episode_0053

Pachichiching—!

The grizzly bear, standing on its hind legs before Eve, froze in place, unable to move.

“—and then, the finishing…”

Paat—!

She leaped from her spot and plunged her fist into the center of the large bear’s head.

Ka-duk—! P’l-seok—

“See? That’s how you do it.”

“…How am I supposed to do that?!”

Everything happened in an instant.

Yuri was already struggling just to follow Eve’s movements with her eyes, let alone replicate them.

“I’m not saying you have to do everything exactly the same from beginning to end. There are key points I showed you. Just do those.”

“Easier said than done…”

She slowly rubbed her still goosebump-covered arms.

Honestly, everything was terrifying.

It was all new to her, and she had absolutely no confidence.

She even thought it might have been fortunate to have come with Eve instead of her older sister.

She really didn’t want to show her older sister her embarrassing struggles.

‘But I have to do this…!’

She was in the position of following her sister’s journey.

She had gotten the chance to go with her, and she couldn’t give up now.

Yuri clenched her fists.

“Another one—is coming.”

Kung- kung-

The ground began to tremble with Eve’s warning.

A grizzly bear with grey mane appeared, pushing through the bushes and crushing small trees.

“I’ll help if it gets dangerous, try it.”

Eve patted Yuri’s shoulder and took a few steps back.

Now it was truly real.

The bear was close.

“Ssuup… Haa…”

Yuri took a deep breath and, as Eve had shown her, gathered the mana flowing within her body into a single point at her fingertip.

The narrower the space it flows through, the faster it becomes, and the smaller it is compressed, the stronger it gets.

The size of the blob gradually decreased, becoming a marble-sized sphere.

She extended her index finger and fired the water orb.

Paang—!

The sphere of water flew so quickly that it could easily cut through thin blades of grass. However, unfortunately, it only grazed the grizzly bear’s ear.

‘Tch… My aim is still off…!’

Jureuk—

The bear checked the blood flowing down its sideburn with its paw, and bared its teeth angrily.

—Kreullruu…

Yuri already knew what would happen next. Before the bear could pounce, she quickly turned and ran.

Tat- tat- taat—!

—Kuwoaaaa!!

The grizzly bear, low to the ground like a hunting animal, ran after her at high speed.

Paang- paang-

Yuri ran through the undergrowth, continuing to create water orbs in her hand and firing them at the bear.

Cheol-peok—!

The weaker the power, the wider the trajectory. When the bear was drenched with water that did almost no damage, it roared in even greater fury.

The rhythmic pounding of a beast running on rough ground. Its claws scraping against the ground, it pursued Yuri right behind her, about to swing its sharp claws when—

Ping—!

Eve’s perfected [Water Bullet] flew and struck the grizzly bear’s arm directly. The trajectory of the bear’s swinging paw was deflected, its sharp claws narrowly missing Yuri’s hair.

“Now!”

Eve’s signal, indicating an opening.

Taking advantage of the moment when the grizzly bear momentarily lost its balance and faltered, Yuri immediately began her incantation.

Uh, but what was the incantation again…!!

—Image is the most important part of magic~

Her sister’s advice flashed before her eyes. Instead of a difficult and complex incantation, Yuri conjured up the image of freezing.

“Freeze… Freeze… Ice… Ice Grizzly Choco Parfait—!!”

The image was clear, but the magic was far from perfect. Its power was definitely inferior to the basic [Freeze].

However, the bear was currently soaking wet. Even a little off, the cold that erupted was enough to freeze a wet beast solid.

Pachichiching—!

Thanks to this, the bear turned into an ice statue, its front paws raised high.

P’l-seok—

Yuri collapsed to the ground, her legs giving way, slowly catching her breath.

“I did it… I really did it…!!”

A surprisingly successful first hunt. Her heart was still pounding with excitement, and a warm feeling, quite contrary to the cold magic she had just used, swelled in her chest.

Chak chak chak—

Eve, who had been watching from behind, clapped softly and walked out.

“Good job. Not so hard, huh?”

“No—I was scared… *huk huk*.”

Yuri feigned tears with a nonchalant expression. Eve smiled faintly at her.

“You don’t have to act tough in front of me, anyway. We still have the finishing blow.”

For a creature already frozen solid and unable to do anything, a big, flashy attack wasn’t necessary. A blow strong enough to cause a concussion would be plenty.

‘Easier said than done…’

Yuri gathered mana into her fist, as her sister had taught her, and thrust it out in a straight line. By compressing and then releasing the mana simultaneously with the impact—

P’eo- p’eoeng—!

—it was a close-range technique capable of delivering two blows at once.

“Ouch…”

There was also the issue of her fist hurting twice though.

In the end, the grizzly bear’s frozen head shattered, showing that the hunt had definitely succeeded.

At first, she had been so terrified just at the thought of hunting a bear, but perhaps that tension and excitement had heightened her senses. Yuri felt that she herself was growing.

Hu—

She looked at the grizzly bear lying before her and suddenly became curious.

“Hu… But, Eve, how are we going to carry th—”

“Huh?”

As she was about to ask how they would transport the bear, Yuri decided to stop.

For she saw Eve lift the grizzly bear, which looked five times larger than her body, with one hand.

“Come on, let’s go. We have two more to catch.”

“Euh— euh…”

Thinking that even in case of some dangerous situation, it would probably be all right, Yuri crossed the forest to search for the next prey.

* * *

“Okay, that’s 1 kg of collection done.”

I filled the burlap sack I received from the guild with sandragoras and slung it over my shoulder.

“Whew… It ended faster than I thought.”

I roughly wiped the sweat beading on my forehead and looked up at the sky. It seemed there was still some time before sunset.

‘Should I do tomorrow’s as well?’

Whatever, I have to submit this load to the guild first.

I descended the mountain with a light step.

“I’m here to settle my quest.”

“Yes, just a moment… Your adventurer pass first—”

I submitted the quest form and the temporary pass for testees at the reception and waited. The processing was taking longer than expected, and I was getting a little bored.

To while away the time, I went down to the lobby.

The spacious area, with wooden tables scattered here and there, hosted quite a few other adventurers.

“So, we should go deeper today—”

“But it’ll be the same. Maintenance is more important right now—”

“No, we need to eat first—”

I saw a party in the midst of a strategy meeting.

“Let me hear it first.”

“Well, with your reputation, I can fully trust you… This quest is, uhm, how it was is…”

“No, let’s see that gold pouch first.”

Some adventurers were receiving designated quests.

“How about a beer?”

“It’s still midday, what are you…”

“Hmm, right… Then cocktails it is—”

I also saw a man trying to convince a female adventurer to have a drink with him in broad daylight.

A diverse array of people gathered in the guild, but truthfully, they were all skilled adventurers. Even the ones with different ambitions were obviously working hard, and I felt a twitch in my leg for some reason.

My eyes naturally fell on the bulletin board.

The quest board, where dozens of quest forms were being posted on a large wooden board. I skipped the harvest quests; they were sickeningly repetitive, but there were various types of quests like searches, escorts, and explorations.

During my Akasto days, I handled almost every quest except for collecting, especially exploration quests. They’re remarkably cost-effective. There’s no need to hunt or gather-up anything; all you have to do is roam around undiscovered areas with auto-map-making equipment.

It is literally exploration. Exploration quests prioritizes mapping, so it is the norm for one or two members to work together, making the rewards quite substantial.

‘Let’s see, current exploration quests…’

As I felt like looking if there were any good exploration quests. One thing caught my eye.

「Caris Adventurer’s Guild Quest Form No. 7771」 -Client: Anonymous -Rank/Classification: Legendary/Exploration -Description: The deepest part of the Bewitching Forest – near the Sanctuary of Spirits -Deadline: Unlimited -Details: (Omitted)…there might be difficulties with monetary compensation, but I promise a worthy compensation in return.

Old paper, with torn and frayed corners. It was hidden in the corner of the bulletin board, in the hardest place to notice, also concealed under other quest forms.

I don’t know how I found it even after picking it up. It just instantly caught my eye.

That’s why I was all the more surprised by this coincidence.

First, it was exceptionally old. The quest number was very low, the deadline was unlimited, and it was of Legendary rank—so nobody had touched it. Probably fated to rot slowly at the bottom of the bulletin board like stale stock.

Second was the exploration site. The Bewitching Forest itself, but the “Sanctuary of Spirits” in its deepest area was originally where I intended to go. To find a spirit to inhabit the [Special Spirit Core], general spirits of the forest won’t do; very rare Spirits from the depths of forest will do.

And third… was the reward. This is similar to a previous conversation.

In Akasto, wasn’t an “ambiguous description” a blatant cheat code? That aligns with the Adventurer’s Guild’s policy.

Generally, “trust” is considered important in quests. Therefore, the adventurer must be diligent in their work, paying attention to the results and deadlines, and the client must be diligent in their compensation.

But “a worthy compensation,” huh? The fact that the guild approved such a quest means that the client has the financial means or authority to fulfill it.

I naturally put one of Eve’s quests, the “Giant Squid whatchamacallit,” in place of the old quest form and took the exploration quest form to the reception desk to accept it.

“…It’s getting late.”

Spirits are particularly more active at night. By the time I reach the deepest part of the forest, it will be completely dark.

I left a note for Yuri and Eve through the receptionist that I would be late, and immediately headed for the “Bewitching Forest.”