5

A huge monster with a Cerberus-like appearance, but instead of three heads, it had a single lion's head with a red mane. At the end of its tail was a dark greenish ball of flesh. Its claws were like sharp katanas, bent into crescents. Its blood-red eyes stared at a boy of about 12 years old, dressed in a dark kind of sorcerer's robe, staring at him nonchalantly, not caring about his existence, which really pissed him off and he roared.

*Ruarrrrrr*

His thunderous roar echoed through the meadows, scaring away the weak beasts and animals. While the boy just stared into its eyes with his impassive face.

The monster's body disappeared from view and appeared right in front of the boy, its right front paw raised high, preparing to rip through the small body of this pathetic little man.

"Pretty fast...but that's all." - the boy muttered, looking straight at it like a predator looking at its prey.

The boy's body swung to the right and he was out of sight. His speed exceeded that of the human eye, but the monster had time to see him and try to turn around.

As the monster turned his head, he was greeted by the sight of a ball of foul color heading straight for his eyes.

*Boom*

There was a loud bang, and the monster's body was covered in mud, which froze almost instantly, turning the monster's skin brown and muddy white.

The monster's eyes, nose, mouth, and ears were blocked by the already solidified clay and could no longer function normally.

Even though it was called a magic beast, it could not use magic. Normally, ordinary beasts like him had greatly improved bodies that surpassed the limits of animal bodies, and that's the difference between an animal and a beast. There were also exceptions that could use magic in a certain form, namely spirit beasts.

It didn't take long for bright orange fireballs to appear next to the boy, indicating their temperature.

"I'll try to roast you." - He flicked the fireballs with his fingers and headed for the beast as it helplessly tried to wipe away the clay.

*Boom* *Boom*

Small bursts of flame engulfed the monster's entire body, causing it to try to scream at the fate of the roasted monster.

*Grrrrrrrrrrr*

The monster roared, smashing the clay in front of its eyes with its paws, ignoring its wounds and lunging at the boy who was still watching from a distance.

*Wshing*

Already in the air, the monster lost control of its body, not realizing what had happened.

Its head separated from its body, spraying dark blood into the air.

The monster's body fell in place of the boy, but he had already managed to dodge the body, head, and blood.

"It took 2% to kill it. It's more effective to use spinning fire arrows than these orbs against a single target."

*Sigh*

"I've already been to a few dozen villages to spread my fame... where do these beasts come from?" - The boy wondered.

"All right, I'll continue on my way to Athens. The sun will be setting soon, I need a place to rest."

"There are forests over there. I can spend the night somewhere there." - with these words the boy went straight into the woods, with the speed of an ordinary man.

***

After this battle... beating, I went into the forest and started looking for a tall tree, even though I'm not afraid of them, I don't want to waste my time with these beasts.

As I walked towards the tallest tree, my passively heightened senses picked up the presence of a group of humans not far away.

"Hmm? Humans? Here? I need to find out who they are and what their purpose is in this forest."

I used a spell that could pick up vibrations in the air itself, create sounds from those vibrations, then filter the conversation and transmit it to me. I don't have any cool long-range surveillance abilities yet, but I could create a golem to spy on, but that would take a long time.

Closing my eyes and concentrating on the sounds in my head, I heard something I hadn't expected: «Why is that girl so strong?» - A gruff male voice asked.

«We found her in the forest, what did you expect? Look at her dirty hair and rags» - another voice replied.

«Hehe, but there's nothing wrong with her face, look how pretty she is. Just the thought of her growing up makes my blood boil with excitement».

«We can play with her right now. Why don't you call your brothers, it will be boring for just the two of us?».

«I think you're right, I'll go look for them. Don't touch her until we get there, okay?».

«Don't worry, I'll try to tame this savage for now» - strange walking sounds were heard after that.

"Sick perverts? No, the sound of them walking is strange...more like horses. The possibility that they are on horses is ruled out...could they be centaurs?"

"Most likely. After all, Chiron was a Centaur, so if there is one, there will be others."

"I can't leave this little girl, no matter how selfish I am," I walked towards the Centaurs with these words, not caring about their numbers, knowing that I would be stronger than them.

"It will be an extremely useful combat experience, even though they won't be able to scratch me much, but I think it won't be out of place."

***

When I reached an open area in the middle of the forest, I saw the supposed centaur. Just like in those fantasy movies, they look just like they do in movies or anime.

A classic horse body, but instead of a neck and head, the top of a man. His face was average in every way, but his human body had cubes of abs.

"Damn...when will I ever have a body like that..." - I was filled with envy of his muscular body, even though I had a pretty good body of my own, but the baby body made it look, well... not so good.

"That's another reason you're dead... and when did I start killing out of jealousy? Whatever."

My eyes fell on the girl who had been run over by a log from a tree. It was the perfect size to keep her from dying and just keep her in line.

«Damn girl, stop looking at me like that. Be grateful we're picking you up and feeding you» - the centaur's face took on a grim look as he spoke in a voice distorted with anger.

«Grrrr» - the girl growled back, not understanding what he was saying, but understanding his intentions.

As they talked, I thought about what I had learned about this girl.

"Greenish yellow hair and green eyes, even though she's all dirty, I could tell exactly who she was. Atalanta. Judging by her age, the protagonists of ancient Greece are still children. So I can shine even more and leave my legend behind."

"The main thing is that Alaia doesn't do anything. But since I exist freely, I am in the fledgling world of the Nasuverse. Could there be alternate versions of me from parallel worlds? Thinking about it, I can't help but worry."

As I thought about it, I was already moving in their direction...