Whoosh—whoosh, whoosh.
The Cianthrope girl darted through the thick jungle of the 18th Floor.
Her steps were panicked, and she stumbled and fell several times along the way.
Her eyes were wide with pure terror.
"Something is..."
Lulune Louie was absolutely certain that something was following her.
Even though she could not see it, could not hear it, and her highly sensitive dog-person nose could not smell it, she knew something was trailing right behind her.
And whatever it was, it meant her harm.
When all of her normal senses failed, only her pure intuition kept screaming at her to run!
Yes. The Cianthrope girl trusted her natural talent for "intuition" much more than her racial gift of "smell."
Up until now, that gut feeling had saved her life countless times.
If she had ever ignored it even once, she would not be alive today.
Because of that, she was completely certain that someone with bad intentions was hunting her.
"Damn it! Damn it, I cannot shake them off! I know the layout of this forest better than anyone, so how are they still following me so closely?!"
Lulune Louie was rushing to reach her team's meeting point.
She had no confidence in her own combat skills, so she desperately hoped to reunite with her friends before her pursuer caught up.
'Huff—huff—ha—'
'Just a little further! If i could just cross this last stretch of trees!'
A spark of hope finally lit up in the girl's eyes.
But the exact moment that hope was born, a dark shadow suddenly appeared overhead, blocking out the light of the crystal ceiling above.
Darkness swallowed the hope in the girl's eyes, and her face instantly twisted in terror.
BOOM!
The figure falling from the sky suddenly burst with explosive flames, rocketing past the Cianthrope girl and landing heavily right in front of her.
Lulune instantly drew the short blade from her waist.
Holding it in a reverse grip, she dropped into a low, defensive stance.
She strained her eyes, trying hard to see her attacker clearly in the dark forest.
But all she could see was a blank, moon-white mask covering their face.
"A... a pallum?" Lulune muttered in surprise.
Even though the attacker's face was hidden, their somewhat short height was a very obvious clue.
Because she took a second to think about their height, she let her guard down for just a moment.
She quickly snapped back to reality and jumped backward to create some distance.
But then she realized the attacker had not even tried to strike her.
"Who are you..."
The Cianthrope girl was just about to ask for the stranger's identity when the young man spoke first.
"You are the 'muddle' of the Hermes Familia, Lulune Louie. Tell me, do you know where Hermes is right now?"
Instead of asking for the Grimoire, Noah first asked her a question about the whereabouts of that annoying God.
Having her full identity exposed in a single sentence made Lulune incredibly nervous.
However, to buy herself some time, she answered his question slowly.
"That god does whatever he wants. He can freely enter and leave the city whenever he pleases. How would I know where he is? Besides, I am not even a member of the Hermes Familia. You have the wrong person."
'Hmm?' Noah was slightly surprised.
That was definitely not the answer he had expected her to give.
"Are you trying to play dumb?" Noah asked.
"No, no, really! I am not the person you are looking for!" The girl still tried to lie her way out of it.
However, Noah was already tired of playing games.
"Fine. I did not expect you to tell me anyway. But I am still going to need you to leave that Grimoire behind."
The second those words left his mouth, the Cianthrope girl instantly dove behind a thick tree trunk.
At the exact same time, she threw several hidden daggers straight at Noah's chest.
"..."
Noah raised his hand halfway, but then he suddenly decided not to use his Spell-Weaver skill.
Instead, he twisted his body toward the flying daggers.
He quickly reached out with his left hand, moving fast enough to snatch all four spinning blades right out of the air.
Completing his spin, he held all four daggers in one hand and threw them right back at her.
The four daggers flew in a perfect line, burying themselves deep into the tree trunk where the girl was hiding.
Hearing the terrifying thunk-thunk-thunk of the blades hitting the wood inches from her face, the girl's dog ears flattened against her head in pure fear.
Cold sweat poured down her back.
But watching that attack made her notice something.
She took a deep breath, stepped out from behind the tree, and sneered.
"Hey buddy, I can tell that you are just a Level 2, exactly like me."
"And you do not even have a decent weapon in your hands, but you still plan to fight me? Aren't you underestimating me a little too much?"
Lulune was purely bluffing.
She had survived plenty of battles, and she knew the golden rule: if you can jump up on someone, never fight them one-on-one.
Once she missed her scheduled check-in time, her teammates would rush over to find her.
As long as she stalled for time, they could easily gang up on this guy and take him down.
Noah had no intention of wasting time talking.
He activated the magic in his boots, instantly boosting his speed. In a flash, he closed the distance between them.
Lulune panicked and directly thrust her dagger forward.
She thought her attacker was moving too recklessly and was just going to impale himself on her blade.
A brief look of joy flashed across her face.
However, that joy instantly turned to shock.
Noah violently smacked her wrist, deflecting her blade.
The heavy strike made her entire arm go numb, forcing her to drop the weapon.
"Oh no!"
Noah grabbed the Cianthrope girl by the collar, pinched her numb wrist and easily lifted her completely off the ground.
"Ahhhhh!" Lulune let out a series of panicked screams.
But then, while still hanging in mid-air, her screams suddenly turned into a cold laugh.
Even though she was dangling awkwardly, she quickly pulled out a hidden throwing knife and perfectly sliced a thin rope hidden in the dark tree branches above them.
Snap!
With the trap cord cut, a sharp arrow shot out of the shadows, flying at extreme speed right toward Noah's ribs.
If it hit, the arrow would have easily pierced his stomach.
However, Noah simply ignored it.
He pumped his mana into his coat, instantly turning on the Anti-Barrier built into his clothing.
The moment the arrow hit his side, the metal arrowhead shattered into pieces against the invisible shield.
It failed to even scratch him.
"What?! How is that possible?!"
While Lulune was still staring in shock, Noah slammed her hard into the dirt.
The heavy impact knocked the wind completely out of her lungs, leaving her gasping for air.
Noah reached down to grab the Grimoire strapped to her back, but he froze the second he bent over.
Almost at the exact same time, a cold, sharp blade sliced right past his throat, missing his skin by just a millimeter.
Lulune did a quick backflip to get back on her feet, breathing heavily.
Right where she had just been lying, an empty glass potion bottle sat in the dirt.
Seeing the empty bottle, Noah realized what had happened.
Knowing she was going to get slammed into the ground, she must have uncorked a healing potion and held it in her mouth beforehand.
The moment she hit the dirt, she swallowed it, instantly healing her injuries so she could launch a surprise counterattack.
Between her hidden traps in the trees and her clever potion trick, it was clear that she was a highly experienced fighter.
Even though Noah was much stronger, her street-smart tactics made them seem evenly matched.
Of course, that was mostly because Noah was not using his full strength.
He had only been using the half-baked fighting moves he had copied from watching other adventurers.
'Alright. Let's get serious.' Noah reached behind his back, pretending to pull a weapon from his belt.
In reality, he quietly released the [+3 Excellent Iron Sword] from his storage ring.
Because the sword was made using slime technology, he could easily shrink it down and carry it as a hidden backup weapon.
Seeing Noah suddenly pull a longsword out of nowhere, Lulune's face instantly turned pale.
Every experienced adventurer knew what a massive difference a good weapon made in a fight.
'Good, she is being cautious now... time for a surprise attack.'
Gripping the iron sword tightly, Noah charged forward.
At the same time, he fully activated his Truth Seeker skill to scan the area.
Not noticing the trap hidden in the trees earlier was a careless mistake—one he could have easily avoided if he had been paying attention.
Lulune suddenly ripped off her leather gloves.
Strapped to her forearm was a hidden mechanical crossbow!
Click!
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Five sharp sounds cut through the air as Lulune fired a volley of pitch-black arrows.
The arrows blended perfectly with the dark forest, not reflecting a single drop of moonlight as they shot toward Noah's chest.
Noah simply opened his free hand.
In the next second, blinding firelight lit up the entire forest.
A massive fireball exploded from his palm, instantly burning the hidden arrows to ash.
The explosive shockwave slammed into Lulune, blasting her off her feet and throwing her hard against a large tree.
"...You got careless the second you saw my sword," Noah muttered, walking over to her. "You focused so much on the physical weapon that you completely forgot your opponent might use magic."
The unconscious Lulune could not hear him.
Noah bent down and pulled the heavy, wrapped book off the girl's back.
He used his Truthseeker skill on it.
[Ancient Grimoire] (Highest Grade) > * Creator: ???
Previous Owners: ???, Lulune Louie, Zeus, Erebus, Hermes.
Effect 1: Has a high chance to grant the reader new magic slots upon discovering a spell (Maximum of three slots).
Effect 2: Reading it will guarantee the discovery of a magic spell directly related to the user's deepest desires.
Effect 3: Greatly enhances natural magic aptitude (Increases the chance of discovering future skills or evolving current ones).
Restriction: Cannot be opened without chanting the correct incantation.
Incantation: Darkness has overflowed from the cup, breaking the bonds. My great sin is unforgivable. Mother, please forgive my foolishness. By your offspring, bring down a miracle.
'This is... a Grimoire?'
Reading the Appraisal details, Noah realized the book in his hands was no ordinary Grimoire.
Even the legendary gods like Zeus and Erebus had owned it at some point!
But, probably because none of them knew the book's secret rule, none of them had ever been able to open it.
A magic book that requires a secret password just to open the cover.
'Well, well, well. Hermes had really played everyone for fools.'
'Selling a Grimoire on the black market that the buyer could not even open—that was a brilliant scam.'
'That was the true definition of dirty money.'
'Too bad for him,' Noah smirked.
'This time, I am the one holding all the cards!'
Thanks to his Truth Seeker skill, he had just instantly learned the secret password needed to open the ultimate magic book!