I was really worried about young Lord Maki. He didn’t show up at the agreed time, and according to the rumors, he’s supposed to be very mature for his age.
I waited for almost an hour, but there was no sign of him. I decided to take immediate action to find him. The first thing I did was go to the town’s main gate. We usually don’t stop or check who comes and goes — we don’t get many visitors, and when someone does arrive, it’s always for business.
According to the guard on duty, a boy with purple eyes and reddish-brown hair had entered. I felt a bit of relief knowing he had arrived, but… where was he now?
Asking around, I eventually got enough information to track him down.
It was a huge surprise to find out where he was — the town’s new control tower — and an even bigger shock to see what he was doing there: moving rocks and wooden beams.
What’s going on? Why is he working on a construction site? I never expected this — a noble’s son doing this kind of labor.
And just now, the young noble has entered my office.
“Good afternoon, young Maki. Did something happen?” I don’t have experience dealing with cases like this, and I don’t want to make any mistakes and get punished by his father. I’m just trying to sound calm and not push too hard.
He looked me in the eyes with a calm smile. The rumors are true — even though he’s a child, his actions and behavior make him seem much older.
“Good afternoon, Randy. No, there’s no problem. It was just a child’s curiosity upon arriving in a new place. I apologize if I caused any trouble.”
Childish curiosity? I guess that’s true. Kids are curious — I know that firsthand after growing up in an orphanage.
“I understand, young Maki. Your grandmother and father told me the reason for your visit. You want to gain experience fighting, right?”
When they explained everything to me, I was shocked and skeptical. How can a boy around ten years old fight monsters? Even with supervision, it’s still very risky.
“Yes. I’ll be under your care today. I came to see you because my grandmother mentioned your skill with the bow and your deep knowledge of the surrounding area.”
That’s true. With my accuracy, I should be able to intervene quickly in case of danger — especially if the monsters are only rank one. I’ll do my best.
“Yes. We’ll head out in about fifteen minutes. A few rank one wolf and fox-type monsters have been spotted.”
Maki's POV:
According to my grandmother, Randy is a highly skilled archer. He’s currently at basic Sapphire rank with high potential to reach Advanced in the future.
After waiting the fifteen minutes, we moved toward the outskirts of the city. Since it was already afternoon, the nearby monsters had already been cleared, so we had to walk about twenty minutes to reach the base of a small hill.
“Wolves and foxes have been sighted nearby. Stay alert, young Maki.” Randy pulled me out of my thoughts — I had been admiring the natural scenery for a moment and completely forgotten why we were here.
After walking and waiting about five more minutes, I spotted two unusual foxes. I had never seen foxes with brown fur and orange stripes before. Their size was also off — somewhere between 50 cm and 1 meter, probably around 80 cm.
I immediately activated my pseudo domain skill and prepared to attack.
“Young Maki, foxes tend to be fast and agile. I recommend a surprise attack since they haven’t noticed us yet.” I shook my head at his suggestion and slowly walked toward the monsters, unsheathing my twin swords.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
I can’t deny I’m nervous, but to overcome this challenge and the ones ahead, I must grab this fear and conquer it.
They noticed me quickly due to my boldness and began growling as they moved toward me. They spread apart, trying to flank me from both sides. One leapt toward my head, while the other aimed for my stomach. Thanks to my domain, I could perfectly measure their timing and distance. With a small sidestep, I dodged them both, ending up close to the fox that tried to bite my stomach. I slashed downward with my sword, but just barely missed — or rather, the fox dodged at the last moment.
Interesting. They’re smarter than they look. I haven’t used any other skill yet because I want to test myself without mana or Amri. Round one is over. Time for round two.
I channel Amri into my swords and begin hunting the nearest fox. I focus my mind entirely on my two enemies and decide to kill them.
My blades meet some resistance when striking the first one — I can’t kill them in a single blow. They’re very agile and slippery. The exchange lasted just over a minute, and I’m satisfied.
My mind has somewhat suppressed the fear. My sword skills are enough to keep up with quick and nimble monsters. One of them took a moderately deep cut to the stomach and is starting to slow down from blood loss. It’s time to finish him.
I use my movement skill for the first time — in an instant, I appear at its side and attempt to decapitate it. Thanks to the speed and precision of the strike, I succeed.
The second fox looks at me with hatred but can’t do much. It only received a few shallow cuts, but they’re enough to drain its stamina. “Sorry, I don’t want to waste any more time on you.” With Lightning Step, I appear at its side and drive one of my blades into its skull.
The feeling of piercing skin and bone left a bad taste in my mouth. It’s the first time I’ve killed an animal or monster with my own hands. I don’t know how to describe the sensation.
I know it’s them or me. If I were in a critical situation, they’d kill me — even so, the feeling of having killed doesn’t fade. I can feel, see, and smell the blood all around me.
Before I could keep thinking about it, I received a notification:
“Would you like to learn the skill: Cold Mind (I)?”
I accepted without hesitation. It’s exactly what I’ve been seeking these past few days. The knowledge of the skill surged into my mind, and as I activated it, I felt much calmer.
I can sense the difference — it has quieted my nerves and intrusive thoughts a bit. It’ll be very useful in future fights.
We kept walking, searching for more foxes. I killed one along the way — it was relatively easy — and then we encountered a group of three.
They seemed to be trying a coordinated tactic. I was impressed by their cunning. Their plan was clear: one would attack me from a blind spot while the other two distracted me with frontal attacks.
I kept all three in my sight and focused on positioning my body carefully to avoid any serious injuries. After a few minutes, I landed enough cuts on one of them to drastically reduce its speed. I used the same technique as before.
The first one died when I appeared beside it using Lightning Step. The other two took nearly two more minutes to kill.
I’m using Lightning Step as little as possible and focusing on applying Imra to my blades. I noticed something important during these fights — my control is very poor.
If I take hits from claws or fangs, my Imra wavers. I lose some power and have to concentrate more to stabilize it again. Thanks to my new skill, I’ve improved a little. The layer of energy isn’t thicker — it’s firmer, able to resist strikes without issue.
We kept walking, searching for more monsters. I used the time to check my status — I received several notifications after the last few battles.
Maki – 8 years old. – Advanced Amethyst Rank
Skills:
Sword Reinforcement (II) – Level 4
Pseudo Domain (II) – Level 2
Lightning Step (II) – Level 3
Focused Spherical Formation (II) – Level 2
Cold Mind – Level 2
My skills have progressed much faster than I expected. This is what she meant when she said I would gain not only combat experience but skill experience as well by using them in real fights.
As we kept walking, we spotted a group of four wolves in the distance.
“Young Maki, fighting four wolves might be too much. They’re faster, stronger, more agile, and much smarter than foxes. Their teamwork is also excellent.”
I know — wolves in my old world also hunted in packs. These are similarly platinum-gray. The difference is also in their size — a bit over one meter. I’m around 150 cm, so the height difference isn’t that much.
“I’ll do it. There’s something else I need to test. I’ll trust you to help if I ask or if I’m in a really dangerous situation.”
I don’t want to get hurt, but there’s no way to defeat them without taking hits. I’ll treat it as training.
“It’s time to kill some little wolves.”