Chapter 18

༺ The First Letter (18) ༻

The beasts approached stealthily. Silence lingered in the forest.

Come to think of it, it was strange that there was no sound in the forest. All kinds of wild animals, including birds, lived in the forest, so normally one could hear their cries.

This silence now in the depths of the forest meant that a predator capable of putting all of those living beings on their toes had appeared.Fịndd new updates on n(o)v/e/lbin(.)com

As I ran, I stopped at a glade in the forest. Fortunately here, there was enough space to wield the sword. However, I had no intention of facing the demonic beasts fairly.

There were no rules or etiquette in a battle against a beast. It’s just a battle of life and death.

I took a potion out of my pocket. It had a light gray color.

It was the item Emma gave me during our last meeting. Emma’s masterpiece, which returned to my hands because her father refused to take it.

When I opened the lid of the potion bottle, a rancid stench stung my nose. Even just smelling it, I knew it would taste horrendous, however I was already too grown up to throw a fit because of the taste.

Without hesitation, I gulped the potion down my throat. A burning sensation passed as if I was swallowing strong liquor along with the heat traveling through my veins and gradually settling down into the body.

My heart rate gradually decreased. Like a dead corpse, my breath disappeared. It felt like my very own existence was blown away, and I couldn’t even be sure of my presence.

As a side effect, my movements were a little slower, but it was at a level that could be tolerated. I recalled the last conversation I had with Emma around this time.

Emma thought that this potion would be useless because of the peculiar smell of the ingredients used in it. This meant that even this potion could not remove external odors.

My hands scooped up the damp soil. I sprinkled soil all over the uniform, crushed grass strands, and applied the liquid oozing out of them to my body.

It was strange. I, who used to be fed up with just the feeling of grass brushing against me, now was casually covering my body with soil.

I didn’t look like a noble young master. There was a slight sense of incongruity, but for now, it didn’t matter.

I pierced my sword into the tree, and at once propelled myself up to the top of the branch. My body was now hidden amidst the leaves.

An ideal hiding state in which no body odor, sound of breath, or even heartbeat could be felt.

My eyes focused like a fisherman waiting for the tide to come. This world, where I couldn’t even feel my breath, was infinitely quiet to the extent that even a small sound resounded like thunder.

A small rustling sound reverberated through the forest, submerged in silence. My fingertips stiffened with tension.

Holding my breath, I observed the glade through the gaps in the leaves. There, a large body covered in gray fur was moving.

It was a wolf. However, its size seemed to be bigger than any other adult male and it had such black eyes that probably wouldn’t even shine in dark.

The only part of the body that reflected light was its abnormally developed fangs. I couldn’t recall anything which looked like that in any of the bestiary I read.

I was observing the demonic beast.

The moment such a realization dawned upon me, my heart, which had lost its beat, started pounding again. Heat prevailed in my breath. A mild tension tightened my muscles.

Holding the sword in reverse, I waited for the right moment.

The gray wolf tilted its head and stuck its nose to the ground. I was there before, but now since it can’t figure out where I disappeared, it must be frustrated.

The squeaking sound continued all the way down. My heart was beating like it was going to explode. And the moment I made up my mind, I took a step.

A rustling sound echoed through the leaves. The gray wolf’s jet-black eyes immediately lifted up.

But in those eyes, the silver trajectory that had already drawn was being reflected.

‘Splat,’ and its brain spurted out.

The sword swathed in aura directly transferred the strength behind the slash to the beast’s skull. Due to the aura’s lack of density, it was unable to penetrate its skull, but the sword succeeded in creating a crack in the skull.

With a whimper, the giant wolf’s body that had been struck in its head squirmed. It writhed in agony like a tidal wave.

The struggle was also short-lived, akin to a candle, which was soon going to be extinguished. The flame of life gradually faded from the beast’s eyes.

The fluttering chunks of meat were the last traces of its existence. I held on to my sword with my teeth clenched and pierced it until the tremors subsided.

I forcefully swallowed the scream that almost came up to the tip of my tongue. It doesn’t matter if the wolves’ locations were discovered, but I shouldn’t make my presence known.

I had to remain an unknown enemy till the end. Ignoring the wolf’s bite on my forearm, I lowered the sword to end his life.

Its guts spilled out, and soon the wolf’s life was extinguished. Until the very end, there was pure hatred in the eyes of the beast who crouched and bit my forearm.

I stared back into those eyes and chuckled.

“Fucking dog, why did you want to fight in the first place......?”

When I slammed its nose with my sword’s hilt, the wolf’s jaws opened wide. Those black eyes had long since lost their light.

Dead. Not even a single breath could be felt from the wolf. I staggered and grabbed my bitten forearm.

It hurts. Even the bones creaked, since my muscles had been pierced by those absurd molars. I rummaged through my pockets and looked for a remedy. The bandage was then wrapped around the wound to prevent further bleeding.

If the wounded site didn’t get properly disinfected, there was the risk of infection. But now there was not enough time to apply such a treatment.

I became dazed, having already shed quite a bit of blood. The more dizzy I felt, the more the mana circulating in my body grew violent.

It was strange. Even though my head was not even capable of working properly, I hid myself instinctively and waited for the wolves.

Like a skilled hunter.

This happened a few more times, to the point that the space for my movements narrowed because of the corpses of wolves stacking up in the glade.

My sword has found another victim. The wolf that had been pierced in its nape looked at me with wide eyes in disbelief.

It probably didn’t expect that, that I was hiding among the dead bodies of its comrades.

Another giant wolf fell to the ground helplessly. At the same time, I gasped for breath.

Huff, huff, huff.

My body was stiff and I couldn’t muster any power. The bleeding on the forearm had stopped, but my injuries were accumulating while dealing with the wolves.

Seria, where is Seria?

Has she reached Professor Derek now? I’m sure I didn’t miss any of the demonic beasts. After all, I had such a potent scent of blood on me, but then why has no one arrived yet?

Please, I hope she reached him. Because this was my best.

A musty stench lingered in my sharp breath. I was slowly reaching my limit. It was then that a growling sound was heard.

Two wolves were walking into the glade. It was natural for them as they were beasts who hunted in packs, but the problem was that, so far, I’ve only fought them individually.

There were times when more than two of them came, but at that time, I kept hiding.

But now, I couldn’t even hide, and my body was almost at its limit.

I stepped forward while using my sword as a staff gasping for breath. I fucked up. But regret always comes too late no matter how early you notice it.

My golden eyes glared at the wolves burning with hostility. My blood-soaked hair obscured my vision, but it didn’t matter.

The two wolves flinched when they met my gaze. They had no choice but to do so. There are as many as eight wolf corpses lying on the glade.

It was something I had done alone. No matter how strong of a demonic beast they were, they must have known intuitively that I was not an easy opponent.

Gasp, I caught my breath. The more hazy my mind was, the sharper my senses became. Mana pulsated and coursed through my body.

So when my body regained some of its vitality.

“......Come at me, you bastards.”

Aiming my sword at them, I smiled pretentiously.

Soon, two wolves charged at me like lightning. The battle wasn’t over yet.

****

Seria limped to Professor Derek about an hour after she had left.