Chapter 4
Jade emerged from the hideout as morning dew beaded on leaves all around him.
It was a hideout built atop a small hill, but thanks to the gnome’s help, it looked completely natural.
From outside, it appeared to be nothing more than a place thick with trees and bushes.
“Shall we start another lively day?”
As he stepped out of the small cabin, Jade stretched.
Yet his appearance had changed considerably.
Three years had changed a great deal.
His hair had grown long, and his beard had grown so thick that it covered nearly half his face.
-Are we exploring again today?
“Of course. There are still more places I don’t know than places I do. I especially need to know exactly where the strong ones are. That way, I can be more careful whenever I have to pass through.”
-There’s still a long way to go.
“But is it really okay for you to come outside every day like this?”
Jade looked at the adorable little spirit sitting on his right shoulder as if it were a seat reserved just for it.
It was about the same size as Sylph, but its appearance was completely different.
-As long as I don’t use the power of my true form, it’s fine. I told you, Jade’s affinity is insane. He can stay in the Middle World with almost no mana consumption as long as he doesn’t use his power. It’s practically beyond reason. It puts even high elves to shame.
“I’ve corrupted you too much. You were so innocent at first.”
-Hee! I love learning all these new and ingenious words! I really want to visit Earth, too!
“You’ll probably become even more corrupted if you go there.”
Jade instinctively thought of the slang used by Korean schoolkids.
At the same time, he imagined the spirit going crazy trying to imitate everything it saw while watching livestreams.
Judging from what it had shown so far, it absolutely would.
-We’ll be able to go. I’ll help you! The others will, too.
“I hope so. But I don’t know if it’s possible. I’ve grown much stronger, but I still can’t imagine that I’ll be able to return.”
Jade muttered as he left the hideout.
He had grown truly strong after spending three years in the Great Forest.
He was incomparably stronger than when he had first opened his eyes without knowing anything.
Since ancient times, all kinds of people had come to the Great Forest, which had occupied the center of the continent.
Countless emperors and kings had challenged it, declaring that they would conquer the Great Forest, and the lords of the neighboring territories had coveted it as well.
It was dangerous, but the sheer size of the land made it tempting.
And all their memories had been passed on to Jade intact.
-Think back on the past three years. You became this strong in such a short time, so you’ll grow even stronger from now on.
“The problem is that my growth has slowed down noticeably.”
-That’s normal. But you have a special ability, don’t you? You’ll definitely find a way to grow stronger quickly.
“I will. First, though, I need to accumulate enough mana to summon all four of you in your true forms at the same time.”
Jade wore a slightly gloomy expression.
Even after extracting useful memories from his knowledge of Earth and the various objects he had picked up in the Great Forest, his current level was hardly satisfying.
Jade’s standards had been high from the beginning, but he had still progressed more slowly than expected, leaving him deeply frustrated these days.
Three years might not seem like much, but to Jade, they were significant.
-We’ll do our best, too. Don’t get too depressed.
“Honestly, even this is impressive. At least in the outer regions, I don’t have to worry about my life. It’s just that the inner regions are crawling with monsters.”
-If Jade went all out, he could probably still escape. Winning would be difficult, though.
“That’s true. All right, let’s explore again today.”
-Sounds good!
The wind spirit answered with an excited expression.
Hearing that voice, Jade activated a technique he had acquired from the Assassin’s Earring.
In martial-arts terms, it was a combination of stealth and light-footed movement.
Swish. Swish.
As he traveled, Jade sketched a map.
Knowing all too well how important records were, he used charcoal as a pen on well-dried animal hide and added brief descriptions.
“Nothing has changed much.”
-That’s because we’re in the outskirts of the Great Forest. This is where goblins, kobolds, wolves, and other beasts fight over territory. What could change that much?
“That’s true. But monsters aren’t what I’m concerned about.”
-Are you still worried about your family?
“There’s no harm in preparing for it. I may have come a long way away, but you never know. Human obsession can be frightening.”
Exploring the Great Forest was partly about identifying potentially threatening creatures, but he was also checking in case there were any traces of humans.
Humans were every bit as dangerous as monsters—or, in some ways, even more dangerous than monsters and beasts.
That was why Jade remained vigilant even after three years had passed and he had accumulated considerable strength.
-Most of the people we’ve seen so far were criminals, though. They carried mercenary badges.
“I’ve saved up quite a bit of money thanks to that. It could come in handy later. It would be nice if I could find an artifact like a subspace bag, too.”
-Be honest. You’re exploring every day because you’re trying to find an artifact like that, aren’t you?
“I’m training while I’m at it, too.”
Boom!
The blunt piece of metal he had been rolling in his palm shot forward with a terrifying roar and pierced the head of a Giant Snake that had been sneaking toward him.
The creature had been helpless against the metal fragment infused with mana.
-At this point, you could probably call yourself the ruler of the outer regions.
“I’m still far from that.”
-There isn’t a single human alive who has contracted with a highest-grade spirit. Only high elves among the elves can do it. And even they have only contracted with one or two highest-grade spirits at most.
“But I can’t properly summon my true forms.”
Jade shrugged.
He really was gifted, but there was nothing he could do about the passage of time.
-Time will solve that problem.
“If I survive.”
-As long as we don’t do anything foolish, I don’t think we’ll die. Neither I nor my friends would just stand by and watch that happen.
“Thanks.”
Jade spoke sincerely.
If he had not had the spirits, he certainly would not have remained mentally sound like this.
-No need to thank us. We’re friends. We have been from the beginning.
“I never expected you to look like Sylph, though.”
-Heehee! I was the one who found Jade first! I was also the first to make a contract!
Perhaps an old memory had resurfaced, because the wind spirit smiled brightly.
It was the same innocent smile it had worn when he first saw it.
“That’s right. Oh, since we’re on the subject, should we change how we explore a little? There aren’t any particularly strong flying monsters in this area anyway.”
-At worst, there are harpies.
“But they travel in swarms.”
-Come on, you can call Silairon. That child could clear them out in one shot.
The wind spirit spoke arrogantly.
Silairon was not as powerful as it was, but it was still a spirit that could not be underestimated.
Although harpies traveled in swarms, Silairon could easily deal with any number of monsters of harpy caliber if it fully unleashed its power.
“Forget it. I like maintaining this reasonable balance we have now. There’s no need to make things noisy.”
-Watching fights is fun, too.
The wind spirit smacked its lips.
With all kinds of monsters and beasts living in the Great Forest, watching them fight was quite entertaining.
The battles were every bit as fierce as human wars.
“You can watch all you want when I leave later. For now, be patient.”
-How strong do you have to become before you’ll go out into the continent?
“Strong enough to topple an entire nation on my own?”
-That might be possible if you summoned all four of us.
The wind spirit’s eyes gleamed.
It was clearly imagining something ridiculous in its head again.
“I feel like I need to be that strong before I can roam the continent freely. I’d like to search for sages, too.”
-It would be faster to meet a dragon. Their numbers have declined since the past, but there are still dragons in the Middle World.
“I might die if I went looking for one.”
-That’s quite possible. Every one of them is eccentric.
The wind spirit grimaced, apparently recalling an unpleasant memory.
At the very least, one had to be on the level of a Spirit King to speak boldly in front of a dragon.
“I wonder if the day will ever come when I can stand proudly before a dragon.”
-It will. When that day comes, I hope I can benefit from you, too. Those dragon guys have no manners. The Reds and Blacks are especially obnoxious!
“I guess I’m not strong enough to challenge them head-on yet.”
-You need to be at least a Spirit King. Of course, some of them would still look down on you even then. But their actual power is similar. The only reason we can’t properly fight them is that the summoner is a dragon. Things would be different in the Spirit Realm.
“A Spirit King.”
Even Silestin, who was standing before him, had given Jade an enormous shock when he first saw its true form.
Silestin possessed an overwhelming presence.
Jade had thought he had grown strong through diligent training, but the moment he saw Silestin’s true form, his confidence plummeted.
He keenly realized that he was only somewhat strong by human standards.
-Everyone’s curious about you, Jade.
“Really?”
-Yeah! Jade is the being with the most potential in the Middle World right now. Dragons don’t readily answer summons anymore, either. Even when it comes to dragons, whether they answer a summoning is up to the Spirit Kings.
“So they are at least curious about me?”
-Of course! It’s not easy for a Spirit King to manifest in the Middle World. I’m not out here for no reason, you know!
Silestin shouted excitedly.
Silestin had wanted to come to the Middle World badly enough to resort to a shortcut, so it was satisfied with its current life.
It had reduced itself to Sylph’s size to minimize the mana required for its manifestation, but even so, it suffered no inconvenience.
It could manifest in its true form at any time, too.
‘The only problem is that Jade can’t hold out for very long.’
Jade was diligently training in his mana cultivation method, and mana was accumulating far faster than it did in ordinary humans, but it was still insufficient.
However, he felt that the time when that would change was not far off.
“I’m not bored with you around, either, Silestin.”
-Hehe! I am pretty fun, aren’t I?
“Though you can be too noisy sometimes.”
-Hey! At least I know how to read the room now!
Silestin shouted confidently.
It was not always noisy.
Besides, it believed that although it did not help Jade in any major way, it still aided him quite a bit.
“That’s quite a change from how you were at first. Shall we start exploring? Sylaphe.”
Fwoooosh.
At Jade’s call, the intermediate wind spirit Sylaphe appeared in the air amid a refreshing breeze.
It took the form of a pegasus with the translucent body characteristic of wind spirits, and, like the others, Sylaphe immediately rubbed its head against Jade’s shoulder.
It was expressing its joy with its entire body.
“You little rascal.”
When something as huge as a mountain acted cute, Jade let out a hollow laugh.
Even so, he gently stroked Sylaphe’s neck.
Whinny!
Apparently pleased by Jade’s touch, Sylaphe kept twitching its lips.
Silestin watched the scene with a smile as well.
“Take good care of me. My safety depends on you, okay?”
Prrr-hing!
Sylaphe flapped its wings broadly as if telling him not to worry.
Then it bent its legs so that Jade could climb onto its back.
It knelt like a person.
“Let’s go to Big Crow’s nest.”
-Are we going to raid a crow’s nest? That sounds like fun! They love shiny things!