Chapter 40
The large footprints continued deeper into the forest.
We followed them, keeping an eye on our surroundings.
Still, we couldn't make our way through like we would in a dungeon.
Thick tree roots rose from the ground, and low branches blocked our path.
Leaves covered the ground, making it hard to tell what lay beneath them.
"It looks like we'll lose the tracks here."
Felicia said.
"They're visible in the soft soil, but they're hard to make out on the leaves."
The tracks we'd been following had disappeared for a while.
When we searched a patch of damp ground a little farther away, we found another large footprint.
"This way."
"Yes."
Just as we checked the direction and started forward,
"Allen-san, wait."
"?"
Felicia readied her staff.
"What is it?"
"Something just moved over there."
I looked where she was pointing.
Grass.
A low tree.
Purple flowers.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
Just as I thought that,
Whoosh!
"!"
A thin vine shot up from the ground.
I pulled back.
The thorn at its tip grazed my chest.
"A monster?"
I drew the Flamefang Sword.
A plant rose up from the grass.
It came up to about my waist.
Several vines sprouted from its thick stem, each covered in thorns.
"It's a Thorn Plant!"
Felicia cried out.
"You know what it is?"
"It's a weak plant-type monster. But—"
The grass to the side rustled.
Another one.
Then a stem rose up behind us, too.
"There are three of them!"
"I'll leave them to you!"
I charged at the Thorn Plant in front of me.
Two vines came lashing toward me.
In a cave, I could simply back away.
But there was a thick tree trunk behind me.
Low branches crowded the sides, too.
There wasn't much room to move.
I shifted just half a step to the side.
I dodged the first vine.
I cut down the second with the Flamefang Sword.
Then I closed in on its main body.
Slash!
I severed its thick stem.
【You acquired 20P】
Another vine came at me from the side.
I reversed my sword and cut it.
I placed my feet carefully to avoid the roots and went straight for the second one.
This time, I didn't swing widely.
Since acquiring Swordmaster, I could make the blade move with even the smallest motions.
One vine.
Then another.
Finally, the main body.
【You acquired 20P】
"Magic Bullet!"
A pale blue flash streaked by from a short distance away.
Bang!
The third Thorn Plant fell.
Felicia lowered her staff.
"It's harder to aim here than in a dungeon."
"Because of all the trees."
"Those branches got in the way just now, too."
I looked and saw several thin branches between Felicia and the monster.
In a dungeon, if an enemy was at the end of a passage, she could simply cast her magic.
The forest was different.
Trees.
Branches.
Thickets.
Even if she could see her opponent, that didn't mean she could attack it.
"We'll have to get used to fighting in the forest, too."
"We will."
I checked the display.
【Balance: 2,965P】
【Total P Acquired: 39,875P】
"Only forty P for two of them?"
"That's a lot less than yesterday."
"They don't seem much stronger than the monsters we encountered on the lower floors of the dungeon."
"I suppose that's why they give less P."
"Probably."
We collected the parts that might be useful as materials, then resumed following the tracks.
◇
About thirty minutes later, the entire thicket ahead of us began to move.
"Another Thorn Plant?"
"No... This one's bigger."
Felicia was right.
A plant nearly as tall as a person walked out of the thicket.
Several thick vines twisted together to form something like two legs.
"A Vine Walker..."
Felicia said.
The monster reached out with a vine like an arm.
"It's coming!"
I moved to the side.
But a tree root got in my way.
Instead of leaping back, I shifted just one step to the side.
The vine passed by me.
A second one came right after it.
I brought the Flamefang Sword up to meet it.
Slash!
I cut it off at the base.
The Vine Walker came closer.
A tree stood to my left.
A low thicket was on my right.
There wasn't room for a wide swing.
Then I wouldn't swing widely.
I thrust the tip of my sword forward and cut with a short stroke.
I severed another vine.
"Magic Bullet!"
Felicia moved to the side before casting her spell.
The branches had been in her way from the front, so she'd apparently shifted to get a clear line of fire.
The pale blue Magic Bullet struck the Vine Walker in the torso.
"Now!"
"Yes!"
The monster's body tilted.
I stepped in and drove the Flamefang Sword into the thick stem at its center.
Then I slashed sideways.
The Vine Walker crumpled to the ground.
【You acquired 120P】
"One hundred and twenty for a single one."
"After seeing the monsters on the twelfth and fifteenth floors, that feels like very little."
"Our sense of scale has gotten completely warped, hasn't it?"
"Coming from you, Allen-san?"
We continued deeper into the forest.
We kept encountering monsters along the way.
Four Thorn Plants.
One Vine Walker.
Felicia took down the Vine Walker and two Thorn Plants, while I defeated the other two Thorn Plants.
We hadn't been in the forest for very long, but we'd already encountered monsters more often than we had yesterday on our way to the fifteenth floor.
I checked Membership.
【Balance: 3,125P】
【Total P Acquired: 40,035P】
"It feels like we've fought quite a lot."
"And we only gained two hundred P?"
"Yes."
"I guess the dungeon really is the place to earn P."
"Looks that way."
That didn't mean the forest was safe, though.
In a dungeon, the monsters on the eleventh floor were suited to the eleventh floor.
And the monsters on the fifteenth floor were suited to the fifteenth.
You could make a rough estimate of how strong they'd be.
There was no such guideline in this forest.
Just because we'd only encountered weak monsters so far didn't mean the next one would be weak, too.
More importantly, we were following something that proved it.
The giant footprints left on the ground.
"There are some more."
Felicia pointed a little way ahead.
Damp soil.
The same footprints as before.
They still continued deeper into the forest.
We proceeded cautiously.
◇
A little while later,
Thump!
A low sound echoed from deep in the forest.
We stopped.
"...What was that?"
"I don't know."
Then,
Crack!
We heard the sound of a thick branch breaking.
The birds nearby took flight all at once.
Felicia readied her staff.
I drew the Flamefang Sword, too.
The thicket rustled violently.
"It's coming."
"Yes."
Between the trees,
The first thing we saw was a gigantic head.
"A bear...?"
It was nothing like an ordinary bear in size.
Even on all fours, its back came nearly up to my chest.
Its shoulders and forelegs were unnaturally thick.
Long claws showed between its dark brown fur.
"A Tyrant Bear..."
Felicia's voice lowered.
"You know what it is?"
"I saw it in a bestiary. It's a very large monster."
The Tyrant Bear looked at us.
Its feet.
Its large forelegs.
Its claws.
They matched the footprints we'd been following.
"This is the one."
"Probably."
"GROOOAAARR!"
Its roar shook the forest.
The Tyrant Bear charged at us.
"Get back!"
I stepped forward.
It wasn't fast.
Compared to a Blade Mantis, its movements were much easier to read.
Its huge foreleg rose.
I dodged to the side.
Its claws swept past my body.
The next moment,
Crack!
"...!"
A thin tree behind me snapped in half.
"That's incredible strength."
"Just don't let it hit you!"
"Of course!"
The Tyrant Bear swung its foreleg again.
I crouched to dodge.
I tried to circle around and counterattack.
But—
"Tch!"
A tree was in my way.
In a spacious part of a cave, I could have simply circled around it.
In the forest, trees stood in the places I wanted to move through.
The Tyrant Bear turned around.
This time, it charged with its whole body.
I didn't need to meet it head-on.
I ran between two trees.
The huge beast chased after me.
Just before it reached me, I slipped to the side.
The Tyrant Bear couldn't turn in time.
Thump!
It slammed shoulder-first into a thick tree.
The trunk shook violently.
Several leaves fell around us.
"Magic Bullet!"
Felicia's magic flew in from the side.
One shot.
Two shots.
Three shots.
They struck the Tyrant Bear's shoulder and forelegs in succession.
But—
"GROAAAR!"
"It's tough!"
Its fur was thick.
Its body was huge, too.
A regular Magic Bullet wasn't enough to make it flinch much.
The Tyrant Bear looked at Felicia.
"Over here!"
I stepped forward.
I swung the Flamefang Sword.
The blade cut into its foreleg.
"GRAAAH!"
I'd wounded it.
But it still didn't stop.
Its foreleg came at me from the side.
I dodged.
The other side this time.
I could see that one coming, too.
It was incredibly strong.
But it wasn't all that fast.
It was slower than the Blade Mantis on the fifteenth floor, let alone a Sword Saint.
It couldn't catch me at this speed.
The problem was the forest.
There was no guarantee I'd always have room to dodge freely.
"Allen-san!"
"Yes!"
Felicia had changed position.
She pointed her staff at it from between the trees.
A small Magic Bullet formed at the tip of her staff.
She was compressing it.
"Magic Bullet!"
A pale blue light shot forward.
Her target was its face.
The Tyrant Bear reflexively turned its head aside.
The Magic Bullet struck right beside its eye.
"GRAAAH!"
The giant body arched backward.
"Now!"
I kicked off the ground.
Toward the base of its foreleg.
Since acquiring Swordmaster, I had a better sense of where to aim.
I didn't need to cut through hard bone with sheer strength.
I could target the joint that let it move.
I swung the Flamefang Sword.
Slash!
Its right foreleg buckled.
The Tyrant Bear lost its balance badly.
But it didn't fall.
"GROOOAAARR!"
It rose onto its hind legs.
"It's huge...!"
It was at least three meters tall.
Its gigantic arms rose above its head.
Then it slammed them down toward the ground.
I leaped to the side.
Thump!
The ground was gouged out.
Pebbles and dirt flew through the air.
"Magic Bullet!"
Felicia's rapid-fire shots.
The first hit its shoulder.
The second hit its chest.
The third shot,
A compressed blast flew toward its eyes.
"GRAAH!"
The Tyrant Bear turned its face away.
At that moment,
I was already circling around to its side.
I sent magic into the Flamefang Sword, and red flames spread across its blade.
I used Mana Control to gather the flames around the blade.
I aimed for its neck.
I stepped in.
And swung with all my strength.
Slash!
The Tyrant Bear's huge body shuddered.
It took a few steps forward, then collapsed to the ground.
Thump!
The forest suddenly fell silent.
【You acquired 1,500P】
【Balance: 4,625P】
【Total P Acquired: 41,535P】
"Fifteen hundred..."
I looked at the fallen Tyrant Bear.
"That's more than a Blade Mantis."
"It was strong, after all."
Felicia came closer, too.
"But it barely looked like it would hit you, Allen-san."
"It was incredibly strong, but it wasn't very fast."
"I was surprised when it broke that tree."
"I wouldn't want to get hit by that."
I returned the Flamefang Sword to its sheath.
Then I looked at the gigantic Tyrant Bear again.
"The problem is..."
"What is it?"
"How strong is this monster compared to the others in this forest?"
"...Oh."
Felicia looked around, too.
In a dungeon, we knew.
The Blade Mantis on the fifteenth floor.
The Metal Scorpion on the twelfth floor.
The floor gave us a frame of reference.
There was no such thing in the forest.
"If it's the strongest thing around here, that's one thing."
"But there could be even stronger monsters living here, too."
"Yes."
We had one more thing to report to the count.
A Tyrant Bear lived here.
That was information they needed to know before development began.
We collected what materials we could carry, such as its claws and fangs.
Even that much added quite a bit to our load.
"Is it too heavy?"
"I'm fine."
"Don't push yourself."
"You're carrying some, too, Felicia-san."
"It's better if we split the load."
"That's true."
Now that we knew what had made the footprints,
we turned our attention back to surveying the area.
◇
We encountered monsters many more times after that.
Thorn Plants.
Vine Walkers.
Neither one was much of a threat by itself.
But there were a lot of them.
"Two on the right!"
"I'll take one!"
"Then I'll take the other!"
I cut through the vines with the Flamefang Sword.
Beside me, Felicia's Magic Bullet shot past.
At another spot, two Vine Walkers appeared at the same time.
While I kept one occupied, Felicia fired a rapid series of shots at the other.
"Magic Bullet!"
Two shots.
Three shots.
Her final compressed shot pierced its main body.
"I got it!"
"I'm finishing this one, too!"
I dodged a vine.
With a short swing of the Flamefang Sword, I cut one off.
I moved in close and struck its main body.
【You acquired 120P】
A little farther on, we encountered another monster.
I wasn't the only one fighting.
Felicia was defeating just as many as I was.
Even so, we kept running into one monster after another.
"This..."
Felicia looked at the fallen Thorn Plant.
"We'd have to thin out a lot of the monsters before this area could be developed, wouldn't we?"
"I think so, too."
We weren't that deep into the forest yet.
And there were already this many.
"There are too many for the two of us to clear out."
"I think they'd need to gather a lot of adventurers or knights."
"We should report this to the count."
"Yes."
After that, the monsters I'd defeated earned me another three hundred P.
【Balance: 4,925P】
【Total P Acquired: 41,835P】
"How many P do you have now?"
"I'm seventy-five P short of five thousand."
"Are you going to buy something when you reach five thousand?"
"I haven't decided yet."
I answered as we continued onward.
◇
More time passed after we entered the forest.
The angle of the sunlight gradually changed.
Then,
"Can you hear water?"
Felicia stopped.
We listened carefully.
I could hear it, too.
"I can."
We headed toward the sound.
After pushing through a thicket, the view opened up a little.
"A river."
A river flowed through the forest.
It was several meters wide.
The water was so clear we could see the stones at the bottom.
The current wasn't very fast, either.
"We should be able to get water here."
"That's important if they're going to develop the area."
We marked its location on the map.
Then we looked around the river.
There were trees in every direction.
Some of the thicker ones looked too big for the two of us to wrap our arms around.
Grass and low shrubs grew densely in the lower areas.
Several thick roots jutted up from the ground.
"...Felicia-san."
"Yes?"
"Wouldn't it be hard to develop this area?"
"I've been thinking the same thing."
There was water.
And it wasn't all that far from Belgrant.
But that was all.
There were a lot of monsters, too.
Even just cutting down the trees looked like a lot of work.
After that, they'd have to dig out the roots, level the ground, and build roads.
"It's so large. You'd think there'd be somewhere easier to develop."
"Exactly."
"Why would they choose this spot?"
"Maybe there's a reason."
"I don't know."
This was only the first day of our survey.
There might be circumstances we didn't know about.
"Let's ask when we get back, too."
"Yes."
After checking the area along the river for a while, I looked up at the sky.
It was hard to tell in the forest, but the sun had gotten quite low.
"We should head back soon."
"I don't want it getting dark in the forest."
"Me neither."
We'd done enough for the first day of the survey.
The water source.
The terrain.
The monsters.
The Tyrant Bear.
We had plenty to report.
We retraced our steps.
◇
By the time we left the forest, the sky had begun to turn red.
"That's enough for today."
"Yes."
We chose a spot a little way from the forest where we could see our surroundings.
Then we began setting up camp.
"Should we set up the tent first?"
"Let's start a fire. We should do it before it gets dark."
"Then let's gather firewood."
"All right."
We gathered the dry branches lying nearby.
After returning, we started a fire and pitched a simple tent beside it.
Felicia spread out the cloth while I secured the poles.
"Pull this side a little tighter."
"About this much?"
"Yes. Tie it there."
"Got it."
Next came dinner.
Dried meat and bread we'd brought with us.
We made a simple soup, too.
While I filled the pot with water, Felicia cut up the ingredients.
"Should I put this in?"
"Please do."
"All of it?"
"I think about half should be enough."
We prepared everything together.
We'd camped on the battlefield, too.
But there had been a lot of soldiers and adventurers with us then.
Doing everything ourselves, just the two of us, was different.
"We have quite a bit of luggage."
Felicia said.
I looked to the side.
Food.
Water.
The tent.
Blankets.
Rope.
Surveying tools.
And the monster materials we'd collected today.
"We'll have even more on the way back, with the materials."
"The Tyrant Bear alone gave us quite a lot."
"That's true."
We'd brought back a lot of materials from the dungeon yesterday, too.
What would it be like when we started going to even deeper floors?
We might be able to return in a day if we stayed above the twentieth floor.
But once we started spending several days in the dungeon, we'd need to bring camping gear, too.
We'd need more food and water.
And if we brought back the materials from the monsters we defeated, our load would get even heavier.
"...That reminds me."
"What is it?"
I opened Membership.
The list of Unique Skills.
【Body Enhancement 5,000P】
【Presence Detection 5,000P】
【Night Vision 5,000P】
【Rapid Thought 5,000P】
【Mana Control 5,000P】
【Swordsman 5,000P】
【Regeneration 5,000P】
【Storage 5,000P】
【Stealth 5,000P】
【Mana Detection 5,000P】
"Storage..."
"You were interested in that before, too, weren't you?"
"Yes."
There had been materials we'd given up on before because we couldn't carry them back.
It would be even more useful on expeditions like today's.
"I don't know how much it can hold, but if I could use it, that would make things a lot easier."
"It'd be convenient if you could put camping gear in it, too."
"We could use it when we go to the deeper parts of the dungeon, as well."
"So is that what you'll get next?"
I checked my balance.
【Balance: 4,925P】
It cost five thousand.
"I'm seventy-five P short."
"You'll get there soon."
"Yes."
What should I buy after Swordmaster?
I didn't have to think only about Skills for combat.
There were powers that could expand the places we could explore, too.
Steam began to rise from the pot.
"It looks like it's almost ready."
"Let's eat."
"Yes."
I closed the display.
Our survey of the forest would continue tomorrow.
If I earned another seventy-five P by then, I'd have enough.
Next, Storage.
It seemed like it would be very useful in our adventures from here on.
Total P Acquired: 41,835P.renu
Total P Acquired: 41,835P