Night in the Forest of Magic

The night air above the forest was cool, but compared to the stench inside the underground labyrinth, it felt almost refreshing. Still, there was no time to dwell on the sensation. Beneath the moonlight stretched an endless sea of dense woodland. This was the Forest of Magic—the very first region new players encountered after clearing the tutorial.

“Seria, snap out of it. We’re not safe enough to rest yet.”

“Ah, yes…!”

Seria, who had been about to collapse as the tension drained from her body, flinched at my voice and quickly straightened up. She had somehow held on inside the labyrinth through sheer survival instinct, but her body was already at its limit. The exposed skin between the torn strips of her clothing was covered in cuts and scrapes of all sizes, and her lips had turned blue from cold and fear.

This would be suicide if we tried to cross the forest like this.

The Forest of Magic was teeming with monsters between levels 5 and 10. In the worst case, we might run into the same pack of Bearwolves we’d faced in the labyrinth—or something even nastier that called these woods home. What we needed right now was a safe place to hide and recover our strength.

I grabbed Seria by the wrist and headed toward the forest’s outer edge, where the trees grew thick and dark shadows pooled against ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a rocky cliff. After playing the game dozens of times, I remembered there was a beginner safe zone somewhere around here.

After walking for a while, I spotted a small cave entrance cleverly hidden within a crevice in the rock face.

“We’ll rest here for the night.”

The cave was so narrow that two or three adults lying down would fill it completely, but that actually made it less likely to catch the attention of wild monsters. I gathered some dry branches scattered around the entrance and started a fire. Striking a flint to coax out a small spark, the crackling flames soon drove away some of the cave’s chill.

“Come over here and warm up. We don’t have medicine if you catch a cold.”

“Th-thank you…”

Seria cautiously approached the fire and crouched beside it. Her face, illuminated by the flames, was a mess of dirt and dried blood, but her expression didn’t look too bad. I stripped off my iron armor, which was caked in blood and monster fluids, and set it aside. Then I took off my relatively intact cloak and draped it over her shoulders.

“Ah… Aren’t you cold, Sir Graus?”

“Worry about your own body temperature instead of mine. We’re marching straight to the village at first light tomorrow without stopping.”

I answered gruffly and dropped down heavily on the opposite side of the fire. I could feel Seria’s gaze fixed on me as she clutched the edge of my cloak, but I deliberately ignored it and stared into empty space.

Status window.

The first thing I needed to check was my current combat capability. It was time to tally up the rewards from the recent labyrinth escape quest and the loot I’d gained from killing the Orc Warrior.

My level had jumped straight from 2 to 4. The automatic stat gains per level seemed to have all gone into Stamina—only that number had increased by 4, reaching 29. But I still had three free stat points to distribute. Two from the level-up rewards and one from completing the tutorial quest.

I’ll put everything into Agility.

Without hesitation, I dumped all three remaining points into Agility. The most painful weakness I’d felt while fighting the Orc Warrior was my speed. There had been too many moments where I could clearly read an attack’s trajectory but my body couldn’t keep up, forcing me to dodge by the skin of my teeth. No matter how high my Stamina was, if I couldn’t avoid the enemy’s strikes, I would eventually get hit and die.

The moment the investment was complete, I felt my previously stiff muscles relax with surprising smoothness. Next came checking the loot. I pulled the faintly glowing red ring the Orc Warrior had dropped from my pocket.

“As expected, the best cost-performance item for the early game.”

I grinned and slipped the ring onto the index finger of my right hand. Instantly, a hot surge of energy raced through my veins, and I felt the muscles in my forearm swell slightly. Strength 14 plus 5 now equaled 19. I now possessed enough destructive power to slice through most regular monsters in a single blow.

After finishing my equipment check, I looked up to find Seria still staring intently at me from across the fire. When our eyes met, she flinched and quickly lowered her head.

“…If you have something to say, say it.”

At my words, Seria hesitated for a moment before speaking in a voice barely above a whisper.

“Um… May I ask why you saved me…?”

It was the question I had expected. From Seria’s perspective, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it was only natural to wonder. A complete stranger had risked his life to save her after she’d been abandoned by her own party and nearly turned into monster food. Especially since she was nothing more than a powerless, nameless orphan who had been treated as a pack mule.

“The explorers… when the monsters appeared, they pushed me forward first and ran away. Because I’m weak and useless. So why… why did you bring me with you, Sir Graus?”

Her voice was thick with deep distrust and fear. I tossed the remaining firewood into the flames and answered indifferently.

“Because I’m a useless escort knight too.”

“…Pardon?”

“You saw it yourself. I was the first bait those bastards threw away. I figured it would be better for the future to bring along someone who could at least carry luggage rather than trying to escape the labyrinth alone.”

Of course, that was only half a lie. The real reason I had saved her was because she possessed the talent to become the greatest mage in this world someday.

“And you’re not useless.”

I lifted my gaze and looked straight into Seria’s large purple eyes.

“No matter what you think of yourself, I can see incredible talent in you. Just the fact that you kept up with me in the labyrinth without falling behind proves it. So throw away all that garbage about being worthless.”

At my firm words, Seria’s eyes trembled faintly. She bit her lip as if overwhelmed by emotion, then quietly nodded while hugging my cloak tighter.

“Yes… I understand.”

After her reply, only the crackling of burning wood filled the cave. Once the tension had left her, Seria’s body melted in the warmth of the fire and she began to doze off. Before long, she leaned against the wall, breathing softly, and fell into a deep sleep.

I watched her sleeping form for a moment before turning my gaze back toward the cave entrance.

We’ve cleared the early tutorial, but the real problems start now.

The Roenhart Empire, the setting of this game, was a dark fantasy world rotten to the core. Corrupt nobles, terrible security in the back alleys, monsters and dark mages lurking everywhere. The frontier village of Lumen we would reach tomorrow morning was far from safe. It was practically a lawless zone ruled by mercenaries like Barkan and vicious merchants.

To protect Seria there and help both of us grow stronger, I would need to gather the hidden pieces using the original story knowledge in my head.

I spent the rest of the night sitting with my sword across my knees, dozing lightly while guarding the cave entrance. Thankfully, with my Stamina at 29, I didn’t accumulate much fatigue even after only a few hours of sleep.

—Chirp. Tweet.

I woke early the next morning to the sound of birds in the forest. Morning sunlight was filtering through the gaps in the cave.

The notification announcing the start of the main scenario finally appeared.

“Seria, wake up. We need to get moving.”

At my call, Seria rubbed her eyes and sat up. Whether it was from a good night’s rest or the words I’d spoken yesterday, her complexion looked much brighter than before.

We left the cave and began walking along the forest path glistening with morning dew. Our destination was Lumen, the pioneer city to the south of the forest.

The forest in the morning seemed peaceful, but I didn’t let my guard down. About an hour later, a sinister rustling sound came from the bushes.

“Sir Graus…?”

Seria clutched my sleeve tightly and pressed herself against my back. I held her back with one hand and slowly drew my sword.

Grrrrr…

A massive beast the size of an adult’s waist, its gray fur patchy enough to reveal rippling muscle underneath. It was a Dire Wolf—one of the most common monsters at the entrance to the Forest of Magic. It was a step stronger than the Bearwolf I had killed in the labyrinth yesterday.

Kraaaang—!

The moment our eyes met, the creature leaped forward without hesitation, raising its front paw. As its sharp fangs hurtled toward my throat—

Definitely slower.

Maybe thanks to raising my Agility to 12. The Dire Wolf’s trajectory through the air was now clearly visible to my eyes, unlike yesterday.

I didn’t bother dodging. Instead, I activated the skill to completely lock the beast’s attention onto me. The instant its snout was right in front of me, I swung my sword upward from below with my ring-equipped right hand.

Slice—!

With a sickening crunch, the crude iron sword split the Dire Wolf’s thick skull cleanly in half from underneath.

“Yelp…!”

The beast couldn’t even let out a proper scream before its bisected corpse fell limply at my feet. The power of 19 Strength seemed far greater than I had imagined.

I lightly shook the blood from my blade and turned around.

“Scared?”

Seria shook her head vigorously, eyes wide.

“N-no…! You were so fast… and cool.”

Her cheeks flushed slightly as she spoke shyly. The girl who had trembled at the sight of blood just yesterday seemed to be adapting surprisingly well already.

“It’s nothing. You’ll be seeing monsters like this until you’re sick of them from now on.”

I roughly harvested the usable hide and magic stone from the corpse, then quickened my pace once more.

Before long, the dense trees began to thin out, and a wide plain came into view. At the far edge of that plain, I could see a massive wall built from rough, weathered stone and the figures of people moving busily about like a swarm of ants.

It was Lumen—the first stage of the main scenario.

“We’re here.”

At my murmur, Seria stood on her tiptoes and gazed at the distant village wall with wonder in her eyes.

“It really is a city…! I’ve never seen such a huge town before.”

Despite its lively appearance, I knew better than anyone that greed and betrayal festered behind those walls. There was a high chance that Barkan, the exploration team leader who had abandoned us yesterday, and his crew had their base in that very village.

I lightly patted Seria’s shoulder and smiled.

“Don’t get too excited. That village is far more dangerous than the forest we just crossed.”

Seria nodded, her expression immediately tensing up at my words. I sheathed my sword deeply into its scabbard and stepped forward toward the village.