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  Double checking his Quest page, and also trying to prompt the Quest himself, his [ Archive ] was being quiet, which meant he must be in the area. It was slightly off from where the map indicated, but it made sense. No one could accurately remember where exactly they saw the monsters.

  Stealthily walking among the trees deep into the forest, Kaz tried to hold his breath, while making sure to avoid any sticks or dried leaves to not give away his element of surprise. After coming back from this set of Quests, he would have to ask Treyre for any tips on how to be better at something like stealth, which wasn’t a part of his Calling, but a necessary skill for him as a solo Adventurer.

  After quietly roaming around for over an hour, Kaz finally saw some movement around fifty yards away. He froze in place and squinted his eyes, making sure what he saw was real. His heart rate quickened when he realized that he finally saw the new monsters.

  There were two of them, and Kaz had trouble seeing them as their skin blended very well with the wood of the trees. They were walking towards his direction where he was located, which put him into a slight panic. They were both relatively tall from what he could see, well, at least taller than him. They also looked like the sand lizard from his studies that live in the desert, but in a humanoid form.

  Kaz prepared himself, taking a deep breath, and began casting his [ Mana Burst ] once the Skill Ability allowed him when the new monsters came in range of his limited thirty five yards. Roughly after three seconds, his static feeling [ Mana Burst ] rushed towards the unaware lizard humanoids, the silver streak striking one of them in chest.

  The monster who was struck seized up, momentarily stunned and spasming slightly. The other monster quickly ducked and looked around, but that proved to be the wrong thing to do, as Kaz’s next [ Mana Burst ] struck him straight in the face, which would’ve hit him in the chest had he stayed upright.

  While the second monster fell to the ground, the first monster who was struck regained his senses from the stun, also looked around, and zeroed in on Kaz in the distance, whose silver eyes glowed even in the fairly well lit forest. With an odd snarl, which almost sounded like hissing to Kaz from afar, the monster charged at him, holding his sword with two hands, angled upwards and straight at him.

  Kaz could immediately tell that the lizard monster was better with a sword than any of the Goblins he has faced before, besides the elite one potentially, just from the way it held its sword. He quickly began casting his [ Mana Burst ] again, hoping that he would be able to eliminate the monster before it reached him, like he usually did with all the basic monsters before.

  With horror, Kaz watched as his mana construct slammed into the monster, but it only slightly faltered, and then it snarled again, but this time, the charging monster increased its speed, approaching Kaz within a few seconds.

  Gripping his broken glaive, he prepared himself for the incoming attack, with the monster angling the tip of its blade up and slashed downwards. Kaz managed to parry the blade of the sword with his glaive, but the strength of the monster sent him stumbling back a few steps.

  Kaz did everything he could to correct his footing, knowing if he fell on his back, it would be nearly impossible for him to be able to fight back properly. So, he lightly spun backwards, using his hands as support on the ground as he essentially rolled backwards away from the monster.

  Unfortunately for him, the monster seemed to possess some kind of intelligence and continued his attack on Kaz. With a steady swinging arc, his sword slashed towards Kaz, who nimbly dodged the attack thanks to his [ Evasive Step ] passive. Kaz regained his footing, and annoyingly, the other monster seemed to catch up to the fight, already circling him with the other monster.

  Taking a deep breath, he tried to attack the one who he thought was more damaged, and lunging forwards with his glaive. The broken staff of his glaive really hindered his ability to extend outwards, causing him to overextend. While he managed to graze one of them with the tip of glaive, the other monster slashed horizontally at him, cutting into his back.

  Kaz cried out in pain as a burning sensation came from his wound in the back, his knees wobbling slightly as he tried to ride the waves of pain that were coming from his wound. Kaz quickly backed up, briefly commanding his [ Archive ] to show him his Health Points.

  99 Health Points showed up, and his Mana Points also appeared next to him, showing he was also at 71, which made sense as he only cast his Ability three times. [ Mana Shield ] was going to be used and tested to its limits now, as that one slice to the back was more than what he wanted to experience.

  Backing up, he made sure to strategize so that he wouldn’t allow them to circle him and attack his unguarded back. He got into a defensive stance with his glaive, feeling natural in the stance, that no doubt came from Ranking his [ Glaive Novice ] passive.

  With a deep exhale, he attacked the same monster he nicked earlier, a stream of thin blue blood appearing from its arm. Kaz lunged again, stabbing his glaive into the monster. The monster saw that Kaz was going for a stab, and shifted slightly, raising its sword horizontally. Kaz grinned as he saw this natural reaction to a stab, and immediately raised his glaive, and altered his motion, going in for a swiping cut.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  His glaive sliced against the monster’s armor, digging slightly into it, but he still managed to draw blood. His unconventional attack was weak due to the changing of his direction, but the sharpness of his blade made up for the weaker attack.

  [ Evasive Step ] kicked in and he sidestepped, avoiding a jab from the other monster. Kaz quickly capitalized on the monster, stepping back and twisting his glaive in an arc above his head, using the momentum to strike the monster’s exposed left shoulder. His glaive cut deep, the monster crying out in pain as Kaz pulled his glaive out, blue blood freely flowing out from it.

  Not slowing down, he quickly spun, trying to build momentum, and swung his glaive in an arc, hoping to catch the other monster off guard. His glaive bit into the monster’s sword, chipping it. The monster stumbled back in shock as it examined its chipped sword in disbelief.

  That’s the advantage of a (Refined) weapon!

  Not wasting time, he cast his [ Mana Burst ], targeting the monster with the shoulder wound, as it tried to grip its sword with both hands but winced when its left arm moved, unable to get a solid grip without experiencing pain. His silver mana construct struck the severely injured monster, and it stumbled backwards onto his backside.

  The monster with the chipped sword saw its partner fall down and roused itself out of its stupor. Kaz felt a shift in the monster, and it was then he realized too late that it activated its own Skill Ability. The monster brought the sword’s hilt to the side of its head, and pointed the tip towards Kaz, and then with a yell, lunged forward. It spun midair and brought its sword down in a devastating arc, right towards the unsuspecting Gnome.

  The sword met resistance when it struck Kaz’s off arm, bouncing off with a small spark of metal and silver mana. The damage from the attack was major, as he felt slightly offput by the sudden drop in his Health Points, even though the attack didn’t physically injure him.

  Lucky for him, the monster was stunned from the ineffectiveness of its attack, and Kaz swiftly drove his glaive straight into the chest of monster, using his full weight and power into the motion. The squelching of his glaive into the chest of the monster was brutal, and the monster simply looked down at the glaive embedded into his chest.

  Choking out blue blood, Kaz saw the monster’s eyes gloss over, and it fell down onto its knees, slumping down. Kaz tried to catch his breath but was met with the yell of rage from the monster’s partner. With a panic, Kaz tried to pull out his glaive, but it was stuck in the monster’s chest, catching on to something.

  Charging with mindless fury, the monster raised its sword above its head, like he had seen many times with the Goblins, and he knew to just take a few steps back, as the slash would be clumsy, leaving the monster exposed. Retreating slightly with a quick movement of his feet, the monster swung with its full rage induced strength.

  To his surprise, the monster then swung its sword in a sweeping arc, and just as quickly, swung its sword back the opposite way, creating another crosscut. Not anticipating this Skill Ability, Kaz got cut twice in his midsection, blood flowing easily as he reeled in pain, his vision going white momentarily. He was bewildered as to why his [ Evasive Step ] didn’t help him get out of the way, making him wonder if some Skill Abilities nullified his own Ability.

  The monster fell to his own knees, unable to keep itself balanced as well. Kaz reached for his dagger clumsily, and brought it out, and with the last of his own willpower, drove the dagger straight into the side of the monster’s neck, as he has always resorted to with it. He fell onto his backside and quickly brought out a health potion, not caring about how many he had left.

  Fighting the urge to fall asleep as the warmth of the Health Potion ran through his body, he scanned his surroundings, as the noise of this small battle would’ve drawn someone’s attention. To his relief, he didn’t notice any other enemies or monsters rushing to his current location.

  Getting up, he retrieved his dagger and began cutting off the left ear of each of the enemies, making sure to have proof of him completing his Quest. After making sure the ears were tucked away into his bag, he sat down, still fighting the urge to fall asleep.

  Waiting for the bodies to disappear, so he could collect his loot, he went into his [ Mana Regeneration ], but this time he tried to imitate the relaxed pose he saw Elmdiara go into. He relaxed his back, and dipped his head slightly forward, resting his palms on his crossed knees. His Passive Ability immediately initiated, his mana regenerating at his normal pace.

  The difference wasn’t exactly major to his understanding of it so far, but his mana flow did seem smoother, and the pulsing he experienced earlier calmed down. After filling up his Mana Points, which didn’t even deplete that much, he opened his eyes.

  That is when he noticed the change having the most impact. Kaz felt relaxed, albeit a bit fatigued from the battle, but his mana core hummed within him. He didn’t feel that uncomfortable sensation when his Mana Points recovered fully, just simply felt as if he was satisfied after a large meal.

  His relaxed state didn’t last long as he looked at the two bodies still in front of him.

  Why weren’t they dissolving into the air like the monsters usually did?

  Getting up on his feet, he approached the two defeated enemies, checking their pulses, and they were definitely dead. He removed his glaive from the one he struck earlier and cleaned it off with the leather armor of the monster.

  Inspecting the enemies, he realized a few things. The enemies were bigger than him, but still smaller than the average Human, but they were very thin compared to most of the Races he has met, even thinner than the Elves. Their skin was a light brown, but they had scales overlapping, like little hard flakes, and their skin was cold to the touch, while also being very smooth, like well-polished leather.

  Speaking of leather, he also inspected the leather armor they wore. They were identical, and it was a decent quality leather armor, something that he would be able to buy from an armor shop back in Sarus. There was a small stamp over the right chest area, an insignia of sorts. It was an insignia that resembled the head of the monster he just defeated, followed by a pair of oddly shaped wings behind it, which looked very pointy and short.

  It was at that moment when it all clicked into his head, his heart dropping.

  These aren’t monsters. They are actual living beings.