I headed towards the fields a bit away from the village, then suddenly Detect Presence picked something up.
A presence fromâ
âAbove, huh.â
I looked upwards and saw a massive bird swooping down on meâŚalready!?
I quickly dodged the attack by jumping backwards, then the ground shook and a cloud of dust rose.
A few seconds later, when the dust settled, all that was left was a crater about two meters wide. The eagle-like monster had soared up in the sky again.
What speed and powerâŚas expected of an A class. Guess I should start by appraising it.
Once again, All Creation automatically made the skill for me, so I checked it in detail.
<Accelerate>
Uses magic power to increase speed for an instant.
I see, so this skill is what lets it fly at high speed.
The Mephistos Bird was coming down to swoop on me again.
Since I could see it, it wasnât that scary an attack, to be honestâŚ
I used wind magic to disrupt the air currents and the Mephistos Bird crashed in a completely different spot.
âGGGYAAAHHHHH!!!
The bird monster got up and glared at me, but the fear of being knocked down again prevented it from flying up: it rushed at me on the ground instead.
Ah, so this is what the title âCharge Maniacâ meansâŚ?
I used Physical Boost to dodge the charge, kicked the monsterâs chest, and sent it flying upwards a few meters.
I quickly followed by charging fireballs with an abundant dose of magic power and shooting them at the bird beast.
The fireballs landed with a boom, killing the monster on the spot and roasting it whole. The smell suggested it was cooked just right.
I opened my dimensional storage and put the falling Mephistos Bird inside before it touched the ground.
âŚthat was easier than expected. Itâs not even time for dinner yet.
I thought it would be a bit tougher to deal withâŚitâs really an easy mode world, isnât it.
~
I went back to the village and found the villagers, Bacchus and the others making preparations for the banquet in the village square. The elder noticed my return and came up to me.
âOh, you are back so soonâŚwe heard a loud noise just nowâŚdid you have any problems?â
âNope, I came back because the extermination is done.â
So I said as I pulled the crisp roasted Mephistos Bird out of my dimensional storage, causing the elder to go completely speechless one more time. He definitely didnât expect me to come back so soon.
The villagers who witnessed our exchange realized that the Mephistos Bird had finally been killed and started cheering loudly.
Villager after villager expressed their gratitude to me, so I announced the completion of my mission for all present to hear.
âThe Mephistos Bird is no more!! Today we shall have a feast!â
Bacchus and the others cheered in response and the banquet preparations started in earnest.
Everyone must have been truly overjoyed, as the preparations were complete very quickly: the Mephistos Bird was cut and cooked for everyone. Bacchus even offered other ingredients for free.
Being the one responsible for eliminating the monster, the villagers brought me food as soon as it was done, so I could try all sorts of dishes and thoroughly enjoy the feast.
âYouâre the one that killed the monster, you gotta eat this! Add as much sauce as you like. Itâs even tastier that way.â
âThanks, I will.â
I took the plate with the simply grilled meat, grabbed it with my hands, and chomped down on it.
It tastes very similar to chicken, but itâs so much juicier⌠I wonder what the sauce tastes like?
I tried adding the miso-like sauce the villager gave to me and enjoyed the different flavor it created.
I was thus enjoying the food when another villager approached me, carrying full glasses with his hands.
âThank you for saving our village and even letting us have the Mephistos Birdâs meat!! Tell me of the battle or your travels, come on!â
I started chatting with the villager while drinking the glass of juice he gave me.
After a while, the elder came up to me.
âMr. Haruto, we are really thankful. You are this villageâs saviour. I know it isnât much, but this is the reward I promised, five gold coins. Please take them.â
The elder handed me a leather satchel but I pushed it back in his hands, saying I didnât need it.
âBut, we canâtâŚâ
âI didnât take your request for the moneyâŚI accepted it because you told me that the Mephistos Bird tasted good. So this meat is enough reward for me.â
âThat might be, butâŚâ
âI did it on my own free will, so there is nothing for you to worry about.â
The elder was finally convinced and smiled.
âHmmâŚI see. Please enjoy the feast to your heartâs content, then.â
âYou bet I will!â
I smiled in return and fully enjoyed the rest of the evening.
~
We enjoyed the feast without reserve, spent the night at the villageâs inn â offered to us for free, as a token of gratitude â and left the following morning, with the villagers waving goodbye.
During the journey, I let Barnar and the others take guard duty and concentrated on making a weapon for myself.
I only had the sword I had bought at the market, after all: molding a weapon by myself would have resulted in something better.
So I thought of creating a katana for me to use.
The reason why I decided on a katana, and not a normal sword, was simple: it looked cooler to me.
Since I was going to make my first weapon, though, I didnât want to use common materials.
Thus the first thing I did was to use the iron sand I collected from the soil and mold it into a block of iron.
I then poured my magic power in the block of iron, to change its shape.
It took a lot of time to let my magic power blend well with the iron, however.
What helped me tremendously in this instance was the ability to manipulate the flow of time inside the dimensional storage.
I poured magic power in the iron block and put it into the dimensional storage for the blending process. The next step was to accelerate the time flow for the iron block so that one minute in reality corresponded to one hundred years. After one minute passed I took the block out, poured more magic power, then put it back inside.
I repeated the process until one thousand years passed inside the dimensional storage, ultimately crafting a mineral possessing magic power of incredible density.
<table>NAME : Magic Iron Block RARITY : Legend NOTES : Black magic iron-rich in magic power.</tbody></table>
Whoa, a Legend grade itemâŚseriouslyâŚ? Well, I guess no one else can create a material like this, so it might be naturalâŚ
Satisfied by the results of Appraisal, I poured all of my magic power in the Magic Iron Block and molded it into a katana.
After about 30 minutes of molding, the result was a katana with a black blade, about 75cm long.
Excited, I immediately used Appraisal on it.
<table>NAME : Black Katana LV 1 RARITY : Legend NOTES : Katana created by Haruto.</tbody></table>
<table>experience points to evolve.</tbody></table>
<table>Evolves at level 10.</tbody></table>
Very nice, the end product is Legend grade too, good enough for me.
Though it turns out it has something like a skill level, despite being an itemâŚ.
According to the notes, it absorbs experience points to level upâŚ
Well, Iâm sure I can try the absorbing thing later.
I used the leftover materials to make a scabbard and put the katana inside.
After about one more hour of travel, my Detect Presence picked up several monsters.
One of them is way bigger than the othersâŚ
I told Barnar and the others about the monstersâ approach and we prepared for battle.
The monsters that eventually appeared were 30 small green human-like monsters, all carrying clubs, and one monster with the same appearance â but double the size â armed with an axe.
Oh, could these be those monsters that come up so often in âdifferent worldâ style fantasy novels? Goblins?
The first encounter with monsters that did not resemble animals, but were truly characteristic of a fantasy world, I felt my excitement rise as I cast Appraisal on them.
<table>NAME : Goblin General LEVEL : 50 SKILLS : Axe Arts LV 5</tbody></table>
<table>Physical Boost LV 4</tbody></table>
<table>Leadership LV 3</tbody></table>
<table>Darkness Magic LV 3</tbody></table>NAME : Goblin LEVEL : 5 SKILLS : Club Arts LV 1</tbody></table>
âA Goblin General!? Why is there another class B monster here!? There arenât supposed to be class B or A monsters around this road!!â
âHaruto, sorry for the trouble, but could you take care of the General?â
âLeave the smaller ones to us three!â
Barnar, Norkas, and Oorde jumped off the carriage without waiting for my reply.
âWait, guysâ â
If you all go to fight whoâs going to protect Bacchus and the others!?
I was going to tell them that when the Goblin General launched a basic grade darkness magic spell, Dark Ball, so I had to dodge it.
In the meantime, Barnar and the others had already started fighting against the Goblins.
The barrier magic skillâs effects were like this:
<Barrier Magic>
Deploys barriers in a specified location.
Okay, so letâs put a barrier around the carriages andâŚ
The Goblin General came closer to me and was about to swing down its axe at my head, so I had to backstep out of the way. That was a bit too close for comfort.
âParallel Thought grants me enough leeway, but depending on the opponent I might not have enough time to dodgeâŚâ
So I whispered to myself, then heard the familiar robotic voice.
<<Skill âAccelerated Thoughtâ acquired.>>
âŚnothing surprised me anymore.
I immediately activated Accelerated Thought and the view before my eyes stopped.
More precisely, it moved little by little, but my faster thought allowed me to perceive any movement as very slow.
I guess I accelerated too muchâŚit was hard to control, so I decided to get by with only Parallel thought for the time being.
I deactivated Accelerated Thought and countered the Dark Ball, shot at very close distance by the Goblin General, with its Light magic counterpart, Light Ball, and they both disappeared.
ââŚGUH?â
The Goblin General was apparently dumbfounded by the unexpected development.
I didnât let such an opening pass me by and struck with my newly crafted katana.
As the voice resounded in my head, I put the katana back in its sheath.
The pleasant âka-chingâ sound of the handle hitting the scabbard reached my ears and, at the same time, the Goblin Generalâs head slipped and fell from its neck, followed by the rest of its body collapsing.
As expected of a Legend grade itemâŚit cut pretty well.
I might as well try the absorption ability mentioned in the Black Katanaâs notes.
I drew my katana again, held it over the Goblin Generalâs corpse, and willed for it to absorb the monster.
As soon as I did the monsterâs body started glowing in rainbow colors, then turned into particles that were assimilated by the katanaâs blade.
<<Black Katana reached level 2.>>
Oh, it leveled up already.
I wanted to level it up to 10 quickly and see what happened, but I didnât know how much time it would take. Well, there was no real reason to hurry though, so I decided to take my time and wait.
I looked in Barnarâs direction: he had noticed what I did and was walking towards me.
Barnar and his two comrades had witnessed my katana absorb the Goblin Generalâs corpse and seemed eager to say something, but when I grinned they just sighed and shook their heads.
ââŚI see youâre up to mysterious stuff as usualâŚand Iâm sure that even if you explain we wouldnât get itâŚanyway, you sure made quick work of the Goblin General too, as expected of you, I guess.â
âYeah, Iâm curious too. But I bet you could explain it with, âThatâs Haruto for youâ.â
âNorkas hit the spot, Barnar, âThatâs Haruto for youâ.â
âNorkas, OordeâŚI suppose youâre right, âThatâs Haruto for youâ!â
The three adventurers firmly nodded to each other.
âHey now, how does âThatâs Haruto for youâ explain anything!?â
I expressed my dissatisfaction with their conclusion, but they just looked at me like I was hopeless and shook their heads. I found it kind of annoying.
At the same time, Bacchus probably confirmed the surroundings were safe and got off the carriage.
âThanks for everything, all of you. Weâre very close to Vaana, so take care of us for a little more. The food there is really good, you know.â
Hearing about the good food awaiting took all of us to cloud nine.
We departed again and were attacked by monsters a few more times, but thanks to our heightened excitement they were absolutely no match for us.
Since harvesting their parts could result in having more food money, we jumped out of the carriage as soon as we spotted any monsters and eliminated them in seconds.
~
Thatâs how one hour of travel passed.
Eventually, a town became visible in the distance.
âThatâs the border town of Vaana!â
Bacchus happily announced that we were almost to our destination and our stomachs started grumbling.
âYou were all so hungryâŚ?â
Bacchus said while smiling wryly, so I replied forcefully while clenching my fists.
âOf course we are!! Once we get into town letâs sell the monster parts to the guild, then go stuff our stomach!!â
Barnar and the others too raised their voices after me.
âYou said it, Haruto!â
âWeâre gonna binge tonight!â
âCanât wait to chow down!â
Bacchus laughed wryly in our direction.
When we reached the town gates Bacchus headed towards the entrance for merchants, as he did in Waxe.
Our turn arrived soon enough, and a gate guard approached our carriage.
âYour trader proof, please â oh, Mr. Bacchus! Those people are your escort, I suppose? Please show your identification documents.â
Bacchus sure is famousâŚI thought to myself as I produced my adventurer card, together with Barnar and the others.
The guard was surprised that someone as young as I was already a rank B adventurer, but let us through without problems.