Faceless Phantom 22 Chapter 19 - Orbania 1

Interestingly enough, the land was decorated with different kind of peculiar flora. And various fauna, or more likely to be called monsters, were present too. They were living together, making a wonderful yet strange world of fantasy. For gamers which played open world RPG a lot, the scenery was more likely to be a paradise to them. Absolutely amazing and beautiful.

Venturing this world felt really exciting. And somehow, I had this nostalgic feelings. Just like when I was in real life, I often felt that way whenever I pictured myself in a vast prairie or traveling to another place. The place was otherworldly yet familiar. It was really strange.

The most interesting part about it was, in one place, the level difference could be very contrast. A habitat or an area could consist a lot of easy monsters, some medium ones, and a few hard ones. It was written in the Tutorial Guide. However, considering level was not implemented, it was not possible to tell which one was which. Regardless, hunting and grinding my skills were necessary. So there was only one way I could think of. It was a common sense line.

'The smaller the monster is, the lower their level currently are.'

It was logical for me that way. Big monsters were often depicted as elites or bosses. I might be wrong though, because a small creature could also be portrayed as rare powerful monster or mythical one. Just like the Fairy I had fought before.

'Yeah, the Fairy was indeed small yet she was a boss.' I sighed and shook my head. 'Ah why I always contradicting myself?'

I looked at Mirage. And then she immediately readied herself.

"I'll try my best to support you."

I might be doing that often unconsciously before I jumped into battles. Nonetheless, hearing her words really washed away my doubt. I sighed in relief and smiled.

"Alright. Let's go!"

Our first target was a big chicken-like monster which looked like an ostrich. Surprisingly, they dealt critical attack continuously. But they had low defense which really balanced their power.

And then there was this cat-sized mouse-like monster. When I attacked one, some of their nearby friends also joined the fight. They were actually weak, and it only took one hit to kill them. However, they were very nimble, and their small body made it really hard to hit. And at some point, I mobbed enough to kill a party. It was really annoying to escape from them, but it was less irritating than hit them. Eventually, Mirage used Siren's cry so we could run away easily.

After Mirage healed my HP, I began to search another monster to hunt.

There was this strange monster. About one and a half meter long, six-legged and each of them had big paws, wolf-like body covered in dark gray fur. There were little fins on their back. And their head... It was a reptile head. Despite their abomination looks, they had a powerful move to make one stagger. Their paw could bash and stun for a few seconds. And because of that, they easily cut my HP down into critical. It was a great chance to get stun resistance. But the downside was once I got stunned, Mirage MP would decrease a lot to heal me.

'I'll fight them again later... For now, let's try another monster.'

There were big cattle-like monsters. They were slow yet really st.u.r.dy. Typical tanky monsters. My damage only dealt two digit number. Even though I didn't calculate it, I could guess that my sword's durability wouldn't last long to kill one or two. So, we had to get out from their aggressive area and they gave up in pursuing us.

I stopped hunting, and then searching a safe area to rest. I had to repair my sword and, also, it was already time for lunch.

We were eating while sitting down under a tree. Looking at the scenery, I sighed and thinking...

'This game is unexpectedly harsh...'

You didn't tank all hits and swung your weapon mindlessly. This game needed a strategy to kill each monster.

Real time battle.

For a guy who spent his time mostly isolated inside a room, I was truly lacking experiences in this field.

I sighed again as I remembered that I felt I wanted to vomit a lot when I trained in Training Ground. Also when fighting Uruzak and other bosses. I still could feel the ache all over my body, my heart was beating fast and it made me exhausting. Strangely enough, my body didn't even feel tired. The right words perhaps I was feeling restless. It was a strange experience.

'Knowing monster's weakness will be useful...'

That thought gave me an idea to look for a book or information about monsters later when I arrived at the next town, since there was no such thing on the forum. It was probably a valuable information. Though being summoner was an easy access, but my job was already an artisan.

I sighed and looked around. When I saw how peaceful the place was, it calmed my heart. The nature in this world was beautifully made. The warm sunlight, the fresh air brought by the cool breeze, the sound of dancing gra.s.s and trees. I was soothed.

Mirage was humming the whole time. She did seem happy and enjoying the scenery as well.

'Living in this world isn't really bad after all...'

A moment later, I noticed a pack of medium sized tiger-like monsters were hunting a horde of big cattle-like monsters. During the fight between them, there was one tiger strayed from the pack as if he had his own idea. When he looked at our direction, I immediately got a bad feeling.

'Ummm... Is he really coming this way?'

Indeed. The tiger-like monster slowly crawled toward us. And then he fasten his pace. It was too late to run. The moment the tiger saw us, he already targeted us as its prey.

'It's only one monster, so fighting the b.a.s.t.a.r.d shouldn't be a bad idea.'

"Prepare to battle."

"Yes!"

When the tiger's distance was close enough, he jumped. He opened his mouth wide open, showing his long fangs. And his big claws were ready to grip and claim me as his food.

I moved my body to the left and lifted my sword up. I swung my sword when the tiger pa.s.sed me. However, the tiger immediately turned his body sideways and swung his right front leg to stop my sword with his claws. I was surprised.

'What the... That's actually amazing. This guy is smart.'

The tiger blocked my sword with his claws and fangs multiple times. At one point I changed my weapon to Cursed Rapier. I just needed one hit to make him poisoned. However, he kept parrying my attack. Alas, I couldn't hold the poison forever so I had to change my sword back.

He jumped again toward me. I immediately rolled below him in reflex. Then I turned around and charged him.

'Great his back is showing.'

I used backslash to his back, but he saw me. He jumped instantly after he landed. I missed my attack. When I saw the tiger, he was already jumped toward me again.

's.h.i.+t!'

I couldn't dodge, so tried to parry his claws with my sword.

Clank!

The tiger's left paw strike my sword. However, his right paw was right in front of my face. I gulped.

BAs.h.!.+

An invisible wall of s.h.i.+eld was protecting my face. The tiger's right paw was bounced and the momentum made his body thrown backward. But then the tiger instantly back on his feet again.

It was Mirage's. A protective mana s.h.i.+eld that could only materialized for 2 seconds. I was saved by the precision of her skill.

"Thanks!"

"It's fine! Do your best!"

I thanked her without looking. I needed to keep an eye on the tiger. He seemed cautious now. And he was slowly moving sideways, trying to circle me. So we followed him moving sideways too.

'Come on. Think. There must be a weakness.'

I focused on observing his body movement, reading his aura's flow. In hope to get a skill to spot one's weakness. And the game system answered my wish...

Ding!

I was expecting a new skill window, but something else popped out instead.

///////

Eortel Phantera

Type : Mammal

Attribute : None

[Stats]

HP : 1510/1525

MP : 215/220

STR 45 VIT 27

DEX 61 AGI 40

INT 31 WIS 11

///////

I immediately enchanted my sword with Fire Blessing. The tiger was trying to parry again, but my sword went through his claws and leg easily as if I was slicing a paper. Blood was coming out from his burned severed leg, and the gra.s.s near them was painted in red. The tiger screamed in pain. I didn't let the opportunity pa.s.sed, I swung my sword without mercy.

'Aaahhhh... How could I not using my newly learned skills?' I sighed and began to loot the tiger.

'I should've done it from the start!' I ranted again.

'Those mobs too! I could've killed them all easily!' And again.

At this moment, I began to understand Astral Eyes specialty as well as my own stupidity. To be honest, I thought my physical damage would be enough. I didn't think to use magic at all, even though I learned them as if the world depended on it. And I had to prepare myself if I met Uruzak again. Forgetting to use my skill would be a really big problem. I had to utilize my skills properly.

'Yeah, I really need to memorize them.'

Put my thoughts aside, I tried to identify the monsters near the area.

///////

Eortel Bulbogg

Type : Mammal

Attribute : Earth

[Stats]

HP : 4450/4450

MP : 420/420

STR 47 VIT 65

DEX 21 AGI 20

INT 25 WIS 21

///////

///////

Eortel Moacan

Type : Avian

Attribute : Wind

[Stats]

HP : 750/750

MP : 240/240

STR 29 VIT 15

DEX 36 AGI 60

INT 20 WIS 12

///////

///////

Eortel Duruduron

Type : Reptile

Attribute : Earth

[Stats]

HP : 2000/2000

MP : 800/800

STR 20 VIT 40

DEX 40 AGI 40

INT 20 WIS 40

///////

'This is interestingly fun.'

It was fun to be able to see the stats of monsters. I a.s.sumed that Astral Eyes could identify stats other than monster as well. It was amazing, I thought. I didn't know why I couldn't think of that before.

'I will try it on NPC and player later.'

I checked the monsters one by one. I noticed that, in one species, their stats were different by a few points. Well, it makes sense since every individual has their own value. Though the difference wasn't significant, their weakness should be similar.

'Most of the monsters have low WIS.'

They were vulnerable to magic attack. As long as it wasn't their elemental attribute, I could easily hunt them down with my enchantment magic. But before that, I had to identify them more carefully, every single monster. Of course, to make sure my safety when s.h.i.+t happened and I had to escape. I didn't want to accidentally pull enemies aggro like before. I needed to know which one was dangerous and which one was not. So I could conserve my mana for prolonging my hunting efficiency.

・・・

A day had pa.s.sed. Traveling through plains and forests while hunting monsters. It was already night before we realized it. The canyon should be halfway, or perhaps we were still far from halfway since we were delaying by hunting long enough. Nonetheless, we made a camp to rest and would continue our journey tomorrow.

That night was cold. I was looking at the night sky after repairing equipment in front of the campfire. Billions of stars were present. If it was real world in my town, they would be really hard to be seen. But in this world, Mother Nature was still as beautiful as ever. While I was s.p.a.cing out, Mirage came to me with a bowl of soup. She sat down beside me while stretching her hands gently toward me. On her hands, there was a bowl of soup.

"C-can you taste this soup...?" I didn't answer, but I took the bowl while looking at her face. She looked nervous.

"You made this soup?" I asked her.

"Ehehe... Y-yeah, I asked Sir Halton to teach me..." She said while blus.h.i.+ng and it made her cheek became redder, or perhaps it was because the night was really cold.

I smiled gently and nodded. Then I began to dig in.

I was not into cooking or culinary, but I would try to explain. The meat tasted like beef, and it was cooked well. It was tender enough for me, and it was also juicy. Then there were some strange green plants. There were also something like broccolis and corns. They probably had a different name, but they tasted the same. And then I drank the soup. It was sweet yet a bit spicy. It warmth my body whenever I gulped it. Overall, it was... actually delicious.

"Mmm... It's good!"

"R-really?"

I didn't lie, I was actually satisfied with the soup. I kept eating to show her that I really did like the soup.

"Yeah! It's great."

Convinced enough, she smiled cheerfully.

"I'm glad you like it..."

A silence filled the atmosphere again. She was staring at the fire, and I occasionally took a glance at her. Thinking I was the only one who was eating, it felt really awkward.

"Y-you should eat too..."

"Emm... O-okay..." She replied and smiling afterward.

Then she took a bowl of soup and began to dig in as well. Seeing how happy she was, I tried to think a topic to talk.

"Is this Kattleron's meat?"

"Yup! I also gathered some plants for the seasonings. The greens are Baraculs, Ogians, Pulics. These yellow seeds are Jyornel's. For the soup base, I used Lumutt and Raspel fruits. Lumutt has great taste but also strong bad smell, so I used Flomin Powder to cover it up. I fried the Kattleron's meat medium rare, sliced it and then put it inside the soup. After that, I added all the other ingredients. I stirred them with ladle until the soup boiled well."

I was speechless hearing her explanations. She seemed very fond of cooking.

'This is the first time I see this different side of her.' I unconsciously smiled listening to her.

"Uuumm... D-did I talk too much? Hehe..."

"N-no... That's amazing. When did you gather those ingredients by the way?"

"When we were still in the workshop. The forest is full of ingredients. And there are so many good herbs inside the cave."

"I see, you are really prepared for this journey."

"I-it's nothing... Hehe..."

By the time I finished my soup, a system message appeared.

[Kattleron Soup's effect can be felt]

The soup had a buff!

It increased VIT by 5 and warmth the body from chill effect. It wasn't a bad effect compared to sandwich's which increased STR, DEX and AGI by 5. Seeing that, I told Mirage about what I thought at the moment.

"You really like cooking, huh? I think opening a restaurant is a good idea. I'm sure you'll get a lot of customers..."

"I... Uhh... I'd love to... But..." She replied and smiled bitterly. Her expression was enough to tell me that she was somehow didn't want to open up to people yet. I felt bad seeing her like that, I spitted out nonsense without thinking it further. And then she continued.

"You know, in Eldan, w-when you asked me what kind of food I wanted to eat... I was really happy. I realized that how thankful I am...that, you found me, and getting your kindness. That's why, I want to do something for you. Making many delicious foods. Support you in many ways I can. Anything. I want to do it, to make me feel useful for you. It's my thanks for you to save me, to make me feel living. So... I don't really want to do anything else yet...except travelling with you, and finding my parents."

'I didn't know...that she is thinking that way all this time.'

It was heartwarming, but I didn't want her to think about it too deeply. So I tried spouting some reasons to ease her feelings.

"T-thanks...but I mean, maybe someday we need money by selling your cooking. Or someone may have a trouble about cooking... Like, we gotta cook for people with illness."

"Ah I see..." She hid her lips and thought for a moment, and then she continued. "Then of course I'll do my best to help! Teehee..." She said as she put her fists in front of her chest and then smiling sweetly afterwards. It was relieving.

I didn't know what else in her mind. Her condition and situation right at the moment probably made her to only trust me. In this world that I had not yet to see. There might be slavery or even worse. Indeed it was lucky enough that she met me, but I didn't want to say that I wasn't a bad person. Everyone had a sin or two. No one perfect. For me though, I was no good either. I was always blaming myself. I always regretted my choices and life.

'Do I really deserve her kindness?'

Perhaps, it would be good if I found Belgram and Melleth sooner. She would live with her parents and I would be by myself again, travelling alone. I didn't want to make another mistake.

'Yeah, I don't want another one...'

・・・

Meanwhile, it was another peaceful day inside a thirteen story tower. Monsters were living there for a long time. Animals, Magic creatures, Goblins, etc. They were living in harmony in perfect food chain. Until one day, a chaos was coming... And it was tearing apart the ecosystem.

"FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRE BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLL!!!!!!!!"

FWOOOOOs.h.!.+ BOOOOM!

"LIGHTNING BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLT!!!!!!!!!"

ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! KRAKABOOOM!

A ball of fire rained down onto concrete ground and it set the floor on fire. The fire spread inside the first floor of abandoned tower. The floor became really hot in an instant. Panicked, the monsters were screaming in agony and immediately escaped to another floor. Alas, some of them couldn't avoid their fate. Either getting burned alive or zapped by the lightning.

"Hahahahahaha! Bend! Crawl! FEAR MY POWER! Muahahahahaha!"

A pink-haired little girl with bunny ears was laughing hysterically while seeing the scenery after her. Her villain-like laugh made an old man who stealthily followed her buried his face on his hand.

"Oh I hope she doesn't destroy this tower." he said and sighed, then he continued. "Well... She is a strange la.s.s, isn't she? Heheheheh... Let's see how far she can get."

No more monsters could be seen in the first floor. So the bunny girl, Bonnie, went up the stairs. And the old man Mel'Jarrad instantly teleported right away, followed Bonnie carefully as he observed her in shadow.

・・・

Rocky terrain with few bushes and trees once every meters. Some of the trees had no leaves. They looked like a monster with many hands. It was because the place was blanketed by mist. Even though it was noon, the mist was thick and clouded our vision.

A sound or two cracked somewhere far, but sometimes it was near. They could be animals or monsters lurking nearby.

I could see shadows on the corner of my eyes. When I looked at one of them directly, it disappeared as if it wasn't there from the start. Monsters? It could be. Either way, I had to keep my guard up and move forward.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

Tip. Tap. Tip. Tap.

A long silence ruled inside the mist, only our footsteps was heard. The temperature was chilling enough, yet an ominous wind sometimes blowing and making it much colder.

Hoot. Hoot.

I didn't know what made that owl-like sound, but I hoped that was something harmless.

Ignoring that, I kept moving my legs.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

Tip. Tap. Tip. Tap.

"Don't come..."

It was crystal clear. A male voice was heard whispering right on my left ear. It caught me off guard and made me stop all of sudden. Then I turned my head to the left in reflex.

I had gooseb.u.mps when I saw nothing was there. Mirage was startled by my action and immediately took a few steps closer to be behind me as she followed my gaze.

"W-whwhat's wrong?" She was confused and concerned about what was happened.

I couldn't make her worry, so I lied to her to ease her feelings.

"Ah no... Sorry... I thought something was there. It's just a bush it seems."

"Oh..." Mirage sighed in relief.

"We still need to keep our guard up. We don't know yet what's lurking inside this mist. So we gotta be ready when a monster attack."

"U-understood..."

The sound, it was as if it whispered me from behind. I felt uncomfortable and anxious. I inhaled and exhaled deeply.

'Am I imagining things?'

I thought it was real but it seemed Mirage didn't hear what I heard. Was it an illusion created by the mist? Then Mirage would hear the same, right?

Or maybe not...

'Go back...'

'Go away!'

'Leave!'

The more we went deep into the mist, the more frequent the whisper was heard. Shadow figures occasionally appeared and disappeared. Putting it together, I finally understood what kind of phenomenon I had experienced. Still, it was really creepy at some point.

'Sigh... This kind of thing even haunts me in here too...'

I could feel their presence and I could see them afterward. It seemed they were trying to warn me that something dangerous was there, deep inside the canyon. How did I know that? Well... I was experienced in this kind of field.

'They also exist in this world, huh...? I can't avoid them even in this life too.'

Astral beings, or we call them as ghost. People who are scared are their favorite. Their negative energy or aura will become food to them. However, there's also a chance that they like to disturb someone who doesn't believe in their existence. To prove them that they also exist, living together in the same roof. Or even worse, some of them hate living together with human.

I had to stay calm and collected. I had to control my aura. Of course, I still felt unpleasant whenever I saw them. A moment later, they didn't bother me anymore when we arrived at our destination.

Five meters wide valley between rocky cliffs. White silky webs were decorating the canyon. They were covering the ground here and there. A few leafless trees also had them as if they had white leaves. Furthermore, the place had a strange smell.

The more we went deep, the thicker the mist was. Then suddenly, Mirage was poking me with her staff. I turned around to see what happened.

"S-sorry... C-can I... Can I grab your clothes?" She said, while staring at me with puppy eyes.

I immediately understood what she meant. She just didn't want us to get separated by the mist. Of course, that would be really troublesome. I nodded and replied.

"Ah sure..."

Then she thanked me while pinching my clothes. I... turned my head back forward and continued walking.

So far the path was linear. But it wasn't long until I saw an opening.

'Bog?'

A vast marshland appeared in front of me which marked the end of the canyon.

'Ugh... Is it the wrong way?'

It was natural. Even people would get lost eventually in a new environment. I remembered the first time I explored a map in some games, I was lost multiple times. But that was the fun part about exploring. Sometimes, you found something wonderful and it was an invaluable experience.

I scratched my cheek while opening the map.

There was indeed a vast marshland - K'ludar Marshland, and the north part of it was a swamp - Oburg Swamp.

'Sigh... Is there a secret way to get inside the mine...?'

There might be another path in the canyon which I missed because of the thick mist. Therefore, we went back and searched the canyon thoroughly. And of course, we found multiple paths actually. They were really hard to see with the mist around. Some of them were also really unnoticeable and hid well within the cliffside.

I tried to follow the one which led to the east.

The canyon was like the inside of ant nest. The path was branched randomly. There were multiple wide rooms, and the narrow paths connected them. The rooms had more webs than the narrow paths.

It was a maze.

We found dead end multiple times. I was hoping there would be treasure chests at every dead ends, but no... Not even a reward. I was really disappointed.

I memorized the path, and we eventually went to the right way. It was a long narrow pathway. However, another horrible smell was coming from the path. And I instantly knew what it was.

I spotted bones within the webs, and some of them still had rotten flesh. Animal's, monster's, or perhaps human's.

"Mirage, please stay close."

"Unh... Okay."

The mist and the white web becoming way thicker. It was a sign that the web's owner might be near. Cautiously, I walked with hand on my sword. Ready to pull whenever I needed it.

The unpleasant stench mixed with the carca.s.s's smell was so terrible to the point I occasionally held my breath.

'Going through this for Mithril... It has to be worth it... ugh...'

A few minutes later, the path was broaden. It was another big room between the cliffsides. The horrid smell becoming way stronger. Moreover, there were dozens of web sacks. Some were hanging on the trees and cliffsides. Corpses were definitely inside those sacks. A diner for unknown spider.

'Ah... This is bad.'

However, we b.u.mped into an unexpected occurrence. The path got blocked by spider webs. I tried to cut the web but it was too thick. I couldn't even see the end of the web.

Click. Click. Click.

I stopped when I heard a sound. And a realization of my mistake rushed into my brain. Knowing the fact that spiders using their web to track their prey.

"We gotta run... Slowly..." I said in a low voice.

Mirage nodded and followed my lead. However, it was already too late. I could see a spider, no... spiders. Cow-sized spiders. They were crawling from top of the cliffs toward where I cut the web.

Then later, terrifyingly, they crawled slowly to our direction. They seemed to be able to track our smell or something. I doubted about the smell though, the place had a strong sickening odor. They gotta be having some kind of special sense. Spider sense.

'Oh c.r.a.p...'

I observed my surrounding while kept walking away slowly from them. I turned my head multiple times, squinting my eyes through the mist to search for a hiding spot.

Behind us, the spiders's footsteps were getting louder.

Drapdrap. Drapdrap. Drapdrap.

It might be a sense of survival, I spotted a crack on the cliffside. It had an unusual black mark as if it was burned. I ignored the detail and immediately rushed there. Thankfully, we went in before the spiders could detect us.

There was no webs inside the crack. The spiders didn't seem to notice. Though we were already safe, I was still moving silently. Then I carefully observed the outside. There was actually a horde of giant spiders. Their name seemed to be [Mist Spider].

Their overall stats was above 70, which was slightly lower than Mirage. However, mine was only about 60, and we were just two people. I was sure there were some more of them somewhere. So fighting them here would be a suicide.

I felt uneasy just by seeing them crawling, so I just went deep into the crack. Alas, bad luck was always with us from the start. The path led to another dead end. Moreover, we found a body at the very end of the path.

A skeleton wearing a plate mail was sitting on the ground, leaning their back against the wall. On the chest part, there was an insignia of lion's head with a small diamond below. Framed with s.h.i.+eld border. The helmet was on their right hand, and there was a paper on the ground near his left hand.

I picked it up and read it.

'My dear Carol.

I'm afraid I'm going to miss the fragrant of our home. The aroma of sweetrolls on the table. You always make that for the kids. I can hear the kids laughter. ANd Oh I miss Your Smile. I miss your smile the most. I really do.

I wish I could see it for one last time...

I'm sorry, sweetheart. I just broke my promise. I couldn't make it back home.

My dear... I'm sorry...

Please. Someone find me.

Please...whoever you are,

Please grant my last wish.

Please bring my pendant and this letter to my wife in Orbania. Ple'

The writing ended there. After that a digital window popped out.

///////

Soldier's Last Wish

Quest: Grant soldier's last wish by bringing his pendant and letter to his wife in Orbania.

Accept?

///////

'Yeah. I accept.'

I accepted without hesitation.

[You have accepted Soldier's Last Wish Quest]

I ignored the system message and searched him carefully. He was indeed wearing a pendant. I put the letter and pendant inside my bag. Then I went back to the crack's opening.

Now the problem was our destination changed. With the thick web blocking the way, we couldn't get inside the dwarven mine. There were also some spiders still patrolling around. So I intended to get out from the canyon and went to Orbania first.

I took a glance at Mirage. She bit her lip and gripped her staff. Even though she looked nervous, she was still ready to support me. It seemed she wasn't afraid at all. She grew strong. However, I was worried still. If I make a wrong move here, we would be on the spider's menu.

I gripped my sword tightly and ground my teeth.

'I can do this... I can do it...'

By the time I stepped outside, a big shadow was coming out from the web that blocked the way. Its size was three times bigger than the other spiders.

My jaw dropped when I unconsciously used Astral Eyes on her.

///////

Mining Canyon Boss

Misty Broodmother

Type : Arachnid

[Stats]

HP : 6000/6000

MP : 3500/3500

STR 120 VIT 90

DEX 60 AGI 100

INT 50 WIS 70

///////

・・・

"As expected of a hero. This is the third time I'm witnessing such raw magic power."

"Ahhh! Why are you here!?"

Bonnie was surprised seeing the old man Mel'Jarrad to be here. She was expecting him to be waiting on her arrival at his house, victoriously bringing his Grimoire. But, he had no idea about what she was thinking. Ignoring Bonnie's question, the old man continued his words.

"But you're the first hero to perfectly succeed my test. Hohohoho..."

The old man laughed while stroking his beard.

"Please, bring me the Grimoire."

"Eh... Uhh... Okay!"

Bonnie turned around and went toward a stone table which had the Grimoire on top. However, when Bonnie picked it up, a click sound was heard. And suddenly, the book was shaking.

"Eh!? What? Why? Why is it shaking?"

Fwoos.h.!.+ Thud!

The Grimoire jumped from her hand and landed open on the ground. And then a humanoid monster was crawling outside the book.

The monster was two times bigger than the old man. But for Bonnie, the comparison would be equal to a kid fighting an ogre.

"Oh... It is the final test. Good luck, missy! Hohohoho..." he said as he realized about the monster being the final test.

"Uwwwwa... Tell me beforehand!"

The old man laughed while pulling out a chair from his bag. He walked toward the wall, put the chair down and sat.

Not going easy on her, the old man secretly buffed the monster with his magic and smiled widely.

"Now... I hope this will be an interesting battle. Ohohohoho..."