【Death Scythe has acquired the skill 'Power Slash Lv.4'】
That announcement message echoed through Rei's mind.
"Hmm, Power Slash at Level 4. That's a handy skill in its own right. Though mastering it is another matter."
Power Slash was a Death Scythe skill that didn't rely on sharpness—it was specialized purely for destructive power.
The strike was undoubtedly powerful, but precisely because of that power, it placed a real strain on Rei's wrist every time he swung.
He needed to learn how to properly absorb the recoil.
Since it was undeniably useful in combat, Rei's honest feeling was that he wanted to get the hang of it as quickly as possible.
"I can't exactly wait until the next battle to figure it out... but I should test it when I get the chance. Since it came from an Orthrus magic stone, I suppose it makes sense that Power Slash is what I got? I would've preferred a different skill, ideally. Well, better than nothing, I suppose."
No matter which monster's magic stone he used, the skill acquired was entirely at the mercy of the stone itself—or rather, at the mercy of Beast Magic. Personally, Rei had some opinions about that.
Since the system was designed to play announcement messages directly in his head, he genuinely wished it had also been designed to let him choose which ability to acquire or strengthen.
(The Zephyle Clan included Takumu Suzunose, who clearly came from modern Japan. The one who designed the system to broadcast announcement messages in your head was probably Takumu, so you'd think he could have managed that much... or maybe it just wasn't possible.)
The Zephyle Clan had built Beast Magic from the ground up.
Naturally, it should have been packed with countless spell formulas.
If so, there was a real possibility that they simply had no room left to incorporate something like a skill selection system.
It was similar to a program that already took up so much capacity that no new programs could be added on top of it.
Rei had never done any programming himself, so this was purely speculation based on amateur knowledge.
"Grrrr."
It was Set who pulled Rei from his thoughts about Beast Magic.
Set purred, urging him to stop lingering here and move on to explore elsewhere.
For Set, this was the place where the upgraded Sense of Smell Enhancement skill had gone seriously wrong.
Given that, it was only natural that he wanted to leave as quickly as possible.
"You're right. We can't stay here forever. ...Alright, let's get going."
He set the matter of Power Slash aside for now.
When he had first acquired Power Slash previously, he'd had some difficulty managing the recoil. But with that experience under his belt, he felt he could handle it reasonably well this time.
Still, since nothing was guaranteed, he'd honestly prefer to test it in a situation free of distractions.
"Gruu."
At Rei's words, Set lowered its body, preparing for him to climb onto its back.
Rei stroked Set in thanks before straddling its back.
"Alright, let's go."
Set cried happily and set off through the Forest of Magic.
Even inside the Forest of Magic, the air drifting through carried a certain freshness—it was, after all, a forest in summer.
Though that was probably because it was still mid-morning.
By noon, even the Forest of Magic would likely become quite hot.
Rei wore his Dragon Robe with its simplified air conditioner, and Set was a gryphon, so neither of them had to worry about the heat in the slightest.
Even if the temperature hit forty degrees, it would be no problem at all.
(In a normal forest, the temperature wouldn't suddenly spike to forty degrees, but this is the Forest of Magic. Nothing would be surprising here.)
With that thought, Rei decided to at least savor the forest air while he still could... and abruptly swung Death Scythe.
Even Rei himself didn't know why he had done it.
The phrase "his body moved on its own" was the most accurate description.
That strike severed the thing that had been rocketing toward him.
"Gyiih!"
"Gruu!?"
At the sudden cry, Set instantly stopped in its tracks.
Then, still carrying Rei on its back, it whipped around to look directly behind them.
Normally, a move like that would have flung Rei right off.
But Set judged that Rei would be fine—and sure enough, Rei wasn't thrown from its back despite the sudden movement.
"Whoa."
Even so, the violent lurch forced a grunt from him as he fought to regain his balance.
Once steady, Rei followed Set's gaze.
There, at the end of it, lay a familiar creature collapsed on the ground.
"A dragonfly... huh."
Yes—it was the same type of dragonfly that had attacked him yesterday.
Of course, he only knew the species matched; whether it was literally the same individual, he couldn't say for certain. Still, Rei suspected it was.
He had no hard evidence—just pure intuition.
"Still... impressive that I managed to react."
Rei felt a little odd praising his own actions.
But the fact remained: he had swung Death Scythe in a semi-instinctive motion and succeeded in severing the dragonfly's neck.
Even now, he honestly couldn't explain how he'd pulled it off.
(Was it because I was relaxed that I sensed the killing intent through some means before I consciously registered it, and swung Death Scythe on reflex? ...Well, if so, that's at least a plausible explanation.)
Pondering this, Rei dismounted from Set's back and approached the dragonfly's corpse.
Yesterday, he hadn't been able to counterattack at all—he'd barely managed to evade.
So while he'd recognized it as a dragonfly on sight, this was the first time he'd actually been able to examine one up close.
Its appearance was, as expected, similar to an ordinary dragonfly.
That said, since it was a monster, there were naturally differences from the norm—like the number of wings.
The area around its mouth was particularly vicious, looking far more menacing than even the largest dragonflies back in his old world, like the golden-ringed dragonfly.
For Rei, the golden-ringed dragonfly was a fairly familiar insect.
His family home had been right beside the mountains, so once summer arrived, a few of them would find their way into the house each year.
...Not that the windows were left wide open, of course—there were screen doors.
In any case, Rei was well accustomed to golden-ringed dragonflies, but the creature he'd just brought down radiated an overwhelming ferocity that dwarfed even those.
The wings, as he'd seen during the previous attack, were razor-sharp blades—four pairs, eight wings in total.
What surprised Rei most, though, was the abdomen. Sharp thorns lined both sides of the abdomen and tail, making it impossible not to be startled.
Rei had barely dodged yesterday, but if he had failed to evade, those thorns could have wounded him.
Granted, wearing the Dragon Robe made that unlikely.
"Still... looking at it again, it's enormous."
Compared to the golden-ringed dragonflies Rei knew, a dragonfly roughly a meter long was an astonishing sight.
"Grrruu? Gruu, grrrrrrruu."
Hearing Rei's words, Set looked at him with concern, as if asking, Are you really okay?
From Set's perspective, Rei had been attacked out of nowhere while it was happily running through the forest.
Naturally, Set had been keeping watch on its surroundings the entire time.
This dragonfly had slipped right past that vigilance and struck at Rei... which was the worst possible choice it could have made.
Then again, even if it had attacked Set instead, Rei probably would have killed it just the same.
That was how sharp and swift the strike Rei had just unleashed had been.
Even Rei himself couldn't honestly say he could pull off the same attack again if asked.
"I'm fine. I took it down as it closed in. ...Still, what a genuinely troublesome opponent."
In a head-on fight, Rei certainly wouldn't lose.
But there was one exception.
Its flight speed alone was overwhelmingly, absurdly superior.
Even Set, recognized as S-Rank equivalent, couldn't match this dragonfly's speed.
That was just how overwhelming the dragonfly was in that single regard.
And Rei had still managed to cut it down with Death Scythe.
"That said, I'm a little curious about how many of these things are in the Forest of Magic. This time was a fluke—well, in a very real sense, a genuine fluke that I managed to kill it. If one comes at me again, dealing with it would be tough."
Killing the dragonfly this time had been pure luck.
If he encountered another one, the best Rei could hope for would be to evade like he had on the first day.
Even that had been a desperate scrape, so whether he could dodge while caught off guard was a coin toss at best.
"In that case, all I can do is pray there aren't many of them. ...Though thank goodness they don't seem to travel in packs like the Orthrus or Orc Nagas."
With that, Rei used a short sword to slice open the dragonfly's abdomen and extracted the magic stone.
The body itself was soft, just like the insects Rei was familiar with, so cutting it open posed no difficulty.
(This softness might be the secret to that high-speed flight, but I wonder what rank this dragonfly actually is.)
To Rei, that speed was a genuine threat.
But conversely, speed was the only threat—its body structure was quite fragile.
Strip away that speed, and an ordinary B-Rank Adventurer would have no trouble winning.
Depending on the matchup, even a C-Rank Adventurer could probably handle it.
(So does that mean its rank isn't actually that high? No—disregarding the dragonfly's single greatest trait, its speed, would make that nothing more than wordplay.)
It was as meaningless as saying someone could beat Rei in a magical duel if they had less magic power than an ordinary mage.
"Right then, the magic stone. ...Set, go ahead."
"Gruu!?"
Set let out a surprised cry as Rei casually handed over the magic stone he'd just washed with the Dagger of Flowing Water.
Set clearly hadn't expected Rei to let it use the stone so readily.
From Rei's perspective, Death Scythe had already gained considerable skill enhancements and new abilities in this Forest of Magic.
Plus, Rei had the Twilight Spear as another attack option.
So his judgment was straightforward: Set, who relied on skills more heavily, should be the one to use this stone.
"It's fine. I think you'll get a better skill out of this one than Death Scythe would."
Given the dragonfly's overwhelming flight speed, whatever skill it granted would likely be speed-related.
In that case, it was only logical that Set—who flew freely through the sky—should be the one to absorb the dragonfly's magic stone.
Whether Set sensed Rei's intentions from his demeanor or not, it eventually took the offered magic stone in its beak... and swallowed it.
【Set has acquired the skill 'Wing Blade Lv.1'】
The announcement message resonated in Rei's mind.
"Wing Blade... blades on the wings, huh. Figured it'd be something like that. Set, mind giving it a quick test?"
"Grrrrrrruu!"
At Rei's words, Set activated the skill without hesitation.
In an instant, the outer edges of Set's wings transformed into visibly razor-sharp blades.
"I see—blades on the wings, hence Wing Blade. Couldn't be more literal. Hold still for a second."
Rei picked up a fallen branch nearby and held it toward Set's wing.
Set gave the wing a light flick, and the next moment, the branch was cleanly severed.
"Huh, this is... this much cutting power at Level 1? That's a seriously strong skill. Confirms the dragonfly was a high-rank monster, no question about it."
Rei murmured with genuine admiration, and Set purred in agreement.
Thanks to Rei's suggestion, Set felt genuinely glad it had swallowed the dragonfly's magic stone.
【Set】
'Water Ball Lv.5' 'Fire Breath Lv.4' 'Wind Arrow Lv.4' 'King's Intimidation Lv.4' 'Poison Claw Lv.6' 'Size Change Lv.2' 'Tornado Lv.4' 'Ice Arrow Lv.5' 'Optical Camouflage Lv.6' 'Magic Eye of Shock Lv.2' 'Power Crush Lv.6' 'Sense of Smell Enhancement Lv.5' 'Bubble Breath Lv.1' 'Crystal Breath Lv.1' 'Earth Arrow Lv.2' 'Power Attack Lv.1' 'Magic Reflection Lv.1' 'Acid Breath Lv.1' 'Wing Blade Lv.1' new
【Death Scythe】
'Corrosion Lv.5' 'Flying Slash Lv.5' 'Magic Shield Lv.1' 'Power Slash Lv.4' new 'Wind Hand Lv.4' 'Terrain Manipulation Lv.5' 'Pain Burst Lv.4' 'Penetrate Lv.3' 'Multi Slash Lv.4' 'Blizzard Slash Lv.3' 'Flying Needle Lv.1'
Wing Blade: The outer edges of the wings become blades. Even at Level 1, they are sharp enough to slice through skin and flesh.
Power Slash: Increases the power of a single strike. However, rather than improving cutting sharpness, it becomes a crushing blow that smashes through.