Chapter 20: 20 Dark Forest.

Jin was baffled by the unexpected words coming from Iris’s mouth. He was at a loss for words until he realized that he had already stood before the receptionist, Layla, who saw them with a smirk on her face.

“Oh, Adventure Iris, it’s been a long time since you came here”.

This is the first time Jin has seen Layla show so much expression except for her business. The current her showed her genuine smile, and it took him a free second to realize that. ‘Is Iris a renowned adventurer around here?’

“Well, I have some business to take care of. I want to do this quest!”. Iris replied with a vague description, hiding the fact that she had been bedridden for a month.

“Understood, what about you, adventure Jin?”.

“…Me too, here”. He put the paper on the desk, which is also a goblin subjugation quest today.

Layla began to process both quests and informed them that the deadline was five days for each quest. Jin and Iris bid their farewell while being gazed upon by the other adventurer, seeing a rare sight of a solo adventurer like Iris teaming up with a newbie.

The two left the building and went past toward the south part. This was Jin’s first step into the south district, which also called a Knight district.

Once they passed a residential building, they were welcomed by a vast land divided into two parts: a vast field stretched on the right side, and several barracks and a building to store a supply were erected on the left.

The atmosphere was heavy, along with the sound of hurried footsteps where Knight ran in the field wearing a plate to push their endurance. Many wooden dummies and target practices are made from stray lines up on the corner, where a trained knight with spear and bow ready is doing their regime.

Jin and Iris walked past the road, which was both rough and noisy due to the buzzing activity it had. When they arrived at the gate, both showed their identification card and guild tags before being permitted to go outside.

“This was?!”.

In front of him, where he felt the air was thick with a pungent smell of soil and grass. A shadow whispers gloomy feelings that make his skin crawl. Jin stares at the stretched dim forest, which is said to be the most dangerous place on the continent because of the strong monster living inside.

It was said that once in the past, the Evil God Typhon was imprisoned behind those curtains of thick greenery under the tallest mountain that stood far away on the back, covered by a thick fog that had never left the place since the Ancient Era.

One of the reasons why Ryan’s territory could prosper to such a state, leaving no place for slums to be built, was thanks to the bountiful resources from the monster material or even natural resources the forest gave.

However, with such great resources and prosperity in the town, there is always a threat of danger looming every second from the depths. Jin gulps his saliva, feeling the tension rise within his body.

Iris grabbed the boy’s hand. She could feel the tension and the quickened pulse in his hand.

“Calm down, Jin!”.

Those words from Iris truly brought Jin’s reason back to the surface. He was aware of what kind of place he would visit, but after experiencing it firsthand, Jin realized that his parents held a central position in handling the border.

“…Thank you, Iris. Then, what kind of Monster do you want to hunt. By the way, I was trying to search for Goblin!”.

“A Cockatrice”.

“I see”.

The two resumed their advance, stepping into the rustling grass, and arrived in front of the forest maw. The place was dimmed, and minimal light penetrated the land, making it worthy of being called a Dark forest.

Tall trees stood majestically, their shade canopy blocking most of the light rays from penetrating the earth. However, thanks to the strong magical power that stagnated around the forest, all living things in the Dark Forest could live with a little help from the sun.

“Listen, Jin! In this place; you wouldn’t find any normal beast or monster that would act timid. All of them would definitely aim at you the moment they saw you”.

Iris glanced at her side to see Jin closing his eyes and regulating his breathing. He rhythmically inhaled at a deep and shallow tempo as he slowly opened his eyes. Her eyes went wide when Iris saw the determination in his eyes.

“I’m ready!”.

“Good, don’t worry. I will protect you”. Iris releases her grip from the boy’s hand and enters the forest, followed by Jin.

They walked further inside, wary about the surrounding area that was filled with monsters lurking behind the shadows. Jin’s gaze flickered for a moment as he caught the fleeting black aura from his right.

“Something’s coming, Jin?”.

“Shh!”. Jin put his finger on his lips and gripped the Katana on his waist. A moment later, a bipedal monster jumped off, followed by the other two.

Jin inhaled deeply before dashing forward and drew his blade when the monster had entered his range. In one clean stroke, a head fell, and Jin resumed his attack on the other two.

“Not bad…?!”. Iris was impressed to see Jin’s movement, which had no waste and seemed used to fighting many monsters.

Her ears twitched, sensing something ominous was creeping out toward them, but before she could say something, Jin dashed away to intercept the incoming little monster and deal with them in one fell swoop.

‘He is indeed capable!’. Iris stares at the figure of the boy who swung his blade around to collect his reward. She softly chuckled and thought, ‘But for safety case… Oh, spirit!’ Iris began, muttering something under her breath that even Jin was oblivious to. A fain green aura began to enveloped both body before it dimmed.

“What is that?”. Jin turned to Iris, asking for what was that about.

“Don’t worry about it! Let’s continue searching, Jin”. She shook her head, not planning to open her mouth to explain.

The two resume their hunting, and Jin kills six more goblins on his way to search for a Cockatrice. The amount of his goblin hunting for today has already reached a dozen in a short time compared to yesterday.

‘This place made my hunting time more efficient’. Efficient in searching but at a greater risk, Jin could meet with a high-ranking monster. Today, he was lucky to be in the same team with Iris who had more experience and higher rank than him.

With his current strength, Jin could fight a Rare-rank monster if he is serious and prepared to throw his life like yesterday. However, if he met a monster with Mutant-rank or above on the title, he would definitely meet his end.

Monsters in this world are classified by rank from the lowest, Beast, Common, Rare, Mutant, Terror, King, Emperor, and Calamity. Each of them is also based on the following ranks for Adventurer: Copper, Iron, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Mithril, and Orihalcon.

After searching for about an hour, Jin’s killing had reached seventeen heads of goblins. Iris, who walked in front, stopped in her tracks and cautiously told Jin to stop all his doing. Using her finger, she gestured to Jin to look ahead, hidden behind a thick tree.

It has sharp talons scraping against the flesh, ripping it off. The body itself was a fusion between a reptile and a chicken. The upper body was dominated by a thick and lustrous feather that shone like steel, but the tail was something Jin had never seen; it was covered in shiny scales and twirling as if it had a will on its own.

The monster’s head was indeed that of a rooster, but with a monstrous and ferocious beak that had ragged teeth on each side like a saw, smeared in a bloody mess. It kept pecking the thing under its weight and still did not notice the hunter who approached.

‘Lucky, it was mealtime!’. Iris took one arrow and inhaled to let his mind clear.

‘Oh, spirit, lend me your strength…’. She mumbled something under her breath while her body started to glow in a green aura. Iris stretched the string, ready to shoot with an arrow ready. A second passed, and Iris kept her stance firm, coating the arrow with the green aura from her body.

‘There?!’. When she saw the monster was aware of her figure, it tried to open its beak by bloating its chest, but Iris had already released her arrow.

It travelled in a straight path, cutting through the wind resistance like a bullet with its swirling green aura. Then, the arrow blew away the monster’s skull, killing it in place.

“Come, Jin, let’s finish it!”.

Jin rushed and followed Iris behind as they arrived before the monster, who was still convulsing. As expected of a monster with a chicken characteristic, it was still convulsing and ready to wreak havoc at any time if it was left alone.

“Jin, hurry and finish it!”.

“…Okay”.

Following Iris’s instruction, Jin poured his mana into the Katana to enhance its sharpness. In a single breath, Jin stepped forward and drew the blade, severing the monster’s neck and cutting open the ground below.

Jin hurriedly stepped back, afraid that the body would wreak havoc, but it was stoned, not showing any sign of turning berserk.

“Good work, Jin! But that slash you do, that was clear and sharp. You probably spend a lot of time perfecting that technique?”.

“Well, yeah, I am, But I still have a long way to go”.

“Is that so?”.

Both of them began to act; Iris was planning to butcher the monster right here and now, but upon hearing that Jin possessed a storage item. Iris asked him to store it for a while until they reached the guild.

“I never thought that quest could be finished this early”. Iris stretched her body, leaving the place that was filled with blood smell.

“Me too”.

They followed the earlier tracks, and not long after, Iris and Jin returned to the open plain grass, where the sun was still high on top. The wind that blew toward the east reminded Jin of the item he received yesterday as a reward from the side quest.

“…Jin, what is wrong?”. Iris, who saw the boy stopped, couldn’t help but ask. It’s because he was shrouded in conflicted faces.

Jin pondered for a few seconds before opening his mouth. “Mrs Iris, do you know about Dungeon?”.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep