Semi-retired Adventurer Lives Leisurely

Chapter 80: The Light

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The thick, dense forest of the great forest lies before us.

 

The Fallwood Forest seems gloomier in comparison with the Flowtier Forest.
The density of the Corrupted Magic is thicker here as well, and as soon as we stepped foot inside, Poison Wolves rushed at us.

 

This is a hunting area that’s several levels above the Flowtier Forest.

 

Ageha: “Ohー the Poison Wolf Fangsー These are actually great ingredients for making poisonー”

 

And Ageha immediately dispatched the 10 Poison Wolves within a second as their heads flew off, and she was happily gathering the dropped items.

 

……..well, the Flowtier Forest is catered towards beginner Adventurers, so for anyone on Ageha’s level, the Fallwood Forest is not that different.

 

Henry: “Oh, I could use some more poison ingredients too.
Can I have some?”

 

Ageha: “No way.
I took these guys out, so these are mine.” Ugh, oh well.
At this rate, we’ll be running into many Poison Wolves anyways.

 

Cyril: “Miss Ageha……you’re so fast as always.” Ageha: “Hehe, aren’t I?”

 

Cyril is impressed, and Ageha gets on her high horse.
……….well, it’s true that her speed is something to be noted.

 

Henry: “Oh, watch out.
It’s the Wood Golems.” They are about 3 meters (～10 ft) tall, and they are humanoid Demonic Creatures made of wood.
They appeared sluggishly into sight.

 

The Golem-Type Creatures differ heavily in how strong they are depending on the material they are made from.

 

But even if they are made from wood, they are still pretty hard and pretty large, and although they are classified as the weakest among their kind, Wood Golems are still Mid-Tier, Lower-Class.
If they are made from metal, they will rank in the Mid-Tier, Upper-Class range or higher.

 

Jend: “Alright! I’ll go in!”

 

With a shout, Jend charges in with his large broadsword at the ready.

 

As you would expect from how they look, the Wood Golems try to counter attack, but their slow movements and attacks are easily dodged by Jend who ducks low and sprints forward.
He reaches them at arm’s length and swings his sword sideways with one broad stroke.

 

Jend’s favorite moveーthe Flaming Slash.
He cuts through the wooden body with ease, and from where he cut, fire erupts.

 

Even though he’s fighting Wooden Golems for the first time, he is fighting them calmly and without taking risks.
He’s really learning from each of his past fighting experiences, and he is making sure to be able to adapt to any one of his opponent’s movements.

 

As proof of that….

 

Teo: “Mr.
Jend! Above you!” Jend: “I see them!”

With Teo’s timely warning, Jend braces his sword above his head.

 

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……….if he didn’t notice, I would have had to jump in, but Jend blocked the attack of the thing that came raining down on him from the shadows.
He blocked this attack without any issue.
Even if he’s attacking an opponent, he didn't failed to keep his eyes on his surroundings.
Yes, he’s really improved a lot in this area.

 

Ferris: “Is that what they call the Demonic Ape?”

 

Henry: “Yup.” I affirm Ferris’ suspicions.

 

The Mid-Tier, Upper-Class Demonic Creature, the Demonic Ape.

 

They stand about 2 meters (～6 ½ ft) covered in black fur and are extremely muscular.
They are clever and extremely aggressive, and as they travel jumping from branch to branch with light movements, they are still incredibly strong, and they are pretty annoying threats to have to deal with.

 

Henry: “Looks like they were looking for an opportunity before we even entered the forest.”

 

Yuu: “Yes, looks like we’re surrounded.” I take a quick look around our surroundings, and I see about 6 Demonic Apes glaring down on us from high above the tree branches.
They sat in a circle around us and continued to glare our way.

 

………..that Wood Golem and the Poison Wolves, there’s a good chance that the Apes led those Demonic Creatures towards our way.

 

Yuu: “Well, it’s been a while since I swung this thing around.” Yuu takes out the wooden stick that was strapped to her back and holds it in front of her.
On the end is a metal ball the size of a fist, and with an effort of will, Yuu detaches the ball from the tip and lets it fall to the floor.

 

…….but it didn’t just detach completely.
The stick and the metal ball at the end were connected by a chain made of light.

 

Yuu: “Here we go.” She begins to spin the wooden handle around in a circle, and the metal ball spins around.
The chain made of light begins to lengthen gradually, and the metal ball on the end also increases in size and thorns and spikes appear all around it.

 

Basically, this weapon is a Morning Star.

 

Yuu: “Yah!!”

 

And with enough momentum built up behind it, Yuu swings the Morning Star towards one of the Demonic Apes that were sitting high above in the tree branches.

 

The chain of light stretches without end, and the spiked metal ball heads directly at one of them.

 

“?!?!” The Demonic Apes who mistook the weapon as a short-range weapon immediately tried to avoid the unexpected attack.

 

But Yuu quickly moves the wooden handle and the metal ball immediately shifts in direction slightly, and the metal ball sinks deep into one of the Demonic Ape’s legs.

 

“…….PIGEEE?!”

The Demonic Ape lets out a howling screech.
As the spikes of the metal ball sunk into its skin, more spikes protruded from those spikes at the end and mutilated the flesh underneath.

 

And as Yuu draws back the wooden handle, the chain of light shortens and drags the poor Demonic Ape off the branch and into the ground.
The pierced flesh was torn off its leg in the process.

 

Yuu: “…….hmmmm, I seem to be a little rusty.” Henry: “I can tell, but that weapon……..it’s sickeningly brutal as always……..”

 

The fact that she missed its body on the first try shows that she’s a little rusty, but the way the spiked metal ball destroys the body of the Demonic Creature is not something a child should ever see.

 

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This is Yuu’s Epic Godly Equipment, “The Star of Destruction.” The abilities are [chain of light], [shape shifting], and [course manipulation].

 

Using a half-material Magic Chain, it can stretch to any length, and with shape-shifting, it can change the shape of the metal ball attached or make spikes grow out of it, and after it is thrown, the course of its throw can be manipulated…………so basically, it LOOKS like a Morning Star, but it’s used in a completely different manner.

 

And the [Shape Shifting] is the same as my Nyoiten Spear, but it is limited to the metal ball at the end.
But because of this limitation, Yuu is able to make more refined shape-shifting changes than my spear.

 

……even so, making spikes grow out of spikes after it pierces the enemy is an incredibly sick and twisted imagination.

 

Henry: “Teo, can you take care of it.” Teo: “Yes.” But going back to the fight, I asked Teo to shoot an arrow through the Demonic Ape that fell to the ground.
It could not dodge with its wounded leg, and the Demonic Ape was killed instantly.

 

Yuu changed the metal ball to an ordinary sphere, shortened the chain of light and brought the sphere back to her………..but as soon as she was finished, the enraged Demonic Apes rushed at us from above.

 

Henry: “Take this!” I aimed for the easiest target and threw my spear at one of the Demonic Apes.
Before it touched the ground, I pierced its skull.

 

Henry: “Cyril! Take the rearguard! Ferris and Teo fight as a pair! Jend! Just take care of your side on your own, got it?!” I yell out orders to everyone in the party.
Since it’s the first time fighting in this kind of location against new kinds of enemies, these order should prove helpful.

 

Jend: “Aren’t you being too vague with my orders?!” Jend complains, but this is a sign of trust.
As a genuine vanguard, he’s coming close to perfecting his role, and he’ll be able to handle Demonic Apes on his own.

 

And Yuu and Ageha don’t need any orders.
Ageha is already heading right towards the location where one of the Demonic Apes that are jumping down, and as they meet, the Demonic Ape’s head goes flying off.
Yuu is standing diagonally behind me and changed her metal sphere into a blade and readies her weapon.

 

Without the chain, the Star of Destruction is now a long stick with a blade at the end.
…….in other words, it’s a spear now.
I taught her a little bit back in the day, and she showed a lot of promise and talent, and now she’s able to protect herself well.

 

But her main role is a Healer, so similar to Ferris, she’s not the kind that needs to grind herself into a fight.

 

Yuu: “Okay, shall we, Henryー?!”

 

……..yup, alright.
Let’s do our best.

 

<<<<>>>>

 

Cyril: “{Icicle Coffin}!”

 

The blue light that Cyril blasted hit the Demonic Ape that Ferris and Teo were holding back and instantly froze the body.

 

……..with that, we successfully took down all the Demonic Apes that attacked us.

 

It’s only been about 1 hour since we set foot inside the Fallwood Forest.
This is now the 3rd attack we faced.

 

Cyril: “ThーThere’s a lot of them…..” Cyril still has plenty of Magic Power in her reserves, but the interval between fighting, walking, and fighting are too short and caused Cyril to complain.

 

Henry: “Yeahー Demonic Creatures that love to fight and have some level of cleverness are all like this.
You may not have realized it, but there were about 10 Demonic Apes at the entrance of the forest standing watch.
They’re probably all scouts from different packs………..so basically, the packs who got ready first have been attacking us.”

 

Cyril: “Is that why………” Henry: “They’re extremely territorial, but we’re lucky that the different packs don’t like combining their strengths and attacking us all at once.”

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If they were a Demonic Creature with some ability to form societiesーーlike Giants for instanceーーit would have been a whole lot more troublesome.

 

Henry: “Oh, Jend.
How is your injury?” Jend: “I’m fine………..or so I’d like to say, but this isn’t good.
I can’t raise my arm.” 5 Demonic Apes suddenly rushed towards Ferris and Teo.

 

Seeing that they were at a severely disadvantage, Jend rushed in to cover them, but as a result, he received a pretty bad injury.

 

He was fortunate that they hit him where his armor protected him, but he received 3 or 4 pretty strong attacks on his left arm.
Right now, he isn’t able to put any strength into it, and it is dangling uselessly next to his body.

 

……..but he protected those two under these conditions.
He teamed up immediately with Teo and Ferris and as one coordinated group, they were able to take down 3 before Ageha came to reinforce their group.
Honestly, that was impressive.

 

With that arm, he could be rolling around in pain, but Jend was acting calm and cool.
But he couldn’t hide the oily sweat that surfaced from the pain he was holding back.

 

Henry: “Sorry, I should have gone to help.” Jend: “Pshhh, we can’t always be counting on you to help carry us through everythin……..OW OW OW?!?!”

 

Ferris was examining Jend’s injury and was touching his arm, and Jend suddenly let out a howl of pain.

 

Ferris: “It’s a terrible bruise.
He definitely broke a bone.”

 

Jend: “YーYeah?” Ferris: “Yeah, but well, leave it to me.
…….[Merciful Goddess, please bless us with your healing light].”

 

Ferris initiates her Magecraft with those key words, and her bracelet-shaped Spell Chanting Stone lights up, and that light envelopes Jend’s arm.

 

Ferris: “{Heal Light}!”

 

The Healing Light shined brilliant for a few seconds longer, and by the time it disappeared, Jend’s painful expression was gone.

 

Jend: “Whoaー, thanks, Ferris! You saved me!”

 

Ferris: “I’m just returning the favor.
You saved us back there too, Jend.” Teo: “Yes, thank you so much for your help, Mr.
Jend.” As I watched the three share their gratitude with each other, I noticed Yuu gaze at them….or rather, at Ferris specifically.

 

Henry: “What? You want her to join your group?” Yuu: “Honestly, yes.
Even at this point, she’s better than the Upper-Class Healers among the Ningel Church.
Do you know where she learned her Magecraft, Henry?” Henry: “She studied in Centraleo’s Ningel Church.
I don’t know who taught her though.” Yuu: “In the Alvenia Kingdom’s Capital City, I see….
That Ningel Church should be……..maybe Master Rune?” Yuu mumbles to herself as she identifies the people she knows in that area.

 

Henry: “Well, you can ask her that later.
Besides, we’re almost there.” Yuu: “Yes, you’re right.” I glare into the forest depths.

 

From here, it’s difficult to see far, and it looks like a regular forest from where we're standing.

 

But if we walk about 20 meters (～22 yards), we’ll enter into a Corrupted Territory where the Corrupted Magic density is several times greater than where we are standing now.

 

My skin tingles at the animosity and enmity that I feel from there.

 

……….because they are Plant-based Demonic Creatures that root themselves deep into the ground, they cannot immediately get up and rush at us, but as soon as we step into their range, they will begin attacking us from all sides.

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They are Elder Treants.
One of the Demonic Tree Creature packs is right around the corner.

 

Ageha: “Okay, then.
Heーy, you guys! We’ll all be backing up Henry and Yuu from here on out.
Instead of going after boring creatures without heads, let’s go hunt some more fun ones this way!”

 

That Ageha.
Her words take the edge off my rising motivation.

 

Well, whatever.
I can’t let her attitude sway me this way and that.

 

Henry: “Alright, Yuu.” Yuu: “Yes.”

 

There’s a strong repercussion to the Spell, so I haven’t used it up until now, but it’s time for Yuu’s Enhancement Magecraft.

 

Cyril: “Ohhhhー so we finally get to see it.
I can’t wait to see what it’s like.” Yuu: “Hahaha.
I’m not sure if it will live up to your expectations, but please watch anyways, Miss Cyril.” Cyril goes into spectator mode, and Yuu waves her hand nonchalantly towards Cyril with a smile.
Cyril is cheering Yuu on with a “Please do your best!”

 

Yuu: “Then………..[Gods who are in Heaven, to this man, Henry, may you bless with your gracious light].” Yuu begins her incantation.

 

She does not solely rely on a Spell Chanting Stone that has the Spell engraved physically into an object, but by using subtle nuances and changes in her voice, the effects of the spell are changed………this is mostly useless during a battle, but it’s the Incantation Initiation Magecraft Style.

 

The actual Enhancement Spell will use a Spell Chanting Stone, but in order to uniquely specialize the effect for an individual, you need to perform this Incantation form in order to complete the Spell.
In order to fully create and master the Spell, it takes roughly years normally.

 

Yuu: “[My Hero, show me your strength.
With my light, cast evil aside with thy sword]!”

 

But listening to this incarnation is embarrassing.
It’s probably in a similar format as one of the ancient Incantation Spells, but the phrase “My Hero,” is hard to listen to.

 

…………crap, I can’t be distracted and thinking about that.

 

Yuu: “[Shimmering Rally]”

 

Light fills my line of sight.

 

Yuu’s Magic Power carries my strength higher and higher to incredible heights I never experienced……..or actually, haven’t experienced in a while.
Confidence pours into me as power floods every sense of my body and envelopes all around me.

 

A buff that is far stronger than any Ability Enhancing Potions or Ms.
Lotte’s song.

 

In the past, there was a pair who used this Spell, and the two were considered as one “Hero of Legend” together.

 

Well, I may not have that kind of title, but in this condition, I am [okay] in a fight.
It’s like taking one single step into Sir Ezeal and Ms.
Lotte’s realm.

 

Cyril: “………….yーyou’re shining quite a bit.” Henry: “Yeah, one of the shortcomings of this Spell is that I stand out a lot.” But it’s not that big of a deal though.

 

Henry: “Alright, I’ll get going.” I can’t stray too far away from Yuu or the Spell will be cut short, so Yuu follows after me.

 

Okay, let’s do this!