CHAPTER 24

CHAPTER 24

In the Spirit Forest

In a small path through the forest, a group of three people walked at a moderate pace.

At the head of the group was a boy with black hair and brown eyes, wearing light leather armor and carrying a sheathed sword and dagger at his waist, both in a stitched leather sheath.

Behind the boy, two girls walked in pairs: a mage in a green tunic and an archer dressed in light leather armor.

Reily, Clarisse, and Jenna had decided on this formation based on their roles.

Since both Jenna and Clarisse were long-range fighters, they couldn't lead the group because it would be difficult for them to safely attack enemies, so they sent Reily ahead.

According to what they had heard from Reily, he was a battle mage who mainly used daggers and swords.

After using the dagger in almost all of his battles, Reily had to replace it when the blade broke, something he expected to happen sooner or later.

He had a certain attachment to that dagger because it had been his main weapon for some time.

He didn't want to part with it, so he had it repaired, which cost him almost 5 copper coins, the same price as a new dagger.

He had relied on it because it was the only weapon he had been able to obtain at the time, but now things were different.

His basic stats mainly focused on strength and agility, so a small weapon like the dagger was perfect for him.

However, over time, he realized that it was also a weapon that could only inflict limited damage.

For example, if he managed to hit a Thorkas in the chest, it would hurt, but he wouldn't be able to reach vital organs like the heart.

He needed a longer but lightweight blade, not too much.

So he switched to using a sword.

From Old Frim, he managed to get a good sword at a good price.

It wasn't anything extraordinary, like an enchanted weapon, but for beasts of rank F and below, it was more than enough.

It took him a whole week to get the hang of it, and although it still had some flaws, at least he could follow some basic sword techniques, techniques he had received as a gift with the sword.

And so he became the attacker of the group of three.

He would engage directly with the monsters while being supported from behind by the two girls.

It was a simple but effective formation, especially considering the type of mission they were about to undertake.

It took them some time to choose a mission suitable for them, and this was because it was the first time they would fight together.

At first, Clarisse proposed hunting down some non-evolved beasts to start with something light and see how they coordinated with each other, but the idea was quickly rejected.

They were all three of rank F, with Jenna already a rank F of medium grade, so hunting down non-evolved beasts wouldn't help much; they would just waste a lot of time and gain little.

So they moved on to rank F missions, and after some discussions, they decided to take a hunting mission.

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[MISSION GRADE]: F

[Hunting mission]

DESCRIPTION: Obtain one or more tails of a Greenleaf Stalker.

REQUIREMENTS FOR COMPLETION: The delivered tail must be in good condition.

REWARDS: 5 silver coins per tail.

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A Greenleaf Stalker was a beast similar to a lynx, one and a half meters tall and two meters long. It was a plant-type beast, with the characteristic of having a tail shaped like an elongated leaf.

It was very good at camouflaging itself in the forest, and could be found mainly in places rich in vegetation.

Finding a beast like this wasn't easy, precisely because of its skill in hiding, but there was something that could help them track them down.

Greenleaf Stalkers were beasts that had a diet based on fruits and plants, and there was one fruit in particular they went crazy for.

The Radiant Raspberry.

As the name suggests, they are similar to shiny raspberries.

They have the characteristic of having a slight layer of dim light covering their bodies.

This magical fruit has beneficial properties for the body of all plant-type beasts and is also widely used as an alchemical ingredient for some cosmetics and magical potions.

Buying one from the market wasn't difficult, but the price wasn't low. In fact, each of these fruits cost 1 silver coin apiece, understandable considering it was a magical fruit.

So buying one was out of the question due to the high price, but they could buy something that could replace it.

The fruit had a particular scent that was pleasing to both humans and beasts, so one of the products created using these fruits was perfumes, sold at 20 copper coins per bottle.

Greenleaf Stalkers used their sense of smell to detect the characteristic scent of these fruits, so they decided to use this perfume to attract them.

It was a plan that had already been tested in the past by other adventurers, so they knew it would work.

***

The group, throughout the journey, remained mostly silent.

Sound could attract beasts, and although they were still in the outer area of the forest, they didn't want to waste time fighting non-evolved monsters.

Although most of them would have avoided them because of their strength, there were always exceptions to this.

Clarisse, who couldn't stand the silence anymore, decided to ask Reily a question.

"Tell me, Reily, why did you become an adventurer?" she asked, curious to know more about him.

She had only met this boy twice, but she was impressed by him.

Although they were almost the same age and rank, she felt that there was a great difference in strength between them.

Normally, elemental mages tended to be stronger than battle mages, because they had an additional advantage over them.

Even when an elemental mage had a difficult element to enhance, like her fire element, they were still a bit stronger than battle mages of the same rank.

She wondered if this difference in strength between the two of them was due to an experience issue.

Reily, hearing Clarisse's question, continued to walk, thinking for a moment about his answer.

"To survive, I guess?" he finally said.

"To survive?" said Clarisse, tilting her head slightly in confusion.

For her, the profession of an adventurer was quite dangerous, so she didn't understand how this was connected to survival.

Jenna, who had listened to the conversation, understood the meaning of those words.

Like Reily, she had had to provide for herself since a young age, so she could understand to some extent what Reily meant by those words.

She didn't know what hardships the boy in front of her had to endure to choose to become an adventurer, but she knew it was better not to ask too many personal questions; after all, they had only known each other for a short time.

Clarisse wanted to continue asking more questions, but she didn't have the opportunity to do so.

They had already been walking for a while now, and they had reached the end of the outer area of the forest.

They had chosen an area of the forest where various types of plants grew as a hunting ground because here there was a greater chance of attracting a Greenleaf Stalker.

Reily suddenly stopped because he felt a certain presence around them.

He didn't know if it was the beast they were looking for or not, but from its aura, he could tell it was definitely a rank F beast.

The girls, seeing him draw his sword, quickly got into position, ready to intervene at any moment.

The presence Reily had perceived was a few dozen meters ahead of them.

Reily didn't know if the beast had noticed them as well, but it didn't take long for it to notice.

The beast began to move slowly towards them, and Reily, noticing this movement, said,

"Get ready, it's approaching us."