41 The Restricted Forest.
Unlike the lush green forest behind me, the restricted region was completely opposite. The trees in this part of the forest were nicotine-brown. Gloomy scrubs hid dangerous creatures. The musty air was difficult to breathe. The whole forest was old and otherworldly.
"Let's go," I said as I looked at the contrast both places gave. It's like a completely different world. The only thing separating them was the poorly built wooden fence; maybe it's not poorly built but is pretty old.
We entered through the iron gate. There was a table with a few guards; it's likely they are here to check on the person who enters this area.
We walked up to them.
"If you both are here individually, then you can't go to the eastern area, and you'll have to hunt in the western area, but if you both are together, then you can proceed further," one of the guards said. According to him, it's not safe for a single person to be alone in the eastern area, so you'll have to bring an ally with you.
This large forest was further divided into two stages. The first stage was the outer region, which was not that dangerous, and we've been roaming there until now. There are only a few mana beasts, and the majority are small monsters. On the other hand, the second stage, with the inner region at its centre, was extremely dangerous.
The outer region was large, but that was based on its width. It would not be very far if one walked in a straight line. The inner region was much larger, as it was in the shape of an oval.
"Umm... we both are together," Anabelle said while placing a hand on my shoulders,like she was emphasising the point of us being together.
"Register yourself here, and then you can go." The guard said he placed a register in front of us, and we put our names in there.
After passing by the guards, we walked deeper into the forest as the scenery changed into a much darker place with a bad smell of blood and a decaying corpse.
"It's different from the outer side, right?" Anabelle was the first to strike up conversation in this silent atmosphere.
"Yeah,it sure is." I looked around me only to see vultures like mana beasts feeding on the rotten corpse of some beast.
Rustle
"Huh?!" I heard a movement in the large bush behind me and turned around. Anabelle immediately held out her bow and pulled the string to its widest.
Zoop
She follows that by shooting an air-filled arrow into the shrub. She is utilising a unique bow that can be strengthened with one's own elemental mana and can use air-type spells as an assault.
When the arrow struck the bush, the entire bush immediately scattered, exposing a creature with blockier muzzles that were larger than coyotes', shorter ears with rounded tips, and bushier tails.
"It's a lanis," Anabelle said as she launched another arrow at the mana beast, but the target was easily evaded.
Lanis is a wolf-like mana beast; it is quite aggressive, and unlike wolves, it hunts alone, so there is no need to worry about their other partner. Moreover, with our larger number, I believe we can easily take him out. Oh well, let's not overlook the fact that, in contrast to Thargtusk, it is a C-rank mana beast that is bred to hunt.
"Anabelle! " Fire an arrow on the tree to its left." I immediately conjured an inferno bolt in my hand as I aimed at the empty space on the right side.
"Okay," she shot an arrow on the tree where the lanis was headed; it made him turn around and run in the opposite direction, directly to the place where I aimed for.
"Take this!!" I threw the spell immediately when Lanis was at the spot where I wanted it to be.
Zoop
The spell hit the right foreleg, and the lanis crashed to the ground. Anabelle loaded another arrow and then hit the lance before it got a chance to pick itself up.
The arrow hit right on his back, and blood dripped from his
"Grrrr," it growled at us.
I immediately used some fireballs to weaken it further, but it dodged my attack smoothly.
I strengthened my body with mana and ran towards the lanis. I don't have any long-ranged weapons like Anabelle, so I have to fight it with my hands.
The lanis also didn't back down easily as he pounced forward at me with a jaw full of razor-sharp canines. I condensed my mana and made a fireball in my hand but also didn't launch it; I waited for it to come to me, and it did.
Lanis rushed to me with full speed; the more I fought it, the more adrenaline rushed through their bodies, and they were more likely to make a mistake.
Boom
I ducked very low and smashed the spell right into its abdomen. The stomach part is the place where the skin is thin and easy to cut.
It wobbled a little and then fell to the ground like a stringless puppet.
Ding
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System notification.
Earned 30 blood points by killing a Lanis
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I mentally brushed aside the system notification that popped out of nowhere.
"Fuu, it's dead." I said, taking a deep breath and looking at the dead Lanis. It was easy. I turned around and saw Anabelle.
"Anabelle!?" I called her. She is standing there with her bow still loaded; it's like she is spacing a bit.
"You said it was your first time here, right?" Anabelle asked as she unloaded the spell from her bow and came to me.
"Yeah,it is. Why are you asking?" I answered and threw in a question myself.
"No, nothing. I just thought you were pretty good for someone new," Anabelle said, walking towards the corpse and squatting beside it. She pulled a small dagger from her side pocket and began stabbing the corpse.
"I'll take that as a compliment, and what are you doing to the corpse?" I asked.
"Lenis corpses are useless, but the mana crystals are valuable," Anabelle said as she put her hand exactly where she stabbed with a dagger and pulled a small white marble-sized orb and put it in her bag.
"We can sell this to the guild for like one silver coin, and the corpse can be left for the vultures to feast on," Anabelle said as she wiped her blood-painted hand with a floral-patterned handkerchief.
"If that makes sense, then I think we should continue the search since I have to find some reincervids." I said that and walked away, while Anabelle followed behind.
"I think I might know the place where we can find them," Anabelle said.
After a few hours,
"Ha ha ha," I said, sitting on the ground to catch my breath.
"I think it's enough for today," Anabelle said as she passed a water bottle to me.
"One, two, and three, all done!" I counted the number of reincervids we killed; there are also some other small fry we caught, but they won't give us much.
I already dehorned the reincervids and took their mana crystals.
"It's the first time I was able to get this many hunts in one day," Anabelle said as she sat beside me.
"Well, still, I burned most of my mana, while you are still the same as always." I know that she is stronger than me, but how is it possible for her to not even sweat a little when here I am thoroughly exhausted?
"I am a three-star mage, so it's natural, but you are also quite strong for a two-star mage," Anabelle said.
"I am not a two-star mage but a one-star mage," I corrected her, and then she gave a judgy look but soon sighed and said,
"You are giving me surprises back-to-back, huh?" The first is that you've never been here before but still were able to keep up with me, and now you are saying that you are just a one-star mage. Anabelle completed her sentence with a light shake of her head.
"I think we should leave." I got up from my spot and helped Anabelle stand.
After that, we walked out of the forest while dragging the corpses of the mana beasts we killed using the mana strengthening.
.....
"Let's go inside." Anabelle said a lot of town folk were looking at us as we dragged these corpses towards the guild building.
After entering the guild,the old man Clay hurriedly walked towards us and said, "Oh, it looks like it's a big catch today."
"Yep,it certainly is. Now give me the right price for them." Anabelle pushed them at the old man Clay.
"Just give me a second; I'll calculate the right price for them." Old man Clay turned around.
"Ah, wait a minute; these are the horns for the quest I took today." I handed the Reincervids horns to him.
"Kid,You should look out for yourself."Old man Clay walked away after dropping these words.
"What does he mean by that," I was confused by such an out of the blue statement.
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