Disclaimer:

“Dialogue”

‘Thoughts’

-Author notes-

Chapter 26: Elm Forest

“Urg…” His stomach was making noises again.

It's been already two days since he ate the last of his supplies.

Water was not too hard to come by, but it's been over a week since he saw a savage beast.

Around him was nothing but plains with some occasional trees here and there.

A couple of mounts could be seen in the distance.

He stopped for a moment and pulled out the map. “Mmm…if those mounts are these ones…then…the Elm forest will be behind them.”

This was a large forest located northeast of Elmeria Village.

He did not want to get too close to another village, but this forest was known to be very abundant in life. Countless beasts lived there, and it was one of the favorite spots for hunters since none of the savage beasts were particularly dangerous.

There was a small chance of encountering red bears, but it was very minimal as long as he avoided the places marked on the map.

“Although this map is very old… who knows how reliable that will be.”

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After three more hours of walking, he finally saw a massive forest in the distance.

“That must be it! I can finally catch something to eat!” He exclaimed with joy.

He ran and soon was able to enter the forest.

After moving carefully for a bit, he already found his first prey.

On top of a nearby branch was a large bird with yellow feathers.

He did not know the creature, but he at least was aware that birds could be eaten, even though bird meat was very rarely seen at Varian Village.

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“Lightning Strike!” A bolt of electricity was released from his hand and impacted the bird, not giving it a chance to escape.

[Lightning Strike is Level 4 now]

“Huh?...after all the fighting I have done…and it happens now after killing a bird?”

He had thought that in order to increase the power of his magic, he had to face strong opponents.

“Maybe I just had to use it many times…”

He would have to test that. Because if that is the case, he should always be using his mana for something. Otherwise, it would feel like a waste.

The bird fell down with a ‘plomp’ noise, and Zephyr went to look for it.

“It should have landed over here… ahh!” He spotted the charred bird as this one was being grabbed by some small primate with light brown fur.

“Hihi!” The monkey made some noises that sounded like laughter to him before he jumped back into the trees, still carrying his prey.

“Come back, you bastard! I was going to eat that!” Zephyr chased after the creature, but this one was incredibly agile and quick.

The little monkey jumped from one tree branch to the next at an amazing speed while Zephyr struggled to keep up by running on the ground while avoiding tree roots and other obstacles.

“Damn it… you leave me no choice!... Lightning Strike!” He tried his best to aim but ended up hitting the branch where the monkey was standing before this one jumped away.

“Blasted thing!” Zephyr cursed the creature.

The monkey was gaining distance from him since he had a lot of difficulty moving through the thick forest. A lot of branches and vines kept getting in his way.

“Lightning strike!” He used it one last time hoping to get a lucky shot, but to no avail.

The monkey got away with his food and there was nothing he could do about it...now would have to waste more time finding another prey.

Zephyr was about to let out a scream of frustration when someone else got ahead of him.

“Help!, please!”

Zephyr heard the desperate cries of someone nearby.

This made him go on full alert. It's not like he wasn't expecting to run into other humans here. But it was something he would rather avoid.

‘But it sounded like someone young… and they seem to be in trouble.’

He decided that he had to at least take a look and moved towards the sound of the voice.

“Help, I need help, someone save me!!” He heard it again.

After breaking through some more branches, he came onto a small clearing surrounded by large trees.

There he saw a small boy leaning against one of the trees.

He appeared to be completely terrified as he stared at the beast in front of him.

The savage beast was a large feline with black fur. By its posture, it was easy to conclude it was getting ready to pounce on its prey.

He did not recognize this particular beast and it was definitely not marked on his map but it looked very dangerous.

One thing was for sure. If he didn't intervene, that child would soon become its meal.

“Fine… I'll just end this in one attack.” He aimed his palm at the beast. “Lightning Strike!”

Both the child and the beast turned to look at him after hearing his shout.

But no spell came out…

“Wait… wha-”

[Insufficient Mana]

Like reading his thoughts, he received the answer before he could ask.

“But… I only used three… I should… oh.” He recalled something then. “Status!”

[Status: Zephyr Level 7

Health points: 30/30

Mana points: 05/24]

‘My mana should not be this low, unless…’

“Spells.”

[ Spell list:

Lightning Strike Lv:3, Mp: 7

Identify Lv: 3, Mp: 1 ]

‘That's it… the cost of my Lightning Strike has gone up. I don't have enough…’

“Grrr….” The feline beast growled as it approached him.

It seemed like the beast had decided that Zephyr was a bigger threat than the boy so it was going to eat him first.

“This is bad… that was my only way of attack… that damn monkey, this is your fault!” He shouted with frustration.