Chapter 14
Claude, accompanied by Kallion, had come to the entrance of the forest near the town.
Because adventurers frequently went in and out, and the knight order also regularly culled the monsters, its difficulty level wasn’t that high.
“Claude-sama. When fighting in the forest, please move while considering the poor footing and overgrown vegetation. If you encounter multiple monsters, you have permission to use magic.”
“Yes.”
Though nervous, Claude stepped into the forest.
After advancing for a while, a snake-type monster called a Short Snake attacked from a tree above.
Claude, who had assumed monsters would only be on the ground, was caught by surprise, but he calmly dealt with it, swinging his sword and cutting it down.
“So, it’s not true that monsters only move along the ground, is it?”
“In the forest, you never know where an attack might come from in a full 360 degrees, so please don’t let your guard down.”
He collected the magic stone and proceeded deeper, remaining vigilant in all directions.
After that, he continued to advance, repeatedly battling monsters like spiders and caterpillar-types.
“Claude-sama. From this area onward, it becomes a region where adventurers don’t often tread. Monsters are also often in groups, so please be careful.”
“Understood.”
Claude, finding it less challenging than he’d expected, had let his guard down, but now he steeled himself again.
As they advanced for a while, Kallion placed a hand on his shoulder and silently pointed in a certain direction.
Looking in the direction Kallion pointed, he saw four goblins.
Claude nodded, approached as close as he could without being noticed, prepared his magic with a multiple incantation, and unleashed it.
As the first magic he learned, he specialized in fire-type spells, but he couldn’t very well use fire magic in a forest, so the spell he used was the wind magic, Air Cutter.
The blades of wind created by the magic unerringly annihilated the goblins.
“Claude-sama. Magnificent.”
He quickly collected the magic stones dropped by the goblins and scanned his surroundings.
Noticing something approaching them at high speed, perhaps reacting to the sound, he readied himself.
What appeared was a wolf.
He slashed the lead wolf with his sword and prepared for those following.
Perhaps wary because the first one was dealt with so easily, they kept their distance, slowly closing in.
While readying his sword and watching out for lunges, he unleashed an Air Cutter.
The Air Cutter struck the wolf’s neck as if drawn to it.
Having judged that keeping their distance would make them prey to his magic, they leaped out one after another, attacking.
The footing was soft earth and not in good condition, so he paid close attention as he fluently dispatched the pouncing wolves with his sword.
After finishing off the last one, Claude let out a “Whew…”
Kallion watched the entire sequence, utterly impressed.
His attentiveness still needed work, but that would likely be resolved with experience.
His response after being ambushed by the wolves was near perfect.
Just how far would this boy grow?
His growth was something to look forward to, and yet, also something to fear.