Chapter 13

With a small bouquet of carefully picked flowers in hand, I made my way through a large cemetery in Yokohama. As I walked, I passed by dozens of stone monuments dedicated to several different families and individuals. A constant reminder of their passing but, at the same time, a physical reminder of the life they lived.

I came to a stop in front of a specific family grave. Flowers and burnt-out incense sat in front of the stone monument. I remained still for several seconds, and the banquet of flowers in my hands had been forgotten. All my focus was directed to the name etched onto the grave.

Sakura.

Kneeling before the grave, I placed the bouquet down and ignited an incense stick I had brought. Raising my hands in prayer, I gave my thanks to Sakura Emiko just as I did earlier with Furutani's grave earlier today in Saitama.

When I was done, I stood up and looked at the grave with appreciation and regret.

Appreciation due to Sakura's heroic actions that saved my life.

Regret due to not being able to have saved her life as well.

I had wanted to visit their graves earlier. To give my condolences to the family during the funeral. But I couldn't. I was unable to face them. How could I look their families in the eyes and say such weak and worthless words such as "I'm sorry for your loss" while they grieved their lost loved ones as I remained alive instead of them.

"Thank you, Sakura... may you find peace."

x x x​

…The Trion Plateau, The Realm of Chaos…

Rolling mountain tops and giant jagged rock formations comprised most of the area. Scattered pine trees stood dispersed throughout the territory. The ordinarily bright green grass was now yellow and orange. As I walked, low crunching noises could be heard. The temperature was cooler, and the air was more challenging to breathe.

"Oh! There's West Greenland!"

Riko jumped excitedly as she pointed toward our left. Off in the distance, around sixty miles or so, was a vast forest composed of both short and tall green trees that could be seen. The rolling fields of grass resembled a green ocean due to the distance.

"Traveling that much distance would have taken a few days by foot. Your portals sure are handy, Master."

"A few days? Yikes..."

Turning away from the far-off forest, I focused my attention on where we currently were. The Trion Plateau held much more than just hills and pointy rocks. When Riko and I stepped out of my portal, we were dropped off at the lowest point of the Plateau. Meaning we had a long, exhausting trip ahead of us to reach the top of the area. Even from here, I could see that I would have to climb, scale, and jump throughout the rocky terrain. Towards the very top of the Plateau, I could make out the outline of a dilapidated castle.

"Let's go."

"Right!"

As we walked through the rough terrain, I brought up the new quests the system gave me for this area.

[Notification: Main Quest received: Defeat Gloomloo, The Cursed Spider | Reward: ?, +3000 XP]

[Notification: Side Quest received: Defeat 15 Stone Golems | Reward: Random Item, +1500 XP]

[Notification: Side Quest received: Defeat 5 Elemental Direwolfes | Reward: Random Crafting Item, +2000 XP]

Off the bat, I could see the number of enemies the system was asking me to defeat had increased from the last two areas. From a gaming perspective, it made sense. In a game, the further you progressed, the harder it would become. The number of enemies and enemy types would also multiply. This means that despite all the power I've attained so far, things will only get much more challenging than before. I may as well consider the first two areas' tutorial sections.

Luckily for me, I had used the skill points from my daily strength training quests to level up my strength stat to seventy-seven, granting me enough strength to wear the lover's loyal chest plate without being slowed down.

"Master."

"Yeah, I see it."

We came to a stop in a clearing filled with rocks and boulders and the occasional pine tree. What caused us to stop were the two shaking boulders that began to rise, blocking our path forward. Slowly, the boulders started to move and scrap on each other as they moved to form legs, arms, and a small head. When they were done, two three-meter-tall stone golems stood looming over us. Wordlessly, Riko ran back and took cover behind one of the nearby pine trees.

"Now then, let's see what you golems can do."

I shot forward with my bone sword in hand. The golem on the left raised its thick right arm and slammed it down in front of me. Hopping to the side, I dodged the blow. From there, I leaped onto its arm and brought my sword down. A loud clang filled my ears as the bones in my arm rattled. Grunting in annoyance, I looked down and saw that I had barely left a scratch.

Such high defense! My blades are useless!

Loud thumps alerted me to the other golem moving towards me. It pulled its arm back and launched its own arm at me as if it were a rocket. Due to the surprise of seeing the beast use its own body as a projectile, I was too late to dodge the attack. With the knowledge that my current weapon was useless against these beasts, I pulled my arm back and punched the flying boulder.

A loud crack echoed around me as the boulder shattered into pieces. Despite the slight pain my knuckles were feeling, I grinned at my own strength, but I had to quickly backflip off the arm of the golem I was standing on due to it wringing its body to remove me from on top of it.

Do charge attacks work on my limbs? Guess we'll find out!

Landing behind the golem, I quickly focused my mana around my fist and launched my attack. Much to my elation, the golem's main body exploded into chunks. Causing me to cheer internally. I looked down at my armored hands and grinned. The added bonus melee damage from the gauntlets of terror was a great help. Seeing its comrade reduced to rubble, the one-armed golem charged towards me like a raging bull.

"Master!" Riko cried out in warning.

[Active Skill: Shining Slash | Lv 1]

I swung my arms in a slashing motion towards the golem. In the blink of an eye, two barely noticeable arcs of light shot forward and cut across the golem's legs. Unfortunately, my magical attacks were only able to cut halfway through the beast's stone thighs.

"Tch."

Rolling to the right, I avoided being trampled by the three-ton raging beast. Seeing that I had avoided its attack, the golem slammed its legs and tried to slow to a stop. A loud crack followed behind the golem as its upper body rolled forward. The sudden action it performed seemed to have stressed its thighs where I landed my light magic attack, and like a tree that had been chopped halfway, its limbs snapped under the stress.

Take advantage of an opportunity. I jumped towards the golem's flailing upper body and pulled back my leg, enveloping it in red mana. Spinning my body, I landed a devastating downward kick that struck the golem like a flaming meteor. The ground beneath it shook as its body exploded into pieces. Ending the battle.

[Side Quest: Defeat 15 Stone Golems | 2/15]

I shook my leg and looked around at the remains of the golems. At first, I was worried I wouldn't be able to recover any resources from their bodies since they were composed of rock; luckily, within their chests, I saw that there were various types of ores.

Deep iron ore, astral silver ore, and palladium ore.

Riko walked over to the remains and eyed them dubiously. Slowly, she proceeded to try and consume them; spoiler alert, it didn't work. I shook my head and picked up the dropped ores. Seeing them gave me an idea. Opening my crafting menu, I placed the iron ores, some wood, and the scavenged horns of the four-armed troll in a specific pattern from an old block game. When I was done, I saw a familiar-looking tool, or in my case, a weapon.

[Iron Forged Pickaxe | Class: C | ATK: 40 | A pickaxe crafted from iron ore. A tool used to break stone and metal-based materials faster.]

I grinned at my newly crafted weapon/tool. It was a large silver pickaxe with a brown bone-like handle. Giving it a test swing, I nodded and placed it away into my inventory. While there are better practical weapons than it, it'll be a great help against the golems.

"I'm sort of glad I couldn't consume the golems," Riko muttered. "I don't think I like the idea of eating rocks."

"I can imagine."

x x x​

[Side Quest: Defeat 15 Stone Golems | 10/15]

Placing my pickaxe away, I sighed in boredom and looked up at the large cave Riko and I stumbled in front of in our search for more golems. During that time, I was able to find eight more and swiftly defeated them with my newly crafted weapon/tool. It was almost laughably effortless now with the pickaxe in hand. Despite how tedious the hunt had been so far, I did manage to level up two times and even earned myself a new title.

[Golem Crusher | Golems are swiftly reduced to dust at your hand. They run at the sight of you. | +20% ATK DMG against armored enemies.]

You can imagine an already easy task became even easier with the bonus buff I received from the title. I was tempted to go back to using my fists but held off on that. I had yet to run into an elemental direwolf, and I wasn't sure how tough they were. It was best I saved my strength and stamina for them and the area boss.

"All done, Master." Riko announced as she brought over all the ores from the freshly defeated golems. There were around four piles of rubble, one for each one I defeated.

I thanked her and placed the ores away into my inventory. I was tempted to see if I could craft new armor with the ores, but I've held off on that for now. What had my attention was the large dark cave. We walked up to it and turned to each other.

"It reminds me of the dungeons back home. What's usually inside them?"

"Hmm. Our elders often spoke of scary and strong beasts that hid within the darkness of the caves. They would hide there until nightfall and would often hoard items or materials in their nests." Riko turned to me with fear in her eyes. She jumped when she saw a grin stretch across my face.

"So you're saying there could be loot in there."

"Um... perhaps?"

"Done deal. Let's go."

"Oh, dear."

Entering the cave, I created a ball of light and had it float over us to illuminate the cave. It didn't take long before we encountered several different types of remains and bones. They ranged from this world's wildlife to magical beasts. There were even some human skeletons as well. They ranged in size. From fully grown adults to…small children.

"Could this be due to the direwolves?"

Riko did what I assumed was shrugging her shoulders. "I'm not sure. The elders never ventured into the caves themselves. But from what they said, nothing that did have returned back outside."

I nodded, and we continued onwards. Throughout our exploration, we came upon several large ore deposits. Using my pickaxe, I mined their resources and stored them away. Alongside the ores, I collected scattered pieces of jewelry that lay near fully-grown human skeletons wearing old silk clothing.

I stopped walking and held my arm in front of Riko. She turned to me, questioning, and before she could ask, a low hiss-like growl bounced off the cave walls towards us. Riko flinched in fright and jumped onto my shoulder like a certain electrical mouse. I looked around cautiously and enhanced my perception skills.

There you are.

[Cloaker]

The creature was large and appeared like an aquatic stingray due to its large, curved wings. A long, sharp tail swung lazily on its lower body. Its large pale head turned to me. Its extensive, sharp teeth sat in a row in its may as its slitted orange eyes glared at me from within the darkness. It was pressing its dark body against the roof of the cave. It was perfectly camouflaged and primed to drop down and attack us once we were under it.

Seeing that I was no longer moving and that I was openly staring at it, the cloaker growled in irritation and dropped from the ceiling. Without hesitation, it flew towards me with a high-pitched screech. I leaned forward and swiped my arm in front of me. Launching a shining slash. Take this.

With great speed and reflexes, the cloaker did a barrel roll in the air and dodged my attack. Causing the speeding spell to carve a long gash on the side of the cave. I could now see how it was capable of capturing and killing all of the victims within the cave. Its speed and reflexes were incredible. If one wasn't prepared, they would get snatched up and killed in the blink of an eye.

"It's coming!" Riko said in a panic.

Sucking my teeth in annoyance, I waited until the last second and flipped over its body as it tried to sink its teeth into my head. When I was directly over the center of its body, I swung my fist down and felt its bones snap under my punch.

The beast screeched in agony and flew straight into the side of the cave, twitching in agony once it was on the ground. Its body incapable of deliberate movement due to its shattered spinal cord. I spun in the air and held my hand towards it. A bright beam of light shot out and pierced the cloaker in the skull. Its twitching stopped soon after. Landing softly, I walked over to the cloaker's corpse and began to carve its body. When I was finished, Riko hopped off my shoulder and started consuming it.

When she was done, we continued deeper into the cave. By this point, I had acquired a large amount of ores and lost riches. I had even found a golden necklace loaded with gemstones. Probably belonged to a traveling princess or something. I wasn't too sure what kind of society the people of this world had, but from what I've seen so far. It was most likely something close to the medieval era from my world if that letter I found alongside my chestplate was anything to go off from.

I had asked Riko for more details, but she told me that slimes didn't really try to get too close to humans. Understandable. The humans, or Terrans, just wanted to use the slimes for potions. Striking up a conversation was the furthest thing on their minds.

"What should we do, Master?" We came to a stop and peered down at the significant drop-off. It was pitch black, and it was impossible to see the bottom.

I created another ball of light and sent it down. Boosting its power, the ball of light illuminated the dark space. But what we saw caused both Riko and I to hold our breaths.

Thanks to the light, we were able to see that the drop-off wasn't all that deep. At the button were several piles of both animal and human remains, congealing into a wide bone pit. The stench of death was pungent, causing me to wish I didn't have a nose. Old, broken armor and scattered swords were dispersed throughout. Sitting on the bones were several chests and an impressive-looking wooden handle with an orange-silver grip. It seemed to belong to a weapon, but I couldn't tell which one due to the other end being buried within the remains of the dead.

Everything I've mentioned so far was unimportant in comparison to the legion of cloakers pressed all along the cave walls. They shook their heads and hissed in irritation due to my bright ball of light. There must have been at least twenty-five in total.

"We're in the nest." Riko's small body shuddered at the scary sight in front of us. I nodded and took a slow back step. It was time to activate the secret Joestar technique!

"Time to go. Slowly." I muttered, but as I took another step. I inadvertently stepped on a large set of skeletal ribs.

Crunch.

In unison, all the cloakers turned to Riko and me. Their predatory gaze locked onto our forms. Without being prompted, Riko jumped back onto my shoulder and held on tightly.

"Guess we're doing this."

All the cloakers jumped off the surfaces they were pressed against and flew toward me. Their combined screeches repeatedly bounced off the smooth cave walls. I jumped down towards the bone pit just as the head of the group reached me. Several of them were too slow to correct their flight plans and ended up ramming into the ground where I once stood and the surrounding wall from the opening.

I rolled forward awkwardly and saw a stream of beasts after me. I held out my hand and brought out my bone sword. I jumped, spun, and flipped in and out from the incoming flying attacks. Their chomping teeth clanked after me as they brushed past me.

"Let's thin out their numbers."

I sprang to the side and swung down my sword, cleaving one of the beast's heads off its still-flying body. With a mighty leap, I landed on the cave wall and ricocheted toward a set of cloaks. I stomped down on one of them, caving in their skull. Whirling my sword into a reverse grip, I jabbed my weapon into the left wing of the second cloaker. Jerking my hand back, I ripped off its wing and allowed gravity to take hold of us both.

My breath hitched as three more cloakers soared toward me from underneath. I raised my hand and cast my wall of radiance spell. A large barrier of light shimmered into existence. Unprepared for the sudden obstacle, the three cloakers crashed violently into the barrier, knocking them out cold.

"Ragh." I groaned as one of the flying beasts slammed into my back, sending a slight jolt of pain through me. Thankfully, I was unhurt primarily because of my new chest plate. I looked back and saw my attacking enemy use its body to push me in the direction of an incoming wall, fully intent on ramming me into its surface.

"Not today."

Grabbing the front of the cloakers body with my hands, I used it as leverage to summersault my body over it. It growled and spun its body, using its wings to slap me towards the bone pit. Riko's screams rang loudly in my ears as I brought out my shield and used it to absorb the impact of the fall.

"There's too many of them!" Riko shouted.

I glared up at the circling flying beasts. Despite taking out five so far, there were still around twenty left. While fighting them one at a time would be an easy task, fighting a hoard of fast-flying, agile beats was a challenging task for my current level.

Growing angry, I began to unleash a volley of shining slashes upwards at the beasts. No matter how fast or elusive they were, they couldn't avoid all my light slash attacks in such a confined space.

Several of my attacks found their targets, causing blood and bisected body parts to fall into the bone pit. I must have taken out around seven of them. I grinned in satisfaction. Like shooting fish in a barrel!

[You have leveled up!]

"Master, to your left!"

Heading Riko's warning, I dashed back and avoided the swooping cloaker at the nick of time. I was, however, too late to prevent the other sneak attack that was aimed at my lower body. My legs were kicked out from under me as a low-flying cloaker slammed its body into me. I briefly spun in the air and then crashed on the hard and pointy bone-covered floor. I groaned in frustration as the smell of the rotting remains assaulted my nose.

"Damn it." I rose to my feet quickly and activated my shield to block another low sweep. Perhaps I bit off more than I could chew?

I backflipped high into the air and leveled my right hand toward a speeding cloaker. I quickly calculated the beast's speed and trajectory to fire a light beam straight through its center mass.

To my surprise, the very same beam luckily pierced through the head of another cloaker lower below. Seeing the unexpected collateral caused a sharp grin of elation to stretch my cheeks.

"Be brave, be brave, be brave!"

I was confused by the sudden, quick chanting coming from Riko; I was even more confused when she, without warning, jumped off my shoulder and landed on the face of a speeding cloaker that would have smacked right into me.

Using her fluid body, Riko expanded herself over the cloaker's face and held tight. The creature soon began to panic as it realized it could no longer breathe precious oxygen. Riko was yelling in fright but held on strong as her enemy started to fly erratically in an attempt to remove her. Riko's small eyes brightened intelligently as if she were struck by an ingenious idea; her body quickly began to consume the creature's head as she did any other corpse.

The cloaker tried to screech in agony, but due to its head being buried inside Riko's gelatinous body, its yells came out muffled and bubbly. The beast doubled its attempts to remove the slime, but nothing it did worked. Spinning in the air, bashing into the wall, and not even dragging itself along the bone pit. Despite everything it tried, Riko remained in place. Her eyes burned with determination and fiery bravery. In the span of ten seconds, the creature's head finally dissolved away.

With her opponent now defeated, Riko jumped off its headless corpse and entered a free fall toward the bone pit. She quickly expanded her body like a flying squirrel and slowed her descent. It seems all her hours watching all those shows while I slept were paying off.

During her one-on-one battle, I was locked into my own engagement with the remaining cloakers. I was pushed to use everything in my skill set.

Light magic was used for the cloakers, who preferred quick attacks followed by a timely retreat. My shining slashes and light beams ripped their tough, leathery bodies to pieces. For the more agile ones, I used the wall of radiance to erupt sudden barriers for them to smash into. Breaking their necks and crushing their wings on impact.

For the few cloakers that preferred up-and-personal attacks, I took advantage of the close distance by using my bone sword and quick, powerful punches and kicks. Rendering their bodies into broken and deformed messes.

I grabbed the last remaining cloaker by its long, sharp tail and used its appendage to slam its body into the side of the cave wall. A large splatter of blood shot out and coated the rocky surface in crimson. I entered a free fall and landed on the bone pit with a loud crack from the now shattered remains below me. I was panting tiredly and rested on my knees.

[You have leveled up!]

"Master! Are you okay?!"

Riko ran and jumped towards me with worry. The clattering of bones could be heard with every hop she made. Once close, she inspected my body. I waved off her concerns once I caught my breath.

"I'm fine, just a little out of breath," I said while looking around at the large number of corpses around us. My eyes quickly found the headless beast Riko had personally defeated. I turned to her and grinned.

"I'm impressed. You took one out all on your own."

"T-thank you, Master. It's just… I couldn't keep watching as you did all the work. As your servant, I must push past my fears to do my duty. Otherwise, I'll never change."

"Nicely said. Now then, let's clean this mess up."

As I carved every beast corpse of their resources, Riko followed after me and consumed what was left. When we were done, I was left with several dozen new monster parts while Riko gained a boost in power. From my estimation, she was now equivalent to a low C-rank hunter.

With our task done, I moved towards the various chests the beasts had collected. To my disappointment, the majority of them held old, rotten food. Disgusting. The last chest, however, was full of gold and other gems, but I didn't much care for that. After dumping the riches into my inventory, I found the wooden handle with the orange-silver grip and pulled it out of the pile of remains it was buried under. I grinned when I saw what it was.

[Gargoyle's Ancient Halberd | Class: B | ATK: 75 | A Halberd capable of channeling elemental magics.]

"Score."

x x x​

"Yahallo, Iroha-chan!"

"Oh. Hello, Yui-senpai. What, uh, what's going on?"

"Heh, heh? Nothing! I'm just in a good mood!"

"Is that so?"

Miura Yumiko arched a brow in confusion as she and Ebina Hina stood across the busy hallway. They stood side by side as they watched their good friend, Yuigahama Yui, talk happily with their underclassman and Student Council President, Isshiki Iroha. Isshiki eyed Yui with confusion as she excitedly talked about some new ice cream shop she had found.

"Is it me, or, like, is Yui acting super weird." Yumiko said with concern in her voice. Hina hummed but smiled as Yui began to laugh. Isshiki, deciding to go with the flow, chuckled alongside her senpai.

"Mhm. It's not a bad weird." Hina's understanding tone reassured Yumiko. "She's happier. More like her old self."

"…your right." Yumiko smiled as she crossed her arms. "Still, I wonder what caused it?"

"I heard from Tobe-kun that he saw Yui with Yukinoshita-san yesterday. They were having lunch together out by the courtyard." Hina said softly.

Yui waved goodbye to Isshiki as the younger girl hurriedly walked off with another student council member. Yumiko didn't remember his name, but she knew he had a massive crush on their President if the way his face burned red as he talked to the flaxen-haired girl was any indication.

"Yukinoshita?" Yumiko said with an annoyed huff. "You're telling me she's the reason Yui is back to normal? That can't be right."

Hina smiled patiently and looked back at Yui. The pink-haired girl was strutting towards them with a pep in her step. Her smile was large, and her eyes were full of warmth.

"It might be Yukinoshita-san, or perhaps Hikitani-kun. Ever since the day she rushed over to him after you told her about what happened, she's become a lot happier." Hina said, referring to the near-fatal accident Hikigaya had been involved in.

Yumiko twitched at the mention of Hikigaya's other nickname. Her cheeks gained a slight blush while the tips of her ears burned. This little detail didn't go unnoticed by the bespectacled, short-haired girl. A slow, mischievous grin soon grew on Hina's face.

"Remind me again, Yumiko. How was it that you saved Hikitani-kun from the brink of death?"

"Hah?! Y-you already know how! I pulled him out of the water and did chest compressions! That's it!"

"Hoh? Is that all? Are you sure you didn't give Hikitani-kun mouth-to-mouth? Otherwise, known as the kiss of life?-"

"Agh! Enough, enough! That didn't happen!"

Hina chuckled at Yumiko's glowing face as she vehemently denied her claim. The blonde-haired young woman bounced from each foot in frustration as she hid her face away while waving her arms in front of her.

"Is that so?" Hina said with a tone of finality. She was willing to drop the subject, at least for now.

Turning her head back to Yui, she saw her once happy face was nowhere to be found. Yui was staring off down the hall where one Hayama Hayato was walking towards them. His face was etched into a severe expression while his eyes seemed fogged and distant.

"Hayato?" Yumiko said softly.

Those around him looked at him in concern and wondered as to why the usual lively and happy prince of Sobu appeared to be in a negative mood. Those who stood in Hayato's path quickly moved. However, one male student had his back turned to the incoming blonde.

The student was too focused on chatting with his fellow classmates to react in time to Hayato's unstoppable march.

"Ah! Hey, what the Hell?"

The male student growled. He had been thrown to the ground by Hayato's shoulder. Hayato was brought out of his thoughts when he noticed the fallen student. His eyes grew heated but quickly shifted to a compassionate and remorseful light.

"I'm terribly sorry!" Hayato said while extending a hand to the downed student. "Are you injured? Please, let me help you to the nurse's office."

"A-ah… no, I'm f-fine." The male student said while numbly accepting the offered hand. He was quickly but carefully lifted to his feet. As he did, he winced in pain as his back arched.

"Hey, did you see that? Hayama shoved that guy."

"Shut up, that was clearly an accident."

"Shouldn't someone call a teacher?"

Before the situation could take a turn for the worse, Hayato wrapped an arm around the injured student's back and smiled brilliantly.

"Please let me help you to the nurse's office. I insist." Hayato said as he carefully guided the male student down the hall. The student wanted to protest but could only nod in agreement. He was already caught up in the wave that was Hayama Hayato.

"Wow, isn't Hayama-san, like, such a dependable guy?"

"Kya! I want his arm around me, too!"

Yumiko and Hina watched as Hayato guided the hurt student toward the nurse's office. Yumiko quickly ran after the two with a worried expression. She passed by Yui, who turned to her in surprise.

"Yumiko?"

"Hayato-kun! Are you okay?" Yumiko thundered just as Hayato and the male student were about to walk down the stairs. Hayato looked over his shoulder briefly, but he was quick to wave her off.

"Not now, Yumiko."

"But Hayato, I-"

Whatever Yumiko was going to say froze at her lips. Hayato once again looked over his shoulder. His eyes were half-lidded with annoyance, and his mouth sat in a flat line.

"Not now."

Yumiko could only stand still and watch as Hayato carefully guided the male student down the stairs. Slowly, her eyes began to sting, and a heavy weight settled over her heart. His dismissive attitude towards her was a stark contrast to his usual friendly demeanor, leaving Yumiko feeling hurt and confused.

"Hayato…"

x x x​

Leaving the cave was uneventful.

After collecting all the available loot and items that were in the cave, Riko and I retreated our steps and exited the cave. Once outside, we continued further into the Plateau. The rough, perilous terrain of the Plateau required me to break out my latent mountain climber skills to climb the constant changes in altitude.

Soon enough, I finally finished the golem side quest with ease. Usually, the lack of challenge would have caused me to complain, but after my battle with the legion of cloakers, I more than welcomed the rewards without complaint. Said rewards were a chunk of XP that pushed me to level up and the random item. The random item itself was something I didn't expect.

[Item: Golem's Natural Armor | Class: A | Category: Elixer | An elixer created from a golem's magical essence. Once you drink it, your skin will gain a permanent level of armor. | Decreases physical damage by 30%]

I drank the elixir without hesitation.

While the elixer tasted horrible, I instantly felt the change it had on my body. Curious about the effects of the permanent buff, I pulled out my old short sword and dragged it along my forearm, much to Riko's horror. Her horror soon vanished as she saw that I was left uninjured by my self-inflicted damage. I had to really push my blade into my skin to start to feel anything, but by that point, my E-rank sword was beginning to crack under the pressure.

With my little experiment done, Riko and I continued onwards to the dilapidated castle. Its details were now clearer, and I could see that the old castle was in terrible shape.

The surrounding defensive wall was broken and burnt in various sections. On the other side of the walls sat a shattered and ruined castle. Large holes and slash marks were peppered all along the walls and rooftops, while the entire back half was simply gone. The remaining walls were burnt and charred. Leaving behind a deep crater that was now filled with water, creating a small lake. But what was most eye-catching were the large, thick spider webs blanketing the castle. Sitting on those spiderwebs were bundles of webs in the shape of human bodies. On the center of the bundled bodies were large puncture holes.

"This castle once belonged to a wealthy young lord who wanted to build his castle on the peak of the Trion Plataue." Riko started. "Our elders said the castle reached its completion but came under siege by some giant creature a few years later."

"A giant creature?"

"Yes... A dragon."

I felt a shiver run down my back. I turned back to the castle and eyed it carefully. If that was true, then it could mean we were potentially in a dragon's territory right now. Despite my greater strength, I knew I wouldn't stand a chance.

If it's anything like the dragon Kamish, We'll be obliterated in the blink of an eye.

"Thankfully, no one has seen that dragon ever since then. So we should be fine."

"Tch. Say that from the start!"

"Oh, sorry about that."

Before I could say anything, three low growls caught our attention. I summoned my new weapon and felt the halberd's heavyweight instantly; despite that, I was able to wield it with no issue. Riko squeaked and jumped onto my shoulder just in time to see three giant wolves walk out from the castle's surrounding walls.

The wolf's bodies were thick with muscle and fur. Their fangs were long and sharp, each one about the size of my entire hand. Their claws dug into the ground as they walked around our position, circling us with hungry eyes. Low, heavy pants escaped their maws as they began to emit a low, threatening growl. The three were all different in color; one had reddish-brown fur, while another had yellow and white. The final wolf was a dark green with a white underbelly. Over their heads were orange titles.

[Elemental Direwolf]

"Let's go."

As if prompted by my words, all three wolves launched at me with their fangs bared. I leaped back just in time to see the yellow wolf blitz past where I once stood with incredible speed, a stream of electricity trailing behind its body. An electric type. I lifted my halberd just in time to use its flat side to block the reddish wolf's headbutt.

Seeing that its attack had failed, It continued pushing back using its great strength. I grunted and watched it open its sharp mouth; fire soon began to build inside its maw. Before it could launch its flaming attack at me, I let go of my weapon's handle and pushed the wolf's head downwards, causing it to shoot out a fireball at the ground. Charring the dirt and patch of grass. A fire type. Should have known.

"To your left!"

I swung my weapon to the side and cut through a large wind blade that would have sliced me in two. I glared at the green-colored wolf and kicked its red-haired packmate across the field, eliciting a pained whimper. Last but not least, a wind type.

I jumped into the air with a spin and swung my halberd into the side of the incoming electric wolf. The wolf howled in pain as my weapon's sharp edge sunk into its side. With my hands clamped tightly on my weapon, I pulled it free from the electric wolf and swung it behind me, striking the incoming fire wolf in the head with the opposite end of the halberd. The shorter blade sunk deep into the wolf's eye, obliterating the organ and rousing a howl of pain.

Not one to be left out, the wind-based wolf dashed towards me while amplifying its speed with wind magic. Due to the sudden burst of unexpected speed, I was unable to block the dash attack, causing me to fly back toward the border of the clearing and almost fall off the edge of the mountain. I risked a glance behind me and saw a very deep, very long drop.

"T-that was close."

"Y-yeah."

I spun back to watch all three wolves charging toward me, their forms coated with their respective elements. It made quite an intimidating and impressive sight. If I weren't fighting for my life, I would have taken a picture. Using the swiftness skill, I dashed forward with my weapon held at my side. Primed and ready. From the halberds description, I should be able to channel my light magic into it. But is light magic an elemental type? Damn, there's no time to think! Don't think, just do!

Deciding to head Hiratsuka-sensei's often-said teachings. I pumped my light magic into the halberd; the blades began to glow brightly as shimmers of light began to flow around it. Reaching the center of the clearing, all three wolves and I came to a head. I twisted my body and swung.

A large arc of light exploded out of the halberd and struck all three charging wolves in one quick blow. Their bisected bodies were flung back with blood and gore flying around them as they violently tumbled along the ground. Due to the amount of magic I embedded my weapon in, I was unprepared for the sudden jerk to my left. To compensate for the violent jerk, I allowed my body to spin with the halberd. I lowered my center of gravity and came to a stop.

"I wasn't expecting that."

"Ugh, I was almost flung off..."

"Sorry."

I wasn't expecting the fight to end that quickly, but I did grind away from defeating all those cloakers. Perhaps the battle would have been more intense if I hadn't ventured off the main path. I quickly looked around for the other two direwolves I had to defeat, but it seemed they weren't nearby. I'd have to look for them later.

With the fight now over, Riko and I extracted or consumed what we needed and continued toward the dilapidated castle. Once we were on the other side of the surrounding walls, I was able to get a better look at the destruction the dragon left behind all that time ago. I had seen the videos from the time the dragon Kamish laid waste to America. A single dragon could easily defeat several higher-level hunters. It took the combined efforts of all the now international hunters to take it down. And those five could reduce a country to nothing with ease. That spoke of the level of power a dragon could hold.

"You feel that?" I asked as we stepped inside the ruined castle. Instantly, we felt a predatory wave of energy sweep over us. I looked up and saw several tiny spiders staring at us with their glowing green eyes. Riko shuddered and nodded, shifting over to press against my neck and head.

"W-we're being watched."

I nodded and ignored the spiders in favor of walking deeper into the castle. I could see the remnants of a once grand-looking castle in the shadows of the now old, dust-covered ruins it was now. Old green banners with the image of a wolf's head were falling apart at the seams as they hung lopsided on the walls and on the ceilings of the hallways.

I stepped over a knocked-down, rusted armor stand and looked around at the human skeletons lining the walls and floor. They ranged from grown adults to small children.

"These must be the people who hid inside the castle when the dragon attacked."

"It must have been scary... having a dragon attack your home."

I nodded and stopped at the entrance to what I assumed to be the great hall of the castle. A lone king's chair sat covered in dust at the very end with an armored skeleton leaning to the side. A golden crown full of jewels sat on the skull as spider webs covered its body. Along the tall walls were more banners and dead knights. Pillars of stone stood high throughout the hall, and large, thick webs lined the ceiling.

"You must be Gloomloo." Riko looked up to where I was staring at and jumped in fright while releasing a small scream. I held my hand out, and my halberd sparked out of my inventory. "Fitting that you made this room your main nest."

[Gloomloo, The Cursed Spider]

The spider was massive with long, sharp legs. The spider's abdomen was round and lined with black and green armor as its dangerously sharp spinnerets twitched, occasionally dripping green liquid. The spider's head was jagged with armor and as big as a van, with eight large green eyes staring down at us. Its six large fangs twitched as they pulsed green with energy.

Gloomloo crawled along the web-lined ceiling and hissed loudly in my direction, causing the hall to rumble. It released its hold on its webs and crashed down, causing a wave of dust to fly past me. I raised my traveler's cloak in front of me to protect my eyes from the dust and watched as the spider rose to its full height.

"Shining slash."

My magical attack exploded once it impacted the spider's armored legs. I sucked my teeth when I saw that my spell only left a shallow cut on the spider's armor. Angered by my attack, Gloomloo dashed towards me. Its several long legs move back and forth, propelling its large body forward.

It's not that fast. But it is heavily armored.

I moved to the side and used one of the hall's stone columns as cover. Gloomloo didn't waste time and crashed into the very same pillar, sending chunks of rock everywhere with a loud crack. I raised a wall of radiance and blocked the incoming chunks of stone. Gloomloo raised one of its many legs and jammed it down towards me. Using quick footwork, I danced around the crashing leg and swung my weapon across it, slicing a large, bloody section off. It was only thanks to its impressive armor that it managed to keep its limb.

"Can you do that move you did with the wolves?!" Riko asked as I dashed in and out of Gloomloo's attacking legs. I flipped over a swiping leg and rammed my halberd halfway through.

"Yeah, I just need to time it right!"

I quickly slid under another vicious strike and erected a barrier of light to stop an incoming stream of webs Gloomloo shot out its mouth. I moved to the side of the barrier and held my free hand towards Gloomloo's abdomen. After calibrating my aim, I fired a light beam.

I had made sure to charge the spell with double the amount of mana I usually would in order to peirce Gloomloo's armor. In a flash, the beam struck the giant spider and fought against its tough armor. I grit my teeth and pumped even more mana into the attack. I didn't have to wait long for the beam to pierce through the armor and shoot out the other side, causing Gloomloo to shriek in pain. A large, burning hole was left behind in the spider's flesh.

"You did it!"

"It's not over yet!"

Using a series of backflips, I avoided Gloomloo's barrage of strikes as it chased after me. Unfortunately for me, one of the spider's legs managed to strike me. Sending me sprawling across the floor. My instincts yelled at me to dodge, so I did. It wasn't a moment too late because one of Gloomloo's legs had pierced through where I previously was.

I ran towards Gloomloo's blind spot and re-summoned my halberd. Weapon in hand, I pumped as much light magic into it as I could and leaped high into the air by using the right wall of the hall as my launch point. The area boss spun around and looked up at me with a glare as I pulled my weapon over my head. A bright, shining light enveloped the halberd blade as I swung it down in an arc.

"Ragh!"

Gloomloo yelled in agony as my attack sliced off four of its five legs on its right side. This caused it to become off balance, resulting in Gloomloo falling onto its side. The light attack did not stop at its legs and continued through to cleave a large section of the stone ground with a resounding shing and crack. I landed on its armored back and began bashing my weapon repeatedly onto its armored flesh.

As I did, Riko looked around nervously. She then took a calming breath and hopped off my shoulder to run over towards the remaining leg. Once there, she began to consume it at the connecting point to its body. The process was slow due to the armor; Riko's face scrunched up in effort as she fought hard to melt through the tough outer layer of Gloomloo's armored leg.

"Die already!"

As I was about to charge my halbert with more light magic, Gloomloo violently jerked its body upwards like a raging bull, launching me straight into the webs on the ceiling. I crashed back first into the bed of webs. I tried to move my limbs but found that they were completely stuck to the sticky material.

"Master!"

I looked down and saw that I wasn't the only one that was launched. Riko was now running for dear life as Gloomloo awkwardly hobbled after her. The spider was using the legs on its left side to push its main body forward and after Riko. It seemed that Riko was successful in taking off the remaining leg on Gloomloo's right side. Its large teeth clamped down with a snap, and its many eyes followed after the small slime with rage.

Riko moved in zig zags and used the hall's pillars to slow down the spider. Despite her attempts, Gloomloo was slowly inching closer and closer. Destroying anything that stood in her way.

Riko ran around the dead king's throne, and a loud crack echoed in the hall as Gloomloo demolished it. Sending the king's remains scattering around as the chair was reduced to scrap.

"Riko!" I roared. I felt the veins in my head pulse as I poured all my strength into my limbs to free myself from the spider's web.

"Hang on!"

I could only watch in frustration as Riko was knocked back by one of Gloomloo's remaining legs. She rolled to a stop at the center of the hall, next to the ruined stone floor; her eyes were unfocused and dizzy. Rocks and rubble coated the hall as the ensuing battle destroyed everything in sight.

Due to our destructive battle, a single stone pillar was left in the center of the hall. A low hum could be heard as the lone pillar struggled to hold the weight of the ceiling.

Frozen in a daze, Riko was unaware that Gloomloo was now barely ten feet away. It's large fangs twitching in anticipation.

At this point, I was exerting every single muscle in my body while red mana began to envelop me in a cloak. My eyes felt like they would pop out of my skull any second as every vein in my circular system pulsed. I clenched my teeth so tightly that I felt them creak as blood began to fill my mouth.

I've never attempted this before. There's no telling what it could do to my body, but that doesn't matter right now! I have to save Riko!

[Skill: Charge Attack has leveled up!]

[Active Skill: Charge Attack Lv 2]

[Skill: Charge Attack Lv. 2 | Charging your next attack will deal x4 the amount of damage. Warning: You will be exposed during the duration of charge up.]

Red mana exploded out of my body as I finally ripped myself free from the web's sticky surface. Like a bullet, I launched myself towards Gloomloo. The last stone pillar shattered as I crashed through it and impacted the giant spider's skull with my bare fists. Pain exploded out from both hands as muscle, blood, and bone were on full display. Broken and damaged from my reckless attack. My attack had successfully broken through Gloomloo's tough armor and shattered half of its skull. Exposing brain and gore to the world.

Despite its exposed damaged brain, Gloomloo continued moving, thrashing itself towards Riko. It was most likely still following its brain's last command and would stop at nothing to do it. I glared at it with such an intense feeling of rage that I felt ill in my stomach. I swooped in and wrapped my arms around half its neck; once there, I heaved. Gloomloo jerked to the side, causing us to crash into the ground, where we began our battle of strength as we each fought for dominance.

"T-the ceiling!" Riko, finally out of her daze, shouted while pointing up.

My eyes darted up to see the ceiling begin to shake and crack under its own weight. Cracks and snaps echoed as the hall began to shake. Turning back to Gloomloo, I once again charged my entire body and felt a shock of agony surge within me. I coughed up blood and felt my eyes burn. Blood flowed freely from my nose as the torture inside me skyrocketed as I continued to pour more mana into the skill.

[HP: 922/3010][MP: 56/620]

It hurts! Fuck, it hurts!

Large chunks of the ceiling began to crash onto the floor as half of the ceiling crashed down. I yelled in pain and rage and released the charge skill. With one final twist, Gloomloo's neck snapped loudly. A large majority of my muscles followed suit. White burning pain exploded in various different areas of my muscular system from my attack.

I looked up just in time to see the remaining half fall of the stone ceiling towards Riko and me. I grunted, mustering my remaining strength, and jumped towards Riko. She screamed something I was unable to hear as I covered her with my broken body. With my remaining strength, I lifted my arm and activated my shield above me.

Large, heavy chunks of stone and wood crashed onto me. Pelting me with an endless barrage of stones as I tried to hold strong. I looked down at Riko's crying face and closed my eyes tiredly.

The last thing I heard before everything went black was Riko's screams and the electronic sounds from the system notifications.

x x x​

Not yet…

Still not strong enough…

How disappointing…

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A/N:

Thank you for reading today's chapter,

Please leave a review or comment. It helps me gauge your interest in the story and because I enjoy reading what you all have to say.

Until next time!