“They’re here,” my father’s voice echoed inside the car. In an instant, he and Renji-san sprang out of the vehicle.

“Wait, Dad!” I called out.

“Itsuki, stay in the car,” he ordered, while dispelling the barrier. With only two strands of Silveit at his disposal, my father couldn’t maintain the barrier while fighting.

Renji-san positioned himself behind my father.

“Itsuki-kun, look after Aya,” he said.

“Y-Yes!” I nodded. The two men fixed their gaze on a single direction, ready for action.

My father drew his sword, enhancing his right arm and casting some sort of night vision spell on his left eye.

Renji-san shaped his Silveit into a square and threw it onto the ground.

“What is he doing?” I wondered.

The ground under the Silveit transformed into a muddy swamp in an instant.

I marveled at the different ways magic could be used. Just then, Aya tugged on my shoulder.

“Itsuki-kun, I’m going to turn off the lantern,” she said.

“Okay, please do,” I agreed.

She turned off the lantern, plunging us into darkness. As my eyes adjusted, the pale light of the crescent moon allowed me to see the two men, albeit dimly.

But it was still too dark.

I had an idea. Using Silveit, I fashioned lenses in front of my eyes and used physical change magic to gather light, creating a makeshift night vision scope. It worked perfectly, making everything around me clear as day.

“Itsuki-kun,” Aya’s voice trembled as she clung to my clothes.

“It’s okay. Renji-san and Dad are strong,” I reassured her, squeezing her hand back.

Suddenly, a massive bear emerged from the forest. My breath caught in my throat.

This bear was enormous—standing at least 3 meters, maybe even 5. It was bigger than any car.

Of course, it was a monster, so it wasn’t going to be ordinary. But seeing such a huge bear up close was terrifying.

“It’s here,” I whispered to Aya, her grip tightening on my hand.

The bear took a step towards our car and immediately fell into the muddy swamp.

My father seized the opportunity and attacked, aiming to slice the bear. A heavy sound echoed, but the bear’s neck wasn’t cut.

“Soichiro, it’s shallow,” Renji-san noted.

“I know,” my father replied, preparing for another strike. As he moved, the bear’s fur bristled.

I reacted instinctively, using physical change to form a barrier in front of the car. The bear exploded, sending quill-like projectiles in all directions.

Thud! The projectiles embedded into my barrier with a dull sound.

What was that? Like a porcupine, but much worse.

The bear’s unexpected attack caught everyone off guard. My father and Renji-san paused for a moment, just enough time for the bear to escape into the forest.

“You’re not getting away!” Renji-san shouted, extending his Silveit, but the bear had already disappeared into the trees. His attack struck a tree, shattering it.

“Let’s go after it, Renji,” my father said.

“Got it.”

The two men glanced back at us.

“We’ll be right back.”

Aya and I nodded in unison, watching them disappear into the forest.

“That was amazing,” Aya said.

“Yeah”

“I hope Dad and Soichiro-san will be okay.”

“They will. They’re very strong,” I assured her.

Inside the car, we marveled at what we had just witnessed.

“Was that explosion your magic, Itsuki-kun?”

“Yeah, it was my barrier magic.”

“Wow! You can already use such advanced magic!” Aya’s eyes sparkled, replacing her earlier fear.

“With practice, you can do it too, Aya-chan.”

“Really? But I’m not good at magic…”

I gently reassured her, “It’s okay. I’ll teach you if you’d like.”

“Really? You’d do that?”

“Of course!”

Renji-san had helped us a lot, so it was the least I could do. Teaching her would also be a good way for me to review my own skills.

“When will Dad and Soichiro-san be back?” Aya wondered.

“Hmm, they didn’t go that far…” I started to say but fell silent.

“What is it, Itsuki-kun?”

“Shh!” I hushed her, peering outside.

A massive boar stood there, watching us. It had enormous tusks and was about 3 meters long—almost as big as the bear.

It’s a monster, no doubt. But why is it here?

We were told there was only one monster nearby—the bear. That’s why Dad and Renji-san left us here to chase it. If there were more monsters, they would have been detected by the barrier.

“Aya-chan, stay calm. It’s okay.”

In the moonlight, the boar’s eyes were fixed on us.

“It’s already dead,” I whispered, and the boar collapsed to the ground.

“What? How?”

“Stay in the car, Aya-chan. I’m going to check around.”

I needed to ensure there were no more threats. As I prepared to exit, Aya grabbed my hand.

“Wait! I don’t want to be alone!”

“Okay, come with me,” I conceded.

Together, we stepped out of the car and were immediately surrounded by multiple pairs of eyes.

“What?”

Around us, owls and deer were watching. Even the nearby trees seemed to be moving.

There were at least a dozen monsters, all weak but numerous. This was unsettling.

“We need to talk to Dad about this,” I muttered.

“Itsuki-kun! There are so many monsters!”

“I know,” I said, already taking action.

“It’s okay. I’ll handle this.”

Using Silveit, I captured all the monsters in my sight.

“It’s over.”

In an instant, I had sliced through every monster around us.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep