"Flying Slash!"
When I swung Death Scythe and unleashed a flying slash, I could clearly trace its trajectory through the air.
After all, the fog in the slash's path vanished completely.
But even so, the surrounding fog immediately rushed back in to fill the gap, and within moments, the area was once again entirely shrouded.
"Hmm... maybe I should just use magic? No, but this is the Forest of Magic, after all."
If I set the fog itself ablaze, I could probably either kill the monster producing it... or at least reveal its form.
Naturally, burning the fog meant using my own magic.
And given that this was the Forest of Magic, there was a real chance the surrounding trees would catch fire as well.
If that happened, how would the monsters of the Forest of Magic react when fleeing the flames?
Most likely, they would pour out of the forest entirely.
I had already considered a similar scenario when I thought about what would happen if I took the crystal that served as the river's source—the one that endlessly produced water.
Even then, I had realized a fire was a possibility.
Though in the case of the river, the lake holding the water was enormous, so even if the river ran dry, it would take a considerable amount of time.
A fire, however, would be far less forgiving.
In the worst case, the flames could sweep through the entire Forest of Magic in a matter of hours.
If that happened, the chaos would dwarf what I had imagined for the river drying up.
(Then again, the monsters inhabiting the Forest of Magic are incredibly diverse. Among them, it wouldn't be strange for some to use fire. Even so, the fact that this forest hasn't burned down... maybe there's something in place to prevent fires from spreading.)
If such a safeguard existed, the most likely culprit was the Zephyle Clan.
There was the hidden base, the barrier protecting the water source... and if those existed, it wouldn't be surprising for other Zephyle Clan mechanisms to be hidden somewhere in the Forest of Magic.
"Wait, that's not the point. First, I need to figure out how to deal with this fog. ...Alright, Set, use a skill with a wide area of effect—try Crystal Breath."
"Grrrrrl!"
Following Rei's instructions, Set unleashed Crystal Breath.
At Lv.1, the power was weak—nothing compared to the Crystal Breath the Crystal Dragon had wielded.
However, since even Magic Eye of Shock could disperse the fog, a Lv.1 Crystal Breath was more than sufficient for the purpose of eliminating it.
"Keep firing Crystal Breath and sweep your head across the area. Clear as much of the fog over as wide a range as you can, for as long as possible."
Since Set was still breathing out Crystal Breath, it couldn't vocalize a reply, but it moved exactly as directed.
Watching the fog vanish in large swaths, Rei concentrated his awareness.
When the surroundings had been choked with fog, it had been impossible to tell where the enemy was hiding.
But now, with Set clearing massive amounts of it, the situation was entirely different.
He focused his awareness to the absolute limit and watched the direction the fog was flowing.
Concentrate, concentrate, concentrate, concentrate, concentrate.
Within Rei's heightened consciousness, he suddenly sensed a stir of emotion from a certain direction.
Intense panic.
The instant he sensed that panic, Rei hurled the Twilight Spear without even consciously deciding to do so.
Charged with a massive amount of magical power, the Twilight Spear shot straight ahead, annihilating the fog in its path...
"Gyoe-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e!"
A scream echoed through the fog-filled space.
At the same time, the fog enveloping Rei and the others rapidly began to thin.
"Alright."
He didn't know whether he had actually killed the monster producing the fog, but he had definitely dealt damage to it.
The fog thinning so rapidly was proof enough of that.
He recalled the Twilight Spear to his hand and finally let out a breath.
The intense concentration had taken its toll. Rei realized he was far more fatigued than he had thought.
Of course, this exhaustion wasn't solely from the concentration just now.
Even though he had rested properly at the water source, he had fought the S-Rank Monster Crystal Dragon, and after that, he had continued battling numerous opponents one after another.
On top of that, even though the hidden base was a safe haven, he was still spending two nights in the Forest of Magic—an extremely dangerous place. So even though he thought he was still fine, there was no doubt he had been accumulating fatigue without noticing it. Once he properly acknowledged it, the exhaustion had probably hit him all at once.
Even so, perhaps because he had been resting periodically during his travels, he didn't appear to be utterly depleted.
"This is bad. I need to take down this enemy as fast as possible. I knew the fog didn't have any special effects, but even without effects, it still has an effect."
The statement was slightly contradictory, but even without any special properties, simply being surrounded by fog and staring at it could induce mental fatigue and a growing sense of impatience.
It wasn't that the fog-producing monster was actively doing anything—Rei and Set had simply found themselves in a situation that naturally bred those feelings.
And fatigue, whether mental or physical, once truly acknowledged, began to compound at an accelerating rate.
For example, the long-distance runs in PE back when Rei lived in Japan were a perfect illustration.
After running for a while, the moment you thought, "Am I getting tired?" the fatigue suddenly intensified.
To prevent that, the best approach was to observe your surroundings or think about something entirely different, so you wouldn't dwell on your own exhaustion.
Of course, that was simply how Rei saw it, and individual variation was only natural.
(Anyway, I'm tired, but I can still move. Besides... maybe because of the fatigue, my concentration has actually sharpened. I have no idea how or why that happened, though.)
He entertained that thought for a moment, but immediately focused his awareness once again.
The image of sinking into an ocean within his own mind... that was probably the right approach here.
Of course, nothing of the sort was literally happening—it was purely Rei's mental imagery.
And so, sinking deeper into the waters of that ocean... he eventually reached the seabed.
He observed the surrounding conditions from there, and before long, Rei succeeded in exerting the same degree of concentration as before.
"There!"
The Twilight Spear was thrown once again.
The direction it flew was completely different from where Rei had hurled it the first time.
But even so, Rei knew with certainty that this was right.
"Gishaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
A scream rang out through the fog.
Hearing that cry, Rei felt the conviction that his attack had killed the enemy.
As if to confirm his conviction, the fog rapidly dissipated.
The fog had thinned before too, but this time it was clearly vanishing far faster than it had up until now.
"Alright... Set, head in that direction."
Straddling Set's back, he made the request.
At Rei's instruction, Set purred to signal its readiness and began walking.
Then, relaxing his focus in proportion to how hard he had concentrated, Rei considered whether to recall the Twilight Spear... and decided it was better to hold off for now.
Rei was certain he had killed the fog-producing monster with the Twilight Spear.
But that was only his own conviction, and he couldn't be certain of the reality.
This was a precaution taken in case the monster was still alive, even while impaled by the Twilight Spear.
(Given the Twilight Spear's power, it's more likely that it pierced clean through the body and blew it apart rather than just leaving it pinned to the body or stuck in a tree. This monster's magic stone seems quite useful, so I can only pray the spear didn't shatter it.)
To consume a magic stone through Beast Magic, either Set needed to swallow it or Death Scythe needed to cut it.
No matter that the Twilight Spear was a weapon Rei wielded, if it had shattered the magic stone, that stone could no longer be used for Beast Magic.
Given that the attack had been made in fog with zero visibility, Rei pressed onward through the clearing Forest of Magic, praying the Twilight Spear hadn't destroyed the magic stone.
After advancing for about five minutes...
"Gruu!"
Set suddenly let out a cry.
When Rei followed Set's gaze, what he found at the end of it was... the Twilight Spear, impaled in a tree.
"Huh? Wait..."
Rei had been certain he killed the fog monster.
And yet, at the end of Set's gaze, there was nothing but the Twilight Spear.
Which meant... had the monster escaped?
Troubled by that possibility, he hastily scanned the area.
However, there were no corpses or remains anywhere near the tree where the Twilight Spear was embedded, nor were there any traces of blood.
"What's going on? Did it actually get away?"
"Gruu... Grrrrrrrl!"
Then, Set suddenly let out another cry.
For a brief moment, Rei thought another monster had appeared, but listening more carefully, he realized it wasn't a warning call—it was a cry meant to draw his attention.
"Set?"
When Rei asked what was wrong, Set picked up something lying at the base of the tree in its beak and presented it.
"A magic stone!? But wait, why..."
What Set held in its beak was, without a doubt, a magic stone.
But Rei couldn't fathom why a magic stone would be lying in a place like this.
If there had been some kind of monster corpse alongside it, he could have accepted that... and thinking along those lines, Rei suddenly realized something.
"Wait... could that fog monster have been an Undead? A Ghost or something in that family?"
The existence of Undead in this forest wasn't particularly far-fetched.
After all, there had been a Vampire here.
Even so, the fact that no corpse remained strongly suggested it had been a Ghost-type monster.
"Grrrl."
Set purred.
What it wanted was understandable from that sound alone.
In other words, Set was saying it wanted to use this magic stone itself.
Rei hesitated briefly over what to do.
If this magic stone were used, assuming a skill could be acquired, it would likely be a skill that generated fog.
If the monster that possessed this magic stone had actually had some other distinctive skill besides fog generation, but simply hadn't been able to use it during its fight with Rei and Set... then it wasn't entirely impossible for a skill other than fog generation to be acquired.
And a fog-generating skill would also be exceptionally compatible with Death Scythe.
If one imagined Rei, holding Death Scythe and wearing the hood of his Dragon Robe, suddenly emerging from the fog—anyone would understand what that meant.
Granted, it would suit the image so perfectly that anyone who saw Rei appear from the mist might well die of a heart attack on the spot.
However, Rei immediately shook his head.
If it was just about producing fog, he could simply have Set do it rather than Death Scythe.
Given that, it was perfectly fine for Set to use this magic stone.
Making that judgment, he nodded.
"Understood. Then you can use that magic stone, Set. Given that it was a monster capable of generating that much fog, it might not quite reach the level of an A-Rank Monster, but there's no doubt it was at least a B-Rank Monster."
Even if the fog-generating monster had been an A-Rank Monster, there were already a massive number of monster corpses stored inside the Misty Ring.
In the first place, the moment he defeated the S-Rank Monster Crystal Dragon, his success in the Promotion Exam was virtually guaranteed.
After that, all he had to do was exit the Forest of Magic before the date changed, and the Promotion Exam would be a pass.
Having received Rei's permission, Set swallowed the magic stone...
[Set has acquired the skill 'Fog Lv.1']
As always, an announcement message echoed in his mind.
"Just as expected. ...Still, 'Fog'—how straightforward. Set, try it out."
"Grrrrrrl."
Set nodded at Rei's words and immediately activated Fog.
Fog poured from Set's body, spreading to cover the surroundings.
Upon examination, Rei confirmed that an area with a radius of roughly three hundred meters centered on Set was enveloped in fog.
He also discovered that Set could freely control the fog's density, but that denser fog consumed a correspondingly larger amount of magical power.
[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.3' 'Power Crush Lv.6' 'Sense of Smell Enhancement Lv.5' 'Bubble Breath Lv.3' 'Crystal Breath Lv.1' 'Earth Arrow Lv.2' 'Power Attack Lv.1' 'Magic Reflection Lv.1' 'Acid Breath Lv.1' 'Wing Blade Lv.1' 'Underground Dive Lv.1' 'Thunder Breath Lv.1' 'Fog Lv.1' new
Fog: Can freely generate fog centered on Set. The density of the fog can be freely adjusted by Set, but denser fog consumes more magical power. No matter how dense the fog becomes, Set can act without any impairment. At Lv.1, the range is a radius of three hundred meters.