The next day after resting at her mansion we went into the forest, we didn't take any of her guards with us because of the level of danger associated with this area. We have a ton of monsters to clear, but I am sure we will at least level up a good amount here. And maybe get some monster drops from it that we can sell to a guild.
The forest is dense, especially since we are going deep in, there are quite a few clearings but those are few and far between. Both I and the monsters are at a disadvantage here, since we have restricted mobility and fighting space, we began to look for those monsters, but it seems that we can't find them anywhere. I looked a lot but there was no trace of life around these parts.
!Try to look deeper into the forest, and note that monsters are still around they are just hiding from something, something that is more powerful than them!
"What will that something be?"- I asked Sia while looking around to see if I didn't miss a spot.
!A stronger monster. Currently, I detect demon mana in this whole area, you 2 should be careful. We might not know what we will stumble across.!
Walking through the forest made me anxious, Hana is cowering in fear due to the quietness of the forest, it's rare to see her in fear, but from what I know, she used to also spend a lot of time outdoors in the forests around the city we grew up in.
"It will be ok. If we can't find anything we will turn back, I don't know if we can even take on this threat in the first place"- I can hear someone running from behind us. That could be what the monsters are hiding from.
"Hello there. It's rare to see another one of my kind here. What brings you to these parts?"- Behind us stood a shorter man, he was wearing a blue cloak, and black pants and had his hair over his right eye, the most noticeable features were the 2 horns, bigger than mine that are found on his forehead.
"Well, we got a mission to exterminate some monsters, but we don't see any. Maybe it's your aura that scared them?"- He smiled and nodded. His expression isn't threatening at all.
"This area is monster-free, I have a small hut here. I hope the humans don't find me. It will be a mess if they do. How didn't any of you get caught until now? Do you live between humans? Especially after the whole resurrection of Goddess Ifrit. I am surprised you 2 found a way"- He looked at me and Hana, like a curious child. His smile never fades away but he is still cautious.
"Well, I have a primordial skill that allows me to shapeshift into a human, I can change other people or monsters as well"- I changed back to my demon form, well, it's not that different from my human form, I only have horns on my forehead, that's the difference.
"Primordial skill, that's impressive. Those are pretty rare. Well, more common among monsters but still rare even there. I only have a Legendary skill that allows me to disguise my presence, people are unable to see or sense me."- He sat on a nearby log, gently inviting us with his hand to have a seat.
"Well, I forgot to introduce myself. I am, well, I don't have a name, or I just forgot it. Demons here don't have names, I manage to evolve on my own a few times. Anyway, do you guys have names?"- He turned to look toward us. This question might seem weird, but he maybe was an orphan without a name or lived for so long that he forgot his name.
"Well, it's complicated. The 2 of us are monsters and have names but the catch is that we are reincarnations. My name is Hikaru Tanaka and she is Hana Tomura. I guess you know the deal about reincarnations and the summoning of the heroes right? It happened a few weeks before Goddess Ifrit revived"- He looked intrigued, like something piqued his interest. His eyebrows raised, looking at us with growing interest.
"Well, I do know about the 2 of you. You are the people that King Wieka kicked out. I remember some gossip about the 2 of you. I know about King Wieka and his plan, I know it earlier than you two, but looks like I have found the two most important people. The holder of the Demon Lord Sproutling."- The unknown man looked at us with a smile on his face, maybe he doesn't care about what happened to his kind, no, that would be too rude to assume things about him without knowing more first.
"Yes, that's us. Well, if you keeping the monsters at bay then it's good, we won't bother you and make sure that you are protected. One more thing, we want to level up and evolve as well, can you help us?"- He looked at us surprised.
"Yes, for sure I can. I just mask my aura again, monsters will be active again and you 2 can resume your mission and not raise any suspicion, very well."
We waited for 30 more minutes, we generally chatted with the guy, he is great when it seems to chat and stuff. But shortly after we heard rustling in the bushes.
Monsters were approaching us from all directions.
"Here it comes. Hope you 2 are ready for a fight!"- The man got in his fighting stance, and I got my shadow hands and tendrils ready to kill the monsters.
"Dodge to the left"- The man pointed toward me and I followed his command, I just dodged a rock thrown by a golem.
Hana got up close with her Katana to deal damage to the monsters that were coming in.
Up until now, despite the strength of the monsters Hana managed to slay around 4 of them on her own without my help.
I need to focus on supporting her from here.
I let my shadow tendrils slither across the ground and wrapped them around the feet of what monster I could to either trip, injure, or kill them.
The man just stares at us, his expression gives a strange air of satisfaction when looking toward us and the progress we are making at slaying monsters.
"Keep it up your two. If things get too hard I will chime in and help you two" – The man started to throw stones and wooden spears at the monsters, he threw them with such force that 1 hit was enough to kill them.
"Nice work there" – Hana complimented him while jumping back after parrying an attack.
"Help is always welcomed" – We continued to cull the monsters and kill as many as we could.
I think the battle lasted for 3 more hours after we managed to kill all of the monsters.
I almost depleted all of my magic by creating new shadow hands and shadow tendrils to support Hana.
!Notice: You are at level 39 and Hana is at level 29, you will need to gain 10 times more exp than normal to level up and evolve into the next evolution line for your race. I recommend proceeding with caution before you 2 evolve since you will be put in an evolutionary sleep before evolving!
"We gained that much exp? Well, fighting the monsters was just worth it"- I started a conversation over the telepathic network with Hana.
"Yes, I heard what Sia said, no need to repeat or say anything else Hikaru, I am tired as hell from all the fighting"- The 2 of us are resting on the ground exhausted. We are sitting back to back, the man is looking at us, the same smile plastered across his face.
"Well, it seems like my work is done here. I promise to keep monsters away, you 2 say nothing about me, ok?"- The man helped us get up.
"Sure, can we pay you for a job, we can give you money or good food if you do some work for us."- He turned and looked at me, he seemed interested in my offer.
"Well, I mostly want food and clothes, spare clothes to be precise. What is the job that needs to be done?"- He sat down again and looked at me and Hana. I don't know what to do, in the sense that I am bored as hell and tired right now from all that fighting.
"Well, we will level up to evolve, your role will be to defend us in the evolutionary sleep, make sure we aren't attacked by anyone or anything. I will give you clothes and food for this, a lot of clothes and food in fact"- I have enough money to buy a few pairs of decent clothes for him.
"Well, we shall make a contract then, you aren't a native demon so you aren't familiar with them. We are bound by it and can't cheat in any way. By that I mean if I try to deceive or kill you during the contract I will die, same with you if you don't hold up your side of the bargain. Give me a few seconds"- The man got a knife out and sliced his hand, blood flowing from his hand. I watched him get a piece of paper out of his pocket and started to smear it with his blood.
"So, that's how you make a contract? Seems painful"
"Put your hand here. Say, I, the master, accept the contract"
"I, the master, accept the contract!"- I reached out my hand to the bloodstained paper.
"The contract had been made. Come back to me when you want to evolve, and I will make sure that you evolve safely. Until next time!"
We left back to Kara's mansion, we gave her a short report, and we just said that we killed all of the monsters.
"Well, it took you long enough, if the monsters are all dead, then I don't have any more use for your services here. You can stay here a bit more and rest up for tomorrow and head out back in the morning"
We took on Lady Kara's offer and spent the night at her mansion, and then left first thing in the morning to get back to Fumiko.