"Phew, that took longer than expected in the end."
Muttering that, Rei waved one hand and dismissed the Magic Shield.
In the end, Rei hadn't taken a single hit throughout the entire battle.
The most dangerous moment was probably right at the start, when the enemy had fired a Water Arrow at him, willing to hit their own ally in the process.
Rei had moved reflexively, though, and evaded that spell as well.
From the Orc Nagas' perspective, catching Rei off guard in that one moment should have been their only chance to land an attack on him.
...That said, even if they had managed to hit Rei with a Water Arrow, the only result it would have produced was destroying the Shield of Light.
And even if they had coincidentally landed an attack on him during the subsequent fighting, given the defensive power of the Dragon Robe Rei was wearing, it likely would have meant nothing.
At any rate, the battle was over.
Before Rei and Set now lay numerous Orc Naga corpses.
"Another species that wasn't recorded in the Monster Encyclopedia. Well, actually, I feel like every monster I've encountered since entering the Forest of Magic hasn't been in there. Which would make them endemic species to this forest."
So Rei thought, but questions still remained.
Currently, approaching the Forest of Magic was prohibited by order from Daskar.
Still, those with permission like Rei could enter, and before Daskar had issued the order, it should have been possible to enter freely.
Thinking of the monsters inhabiting the Forest of Magic—especially the Black Snake that had carried Rei to the hideout—there was no doubt that many who entered never made it back out alive.
Even so, total annihilation of every explorer was highly unlikely. It wouldn't have been strange for some to have brought back the corpses of the monsters they defeated, or at least conveyed information even if retrieving corpses was impossible.
If that were the case, that information should have reached the Guild, and from there it wouldn't have been strange for it to appear in the Monster Encyclopedia.
Of course, there was also the possibility that Rei's Monster Encyclopedia wasn't the latest edition. But even considering that the Forest of Magic had existed for quite a long time, the question still remained.
Were they intentionally suppressing information about the Forest of Magic's monsters? Well, if someone said that, I could certainly understand it.
Rare monster materials naturally sold for high prices.
Selling to the Guild would fetch a handsome sum, and if you had connections with merchants or nobles and were skilled at negotiation, you could probably sell for even more.
Knowing that, it wouldn't be strange for many of those who wanted money—or those who wanted to make a name for themselves, or those who sought fame—to head for the Forest of Magic.
And naturally, the majority of such people would never return.
Gilm was the only town in the Kingdom of Mireana located in the frontier, and adventurers were an essential presence.
Given that, it wouldn't be surprising if they couldn't carelessly make a move like publicly disclosing information about the forest's monsters.
Still, it wouldn't be strange for the Guild to have information on the Forest of Magic's monsters. Maybe if I'd asked at the Guild, they would have shared at least some of it with me?
Even if it would normally be impossible, Rei was challenging the Forest of Magic as part of the Guild's Promotion Exam.
Given that, if he had asked the Guild for information about the forest, wouldn't they have shared at least a little?
It was natural for Rei to think so. But then again, considering that it might have only added to the workload of the already-busy Guild Staff Members, he couldn't help but feel that, in a way, this was for the best.
"At any rate, I should deal with the corpses first. Set, keep watch on the surroundings."
"Gruu!"
At Rei's words, Set purred as if to say, "Leave it to me!"
With Set keeping watch, Rei could store the corpses with peace of mind.
Still, the upper body is Orc, so it's probably delicious. But I wonder about the snake lower body. Since it's a monster, I'd think it'd be tastier than a normal snake. And given that the upper body is Orc, does that mean the snake part is also tastier than its rank would suggest? Well, I don't actually know what rank these Orc Nagas are.
From Rei's experience fighting them, they felt like upper D-rank—perhaps barely reaching C-rank.
However, that was purely on an individual basis. When they acted in a group like this, coordinating with each other while using magic—and willing to damage their own allies to take down their enemies—they were probably around B-rank.
They might be weak individually and unable to survive in the Forest of Magic on their own, which is why they group up.
Thinking such thoughts as he stored the corpses, he came down to the last two.
And with the last two remaining, Rei had something he needed to do.
He took out a dissection knife, slashed open the chest area, and extracted the Magic Stone from the heart.
"Now then, what kind of skill will I get? Though considering the Orc Naga's strength, whether I'll acquire a skill at all is a borderline question."
From past experience, Rei had the impression that acquiring skills from low-rank monsters' Magic Stones was difficult.
Of course, that wasn't an absolute rule. There were times when he could acquire a skill from a low-rank monster's Magic Stone, and times when he couldn't acquire one despite it being from a high-rank monster.
It was merely a tendency, not a certainty.
Still, it was also a fact that Rei had a feeling it might be somewhat difficult.
At any rate, deciding he should at least try, he called Set over.
"Set! Come here for a bit!"
Set, who had been keeping watch on the surroundings, hadn't detected any monster activity, so he came to Rei's side looking relaxed.
From past experience, Set probably understood why Rei had called him.
"Here, the Orc Naga's Magic Stone. I don't know if you'll acquire a new skill or not. But even so, considering the Orc Naga's abilities, if you do get one, I can somewhat predict what kind of skill it'll be."
"Gruu!"
Set, too, perhaps able to predict what kind of skill he would acquire from having fought the Orc Nagas, raised a cry as if agreeing with Rei's words.
Then Rei handed the Magic Stone to Set...
[Set has acquired the skill 'Ice Arrow Lv.5']
The announcement message flashed through his mind.
"...So it went that way."
What Rei had predicted was either Water Ball or Ice Arrow.
Water Ball because of the water attribute connection, and Ice Arrow because of the arrow attack method.
Of course, there were other arrow-type skills such as Wind Arrow and Earth Arrow, but the reason Ice Arrow was chosen was likely due to the relationship between water and ice.
"Set, try it out."
"Grururu!"
At Rei's words, Set activated Ice Arrow.
The count—fifty.
At Level 1 it was five, increasing by five each time the level rose, reaching twenty at Level 4.
But the moment it hit Level 5, it jumped to fifty all at once.
The ice arrows that materialized also seemed sharper and larger than before.
"Set, try shooting one at that tree trunk for now."
"Gruu!"
Giving a short response, Set loosed a single Ice Arrow.
The speed of the fired arrow was faster than before.
However, that alone didn't surprise Rei as much as the jump from twenty to fifty arrows had.
What did surprise him the next moment was that the ice arrow pierced clean through the tree trunk.
Unlike a strike from Rei's Twilight Spear, it couldn't pierce through one trunk and continue into another. It lost all its momentum after piercing a single tree and fell to the ground.
"Now that's... I knew skills got stronger at Level 5, but not only did the number of arrows increase, the power of each individual one went up too. It's become a vicious skill all at once."
That was Rei's honest impression.
Being able to simultaneously fire fifty ice arrows, each with enough power to pierce a tree trunk of considerable thickness—even putting it modestly, "vicious" was the right word.
"This has instantly become one of Set's main skills. From the looks of it, though, while he can fire them at will, I don't think he can precisely control each individual arrow. Once they're loosed, he probably can't influence them anymore."
Ice Arrow was an arrow, after all—given that it was a projectile, the fact that it couldn't be controlled after firing was something Rei could accept.
"Gruu..."
At Rei's words, Set nodded, looking disappointed.
For Set, he probably would have loved to freely control the Ice Arrows.
But in reality, that wasn't possible.
That said, for Rei, Ice Arrow was still a sufficiently powerful skill, so he didn't see it as a problem.
Besides, not being able to control them is only for now. If the level keeps rising going forward, the possibility of another dramatic enhancement can't be denied.
To Rei, reaching Level 5 meant the skill was strengthened—or rather, it felt more like the skill evolved to a higher tier.
In other words, if he continued raising the level, the same kind of dramatic leap happening again couldn't be ruled out.
Level 5 means... probably Level 10 next? If possible, I'd like another boost around Level 7, though.
At any rate, Rei was convinced that the enhanced Ice Arrow was a powerful skill.
And having been convinced, it was Death Scythe's turn next.
"Alright, since Set's Ice Arrow got strengthened, I can somewhat predict what'll happen with Death Scythe too."
When it came to Death Scythe's skills related to water or ice, there was only one.
With that in mind, he lightly tossed the Magic Stone and swung Death Scythe in a single flash.
[Death Scythe has acquired the skill 'Blizzard Slash Lv.3']
Just as expected.
That was Rei's impression upon hearing the announcement echo through his mind.
Among Death Scythe's skills, the only water- or ice-based one was Blizzard Slash.
If the Orc Naga had possessed some attack method other than Water Arrow, there might have been a chance of acquiring or strengthening a different skill, but...
In the end, they only used Water Arrow during the fight. For a monster in the Forest of Magic, they felt a bit too weak. Or maybe they group up like this precisely because they can only use Water Arrow?
Thinking that, Rei held Death Scythe and activated the skill.
"Blizzard Slash."
With the skill activated, Death Scythe's blade was cloaked in ice.
Because the level had increased, the ice covering the blade was sharper and larger than it had been at Level 2.
"That's the second level-up since coming to the Forest of Magic. Could Blizzard Slash reach Level 5 at this rate?"
At Level 5, a skill would become significantly more powerful, but Rei couldn't quite imagine exactly how Blizzard Slash would change.
That said, it was currently at Level 3.
If two more monsters related to water or ice appeared, it would reach Level 5.
And in this Forest of Magic, he had a feeling that was entirely plausible.
"Grururu."
Set, who had been watching Rei use Blizzard Slash, purred as if to say congratulations.
For Set, since both he and Rei had leveled up their skills using the Orc Naga's Magic Stone, it was probably quite satisfying.
"Thanks. Well, at any rate, the Orc Nagas are all wiped out, so it's on to the next. I think it's about time an A-rank monster showed up. Of course, I don't want that Black Snake to be the one to appear."
For Rei, he had absolutely no intention of fighting that Black Snake.
Partly because it was a friendly presence toward him, but fundamentally, he didn't even know whether he could win.
Of course, you never knew what could happen in battle.
However, if the Black Snake was an existence created by someone in the Zephyle Clan using Beast Magic, it would essentially be Set's senior.
It was an opponent that had been through far more battles than Rei and Set combined, and naturally, it should have been strengthened by that many more Magic Stones.
"At any rate, let's search for an A-rank monster that isn't that Black Snake."
"Gruu!"
At Rei's words, Set cried out as if to say, "Understood!"
[Set]
'Water Ball Lv.5' 'Fire Breath Lv.4' 'Wind Arrow Lv.4' 'King's Intimidation Lv.3' 'Poison Claw Lv.6' 'Size Change Lv.2' 'Tornado Lv.3' 'Ice Arrow Lv.5' new 'Optical Camouflage Lv.6' 'Magic Eye of Shock Lv.2' 'Power Crush Lv.6' 'Sense of Smell Enhancement Lv.4' 'Bubble Breath Lv.1' 'Crystal Breath Lv.1' 'Earth Arrow Lv.2' 'Power Attack Lv.1'
[Death Scythe]
'Corrosion Lv.5' 'Flying Slash Lv.5' 'Magic Shield Lv.1' 'Power Slash Lv.3' 'Wind Hand Lv.4' 'Terrain Manipulation Lv.5' 'Pain Burst Lv.3' 'Penetrate Lv.3' 'Multi Slash Lv.4' 'Blizzard Slash Lv.3' new 'Flying Needle Lv.1'
Ice Arrow: At Level 1, creates and fires 5 ice arrows; Level 2 creates 10; Level 3 creates 15; Level 4 creates 20; Level 5 creates 50 ice arrows. In terms of power, a single arrow has enough force to crack rock on impact.
Blizzard Slash: Death Scythe's blade is covered in ice, adding ice-attribute damage to slashes. Additionally, because the blade is sheathed in ice, the attack's reach is extended, albeit only very slightly.