I Felt It
When did it start?
I felt a very faint but chilly sensation behind me.
Should I say I felt it after entering this forest?
I couldn't feel any presence, but I could feel a very faint flow of mana moving.
At first, I thought it was just mana passing by, but as we moved, it moved too.
And when we stopped, it stopped, so I knew.
That they were after us.
So, what should we do in this situation?
There were several ways.
There was a way to inform my colleagues of the current situation.
There was also a way to deal with it alone.
I didn't want to bother them unnecessarily.
So, I decided to ask the forum for advice.
‘Well… They don't seem to be planning to attack.’
Whether they were waiting for us to fight the monsters, they hadn't shown any sign of attacking yet.
Perhaps they were planning to ambush us when our formation was broken while fighting the monsters.
But, just in case, I decided to cast a barrier on my allies at any time, and wrote a post on the forum.
[Author: ReallyDirtPoor]
[Title: Does a chameleon's dick change color when it mates? lol]
[Content: There's an assassin hiding nearby, what should I do? The location is a forest.]
Well, I didn't expect a productive answer.
If there was a good answer here, I would follow it, but that didn't mean I would blindly believe it.
I was going to make the most rational judgment by my standards.
Thinking so, I walked on.
“Speaking of which, I heard that Illusion Flowers are very useful. Have you ever used them?”
The person I was asking was, of course, Hearts.
Hearts was a Paladin.
The chances of him having handled all sorts of precious things were very high.
But then.
“Well, of course I've handled them a lot. I used to be a very successful blacksmith, you know.”
An unexpected person answered.
I didn't expect Dontas to answer.
To be honest, I was a little flustered, but I laughed it off.
There was no need to make the atmosphere awkward by saying that I didn't talk to Dontas here.
“Hmm? What does a blacksmith have to do with Illusion Flowers? I'm not sure I understand.”
I didn't know much about these materials.
Of course, if there was a book that described information about such materials, I would remember all the information, but such books were rare.
Knowledge is wealth.
It was characteristic of medieval people that they didn't want to share it with others easily.
When I said that, Dontas laughed and began to tell his story.
“When I was famous in our village, beautiful young ladies used to flirt with me…”
“Dwarf, stop talking nonsense and get to the point.”
As Violet subtly gave him a look, Dontas glared at her in displeasure, then saw the aura shining from her hand and clicked his tongue, starting to get to the point.
“Well, anyway. You don't use Illusion Flowers as they are, you grind them up and use them when you're forging weapons, and it's really good. It makes them stronger and lighter, and it blocks mana well.”
“Oh… that's pretty good, isn't it?”
“It's not just pretty good… how should I say it.”
As Dontas was pondering what to say, Violet continued.
“It's fucking awesome, that's what. My dagger is reinforced with Illusion Flowers.”
What the.
Was I the only one running around naked without a wand?
It made me feel a bit pathetic.
I want to act cool too.
Thinking so, I spoke.
“How much does it cost? That's what I'm most curious about.”
I was most curious about the price.
After all, our reward depended on how many Illusion Flowers we collected.
We were promised 10 percent of the selling price.
When I said that, Violet seemed to ponder for a moment before speaking.
“A single flower would cost about 80 gold these days, wouldn't it? It's a rare item, after all.”
“...Is that so?”
“That's about right. It's an item that can strengthen things directly related to the lives of adventurers and knights.”
“Ah… I guess so.”
To be honest, I didn't quite understand it.
It's like watching people spend tens of thousands of dollars to buy limited edition shoes.
Thinking so, I checked the forum.
[Author:ReallyDirtPoor]
[Title: Does a chameleon's dick change color when it mates? lol]
[Content: There's an assassin hiding nearby, what should I do? The location is a forest.]
L: Ah, fuck, I was looking forward to this
ㄴ: ?
ㄴ: What's wrong with this guy?
ㄴ: He's obviously a troll lol
L: Dude, why would you post this on the forum? lol Hurry up and figure out how to respond
ㄴ: Yeah, who in their right mind would post this on the forum?
L: This guy is really weird
L: What could you possibly be carrying that's worth getting ambushed in the forest for? Just let them ambush you lol
L: If it's a forest, burning down the surrounding trees isn't a bad idea
ㄴ: Boo, environmental criminal
ㄴ: Yeah, not my problem
ㄴ: For real lol Like I care if the environment gets destroyed
L Ferus: Hmm. Since you seem to be asking seriously, I'll answer you.
ㄴ Ferus: If they don't know that you're aware of them, it's better to strike first.
ㄴ: Old man, you're commenting too much on a troll post
ㄴ Ferus: I'm not old. Anyway, first, check the flow of mana carefully and try to snipe the one with the largest amount of mana to take them out first, which will increase your chances of winning the fight.
The comments were full of useless talk, as expected.
Well, I knew that would be the case.
Of course, there were some useful comments.
It was Uncle Ferus, who always gave useful information.
He was like the forum's walking Wikipedia.
He's almost always on the forum, and if you ask him something, he'll tell you in great detail.
Not to mention the accuracy.
Of course, the questions had to be related to adventure.
Thinking so, I felt the mana again.
I wonder who among the guys above us has the largest amount of mana.
[Sensory Amplification]
I used Sensory Amplification to get a better sense of the very faint flow of mana.
Then, I began to see the amount of mana in a total of four people.
Three of them were constant.
But one of them had a slightly larger amount of mana.
About half of mine, I'd say.
I couldn't tell if it was a mage or a swordsman.
Either way, it was a threat, so I decided to end it as quickly as possible.
[Lightning Bolt]
[Thunderclap]
[Lightning Strike]
[Lightning Chain]
[Gravity]
I simultaneously deployed five magic formulas and poured mana into them.
And a moment later.
The guy with the largest amount of mana was struck by a bolt of lightning, instantly killed, and fell to the ground, his neck broken in a grotesque way.
And a moment later.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The other three started to come down quickly.
“What's going on!!!!”
“It seems like an ambush?”
Hearts was flustered, but Violet didn't seem to be.
Perhaps it was because she had been through this kind of experience many times.
Thinking so, I left the rest to my colleagues.
It would be rude of me to try to handle everything on my own.
Violet moved with fluid movements, dodging the enemies' sword paths and slashing only at their vital points, incapacitating them with a single blow.
Dontas, as brutish as he was brave, charged in and split the enemies' heads in two with his axe.
Hearts cleanly slaughtered the enemies with his swordsmanship.
It seemed that taking out the guy with the large amount of mana in one fell swoop was the key.
The others didn't seem to be much of a threat.
“Whew, how did you know, Eugene? I didn't even notice.”
“...I just felt it?”
It was true.
I just felt it.
That the enemies were up in the trees.
It's like mana just came to me naturally.
Thinking so, I approached the fallen enemies.
Those who intend to steal from others should also be prepared to have their own belongings stolen.
“But were they really going to attack us? Technically, we were the ones who struck first.”
“Oh, that's not it. They were clearly following us.”
Even in a city, if you secretly follow someone, a fight will break out immediately, but in the Forest of Illusions where life and death are at stake, someone is secretly following us?
It would be legal to attack them.
Thinking so, I approached the guy I had struck down first and rummaged through his pockets.
The smell was a bit repulsive, but I could bear it if I squinted my eyes.
How long had I been searching?
“Huh? Isn't this an Illusion Flower?”
“It is.”
As we searched the pockets of the four men we had defeated, we found a total of three Illusion Flowers.
Of course, only the guy who seemed to be the leader had three.
He probably didn't trust his subordinates.
Even though they were the ones who immediately came to his aid when he fell.
Thinking how cold-hearted that was, I went deeper into the forest.
Caw-! Caw-!
The sound of crows echoed from all directions, creating an eerie atmosphere.
And at that moment.
-Sniff…!
A chilling sound came from behind us.
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