Atop a high stone, stood Sief, already donned in the leather armor the blacksmith had made, with a white Kujura resting on his arm, where the leather bracer was fastened. The assassin slipped a folded paper into the animal's pocket and then placed a copper coin.
The Kujura's eyes widened, and it turned towards Sief, tilting its body slightly, making the young man smile. Then, its wings opened, and the creature flew skyward, leaving Sief alone as he quickly pulled out a map and surveyed the scene before him.
There was a river nearby, the same one he had almost fallen into. It would be the path leading to the next territory. He lowered the map, sighing, revealing his face marked with some light injuries.
He glanced downward and noticed a slope, frowning slightly as he stretched, concluding.
"Touching the map enlarges the region you're in, focusing solely on the territory." He stretched again and recapped, "This applies to cities too, allowing a complete view... This map has more features than I thought. No wonder it's so expensive... I did give Mr. Tom a slight complaint for not telling me this, but I also apologized for not sending the message yesterday... I wonder where Edgar is, but I'd better hurry with this."
After stretching, he jumped off the stone and headed down the slope, feeling his feet slide as he slowly leaned toward the fall.
Gradually, his walking pace turned into a run. The ground neared his face quickly, but just as he was about to hit it, he leaped forward in a dive that allowed him to regain his footing and keep running.
He glanced at his legs and then at his arms, moving them slightly while running, noticing the subtle weight change caused by the iron bracer, though there was another feeling of strangeness.
Even though he didn't feel much difference, it was as if his body was lighter and faster.
Turning his gaze to the nearby river, the water seemed motionless due to his speed alongside it, as though he had finally warmed up.
'Maybe it's because I'm used to spending several days running. Taking a break and resting must have made a difference... I wonder if I've gotten rusty...'
As the sun slowly rose, before it reached its peak, Sief felt something wet touch his face, while the sunlight gradually dimmed.
Looking up, Sief saw heavy clouds covering the next territory, and glancing around, he noticed the river's flow gradually intensifying as the sparse vegetation turned a dark green.
In the distance, he saw that the dirt road veered away from the river and into a forest, making him narrow his eyes with a frown before finally sighing and concluding.
'Lodo Forest... and during a rainstorm, seems like my bad luck never ends...'
As he continued, the raindrops on his face gradually turned into a heavy downpour. The dirt road passed between trees, drenching his entire body with rain.
Sief frowned as he ran, feeling his clothes grow heavy from the water. Upon entering the forest, the surroundings grew darker due to the clouds, and the sound of dripping made it hard even to hear his own footsteps.
His vision was impaired, but he pressed on, and the forest's interior seemed increasingly dark.
However, as he focused his eyes, he caught glimpses of shapes in the distance that caught his attention but quickly disappeared behind trees, making him frown and think.
'The path was supposed to be clear of monsters... again?'
Looking ahead, Sief spotted something greenish leaning against a tree. It looked like part of the tree covered in moss, with a slight bulge beyond the bark, but it felt odd as he got closer.
When he reached its side, Sief kept his eyes fixed on the bulge, which, for a brief moment, seemed to turn towards him.
Sief's eyes widened as he saw it move. Suddenly, it lunged at his chest, but Sief jumped back, dodging the strike.
However, his feet landed off the dirt road, and he realized that beyond it, there was only mud. He frowned, watching the moss monster awkwardly charge toward him, letting out a raspy croak.
Sief quickly moved his foot but felt something grab it. Looking down, he saw another mossy figure rising from the mud, almost like a human form that had latched onto his leg.
The other moss monster approached, its arm already much larger than before. But with a swift movement, Sief grabbed the hilt of his dagger and slashed downward, slicing the moss creature in two.
In an instant, the creature's body hit the ground, and Sief freed his foot, lifting the other moss monster, which screeched but was quickly silenced by another strike that ended it in one blow.
Sief puffed out his chest and sighed, seeing the green-scaled dagger slightly stained with a yellow liquid that made him frown.
'These must be the weakest ones here, but still... I'm not sure if they're too weak or if this weapon is too good...'
He heard more screeches around him, the same monsters roaring as they called for others, allowing Sief to see more creatures emerging from the mud, some humanoid and others resembling animals.
Sief shook his blade, freeing it of the yellow liquid, and finally walked toward the monsters with a furrowed brow.
'I've wasted too much time... the safe route has monsters anyway, so I'll cut straight through.'
He lifted his feet, shaking them slightly, and with a brief jump, he began a sprint toward the emerging monsters.
Even though the mud hindered his usual movements, Sief charged at the sludge monsters at a speed they couldn't keep up with. Some leaped and lunged to stop him but were swiftly cut down by the dagger, felled in single strikes.
Gradually, a path of monster corpses formed behind Sief, who noticed his body felt much lighter. Despite the weight of the bracer still being a nuisance, his body responded much better than before.
'I'm not sure if it's the new weapons, the rest, the food, or if I've gotten stronger.' Sief gave a slight smile, slicing through a much larger moss monster. 'But it's not bad.'
As the monster's body hit the ground, Sief saw something leap from the trees at an alarming speed, but he quickly blocked the blow, hearing the metallic sound produced by the impact.
His body shifted slightly backward, and he saw a creature resembling a large snake with numerous legs that glinted with a metallic sheen. But most notably, its face resembled a greenish human skull, causing Sief to frown slightly as he watched the creature retreat into the trees with its elongated body.
More sludge monsters approached, and Sief cut through them quickly, keeping his eyes fixed on the tree where he saw the red glint of the creature's eyes, which roared, summoning even more moss monsters.
Sief frowned as he saw more than twenty creatures closing in from all directions, gradually obstructing his view of the path.
'They don't stop coming... and the others...' Sief saw some creatures made up of disconnected body parts, the moss seeming to vibrate more agitatedly due to the centipede-like monster's screech. 'It's the sound that disturbs them... so...'
He continued to strike down the monsters that kept coming, but the centipede's screech ceased, and Sief gave a slight smile.
Once again, the creature advanced silently, but Sief was already facing its direction.
The monster's eyes widened, but it charged anyway. However, Sief dodged just before it hit him, surprising the creature that tried to retreat, but once again, a swift strike fell, severing the creature's head from its body.
Sief looked at the creature's head as it slowly stopped screeching, but he quickly jumped, clinging to the monster's body, moving toward the tree, stopping on its branch, and finally pulling the creature's body, which dragged through the water, leaving a trail of purple blood soaking the mud.
Focusing his eyes on the ground, Sief saw the creature's head, which continued to emit low screeches, but they were soon interrupted by the advancing monsters attacking and silencing it as Sief watched closely.
'There's a way to avoid this... if there are more screamers like this one... it won't do any good to follow this route...' He looked at the creature's legs with a slight smile. 'But whatever, this gonna be useful...'