Chapter 45: The Calm Before The Storm

Despite being scorched by the sun, the Super Explosive Marvelous Troopers continued their search for the remaining four golem cores. Searching every corner and hole while following flocks of Feragins that could possibly be gathered where golems were.

When they came across a flock of Feragins, they would poke their heads out of the boulders they were hiding in, staring at the location of their potential enemy with wide eyes. Like a swarm of curious hedgehogs sniffing around. They would approach the pile of rocks and smash it with whatever they could get their hands on, but most of the time, the golem would immediately come out of hiding as they approached, sensing their mana.

To defeat the armored giants, they would simply run around taunting them. Laughter could be heard when amusing events occurred, such as Loafy performing any ridiculous attack Halini could think of on the spot, and all five of them scurrying to hide from the golem's destructive explosion while screaming panicked gibberish words.

Laughter, sounds Gideon would never imagine hearing in the midst of a dangerous battle with a rock monster. For someone like him, who saw everything in this world as dangerous, seeing the other members of the party laughing on the verge of every danger made him wonder a lot.

However, it became clear that it was all a matter of perspective; the people with him were already aware of the dangers that this world could present. Fighting dangerous monsters was second nature to the adventurers, but not to him, who was relatively new to this world. What he saw as dangerous and fatal was simply a recurring task for them.

Then... Another question was posed: what kinds of monsters were considered dangerous by the people of this world?

The sound of a loud explosion was heard once more in the Golem Trail, thick smoke covered a large area, and as it slowly dissipated, chunks of boulders were revealed scattered throughout the area.

Gideon poked his head out from the concealment of the spiky rock in front of him, narrowing his eyes and staring at the location of their former enemy. Ordy appeared behind him, followed by Halini, all three of them smiling and looking at each other. Mian, who was sitting in the middle of them, raised her head and stared at the slowly fading smoke, while all four of them huddled in the concealment of one stone.

Gideon got to his feet and followed Ordy, who was already walking in the direction of the golem. When he arrived, Vien was already standing next to the golem's vanishing body, and she handed Ordy the final core they needed to complete their quest.

"One, two, three, four, and five," Ordy said as he looked inside the brown sack he was carrying. "Good job everyone, we just finished another quest! Handsome rewards are already waiting for us!" Ordy exclaimed, raising his hand with a huge smile on his face.

"Yay!"

Gideon exhaled slowly while staring at the sack Ordy was holding and smiled weakly but relievedly. The almost afternoon sun shone down on his dirty face, the heat was still scorching, but he couldn't feel it because of the accomplishment they had just accomplished. "So that's it, isn't it?"

Ordy laughed and tapped Gideon on the shoulder. "That's it; how did you feel about your first monster material gathering?"

Gideon paused for a few seconds before shrugging. "It's more fun than I expected—fighting freaking golems wasn't as bad as I thought—with the help of a dependable team, of course."

"I can't believe he actually called us a dependable team after complaining the entire time about how— to use his own word—'goofy' we were while fighting," Halini said, a slight pout on her lips.

Gideon chuckled and scratched his head. "I'm sorry, I tend to comment on everything—but if you look at it the other way, it's actually a compliment."

"At least now we have another vocal member of our party; it's no longer just us two, right, Halini?" Ordy said, raising his thumb at Halini.

"Of course, I like having Gideon around because he always makes funny faces and says funny words no matter what situation he's in," Halini laughed. "He's a walking jumble of intensely funny reactions."

"Those were not meant to be funny."

"Should we leave now? I don't think staying here for too long is a good idea," Mian said, crossing her arms.

Ordy gave a nod. "Right," he said, raising his hand. "All right, now that our quest has been completed, we should return to the Intersection Clearing; let's begin walking and leave the celebration later—or perhaps while walking."

Ordy received enthusiastic agreement and began to walk forward as a result. Gideon followed him, accompanied by Mian, Halini, and Vien. They talked as they walked through the barren landscape back to where they came from. They were walking while listening to Ordy's words as he told them about what he thought were impressive events from their previous battles with the golems.

They were laughing as they recalled the amusing events of that day. Thinking that the day's battle was finally over and it was time to rest. After a few minutes, the view of the forest's entrance was revealed, and as they entered the thick forest's concealment, the hot surroundings became colder as the humid forest took over.

The battle had not yet ended.

Gideon looked around the dimly lit, humid forest. His gaze paused for a brief moment on Vien silently walking alongside them, but then returned to his other side. "After this, perhaps I should visit the skill tutor; what do you think, Halini?" Gideon asked, shifting his gaze to Halini, who was preoccupied with watching Ordy and Mian walk in front of them.

Halini, whose full attention was on Mian and Ordy's laughter, abruptly shifted her gaze to Gideon. "Hmm?" she moaned as she looked up into Gideon's eyes.

"Should I go to the skill tutor after this?" Gideon asked again.

Halini nodded repeatedly. "However, I should warn you that the cost of a single beginner's skill is quite high."

Gideon placed a hand on his chin. "Really? What does one skill cost—"

When a reverberating sound resembling an organ echoed throughout the area, his words were cut off. The sound passed through in a flash, but it was so distinct that it could not be mistaken. The sound was similar to that of Gravel Golems, but much heavier and eerie. All of Gideon's danger senses were activated with a single brief roar, a feat that Gravel Golems did not accomplish all day.

Gideon's eyes trembled as his hand instinctively reached for his sword's handle. He tried to calm himself, but when his gaze moved forward to seek comfort from the people in front of him, what he found were reactions on their faces that he had just witnessed for the first time. They were showing caution and alarm as their gaze wandered. Ordy drew his sword and stood in front of their formation, while Vien drew both of her daggers. Mian, on the other hand, joined Halini as she drew an arrow from her back.

"Everyone... be prepared," Ordy said solemnly, his gaze fixed in one direction.

Gideon's gaze shifted to the location they were looking at. What greeted him from afar was a golem, but not just any golem. Its blue shell was visible as it hovered two meters above the ground. The blue core within its body shone brightly. It didn't have stone armor covering its body; instead, it had countless white boulders orbiting around it, with abilities that the Gravel Golem couldn't even match. The core within its body served as an eye, shifting its gaze between the five.

"What the fuck is that?" Gideon couldn't help but wonder, his shivering eyes fixed on the golem's eye glaring at the person standing next to him.

"Cyclone Golem... a class D monster," Ordy replied as he walked back toward Halini, fully aware of what the golem was after.

The glowing blue eyes of the Cyclone Golem locked on the person with the most mana in the group, and the boulders around it spun, forming an image that resembled a cyclone but was made up of destructive boulders.

The real battle was about to begin.