A Swift Hunt in the Belota Mountains
Because we had slept deeply the night before, Ar and I rose well before dawn and prepared to head out. Today would be busy. With no intention of camping, we needed to get in fast and get out just as fast. That was why we were hurrying.
By the time we reached the outskirts of the Belota Mountains, the sun had fully risen and was lighting up every corner of the world. The forest was waking. Fresh green leaves deepened under the touch of sunlight.
“All right. So… get in my arms.”
At my words Ar snapped her head around to stare at me. Her eyes asked what nonsense I was spouting. Her expression demanded an explanation.
“I’m going to cast Haste on myself and run flat out. Stopping to fight every little magic beast would be a waste of time. But I can’t use Haste twice in a row. I can only put it on one of us. So unless you can carry me while running, it makes sense for me to carry you, right?”
Ar bit her lip, clearly troubled by my flawless logic. Though honestly, it was a little funny. Whether I carried her or she carried me, the end result was the same, wasn’t it? The amount of body contact would be similar.
“Ugh…”
In the end, Ar let out a strange little groan, realizing there was only one possible conclusion.
“Hey. Is it that bad? It’s not like I’m asking for something crazy.”
Of course I knew what was really going on. She was simply embarrassed. I had never heard any rule among fox beastpeople that said they couldn’t touch the opposite sex, so this was probably just plain shyness.
“…Understood.”
Ar answered softly, then stood there awkwardly, unsure what to do with herself. Really, moments like this made her unbearably cute. There was no way not to find her adorable.
I tightened the straps of my bag so it sat snug against my body and adjusted the sword at my waist. No sense in letting anything get in the way while running. Then I opened both arms toward her.
Ar looked at me, still completely at a loss.
“How do you want to be carried? I’ll do whatever’s most comfortable for you.”
At that, her face flushed a little redder. Ah, I really wanted to keep teasing her. But I probably shouldn’t.
“Carrying you sideways would be better. You need to be able to see ahead. That way if any magic beasts charge us, you can react immediately.”
I offered the solution myself, and Ar gave a small nod. So I slipped my left arm behind her back, my right under her knees, and lifted her.
“You really are light.”
I had only stated a fact, but Ar glared at me. Wait, that was worth glaring over? Come on.
“You’ll have to wrap your arms around my neck if you want me to be comfortable too.”
Ar let out a small sigh, then reluctantly circled her arms around my neck as if she had no choice.
“Watch the helmet. Hold on tight so you don’t fall. Ready to go? Haste.”
I cast Haste on myself and immediately broke into a run toward the forest.
Haste is a fascinating spell. Everyone uses it casually, yet no one bothers to understand how it actually works. They simply think, It makes you move faster, and leave it at that. Nothing more, nothing less. After all, the version ordinary mages use really is that simple.
But Haste isn’t that basic. It strengthens the lower body, sharpens reflexes and dynamic vision, and even increases lung capacity. Because I’m grade 13, the effect is strong enough for me to notice these details. Most people probably only feel a vague improvement. On top of that, since they usually layer multiple support spells, the finer effects get buried and go unrecognized.
Anyway, with my enhanced body I tore through the forest. A fallen tree appeared ahead. I leaped over it. Even while carrying Ar, my suddenly lighter body cleared it effortlessly, jumping far higher than usual. My improved reflexes and eyesight kept me from crashing into anything. I dodged boulders, brushed past trees, kicked off the ground, and bounded forward. Then I landed lightly and sprinted again at full speed.
The scenery whipped by. When I glanced at Ar, she was staring ahead with a perfectly calm expression, the corners of her mouth lifted just a fraction. I see. This speed was probably her normal pace. You could tell from the way she moved in battle. She had always lived at this velocity.
But now she was a slave. It must feel stifling. It had to. Maybe to Ar the whole world moved far slower than it did for me.
Thanks to the markers I had left on the way in, we didn’t get lost. Get lost? As if I would make such a rookie mistake. Those bones I left behind were worth good money.
We kept running and managed to pass the area where grade 4 magic beasts appeared before my Haste ran out. This method really was effective. We had saved a lot of time.
“…Please put me down.”
When I stopped, Ar spoke softly. She had been smiling into the wind earlier, but now the embarrassment seemed to have returned. I set her down, and she fussed with her leather armor, straightening it. It wasn’t even that disheveled. Clearly she was just feeling self-conscious.
“We’ll be going back the same way. Just so you know.”
Ar answered with a small, resigned “Okay.”
Right. Now that she understood how effective it was, she couldn’t refuse. She would just have to endure it.
Having saved plenty of time, we continued deeper into the forest. If a grade 5 appeared we would have to fight it, but I preferred to avoid combat if possible. Today our goals were the Roller bones we couldn’t take yesterday and one new grade 6 magic beast.
Of course, the magic beasts didn’t care about our schedule. A grade 5 charged us, but Ar, reinforced with Strength, dispatched it instantly and cut off its horn. Taking the whole corpse would be wasteful, even with all the extra space in the bag.
We reached the spot where we had killed the Roller yesterday. As expected, the meat was already gone without a trace. Only tattered scraps of hide and a few clinging bits of flesh remained. If they had eaten more cleanly, we might have been able to salvage the hide. But bringing that back would earn us nothing but curses instead of coin. I quickly abandoned any lingering attachment. We could always hunt another Roller.
The new bag was excellent. It easily swallowed the Roller bones whole with room to spare. Now we just needed one grade 6.
“Ar. Do you sense any magic beasts nearby?”
Ar shook her head. Time to move, then. We had already collected the bones.
“Let’s proceed carefully. Grade 6s vary wildly in danger.”
The most dangerous ones were those with poison skin, or the types that spat acidic fluid from a distance. Fortunately, those kinds tended to stick to specific habitats. They left plenty of traces. Any area where plants were dead or the smell was wrong, we avoided completely. The moment we spotted one, we steered clear.
Ar and I moved cautiously together. One advantage was that high-grade magic beasts rarely formed packs. Most operated alone. They were also territorial, so it was uncommon to find two or more in the same area. If that weren’t the case, humanity might have been wiped out by magic beasts long ago. That was a relief. No matter how ferocious and aggressive they were, they seldom left their territories.
After circling the area for a while, we found a suitable target. A grade 6 Vailie. A gaunt, horse-like creature with two large horns. I looked at Ar. She nodded. She was ready.
Normally I would have explained the Vailie’s habits and weaknesses, but Ar didn’t need that information. Once Berserker was cast, none of it would matter anyway.
Ar steadied her breathing, then shot forward in an instant. The moment the Vailie noticed her, turned, and lowered its horns, I cast Berserker on her.
Ar kicked off the ground mid-sprint and vanished with a sharp whoosh. Her speed was so great I lost sight of her for a second. The Vailie was the same. It swung its head wildly left and right in confusion, but Ar was nowhere to be seen.
From above, I watched her descend with claws extended and slam them into the top of the Vailie’s skull. It was over in a flash. Her movements were that fast. Unfortunately her strike lacked enough power to crack the bone. She only left deep gouges. Still, it was enough. The severe wounds slowed the creature’s reactions.
In that opening Ar raked her claws across its throat. A piercing shriek. Even as it screamed, the Vailie swung its horns in retaliation. But Ar under Berserker was nowhere near slow enough to be hit. She still possessed those wild, animal instincts.
She caught the swinging horn, spun her body, extended the claws of her other hand, and drove them deep into the back of the Vailie’s neck. The beast shrieked again and tried to flee, but Ar under Berserker refused to let it. Keeping one hand buried in its neck, she released the horn, swung her arm at its foreleg, and sent the creature crashing to the ground.
Ar yanked her hand free, twisted in the air, and landed neatly. The instant her feet touched earth she charged again, this time stabbing her claws straight into the Vailie’s eye. That was the end. Blinded in one eye and crippled in a leg, the beast could no longer resist. With a final agonized cry it collapsed its head. I immediately dispelled Berserker.
Ar’s helmet had come off during the violent movements. She stood over the Vailie with both hands drenched in blood, watching it as if afraid it might rise again. Her eyes were full of caution. But it was clearly dead. She turned to look at me. I stood and walked over to her.
“No injuries?”
Ar nodded. Of course there weren’t any. There hadn’t even been time for her to get hit.
“Now that I think about it, you didn’t have any muscle pain or soreness yesterday, right?”
Ar tilted her head slightly, looking puzzled. The expression seemed to ask, What’s muscle pain? Was this because she was a beastperson? Her body could handle that much without issue? I was a little jealous.
I examined the Vailie’s corpse. Interestingly, when under Berserker, Ar never attacked the torso. She only targeted the head or vital points. There were no wasted strikes. That must be part of her beastperson instincts too. Thanks to that, the corpse was relatively clean. The head and legs had no commercial value anyway, so it didn’t matter.
“We’re going to make a lot of money today.”
I took off my bag and, grunting with effort, began stuffing the Vailie’s body inside. Using Strength would have made it easy, but I couldn’t afford to waste mana right now. As I struggled, Ar came over to help. She had stood by yesterday, but today she lent a hand. Another sign of progress. She was becoming more proactive.
Together we managed to fit the entire corpse into the bag. Wow. Making money was almost too easy. We should head back quickly. Once we sold all this, the possibilities would open up tremendously.