Three Opponents

There were three of them.

Two broke into a charge straight for Yujun and Manuela. The third veered off toward the Hon. They had clearly marked Yujun and Manuela as the greater threat, though their grasp of actual strength left something to be desired. Small wonder. The charge was reckless to the point of absurdity.

Shhk. Shhk.

The two monsters that had come hurtling in like arrows lost their heads to the empty air. With Ancient Magic, Yujun seized the space around the one closing on the Hon. Hung in midair, the creature thrashed.

Crack!

He snapped both of its legs and left it alive. The thing could speak, and he had questions.

"Wh-what did you do to me?"

Caught by something the eye could not see, the monster shook violently, as if the fact that it had been taken without ever understanding how ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠filled it with dread. Yujun gave no answer. He simply walked toward it, unhurried.

"I've got ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a few questions. Do you have a player's abilities?"

"......"

It clamped its mouth shut and glared.

"Okay. Got it."

Yujun opened his inventory.

Thirty minutes passed.

"I-I'll talk! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

To anyone else the creature would have been a predator. Before him it had become prey, and Yujun succeeded in making it open its mouth of its own accord.

As expected. There's nothing in my inventory that can't get the job done.

He allowed himself a satisfied smile. The Hon, watching, looked utterly dumbfounded.

"There's a method that vicious?"

"Torture works on monsters too. That's a first."

Yujun moved on to the real questions.

"Same question as before. Player abilities. Do you have them?"

"Yes."

"How did you get them?"

"I-I was just... born with them."

"Born with them?"

"Yes!"

"Then why did you come after me first?"

"Th-that's..."

The monster hesitated. Then its eyes found the grotesque, enormous something in Yujun's hand, and the words came tumbling out again.

"My instincts said your level would climb higher... I swear I wasn't thinking anything else!"

"So your instinct is to go after the stronger one?"

"Yes! That's it!"

"Do most of the things living in this forest share that tendency? Player abilities included?"

"At least every one I've seen did."

"How long have you been alive?"

"Um... I don't know exactly. I think I've watched the moon rise about seven hundred times."

"Not even seven hundred days?"

"Y-yes! That should be about right!"

"......"

Had it been strong from the moment it was born? This goblin-like monster fell short of a Devil Tiger, and yet it still carried the martial power of a top-tier ranker. Something was off. Less that the creatures were lying, and more that...

"Do you normally live in packs?"

"We almost never hunt unless there are at least five of us."

"Then why did only three of you come?"

"We were hasty. Prey in the forest has been far too scarce lately."

"You rushed in so another pack wouldn't take it first."

"Yes."

"Who's the strongest thing here?"

"In this forest? Hmm."

"You don't know?"

"If I'd met them, I'd ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠be dead. But... there was one time the corpses of the higher predators were strewn everywhere. A night when the moon was perfectly round."

"Corpses? They left the bodies?"

"Yes. Normally you'd think to eat them and grow stronger. But those corpses were relatively intact."

"And you don't know why."

"No."

"Are there separate tribes?"

"We just live and travel as families. Settling in one place is insanely dangerous."

"No territories?"

"Only the truly strong predators have those. Most of us live as wanderers."

"You speak well. Who taught you?"

"I don't know. I could communicate from the moment I was born."

Yujun stroked his chin. Was this the power of the System? Strange, either way. Monsters talking was one thing. Possessing a player's abilities on top of that was another. Did that mean a monster could keep growing without end? Shouldn't they be considered another race entirely?

One thing, at least, had become certain. Sourtul Forest was extremely dangerous. Even the Hon, famed for their prowess in battle, could not escape being prey inside it.

Yujun opened his status window. Killing the three goblin-like monsters had finally pushed him to level 400, and the ritual that followed was obvious: upgrade his equipment. Level 400 armor out, level 450 armor in. The accessories as well. The difference an item made was enormous, and the grade of what he meant to wear was Mythic. There was no need to waste breath explaining why swapping gear mattered.

Better to be ready.

So long as he did not know exactly what kind of monster lived in this forest, he could not afford to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠move carelessly. He opened his inventory. The items he would wear at level 400 had already been sorted in advance. All that remained was to take them out and put them on. Each time his hand swept through the empty air, a piece of unmistakably fine equipment materialized. The two Hon watched in open wonder. Whether they did or not, Yujun worked through the whole process with a smile fixed on his face.

Armor first...

In shape and in name, the armor was much like his level 400 set. Two things had changed. A Roman numeral II now trailed each name, and while the options themselves were the same kind, their effects had been upgraded. That was precisely why he had chosen this set.

Right now, the most efficient gear I have is the God of Destruction set.

Attack Power and Defense. The higher those two numbers climbed, the better — an unchanging truth. A mere fifty levels on the equip restriction, and the options dwarfed what had come before. Smiling with satisfaction, Yujun swapped the armor into place.

Next came the accessories.

What I'm wearing now is loaded with magic options.

At level 350 he had obtained Ancient Magic and had wanted to push that side of himself. The options on his current accessories were broken enough already, but he had decided to replace every last one of them.

Magic is plenty as support.

In truth, having magic power to spare was its own problem. Inefficient, looked at a certain way. He wanted to develop further as a swordsman, and it was not simple greed.

Chase both the sword and magic, and I might just end up half-baked.

At level 500 there would be Mythic-grade gear meant for a magic swordsman, so the matter would sort itself out later. For now, focusing on one thing was the better choice. Yujun drew out the new accessories.

Two rings. Two bracelets. And a necklace. Five accessories in all, replaced — options any other player would have called unfair. Yujun equipped them while holding his Equanimity, lest the necklace's effect be cut in half.

Come to think of it, I can't swap the weapon.

The highest equip restriction among the items he owned was 500. And since he was already wielding a Transcendent-grade weapon, nothing he had was better than what was already in his hand.

Preparations are done.

He felt several times stronger than he had a moment ago. Sure enough, the closer one drew to level 500 — the level cap back in War of the Gods — the more exponentially the quality of items climbed.

"Your items changed again already? Just how big is that inventory of yours?"

Manuela stared at him, openly startled.

"What are you talking about? Inventories don't have a size limit."

"I was speaking figuratively. Why do you have so many items?"

"People can have a lot of items. You're overreacting."

"No, it really feels like they were prepared in advance, way ahead of your level..."

She had struck the heart of it. Yujun borrowed the calm of Equanimity and kept his face perfectly even.

"I got lucky."

Manuela learning about the inventory perk would not be a disaster, but he saw no good in volunteering it. The two of them started walking again. Sourtul Forest was vast — so vast that even Yujun, whose senses reached wide, found monster presences difficult to pick out.

Or maybe there simply aren't that many monsters in here...

The Hon, Rayl and Yotolban, kept staring at him with wonder. Enough that it started to weigh on him.

"What are you looking at?"

He finally asked.

"I-it's just... amazing."

"What's amazing?"

"Of all the humans I've seen... I think you're the strongest. You have my respect."

Yotolban, so large that Yujun had to look up at him, scratched his head as he answered.

"Isn't that a little too blunt?"

"We of the Hon follow and respect warriors who are overwhelmingly strong. So long as they are not of the demon race."

"You don't care for demons."

"Because they are the ones who follow the Demon God."

"...The Demon God?"

"Yes. The Demon God Worshippers. You may as well assume that most of the demon race are Worshippers."

Yotolban's words called up the trial from before Yujun had gained the power of the Primordial Player.

"Demon God Worshippers."

"You know of them?"

"How do you?"

"Our people... that is, our forebears earned great merit by crushing the Demon God Worshippers in great numbers. In those days the standing of the Hon was tremendous. So the elders drilled us on the Worshippers, and on the deeds of our ancestors, until our ears grew calluses."

"Then you'd know about the Primordial Player as well."

At that, Yotolban's eyes went wide.

"How does a human know of that?"