chapter_0219

Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
219

Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
219

Two hours had passed since I
fell into the Dead Forest.

Because I arrived in the
forest in the evening, the sun had already gone home to rest, leaving
the moon to take over its gruelling double shift.

The unholy creatures seemed to
adore the moon, and they became truly active when it showed itself.

They roamed around, expressing
resentment toward the living, moving to rob them of what they
possessed.

Under normal circumstances,
being prey among these hungry lions would mean I’d have to fight
desperately for survival.

‘…Why is it so safe here?’

Standing in the middle of the
forest, I felt inexplicably relaxed.

It’s not that the monsters
didn’t come looking for me. Typically, the dead are drawn to the
vitality of the living, and many have rushed to claim my life.

I kindly sent them back into
the embrace of Armadi—in other words, I shattered their skulls.

Just moments ago, I purified
four evil spirits, adding to Armadi’s workload. The evil spirits in
the forest were definitely doing their job.

Even so, the reason I felt
relaxed was that the battles were incredibly easy.

Whether they were evil
spirits, beasts possessed by those spirits, or anything else, their
forms dissolved once their skulls were broken by my mace.

The relatively stronger ones
didn’t get purified in one blow, but they didn’t last long either.
The unholy creatures were powerless against my mace imbued with
divine energy.

Of course, the monsters didn’t
just stand idly by while attacking me.

They did their best to kill
me.

But you know, curses were
blocked by my skills, magical attacks were purified by my divine
energy, and physical attacks were stopped by my shield. What could
they possibly do? They just had to obediently get hit by my mace.

Given the situation, although
I continuously fought for two hours, I didn’t get a single scratch.

That can’t be. This place is
supposed to be quite high-level, right? It’s not a place an Academy
First Grade student could withstand, you know?

Even though I grew rapidly
based on game standards…

Huh? Am I stronger than I
thought?

‘Right?’

From now on, all I have to do
is keep fighting until morning comes. Even roughly estimating, I’d
have to swing my mace for half a day.

But isn’t that something
I’ve done every day?

Back in the Allen Family, I
once trained non-stop for two days without sleep. Half a day? That’s
a piece of cake.

If Possell suggested taking it
easy for half a day, I would have suspected this trickster was
planning a surprise attack while I was sleeping.

‘This is much easier than I
thought.’

I was prepared for a death
crisis and a desperate fight, but all I got in return was a sense of
ease and leisure.

‘That’s true.’

I didn’t deny Grandpa’s
words. It’s certainly good when things are easy. Who wouldn’t
take advantage of an easy chance?

But knowing that, I still gave
such a half-hearted answer, there’s a simple reason.

Hunting the evil spirits in
this place is this easy. If I’m ready to endure some hardship,
wouldn’t it be possible to purify this forest?

Originally, to enter the Dead
Forest properly, several conditions must be met.

First, you should have a job
related to the Church. A high level of fame is required. You must
possess a certain degree of divine energy.

After fulfilling these
conditions, you can meet a particular NPC and acquire a quest related
to the Dead Forest.

The quest asks to purify the
forest, which is captured by the undead.

By the time a user gets this
quest, they have usually grown quite a bit, so hunting the boss isn’t
too difficult.

More precisely, it’s only
possible to hunt.

Even if you kill the first
boss, the forest is not purified.

From that point on, you must
undertake multiple playthroughs.

Kill the boss, find clues,
kill the boss, find clues.

If you repeat this process
about five times, it is possible to drive out death from this forest.

Ah, it brings back old
memories.

When the game was first
released, people were cursing out loud, wondering what the developers
were thinking when they designed this quest.

Because the forest was
annoyingly vast, it took thirty minutes just to catch one boss, and
they wondered why they had to do it five times. On top of that, they
complained about the meagre rewards.

However, as information was
shared, people came to know that with the right strategy, they could
head straight for the true boss, and the complaints about the quest
disappeared.

It also turned out that this
quest was connected to other quests.

Let’s think.

I met the prerequisites
because I received a skill while performing a quest related to Adri.

The [Divine Combat Arts] is an
advanced form of the martial arts skill I had earlier. It’s
definitely a high-level skill, so it won’t be a problem hitting the
boss.

Of course, I know the
location.

The only issue is whether I
can handle the boss or not.

Although I continued to ponder
with my arms crossed, I didn’t hear any voices in my ears.

That’s strange. Whenever I
pondered like this, Armadi would throw in some advice.

Is he not offering such
services anymore because the first semester is over?

How petty.

Someone in a high position
can’t be petty like that; otherwise, they won’t get any respect from
their subordinates. You need to be generous to make them want to
follow your commands.

But don’t give me anything
now. If I hear that ding sound after talking bad, I might get a heart
attack.

In truth, I’ve already made my
decision.

Standing still for half a day
is the epitome of inefficiency. And someone like me, a veteran, I
can’t stand such a waste of time.

Monsters do come, but how much
experience can they give?

One-shots kill them. Can I
even fill 0.01% of my experience bar?

So, I’m going to cleanse this
forest. There’s no quest given, but I will undertake it.

Struggling through
self-imposed hardship will yield more benefits than dealing with weak
evil spirits.

As the night darkened and
stars filled the sky, Luca often recalled the appearance of the star
who once stood by his side.

A genius with dazzling
talents.

The Martial Arts Path. The
Magic Path. Various forms of knowledge. Once she started learning,
she’d quickly advance far ahead and reach the top, only to get bored
and leave Luca behind for other pursuits.

If she had been born during
the Era of Chaos, she would have surely earned the title of Hero.

Luca accidentally found
himself by her side and, in an attempt to keep up, struggled
desperately. Eventually, Luca realised he could never shine as
brightly and sat down, defeated.

Instead, he chose to create
stars.

Finding beautiful raw gems and
crafting them with his own hands to place them in the night sky. His
hope was to one day create something that shone brighter than any
star he had ever seen.

But Luca knew.

He knew it was just a
compromise, a desperate act of a defeated man. It was merely a way to
console himself within the unfillable void.

Had he not known that, he
wouldn’t have felt such emotional turmoil.

Watching Lucy Allen wander the
forest at night as if she were taking a stroll, Luca regretted
everything he had done.

It was emotional. If he were
to do something like this, he should have prepared more thoroughly.

He would erase the memory of
this moment from her head, but if there were any problems and the
Allen family demanded an explanation, he would have no choice but to
take his own life.

If he could turn back time…

…No. He would still act the
same.

That moment of conversation
alone with Lady Allen. The moment he saw her, resembling the star he
once witnessed.

The only option given to him
was to verify her level of Talent.

In Luca’s eyes, Lucy Allen was
indeed a genius.

Despite being endowed with
divine energy, she could effortlessly stroll through this forest at
such a young age.

Her prowess with a shield and
mace. The unwavering expression on her face, unaffected by fatigue
even as she continued to move. The confidence she radiated amidst
numerous ambushes in the darkness.

Lucy Allen had already far
surpassed the level of a first-year Academy student.

Luca assessed that even if
placed among the third-year students in her current state, she would
likely achieve excellent grades.

But this wasn’t enough.

It still wasn’t sufficient.

What Luca expected from Lucy
Allen wasn’t just mere genius.

A talent that would rise to
the night sky and shine brighter than anyone else. A radiance that
would make the star he once saw seem dim. Something so overwhelming
it would force a Jeweller to abandon their pride.

Luca hoped Lucy would show
such brilliance.

As he watched Lucy, who seemed
unbothered by the dark forest and moved forward without hesitation,
Luca suddenly realised that the place she was heading to was
dangerous.

‘That area… It’s where
the one leading various Evil Spirits resides.

Good. Let’s see how she
handles herself when she encounters it.’

Despite having great
expectations while observing Lucy, Luca’s hopes were not met in the
slightest.

There was no fierce battle
like he had envisioned.

All he saw were Evil Spirits
collapsing and scattering under the overwhelming power of divine
energy.

The being that stood at the
top of this forest’s many Evil Spirits…

‘Kyaa~♡ So scary~♡ An
Evil Spirit spewing out such curses like this♡ Puhaha♡ Isn’t it
too sloppy?♡’

Even at the mocking voice of
the girl, the Evil Spirit could do nothing and was purified.

“…What?”

Luca muttered in bewilderment.

Lucy Allen, who had vanquished
the Evil Spirit without even exchanging a few blows, looked at where
the Evil Spirit had been with a look of disappointment before moving
on.

It was then that Luca realised
he had made a huge mistake from the very start.

‘She did not arrive here by
chance! She intended to face that Evil Spirit from the beginning!

What is this? Lucy Allen. What
do you know about this forest?!’

Suppressing the pounding of
his heart, Luca followed behind her, full of anticipation for what
she would show.

As I watched the Second Boss
of the Dead Forest crumble into dust, I frowned.

Why are these things so weak?

Isn’t something wrong here?

Did Luca pull something behind
the scenes?

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