Between the road connecting Ladylake, the capital of Valia Kingdom, and Fort Forenza, there was a grassy plain famous for its breeding ground of monster called Valiant Bull. Conquering this monster often be used as a symbol of courage in the coming of age ceremony of Valian men. But once a year, this plain got a sudden increase of human visitors, searching not a glory, but a delicacy.
There was another monster that lived in symbiosis with the Valiant Bull.
This weak monster had been hunted for centuries by the human, almost left to extinction, because of its unique texture and flavor. Many attempts to breed them had failed. In the end, only a small portion of them which were living on this plain managed to survive.
To avoid excessive hunting that would lead to its extinction, strict regulations have been implemented by the Valia Kingdom. People would be severely punished if they were found out hunting this monster outside the harvest time that only lasted for ten days.
And today was the last day.
Three youths, a young guy with dark skin and white silvery hair, a girl with jet black hair and purple eyes, and a petite girl with brown hair and hazel eyes, had walked around the place for half a day, trying to find this creature.
"Ahh, Purple sis! There is one there!"
"Where?! I don't see it!"
"It's hiding behind the Valiant Bull's mane! Oh no, run! The bull spot us!"
The silver hair guy pulled his sword and accelerated. He fastened his grip on the sword before swinging it, turning his body 180 degrees, and killed the bull with a slash. The blood splattered everywhere, inviting smaller monsters nearby.
"Hyaa! Gory!" The purple eyes girl closed her eyes, to avoid seeing such scene.
It was the third time she had seen this today, but she wasn't used to it yet. The girl, whose biggest achievement on killing until now was smacking a cockroach while screaming, still had a long way to go.
"Don't close your eyes! The Slime Jelly is escaping!" Said the other girl.
The older girl forced herself to open her eyes.
"Watch out, Mirra, a Caterpillar Snake behind you!"
"Gyaaaaa!"
The black hair girl lifted her hand and shouted, "Ice breath!"
A freezing wind blew enveloping the Caterpillar Snake, and shortly after, it froze on the spot.
"Thank you, purple sis! That snake is really disgusting! I can't stand looking its hairy body."
"Haha..."
Rena gave a weak laugh before realizing that Senka had dashed, chasing the escaping Slime Jelly, leaving the two there.
"Senka! Wait!"
She followed Senka, Mirra tailing behind her. The girls couldn't keep up with Senka's speed and he got further away.
Back to two days ago, Frei must stay in Fort Forenza for a few days to settle the problem with the Merchant Guild. The Kingdom had issued that he couldn't leave Valia until he was proven clear, although the guards who inspected the ship, the documents, and the permits couldn't find any problem with him.
The morning after Rena finished making the recovery potion, she learned Jean was going to return to the capital. He took her with Frei's permission, teaching her new magic spells on the way to the capital. The trip took one and a half day by carriage.
At first, Mirra and Senka were surprised learning that Rena could do magic, especially Mirra, but soon they accepted it. They swore not to leak the secret to outsiders under Jean's binding magic.
After learning that Senka was looking for Slime Jelly, Jean told him to catch the monster around the area. He doubted he could buy them in the capital. The price would be inflated because the harvest time this year came at the same time when they held a tournament. Many nobles would demand a lot of supplies. Jean thought it would be a good opportunity for her practicing the spells and dropped her and Senka around the area, with Mirra following them.
Right now, the trio was looking for the Slime Jelly and killing other monsters that were approaching them. So far, they only managed to catch one Slime Jelly.
"I never thought catching a Slime Jelly would be this hard! They are so slippery!" Mirra said while running.
They ran to the area which had less tall grass and spot Senka had slain another bull there.
"Where's that wobbly wobbly go?!"
Senka shook his head, telling them that he lost it.
"Aarrrgh! It's so frustrating!" Mirra kicked a small rock on the ground, it launched into the air making a curve trajectory. And it hit something dull.
The next second, a monster's howl filling the air. "Moooooo!!"
[Challenger!]
Rena flinched when she heard a voice inside her head. She had heard these voices inside her head several times today. Honestly, it creeped her out. She wanted to leave this grassy plain soon.
From behind the tall grass, another bull came. Compared to the bulls on earth, Valiant Bulls were slightly bigger. Their notable characteristics were the males had a mane like a lion, and both males and females had a pair of horns on their head. However, the bull that just appeared was the biggest they had seen so far. It was as big as an elephant with its horn curved outward, ready to stab its enemy.
"Crap, it's an alpha! It's biggg!" Mirra shouted.
Its brown skin turning red, another characteristic of the Valiant Bull when it got provoked. The rock she kicked before perfectly landed on the alpha's head.
"Oh, no, we're surrounded!" Rena shouted.
Since it was an alpha, there was the herd nearby, at least thirty angry Valiant Bulls appeared and started surrounding them. Seeing the alpha pawed the ground, Senka blocked its path toward the girls. He made a low stance, ready to strike.
The bull charged. With a swift movement, he dodged the bull, and at the same time, using the momentum, counterattacking. The edge of his sword touched its neck and with a single slash, the bull's head flying.
And the grass, once again, dyed in red.
But it wasn't done yet, a Valiant Bull was an aggressive monster when it was provoked, it never ran away. Seeing the alpha was defeated, the herds didn't escape, they charged toward the party.
"Fireball!" Rena shouted.
A ball of fire as big as a basketball hit one of the bulls. The bull's body thrown backward receiving such force and stopped moving.
Mirra jumped high, her body leaped in the air and she threw several knives to the bulls that ran in her direction. She landed on the ground next to Rena.
"Tch, I can't kill them with only knives."
"That's amazing, Mirra. How could you jump that high?"
"It's all thanks to the bracelet I got from Erme. But, really, who would have expected that you can do magic if you could do this that night..." Her tone carrying a hint of regret.
"I wish I could too. Mirra, let's run!"
Rena pulled Mirra's hand avoiding a Valiant Bull that was coming to them, running as fast as she could.
"Sis, can you cast a bigger Fireball?!"
"I'm still practicing! I don't want us to be victims of my spell!"
An image of a long hair guy flashed in her mind.
(That guy is truly devil incarnation, how could he call this practicing?!)
Because of the bulls, they couldn't get close to Senka who was in the middle of all the attacks.
"What should we do?"
Rena watched Senka moved like a lightning, killing each of them with just a single slash. Senka's moves were precise and sharp, combined with the strength and speed he had, his movement was like a deadly dance.
"Leave that guy alone, he can handle it just fine. Just think about us right now! Geez, that sneaky wobbly wobbly, it lured us to a horde of bulls!"
Three red Valiant Bulls were chasing Rena and Mirra.
"Fireball!" She cast the spell while running, it missed the target.
Mirra threw a knife and hit the Valiant Bull's eye, but it left no impact. The three bulls were only getting closer to them. Right at that moment, a shadow passed them. Rena heard the swooshing sound of a sword being swung and a crashing sound right after that. She turned her head.
Behind her back, the three bulls had been defeated with only a single swing of a sword, their bodies crashed on the big rock nearby. The girls stopped running.
A big muscular man stood there, almost two meters tall with a flaring red hair, carrying a giant sword.
He turned around, facing Rena and Mirra. He looked somewhat in his late 40s, with visible scars lurking on the skin which not covered by his clothes. The only armor to shield his body was a breastplate, to protect his chest.
"Are you alright, girls?" His voice was deep and strong.
"Yea-Yeah, thank you, mister." Rena thanked him.
"It's my job to protect ladies." He gave her a wide smile.
The guy guarded the girls from the charging bulls while Senka kept slaying the horde of bulls in the area. After a few minutes, there was only a picture of a massacre with one man stood on the pile of dead Valiant Bulls.
They must quickly move from this place before a parade of smaller monsters came, being attracted by the smell of blood. They needed to find Slime Jelly again later.
Decided it was time to take a break, the trio walked around the area trying to find a good resting place.
The big man approached Senka, talking to him. "Lad, you're pretty good! I've never seen you around here, are you new?"
Senka stepped backward and gave him a suspicious look.
Looking at his expression, Rena spoke up. "Uhm, sorry. Senka can't talk..."
"Heh... Oh, well." He brushed it off lightly.
Ignoring Senka's reluctance, he approached Senka and tapped his back multiple times. "It's been quite a while I saw a young lad who could kill a horde of Valiant Bulls with a single slash! Are you an adventurer?"
He put his hand on Senka's shoulder, like they were familiar to each other. The latter started getting annoyed.
"No, he is not. We're just on our way to the capital."
"If you aren't adventurers, mind to tell me what are you doing here?"
"Well, we're trying to catch Slime Jelly by request of someone..."
"I see, I see." He nodded, rubbing his chin.
And then he turned to Senka. "You shouldn't let two young girls who can't fight walk around this area."
Senka glared at the man, clenching his fists. Not only he was overfamiliar to him, he started lecturing him as well.
"What a temper." The man grinned, throwing him a challenging look.
Before two guys who could easily kill Valiant Bulls fought with each other, Rena meddled with the situation.
"Once again, thank you for your help! As you said, we're going to leave this place soon!"
"Wait, my name is Baudric, an adventurer. May I know your name?"
"I'm Serena... He is Senka, and she is Mirra."
Senka ignored the guy completely, while Mirra only nodded.
"Alright, we're friends now! Let me show you a good place to rest around here!"
"Huh?"
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