The Whispering Wind

The Chaos Zone was a desolate wilderness, entirely blanketed by dark red particles of toxic Chaos energy. In the midst of this corruption, a sword emitting a faint, gentle glow sliced through the air. Rather than cleanly cutting, the blade slammed down with a crushing force, burying itself into a Chaos Beast commonly known as a "Woolball." A shrill, pathetic shriek—sounding bizarrely like a sheep—burst from the creature.

"Meeeeeek!"

Not yet. I had to make sure it was completely dead. Though it looked harmless enough, it was still ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a Chaos Beast. It was bound to have at least one defensive mechanism up its sleeve.

"Meek!" The Woolball's body began to swell rapidly. Of course, I had no intention of letting it finish.

Activate. The faint light radiating from the holy relic in my hand, the Gravitus Replicant, flared brilliantly. In an instant, its weight multiplied to a degree that would have crushed the wrists of an ordinary Hero. I drove the heavy blade straight down into the swelling beast.

Boom! A sound like a small explosion echoed through the clearing. The creature's bodily fluids sprayed outward in a violent burst. I quickly pulled my robe over myself to block the splatter. I had learned the hard way that letting a Chaos Beast's fluids touch your bare skin was never a good idea.

"Phew..." I let out a long breath as I watched the scattered fluids dissolve into dark red Chaos particles and fade away. Defeating them one by one was no walk in the park. I had to wonder just how absurdly high the developers had set the difficulty for training Alan; the Chaos Beasts roaming near this village were remarkably strong. They were the kind of monsters you were ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠only supposed to hunt after officially becoming a Hero.

It's a relief I managed to get a decent holy relic. The only reason I could hunt them at all was thanks to the Gravitus Replicant Gwen had left behind. For a 2-star holy relic, its performance was exceptional. Had it not been a replica, it easily could have been classified as a 3-star.

And it suits my current self perfectly. A sword that was constantly heavy would be too much for me to swing with my low Strength stat. But because this weapon allowed me to manipulate its weight at will, I could swing it effortlessly. The lack of a decisive finishing blow—a natural consequence of my low Strength—could be resolved using the exact same mechanism. I just had to release the weight restriction the split second before impact. Of course, mastering that precise timing required practice, but if a problem could be solved with practice, then it wasn't really a problem at all.

Since my Mana stat isn't high enough to cast magic, this is practically the best weapon I could ask for right now. In short, for the current Alan Flake, this was an end-game tier sword. Everything was going according to plan—no, even better than planned.

I need to keep hunting Chaos Beasts like this for a while to raise my SP and stats as quickly as possible. Receiving an unexpected holy relic from Gwen had given me a new goal. What once seemed impossible now felt within arm's reach.

I'm going to defeat the 71st Demon King right here. In a month's time, a horde of Chaos Beasts would breach the barrier. My plan was to intercept and eliminate the 71st Demon King, who would be leading them. Starting with the invasion of Alan's village, that creature would grow exponentially stronger over time, eventually becoming a threat that even high-level Heroes would struggle to handle. If I could kill it now, I could nip the threat in the bud. The massive amount of SP I would gain from slaying a Demon King was a welcome bonus.

And... I can protect the village while I'm at it. Watching Gwen had made me reflect on my own path. It made me think about having a place to return to. Of course, the immediate priority was growing stronger and reaching the rank of a high-level Hero, but there was no harm in planning ahead.

Though the old man did say he'd never hand the tavern over to me. Well, I could always just extort it using my authority as a Hero. A joke, of course.

Anyway... I had told myself everything was going according to plan, but there was actually one variable that deviated from my expectations. I opened my status window to check.

What on earth was this? I still couldn't wrap my head around it. The description was incredibly vague, simply stating that it accelerated all matter within a certain radius. Furthermore, unlike my swordsmanship skills, no innate knowledge or muscle memory had been imprinted into my mind when I acquired it. Perhaps this was the difference between a naturally awakened skill and an inherited one.

Wind, wind... I closed my eyes. Who were the characters that used wind? There was definitely a Hero who wielded wind magic. Was his name Gust? I tried to recall how he had utilized his powers.

... It was no use. Trying to force it felt like trying to make the impossible happen. I felt like a middle schooler trying to mimic an anime character.

What kind of skill is this anyway? If it was a simple acceleration effect, I should have felt some difference when swinging my sword or running, but there was absolutely no change. On the other hand, if it was literally related to wind, I had no clue how to trigger it.

It was a purple-grade reward, so it can't be useless. Depending on whether I could master this skill, my future plans might shift significantly. If only I could figure out how to use it.

As I stood there in frustration, something caught my eye, drifting down from above. A piece of straw? It was a single strand of straw, discolored and dulled by the surrounding Chaos. Because it was so light, it fluttered down through the air in slow, gentle arcs.

At that moment, a phrase from the skill description flashed through my mind: The range of applicable matter is influenced by proficiency. What if "range" didn't refer to a spatial limit, but rather the type or scale of the matter itself? My proficiency with this skill was currently at rock bottom. If so, perhaps my body and my sword were still too "heavy" or complex to be affected by the skill. But maybe, just maybe, a tiny piece of straw was within my current limits.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Please... I focused every ounce of my mental energy on the falling strand of straw. Uncaring of my desperate efforts, the straw simply continued its leisurely descent. Its playful, fluttering motion felt almost mocking. Just move a little...

It happened in an instant. Just before it touched the ground, the strand of straw spun in a sharp, tight circle. To an outside observer, it would have looked like nothing more than a stray breeze catching it, but to me, it was entirely different.

Well, I was used to these notifications popping up by now, so I brushed it aside. What truly mattered was the sensation I had just felt. I tried to replicate that exact feeling.

Flick. The piece of straw resting on the ground hopped slightly into the air before settling back down. I did it. It might seem ridiculous to celebrate over moving a single piece of straw, but it was an incredibly encouraging breakthrough. At the very least, I had proven that this hard-won skill wasn't completely useless.

So the "range of applicable matter" is indeed related to weight. It didn't work on my body or my sword, but it worked on a piece of straw. Weight was the most logical variable. Only one way to find out for sure.

I focused my senses on the hem of my robe. The sensation of moving the straw was still fresh in my mind. A moment later, the edge of my robe fluttered gently. That's it. Just like the robe, I could manipulate other light things, like strands of my own hair. It seemed my low proficiency restricted the skill's influence to exceptionally light objects.

There's a reason it's called Wind Authority. The sensation was entirely different from telekinesis. There was a weight restriction, and the condition that there must be no physical obstacles in the way. Moreover, using the skill didn't feel like directly grasping and moving an object; rather, it felt like manipulating the air surrounding it.

Then raising my proficiency has to be the priority. Manipulating only light objects severely limited the skill's utility. If I could apply it to heavier things, its usefulness would skyrocket. I would eventually be able to accelerate my own body, and of course, my sword.

Speaking of proficiency... My gaze drifted down to the Stigma section of my status window.

I have 180 SP saved up so far. This was the result of diligently completing quests while waiting for Gwen, and relentlessly hunting Chaos Beasts after she left. While it still felt like a meager sum compared to the effort I had poured in, it was a massive recovery considering I had spent every last point to acquire B-rank Swordsmanship.

Shall I go ahead and gather the remaining 70 SP? Deciding I had rested enough, I began searching for my next target. I had one month. At the very latest, I needed to acquire Precocious (Small) within two weeks, and spend the remaining time pushing Wind Authority to its absolute limits.

If my theory is correct, Wind Authority will synergize perfectly with Gravitus. Frankly, looking at my current stats, trying to kill a Demon King was pure madness. But if I could combine Wind Authority, the Gravitus Replicant, and B+-rank Swordsmanship, it was entirely feasible. I need to prepare as much as possible. I gazed out into the distant reaches of the Chaos Zone, toward the place where the Demon King likely lurked.

Deep within the Chaos Zone. Inside a crumbling ruin weathered by toxic ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠energy, a man sat in silence. He had a head of prematurely white hair, looking as though he had lived a hard life, and his most striking feature was his missing left arm, which had been amputated after being corrupted by Chaos.

We're short on funds... again. No matter how many times he calculated the ledger, the numbers didn't add up. Those bastards must have pocketed a share. They had stolen various valuables and holy relics through banditry, but something had gone wrong during the process of smuggling them past the barrier to sell. This time, because he hadn't trusted them, he had even sent an overseer to watch over them, yet the results were the same.

And it's not like I can go in person. He was a wanted man inside the barrier, making it impossible for him to cross over. That left only one option. I'll have to pick a few of them and beat the truth out of them.

He spun a dagger in his right hand. The dagger was a holy relic that had protected him from the corrupting Chaos for a very long time. It was a 3-star holy relic, a luxury none of his subordinates possessed. A 3-star weapon was something even standard Heroes struggled to obtain. Thanks to it, he had managed to survive outside the barrier, even when clashing with Heroes.

As long as I don't run into a monster like that again. He shuddered as he recalled the petite, red-haired woman he had encountered not long ago. Seeing two kids wandering outside the barrier, he had tried to lure a golem to kill them, only to end up losing one of his valuable subordinates instead.

Just thinking about it puts me in a foul mood. He had originally planned to make an example out of two of his men, but now he felt like he needed to execute three. As he was lost in thought, his hand suddenly trembled, and the dagger slipped from his grasp. He managed to catch it just before it hit the floor, but the blade sliced his palm, and dark red droplets of blood began to well up. The blood was a murky, dark crimson—the color of Chaos.

Have I been in the Chaos Zone too long? Even with the protection of a holy relic, a normal human body couldn't withstand prolonged exposure to Chaos without consequences. As soon as I gather enough money to buy a forged ID, I'm leaving this godforsaken wilderness for good. It was then.

"Boss!" A man burst into the room. Perfect timing. You'll be the first. "I told you to knock before entering my—" "Boss! That's not important right now!"

He was about to snap and ask what could possibly be more important, but he paused. The subordinate who had rushed in looked genuinely panicked. "What is it?"

"Those two kids we saw the other day!" The boss's brows furrowed. He wanted nothing to do with that red-haired woman. "I told you to leave them al—" But the moment he heard his subordinate's next words, a grin spread across his face.

"The boy who was trailing behind her has been wandering outside the barrier all by himself lately! And he's carrying a holy relic that looks to be at least a 2-star!" The boss leaped up from his chair. "Well, isn't that wonderful news." He glared at his dazed subordinate. "What are you standing there for? Get the boys ready."

"Phew..." No matter how many Chaos Beasts I killed, there seemed to be no end to them. At this rate, reaching 250 SP within two weeks was going to be incredibly difficult. It's too slow. This was the major drawback of farming SP solely by hunting Chaos Beasts. While it provided a steady, safe stream of SP and allowed me to gather Barrier Fragments to sell for cash, it was nearly impossible to acquire a massive amount of SP all at once.

I wish a decent quest would pop up. High-difficulty quests were the fastest way to earn large sums of SP. But those didn't just appear out of thin—

Yes, exactly like this.