Monster Anomaly

"A monster?" Rem asked.

"Yes, and it's a little bit powerful," Drew replied.

"Powerful enough to beat you?" Rem taunted.

"Not even close," Drew said while brandishing his Magic Iron sword, he pulled it out and raised it in an attacking stance, "But it'll be great to show you what kind of monsters exist in the forest of death and their level of strength,"

Drew had not finished speaking and something emerged from the bushes, It was a creature similar to an ape but with six arms and it's fur gray. Rem's eyes widened as a notification flashed in front of him.

…

[Monster Anomaly detected]

[Defeat the Monster Anomaly]

…

Those were the only two tabs Rem was able to see before the creature shot forward, closing the distance between itself and Rem in nothing less than a second, it's arms poised for attack but Drew only smiled and moved forward.

Rem couldn't keep up with his movements despite his newfound strength after absorbing souls, and this was Drew when he wasn't using Convergence.

A blinding flash of light surrounded the tip of the Magic Iron Sword as Drew thrusted it forward.

"Thrust Of Light!" he cried out and stabbed into the chest of the monster, it's pupils dilated as it staggered backward but Drew wasn't done, he drew the sword out and slashed diagonally in quick succession.

Blinding flashes of light escaped from the corpse as it made contact with the ground, Rem was surprised. He had seen the monster as a strong opponent but the fact it was slaughtered in moments by Drew increased the amount of respect Rem had for the D-grade Cavalier.

"What the hell! You didn't have this kind of speed in the dungeon," Rem said, it was true. While Drew was really fast in the dungeon, He didn't reach this level of speed in his base- the only time he surpassed it was when he moved with Convergence.

Drew tucked his sword back into the sheath and smiled.

"You know the armor Cavaliers wear are extremely heavy," Drew said and Rem nodded.

The armor they wore in the dungeon was very heavy so that they could defend themselves from critical attacks, Magus didn't have that sort of protection by armor though.

"They are done so to protect us partially from magical attacks and while they look light to the Magus, they are extremely heavy and therefore reduce our weight," Drew said.

"So the speed you were moving at in the dungeon wasn't your full speed?" Rem asked.

Despite Drew being the burliest in the party, his speed was much more than that of the other Cavaliers and to hear that... it wasn't even his full speed was shocking.

'Will I become strong like that?' Rem wondered.

For one moment, he had questioned becoming the apprentice of Drew. The burly man was far too playful and not too strong but for that split second during the battle, Rem saw a different side of the man- whether he was D-ranked, he didn't care and slaughtered his opponent mercilessly.

Rem was young but he knew the meaning of the Survival of the fittest, it's the law that clearly states only the strongest will survive in this gruesome world, in the slums, Rem had learned a lot of things about life and even friends killed each other for the tiniest grains of food and chances of luxury- so what reason did he have to trust this man in front of him?

He didn't doubt Drew yet, but there was something strange about him... His very soul seemed different from the other humans that he had seen so far, it seemed pure in a way.

Drew rubbed the back of his head embarrassed a bit by the scrutinizing gaze of the boy.

"You want to know about Convergence?" Drew changed the subject.

And he swore he could see a childish glint in Rem's eyes before his emotionless gray eyes took over.

"Sure, I'm going to be learning it, aren't I?" Rem asked as they continued walking.

Drew couldn't conceal his chuckle.

"Your body isn't strong enough to handle Convergence yet," Drew said after a hearty chuckle.

"Convergence is a technique that draws upon the latent power of the User's soul," Drew said, "Upon unleashing the power from the soul, anything you reflect your soul power on for the attack whether it be your fists, feet or even a Weapon will flash black. Upon unleashing the latent power of the soul, all your all round strength will be improved temporarily and after you finish your attack, Convergence ends and you become fatigued,"

Rem didn't see much problems with Convergence, he honestly expected it to be summoning a different kind of power but if it was something related to a soul then Rem was sure that he was able to achieve it.

"I forgot," Rem said, alarmed causing Drew to look at him surprised.

"What did you forget?" Drew asked.

"I kinda forgot to check out the Monster corpse, I was just curious about it and all,"

And Rem was right in front of the Monster Corpse now, his eyes flickering to the System as a tab appeared.

…

[Soul Of Monster Anomaly cannot be absorbed because it is too Complex]

…

That single tab dashed all of his hopes to have this in his army, surely it was not a powerful monster but it was one worth considering and he also wanted the skills that came with such a monster, if it was something that would help increase his Physical prowess like Flash movement, Rem didn't mind.

He couldn't take the Monster's skills or even absorb the soul or get stats!

'Does that mean I can not absorb a monster in this forest?' Rem thought in alarm.

The prospect of his growth being dashed was too annoying, he wished he could be back in a Dungeon again.

#####

The journey through the Forest Of Death was rather silent for the two companions, Rem witnessed Drew slaughter monsters but there was something he just couldn't get over- The fact that his growth, the growth of himself and his monster army was being dashed by the monsters that existed in this forsaken forest.

"Let's take a rest here," Drew said, stabbing his Magic Iron Sword into the ground and marking camp. It was a small clearing which would serve greatly as a Camp but alas Rem's thoughts were interrupted as an injured girl which was seemingly the same age as him ran in, at a glance, Rem could see that she wasn't Human and tears rolled down her eyes, dabbing the ground quickly as her legs gave way and she knelt.

Rem cast his Sensei a glance and saw he was feeling sympathetic.

'This is how good men die,' Rem thought.

-

Author's Note:

Here our MC is again, as cautious as ever. If you're enjoying the book so far, don't forget to add it to your library and leave a review, It'll motivate me to write more!