In the middle of the barren demon territory wilderness, absent of any vegetation, Gawain tried to regain his breath and swung his sword. Gawain’s opponent was a large rhino demon called a collabulgon. It had the body of a rhinoceros and was more than 5 meters tall.

  Gawain slashed at the black collabulgon’s horn but wasn’t able to cut it off. Despite only leaving a scratch, the collabulgon became furious at the damage on its big, tough horn. He shook his head wildly, striking powerfully at Gawain.

  "Keup!" Gawain tried to reduce the impact as much as possible with his sword, but the collabulgon’s strength sent him flying. Swinging his sword widely in the air and turning his body, Gawain looked for a place to land.

  Unfortunately, another collabulgon was rushing towards him in the direction that Gawain was flying towards. It was evident that if this continued, he would be hit by the collabulgon’s horn before landing on the ground and wouldn’t be able to avoid immediate death.

  As Gawain’s body gradually fell and approached the collabulgon, Gawain let out a strong shout and poured mana into his sword. Then he gave a powerful swing, released a huge amount of mana, and shot an aura blade [1]at the ground.

  Seeing the tremendous number of aura blades being suddenly shot towards it, the collabulgon tried to stop, but its weight and momentum prevented it from stopping where it wanted.

  The incoming aura blade accumulated damage and scratches on parts of the collabulgon’s horn as if it had been weathered by time. In addition, the left shoulder and front leg were covered with weak leather in comparison to the horn.

  As a result, it became blood-stained, and the white bones could even be seen on its thick leg.

  "Moo-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh!!” The collabulgon screamed in pain, and Gawain used the aura blade he shot towards the ground to twist his body in mid-air, landing on the back of the suffering collabulgon.

  From the top of the violently trembling back, Gawain concentrated on the sword aura and slashed the back of the collabulgon’s neck. With this deep gash on its neck, the collabulgon collapsed.

  Gawain jumped off the limp collabulgon’s back and checked his remaining mana. From now on, he could use his sword aura five times and the aura blade once before his mana was drained, and he collapsed from exhaustion.

  Realizing this possibility, Gawain smiled. "That’s enough."

  After Gawain landed on the ground, he immediately rushed to collabulgon, as it sent him flying through the air once more. The collabulgon was angry at the death of his friend and decided to charge at him.

  Five meters before Gawain and the collabulgon would collide, Gawain wrapped his sword in sword aura and swung it at the floor. He also jumped as if he was doing a pole vault.

  Despite seeing that Gawain was jumping over his head, the collabulgon was moving too fast to slow down.

  Gawain leaped into the air and shot two sword auras into the ground to create a cloud of dust. This was meant to block the collabulgon’s view and lower its movement speed.

  Landing behind the collabulgon’s butt, Gawain ran towards its head. Although it was moving wildly, it was not enough to make up for its obscured vision.

  After he arrived in a flash, Gawain cut off at the back of the collabulgon’s neck with his sword aura. The collabulgon rolled forward with the momentum from his charge as it lost its life.

  Gawain jumped sideways before the collabulgon’s large body could fall forward. The collabulgon continued rolling for a long time and made a cloud of dust.

  Gawain sat down and provided sweet rest to his nearly exhausted body. After a moment of time, the dust settled, and the collabulgon’s corpse could be seen lying on the ground.

  Gawain looked around disinterestedly and checked his condition. Gawain’s body didn’t have any major injuries and only bore slight bruises and small scratches from rolling on the floor.

  Despite the minor injuries from hunting thirteen large demons alone, Gawain was still depressed. This was because the blade of his mithril sword had become chipped from colliding with the collabulgon’s horn.

  Fortunately, his reserve sword was made out of the strongest metal, adamantium, and was still intact. However, to better suit Gawain’s skillful swordsmanship, the mithril that conducted mana was better than the hard adamantium.

  "Ohh, are you done with the hunt?" Asked Elder Mirpa as he walked from a distance. He was dragging a dragon corpse that was tens of meters long.

  Gawain stood up and answered, "Yes, it is over."

  Mirpa looked around Gawain and clicked his tongue, "Tch, you’ve mangled all the important parts."

  "I’m sorry. My skills were insufficient,” Gawain said, as he had no choice but to lower his head.

  This was because the dragon that Mirpa hunted had no wounds other than the killing blow. Considering that even a dozen collabulgons combined couldn’t handle a dragon, the gap between Mirpa and Gawain was clear.

  "It’s fine. It’s still very impressive considering your age. Besides, that kid Mac isn’t here. It can’t be helped since you can only display your full abilities alongside Mac."

  Mirpa’s words pierced Gawain’s heart. It was no different from saying that he couldn’t display his skills properly without Mac.

  He knew that he had always partly relied on Mac. And yet, without Mac, it felt as if he couldn’t muster even a quarter of his strength when he battled great demons.

  "Don’t be too hard on yourself. It’s all because of the way that old man Weger taught you. Well, to be honest, putting you with him helped you two grow faster, so I can’t say that it was necessarily wrong."

  Gawain and Mac were disciples who had trained under Elder Weger. Gawain was planning to take this opportunity to train himself to be able to show his skills even by himself.

  Having rested enough, Gawain got ready to move out and asked, "Do you think I can be Den’s opponent outside of the forest?”


  Mirpa thought for a little bit before replying, "By yourself, no, but if you team up with that kid, Mac, the chances are low, but I think it is possible.”


  "Is that so……"

  Seeing the somewhat disappointed look, Mirpa laughed, "Kkeul-kkeul-kkeul, but don’t you have an advantage inside the forest?"

  Mirpa said that Den caught a dragon when he was 12, but considering his personality and having seen his brothers before, he likely wasn’t just thrown in front of a dragon. The odds leaned greatly towards him digging all sorts of traps the day before, or even two days before, and then barely managing to capture it.

  That reality was something that both Doomstone and Gawain had guessed. However, no one paid attention to the fact that in the Crow Tribe, the wisdom of digging a trap was part of one’s power and ability.

  In the first place, there was no way he could catch a dragon even with traps if he didn’t have the strength to support it.

  "Den can’t use his power in the forest." Despite saying so, Gawain’s eyes were burning with triumph.

  Mirpa spoke to Gawain as he put the carcasses of the dragon and the collabulgons into his pocket space, "Even I’m not certain I can win against that brat, Den, outside of the forest. So, of course, it’s impossible for someone who isn’t even an adult such as yourself."

  Gawain swallowed, his mouth dry, "Is the difference that great?"

  "Yes, under the premise that magic would be allowed, the chance of me winning is high in a short-term battle. However, a long-term battle would be advantageous for that Den brat. The kid’s got a huge mana tank. As far as I know, even when compared with the Butterfly Tribe known for their naturally large mana capacity, he has a larger tank than even the crazy old man, the great elder of the Butterfly Tribe.”


  Simply put, Mirpa was above them in terms of magic level.

  It was only natural that the skills obtained through Mirpa’s teachings still did not reach Mirpa’s own level, which had been developed through many years of living and learning countless magic.

  Yet, fighting with magic was another story. This was because there were other factors that decided the outcome outside of just simple things, such as who prepared more and one’s current condition.

  Of course, inside Olympus forest, one’s level would determine the outcome. The Olympus forest was an environment that prevented intervention of external factors. Olympus was not a place called the Magician’s Hell for nothing.

  "I see,” Gawain mumbled bitterly, then continued as if he had thought of something suddenly.

  "Oh, Miss Orphina called to ask if we could stay where the imperial army is positioned for a few days until someone comes to replace her, as she is leaving in a few days.”


  Mirpa stroked his chin. “Orphina? That Dragon Tribe broad?”


  “Yes.”


  When Gawain nodded, Mirpa asked with a worried face, "Who’s coming along this time? Bloody? Or the Butterfly Tribe?"

  "They said it was someone named William, so I think the Butterfly Tribe."

  Mirpa looked at the imperial army camp in the distance with an interested gaze. "Really? Seems like someone who can communicate with us is coming this time. That Dragon broad is too closed up. Kkeul-kkeul-kkeul."

  At Mirpa’s laughter, Gawain asked, "What should we do?"

  Mirpa pointed above a large mountain. "What do you mean ‘what should we do’? The Chief is here, so we should follow Doomstone’s decision."

  Mirpa did not believe in Doomstone’s wisdom but definitely believed in Doomstone’s almighty instincts. Doomstone’s instincts were at a level of foresight that could be considered to have reached the field of magic.

  "By the way, it seems Father is running late."

  Mirpa laughed once again at Gawain, "Kkeul-kkeul-kkeul, he’s probably running late from facing five dragons at once. For him, it’s probably more difficult dragging the carcasses back than it is hunting them.”


  Dealing with the five dragons was something that Doomstone used to do easily in Olympus Forest. As such, there was no way it would be difficult to deal with five dragons when the restraints on mana were lifted outside of the forest.

  "Anyways, it’s almost that time. In a few days, the capital will be lively with the New Year’s Festival.”


  "Is the capital’s New Year’s Festival different from the New Year’s Festival in our village?"

  Gawain’s question made Mirpa recall some old memories. "Well, could I say it’s the same and different at the same time? Having fun and watching fights are the same."

  "Oh! Is that so?" Gawain’s eyes glittered like a grandson listening to his grandmother’s old story.

  Seeing such a sight, Mirpa told the story of his New Year’s Festival from the past like a kind grandmother. "Well, for the Crow Tribe, it’s probably boring, but there used to be a martial arts competition at the New Year’s Festival. When I was young, there were no such things as civil servants in the Empire, so I don’t know about now but at the time……”


  * * *

  "Achoo!" While in the midst of volunteer training for the martial arts competition, I suddenly sneezed. Who was talking about me?

  "Are you all right?"

  "Oh, I’m fine." I received the handkerchief that Flam handed over worriedly and blew my nose into while speaking.

  Paeng-!

  "Uh…… well, just keep it.”


  I laughed mischievously as I saw Flam looking at me with a wry smile. "Why, what’s wrong, aren’t we close?"

  "No, no matter how close you are, isn’t snot a little, you know."

  "What, what’s the matter? Here." I separated my snot-filled handkerchief that I had hidden under Flam’s handkerchief and returned Flam’s dry handkerchief.

  Flam received his handkerchief in amazement.

  1. Aura blade is a stronger manifestation of sword aura