In a well-protected and dark room in the village known as the light of Julius, this medium to small village in the southern region of the kingdom is named after Saint Julius of the church of the god Nanto who purified the evil of this region legend says that before Saint Julius purify and destroy the evil of this region the plain where the village stands or the forests near it was a swamp of terrible death that grew like a magical beast that aimed to corrode all life that approached it.
It is said that the forest near the village that provides enough food and herbs for the village to sustain itself is a gift from the saint and the small swamp that connects to the other side of the forest is a remnant of the swamp of death that dominated this entire area.
This village has a secret army base because of the mana stability of the area, this is also a reason for the army to 'help' the village not need to grow any more.
Areas like this are uncommon but not really rare in reality to many places like king city which is an aria with stable mana even having a large number of usual mana and rune matrices that disturb the mana in the air, but this is achieved by huge expenditure of resources and manpower.
Few mages spend their time on non-attribute spells for the purpose of stabilizing an area's mana, as an area like this village allows a displacement matrix to be used easily and more safely it's natural for the realm to want to preserve these natural properties of the land. region that allows the army to save a good amount of funds.
The more mana movement in an area, the more chaotic the region's mana becomes, which can also cause a lot of problems for mages living in the area. I found it really interesting that Ana believes the reason this place is an extremely stable mana area that basically doesn't need any maintenance and created because of the magic or holy miracle that Saint Julius created here in the past.
I highly doubt this is true, but who am I to say that she is wrong and that the divine power of a saint can create a region that will have very stable mana for generations.
"I just got a new urgent mission boys and girls, but for your joy we won't have to use a matrix and run around for days to get to our destination. A few hours ago, what was left of a patrol unit from that base arrived in a deplorable state, according to the soldier who was well aware and coherent after losing an eye and price during the attack of an unknown magical beast, we have problems here."
"Unknown magical beast? Did the soldier fail to see the magical beast that attacked them or was it very unusual?"
"Both, Tania. According to the soldier they were attacked by a large magical beast with a body close to that of a large humanoid, the beast's black fur and speed meant that he couldn't get a good view when the beast ripped off his arm, but his eye was being pierced by a piece of bone when he turned to the beast, so it is not right to expect him to have more information about the obviously strong magical beast."
"But after analyzing the other wounds inflicted on him as well as the other two survivors, I came to the conclusion that more than one magical beast, several minor wounds were inflicted by small claws. I believe that after the three survivors are awake, we will hear the report of lesser beasts following the brute who tore off the gray core warrior's arm like it was nothing."
"So, are we going to hunt down a pack of primate-type magical beasts? From your description they seem to be some kind of ape or something."
"Perhaps apparently they are covered in fur so it is very likely that we will hunt primates which is always problematic. This kind of magic beast with humanoid characteristics can set traps and ambushes more easily, obviously I will be responsible for dealing with the leader of this pack, I highly doubt he is a level four magic beast."
"The biggest problem is the number of beasts that can exist in the forest, this type of magical beast tends to form large packs, but why did this case become a quest? I'm not saying the rangers should be avenged, but this is really a mission for our level isn't it just necessary to send some patrols to exterminate them?"
"Do you think your time is too precious to be spent on small tasks, Luke? Never repeat a stupid question like that again, with a stupid comment like that you would not only reveal that you are a noble idiot but would infuriate most soldiers in the realm."
"Are you should have already learned not to underestimate a mission? This will end up being the reason for your death when your luck runs out, this is no ordinary quest. There is a very important reason why this patrol unit is in the forest to be attacked by magic beasts, it has been a few months since some townspeople started to disappear suspiciously."
"In the fourth victim, the residents of the city realized that something was wrong, a bunch of clueless idiots. People do not rush into the air because something good is happening to them, especially when the second victim was a child who was playing near the forest, when soldiers were alerted to this event nine people had already disappeared."
"And only when the tenth person who was a child disappeared did the soldiers realize that most of the victims were in the forest, the soldiers thought it was some predator new to the forest or that it had made its nest near the edge of the forest."
"With the information that the patrol has provided, we know that this case of missing persons is much more serious than you can imagine, a band of magical beasts like these primates would not silence humans without any special reason. That number of people wouldn't have been food for so many magical beasts, if they really were short of food, they would have killed a lot more people and wouldn't have taken barely fit children to feed their leader during a meal."
"That means there's another reason they're capturing humans and not one of the possibilities is good for anyone. We cannot have a possible nest of magical beasts going out of control and killing the villagers where a secret army base is located."
"But now we know that magic beasts aren't weak or simple to deal with, we're leaving tomorrow morning as it would be stupid to invade the magic beasts' territory at night. Get your gear ready, let's go out before the sun rises as usual and eliminate all the magic beasts before nightfall."
When the rest of the team left the room to enjoy the last few hours before having to go hunting the magical beasts, I was left behind.
"What's the matter, Ulric?"
"Do you really think that magical beasts are easy to deal with or that they are primates?"
"Do you think it's something different?"
"Maybe the fact that they are kidnapping victims who are walking near the forest is bothering me a lot. Normal magical beasts of this level don't have the intelligence to do this and those that do are not normal and only do it because it has a greater and worse purpose than simply getting a different snack for a change."
"You're right, but without stronger evidence it's impossible to determine what kind of magical beast they are. So, the only thing I can tell the team that they shouldn't relax during the mission, what kind of magical beast do you think is in the forest."
"I don't know, but considering she probably came from that swamp that a source of trouble for the region this group of magical beasts isn't normal. I am very afraid that they have the ability to strengthen themselves by eating human flesh, this type of magical beast tends to have large growth spurts when they consume human flesh for the first time."
"With the number of victims, I wouldn't be surprised if the entire pack has already consumed enough human flesh to have had its first evolution or enhancement. In the worst case they may even develop elemental affinities equal to their victim. How many patrol soldiers have not returned?"
"Five, and that can be a big source of trouble if they're the kind of magic beast that only gets stronger by eating human flesh, but if that's the real kind of magic beast in the forest I can still deal with their leader, Ulric. Even after he feeds on soldiers and gets close or manages to evolve to level four, as you may know this type of magical beast goes through a period of weakness when it changes levels, so luck might be on our side this time."
"True, but I'm still not comfortable. Do you have any weapons or magical tools available that can help us against this type of enemy? The artisans of the realm seem to have created a whole line of different magic tools."
"Nothing comes to my mind without knowing more about the magic beast, the best option is to apply for a portion of poison, but to do that we would have to have more information about the magic beasts and we would have to wait for the poison to be sent here. Depending on the type of poison it is quite difficult to get a dose of them to use."
"I intend, I will go prepare my equipment."
"Don't even take an explosive that releases a lot of flames."
"I know."