Following the winged serpent really paid off.

As soon as it left the shadow's lair, I chased after it, staying cloaked and at a distance, while gauging my surroundings for an opportunity to make a kill.

My original target was the newly created Abyssal monster, that in its current starved state, was at its weakest point. But I quickly lost it in the crowd of Abyssal monsters swarming below.

Now I'd stumbled upon an incredibly familiar scene of utter carnage. Multitudes of monsters jostled over the severed remains of a creature, while others fought another monster nearby that was still alive.

This monster that had the misfortune of entering the valley today was fighting all alone, desperate to retain its life. It just so happened that the winged serpent noticed this scene and swooped to meet up with the others of its kind.

I swooped down with it to gauge the state of the cornered hapless creature to see if there was any chance of rescuing it.

I was aware that it wouldn't pay for the shadow creature to receive more monsters to reinforce its strength. Those that were strong were worn down exactly like this until they were ready for it's torturous dungeon lair.

But on closer inspection, there was barely any trace left of the pitiful monster - it was too badly hurt.

From how much damage it had taken, it seemed this one was destined to be devoured by the Abyssal monsters.

It seemed its strength wasn't worthy enough for a slow death by torture, and I grimaced at the irony.

As the winged serpent arrived, the creature was still fighting valiantly against its tormentors, but its will to live immediately diminished when the large serpent came into view. It dove into the midst of the rabble, its sinister figure quickly dominating all other Abyssal monsters in sight as it snagged a piece of the creature's limb for itself.

Meanwhile, I surged ahead in anticipation for this exact moment.

As its fangs charged down to take a bite, a seamless darkness blade zoomed over its head and like a guillotine, its head was cleaved clean from its body, the weighthy thing rolling across on the ground.

〚You have defeated LV44 Verum Amphiptere!〛

〚You have earned 685XP!〛

〚You have gained a level!〛

Considering most of the damage to its body was done by me, it seemed only right to be the one to end its life.

From that point on, it became completely chaotic.

At the serpent's death, the Abyssal monsters surrounding it abandoned their priced catch to rush towards me, perhaps enticed by the prospect of a new prey.

I knew I couldn't fight them all without exhausting my mana, and worse, attracting more creatures to join in their hunt. So I took off in flight, drawing them away from the creature before activating [Shadow Shroud] in hopes of losing them in my flight across the valley.

However, I needed more XP points for the next step of my plan, so as soon as I vanished into the dark, I circled back around the confused creatures, to ambush and kill as many of them as I could, before leaving the area to rush back to the monster I saved with my arrival.

Unfortunately, before I could arrive at the scene, I heard a rabble from below where I was annoyed to find a few stray Abyssal monsters dragging away the monster I'd saved.

The creature which vaguely resembled a horse was kicking at them, but it was too injured and its legs lacked power. I needed to give it a potion quickly if it was going to survive, so I dismembered the monsters surrounding it on arrival.

However, I was too late. Even after feeding it a [Healing Potion], the monster was far too wounded to make an escape. Before even more monsters arrived to finish it off, I chose to spare it from a worse fate.

〚You have killed LV22 Verum Llywarch!〛

〚You have earned 140XP!〛

Although I was in no mood to eat anything, I had to do so to prevent the Abyssal monsters from benefiting from its corpse and I left feeling disheartened, before taking off again to search for more creatures I could rescue.

Fortunately, the valley had gone quiet, as there was nothing left to hunt.

Occasionally, I stumbled upon noisy areas of activity, but everytime I rushed over, the action was already over and the creature was already dead. Each time I held my breath that I would find Sylrin being devoured or even one of those trifling elves, but every time it was an innocent creature.

Somehow it felt bad to admit I was relieved.

«You shouldn't worry about him.» Sensei offered. «Have you forgotten you left him a potion?»

Yeah, that's true. Wait-

I immediately stopped looking for monsters to rescue and sped back to the shadow creature's lair.

How could I forget?!

The realisation hit me, as my worry quickly turned to horror and dread. I had to defeat the shadow right now, and quickly.

Because I was in danger!

I wasn't worried about Sylrin anymore, if anything I was terrified for myself.

What would happen if that temperamental brat had [Sensei's Brew] in his system? The thought made me shiver.

So, what if he was captured? If they tried to fight him, wouldn't they be doing themselves a disservice?

He would go completely ballistic like I did. A single tantrum of his had the potential to be extremely dangerous. I could already imagine entire the valley going up in flames!

Before then, I had to escape, or I might end up cremated with the rest of them.

Hopefully, he didn't wake up for a long time.

Soon, the shadow creature's hidden lair came into view and I returned to my previous vantage point to observe it across the deep chasm with [Mind's Eye].

To my relief, the creature was still present in the dungeon.

Unbeknownst to it, its fateful servant was dead, which meant there shouldn't be any interference if I chose to fight it now. But that was all the advantages I had.

Its manipulation of dark magic was still leagues above mine and as much as I detested its methods, I couldn't stop craving it's skills for myself. My mind filled with ways to put into practice some of the abilities I'd seen it use to make my magic stronger. But where to start?

From the immense aura the shadow radiated, it was back to its full power and this was already putting me at a disadvantage.

«Why did you come back?» Sensei's question interrupted my train of thought. «Shouldn't you be leaving?»

I huffed in annoyance instead of responding, and continued searching around the shadow's lair for something I could use.

There was something unusual about the area around its lair, which I'd only noticed after travelling through the valley for some time.

[Mind's Eye] was significantly easier to use here than anywhere else.

While it was still accompanied by terrible pain, it was so much worse when I tried to use it while hunting.

The splitting headache got so unbearable that I had to stop using it after only a minute. Whereas here, I could use it for several minutes at a time.

It was quite unusual but I had some idea as to why this was the case.

Previously, I felt a similar undercurrent of mana when I healed myself after taking [Sensei's Brew]. It was the same overwhelming feeling I felt here which might be the reason the skill was easy to use. It was even more apparent near the bottom of the chasm, which led me to believe the dense amount of mana had a source somewhere below the shadow monster's lair.

And I couldn't help wondering what it was.

When I scanned it previously, I noticed another room below the shadow creature's dungeon. This was another reason I had to kill it, so I could go there and find out where it was.

But I wasn't sure Sensei would approve of my plans.

While my questions would be answered if I went there now, it was too close to the shadow to go unnoticed. I could only scan the area from a distance with a frown.

Fortunately, I had something of a plan.

The symbols I saw whenever the shadow creature used magic had to be the key to understanding its skills. Since it was a symbol, it had to have some meaning depending on what language it was written in. Which meant I had to improve my understanding.

After killing the winged serpent, and hunting for a while, the sum of my XP points had increased to [3630] points, which was finally enough to purchase [Glossary of Aeon].

This was it. I couldn't cry.

I had to say goodbye to my riches for the sake of justice.

I accessed the system and soon heard the familiar ding.

〚Confirmed:『Glossary of Aeon』has been acquired.〛

I shed a silent tear as my XP points diminished to a pitiful amount. My crazy idea had to work because had no other idea how to go about it.

I focused on the shadow creature's figure as it moved through the dungeon, the symbols revealed by [Mind's Eye] surrounding it in a circular pattern as it sank into the ground.

I immediately snapped to attention, visualising the symbols as their meaning filled my head.

However, before I fully understood what was happening, the ground opened up under me, and my vision faded to black, as I was swallowed whole.