First Kill

"You're an idiot, aren't you?" Eris asked, genuinely concerned about the well-being of his head.

Taylor just finished sharing the plan he had come up with, which was why Eris felt that his IQ had dropped drastically.

"It's just one or two F-rank monsters, don't worry too much. My Fire Ancient Power is stronger than normal flames, and the Everlasting Glacier Forest is basically inviting me to enter it…" Taylor knew that his plan was risky but he didn't feel like sleeping out in the open.

The city's safety may not be a problem under normal circumstances but there had often been times when someone disappeared when they slept without a roof over their head.

Taylor felt that the risk of fighting one or two monsters that were weak against fire-based attacks would be less troublesome than sleeping outside.

That was why he came up with his plan and why he was already outside the city, approaching the Everlasting Glacier Forest.

The immediate surrounding of Kial was well-protected and no monster was in his sight. They were hiding from the Adventurers, who passed through the small plains every now and then.

The nature around Kial was flourishing and everything was green and flowery, except the Everlasting Glacier Forest. Nobody really knew how the Everlasting Glacier Forest came into existence but a big portion of the once green forest had turned into a frosty region, where all kinds of monsters began to live.

"That's literally insane. Let me protect you and sleep on the street if you really have to but don't fight monsters when you don't have any weapons, let alone practice with your Ancient Power…" Eris could tell that it was impossible to convince Taylor to discard his suicidal idea.

She shook her head and felt like forcing him to listen to her, but that wouldn't be helpful either. After all, Eris didn't want to break his trust, not again.

"The moment you sustain an injury or the situation looks bad, I will interfere! And just for your information, I don't give a shit whether I destroy the entire forest or this tiny, annoying kingdom while protecting you!" Eris' purple eyes started to glow with determination, and Taylor knew that she meant every single word.

This made things a little bit more complicated but Taylor didn't want to get injured either way. He ended up shrugging his shoulders as he continued to approach the Everlasting Glacier Forest.

The semi-frozen needle trees towered in front of Taylor, whose body shook. Goosebumps covered his body and a freezing air whirled through the forest, creating ghastly noises.

"I expected it to be colder," He suddenly said, while looking around to see if there were any monsters around.

He didn't want to actually enter the Everlasting Glacier Forest if possible because numerous monsters might attack him the moment he stepped inside.

They could be hiding anywhere in the bushes or in the towering needle trees. That was why Taylor's plan was basically to walk around the outskirts of the forest, luring out one monster at a time.

"There is a single Frozen-talons Hawk ahead of you in the tree," Eris pointed at the closest tree in front of them. A sixty centimeters long hawk with brown feathers and sky-blue talons sat on a small branch roughly ten meters above the ground.

The monster was covered by the surrounding environment and Taylor would have nearly missed it.

"Thanks," He quickly said before he retrieved something from his pocket.

A small fingertip-sized stone rested calmly in Taylor's palm. The temperature of his hand increased and the stone showed signs of melting, which formed a sneaky smile on Taylor's face.

"This should be enough…" Taylor mumbled, just to start moving rapidly. He accumulated as much momentum one could get with a single step before he threw the hot stone straight up to the Frozen-talons Hawk.

The F-rank monster's danger sense warned it but until the Hawk reacted the stone had already shot past it. Taylor clicked his tongue, while Eris looked at him with slight surprise.

'His physical strength is definitely on par with a Knight Squire, and his control of the Ancient Power he awoke is quite precise as well…' The corners of her lips uptilted at the thought of Taylor being a natural, someone, who could wield his powers as naturally as if he was born with them.

This was a reassuring thought, but she would have to look further into it to see whether she was right or not.

The Hawk screamed hoarsely and in anger. It flapped with its wings and dived down to Taylor. An imprint of its talons had been left behind on the branch the monster had just left and Taylor felt a cold wind brushing on his face at that moment.

He shuddered once at the thought of the monster's frozen talon piercing through his skin and flesh before his mind seemed to discard all everything that was of no use.

His eyes were locked on the Hawk that screamed out loud as it appeared right in front of Taylor.

He had yet to move, and Eris was just about to intervene when Taylor made his first and final move.

A ball of fire was created in Taylor's right hand and he threw it straightforward at the monster, whose razor-sharp beak and talons were less than two meters away from digging into him.

Taylor squinted his eyes as the blazing fireball gushed towards the designated target. The flaming fall of fire impacted on the Hawk, which couldn't escape by any means, and a small explosion followed suit.

Smoke covered the sky and the smell of burned flesh filled the air, just before a small body crashed to the ground right in front of Taylor. The Hawk's head was still burning and it seemed like its feathers' had been burned while its beak showed signs of melting.

Meanwhile, the Hawk's eyes had burst open. Taylor looked at the condition of the monster in terror before he saw that it flinched.

The Hawk issued a few more pained screams before it turned silent, forever. Taylor swallowed his saliva and he looked down at his trembling hands, questioning if he was really the one, who had killed that monster.

"Is my Ancient Power really that powerful? To…kill an F-Rank monster that easily…the hell…" He was not sure what shocked him more; the fact that his Ancient Powers were so powerful, that he was barely sweating a bit after creating a tennisball-sized fireball, or that he had just killed a monster.

He never killed a monster before but he knew enough about monsters not to feel guilty. Nonetheless, there was a disgusting feeling in his throat that worsened the longer he looked at the monster's corpse.

'My first kill…' He thought, and just a moment later, Taylor vomited on the ground.

"I already thought that he would get through without vomiting. Good that he is not one of them…" Eris mumbled meaningfully as she looked at the vomiting Taylor with a prideful expression.