32-1
"Near the twin waterfall you say?" I asked, I was currently in the adventure guild.
"Yes, according to Mark's report the monster was found near the Twin waterfall." Said the Receptionist on the counter.
"Any other information?" I asked.
"The monster has a seal marking." She said in an apathetic tone.
She was busy grinding the edge of her nails into shape with a nail file.
"And also the information that the monster is Hobgoblin. I never knew Hobgoblin could be so dangerous." She added.
She blew the dust off her nails and stretched both of her hands to look at her fingers. Maybe she was checking how the shape of her nails turned out to be.
"Good, near twin waterfall right?" I said as I placed the bag of money on her desk.
It was the payment for her information.
She rested her chin on her palm before saying "Kid, are you going to fight it?".
"Planning to do so," I replied.
"You will die."
"You think so?" I asked.
She chuckled "I won't stop you." She said,
She continued "I will give you one additional information, the threat level of the monster is near anywhere from S to A. we can only speculate the threat rank of the monster since most of the information about the monster is still unknown.
S ranks hunters are getting dispatched tomorrow so do whatever you want to do before tomorrow morning."
She looked at me with a cheeky smile.
"Witch," I said.
I had no particular reason to say it, but I felt like saying it.
I walked away towards the exit of the adventure guild.
"Good luck being a hero!!!" she shouted as if she was cheering for me.
I went away without looking back.
Her name was Rin.
32-2
I would never take a risk as big as fight an A-ranked monster if it's not S rank monster.
But this time it's different….
According to the report and what Mark said the monster looks just like a hobgoblin. But the power it had was unlike any hobgoblin.
It even had sealed marking, I didn't know monsters could have seal markings.
even thinking about it is terrifying.
There was a reason that he didn't kill mark, if that hobgoblin wanted to he could have easily killed Mark.
It left Mark alive to send a message.
No, calling it an invitation would be better.
I think I know what that hobgoblin is, and if my assumption turns out to be true then there is only one thing I need to do.
I need to take care of that hobgoblin myself.
I carried my sword on my back, the sword given by my dad.
Like my dad said, the sword did go from some changes. it was a long sword that emitted light blue radiance when it was given by my dad and after imprinting my blood into it.
It changed into a one-handed dull sword.
But somehow I love the feel of this sword. I don't feel like I am holding a sword, It feels more like an extension of myself when I am using it.
I walked into the forest heading towards the twin waterfall.
I swiftly traveled through the forest at a high speed from one tree to another.
The sky was already dark, it was night.
I left a note in the house saying that I won't be back tonight, I didn't want them to worry.
And of course, I lied saying that I was over at a friend's house. A sloppy lie if I was being honest, But I think it will work.
32-3
After traveling for a while I was at the Twin waterfall.
What stood in front of me was a sight of two majestic streams of the waterfall falling into the same pool of water.
The sound of water pounding over the rock was loud and overlapped any sound nearby.
The waterfall is split because of the huge rock obstructing a single stream of water and dividing it into two.
creating a magnificent twin waterfall.
But it will most probably become one, the pressure of water will eventually push the rock out the way.
I looked around and found nothing, not even a trace of any creatures nearby, and nor could I sense one.
It was weirder because I couldn't sense a single creature around me.
it felt like all the creatures were staying away from something.
I focused more on the surroundings to get a good picture of everything around me. I closed my eyes and started feeling mana around me.
This is one of the powers of the eyes of Minerva, I can sense any form of mana in my proximity.
Mana exists in everything.
In the grass under my feet, in the tree around me, in the ground below, and every living and nonliving thing.
By using this power I can sense every little thing around me by sensing their mana.
I still couldn't sense any creature around me.
I focused more to extend the area I was sensing, there were still no creatures I could sense.
Huh?
Why is there not a single trace of mana here?
There was a place with not a single trace of mana, more like I could sense a presence that was sucking on to mana around it, Like a black hole.
I went to check on the place where I sensed the presence.
There I found a creature sitting right in front of me…
It was a familiar presence….
A creature I have seen once before, but it looked different now.
The creature standing right in front of me was a hobgoblin….
An unusual hobgoblin I knew….
The same hobgoblin that I spared on our first encounter.
the same hobgoblin that stood by as I slaughtered its kind.
the same hobgoblin that ran away and now he is standing in front of me...
but this time there was no fear in his eyes, his eyes had flames of rage burning inside it.....