Chapter 18

Well then, I was back in the fateful forest. I wasn’t such a veteran that I could sense what was around us. Were there forest wolves lurking close by?

“Ahh… I doubt there are any in this area.”

“Right. Well, let’s check our stats then… Or not, are there rules against checking party members stats?”

“No, there is not. And I’m quite curious about your AGI as well. Let’s see it.”

With Daniela’s permission, we took out our status cards and chanted the same old words together.

“Status open.”

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

Name: Asagi Kamiyashiro

Race: Human

Job: Adventurer (Rank: E)

LV: 21

HP: 236/236

MP: 170/170

STR: 90 VIT: 83

AGI: 276 DEX: 125

INT: 75 LUK: 12

Skills: Jack of all Trades, Master of None

Short sword

One-handed sword

Spear

Magic: Ice, Water, Fire

Quest: Eliminate the Forest Wolves

Party: Daniela Villesilf

Equipment: Head – None

Body – Leather Armor

Hands – Leather Gloves

Legs – None

Feet – Leather Boots

Weapons – Iron sword

– Iron short sword

Accessories – None

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

Name: Daniela Villesilf

Race: Light Elf

Job: Adventurer (Rank: C)

LV: 67

HP: 689/689

MP: 678/678

STR: 364 VIT: 263

AGI: 268 DEX: 400

INT: 351 LUK: 29

Skills: Fresh Green Eye

Presence Detection

Rapier

Bow

Magic: Wind, Earth, Water

Quest: Eliminate the Forest Wolves

Party: Asagi Kamiyashiro

Equipment: Head – Mask of the Forest People

Body – Light Armor of the Forest People

Arms – Patchwolf Gloves

Legs – Steel Claw Leggings

Feet – Forest Lizard Leather Boots

Weapons – Rapier of the Tree of Life and Death

– Bow of the Tree of Life and Death

Accessories – Cape of the Forest People

– Pendant of the Forest People

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

Breaking news: Daniela was incredibly strong. But more importantly…

“You’re an elf?”

“Aye, a Light Elf. Hadn’t I told you?”

“Hmm, nope.”

“I see.”

An elf, huh… That was so fantasy-like. Her ears were indeed pointed. But I hadn’t even suspected it. Also, if she’s a light elf, then there must be other elves too.

“If you’re this strong, then you probably wouldn’t have had any trouble back there at the park?”

“Yes, they stood no chance… But, I would prefer to avoid fighting within the town. Also, it is not usual for me to be surrounded like that. My guard was down.”

“I suppose so… Well, I’ll be counting on you, then.”

If she was this strong, then our enemies should be easy to take down. Even so, I was not a fan of power leveling. I should do everything that it was possible for me to do.

“Hmm, I will do my best when the time calls for it, but I intend to adapt to your level most of the time. Regardless, your AGI is very high… You must be faster than me.”

“It’s the one thing I’m good at.”

“No, you mustn’t ridicule speed. Imagine this. You are suffering a one-sided attack at a speed that your eyes cannot catch.”

“…That would suck.”

“Wouldn’t it?”

It reeked of cheating. And there wasn’t supposed to be any allowances for the protagonist.

“Your MP is high for someone who has only just learned to use magic… No, perhaps the fact that you’ve begun to sense the energy has brought the numbers up.”

“Maybe. I do feel something now that I never did before.”

The magical energy that lay inside of me. A sensation that was all new. It was kind of, soft-like…

But I was of an age to find other people’s statuses much more interesting than my own sensations of softness. Especially this ‘Fresh Green Eye’ skill. It had the look of a unique skill.

“Daniela, isn’t that a unique skill as well? I guess it’s not that rare to have one then.”

“That’s not true. It’s very rare. We both just happen to have them.”

“Ah, I see… My skill, it allows me to visualize the handling of things and how to move.”

“Does that mean that you can skillfully use a weapon that you’ve picked up for the first time?”

“Uh… I guess so.”

“That’s, quite amazing?”

“The ‘Jack of all trades’ part is anyway. The problem is ‘Master of none.’ I still don’t quite understand it.”

Yes, even now I was stuck on the meaning of this skill. Part of me was worried that if I relied too heavily on this skill for handling weapons, I would one day suffer some terrible retaliation. That is one of the reasons I haven’t branched out, even though I probably could use just about any weapon.

The only weapons I’ve touched were the spear and two swords. And now the sword skills were displaying. And they hadn’t displayed the last time I checked… Which meant they must not have been advanced enough to be considered a skill. In any case, I intended to master the one-handed sword and short sword first.

Even now, there were times when I would be fighting a goblin and a new move would appear in my brain. My goal was to stop those from appearing. I would make all of these moves my own without the unique skill. Because I already knew most of them, it shouldn’t take me too much time. If I could hurry up and master it, I could move on to the next weapon.

“By the way…”

“Hm?”

“My unique skill, ‘Fresh Green Eye’ is a skill that is known to sometimes occur in races that live in the forests and plains. It allows you to see the movement and even spirits of the wind.”

“There are spirits?”

“Of course? See, there is one nuzzling against your cheek right now.”

I feel the wind softy brush against my cheek. So was that the work of a spirit?

“Hehe. Feels good.”

“Perhaps you have a nature that the spirits find easy to love.”

“I’d love to become friends with the ice and water spirits.”

And the fire ones too.

It happened after we had checked each other’s stats and had walked for quite a while.

“Asagi, drop down.”

I immediately fall to the forest ground instead of answering with my voice. Daniela had dropped down beside me and was staring intently at the thick clump of trees further ahead.

“The wind is blowing against us, so we are still unnoticed. Look over there, it’s the forest wolves.”

“Where…”

I look through the cracks between the trees. There was a wolf with light green fur. Its nose twitched as it sniffed at the soil. How could I forget that appearance? These forest wolves gave me a good run once. There was a pack of about six of those hated creatures, about fifty meters ahead of us. Were they looking for food? They had their noses in the dirt and were looking at their surroundings.

“What should we do?”

“The wind is very weak. First, I will use my bow from this distance. What do you think, Asagi? I can’t let you use this bow, but you could try shooting them next time?”

Daniela suggested, knowing that my skill would allow it. But I shake my head.

“I want to master using the sword first. If I try my hand at too many weapons at once, I’ll never fully master them. You know, a ‘jack of all trades, master of none.’”

“Hmm, you are probably right. Sorry. It is commendable that you aren’t allowing the skill to control you.”

She smiled as she nocked an arrow and pulled the string tight. Then she looked forward, the smile vanished, and with a sharp eye, she locked onto her target. The status I had just seen said that this bow was called ‘Bow of the Tree of Life and Death.’ It was white and purple and did not make a sound. I didn’t know if it was due to the type of wood or an effect of wind magic. There was no sound of it bending or of the arrow being loosed.

And then the arrow from the soundless bow flew straight into the neck of one of the wolves that was still sniffing the ground. The force of the arrow blew it right off its legs as it died.

“Good. Let’s go.”

“Yes!”

I got up and ran through the bushes as I unsheathed my swords. I closed in on them as I ran at full speed, slashing the neck of the closest one. I had to give it to the apprentice, these were good weapons. It made me even more excited to see what Chief’s would be like.

I smiled with expectation but stayed alert as I scanned my surroundings. The wolves were finally aware of us. They were howling now and running away. Perhaps they had seen two of their number fall in rapid succession and seen that they were at a disadvantage. But we would not let them run away.

I chased one from behind and slashed at its back. I glance over to Daniela, who had charged forward, pulled out her rapier and pierced it right through a forest wolf. She quickly pulled the blade out and a shower of blood shot out from both holes. She was already running towards me before it fell to the ground.

“Hehe. Is this really the best time to be captivated by me?”

“You look great, Daniela.”

“Do-don’t say such nonsense!”

She started it but was now embarrassed. It was very cute.

We chased the last two. They were fast. But we were even faster.

I quickly caught up with one and I slashed its throats in one hit so it wouldn’t suffer too much. Daniela as well, made one clean thrust into the heart of the other one.

And so our first battle against the forest wolves was a success. As I had now accomplished my personal revenge, I thrust my fists in the air and towards the sky.