Godsmith.”

Great, then this would be quick. He’d love to meet you, so feel free to ask him for details. Just tell him I sent you.

“Very well. Does he know who you are?”

Right, I should probably mention that. Yeah. He took good care of me and Fran. He’s the blacksmith who made my sheath and Fran’s gear.

“I see! I must go and apologize to him, then. I did modify his work without asking, after all.”

Tell him I said hi when you do.

“All right.”

I wasn’t expecting to fulfill Garrus’ request of introducing him to Aristea so quickly. I just hoped he wouldn’t blow out his back at the surprise visit from the Godsmith.

“By the way, Fran, aren’t you an adventurer?”

“Hm.”

“Would you happen to know any B Ranks?”

“Hm? Why do you ask?”

“I have a quest for them. Very simple, decent pay, and I can vouch for the client’s integrity.”

Why do you need a B Rank if it’s a simple quest?

“The quest is simple, yes, but difficult. Especially for those with troublesome personalities. I’d appreciate it if you could introduce me to some B Ranks, Fran.”

But Fran wouldn’t need to introduce anyone at all. “I’m B Rank.”

“What? I thought you were C-Rank last time.”

“Hm. I got promoted in the capital.”

“Really! So how about it? Will you take on my quest?”

Fran folded her arms and thought about it.

“No?” said Aristea.

“I’m going to the Demon Wolf’s Garden to train. I don’t have time to take on unnecessary quests right now.”

This wasn’t a quest we could polish off in a day, like the one in Alessa. We couldn’t just promise Aristea that we’d do it only to put it off.

But Aristea clarified the conditions of her quest. “You don’t have to do it right away. The client says I have five years to bring someone to her.”

Five years? That’s a long time.

“That’s the kind of quest this is.”

Aristea explained the contents of the quest, and I wondered if Fran was suited for it. It sure sounded like she wasn’t.

You want her to be a dueling partner for the Academy of Magic?

“Yes. You’ll be up against children—most of whom are older than Fran, now that I think about it. They’re not very strong, either.”

That wasn’t really a problem. If anything, Fran would be more than happy to take on stronger opponents. But these weren’t adventurers whom she could just toss around and call it a training session. Fran wasn’t exactly built for this sort of thing.

“You’re allowed to be a little rough on them. If anything, you’ll be giving them a taste of the harsh reality of defeat before they set out into the world. In any case, you don’t have to respond immediately. Just do it in your own time.”

“Okay.”

We couldn’t turn Aristea down after all she had done for us. We could think about the details after our training was done.

“You hungry, Aristea?” Fran asked.

“Yes,” Aristea said. “But are you sure I can stay for lunch?”

“Hm. We have freshly made curry.”

I’d done most of the cooking, of course! Fran would pick away at the curry throughout the whole cooking process, so I couldn’t let her help.

“Aah, curry! Sounds good!”

I just remembered that Aristea was also a curry convert. We’d given her the recipe, but I doubted her golems could make it exactly like I did.

Aristea carefully took the plate of curry Fran gave her and savored its flavor. “Delicious as ever!”

“Curry is the best.”

And so they enjoyed a short lunch together. Fran would’ve loved to chat longer with her, but Aristea also had places to be.

“Come find me if anything happens. I think I’ll be in the capital for a while.”

“Hm. All right.”

“And Teacher, try not to break yourself.”

Yeah, I know.

“Catch you later, Jet.”

“Woof!”

Aristea gave my blade a good polish before leaving. She was reluctant to go.

“We should get going, too,” Fran said.

You’re right.

“Woof.

We tore down the shed and prepared ourselves. We were going into a thick forest with seemingly no way out. Fran turned to walk towards the woods, which seemed to grow thicker as we approached. Though I lacked a heart, I could still feel something within me pounding.

This is it. The Withering Forest.

“Hm.”

Jet, you won’t be able to use projectile spells and Skills here. Be careful.

“Woof!”

We took our first step inside the forest. I thought my heart was going to explode with fear, but no such thing happened. I was already at maximum anxiety just looking at the place from afar, you see. 

That said, the forest wasn’t that terrifying compared to fighting Fanatix back in the capital. I guess the trauma I had linked to this place was slowly healing. It helped that it was where Fran and I first met.

What do you think, Fran?

“Hm…it feels weird.”

Mana didn’t regenerate in the Withering Forest. Detection Skills were deactivated. Fran couldn’t use magic when we first met, and now felt awkward without it. She could feel the withering power of the forest.

Enemies will be harder to detect in the Withering Forest. Stay sharp.

“Hm.”

How are you holding up, Jet?

Jet whined as he wobbled about in his original gigantic size. His body was taking it much harder than Fran. The direwolf unconsciously relied on mana to live, so he was quite weak without it.

For starters, he couldn’t use Shapeshift and Shadow Walk as well as he normally could. He could activate Shapeshift, sure, but he couldn’t keep his desired shape over a long period of time. He had also unconsciously strengthened his whole body in order to support his massive size, making his size a hindrance without the mana support.

We ran into some goblins and Jet ended up obliterating them because he didn’t know how to gauge his strength. He shook off the goblin blood and guts that splattered all over his fur and whined sadly.

Fran and I aren’t losing the mana inside of us…

It wasn’t just a matter of Skills like Enhanced Physique not activating—no, Jet’s innate mana was being actively drained by the Withering Forest. He would’ve been crippled by now if his mana wasn’t linked to mine. He was unconsciously using mana, which would always end up being sapped by the forest. It wasn’t something Jet could control. It would be like telling your skin to stop breathing—it was something necessary to stay alive.

No wonder high-level monsters didn’t live here. The bigger they were, the more mana they passively used, and the Withering Forest would sap them dry in an instant.

“Arf…”

Come on, we’re almost out of here…Fran.

“Hm!”

We didn’t need Presence Sense to hear the rustling in the woods. There was something big coming our way.

“Groar!” A two-headed bear larger than a grizzly leapt out of the bushes. Both of its maws drooled with spit, its eyes staring at us with raging hunger.

A Twinhead Bear.

“I remember this.”

Yeah?

“Hm. It was the first thing I beat with you.”

Fran remembered every kill, and this was the monster that started it all. A monster that had been about to make a meal of her, a slave, when she ran into me. We’d survived that encounter by the skin of our teeth.

But that was all in the past. The Twinhead bear was no match for us after all we had been through, and the bear knew it too.

“Grrrr!”

“G-Groar…”

Jet was much larger than the Twinhead, and it could feel my and Fran’s mana now that it was closer to us. It had tracked us down with its nose but—surprise, big guy!—its supposed prey was much stronger than it was. The bear thought about backing away, but it clenched its teeth and roared. It would fight for its dinner.

Due to the lack of powerful monsters, the Twinhead bear stood at the top of the food chain in the Withering Forest. The word ‘escape’ wasn’t part of its vocabulary.

Still, Jet killed it before a very-motivated Fran’s eyes. Killed it with a single paw swipe, in fact. Weakened as he was, there was still a huge difference in stats. Jet had no chance of losing. But seeing how healthy the bear was confirmed my suspicion that the Withering Forest was home to monsters that didn’t rely on mana to survive.

Jet put one paw on his kill and let out a satisfied grunt. He looked very proud of himself, but Fran was not entertained.

“Hrmph…”

“Arf?”

“I was going to do that…”

“R-ruff…”

Fran pouted at Jet for having stolen her kill. The Twinhead bear had a special place in her heart.

Jet approached her, whining sadly as she glared at him.

“Hmph.”

“Arf!”

“The next one’s mine.”

“Woof!”

Fran was still annoyed, but she forgave the direwolf after yanking his tail.

Fran, could you pick it up off the ground for me?

“Hm.”

Thanks. That’ll do it.

I stored the Twinhead bear away. Pocket Dimension was one Skill we could still use in the forest since its active time was so short. I asked Fran to lift the bear up—the mana drain was stronger the closer you were to the ground, after all. Even if I could store it from there, it would’ve consumed more mana than necessary.

I didn’t think monsters would attack us in this forest.

“Why not?”

You would think that weak monsters would steer clear of Jet’s presence and scent.

Monsters would ordinarily avoid us, but we’d still had several encounters in the Withering Forest so far: kobolds, goblins, and that Twinhead bear just now. It wasn’t like Jet was hiding in the shadows or anything. What would make them want to attack a giant direwolf?

“Maybe they can’t tell how strong we are.”

Must be.

Judging your opponents’ strength was difficult without the use of detection Skills.

I think their sensitivity to danger might be dulled, too. There are only weak monsters in the Withering Forest, after all.

“I see.”

Maybe setting up camp in the forest wouldn’t be worth it. We’d have to be on guard for an attack at any moment. The monsters were too weak to hurt us, but they’d make sleep impossible.

Of course, we would only have to set up camp if we ran into a monster we couldn’t handle at the outer circle of the Demon Wolf’s Garden. A Ranks were known to be spotted here, though, so that was a possibility. An A-Rank monster would be as strong as the lich; not something we could handle even in our powered-up state. We weren’t likely to run into one, but they’d block our entrance into the Garden.

We’ll figure it out once we enter the Garden. Come on, just a little bit further.

“Hm!”

“Woof!”

We were almost there…almost at the Demon Wolf’s Garden. I wondered how my first home was doing.

We followed the trail of light shining through the cracks in the Withering Forest’s canopy and exited the woods. Fran squinted in the bright, burning sunlight. But she soon widened her eyes again, taking in the scenery.

“So this is the Demon Wolf’s Garden…”

Mwahahaha! I’m back, Garden!

“What’s wrong, Teacher?”

Err…sorry. It’s nothing. Anyway, do you feel anything weird around us?

“A little bit…”

It’s faint. I can’t make out what it is or where it’s coming from.

We were a hundred meters into the Demon Wolf’s Garden. The northeast section, to be exact. The mana flow in the air was unnatural and a certain presence was prickling our skin. There was definitely something here with us, but we couldn’t make out its exact location. Our Skills should’ve been usable now, though.

Anything, Jet?

“Woof…”

No luck either, huh?

Either this monster could trick Jet’s nose or it was completely odorless.

“We’ll have to stay sharp.”

Yeah.

“Arf!”

We kept walking for a few minutes, detection Skills blaring. We weren’t making good distance. Maybe we should throw caution to the wind and run for it.

But things weren’t going to be that simple.

“Teacher!”

“Grrr!”

Fran and Jet suddenly jumped. I noticed it too, even though I was a beat slower.

It’s coming from below us!

I was terrible at detecting underground things since I wasn’t earthbound. Fran and Jet always had an edge over me in this department.

“Smoke?”

Get away from it. It might be poison.

“Hm!”

White smoke was seeping out of the ground. It was laced with mana, making it no natural smoke. It moved towards us as if it had a mind of its own.

I knew it! It’s an evolved Gust!

I Identified the smoke to reveal that it was a B-Threat monster called the Greater Venom Gust. It possessed Physical Immunity along with impressive stealth and regenerative capabilities. Its Mana Drain, Life Drain, and Stealth were all at high levels.

It’d keep regenerating until we either completely destroyed all of the smoke or its crystal. Even its smoke was poisonous—not that it was enough to outright kill Fran and Jet, but it would drain their energy as long as they were in it, which was plenty dangerous.

We had Poison Resistance, which helped mitigate the situation, but a weaker human would have his life and mana sapped while being poisoned at the same time. The white smoke was a three-pronged attack from all sides.

The Gust covered a lot of ground, too. Smoke was already seeping out over a hundred-meter radius around Fran, maybe enough to cover a small town.

A B-Threat monster was a creature deemed capable of destroying a country, and it was easy to see why. This thing was strong enough to give a smaller country a lot of trouble.

Fran, Jet! Look for the crystal!

“Hm!”

“Woof!”

I started firing spells into the smoke as they started their search for the crystal. Lightning forked into the smoke, burning whole wafts of it. It looked like I did a lot of damage, but I was only hurting a small portion of the Greater Venom Gust’s body. Barely a percentage.

Looks like Thunder Magic’s not gonna cut it!

I then tried flame and wind—flame seemed best for a head-on attack. Mana Steal and Life Steal were also effective. I could see the smoke dissipate as the Gust began to lose steam. Unfortunately, more smoke came out of the ground to replenish its gaseous body.

Any luck with the crystal?

“No.”

“Woof…”

The crystal was hidden within the fog of smoke and mana. Even with Fran and Jet’s advanced senses, they found it difficult to pinpoint the exact location of the creature’s crystal.

Maybe it’s underground…

“Should we start digging?”

Yeah. Let’s get to it.

“Hm!”

It sounded like a wild guess, but it was our best lead at this point. Besides, there was no one else here but us, so we were free to use whatever spells we wanted.

Get ready! Haaaa!

“Yaaaaah!”

We cast Gravity Pressure, a land spell that crushed an area with tremendous gravity, over the ground where the smoke seeped out. The ground crushed downward, pushed by this invisible force. I was emulating something Urslars did with his Godsword, casting the spell over and over again to produce a similar effect. Ours wasn’t as good, of course.

“Did that do it?”

No. It’s still making smoke.

“Again!”

All right!

We created more pressure over a wider range of ground, adding flame and thunder spells to create explosions too. But the smoke showed no sign of stopping. What if the crystal wasn’t underground after all?

Tch. There’s no end to this—

FWIP!

Something cut through the wind as we continued our search for the Greater Venom Gust’s crystal.

“Ugh!”

Whoa!

A shock wave hit Fran, knocking her back. She managed to hold me up just in time to block whatever was cutting through the air. She was unhurt, but she would’ve been gravely injured had it been a direct hit.

I picked up the strange object with telekinesis.

It’s some sort of crystal shard. No…it’s a scale.

A crystalline scale…it possessed mana-reflecting qualities that allowed it to approach its target unnoticed. We wouldn’t have seen it coming if not for the sound it’d made whooshing through the air, a sound which was rapidly multiplying as I examined it.

“Hrm!”

Stealth made up 50 percent of the scale’s power. Fran smashed through them with ease once she knew what to look out for. She even managed to catch some of them with Pocket Dimension.

We wanted to go on the offense, but we didn’t know where the enemy was. The attacks were coming from the northwest but they were too far for us to even see, let alone reach. We couldn’t even detect their presence or mana. This thing was deliberately attacking us from way outside our effective range.

“Let’s go, Teacher! Jet, stay in the shadows!”

Okay!

“Woof!”

We tried approaching our mystery sniper, but they were well-prepared. A flurry of crystal shards rained upon us along with things that exploded like bombs.

A single scale was powerful enough to instantly kill a D Rank, but they weren’t our only problem. The Gust’s smoke was quickly approaching.

Fran, we can’t take both the Gust and the sniper at the same time! It’s too dangerous!

“Urgh…what should we do?”

We can either retreat to the Withering Forest or teleport through the Gust. The Gust might still chase us if we do, though.

“Fine. We’ll go back to the forest.” Fran was frustrated, but she took my advice to retreat. She knew how perilous the situation was.

Guess this isn’t gonna be a walk in the park.

“Hm…”

We teleported back into the Withering Forest in order to plan our next course of action.

We know the Gust won’t chase us this far.

“Hm.”

The Gust moved its gaseous body using mana, which meant the Withering Forest was strictly off-limits. The owner of the crystal scales stopped its onslaught out there too, unable to detect us because of the forest’s mana-jamming properties.

“So what now?”

We can either try to rush through the Gust or go around it.

Monsters in the Demon Wolf Garden got weaker the deeper you went in. The guild didn’t have an explanation for it, but some conjectured that it had something to do with Fenrir’s mana. Nothing more than wild speculation, really, but we had confirmation that the phenomenon actually existed. I had personally experienced it myself.

The elite monsters might not give chase if we make a run for it. Maybe.

Back when I had just reincarnated, I’d always retreated to the center of the Garden when things got too tough. Slowly but surely, I managed to conquer the Demon Wolf’s Garden, but this strategy only worked because I was a sword. I was a stealthy, inanimate object that monsters didn’t register as food. Chasing after me would be a waste of their time.

But Fran and Jet were different. They were fleshy creatures with great amounts of mana in them—perfect meals in the eyes of a powerful monster. They had ignored me when I retreated, but they might pursue Fran and Jet beyond their boundaries.

Besides, we couldn’t just go beating every monster we came across. We only fought the Gust for a few minutes, and that alone used way too much energy.

The safest plan of action was to gather information on the monsters protecting the outer circle of the Garden and either fight the easiest ones or sneak around them to make it to the Garden’s center.

So what now?

Fran paused. “Getting to the center of the Demon Wolf’s Garden takes priority. Training can wait.”

Meaning?

“We’ll take the safest way to get there. Fixing you is the number one thing we have to do.”

Oh. You sure?

“Hm.”

I was touched, to be honest. This was battle-loving Fran we were talking about, actually willing to avoid battle for my sake. I felt loved, to be sure, but I was also impressed with how much Fran had matured. Now that I thought about it, she didn’t fall asleep back in the guild library, either. Sure, she spaced out after getting bored, but there was a world of difference between that and falling asleep.

“First we’ll find out who the owner of this is,” Fran said, inspecting the crystal scale.

Right.

The translucent scale was actually harder than crystal. Fran could make rocks crumble like cookies, but she couldn’t snap the scale despite her best efforts.

That’s a great idea. A long-ranged monster should have trouble in close quarters.

The monster rained its artillery on us from over a kilometer away. It was lethal at long distances, but maybe it was crippled in close range.

We made our way to the northwest quadrant of the Demon Wolf’s Garden, all while keeping an eye on it from the Withering Forest.

As we walked onward, Jet reacted to something. “Grr!”

“Is something there?”

“Woof!” Jet sniffed the air with his nose and tossed a sharp glare in the direction of the Garden. Even without mana enhancements, his sense of smell was still sharp; he’d picked up the scent of our sniper.

Uh-huh…but where is it?

Fran watched for a while. “I don’t know.”

Neither of us could tell where the monster was, but Jet was confident that he was pointing in the right direction.

“Lead the way, Jet.”

“Woof!”

Be careful, Fran.

“Hm!”

We stepped into the Demon Wolf’s Garden again with Jet taking point.

SHUNK!

“Bark!”

“Jet!”

Jet’s pained cry stopped us in our tracks. We were under attack again, but couldn’t have Jet avoided it? His senses were so sharpened, after all… 

That was when it hit me. If he’d dodged, Fran would’ve taken the hit instead. His gigantic body was blocking her view and she wouldn’t have been able to react fast enough. He took the attack for her.

Thanks, Jet! Aaah, it cut you to the bone…

“Woof…”

Blood was gushing out of his body.

I quickly healed him. Fran, we can’t stay behind him!

“Hm!” Fran quickly stepped away from him, positioning herself a little bit to his side. Now she could react to whatever was coming and Jet could dodge without worrying about her.

The attacks intensified, but we made it through unscathed. Fran had my help, and Jet’s reflexes were as sharp as ever. Our mysterious attacker slowed us down, but we slowly advanced into the Demon Wolf’s Garden. Still, despite Jet’s confidence, we had yet to catch a glimpse of our sniper.

Where is it…?

“Hm…”

And then Jet stopped. He looked ahead as if there was a monster there, yet Fran and I didn’t see anything. The creature itself had stopped attacking us too, in order to conceal its position.

Jet used a shadow spell to force the monster’s hand, veiling the land with shade and exposing a visual distortion twenty meters ahead.

To what shall I compare it to? A mirage? A mirror with a strange refractive index? Whatever it was, we could see the distortion now.

So that’s it. It’s using active camouflage!

The creature was bending light in order to blend into the environment. Caught by surprise at Jet’s dark spell, it couldn’t adjust its camouflage in time.

“Some kind of weird lizard?”

Where Fran saw a lizard, I saw a dinosaur. The monster was a quadruped, ten meters long and closely resembling an ankylosaurus I’d once seen in a dinosaur picture book. But where that creature was a big ol’ reptile, this thing had scales made of clear crystal.

It was particularly stealthy for its size. On top of its active camouflage, we couldn’t detect its presence or mana at this distance. But now that I had a visual, I could finally Identify it.

That thing’s a B-Threat!

The monsters in the Garden were definitely getting stronger. The outer circle was only protected by C-Threats the last time I was here!

We were facing an Invisible Death, a B-Threat monster capable of making its presence disappear by using its active camouflage. There was once a squad who stepped into the territory of an Invisible Death…and they were wiped out to the man without ever knowing what killed them. A regular soldier wouldn’t be able to deal with a flurry of shots fired over a kilometer away.

Not only did it have towering stats, but it also possessed high levels of Light Magic, Thunder Magic, and Fire Magic…and more.

The crystal-like carapace covering its whole body also possessed special mana reflecting properties. The Invisible Death used this in tandem with its latent Stealth Skills. Combined with active camouflage, it could conceal its presence almost completely. What’s more, it would actually stop attacking us once you got close to it.

The stronger you were in this world, the better you got at detecting people’s presence and mana. It was how we scoped out our enemies. The Invisible Death’s powers were specifically tuned to counter that ability. Without Jet, we’d be lost.

The encounter cemented how useful the sense of smell was in this world, especially after what happened in Alessa. Unlike presence and visuals, scent couldn’t be so easily masked.

But just because we spotted the Invisible Death didn’t mean the battle was won. We’d completed the arduous task of getting closer to it, but we still had to defeat it. There was a chance of it being bad at melee range since it was so specialized at stealth and long-range combat. The creature had high defense, sure, but it looked slow.

“Grr!” Jet fired a dark spell at the Invisible Death. The crystal scales had some form of mana resistance, however, and the gigantic black spears dispersed on the surface of the scales.

“Baroooo!” 

The Invisible Death roared and revealed itself, knowing it had been discovered. Now the real battle had begun.

“Teacher, you’re on spells!”

Right!

“Jet, flank it from behind!”

“Woof!”

We charged at Fran’s command. She was going to attack it with a quick swipe to see what it would do.

Suddenly, she jumped to the right before she could do anything at all—something heavy had crashed right into the spot she was just at.

The tail!

“Hm!” Fran nodded and continued kicking the earth beneath her. The monster’s tail pursued her, crashing continually into the ground until she was finally out of range.

Tsk. I can’t believe it’s good at close range, too.

“Hm! That tail is pretty powerful.”

The Invisible Death resembled an ankylosaurus, especially its head and tail. That long tail had a weight at the end of it, possibly as a counterweight to increase its overall power. At this point, the ground was riddled with holes, and it was clear the thing had speed and precision to spare.

But tail swipes weren’t the only trick in the Invisible Death’s book. It was now firing its spiky crystal scales in Fran’s direction. I didn’t know how it propelled them, but the monster had projectiles as long as it had scales…and with every barrage, new crystal scales replaced the ones it had fired.

“Haaaaa!”

Still, Fran managed to avoid both scale and tail and got close enough to land a hit.

CLANG!

No, that won’t be enough!

We didn’t do anywhere near enough damage. The scales were tough, but they also had mana dispersing powers, making them exceptionally resilient. Elemental Blade wouldn’t do much for us here.

Fran braced herself and launched a stronger attack on the monster, but we only heard a shrill noise that sounded like a dust collector at full bore.

Whirrrr…SHUNK!

“Urgh!”

Something blasted out of the creature’s tail. Fran only managed to dodge it by a hair. It was that fast.

So this is how he’s been sniping us!

While the Invisible Death could fire the scales on its body, they weren’t very precise. Its tail, though, was a whole other story. It used an explosion of mana, pressurized air, and thunder magic as accelerants. It then utilized Air Current Manipulation and Air Manipulation to stabilize its trajectory. I’d been wondering why it had thunder and fire magics but never used them in combat, and now had my answer: they were the main ingredients of its sniping game.

Fran dodged another scale shot. They were still plenty dangerous, even at point-blank range.

He’s coming, Fran!

“Hm!”

The Invisible Death was trying to trample us. It wasn’t particularly fast, but it more than made up for it by the sheer size of its stride.

“Barooo!”

“Hurk!”

Whose bright idea was it to get close to this guy?! Ugh, my bright idea! I’m such an idiot!

The monster could still use its two scale attacks at close range as well as its tail and body. This thing might’ve been even stronger up close.

Haaaa!

Which meant we just needed to get some space between us and fire our spells from there. The crystal scales might have mana-dispersing properties, but surely a powerful spell would go right through it.

I cast Thor’s Hammer and Flare Explode one after another. The scales absorbed some of the damage but not all of it. The spells destroyed a portion of the crystal scales, and the Invisible Death howled in pain. Good start, but it wasn’t out of the fight yet.

“Grooooar!”

Oh, crap!

“Hrm?”

I felt a large gathering of mana and teleported us a short distance away. An instant later, our former position exploded with an intense beam of energy—a light spell. Pretty much a laser beam, really. The beam gouged the earth with its heat and impact. I didn’t know light spells could be strong enough to—

I didn’t have time to finish that thought—because that was when the Invisible Death saw our new location and immediately launched another one of its scales at us. The scale crashed right next to us, exploding like a frag grenade. The scale-shards tore through our barriers with their mana-dispersing properties. Fran’s arms and legs were torn apart but I managed to protect her vitals.

“Argh!”

Greater Heal!

Fran was gravely injured, but it was better than taking a direct hit from that light spell.

Thanks, Teacher.

I’ll focus on avoiding the light spell. Be careful after we come out of teleport.

Got it.

I didn’t expect the creature’s firing speed to match the speed of its projectiles. I’d have to keep an eye out for mana charges.

“More spells, Teacher! Go for broke!”

All right!

We used Thor’s Hammer and Flare Explode again, preparing ourselves for a multicast. Jet also took advantage of the opening and cast his dark spells.

A grand explosion engulfed the Invisible Death’s body, showing the true destructive power of our spells. Over half of the crystal shell on its back was now broken, and smoke was smoldering out of it.

“Bwoooooargh!”

“We got him! Let’s go!”

Right!

But we stopped just as we were about to charge.

“Huh? What’s he doing?”

This thing’s not an ankylosaurus. It’s an armadillo!

The monster had pulled its head and limbs into its body and curled up into a ball. Its crystal scales were regenerating into even larger forms than before, and it looked like a giant was rolling on the ground. I could sense the creature charging its mana under its armor. It was biding its time for one last-ditch attempt at victory.

“What now?”

I’ll pelt him with spells, but watch out for counterattacks.

“Okay. I’ll leave you to it.”

I wasn’t just going to sit here and watch while our enemy was sitting still. I ramped up my spells and fired them at the Invisible Death, but the crystal scales had even more magic resistance than before. Thor’s Hammer and Flare Explode barely did any damage. It was still firing light rays and crystal scales at us, too. 

Oh, I see.

Using magic while moving around at a high speed was difficult whether you were a human or a monster. The creature waited for its opponent to launch a powerful attack and countered it afterwards.

Not really a problem for us, though. Fran was doing the dodging for the both of us, so I was free to focus on spellcasting.

One more!

“Hm!”

I don’t think I feel comfortable calling this a Kanna Kamuy after what I saw in the capital, but…

It was still my strongest attack. Kanna Kamuy was an advanced spell—a Grand Spell, they’re called—and my version was nothing compared to the one I saw Velmeria use.

Still, I put my back into it! Eat this!

A gigantic magic circle appeared in the sky as lights flashed across it. A pillar of white lightning crashed through it—huge enough that I thought the magic circle itself would be erased—and slammed right into the Invisible Death.

“Bloaaaaaargh!”

Got it!

The monster’s scales were useless against so much destructive power. The lightning pillar broke the Invisible Death out of its shell and the ensuing explosion launched its body in the air.

“Baroooo!”

“Now!”

“Woof!”

It was now completely open to attack, with half of the crystal on its body shattering into pieces. The Kanna Kamuy didn’t do a lot of damage by the grand spell’s standards, but it had succeeded in breaking through the Invisible Death’s defenses. Its rough, boulder-like skin was now exposed.

“Grrr!” And Jet got right down to business. He howled loudly to draw the Invisible Death’s attention, shifting his size over and over in order to confuse his opponent.

Having spotted an opening, Fran went in from the creature’s flank. She pierced the monster with Spiral Fang, an Advanced Sword Skill. The Skill added powerful rotations to her stab. Her target: the creature’s freshly Kanna Kamuy’d back. Small scales were already growing out of its leathery hide, but it was more exposed than the rest of its body.

“Taaaah!”

“Graaaargh!”

My blade pierced the Invisible Death’s shell and sank deep into its body. We couldn’t detect its crystal because of the crystal scales’ protection, but I felt the life drain from the giant beast.

Haaaa!

“One more!” We followed up our attack with a flame spell. The explosion engulfed us but our barrier protected us from it.

“Barooo…!” The Invisible Death groaned weakly. A gaping hole poured smoke from within its body; its insides had been scorched. We’d missed its organs, but I could see a pale blue thing sticking out of its back which I thought might be its spine.

Still, the crystal scales immediately grew back to cover its wounds…and now the Invisible Death was directing all its energy to healing itself! The wound we’d gone to such pains to inflict was already closing.

We’re going to get trapped by the scales at this point!

“Hm!”

“Awooooo!”

“Jet?”

Huh?

Jet caught up with us just as we backed away from the regenerating scales. His method of attack surprised both me and Fran—as he shrank his body and jumped into the wound of the Invisible Death! The crystal scales finished regenerating, but it didn’t seem to bother him at all. He tore through the creature’s insides, gnawing through meat, bone, and sinew, digging deeper and deeper into its heart.

“BAROOOOOOGH!”

The Invisible Death wailed louder than when it suffered a direct hit from Kanna Kamuy. It flailed its limbs about in pain and anguish. The pain of being eaten from the inside must’ve been excruciating.

“He’s wide open.”

Yeah! Let’s finish this!

We readied a Sword King Art and aimed for the monster’s head to finish the job.

“GROOOOOOAR!”

But there was a sudden surge of mana from within the Invisible Death’s body. Its crystals were now glowing white.

This doesn’t look good! I’m backing up!

“Hm!”

I teleported us to the skies and saw a powerful light emerge from the ground.

I hope you’re okay, Jet…

A dome of light had surrounded the Invisible Death. The outer rim of the dome had turned to glass, showcasing the intense heat. The dome expanded and encased the surroundings below us before bursting like a balloon.

The tremendous explosion kicked up a sandstorm. But the shock waves also blew away the flowers and bushes around it. White petals danced in the air, adorning the chaotic battlefield with a touch of beauty.

“Grr…”

“We’re coming, Jet!”

Jet was lying on the ground, smoke billowing from his body. The Invisible Death’s attack had burned him and left patches of singed fur. The heat and impact had left him missing chunks of flesh; a painful sight.

At the same time, the Invisible Death had also suffered grave injuries. It had attacked itself in order to expel Jet, a last resort only available to a creature with amazing magic resistance.

We were attacked as we were rushing to Jet’s side. But this attack didn’t come from the Invisible Death.

“Fire!”

“ICE JAVELIN!”

A hail of frozen spears rained upon Fran and Jet.

“Tch!”

Fran cranked her barrier to full power to cover for the direwolf. She didn’t mind getting hit with a few stray bullets as long as she could protect him. Blood flowed from her wounds as he moved about.

“Who is it now…?”

“What a tasty-looking girl…”

It’s an undead horde!

A Wight King, a B-Threat monster, had joined the battle. A withered corpse of an undead, he looked a lot like the lumbering mummy we’d encountered back in Alessa. This one looked a little more regal with his red robes.

It had chosen to attack at this particular moment to scavenge like a hyena. He had approached us with teleportation—Timespace Magic.

A Wight King usually attacked by summoning countless weaker undead. The one attacking us only had six undead in its horde, but each was as powerful as the last. Four Wight High Wizards, two Wight Imperial Guards. All of them C-Threats.

This particular Wight King had settled for quality over quantity. “I set up a net in these plains in order to sense teleportation. What a tremendous catch!”

“Baroooo!” As for the Invisible Death, it was as vigorous as ever. At this rate, it’d soon regenerate to full health.

“Urgh…”

“Woof…”

Fran and Jet slowly got back on their feet once their wounds were healed.

Should we keep fighting…?

“Teacher, look!”

Huh…? What the hell is it doing here? Is it chasing us?

Fran pointed at a peculiar white smoke which wormed its way towards us…the Greater Venom Gust was back.

We were now surrounded by three B-Threats. An A Rank adventurer should be able to solo a single B-Threat. We were now faced with three creatures which would test the limits of Amanda and Forlund’s abilities. We were stronger than we used to be, sure, but we had yet to surpass them. It was a bad situation, to say the least.

This is very bad…!

I wondered if we should continue fighting at all. The Invisible Death was still wounded, and as pesky as the Gust was, it wasn’t as powerful as the rest. I certainly couldn’t think of how to get away from this encounter without a fight.

Teacher, can you spot the smoke’s crystal?

I can’t sense it at all! What about you guys?

Nope.

Ruff…

Did the Gust extend its smoke while hiding its crystal? Was it actually within the smoke before us, concealed by some magic or Skill?

“What about the undead’s crystal?”

I can’t get a read on him, either!

B-Threat monsters probably had ways of concealing their crystals’ locations. I couldn’t even begin to sense the presence of crystals in the Wight King or his minions. Considering the Skills it had, magic probably had something to do with it.

“Fire Javelin!”

Fran launched a spell at the Wight King, but before it could hit, the flaming spear wavered and dispersed.

“Pointless! But delectable!” The undead cackled as he absorbed the spell. Considering how powerful the spell had been, he’d probably used a particularly strong Mana Drain. We would just end up feeding the Wight King at this point.

“Icicle Burst!”

“ICICLE BURST!”

“Urk!”

They’re not giving us time to think!

The wights rained ice spells upon us. We managed to burn them up with a flame spell, but we couldn’t strategize under their pressure.

Teacher, above!

I see…on it!

“Hm!”

I teleported us to the skies, Fran stepped on the back of my blade, and I took us higher with Telekinetic Air Ride.

Well?

“The smoke’s still coming after us.”

At least we got the wights off our backs!

“The lizard’s an easier target, too.”

The Invisible Death’s attacks were easiest to avoid at mid-distance—that way, we could sense its mana every time it started an attack. It was too fast at close-range, and downright undetectable at long-range.

The wights lacked flight, so their spells couldn’t hit us at this range. Whatever reach they had didn’t matter when the attacks were this inaccurate.

We had no way of defeating the Gust, but we could just ignore it for now. Besides, the wights didn’t seem to like it, either. Undead relied on mana to function, and the Gust sucked the mana right out of them. Even the Wight King avoided the white smoke.

With the Gust keeping the Wights in check, getting away from the Invisible Death was a possibility after all.

“Bark, bark!”

What is it, Jet?

Jet was trying to tell us something as we dodged attack after attack. “Grrr!”

Did you find out where the big lug’s crystal is?

“Woof!”

I see! Jet’s expedition into the Invisible Death’s body wasn’t solely to attack it. He’d also found the location of its crystal!

“Teacher, I want to deal with that lizard here.”

Yeah…all right. Personally, I wanted to get the hell out of dodge while we could, but there was no stopping Fran once she got motivated.

“I won’t use Sword God Form.”

What?

“Using it is a temporary fix. I want to be able to win without it. What should we do?”

Fran knew that she needed to conserve her energy; this might not be our last battle for the day. But she had yet to figure out how to beat the Invisible Death without Sword God Form.

All right. How about we… I explained to her the battle plan I just cooked up. It was going to be difficult, but Fran was ready for the challenge.

“I see…”

Can you do it?

“I’ll just have to!”

Great. Jet, you show us the crystal’s location by attacking it. We’ll take over from there.

“Hm!”

“Woof!”

Jet accelerated downwards, firing dark spears. They wouldn’t do much damage, but they’d tell us exactly where the monster’s crystal was located. 

There! Close to the tail, the thickest part of the crystals.

“Grr!” Jet rushed the Wight King and his horde to keep them in check, using Shadow Walk to herd them in and distract them.

The Invisible Death kept its eyes on the direwolf, remembering the pain Jet had inflicted.

“Let’s go.”

Right!

We then quietly began our attack.

First, we’ll stop its movement!

“Hm.”

I used land spells to dig sinkholes beneath the monster’s four feet. I then encased its feet with more earth to render it immobile for a while. Being turtle-shaped, the Invisible Death would find it difficult to move without proper footing. This thing was fast for its size, so we needed it to stay put for our plan to work.

“Barooo?”

“Haaaa!” Fran cast Kanna Kamuy on the confused Invisible Death. A thick pillar of lightning crashed into the monster. It was much weaker than my Kanna Kamuy, but we just needed it to crack through the creature’s crystal defenses. Fran was casting the spell so I could focus on the ensuing attack.

Good job, Fran!

“Hm!”

Our real attack was a full-powered, aerial Telekinetic Catapult. Fran trained her eyes on her target below and threw me as hard as she could.

I used wind, flame, and the thunder spell Magnetic Manipulation all at once. I’d always used magnetic force as an accelerant. It had even come in handy back in the capital when we’d dealt the finishing blow on Fanatix. Still, the force it provided was nothing compared to flame and wind spells. It only provided the initial snap of acceleration.

But I had learned a great deal from the Invisible Death. I used telekinesis to make a long, coiling gun barrel, like the Invisible Death’s tail, and applied Magnetic Manipulation on it. This allowed me to accelerate all the way through the barrel to achieve speeds never before possible. This technique was harder to pull off, of course, and accordingly cost way more mana.

Yaaaaaaah!

My blade plunged deep into the carapace—a carapace that Fran had just cleared of crystal scales. Still, I couldn’t quite pierce it. Even at this speed it wasn’t enough. That’s a B-Threat for you, I guess. You have to pull out all the stops.

“BROOOOAAAGH!”

FRAAAAN!

“Hm!”

But we had taken this, too, into account. Now our plan could truly begin.

Fran fell quickly from the sky to anticipate the Invisible Death’s attempt to expel me. She was wrapped in Flashing Thunderclap to accelerate her descent. She looked like a bolt of black lightning, flying down to strike me—specifically to strike my handle, which I had transformed into the shape of a tray.

Let’s go, Fran!

“Haaaaa!”

Fran rode the black lightning down from the sky at full speed and kicked my handle into the beast.

“GROAAAARGH!”

I was plunged deeper into the Invisible Death’s body with Fran’s Super Inazuma Kick.

“BAROOOO!”

“Urgghhh!”

I could hear the sound of Fran’s bones shattering as the creature’s carapace also shattered. My blade also cracked, adding to the cacophony.

My durability was instantly shot but I couldn’t let this chance slip by. I Transmogrified myself, extending my blade further into the beast. I infiltrated its insides, gouging meat and sinew out of the way.

“BRAAAAGH!”

I felt the monster’s death throes as I cracked into its crystal. But I didn’t have time to celebrate.

“Hurk…!” Fran’s leg was twisted at a cruel angle from the impact of kicking me. It wasn’t just her leg, either. Her hips and spine were bent out of shape. Her condition was as critical as my durability.

But with that…we’ve won!

“Hm…!”

“Bloooorg…”

Immense satisfaction. The mana rushing through my blade was unprecedented. It was beyond the demon we defeated in the Goblin Dungeon, and he had also been a B-Threat. Fran and Jet also leveled up, but we didn’t have time to think about that right now.

I quickly stored the Invisible Death’s remains away and returned to Fran’s side.

Let’s get outta here!

“Hm…”

“Woof!”

We escaped the battlefield as I barraged Fran with heals.

Because we were in the air now, the Wight King had trouble attacking us—we were too far up for his attacks to be accurate.

“Teacher. Higher…”

I know! Don’t talk right now! You’re so injured that it’s taking a while for the healing to kick in!

“Woof!”

We gained altitude until we were over a hundred meters in the air.

Now we just need to lose the Gust…huh?

“It’s running away?”

Finally healed, Fran had turned to look at our pursuer.

“Woof!”

The Greater Venom Gust had been on our heels the whole time, but now it was suddenly losing velocity. I supposed it was restricted by wherever its crystal was located.

I guess we should’ve taken the sky route.

“Hm.”

“Woof.”

We should go higher and go right for the center.

But something happened then.

“Huh?”

What the…! This is bad!

“W-woof!”

We were suddenly thrown off balance. I lost my buoyancy and started nosediving like a paper airplane. Fran was doing her best to hold on, but Jet was in an awful spot. He was trying to use Air Hop to gain footing, but the Skill wouldn’t activate. He paddled his legs in the air like a dog in a funny cartoon, but there was nothing funny about this situation.

Fran tried to use Air Hop to catch up, but it wouldn’t work for her, either.

“Huh?”

Fran!

Fran and Jet whizzed down from the sky. In my panic, I tried to teleport over to them, but no dice. It felt like we were back in the Withering Forest again—like the same phenomenon, even.

The Gust wasn’t out of its effective range at all! It was trying to avoid this thing!

The higher I went, the stronger the mana drain. As if to prove this hypothesis, I was able to use telekinesis again once I got low enough. Sure, it cost a lot more, but I wasn’t one to complain at this point. Fran and Jet also finally managed to use Air Hop to regain their footing.

I didn’t fly too high the last time I was in the Garden since I was afraid of drawing attention to myself. And I certainly hadn’t expected to find the mana drain phenomenon in the skies…

You okay, Fran?

“Hm! But the smoke is on us again!”

“Grr!”

Was the gas waiting for us to fall? Was it just persistent? Either way, the white smoke was surrounding us again.

We’ll go higher again!

“What? But…”

We’ll just have to walk the line!

Escaping to the skies wasn’t a bad plan. It was the same concept as retreating to the Withering Forest. The Gust would stop following us, but we would have to manage our mana use and find the right altitude.

It’s going to be hard, but we don’t have a choice!

“Okay.”

“Woof!”

We increased altitude to escape the white smoke. Maintaining altitude was a lot harder than it looked; there were no landmarks in the sky to keep you level. The horizon was our best bet, but even flying towards it caused some changes in our altitude.

After falling multiple times, we eventually found the optimal flight altitude. The Gust didn’t ascend, and we didn’t fall despite having to expend more mana than usual.

Still, I couldn’t get us out of here with teleport, and teleportation wasn’t very precise aside from short hops. Anything above mid-distance was difficult, and the mana drain around us would make its precision even worse. Skills couldn’t be used right after a teleport either, and even Fran would panic if she ended up upside down after a teleport. The risk of an accident was too great.

Short-range teleportation was more precise, but the cost was far too high because of our current environment. Air hopping our way to our destination was the simplest course of action.

The Gust persisted after us for only five minutes or so. We were getting closer to the center, so maybe the area itself was keeping it out. Whatever the reason, I was thankful to have that deadly smoke out of our hair.

Our current altitude also allowed us to bypass whatever monsters would’ve been on the ground. We ran into some bird monsters, but they were weak enough that we could just scare them off.

Now that we had some leeway, I looked into the Skills I received after fighting the Invisible Death. I already had Light Magic, Thunder Magic, and Scale Regeneration, but there were four new Skills which caught my eye. One of them was what you might call a curiosity, albeit a useless one.

First there was Mana Disruption, which was how the crystal scales got its mana-disrupting properties. I equipped it, and it did work as advertised, but there was a huge problem: it disrupted Mana Steal and most of my other Skills. If my spells might end up having adverse effects on Fran, it wasn’t something I’d want to leave equipped.

Next was Shooting Compensation. The benefit of this Skill was simple enough: it increased the accuracy of long-range attacks, which meant better accuracy for Telekinetic Catapult and spells. Passive skill that it was, I could immediately feel the difference once I equipped it. It wasn’t that my vision got better, but I felt more sensitive to targets over longer distances. It was as if I could see them more clearly, boosting my confidence.

What an interesting Skill.

Third was Light Dispersion. It created a semicircle field, which reflected the lights that hit it. However, its output was low and it couldn’t reflect incoming light spells. It was best used for natural and weaker light sources.

This Skill was how the Invisible Death achieved its active camouflage. but replicating it was a difficult task. Practically impossible, really. I had to calculate everything from the amount of light being reflected to the angle of refraction. I could only use it with paltry success, achieving nowhere near the perfect camouflage of the Invisible Death. No wonder it was an elite monster. The Invisible Death could do all of this solely on instinct. Still, I could still see myself using the Skill sometime.

Finally, we had Crystal Morph, which did exactly as its name suggested. This was probably used to turn the Invisible Death’s scales to bullets as well as turn it into reactive armor when under attack. Very interesting, but I had no way of using it.

The Invisible Death was basically a giant turtle with a railgun and laser beams. Reactive armor, radar jamming, and active camouflage. The more I thought about it, the more it sounded like a Zoid.

But I’d learned a lot from that turtle. Telekinetic Catapult was stronger than ever now. although I couldn’t use this newfound force wherever I wanted. Stronger telekinesis was required in order to stabilize my body when I launched myself. I’d need to pick and choose what Skills to use during Telekinetic Catapult.

Using telekinesis to stabilize my trajectory would result in a loss of speed. Using more Skills and spells to compensate for that would eat up more mana—perhaps exponentially so—for a disproportionate increase in damage.

As I turned these things over in my head, our destination came into view. The sight brought back so many memories that I had to stop and shout.

Fran, I can see it!

“That one?”

Those are the ruins, all right. The ruins where everything began!