After coming out of a desert, a dense forest filled with large trees appeared.
Since we were heading to mana-dense areas, we disembarked from the Ouranos and headed towards the dense mana on foot.
When I swung Ice Bringer, the giant ape monster was split in two.
The swift spear pierced and froze the demons that attacked one after the other.
With my left hand, I activated 『Decomposition』 on the head of the giant ape monster, the Killer Ape, destroying its head I weakly threw the Killer Ape aside and dashed towards the next monster.
I was aware it’s a violent fighting style that didn’t fit my physique, but we’re encountering a lot of monsters.
Searching the Demon Continent was even more difficult than I had imagined.
First of all, there was no regularity in its terrain. From wetlands to a desert, then a jungle. And while the climate was basically temperate to tropical, there would suddenly be areas with a cold climate.
As we travelled to places with dense magic power using the Ouranos, we focused the search in areas where the density of monsters were high.
For this search, the full party was present. Sophia, Maria, Laeva, Marnie, Akane, Lulu-chan, Kaede, and Titan. In addition, Thunder Eagle Gloam, Luna Wolf Ferryl, and Serval Seru were also participating.
Even inside the monster nests, we searched for the areas where mana was dense, so naturally, we had frequent encounters with monsters.
Us starting membersー Sophia, Maria, Kaede, and myselfー were already fairly high leveled, so we were at the stage where it wouldn’t go up, but for our other members, they’ve been leveling quite nicely. Particularly for Gloam and the familiars, they’re aiming to earn enough experience to evolve.
Gloam danced with the roaring thunder, Ferryl ran past like a strong wind, and Seru moved like an acrobat.
「These apes, wolves, and insects should stop coming out already.」
「Master, want to try overpowering them?」
「……right, we also had that trick. Okay then, how about we try it before everyone gets tired?」
When I responded so, a palpable air of intimidation emitted from Kaede’s body. Of course, this was limited to enemies, so the familiars of our party weren’t affected. However, it was instantaneous for the attacking monsters.
「Then I’ll do it too.」
Kaede and I partnered up, releasing the power we normally would have suppressed within ourselves.
The strong coercion paired with the bloodthirst released by Kaede and I began to interfere with the physical phenomenon which originally shouldn’t have been possible.
「Maybe this will do. Kaede, it’s okay now.」
The presences of the monsters that swarmed us in the forest grew distant, and we confirmed that our surroundings were clear. The coercion and blood thirst from Kaede and I dispersed. ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩·𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢·𝔫𝔢𝔱
Monsters prefer mana dense areas. Conversely, it means they can’t live if there isn’t mana. Therefore, mana-dense monster nests have plenty of monsters, and the stronger monsters lived deeper in the monster nests where mana was at its thickest.
Monsters attack and feed on people of their own accord because the magic power contained within people were suitable food to the monsters.
That’s why monsters react sensitively to magic power. To search for prey, and to flee from those stronger than itself.
As such, the monsters ran away as fast as they could when Kaede and I released our murderous energy, showing just how much stronger we were than them.
「Maria, let’s take a short break.」
「Okay, I’ll make tea then.」
Everyone gathered to where Kaede and I were.
「Phew, I want to keep leveling Ferryl .」
「Ferryl is strong nya.」
Akane seemed satisfied as she came back with Ferryl whom Lulu was riding.
Sitting on top of sheets, I drank the tea Maria and Marnie had brewed as I took a break.
「We’re already nearing the center, yet there is no dungeon in this monster nest.」
「Fuu, it looks like we’ve got a long way to go.」
Akane, who was sharing cookies with Lulu-chan, stroked Ferryl as she looked around our surroundings and talked.
「Well, if Ferryl and the familiars get stronger, wouldn’t our search improve?」
「Indeed. Tsubaki could participate actively If it’s a grassland type monster nest too, and we would progress even further.」
Tsubaki, who had gone through multiple evolutions[1], had a large body, and therefore could not demonstrate her true worth inside forests with densely packed trees. The stress of being unable to participate recently had been piling on Tsubaki.
「Master, there’s nothing strong here, you know.」
「Well, at your current state, nothing would be an enemy unless it’s a high ranking dragon-type.」
There’s a bit more distance until we reach the center, but according to Kaede’s intuition, there’s no dungeon or area boss here.
After a bit of a break, we searched the areas we thought had dense mana in the monster nest, but we didn’t find a dungeon.
I added an X mark on the map that I received from Ryuka-san, discussed where we would go next, then returned to the base to rest our tired bodies.
1. Raws infer multiple, but there’s only been one instance when she evolved that was mentioned in the story.