After taking walks around the village during the training sessions, Gaius learned the best routes he could take out of the village without being seen by others. He also confirmed that he had more or less half an hour of being unseen before his mother began to worry; he had to show up now and then to calm her mind.
“Father and the other guards walk around the village, but they focus mostly on the west side… I need to head to that side during that window of time to look for the demons,” Gaius thought.
Gaius realized that his summoning list didn’t increase because there were only so many types of animals in the area. The reasons for that could be many, but the main one was probably because of the demons. Since he never saw their bodies, Gaius also assumed that the guards focused on avoiding them instead of fighting them all the time.
During the first few days, Gaius just used the time he had to check the area ahead without letting others notice him. Since he was cautious and methodical, he was never found in a few weeks. He couldn’t help but smirk while thinking that he had such natural stealthy skills.
“Most of the fields are on the western side of the village… probably because people think that is the area less likely to be attacked,” Gaius rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
The grass around the area was quite overgrown, which was why Gaius could move without being noticed. There were some elevations around as well, so Gaius could use them to snipe monsters. While his aim was far from perfect, his spinning magic arrows could fly in a straight line for 150 meters. It was the perfect way to snipe his targets; he just had to aim it right while using as much mana as possible.
“The downside is that they consume fifty points of mana, so I can only use them once every two and a half minutes,” Gaius thought once he realized that it was time to look for the demons seriously.
Although he didn't find any traces of them around, Gaius also didn't find any signs of the actions of the villagers, so he was bound to run into some of them even if he didn't approach the east side that much.
The question was for how long he had to go, but that probably wasn't a real problem since he could just call his horse; he just had to be sure that no one would notice him riding it. His parameters should be enough for him to pull it off despite his size.
For the day, Gaius decided to return home and prepare his actions with more precision and make sure that nothing out of the norm would happen in the village. That was something out of his control, but at least he could make some predictions.
On the next day, after making the perfect plan in his head, Gaius left his house once his mother began to work. It was the busiest time of her day, and she would stay focused for a while, so he dashed toward the outside of the village.
Once he reached the tall grass, Gaius confirmed that no one had noticed him, and then he found his horse lying down on the grass, completely impossible for people in the distance to find it.
"Hello again, boy," Gaius said while caressing the head of the horse. "Sorry for before… I will be counting on you today."
Gaius climbed the horse using its head, and then the animal got up and began to move to the northern side of the terrain. Gaius kept his eyes on the sides to make sure no one would find him and the horse. He did all that while holding the neck of the animal with all his might in order not to fall off.
The animal quickly gained speed, and then the village was left behind in the distance. Gaius couldn't help but feel some excitement and exhilaration since he had never left the safety of his home that much. Still, he soon recovered his focus once he crossed a grove and found some plain lands ahead.
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The terrain was a lot more even, and there weren’t many things blocking the path for cultivation. The area was only three kilometers away from the village; why it wasn’t being used, the answer was simple.
"Let’s go slowly from here on out, boy," Gaius said while patting the neck of the horse. "You have been hunting on the western side of this area, right? Then we can’t be reckless here."
There were some parts where the grass was smashed, and there were some bushes, and it felt like the wind was making them move, but Gaius knew better than that.
After firing a magic bullet at the nearest bush, the whole thing trembled from inside. A single creature jumped from it. Gaius couldn’t help but frown since he saw a monster that looked like slime and had a body that was essentially a green transparent sphere. However, the monster had a single very human-like eye in the middle of it and kept looking at him in a very creepy way while moving in a triangular area.
"Is this thing a demon? Slimes are supposed to be cuter than this…" Gaius thought. "At this rate, I will slime my pants out of fear. Well, time to get serious…"
The creature suddenly jumped and then crossed thirty meters in a single moment. It looked like a slime, but its power was something else. No wonder Angela said that Gaius couldn't face demons yet. Regardless, in another jump, the creature was going to reach him, but instead of that, the demon fired several green bullets.
The horse jumped to the side while following Gaius' orders, and thanks to that, Gaius almost fell, but at least they dodged the attacks that caused some holes in the ground. They were as powerful as Gaius' magic bullets.
When the monster landed, it contorted its body to attack again, but Gaius quickly summoned and fired a spinning magic arrow. The demon fired several bullets toward the projectile, and while it didn’t stop it, at least it decreased its power. So, Gaius' attack didn’t reach the core of the creature, which was the eye.
Some steam began to leave the creature’s body and began to heal the damage. Gaius frowned again, but at least the monster couldn’t move in that state. Without hesitation, Gaius used some of his free points in magic and recovered enough energy to fire two more spinning magic arrows, but then the second reached the core of the creature and killed it.
(The demon Slime was added to your summoning list.)
"So, it was really a slime, and it was also a demon…" Gaius frowned and then opened his eyes wide when he confirmed that he had gotten a percentage of the experience necessary to level up.
Slime Lv 0 (0.00%)
Cost: 800 mana
Charge: 00
Summoning Bonuses: Observe Lv 00
Health: 100/100
Mana: 70/70
Stamina: 40/40
Strength: 06
Endurance: 14
Adaptability: 04
Magic: 10
Resistance: 04
Wisdom: 05
Dexterity: 04
Perception: 04
Luck: 04
Free points: 00
Those things were really strong… or maybe not. They were only strong against physical attacks thanks to their high endurance. Regardless, it looked like the slime also granted Gaius a nice skill.
(Observe: It grants you the chance to check the parameters and skills of a target. The higher the level, the more information you will be able to see.
Cost: 05 mana.)
"Nice, very nice… now I can see the strengths and weaknesses of my enemies before I have to fight them," Gaius smiled from ear to ear. "Regardless, I have some time left… should I look for other demons or just summon the slime with the mana that I will recover."
As long as it could ambush others, the slime probably could win the fight, and that would be better than just hunting a few more of them himself. Moreover, the faster Observe can level up, the better. So, Gaius saved his mana for that.
Once he summoned the slime, Gaius looked for another one and confirmed that they had the same parameters and then let them fight. As expected, his Slime won by a small margin, but at least it could heal fast.
After that, Gaius returned home as fast as possible since more than half an hour had passed since he left. While he didn’t notice any weird movements around the house, Gaius found his mother waiting for him at the entrance. One couldn’t mess around with the fury of a mother; they could even tame the scariest demon kings, after all.
"Why are you trying to enter while sneaking around, Gaius?" Kaira asked while showing an angry smile.
"... What is sneaking, Mama?" Gaius asked while showing his upturned eyes to make his playing dumb act even more convincing.
"Don’t try to fool me with your upturned eyes, Gaius. I told you not to move too far away from the house, and it is clear that you did that," Kaira said.
Gaius was in trouble. He unleashed the fury of someone unrivaled. It was time for him to say his prayers... there was still hope, he could use his secret weapon yet.