A tense and eerie silence flowed through the forest. Something was running between the foliage—something unseen, its steps light and quick. From what Zig could hear of its gait, it was not a bipedal creature.
Zig silently focused his senses, not moving his twinblade from his hip.
Poor visibility wasn’t the only reason that the threat remained unseen. He was familiar with this scent of magic, despite its weakness.
To Zig, it wasn’t much compared to the ghost shark, the first monstrosity he encountered while adventuring.
The difference in how a flying and a grounded creature concealed themselves was night and day. Compared to the ghost shark, which could hide itself and become a blur to its prey at the same time, this monstrosity relied on its ability to blend into the environment through camouflage. However, the fact that it was still able to stay out of Zig’s sight meant that it could not be underestimated.
The sound of footsteps seeking an opportunity stopped near Zig. Overflowing bloodlust assaulted him.
It was coming. Zig readied himself, just in time for the monstrosity to pounce from the trees behind him. It came out of its camouflage, revealing itself as it sailed through the air.
A leopard-like creature with a lithe body. Lustrous black fur covered its two-meter-long form.
The scimitar leopard.
Its unique feature were the blades protruding from its front legs. They were gray in color, and although they were nonmetallic, they were sharper than metal and could be used to decapitate the leopard’s prey. Ambushing its quarry from behind was its strategy.
However, its killing blow was blocked by a dark red blade.
“Hmph!”
Lifting the bottom blade of his twinblade, Zig blocked the arm blade aimed at his neck. He turned his body, flipping to nullify the scimitar leopard’s attack.
Another scimitar leopard came at him once he was open, and although he wasn’t able to counter its attack, he managed to swing his twinblade in time to block a third leopard. Two more leopards appeared to cover the failure of the ambush. However, this was a bad move for them.
Scimitar leopards were known for their pack hunting tactics. Ideally, they should be able to escape at this point.
The twinblade crashed down onto one arm blade. It was much stronger in weight and momentum. Although the arm blade remained unshattered, the leopard could do little to stop the twinblade’s momentum. It crushed the leopard’s head, and Zig was already on the move again before it fully stopped breathing.
He turned around, throwing his twinblade at the second leopard that had just landed. It pierced the scimitar leopard diagonally just as it was trying to escape, pinning it into the ground. He looked around for the final leopard.
“I’m done, Zig.”
Siasha had already placed the headless carcass of the scimitar leopard on an earthen shield. The battle was over.
“This place is quite dangerous, isn’t it?” Siasha said, preparing to carve the monstrosity’s skin. Scimitar leopards were most prized for their fur and arm blades. Its lustrous black fur was not strong enough to be used as armor, but was sought after by the wealthy for its quality. On the other hand, its arm blades were sharp and hard, but unattractive. These were made into daggers for adventurers.
Both materials traded at a high price and were in demand. However, few adventurers actively hunted these creatures.
“It can’t be helped. There are a lot of stealthy monstrosities here.”
They were in a deeper section of the forest where they encountered their first monstrosities.
Uratoria Forest was dense with greenery, lowering visibility and earning it the nickname “Invisible Forest.” It was home to sly monsters that took advantage of their environment and used various attack methods, from camouflage to movement to magic. These presented a different type of hazard compared to straight up strength, and they stayed away from large hunting groups in the name of safety. Adventurers avoided the forest if they only had combat prowess and no necessary detection abilities.
The lack of rivals made Uratoria highly lucrative. The forest was very profitable for adventurers with the right skill set, and it was famous for the quality materials it produced.
So, what were Zig and Siasha doing in such a dangerous hunting ground?
“It’s all because that other place is restricted now.”
“That can’t be helped either.”
The blade bee nest had been cordoned off after the incident. The creatures were still a threat, since their hive was attacked and the guild didn’t want to risk a repeat of what happened the other day. Thus, the area was restricted until the blade bees settled down.
“Adventurers who used to go there are forced to find other hunting grounds. Looks like fights are breaking out because of it. I feel like this has happened before.”
“It has, back when there was a bounty. Who took care of that one?”
Siasha looked at Zig as she twirled her knife, which was stained red from skinning the leopard. The blood splattered on her cheek made her look unsettling.
A similar thing happened during the double-horned blue beetle bounty. The young members of the Wadatsumi took on the job and Zig was hired to keep them safe. Eventually, the creatures were dealt with and the restriction for lower class adventurers was lifted. However, not everything went according to plan. Zig was heavily injured, and Siasha was very upset about being left out.
“Was it the Wadatsumi? You know, Siasha, you’re getting better at carving.” Zig changed the subject after realizing he was on thin ice.
To her credit, Siasha was, indeed, doing a great job. She was much faster and neater compared to Zig, who only carved if he had to. They had already split their work—Zig was on arm blade duty, with Siasha on fur duty.
“You know… I’ve done this a lot back in the forest. I got good at it eventually. My first time was awful, though…”
Siasha was not pleased with how Zig changed the subject, but she accepted the compliment anyway without pausing in her task. When he thought about it, he realized she was very efficient when she carved her first pouch wolf. He only remembered her holding back tears because of the pouch’s smell.
“Still, pretty good for someone self-taught,” Zig praised as he worked on the arm blades. The arm blades didn’t just grow from the scimitar leopard’s front paws. Their dull gray blades were actually bone growing of their elbows.
Zig first cut the leg off before sliding his knife through the muscle fibers, removing the meat. Once he carved off a good chunk of flesh, he wiped off the blood and moved the arm blade to the dolly.
The process needed to be done as fast as possible, since the smell of blood would attract more monstrosities.
“I’m done here.” Siasha finished first, tying the fur down with a leather strap and moving it to the dolly. She did a big stretch, her back popping after being in the same position for a while. Zig thought she looked like a cat while she was stretching, and he reached for the final arm blade.
“I’m almost done—hm?!”
The back of Zig’s neck broke out in goosebumps before he could finish. He followed his instincts, moving out of the way before he knew exactly what was going on. His head almost touched the ground as he ducked even further from his kneeling position.
A green arc flashed through the air where his head was just a moment ago. However, Zig’s attacker was unfazed and followed up with a second slash.
“Hmph!”
Zig had his weapon on him, but it was difficult to defend himself from his position. He picked up the nearest bladed object available, the scimitar leopard’s arm blade, and blocked the incoming attack. The gray arm blade sparked as it clashed with the green razor blade.
The arm blade was being pushed back, but Zig had predicted that this would happen. He knew that it was impossible to fight back from where he was kneeling and used his opponent’s momentum to roll out of the way. The green razor blade left a cut on Zig’s cheek.
“Zig!”