I quietly watched the massive pigs joyfully wallowing in the mud from my hideout behind a protruding rock.

At first glance, they didn't look like monsters at all - if you overlook their unnatural size, that is.

But looking closely, I could clearly see their at least half-a-meter-long tusks, sharp as a razor blade reflecting in the sun.

If you paired it together with the vicious-looking fangs protruding from their maws, it was clear as day that they would be able to tear me limb from limb without much effort given the opportunity - not that I would give them one, of course.

While realizing I wouldn't stand a chance at a direct confrontation, I decided to first reduce their numbers.

Emerging from the rock's shadow, I quickly propelled myself atop it. As I looked ahead, I now had a clear line of sight overlooking the entire area. Thus, smiling happily, I hurriedly began gathering my essence to prepare for the upcoming battle.

However, even before I could make my first move, I saw the closest Warrhogs raising their ugly heads warily and looking in my direction as they must have either felt my presence or registered the vast amount of magic power circulating around me.

They immediately released a warning screeches that didn't sound like a pig at all.

The whole herd responded instantly, springing up to their hoofs and raising their own roars. And before I knew it, they all began charging at me with mad hunger burning in their beady eyes.

Their leader, however, opted to stay where he was, only deigning to slowly turn his head in my direction, not showing any intention to join in on the fight personally- at least for now.

The horrifying sight of at least three dozen raging Warrhogs charging at me was truly a sight to behold.

Any other hunter would, at this point, be already shiting their pants and running away in panic, but I only don a subtle smirk as my preparations were all but ready.

Seeing how many Warrhogs there actually were, I decided to fight at full power from the very start. Not only did I want to avoid taking any unnecessary risks, but I wasn't in the least interested in getting dirty in some prolonged mud fight.

So I narrowed my eyes, getting ready to release a massive shockwave to break up their charge, but then I paused, letting my gathered essence dissipate as a particular realization dawned on me.

'That won't do...that certainly won't do...' Noting that I didn't have much time, my brain went into overdrive as I struggled to solve my latest problem. The problem was - I was currently undercover, pretending to be an ordinary beast hunter.

So if I blew those ugly overgrown pigs to smithereens with magic, sooner or later, someone would undoubtedly stumble upon the scene, and my carefully built cover story would be instantly destroyed.

I did not have enough essence to make so many monsters disappear without a trace, so I needed to make it look like the work of a weapon so that anyone investigating would assume the pigs were dispatched by some high-level wandering beast hunter party.

But the question was how... I thought briefly about what to do, realizing that my present spell repertoire wasn't particularly built for such a purpose.

Using a combination of shockwaves and earth spikes would work just fine, but it would be too obvious. I needed something that could be at least distantly passed as a sword wound.

Then, however, I widened my eyes as I remembered one particular spell my master, Lily, taught me. 'I guess I could try that thing...'

It was actually one of the very last spells she ever taught me. Grimacing, I chased away the ugly memory of her unmoving body lying on the cold floor of my mansion and began incanting as I still couldn't quite replicate its effects in my mind.

"Aeris Divinus, arcus Ventus, Aeris vitam ventis tempestatem!" My voice echoed across the lush forest, carried far and wide by the gentle breeze.

Each word resonated with sheer power as it quickly began shaping the surrounding air and promptly forming long, thin blades of furious wind.

Yet, contrary to my previous humble attempts in the garden of my mansion, this time, I put as much essence as I could muster into it.

The air hummed with static electricity as I released the spell, aiming at the closest group of Warrhogs that were only mere meters from the rock I was standing on.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

The wind blades fell from the sky like an executioner's axe. It sliced through the raging Warrhogs like a knife through butter, instantly bisecting them into two neat halves.

They were dead before they even had a chance to realize what had happened. I blinked a few times, taken aback by the spell's brutal simplicity.

I quickly began chanting again, summoning more wind blades in rapid succession while unleashing them upon the confused pigs.

After the first successful strike that killed many Warrhogs and broke their charge's momentum, the pigs seemed to realize they didn't stand a chance and, contrary to many other monsters who would keep attacking to the bitter end, began loudly screeching and running in all directions in panic.

Meanwhile, I kept releasing more and more wind blades, slicing up the poor pigs while smiling menacingly, quite enjoying this moment of triumph after a whole day of wading through mud and bushes.

There was, however, one downside to it. As I wasn't very skilled at the spell due to using it very sparsely, the wind blades often missed their mark, leaving only a huge scar on the forest floor while scattering mud and blood in all directions, with some of it landing on me, which only added to my already sour mood.

'I hate this stupid quest!' I cursed, wiping a particularly large piece of mud that had just landed on my face as I scowled at the remaining pigs.

Ultimately, I decided to stop trying to aim at the scurrying Warrhogs. Instead, I released the wind blades horizontally, mowing down everything in a straight line, quickly transforming the area into something reminiscing a windfall.

This finally did the trick, so I promptly summoned more wind blades, hoping to eliminate the rest of the monsters quickly. But contrary to my expectations, my attack didn't finish them off.

*RAAAAGH!*

The Warrhog's leader, enraged by his kin's deaths, finally stood up and raised an earth-shattering roar. Its eyes shone with crimson light, and he discharged a shockwave of his own, destroying my wind blades long before they could reach him.

Then, before I could comprehend what had just happened, it charged straight at me with murder in its eyes.

'Oh, crap!' Not having enough time to chant another spell, I jumped out of my elevated position upon the rock and ran into the forest, hoping for the towering trees to slow him down before I could figure out how to kill him as he seemed on an entirely different level compared to the other pigs.

*CRAAASH*

But the few remaining trees that withstood my previous attacks snapped like toothpicks as the huge Warrhog rampaged around.

'Ugh, You're quite tough, aren't you?' I thought with exasperation. Initially, I wanted to leave him for the last to train my sword skills on him for a bit, but as things currently stand, I guess I will have to get serious if I want to beat this thing and not get hurt while doing so.

While throwing away my previous resolution to avoid using any too-obvious magic, I promptly turned around and summoned several earth spikes to slow him down.

Yet, the raging Warrhog merely swung its massive head, instantly shattering them.

But this brief moment of distraction was more than enough for me to come to an abrupt stop and rapidly turn around while focusing my agitated mind on gathering as much essence as I could muster.

And as the gigantic pig turned its head in my direction and was but a moment from skewering me with its vicious-looking tusk, I released a massive torrent of fire at point-blank range right to its face.

The pig squealed in agony, thrashing around in a vain effort to douse the hungry flames, yet was unable to.

Contrary to its enormous size and monstrous bloodlust, it was still a pig and, as such, was covered in bristles that burned very well. Soon, it was fully enveloped in flames, and the air filled with the smell of roasted pork.

Exhausted, I plopped on the ground, watching as the burning torso of the Warrhog's leader slowly transformed to nothing but ash.

With their leader dead, the rest of the Warrhogs instantly scattered, running as far away as they could.

After recovering enough energy to continue, I approached the charred remains as I previously noticed a distinct glint within, and surely, between the ashes, I found another essence gem seemingly untouched by the flames.

'Nice...' I thought as I pocketed it before disposing of the ashes, burying them underground as well as any other too-evident traces of magic.

'Hmm, as for the rest... let's just say a sudden windstorm has passed through here if anyone asked.' I thought on the way back with a mischievous smile.

***

'Ahh! I made it just in time!' I exhaled with visible relief.

However, as I entered the darkened interior of the Guild, I was surprised by the commotion despite the late hour.

"Oh, there you are, lad! I was getting worried for ya!" Gramps called from the counter in the back.

"What's happening here?" I furrowed my brows as I quickly made my way toward the counter.

"Well, some hunters found a huge trail of corpses in the woods. The branch leader is worried some powerful monster made a lair north of the town, so he ordered a general sweep of the forest."

'Hmm, I have a feeling they won't find a thing...' I averted my eyes awkwardly but kept silent.

"I completed my trial; here is the proof," I said, trying to quickly change the topic, presenting Gramps with a pair of Warrhog's tusks.

Gramps widened his eyes, clearly surprised I had managed to pull it off. It was more than apparent that not many people believed I could do it. Seeing his reaction, I could only offer him a wry smile.

I made a conscious effort to pick out the smallest Warrhog tusks I could find amidst the sea of corpses in anticipation of such a reaction.

I couldn't even begin to imagine the uproar if I brought the tusks of the Warrhog's leader.

Luckily, my glorious feat of slaying an actual Warrhog was drowned by the sudden commotion caused by my inadvertent slaughter of the local monster population earlier, so nobody paid me any attention, allowing me to quietly slip away from the main hall.