Quiet dark forest, where rays of light peek through the gaps of leaves, brightening the forest enough for a person to see the surrounding.
The footsteps of four people reverberated. A bald man with his long sword hanging on his back, an overworked person with two small axes on his back, a kid who has a dagger and a bag on his back, and finally Allen, who don't have anything but clothes on his body.
Ackerley the bald man looked behind. "We are going to hunt ten Tier 4 Komodian. They are fierce and dangerous. So, only three of us aren't enough for this quest. So, thanks for joining." He said with a little bit of gratitude in his voice.
"Oh." Allen was indifferent. He didn't care about the reason at all.
"Also, we are going deeper inside the forest, so there is a risk of encountering a much stronger monster, so glad to have you here."
Both of them chatted, but not for too long. Allen was an introvert, so communication wasn't his stronghold.
As they walked deeper inside, the light decreased due to the party of trees that are covering the whole sky with their leaves. And their density is too much, making Allen want to cut all of them down and go on a rampage.
But he can't do that unless he wants to get strangled by the branches of trees and a horde of monsters chasing him.
With the dead silence on the way, they reached deeper inside and found five tier 3 monsters laying on the ground, sleeping.
"Shh!" Ackerley stopped on his track. He point at the tier 3 monster and whispered at the trio.
"Let's kill them quietly. Donyoku on the left, I will kill the right one. Allen just finishes any one of them."
Instructing the command, Ackerley took out his long sword. Donyoku also equipped his two axes. The boy known as Raul stayed behind since he can't do anything to those monsters.
"Ok." They nodded and looked fiercely at the monsters.
Ackerley took the lead, Donyoku followed him and Allen stayed with Raul raising his hands to cast a spell.
Ackerley nodded and raised his hand to make out a go sign. With this signal, both of them jumped at each monster and stabbed them. The sharpness of the sword with Ackerley's strength was enough to pierce the monster's defense, killing it with one strike.
Donyoku stabbed both of his axes at the head of the monster, directly piercing the brain of the monster.
On the other hand, Allen used a killing ray. The thin red ray of sharp light zoomed at one of the tier 3 monsters penetrating its head defense and exiting from its opposite side. One-hit KO.
Again, Allen used Energy Blast. The ball of energy exploded near two tiers 3 monsters. The force tossed both of the monsters 2 meters away. They vomited mouthfuls of blood.
Before the monsters could stand, two balls of fire burnt them. The smell of burning meat drifted in the air, the defense crumbled and the skin burnt until it turned crispy black.
The monsters couldn't withstand the pain coupled with the previous attack, they died without effort.
Donyoku and Ackerley both were stunned. They didn't imagine a tier 3 mage can kill their tier 3 monster with this ease. They both could kill one or two tier 3 monsters but it would still be a little risk. But Allen killed three of these monsters without even going near them.
Swordsman and Warrior are both close combat classes, so they were jealous of Allen's skills.
"You are quite powerful, lad." Ackerley praised.
"No, it's nothing." Allen smiled.
"Don't be modest. I heard mages are powerful but I didn't expect them to be this powerful."
...
Allen didn't respond making the atmosphere a little awkward.
Ackerley sighed and ordered Raul to cut these monsters and put them inside the backpack.
It took some minutes to put all of the meat, skin, and core inside the backpack. After that, they continued their journey.
After walking for ten minutes, they encountered two Komodian. The monsters were walking around with their two legs. The two hands were used in carrying the meat of Tier 3. Their height was 2 times greater than that of an average man reaching up to 9 to 11 feet.
Their stomach had a pocket that was filled with fruits and other items. A body of a human was also in the pouch.
From their appearance, Allen thought that they were similar to kangaroos. But more fierce, bigger, and strong.
"Get ready, They are quite powerful," Ackerley warned and took his stance. Donyoku followed his lead, the boy ran behind taking a cover at the tree so as not to be a burden.
Allen stood behind and raised his arm casting pyroblast. Two balls of fire hovered around Allen before charging at the Komodian.
Following the fireball, the two mercenaries jumped at the Komodian. As the fireball exploded, the two Komodian jumped back. They were quick and only suffered some minor injuries.
Suddenly, a swing of sword hit one Komodian, its defense was tough. So, it didn't pierce its skin but give it a little damage.
On its left, another Komodian was attacked by the axes. It was a sneak attack, so the komodian suffered some damage, but with its tough defense, it wasn't serious.
Both Komodian again jumped back. Their jumping was too high, as it reached 5 feet above the ground. They created some distance between the humans, only to get shot by two more fireballs and an energy blast.
The fire burnt them a little, and the energy blast threw them back.
Roar!
Komodian roared with fury. They glared at the humans intending to chew them. Their eyes turned red, and their whole body covered with a red aura.
They both jumped back, however this time, their jump reached 12 feet above the sky. They landed at Allen.
Allen immediately felt the danger and used Quick Speed. He ran from there, but the quick speed was still difficult to handle, so he barely managed to balance himself and didn't fall to the ground.
Boom! Thud!
As they landed at the place where Allen previously was, the whole land crumbled before them. A pit of 2 feet deep formed, and the impact of the land created a huge shockwave throwing Ackerley and Donyoku.
They both fell to the ground and suffered some damage but fortunately, they were far from the Komodian so, they only suffered small damage. Otherwise, they could have died.
Cold sweat dripped from Allen's neck, it was his first time facing Tier 4 monster. He took a deep breath and cast:
"Blessing. Minor Curse."
*******To Be Continued*********