Volume 2 Chapter 2 First Hunting
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
After walking about 2 hours north from Abyss Vena, I arrived at the hunting ground.
The Indra Plains were vast, with only the wind blowing through, and the soft green grass swaying silently in response.
Upon arrival, I stretched widely, inhaling the scent of the grass, and enjoyed the feeling of being outside for the first time in a while.
”Wow, it’s really big. So this is the Indra Plains.”
Hearing my murmur, the instructor added,
”To be precise, this is near the entrance of the plains. The Indra Plains themselves are much larger”
”Oh, is that so? So this is still near the entrance?”
In front of me, the horizon peeked out, marking the boundary between the ground and the sky.
It must be even bigger than I imagined.
While I was lost in thought about the size of the Indra Plains, the others were rechecking their equipment.
”Mr. Kent, aren’t you going to check your equipment? Everyone else is doing it!”
Turning to Feria, I found myself pondering for a moment.
This is because Feria was wearing a maid outfit with frills from the Blackdagger family, along with armor like a leather chest plate, gloves, and boots.
Moreover, she even had a frilly headband on her head.
With a sword and round shield at her waist, she was completely a Maid Warrior…
Before we set off, I had tried to persuade Feria multiple times to change from her maid outfit to close armor (fabric armor), but she firmly refused, saying, “I have to do my best as a maid of the Blackdagger family!” So, reluctantly, I made her wear thick tights to avoid showing her underwear.
This behavior of Feria is presumed to be influenced by Suzy’s lecture, but even the one who lectured her looked exasperated.
”Hey, I’ll ask you again, but are you really going to fight in that outfit?”
Feria looked puzzled but replied as if it were obvious.
”Isn’t it obvious? More importantly, Mr. Kent, please make sure to check the Equipment properly.”
”Y-yes. I’ll do it right now.”
Having reached a state of resignation at Feria’s immediate response, I decided to recheck my Equipment.
This time, the Equipment borrowed from the Hunter Guild included a set of 5 items: an iron sword, a round shield, leather armor, leather gloves, leather boots, and a leather helmet.
Although it was maintained, none of the Equipment was brand new, so the smell of sweat and blood lingered on them.
After finishing the recheck of my Equipment, I gathered with the instructor.
”Alright, everyone has finished checking. Now, let’s look for the target monster, the Horn Rabbit. They move in packs, so don’t stray too far from your allies. Always fight monsters with at least 2 people.”
The instructor warned us, and our hunt began.
After a while of walking through the grasslands together, the instructor spotted a tall patch of grass swaying unnaturally ahead.
”Hey, there it is. Stop.”
The instructor signaled us to halt with his hand.
”Looks like one that got separated from the pack. Kent, Feria, can you handle it?”
””Yes.””
Feria and I were designated and approached the grass patch.
Suddenly, a shadow the size of a large dog leaped out from the grass.
In front of us was the Horn Rabbit.
I had imagined it would be something like the rabbits I kept in elementary school, just a bit bigger, but the creature before me was different.
It had the shape of a rabbit, but its size was comparable to a large golden retriever.
And on its head, it sported a sharp, 30-centimeter horn.
”W-what the heck! Instructor, I didn’t hear about this!”
”Mr. Kent, it’s coming!”
The Horn Rabbit lunged at me, thrusting its horn forward.
Bang!
I instinctively deflected the Horn Rabbit’s horn with the shield I was holding.
The impact was quite strong, and I felt that if that sharp horn hit me in the wrong spot, I wouldn’t escape serious injury.
I readied my shield again and drew my sword from my waist.
The Horn Rabbit’s glowing red eyes were locked onto me.
”Taah!”
Feria’s sword, which was next to me, struck the front leg of the Horn Rabbit, but it only dealt a shallow wound.
The Horn Rabbit’s eyes turned towards Feria, the one who had hurt it.
”Feria! You’re being targeted!”
As I warned her, the Horn Rabbit jumped at Feria with its horn.
She twisted her body to dodge the horn and thrust her iron sword into the rabbit’s side.
The Horn Rabbit, having its attack evaded and being stabbed by Feria, let out a scream and collapsed.
Feria pulled out her sword and created some distance again.
”Mr. Kent, I hit it!”
From the wounded side of the Horn Rabbit, instead of blood, black particle-like light began to leak out.
”Kent, finish it off!”
The instructor shouted.
I swung my sword down with all my strength towards the neck of the Horn Rabbit lying on the grass.
Slash!
Through the sword I brought down, I felt the life force of the Horn Rabbit fading away.
From the cut neck, the same black particle-like light leaked out as from its side.
Then, as the light in the Horn Rabbit’s eyes faded, its entire body was enveloped in black particle-like light, and its large form disappeared.
What remained on the grass was the distinctive horn and a small long-eared rabbit.
”Phew, it was a bit bigger than I expected and I got flustered, but I managed to take it down. No blood came out, huh?”
”Mr. Kent, you’re so cool!”
Feria praised me, but I thought she believed she had done over 90% of the work.
”I just delivered the finishing blow, so this is yours, Feria.”
I handed the horn and the long-eared rabbit to Feria.
”Eh, but Mr. Kent delivered the finishing blow!”
As Feria refused to take them, I pressed the horn and the long-eared rabbit into her hands and then asked the instructor a question.
”Instructor, the Horn Rabbit didn’t bleed, but the Silver Mantis was leaking body fluid. Is there a difference?”
The instructor looked shocked at my question.
”Kent, how do you know about the Silver Mantis?!”
”Yes, I almost got killed. I think I would have been eaten if Milly hadn’t been there.”
The instructor looked like he understood.
”I’m glad you were saved by Miriallia. As for your question, it’s about the difference between ‘monsters’ and ‘another world monster.’”
”‘Monsters’ and ‘another world monster?’”
”First, about ‘monsters.’ To put it simply, this is when the ‘magic element’ that exists in the Grimoire accumulates in animals or plants and, once it exceeds a certain amount, it becomes violent and grows into a ‘monster.’”
Everyone gathered around as the instructor began his lecture, which started from my question.
A young man of Asura threw a question at the instructor.
”So, you’re saying that ‘magic element’ is what creates ‘monsters’?”
”Hmm, what Aurelia said is mostly correct, but let me answer Kent’s question first. Why don’t ‘monsters’ bleed? ‘Monsters’ materialize their bodies using ‘magic element.’ In fact, when Feria poked the side earlier, black particle-like light leaked from the wound, right? That was ‘magic element.’ So, ‘monsters’ are just wrapping their physical form in ‘magic element,’ which is why they don’t bleed. And when they consume all the accumulated ‘magic element,’ only the physical form and the material remain.”
I see, the horned rabbit consumed all its ‘magic element’ from my finishing blow and disappeared, leaving behind its physical form, the long-eared rabbit, and its material, the horn.
”Now, before we go into the explanation of ‘another world monster,’ let me answer Aurelia’s question as well. The black particle-like light, ‘magic element,’ usually dissolves in the atmosphere, and concentrated ‘magic element’ that is visible is rarely seen, but there is one exception. That is the ‘magic element’ expelled after casting magic. For basic or intermediate magic, it doesn’t release that much concentrated ‘magic element,’ but when large-scale magic is used, an extraordinary amount of concentrated ‘magic element’ is released, resulting in a significant increase in the occurrence rate of ‘monsters’ in the area.”
”So, is magic elements what creates ‘monsters’?”
Aurelia asked the instructor.
”It’s not just magic’s fault. There are also natural occurrences. That’s why, in the Hunter Guild, using large-scale magic outside of the ‘hunting grounds’ is strictly forbidden. If you get caught, there will be punishments, so remember that.”
I first learned that there were regulations on magic.
That Lina, she keeps using magic like it’s nothing, but I need to check if any black particle-like light is coming out next time.
If ‘magic element’ builds up in the house and a giant cockroach monster appears, it would be a nightmare.
”Next, about the ‘another world monster’, this is a problem unique to Abyss Vena. The reason is that there is a ‘another world gate’. The creatures that come out from within the gate or from sudden cracks (cracks) are ‘another world monster’. They don’t materialize by absorbing ‘magic element’; they have physical bodies, so they bleed and have bodily fluids. And the most troublesome are the ‘monsters’ and ‘another world monster’ that can breed to create ‘beast monsters’.”
The instructor started talking about the third classification, ‘beast monsters’.
”This ‘beast monster’ is an extremely powerful entity. After all, it is a vicious being born when a ‘monster’ injects ‘magic element’ into a base ‘another world monster’. When this is discovered, it becomes a top priority target for extermination. Well, just think of it as a dangerous creature. It got long, but I hope that answers Kent’s question.”
”Yes, that was very informative.”
The newcomers, including me, were listening to the instructor’s talk seriously.
”Now, shall we continue the hunt?”
Under the instructor’s direction, we resumed our hunting.
* * *
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!
Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
Leave a Reply