Ch.1010. Animal Friend (3)

That night, after returning home from nearly dying due to an ambush by a Dread Wolf in the forest.

“…Hiiing.”

After being thoroughly scolded by my master for entering the forest without proper countermeasures against ambushes.

Back in my room, buried under the covers of my bed, I recalled what my master had said.

Master Dalia instructed me not to enter the forest without her until I found a proper vanguard, and I deeply agreed with this.

The fundamental cause of this mistake was that both Corin and I were rear support types.

It was clear that if I had been properly prepared, I could have easily dealt with the Dread Wolf’s ambush.

Although I was scolded, more accurately, Master was reprimanding me out of concern.

Master had warned me repeatedly before finally giving me permission to take walks, but I let my guard down and got ambushed, so I really had nothing to say in my defense.

Even though Master had prepared some emergency survival measures just in case… I couldn’t deny my carelessness after entering the forest a few times.

Anyway, after feeling dejected for a while thinking about my mistake.

Since any normal human should reflect on their mistakes and learn from them, I began to consider how to find a vanguard, as Master had suggested.

A vanguard—someone who takes the front line in battle for close combat, quite different from the “tanks” in games from my previous life.

Lower-tier warriors or other creatures, no matter how sturdy, often can’t match their defense against the maximum attack power of lower-tier enemies, so the vanguard might end up getting hit and incapacitated while trying to protect the rear.

Of course, if a vanguard gets incapacitated, the rear support would likely die instantly.

So finding a reliable vanguard would be essential even without Master’s instructions…

‘So the options are… about this much.’

The first idea that came to mind was an animal companion. Since I could form contracts with more than 10 creatures, contracting with an animal suitable for the vanguard role would work.

Animals under an animal companion contract are treated as summons, so even if they die, they can be resummoned in about 12-24 hours. Plus, even if I contract with an ordinary animal, there’s a high chance it could evolve into a magical beast as my abilities grow.

Therefore, my first candidate for an animal companion was a large animal like a bear. Personally, I’d prefer a sturdy magical beast, but… such dangerous species would have been eliminated by Master Dalia, so that’s out of the question.

So if I chose this method, I would ask the forest animals I’ve befriended to introduce me to a bear…

But that doesn’t feel quite right.

An animal companion contract isn’t something to be made lightly just because I need something right now.

Even with animals I’m friendly with, such contracts should be formed after careful consideration, and I’m reluctant to make one simply because I need a vanguard.

Even if it were a rare or particularly appealing specimen, I would still hesitate. That’s how significant an animal companion contract is.

So after rejecting this idea for these reasons.

‘…Maybe I should do it myself?’

The next idea I considered was to fill the vanguard role myself using the Wild School’s animal transformation magic.

At first, it seemed like a ridiculous joke…

‘…Huh?’

But the more I thought about it, the more convincing it became.

A druid’s wild magic specializes in supporting allies and self-transformation using the power of the wild.

I can already transform into an animal for several hours, and while other magic becomes unstable during transformation, wild magic can still be used without issue.

So if I transform into a fire bear, apply various buff spells, and circulate mana to strengthen my body, I could physically overpower even another bear in a head-on confrontation.

Additionally, Corin the thunder bird, whose size and close combat abilities aren’t particularly impressive for a lower-tier magical beast, wouldn’t need to be on the front lines.

She could stay behind me, protected while firing lightning from the rear, and in emergencies, she could unleash thunderbolts for sufficient firepower.

Even if I were injured, I could use the druid’s healing magic, combining nature and wild magic for recovery.

…Although I’m not skilled enough to use this healing magic on others yet, this wouldn’t be a major issue if I were to take the vanguard position myself.

※ ※ ※

And so, the next day. I planned to present this idea to Master Dalia to get permission to enter the forest again.

Master had mentioned that I would eventually need to leave this forest to gain experience, so building some practical experience in the relatively safe Aleinos Forest would be beneficial.

Moreover, actively engaging in combat would be more helpful for my druid studies than just training safely… and decisively, staying at home all the time would drive me crazy with boredom.

“…So, would that be possible?”

After finishing the morning lessons, before departing for afternoon practice, I tried to get Master’s permission for an outing based on the ideas I had prepared.

“…That should be sufficient. Gregory, you may go out again.”

With an unusually serious expression, Master Dalia seemed to find my proposal convincing and granted me permission to go out again.

Although with the condition that I always move around as a fire bear in the forest, I was allowed to enter Aleinos Forest again.

Thanks to that, now transformed into a large, magnificent fire bear, I was strolling through the silent Aleinos Forest with Corin perched on one of my shoulders.

The silence was formed by predators and prey moving quietly to conceal their positions from each other, but my ears were far from quiet.

[Master, are there any enemies around?]

‘No. Not yet.’

Exchanging telepathic waves with Corin, I traveled along paths naturally formed for large predators in the forest.

Perhaps because Master had cleared out many of them, there weren’t many large predators left. Though there were some flimsy branches and thorny vines growing, they posed no problem for me to trample with my bear’s massive body.

As I moved through this quiet forest, I was inwardly impressed by the various advantages of this fire bear’s body.

The bear’s keen sense of smell and hearing provided a different form of detection than life-sensing abilities, allowing me to act as a scout.

The instincts transmitted through the body helped me handle this beast’s form skillfully.

With the addition of magical enhancements, this bear’s body could easily tear apart even another fire bear.

Particularly, the beast aura wrapped around my body due to wild magic enhancement prevented attacks from other animals despite traversing their territories.

The beasts living in Aleinos Forest, whether herbivores or carnivores, all have territories they protect.

However, they don’t obsess over defending their territories.

They recognize a clear hierarchy through instinct and don’t pick fights with every animal passing through.

Therefore, these beasts don’t even dare to approach me as I exude a powerful beast aura. This was one reason why I could move through the forest without major issues in my fire bear form.

The mid-tier magical beasts capable of killing me now live in deeper parts of the forest that I cannot reach.

So in this shallow forest, at least, I wouldn’t be ambushed and one-sidedly killed by a mid-tier beast.

[Master, if no magical beasts will attack us, why did we come to the forest? Didn’t you say you wanted combat experience?]

‘Hmm… that’s true. No magical beast would initiate an attack against me in this state.’

[Then why?]

‘Well, take a look over there.’

Corin, riding on my back, turned her head toward the thicket I pointed at. And… with the keen eyesight thunder birds are known for, she would probably understand why I came here.

The creatures I was targeting for combat experience were Blood Soil Rabbits. These are magical beasts that unusually possess ranged attack abilities, aren’t native to this forest, and have excellent reproductive capabilities.

These creatures have a fanatical territorial protection instinct that could potentially ruin the existing ecosystem. They were the prey—or rather, elimination targets—recommended by Master after hearing my request to gain diverse combat experience.

[M-Master! There! There’s a bleeding deer over there!]

‘What?’

But Corin’s reaction was strange. I had been following the distinctive blood scent of Blood Soil Rabbits, but instead of reacting to them, she was talking about a deer?

‘—Let’s go!’

So when I rushed through the thicket hidden by trees and bushes.

The scene that entered my eyes was… dozens of Blood Soil Rabbits surrounding a young silver deer.

And the deer was covered in wounds as if it had been pierced by something multiple times.