Having used the deer monster's magic stone, Rei found that Flying Needle had leveled up.
To be precise, it was Death Scythe's Flying Needle that had leveled up, but either way, this wasn't a bad thing for him.
The problem, however, was that Nielson had caught him in the act of using the magic stone.
"What are you doing?" Nielson's voice called out, and Rei turned his gaze toward the tree she had entered.
But Nielson was nowhere to be found there. Instead, her face was protruding from the trunk a good deal higher up than where she had gone in earlier.
To be precise, it wasn't that her face was sprouting from the tree—she was simply poking her head out from within it.
Seeing this, Rei nodded in understanding.
Until now, whenever Nielson entered a tree, she would always emerge from the exact same spot.
But since she could pass into trees like a ghost or something similar, there was no reason she had to come out from the same place she went in.
Moreover, rather than emerging her entire body, she was doing something clever like sticking out only her face.
Above all, Nielson, who was usually so noisy, had been watching Rei without making a single sound.
Noticing that under such circumstances would have been rather difficult. After all, even Seto, whose five senses were sharper than Rei's, hadn't noticed her presence just now.
"Hey, why did you cut the magic stone? Didn't you say you were collecting them, Rei?"
As Nielson asked him again, Rei hesitated over how to brush it off. Then he recalled a feature article about a potter he had seen back in Japan.
"This magic stone was of poor quality. Of course, when I say poor quality, I mean relatively speaking, among the magic stones I've been collecting."
"...Is that so?"
The explanation that came out of Rei's mouth was enough to bewilder Nielson. Seeing her reaction, Rei felt a quiet sense of satisfaction at having pulled one over on her—though he was careful not to let it show on his face.
What he had thought of was a potter who, upon looking at a piece he had made himself, would destroy it on the spot if it didn't meet his standards. The idea of smashing one's own work—something into which a fair amount of time and effort had been invested—had surprised Rei, and it had left a strong impression on him.
He had instinctively used that as his excuse, but to be honest, he thought it might be a bit of a stretch once he said it out loud. Since Rei had the Misty Ring, if he came across a magic stone he didn't like, he could just leave it inside the ring. Or, without bothering to destroy it, he could simply toss it aside or sell it to the Guild or a merchant. Deliberately cutting it apart instead of doing any of those things was a somewhat hard sell.
Or so he thought, but fortunately, Nielson seemed satisfied with his explanation. Rei wondered whether she should really be convinced that easily, but judging by her demeanor, she appeared to genuinely accept his words. Given that, he decided that pressing the matter further would only needlessly raise suspicions, so he let it be.
"More importantly, I'm more surprised by where you popped out from. You went into the tree much lower down earlier, didn't you?"
"Eh? Oh, this? It's not like I can only come out from where I entered. Once I'm inside the tree, I can come out from anywhere."
"...Doing that makes it look like your face is sprouting from the tree. It's a little creepy, though."
"Mph, what's that supposed to mean? ...Honestly, fine, this is fine, this is fine."
Saying that, Nielson fully emerged from the tree.
Rei didn't press the issue and simply spoke up.
"You were supposed to rest inside the tree. Are you done already? It didn't seem like you rested much since you went in."
Indeed, not long after Nielson had entered the tree, Rei had cut the deer's magic stone with Death Scythe. What's more, even after entering the tree, Nielson hadn't rested—she had been keeping watch over Rei's movements. In other words, she had scarcely rested at all.
Rei had been concerned about that, but...
"Even if you tell me that, finding Smog Panthers isn't something I can do so easily just because I rested..."
"Grrrrrrr!"
As if to cut Nielson off, Seto suddenly rumbled his throat.
What was that about? Rei wondered. But when Seto rumbled like this—not in the way he did when he wanted attention, but with a distinctly wary air—that changed things entirely. For Seto to show such vigilance in this forest was strange to begin with.
"Nielson, get inside the tree!"
Shouting, Rei drew the Twilight Spear from the Misty Ring and took his usual Twin Spear Style stance alongside Death Scythe, positioning himself beside Seto.
Nielson must have judged from Rei's tone that something dangerous was afoot. She obediently slipped back into the tree. Since she could hide inside trees, that was far safer than carelessly flying around the area. Normally, her curiosity would have gotten the better of her and she wouldn't have complied so easily. For even Nielson to obey without argument... she too must have sensed that whatever was approaching was dangerous.
"Now then... if Seto is being this wary, a fairly strong monster must have shown up."
Rei said this with the giant boulder at his back, but then he noticed that a thin fog had begun to drift through the area.
(Fog? Then it's a Smog Panther? No, that doesn't explain why Seto would be this wary.)
In Rei's mind, fog and Smog Panthers were already linked with an equals sign, but that alone couldn't account for the current situation. A Smog Panther was an enemy that would be incapacitated the moment Seto used King's Intimidation. Of course, since it could turn its entire body, including its magic stone, into fog, the reason Rei could defeat it so easily was because Seto's King's Intimidation prevented it from fogizing in the first place. If they had to fight it normally, Rei would likely have to use magic to bring it down—but then the magic stone would burn along with it. In that sense, being able to defeat Smog Panthers so easily here came down to a matchup advantage.
But whether it was a matchup advantage or anything else, there was no doubt that Seto found them to be easy opponents. And yet, for Seto to be on guard like this meant there was a reason for it.
(The problem is that I don't know what that reason is. ...As for possible explanations...)
Observing the fog drifting around them, Rei considered what the current situation might entail. Then it hit him.
(The fog is... thick?)
Yes, the fog surrounding them was clearly denser than when they had encountered Smog Panthers before. The moment he realized this, Rei half-instinctively grasped the reason.
"Be careful, Seto! The enemy isn't just an ordinary Smog Panther—it's a High-ranking Species or a Rare Species!"
As if it had heard Rei's words—or perhaps it actually had—the fog around them grew even thicker than before. So thick that it became impossible to see even what was right in front of them. Being unable to see their surroundings through the white fog was like milk itself had turned into vapor and was drifting around them.
"Looks like it's finally going to attack in earnest. ...Seto, in this fog, you need to be careful not to hit me when you attack, so stay alert."
"Grr!"
Seto rumbled in acknowledgment. Sensing from his cry where he currently was, Rei next called out to Nielson, who was hiding inside the tree.
"Nielson, don't come out of the tree! The outside is covered in thick fog right now, and you can't even see what's just ahead! If you buzz around out there, you might get caught up in mine or Seto's attacks!"
"Understood!"
Nielson's voice rang out from the surroundings—she had probably stuck only her face out of the tree to reply.
Listening to her voice, Rei readied himself to handle whatever came while issuing instructions to Seto.
"Seto, King's Intimidation!"
"Grrrrrrrr!"
He could understand that the current situation was strange in various ways. He understood that, but since there was fog, the enemy had to be a Smog Panther. And when facing a Smog Panther, Seto's King's Intimidation carried tremendous significance. If that was the case, then Rei's choice wasn't wrong.
It wasn't, but...
"What?"
Despite Seto using King's Intimidation, the white fog drifting around them showed no sign of clearing. Not only that, but the Smog Panther did not reveal itself as it normally would. That meant the enemy creating this fog had enough strength to resist Seto's King's Intimidation.
(To think that even if it's a Smog Panther High-ranking Species or Rare Species, I'd encounter an opponent in this forest that can resist Seto's King's Intimidation. ...No, come to think of it, it's not that strange, is it?)
This forest was located near the frontier. And many of the monsters inhabiting it had come from the frontier. Having lost territorial disputes, or seeking new lands, or simply searching for food and comfortable habitats—the reasons may have varied, but monsters were definitely drifting in from the frontier. Given that, it wouldn't be strange for there to be one among them capable of rivaling Seto.
Where would the attack come from?
Just as Rei was thinking that, he suddenly sensed a killing intent and leapt away from the spot. Seto, too—whether because he sensed Rei's movement, or because he understood that he himself was about to be attacked—moved from the spot as well.
Then, in the next instant, the boulder that Rei had been using as a backrest just moments ago—a boulder that must have been three meters tall—was bitten and crushed.
Yes, that massive boulder had been bitten and crushed. If Rei had not leapt away a few seconds earlier, he would probably have been crushed along with it.
"Hey, hey..."
Such a voice slipped from Rei's mouth as he caught sight of what had done it.
At the end of his gaze was the face of a giant leopard. However, that leopard face was not a real one. It was a leopard's face made of fog. Since it was made of fog, it couldn't remain there indefinitely—the face dissolved into fog in the next instant, merging with the surrounding mist.
"Grr!"
Are you okay? Seto rumbled.
The surroundings were covered in white fog, and even a few meters ahead couldn't be seen clearly. Seto, too, while understanding that Rei was there, probably couldn't properly confirm his safety.
(This isn't a Smog Panther? As I thought, it must be a High-ranking Species or a Rare Species.)
Since entering this forest, they had discussed the possibility that such creatures might exist. But that had been half in jest, and Rei had never actually expected such a being to truly be here. The sheer white dense fog before him, and the fog itself forming a monster's face that attacked in that state—that was clearly not something an ordinary Smog Panther could do. Smog Panthers also attacked while concealing themselves in fog, but when they struck, they materialized that body part. What had crushed the boulder, however, had done so while still in fog form.
Considering that, there was no doubt this was a highly troublesome opponent.
"Flying Needle!"
Knowing it would likely have no effect but thinking there might be a chance, Rei activated the Skill and unleashed Flying Needle. At Level one, it could only fire five needles, but having reached Level two, it now released ten. The number of Long Needles had doubled for certain, but the opponent was fog. Naturally, the Long Needles passed through the mist and embedded themselves into the trunk of a tree in their path.
"As expected, no good. ...Well, I'll count it as Skill verification. In that case, what I should do next is—tch, again?!"
Once again, the surrounding fog formed a leopard's front leg, and sharp claws swung down toward Rei. Claws far sharper and longer than they would have been on a real animal. Rei dodged the front leg generated by the fog as it was swung down at him.
Slash—the fog claws tore through the ground. A movement that clearly shouldn't have been possible for fog. But to Rei, who had already witnessed a boulder being bitten and crushed with his own eyes, this wasn't surprising.
"Hah!"
If anything, he channeled magical power into Death Scythe and swung. The blade undoubtedly cleaved through the fog's front leg, but there was no feedback whatsoever in Rei's hand gripping Death Scythe.
Flying Needle: By swinging Death Scythe, multiple Long Needles are created and fired. At Level one, five; at Level two, ten—with enough power to embed the Long Needles into a tree trunk.