That path, which once took an hour to cross, now took me only a few minutes. Just this simple detail made me realize how much I had changed. But I definitely don’t want to die, so being careless is not an option.


    I move through the fields like lightning and soon find myself in front of the forest where everything began. According to the guild receptionist—her name was Miko or something like that—if I head toward the heart of the forest and turn left, in a few minutes, I’ll reach what they call the "Black Forest."


    That place wasn’t as scary anymore, I must say. During the first few days I was there, I feared being attacked by a monster, but as we had already witnessed, the outskirts were relatively safe. The only problem with staying there was that Kai could easily find me, though I doubt he’d lose track of me even if I tried to hide.


    The forest was still so dense that it was impressive to think adventurers had been entering and creating routes through it for years. According to what Bartra and Max told me, the main source of food came directly from the hunters sent into this forest.


    It had been a while since I had ventured this deep, and what bothered me most was that the further I walked, the more familiar the surroundings seemed.


    I could hear noises around me! I had no idea what kind of creature it was, so I decided staying on the ground was definitely not the best option. I approached a tree and, with a single jump, landed on one of its branches—I needed to test if I could reach it, haha.


    Now, I leaped from branch to branch at high speed. If an adventurer saw me, I wouldn’t be surprised if they attacked me, mistaking me for a stealthy monster. As these thoughts ran through my head, I spotted my mission target…


    A pack of large wolves—much bigger than any that existed in the real world—circled a pile of decomposing human bodies. I could identify at least three, but the rest were so disfigured they looked more like a heap of bones and flesh in an abnormal shape.


    It was a stomach-churning sight. What surprised me the most was how sharp my senses had become—I could now see much more clearly in the darkness that gave the forest its name.


    Wait a second…


    I looked around thoughtfully.


    This level of darkness… I had only seen it once before in this forest—the day Axel and I first ventured in. Can you believe we walked straight into the most dangerous part of the entire region on our very first try? Bartra would say we needed to thank Celestia for getting out alive.


    I quickly pushed these thoughts aside. The mission was to find the missing group, so at the very least, I needed to retrieve their adventurer crests to prove I had completed it.


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    The wolves circled that pile of flesh—it was probably the largest amount of food they had seen in a long time, so they were on guard in case a larger predator appeared.


    Analyzing the situation, I counted seven wolves guarding the adventurers'' bodies. If an entire group had been wiped out, this wouldn’t be an easy battle. But I had no intention of failing my first mission.


    Without overthinking, I jumped down from the branch where I had been watching. The monsters turned toward me, making it clear they had heard my movement. They snarled and charged in my direction. I ran toward them as well, gripping my sword tightly—if I fell, I’d fall fighting.


    The first wolf got close enough to engage me. The massive canine, with glowing red eyes, lunged at my face, baring its rows of sharp teeth. Surprisingly, its movements weren’t that fast—maybe they were tired or something.


    To prevent that mass of fangs from reaching me, I swung my sword diagonally from bottom to top. My plan was simply to push the monster back by clashing my blade against its powerful jaws—but that’s not what happened…


    With a single clean motion, as if slicing through a thin layer of butter, my sword split the wolf’s head in two. Its body fell a bit further away due to its momentum—completely dead.


    How was that possible? I had no time to think about it, as two more wolves were already charging at me, clearly enraged by their fallen comrade. Their formation, which had been a straight line, quickly changed—one attacked from the right, the other from the left.


    Their timing was synchronized—terrifyingly so. When they struck, I’d have to deal with both at once. A second sword would be really useful right now…


    To avoid their ambush, I lunged at the wolf on the right, hoping to eliminate one threat early.


    The wolf didn’t even react—a single slash to its legs completely severed all four of them, leaving it entirely useless for the fight.


    This was easy—shockingly easy. A certain feeling crept into my mind… A feeling I definitely shouldn’t be having in the middle of combat. Was this… boredom?


    I looked down, lost in thought. The wolf on the left lunged at me, but this time, I didn’t attack. Just before it touched me, I grabbed its neck, stopping it mid-air. It was light—its throat in my hands felt as fragile as a simple pencil.


    I stared straight into its eyes. It snarled furiously but was completely helpless. A mighty predator posed no threat at all.


    I crushed its neck, snapping it effortlessly.


    As the creature’s body collapsed to the ground, I turned to the rest of the pack guarding the pile of corpses. They now looked terrified—probably because their alpha had died in the fight. But they were all so unimpressive that I couldn’t even tell which one had been the leader.


    Gripping my sword firmly with both hands, I sighed. This wasn’t fun anymore. The feeling of tension was gone, so I’d finish this in a single strike.


    With a powerful horizontal slash, a cutting wind shot toward the small pack. Their bodies exploded into pieces—organs and bones torn apart by the mere force of the air. What kind of strength had I gained from my training?


    Now, with that sea of blood before me, the adventurers’ corpses were fully accessible. I walked toward them.


    For some reason, the sight seemed far less grotesque now, but I still didn’t want to stay there any longer than necessary. I refused to carry those bodies all the way back to the guild, so I stuck to my plan—I took their adventurer crests.


    I found five in total—four rank E and one rank D. I assumed that was their leader.


    I was about to leave as fast as possible, but before departing, I bowed slightly to them. Then, I took off at high speed.


    On the way back, I was deep in thought. I was carrying the identification of five people I had never met, yet I knew exactly how they had died and who they had fought. A bitter feeling settled inside me. Thinking about how their leader must have felt watching his companions die—or how they must have felt seeing their leader fall—definitely didn’t make me happy.


    I hurried back, and in no time, I reached the guild.


    As I entered, my clothes were stained with blood. Some adventurers laughed, probably thinking it was mine, while the receptionist looked at me with concern.


    —The blood isn’t mine, don’t worry…—I said quietly.


    —Oh… right, so you must have run into monsters on the way.—She spoke with focus.


    —Yeah.—I pulled the crests from my pocket and handed them to her.


    —These are… ah… I still had hope they were alive… Even so, thank you, adventurer. Here’s your reward.—She was clearly saddened. It was interesting to see how much she truly cared about everyone in that place. Was it dedication to her job, or a deep appreciation for life? I wasn’t sure.


    I simply nodded silently and left. My body wasn’t tired, but after what I had seen today, I felt like I needed some rest.