Chapter 41: Laughing Shadow

Chapter 41: Laughing Shadow

Tess stole my hoodie.

Tess insists she's only "borrowing" my hoodie, but deep down, I know the truth. That hoodie is gone, never to return. She's like a hoodie black hole, absorbing all the coziness and leaving me shivering in my hoodie-less existence.

She says it's because of the screw-up I made during our last hunt that she ended up with her clothes torn, but look, who would have guessed that the troll is so good at throwing stuff?

Totally not my fault.

And sure, with my increased constitution, I don't feel the cold even in the slightly colder weather we are in, and the hoodie was just lying down in my gym bag, but... but, it's mine, it was mine.

Well, whatever.

There are 10 days remaining on the time limit for the floor quest, so I decided to hunt alone for some time. I took a lot of dried meat and a few bottles of water with me and went to the forest, leaving them to survive on their own for a few days.

Hadwin didn't like it at all, and neither did most of them, but I think it will help them too. Some of them became too reliant on my help, stopped improving on their own, and just followed my lead. Sure, they will get hurt, maybe even die, but if they just continue to follow me, they will for sure die in the future.

If we look at this like a game, the first floor should be the easiest one, right?

For me, the danger didn't feel that big, and I have a feeling that my growth has stagnated as well. I don't want to become too reliant on them, so I leave to return in a few days.

I am also worried that I am getting too close to them.

The forest is quiet, as always, and without Tess's scouting, I feel much more vulnerable, but surprisingly I don't hate it.

As always, there is mana flowing through my body, through my mana circuit, and my [Mana Perception] keeps sending wave after wave of mana into our surroundings like a sonar, trying to find something. The range isn't that big, but it's doable.

So I continue checking my quests once in a while. There still isn't a new [Side Quest] unfortunately, but knowing the system, I am sure it's cooking up something really spicy.

The first enemy I meet is a simple wolf.

[Wolf, lvl 2]

Poor guy, how did he end up here? In such a high-level zone.

He sniffs me and starts running away immediately. Unfortunately for him, I send more mana through my body and dash at him with a speed higher than his.

Surely enough, I catch up to him, and he turns to attack me in a last-ditch effort.

I dodge, and his teeth clamp close to my head.

Then I slap him.

Yup.

I bitch-slap that poor guy.

He staggers back, and I repeat it, and he falls down, unconscious.

I pull out the last remaining piece of the goblin shaman's amulet and tie it to the wolf's fur. I already did it multiple times in hopes of confusing the Cinderbear.

Fuck Cinderbear tho.

I started doing it immediately after the last time, and there should be 7 wolves running around with a piece of amulet tied to their fur. Or they lost it. I don't care. Just get that crap far away from me.

Out of nowhere I sense a hint of mana at the edge of my [Mana Perception] range and focus more mana in that direction. The feeling disappears without leaving anything behind.

Huh?

I dash towards it, but I don't catch anything. It's gone and there isn ́t leftover mana left behind.

What was that?

The forest immediately feels more dangerous, and silence fills the surroundings.

I feel mana behind me, but when I focus more on it, it disappears immediately in a way I can ́t explain.

Cold sweat starts running down my back, and I dash away from it. Mana strengthens my muscles, and at this point, I am able to run as fast as a horse while letting [Focus] help me to do it without hitting any trees.

After a few minutes I stop to catch a breath.

I lost it for sure...

Another pulse of mana appears at the edge of my perception.

Damn.

I run again.

Ten minutes pass, and I continue to strengthen my body; my muscles feel hot as I continue to channel mana through my Mana Circuit to strengthen them. My mana pool is now big enough to keep it up for a really long time.

As I run, I continue to feel the same mana signature at the edges of my perception.

At first, I try to run away from it, but it starts to feel as if it's trying to lure me somewhere, so I just avoid it.

At some point, I even attempt to dash toward it again, but it disappears and reappears behind me within a minute.

My [Mana Perception] continues to shoot into the surroundings, but I always only feel a hint of mana at the edge of my range.

While continuing to use the skill, I optimize it a bit and increase the range. However, the signature moves again, staying not entirely out of range but still close.

I stop.

My breathing is quick, and my muscles burn. Sweat runs down my body.

Something like laughter echoes in the distance.

The presence appears once again at the edge of my detection.

You asshole.

This is getting annoying.

Fight me or something.

As if knowing what I am thinking, the cackle sounds once again, and the presence disappears.

It looks like there will be no sleep tonight.