"Aw, aw, aw!" He pulled his arm out and began shaking his hand. It took a bit until the pain receded, but he did learn a valuable lesson. Just because he was stronger now didn't mean that he didn't feel any pain.
Lesson learned. Or maybe not as he did try doing it again, but this time he used his Body Enhancement Magic.
"Oh fuck! Shit! Fuck!" He cursed and winced in pain while quickly running away since he actually managed to topple the tree! Sure, it wasn't one of those trees that were as wide or wider than him, but he brought it down with his fists alone!
While blowing air on his fist and gently rubbing it to soothe his pain, he kept thinking to himself. What if he could increase his strength even more with his Magic? How strong would his punches be then? Well, he was about to find out since he planned on making his Spell even better. ... Unfortunately, he had little success in improving his Magic despite his enthusiasm. No matter what he tried, he just couldn't make it work properly. Though, he was trying to copy what he did with the Conjure Wolf Spell, so maybe that's where he went wrong. Plus, he was also slightly tired from his hunt, and he did unknowingly take a short nap when he dropped on his bed to try and think of a better way to train his Magic.
Training his Magic obviously wasn't working out for him, and he didn't want to continue bashing his head against the wall. He considered just resting, but he already did take a nap and was feeling restless. Especially because he didn't know how long he had until he had to go after the Grass Wolves.
He could always just train some more and leave, but he did give his word that he would deal with the situation. Yes, the village meant very little to him, but since he said he'd do it, then he would do it. It was as simple as that.
So, what did he need to effectively deal with the wolf pack in the forest? Well, for one he needed a better way of moving amongst the trees and tracking the monsters. Plus, the ability to keep his eyes open and not get ambushed by one of them.
After all, he really planned on taking the wolves. Though this would also be helpful for when he searched for targets to use his Boss Battle ability.
"You want to learn how to track the creatures of the forest?" Rorak asked as he approached them.
"Yes." He nodded, feeling confident. He believed he had the strength necessary to go after the monsters, he just needed a sure way of finding them.
"How ready are you?" He suddenly asked afterward. The man was far more perceptive that he thought he was. Then again, he was a hunter that regularly went to the forest. "Saw you going to the forest earlier before returning perfectly fine."
"Another day or two at most, and I'll feel confident of attacking them on my own," Leon told him. Though in all honesty, he felt he could take them down as he was. I mean, he did topple a tree with his fists alone!
Rorak grunted and looked at the sky. "We still have a few more hours of daytime left. Let's go before it gets dark."
We left the village and shortly after arrived what was becoming a very familiar place to him. The atmosphere changed as he watched all three of them change their stances, lowering their posture while taking out their bows, an arrow already notched and ready to be fired.
"Only whisper to communicate," Juro stepped next to him, his voice barely above a whisper. "We'll point out tracks and things you'd need to keep an eye on."
They entered deeper into the forest, and Leon tried mimicking the way they moved. He wasn't very successful since he was too busy paying attention to everything they were telling him.
"See that bush? It grows green berries. Very bitter and cause a nasty stomach ache when eaten by a human, but the boars love it. One of em can always be found snacking from them in the mornings."
"See that hole? That's a rabbit burrow. Used to be one that is. We set up a trap near it a few weeks ago and caught ourselves some nice morsel."
"See how weirdly that grass grows there?" Leon looked over where Chapa was pointing to see the grass growing in small patches, each one a small distance away from the others. "When we see that, we get the fuck away from it cause it means one the big bads of the Grass Wolves were walking around here."
That was news to him because that mean those monsters had some form of Magic. Nothing else explained how they left patches of grass with their steps. Though he wasn't sure how they'd use that type of Magic for anything important.
Like, what would they do? Trip him with some grass? He could just rip through any grass with his strength.
"And see those scratches on the trees?" They looked like someone had made them with a massive knife, one nearly as big as a kid. "Never, ever, go past them. That's the territory of the Beast. Anyone who entered never returned again. We would've paid a Mage to deal with it, but it's content to stay in its territory and never bothers us."
They returned to the village afterward without any issues. The hunters knew their way around the forest and how to avoid encountering the creatures within it. Leon absorbed all of their knowledge even though it wasn't in the form of a book.
He felt like he could easily be able to find any kind of creature with enough effort and not rely on his luck. Though the information about the Beast, whatever that was, was worrying. How strong was it? Stronger than the Grass Wolves? If so, could he take it on?
"Good one, kid. You really learn fast, don't you?" Chapa asked, snapping him out of his thoughts. "At the end there I noticed you were scanning the forest almost like one of us. I didn't even need to point out all the spots you should be keeping an eye on."
"It wasn't that hard," Leon said before frowning. "Could've done it before if someone actually bothered to teach me."
Chapa pursed his lips, not knowing how to respond. He looked away in a moment, just like the other two.
"Anyway." Leon shook his head. What happened, happened. It still bothered him, but he would deal with the monsters and leave this village for good afterward. No point in getting angry over this. "I wanted to continue with some knife practice. Need to get better at that."
"You bet, you do," Juro snorted before his eyes widened as he realized what he said. "I mean… I saw the wounds on the Grass Wolf. There was plenty you could've done better. I'm pretty good with a knife and could show you a thing or two. How about that?"
"Let's do it," Leon said, ignoring his earlier comment. He'd rather not think about that disaster of a fight if he could.
"First things first, the grip. That's the most important thing to keep in mind. If you hold it badly, you are more likely to end up cutting yourself that your enemy. Here, take a look at me. See how I'm tightly holding onto the handle with all of my fingers? That's for control."
Juro went over some instructions on how to stab and slash better, and Leon perfectly mimicked his movements.
"What the hell, kid…" He stared at him in astonishment, unable to believe how fast he was improving.
Leon snorted and swiped his knife left and right in a display of skill. Though… he might've ended up slashing his pants right off. Thankfully, he didn't hurt himself because that would've been even more embarrassing.
"Phew, for a second there I thought you were some prodigy or something." Juro wiped the sweat from his forehead and began chuckling at him.
Leon felt his face heat up in embarrassment, but he waved him over and gave him an old pair of pants of his, so he at least didn't have to walk around in his undergarments.
He was out of the village moments after waking up, immediately going into the forest in search of targets for his Boss Battle ability. That was too valuable for him to not make use of. Yesterday proved as much as he became so much stronger after using it just two times. That's why he learned how to track better from the hunters, just so he could more easily find monsters to fight.
Their help and teachings proved to be useful as he managed to encounter two Grass Wolves fairly quickly. For a moment, he hesitated, remembering how his last fight with one of those monsters ended. It was even a young one while those two were obviously adults as they were bigger.
However, he was no longer the weakling that had no idea what he was doing. He was a different Leon than the one that entered the forest without even knowing what his Magic did.
So, he took out his knife and charged at the wolves, using Boss Battle on both of them at the same time. That left him with no Mana to Conjure his own wolf, but he didn't need it. He was strong enough to beat them both, and if they proved to be a problem, he could always use his Body Enhancement to give him an edge. Not that he needed one, but it was nice to know he could use it.
They were surprised by his charge and their inability to run away, releasing some weird noises. One of them managed to jump away from him, but the other didn't, and it tried to attack him. However, he was too fast and simply dodged the attack while striking it with his knife.
'I could do better than this!' He thought to himself since he had a perfect opportunity to end it there, but he missed it. He didn't let that get to him since he knew he could win despite that.
"Ughh!" He felt some pain in his leg, noticing that the other wolf had attacked him there, slashing him with its claws. It stung, but it was just a scratch. Nothing like the debilitating injuries he took in his first fight.
Shaking off the pain, he pushed the wolf that attacked him back and focused on the one that injured him. A slash into a stab was all it took him for to take it down, his improved physical abilities proving too much for the pitiful creature.
The other did attempt to stop him, trying to leap and bite him in the neck, but he avoided it with ease. He saw the flash of light that formed into something green on the ground, but he ignored it and focused on ending the fight as quickly as possible.
And end it he did. After activating his Body Enhancement, the wolf stood no chance against him. He was faster, stronger, and bigger, so with just two powerful slashes from his knife, it fell down like the other one.
For a few moments, he just stood there, staring at the corpses of the Magical creatures and the newly formed object from the death of the second one. He chuckled at first before it turned into full on laughter.
He did that! He took down two Magical creatures on his own! Without any problems whatsoever! Sure, one of them scratched him a bit, but he barely felt it! This proved it. He was strong, and he was going down the right path.
Though he figured it was better to leave the forest right now. He was out of Mana, and he'd rather not risk getting jumped by multiple Grass Wolves. He grabbed both of the objects he earned, a pair of gloves made out of weird grass-like leather and a green apple and stored them in his Inventory.
The fruit was called Apple of Peace, which didn't exactly tell him what it did, though he assumed it was like the Peach of Strength. Either way, he'd figured it out soon enough.
The gloves were called Grass Gloves. Again, not very helpful to him since their purpose still remained unknown. On the way out, he played with them for a bit to try and figure out what they did. He even touched a bit of the grass in the forest, just to see how similar the two felt. It was close, but the gloves still kind of felt like leather in some weird way.
Leon returned to his shack afterward, feeling satisfied with what he had achieved in such a short time. He learned two new Spells, managed to improve them even further, and increased his physical strength tremendously. He was content and happy, feeling better than ever.
The Grass Wolves, those Magical Monsters that made everyone in the village scared were nothing more than nuisances to him now. He could take them down with two attacks. Killing them was simply a matter of time.
Though the rewards he got from the two he dealt with were strange. He looked at the fruit for a bit before deciding to leave it for now and eat it at a later date. Instead, he played around with the Grass Gloves and tested them out. They felt comfortable to wear, and he even tried pulling his bow with them, finding out that he had an easier time doing that. Huh. Good to know.
Feeling content and happy, he decided to take a quick nap. After all, he spent the past few days either fighting or training, and he felt he earned a short rest for himself. Of course, he would go back to improving himself as soon he woke up since he still had a long way to go before he became truly strong.
After waking up from the refreshing nap, he sought Rorak as he was the best at using a bow. Now, at this point he was better off attacking the monsters with his bare hands, but that's because his current bow just wasn't good enough.
As soon as he found one that could make use of his strength, he could put it to good use. If he was lucky enough, he might even get a good bow as a reward from using Boss Battle as he learned earlier that he could also gain something else other than fruits or Books.
Rorak watched over him as he fired shot after shot, getting multiple hits right in the middle of the target. That live target practice with the boars proved useful as he hit the stationary target with absolute ease.
He watched him leave with a complicated expression on his face after seeing how fast he improved as long as someone was actually willing to teach him. Leon felt like he wanted to tell him something in the end there, but he didn't seem to have the courage to speak up.
He didn't bother thinking about that and just focused on his Conjure Wolf spell at his shack. It was getting harder and harder to improve it, but he knew he was close to something good. He just needed to push past his current limit. Though that was easier said than done.
It was disappointing that he failed. He was starting to slow down his progress, but that was fine because he knew he was still improving at a fast pace.
After ordering a Conjured Wolf to keep watch over his shack and bark if someone tried entering, he went to sleep. That night, he dreamed of an entire forest filled with Peaches of Strength, and they were all his for the taking! He ate them all and became the strongest human in existence, strong enough to lift the sky on his own.
The morning after he woke up refreshed and ready to go.
Today, he decided, he would try to reduce the number of Grass Wolves in the forest. He wasn't sure how many of them there were, but fighting all of them at once might not be that great of an idea. As strong as he was, he didn't want to risk getting jumped on by the entire pack.
However, if their pack was reduced by half? He might be willing to risk a fight then. Though there was no need to do that since he could play it smart and take them down one by one.
Due to his familiarity with the forest after hunting in it for the past few days, he managed to easily locate a group of Grass Wolves. There was a small problem since there were three of them, so he pondered for a moment on how to take them down.
He could use Boss Battle on two and use only his Body Enhancement to end them in melee. Or he could use the ability on only one of the monsters and Conjure his own Wolf to fight beside him while still having the ability to use Body Enhancement. Though he wasn't sure if the other two will try to escape in that situation.
Three or two, that didn't matter to him. Their numbers made no difference. He will defeat them just as easily as he did the ones yesterday.
Though that didn't stop him from making the fight more fair by summoning his own companion. First, however, he took out and wore his new gloves alongside his knife. With his new equipment, the grip on his weapon was now more secure, and he felt confidence surge inside him.
"Conjure Wolf," he intoned quietly as his ghostly partner formed next to him. "Let's go buddy. Attack!"
We charged, and he activated Boss Battle, picking one of the monsters at random since they all looked the same to him.
His conjured companion ran alongside him and jumped headfirst against two of the wolves, disregarding its safety. It was a creation of his Spell, after all, and it didn't care about its life.
Nevertheless, this gave him the perfect opportunity to attack one of the Grass Wolves without caring about the other two, and he took full advantage of this, gliding around his opponent and slashing at it with his knife. He heard the other wolves growling and fighting against his own, but he paid them no mind, completely focused on ending this one as quickly as possible.
It didn't take him more than two perfectly aimed hits, one of them striking against its neck, resulting in the monster's death. It slumped down lifelessly, and he immediately rushed over to the other two, who seemed just about ready to end his own companion's life.
That wouldn't do! He jumped between them and managed to fight them off away while getting a single hit in. Only two of them remained now, so he decided on using Body Enhancement to end this fight as quickly as possible.
Those two Grass Wolves were just superior to his own companion as they were faster and stronger than it. However, he was their superior when it came to physical strength, especially when he had his Magic activated, and he practically bullied them, though he focused on the one he hadn't used Boss Battle on. It wouldn't do for one of them to escape and call more reinforcements.
He took down the monster in seconds, demolishing it with a few quick strikes. Only one remained, but froze once he turned his attention to it. That wolf was… waggling its butt at his companion. Was it trying to seduce his wolf? What?
"What is going on?" He was rightfully confused as he stared at the scene in front of him in pure bewilderment.
'This makes no sense.' He thought as he watched his companion slam a paw right on top of the horny monster's head, knocking it down on the ground. He shook his head, trying to forget about whatever that was and rushed over to end the life of the last remaining enemy.
Another Apple of Peace was his reward, which was quickly stashed in his inventory alongside the three corpses of the monsters. Now he had two dead boars and five dead Grass Wolves in his Inventory. The boars he would certainly eat at some point in the future. The monsters… he wasn't sure since he didn't know if their meat was edible.
A short rest was the next thing on his plans before he went out searching for more monsters, but then he heard a weird sound. His head snapped in that direction, his eye scanning everything there. For a moment he thought he had imagined it, but then he looked up, noticing there was a figure in one of the taller trees, silently staring at him from above.
"What are you doing here?" He asked, looking at Rorak with narrowed eyes, wondering how much he saw. He wasn't that worried if he found out about his Inventory, but he felt like Boss Battle was something that had to be kept a secret for now.
He didn't respond at first. Instead, he quickly climbed down the tree, moving expertly like a monkey. Not that Leon knew how a monkey moved, but he'd heard this phrase before.
"I saw you entering the forest earlier," Rorak said as he approached him, his hands slightly raised to show he wasn't armed.
"So you followed me," Leon said, his grip on his knife tightening.
"I did." Rorak nodded. "Had to make sure you won't kill yourself. We can't risk you dying before the Grass Wolves situation is handled."
"Though…" He looked at where the corpses were moments ago. "You obviously don't need any help. I climbed the tree to get a better vantage point and try to help you, but by the time I was up, they were already gone."
"Yeah, it wasn't much trouble," Leon crossed his arms, projecting an aura of confidence.
"Will you be returning to the village now?" Rorak asked afterward.
"No, I want to reduce their number some more. I did promise I will deal with them, didn't I?" He asked back.
"You did. I…" Rorak paused and shook his head. "Do you need any help?"
"No," his answered escaped his mouth without hesitation. Why would he need his help? Or anyone's help for that matter? He alone was enough for those monsters as he just proved.
"I see. How many of them have you killed already then?" Rorak then asked.
It took him a moment to count them. "Five now. Two of them yesterday and three today."
"Ah, that's why you asked for help with tracking yesterday." He nodded as if that somehow made sense.
"Sure," Leon agreed with him. He did rely mostly on stumbling around to find them before, but he thought he did pretty well even without the training.
"The pack has no more than twenty-four. If you take them down to ten, they'll back away and won't even dare to roam near the village," Rorak informed him before he left, leaving him alone with his companion, one which he had to refresh before continuing with his hunt. Couldn't forget about that.
Finding another group of three wolves was easy, almost as easy as taking them down. He was getting more and more experience at fighting those monsters, and it barely took him any effort to kill them all, earning him yet another of the apples. That one was stored in his Inventory as well, increasing their number to three.
He kept his Conjured Wolf with him during the entire hunt, and he felt the Spell improving the more he used it. He was on the cusp of something big, and he felt it. Now it's only a matter of time until he figure out how to accomplish said big thing.
On the way back to the village, he took his three Apples of Peace and studied them carefully. Their green color didn't give him that much hope, but he tried them out, taking a bite out of one of them. Despite looking unripe, they tasted amazing! He couldn't stop himself from taking another bit and before he knew it, all three of them were gone.
He took a deep breath and felt one with the world, experiencing true peace for the first time of his life. Everything was fine and nothing could ever go wrong. He enjoyed this new sensation as much as possible, but sadly, it didn't last that long.
A peek at his Status showed that his Soul was now as strong as his body, explaining the purpose of the apples. If the Grass Wolves weren't already his target, they would've surely become one at this moment.
Now, it was time to finally figure out his Conjure Wolf spell and see how he could improve it further.
Running high on that feeling from earlier, he got into a zone and began directing the Mana of his Spell in different ways. He tried mimicking that connection to the world from earlier and everything suddenly clicked for him.
His understanding of Magic soared, and he figured out the way to improve his Conjured Wolf. He understood the perfect way to make it better, so using the momentum, he made his companion…
He made his wolf bigger, stronger, better. He needed a companion that could keep up with him and not be a measly distraction. A partner that could take down enemies without requiring his assistance. Yes, that was perfect. His Conjured Wolf now reached his stomach while on all fours.
However, that wasn't enough for him. He felt like he could do more, but not too much. He pushed, trying to improve it even further, and succeeded in making it a bit smarter. It wasn't by much, but it would be able to understand him better. He felt like if he improved its intelligence a few more times, his Conjured Wolf would be capable of taking actions on its own without needing his commands.
"So you saw the kid fighting?" Juro asked while lightly swirling the drink in his hand.
The three of them usually gathered in his house at least once every week, mostly so the other two could have some time away from their women. Juro thought himself more of a free spirit and couldn't see himself getting chained up like his friends. That just wasn't his style.
"Yeah, caught him leaving the village in the morning and decided to follow him. To make sure he doesn't do something stupid and pull him out if I had to," Rorak said, eyes never leaving his glass, which he had barely touched.
"Yeah… a Mage would take at least a few days to arrive here, and that's not even counting the time it would take for the request to arrive," Chapa mused. It's why they were so willing to help him. Better deal with this nonsense before something bad happened. Could even get rid of the pack entirely if they got lucky enough or if Leon had something useful going on with his Magic.
"And what happened?" Juro questioned, barely hiding the interest in his voice. Rorak looked scared when he came over today and that was pretty unusual for their leader.
"Saw him move throughout the forest as if he had done this hundreds of time before. Found a group of those monsters as if he was specifically searching for them and them alone."
"Kid learns freakishly fast," Chapa commented. "Why'd no one bother teaching him something before?"
That was a good question. Juro cupped his chin in thought. "Something about him being cursed? Was pretty young back then, but wasn't he dropped by a some freaky dude when he was a baby? Something, something, Leon being forsaken by the world or whatever?"
"I think I heard something like that as well. Can't say if he's actually cursed. Not like anything bad happened to the village," Chapa replied.
"There was that year where the harvest was bad. Could be his fault. Could be not. Not like I understand how Magic works." Juro shrugged and looked at Rorak. "Anyway, what got you so scared?"
"I saw him summon that ghost wolf of his and send it to fight. Honestly wasn't very impressive, but then he moved as well. Damn kid is faster than a wolf and stronger than a boar! And he played with those monsters just for fun."
"Didn't he get nearly killed by a young one a few days ago?" Juro stopped Rorak there.
"He did, he did." Chapa nodded. "Then again, he was stumbling over his own feet a few days ago as well. He just learns way too damn fast. That ain't normal I tell ya. We've spend over a decade working on our craft and hunting in the forest, and he nearly caught up to us in just a few days!"
"True," Juro agreed. The kid picked up his knife skills just like that. Though he did have that embarrassing moment of cutting of his own pants. He chuckled just remembering that.
"So what else happened?" Juro asked since that clearly wasn't enough to scare Rorak.
"Killed three of them in a couple of minutes at most. And like I said, he played with them like a predator playing with his food. He could've ended the fight instantly if he wanted to," Rorak answered and took a deep breath before shuddering.
"I saw him do it after the fight. Picked them monsters up as if they were some toys and then shoved them out of existence! Just pushed them in the air and they disappeared, just like that! Nothing even remained of them after he was done with the monsters."
"Damn!" Both Juro and Chapa exclaimed. Magic was a pretty scary thing, wasn't it?
"Could've done it right at the start, but he decided to play around with the monsters for fun. Hopefully… hopefully he won't turn that around on us."
"We've been helping him out. And the elders did promise to pay em. We just gotta make sure he gets his Jewels and then goes on his way. Not like anyone who became a Mage stayed here," Chapa said thoughtfully.
"Cause there's nothing of worth in this village. Who'd stay here over going out there?" Juro shook his head.
"Those stupid enough to think they can take on the world. We got it easy here. Out there is a scary world," Chapa replied. No one said another world as they continued to drink, clinking their glasses from time to time.