Koru returned to the cave where they were staying, pushing a bathtub with the thunder boars and the black tiger inside it. When he arrived at the cave, he left the bodies for Haru to handle.
— I did my part, now you do yours!
— There must be about 11 bodies here; did you really need to grab so many? We're not even going to eat all of this...
Koru sat down and immediately fell asleep before Haru even noticed; Koru had used up a lot of his mana and needed to sleep to recover it.
— He fell asleep so fast...
— Well, I guess I'll prepare the meat; it'll help you recover your mana.
Haru then lit the fire and began preparing the bodies, only keeping the edible parts. He skewered the meat on sticks and roasted it over the fire, just like one would do with fish.
— Koru fought and probably got stronger from it, so I need to get stronger too. There's got to be some strong monster or something in the forest for me to fight.
After finishing his thought, Haru went into the forest to hunt something to fight. As he walked, he didn't find anything particularly interesting, aside from a few weak slimes, which he defeated with kicks, not giving them much attention. However, as he continued through the forest, he came across a tribe of Rinoceropalis.
Rinoceropalis are rhinoceroses that evolved over time, leaving part of their species in the previous evolutionary stage while becoming more humanoid and bipedal. However, they are classified as Rank D monsters, aggressive and with weak rationality, possessing only enough intelligence to build things like fires and tents.
Status of an average Rinoceropalis:
Race: Rinoceropalis
Class: Warriors
Level: 10
Attributes:
Mana: 0
Stamina: 195
Life: 310/310
Strength: 100
Endurance: 100
Speed: 75
Intelligence: 0
Magical Control: 0
— (Damn! Rank D monsters? I thought I'd only find Rank E or F at most; on the bright side, it's a great way to train my magic and get stronger.)
Haru now found himself in a difficult situation. If he fought those monsters, he would end up gravely injured and exhausted.
— (Well, I don't have much of a choice, so it's time to act.)
Haru wrote the word "Explosion" on some stones and placed them behind trees around the Rinoceropalis village. He also wrote the word "Explosion" on each of the trees. Once he finished writing on the stones and the trees...
— (I hope this plan works.)
First, Haru exploded the stones, making the trees fall. Then, he detonated the trees as soon as they hit the ground, killing the non-warrior Rinoceropalis and severely injuring the warrior ones. However, Haru wrote on his arm with his brush and ink. Since there weren't many warriors left and they were severely wounded and distracted, he made a surprise attack, making large slashes across the necks of the remaining ones and stabbing vital areas, killing them instantly.
— Wow! I thought it would be harder, but I ended up using a lot of mana; still, I think it was a great warm-up.
When Haru turned around, he saw that the leader of the tribe had just arrived, carrying the body of a black tiger and the bodies of a few humans. Seeing his soldiers and family all dead, the leader rushed at Haru with incredible speed, punching him in the stomach, causing him to spit blood and sending him flying a kilometer away, stopping only when he crashed into a tree.
— I thought I finished them all; judging by the strength, that must be the leader! I should've left already, or maybe I shouldn't have tried this at all, at least not without Koru; what an idiot I am...
Haru's vision was getting blurry, and he could still see the Rinoceropalis leader approaching him.
— No, I can't die here; I won't leave Koru alone!
Haru then stood up and stared directly at the Rinoceropalis leader. He gripped his brush tightly, confident he would win, and shouted:
— TRUE MAGIC: BLACK SOUND!
Haru's brush grew larger, and ink started pouring from it. His eyes were now completely black, like the ink dripping from his brush. Haru stood up, holding the brush with one hand, and waited for the Rinoceropalis leader to approach. Then, with a single horizontal stroke, he splattered ink on the leader's body and cells, with the word "Explosion" written on each cell and on the leader's body. When the explosion occurred, each cell exploded at different times, making it look like the Rinoceropalis leader was disintegrating piece by piece. However, no, his cells were actually exploding, creating that effect.
Out of breath, Haru said:
— I did it.
He then reverted back and returned to the cave where Koru was. When he arrived, he saw Koru was already awake and said:
— So, you're up?
And then passed out.
— What the hell did you get yourself into? You didn't even leave a warning! You're such a damn fool! You're lucky we're a team here; otherwise, I'd have left you to die out there.
Koru then picked up Haru's body and laid him down on one of the makeshift "beds" made from tree leaves.
End.