Fenris memorized a lot of basic and intermediate-rank spells after nearly a year of training under Rifa. To help Fenris familiarize himself with magic in combat, Rifa made him fight live monsters during his training. In celebration of his 10th birthday, and with Marcos' permission, Fenris and Rifa explored beyond the countryside plains into Jura Forest. This forest was nicknamed the 'Forest of Monsters' due to its abundance of enemies that adventurers often slaughtered.
As its name implies, the Jura Forest was a mountainous forest covered in trees. The forest becomes more jungle-like as you progress, with more dangerous enemies lurking around every corner, attacking anyone they see as prey. Due to Adventurers, the outer areas have been depopulated. The inner part of the forest, however, has hardly been explored because few people return alive. Almost no one but the foolish or strong venture into the deep forest, since only the strong and foolish survive there.
The challenge here was to slaughter monsters and help Fenris get comfortable with amore fast-paced magic use. He and Rifa encountered enemies together, such as goblins, wolves, etc. Rifa had explored the deeper parts of the forest before, but only with a party because she knew going alone was foolish. She and Fenris combined were able to handle themselves easily, and the thrill of combat left them losing track of time.
"Man, these enemies are getting tougher to beat!" Fenris said, as he noted the increasing intensity of the monsters they were fighting. He was concerned, but with Rifa by his side, who was a pro at this, he didn't have much reason to falter. "How are you holding up, Rifa? Are you feeling tired yet?"
"Nope," Rifa replied. She sweated a bit though, due to exerting herself in the last couple battles. "I'm feeling great! As a former adventurer, a battle mage at that...battling enemies, whether they are beasts or humans has always given me a certain...thrill." Rifa added, not showing the concern that Fenris had with the increasing intensity of the enemies they were facing.
"What enemies did you say were present in the forest again? I feel like we've battled so many that I've lost count!" Fenris said, with an uplifted eyebrow. He had no idea how far they were in the forest. However, he could tell that they were deep enough that sunlight barely penetrated the leaves anymore.
"So this was what she meant by 'jungle-like'? I see now that she wasn't kidding. I can't tell if it's really getting dark or if it's the thickness of the forest." Fenris thought to himself. Whether it was the thickness of the trees or it was getting dark outside, it became increasingly difficult to see over time. This added to Fenris' worries as he was afraid of sudden attack.
Unfortunately, his fears became true. As if his mind had jinxed him, a group of Orcs were coming in his and Rifa's direction. Fenris felt a terrible sensation in his gut which alerted him immediately that he was about to get attacked.
"Rifa..." Fenris said, getting closer to her and bracing her in his arms.
"...?" Rifa looked at him startled by Fenris suddenly grabbing her.
"Run!" Fenris shouted at the last second. From behind them, Orcs leapt into the air with their axes, preparing to strike them both and decapitate them. Fenris used magic to jump away from the immediate danger in spite of whatever Rifa's wishes were at the moment.
As the Orcs landed and missed their targets, they caused a medium-sized crater in the ground which shook the surroundings a bit. This indicated that they faced much stronger enemies than before. Fenris got up on his feet, carrying Rifa on his back and propping her up to stand.
"Oh god, we're going to be fighting Orcs?! Just my luck..." Fenris said to himself, turning to Rifa as if he was pleading to her for help.
Rifa came to her senses, as she saw the danger in front of them. While surprised that she and Fenris were facing such powerful enemies unprepared, she had to keep calm and face them head on. This was if they wanted to survive.
"Fenris, welcome to your first real challenge in the forest. Though, it came a bit sooner than I would've liked..." Rifa said, nervously chuckling even if it was out of place for the situation they were in.
"Sooner...?! Ugh, never mind that now. Let's defeat these guys before they kill us here!" Fenris exclaimed with determination. He clenched his fist, ready to use his magical abilities in earnest.
There had to be at least 6 Orcs there, so Fenris dashed forward with a minimal amount of mana concentrated in his feet, allowing him a burst of speed. He quickly closed the distance between him and the Orcs and launched a volley of wind blades at one of them. Fenris' wind blades could easily slice through flesh, stone, and wood, so slicing through thicker flesh shouldn't have been a problem.
Rifa, meanwhile, used fire magic to ignite one of the Orcs by snapping her fingers. This particular spell required good control over your magic, otherwise you could backfire and light yourself or an ally on fire. The orc was successfully ignited, screaming from the pain of being burned to death as the flames burned away at its flesh.
The remaining Orcs attacked Rifa and Fenris, running forward at them with their battle axes, swinging downward to split them in half. Fenris and Rifa narrowly avoided this by leaping out of the way. While in mid-air, Fenris fired another wind blade directed at the Orc's head, slicing it in two.
When the two landed, they smiled at one another as they stood side-by-side fighting against the remaining 3 Orcs still standing, yet undeterred.
"Typical for Orcs. They are incredibly strong brutes, but other than that, they aren't very smart." Rifa briefly commented, feeding Fenris a bit of information about them.
"Yeah, I think I've got a pretty clear idea of their strength..." Fenris replied, looking over at the crater the Orcs had created where he and Rifa originally stood.
Fenris had a plan. Once the Orcs got close enough to them to swing their weapons, Fenris unleashed his Light magic on them. He produced a bright light from his hand that blinded the Orcs, leaving them temporarily incapacitated. This led to them dropping their weapons, allowing Fenris to attack them.
Using magic, Fenris jumped into the air, roughly 3 meters, up to the level of the Orc's head. He did a spin-kick into the Orc's face. The kick sent the Orc back a few feet while damaging it. Next, he launched a punch into the Orc's abdomen, causing it to crash to the ground.
The other Orcs were brought down by it, but they could still fight. Fenris and Rifa finished them off together. Fenris was visibly panting, because he had exerted himself so much in battle in such a short time.
"Wow...I'm exhausted from that." Fenris said, taking deep breaths between sentences. "Care to call it a day? I think we have done more than enough fighting for one day." Fenris added, hoping Rifa was on the same page.
"Yeah, we can call it a day." Rifa replied, looking around at all the Orcs they just killed.
Fenris was happy to finally call it a day after battling monsters for hours. He was physically exhausted, as he had exerted himself so much without rest. The two headed home with Rifa using magic to make herself and Fenris fly, allowing them to head home safely.
By the time they got back, it was already nighttime. Marcos scolded both Rifa and Fenris for coming back so late, as he was worried sick for Fenris' safety. The two would continue venturing into the forest every time that they were together and continued to fight the various monsters that existed within Jura Forest.