“Are you guys still continuing?”

Anyi’s voice cut through the quiet aftermath, his face calm as he looked at the three warriors sprawled out across the yard. Ariana, Layton, and Miruku lay in various positions, each one defeated in both body and spirit.

Layton was the first to rise, rubbing the back of his head with a sheepish grin. “No, no, we’re done here. It’s over, okay, okay,” he waved his hand quickly, eager to signal the end of their ordeal.

The battle hadn’t ended in mere moments; instead, it dragged on for over ten agonizing minutes. Not because Anyi couldn’t defeat them instantly, but because the three of them, despite their numbers and diverse fighting styles, barely held out against him for that long.

Their assaults—Ariana’s water skills, Miruku’s ferocious attacks in her venom form—were all effortlessly parried or neutralized by a single strike of Anyi’s slime sword. Layton’s attempts at defense were nothing short of tragic. His new skill, Ripple Defense, seemed more like a suggestion than an actual protection, as Anyi’s blows tossed him around like a sack of cotton in a storm.

“I… I think the test is done too,” Ariana muttered as she massaged her sore arm, a rare admission of defeat. She had never taken such a thorough beating before, not even in the dense slime jungle. It was humbling.

Miruku, meanwhile, sat in the dirt, her venom suit now removed. She silently drew circles with her dagger, her face scrunched in sorrow.

'Why…? Why could he always find me, even when I was faster?' she thought, replaying the battle in her mind. Her once-steadfast confidence was thoroughly shaken.

“Alright then,” Anyi said, sheathing his slime sword. “You’ve all got a basic feel for your new skills now.”

He turned away, inwardly reflecting on his own performance. In his past life, he had never truly used a slime sword before, so the weapon had taken some time to get used to. But thanks to his Max Technique and mastery of swordplay, he adapted swiftly, the water-element blade now an extension of himself.

Ariana’s water skills were straightforward—useful, but nothing extraordinary. Layton’s Ripple Defense was more unique. Rather than producing a ripple to shield him, the skill caused the heavy slime armor to absorb damage. Ripples would form on the armor as it delayed the impact, which explained the name.

Miruku, on the other hand, was faced with a peculiar set of skills—ones entirely dependent on water. Walking on Water, Water Escape, and Fog Shadow were all abilities meant for aquatic environments. In the dry air and hard ground of their current location, they were practically useless.

However, her venom suit proved to be the most intriguing. Not only did it amplify her inner emotions, but it also altered her physical stats. Wearing it reduced her Agility by 10 points but increased her Strength, Endurance, and Durability by 3 points each. For Miruku, whose natural Agility was 40 but whose Strength and Durability hovered at a pitiful 1 and 0, respectively, this was a significant improvement.

She had always been weak in combat, her frail body unable to keep up with the demands of being a Hero. But now, with Venom, she felt a glimmer of hope. At least against lower-tier monsters, she would no longer be as helpless.

Anyi considered this as he remembered his own early days. When he had a mere 2 points in Strength, he still managed to take down a Hobgoblin. Lower-level creatures were often one-sided in their abilities: slimes were plentiful but weak across the board; Goblins had strong attacks but low durability and agility. Even with the slightest advantage, a Hero could take them down with relative ease. However, without sufficient agility or durability, even a Hobgoblin could spell disaster.

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As Anyi finished his musings, a young believer approached with a scroll in hand. “Sword Hero-sama, the map of the affected areas you requested.”

Anyi took the scroll and unfurled it, his eyes scanning the terrain. Ariana sidled up beside him, curious.

“Map of affected areas?” she asked, touching the edge of the map. Her eyes traced the markings.

It wasn’t a map of the entire human territory, but of the lands surrounding their village. Various zones were shaded, representing regions affected by disasters. Most were marked as slime-infested areas, but here and there, a few were labeled as Goblin disaster zones. The severity of the Goblin threat was clear; entire villages had been abandoned, either lost to the monsters or evacuated in haste.

“Another Hero lives near us?” Ariana’s eyes widened as she spotted a mark indicating the presence of another Hero nearby.

Ariana's gaze lingered on a peculiar section of the map, her fingers tracing the area marked by four Hero names—three of which were crossed out by red X's. Her breath caught as she realized what the marks signified.

“They all…” she started, but couldn’t bring herself to finish the thought.

The believer beside her, his voice somber, completed the sentence. “Yes, Holy Maiden-sama. These three Heroes have fallen. Though their lives were lost, their courage and resolve in fighting the monsters will live on.”

Layton stood silently nearby, his expression tense as the weight of the situation sank in. Ariana, too, felt the cold reality settle over her. This was not some adventure from a storybook; fighting monsters wasn’t just an exciting challenge. It was a grim, perilous task where the price of failure was death.

They had been fortunate—no, privileged—to have Anyi, a skilled and experienced warrior, leading them. His knowledge of combat had ensured their survival and victories. But what of the other Heroes? What of those who were not so lucky?

Anyi remained quiet, his sharp eyes scanning the map as he pointed to the very place where those three Heroes had perished. “This is our next destination.”

Miruku, her voice weak and trembling, couldn’t help but protest. “But… isn’t that… dangerous?”

The atmosphere grew heavy, her fear echoing through the quiet space. Three Heroes dead, she thought, her heart racing. How could it not be dangerous?

Layton, however, stepped forward, his eyes blazing with newfound determination. “What kind of Hero would I be if I feared danger? It is precisely because it’s dangerous that it falls to us to deal with it!” His voice was firm, like a shield standing against the storm.

The crowd around them roared in agreement. “Well said, Shield Hero-sama!”

“As expected of a Hero!!”

Anyi nodded in silent approval. “Mr. Layton is right. Danger needs to be confronted. Besides,” he added, his eyes narrowing, “don’t you find it strange? In an area supposedly only populated by Goblins, three Heroes died in rapid succession. That’s not something a Goblin horde could accomplish on its own.”

Layton's fist tightened. “Exactly! We have to investigate. There’s something more going on here!”

Miruku, meanwhile, muttered under her breath, staring at the map with growing dread. *Can't we just go fight the slime king again?*

Ariana stood quietly beside her, eyes downcast. She was thinking of the dead Heroes, and of resurrection. Even if they could be revived, it would take three months—three months lost in a battle against time. Ten years—that was all they had to defeat the monsters. How many Heroes could she resurrect in that time? How many could they afford to lose?

The village had fallen into a murmur, the mood sobered by the looming task ahead. Meanwhile, in a distant, dimly lit bar, a different scene unfolded.

At the bar’s center, a man sat, reeking of alcohol, surrounded by eager women who listened intently to his drunken boasting. His words slurred, but his pride was unmistakable.

“You don’t know what it was like,” he said, waving his mug around. “My three stupid teammates, dead just like that—surrounded by monsters before they even knew what hit them!” He puffed out his chest. “But not me! Oh no, not me! With one swing of my rod, I broke free, fought my way out of the horde like it was nothing!”

A woman leaned in, her eyes wide with admiration. “Hero-sama, if monsters come here, will you protect us?”

He smirked, raising his drink higher. “Who do you think I am?! I’m the Rod Hero, of course I’ll protect you!”