“Gwahahaha! This makes travel a hell of a lot easier!”
Even though he supposedly had no idea where he was going, the S-Rank adventurer Glen forged ahead through the dense wilderness with boisterous laughter. Since I had been forced into this partnership, I decided to use him as my vanguard without any lingering reservations. Every time he swung his arm, weeds and tangled vines were shredded as if they were nothing, leaving a path behind him like the wake of a bulldozer.
I was using Slime Magic through my Soil Slimes to expose the roots of the undergrowth, making them easier to clear, but even so, his raw physical power was staggering.
“That aside, are you sure about following me?” I asked. “I won’t tell you to stop anymore, but didn’t you have a request or other business to attend to, Glen-san?”
“I don’t care where I am as long as there are monsters to hunt,” Glen replied. “I was just wandering aimlessly before I ran into you, so heading deeper into the forest suits me just fine. We're bound to run into monsters, and some of them will fetch a high price. Besides, I rarely take actual requests from the Guild. I go where I want, when I want, and fight who I want. Being told where to go or what to kill is a pain in the ass. I get all the money I need just by hauling carcasses back and letting the Guild handle the paperwork. Plus, when you’re an S-Rank, your name alone is enough to borrow cash. No one ever really bothers me about paying it back, either.”
“Judging by your tone, do you make a habit of being in debt?”
“Oh, yeah. My tab was running a bit higher than usual this time. The guy I was borrowing from actually had the nerve to bow and beg me for payment. I hadn't been in the mood for work lately, so I was just lounging around the city... booze, food, women. Not sure exactly how much I spent.”
He had come out here specifically to pay off his debts, yet he didn't even know the amount he owed. And he had blown it all on simple hedonism. Was it fair to call him a complete scumbag? His strength and his personality were equally off the charts. Lately, I had started to think of myself as a bit of a free spirit, but compared to this man, I was positively well-behaved.
“Doesn't it worry you that you might be getting cheated if you don't track your own debts?”
“If I find out someone's trying to scam me, I just go and punch them until they stop. Problem solved. People eventually stop trying to cheat you after that!”
It was a terrifyingly blunt solution. If he weren't an S-Rank, he'd be in a jail cell for assault—though catching him would be another matter entirely.
“Well, I suppose anyone looking to pick a fight with you must have a death wish,” I remarked.
“You'd think so, but people try it all the time. Mostly idiots who think they'll get famous by taking me down. They're usually small fry; one good wallop and they never come back. Those guys are at least honest enough to challenge me to my face. The ones I really can't stand are the ones who spout all that logic and principle just to try and use me. There are plenty of parasites like that, even among the people who've approached me since I hit S-Rank—whoops, looks like we've got company.”
Glen called out the warning in a casual tone. It took a full ten seconds before I sensed the approaching pack myself. Just as I was marveling at the range of his perception, he added more details.
“Oho? Looks like a big one's mixed in. Ryoma! Clear out the runts first!”
“Understood!”
Immediately, Raptors burst from the front, right, and left. Some had even circled around through the brush to attack from the rear. Naturally, I took the ones behind us while Glen handled the front.
“Out of the way!” Glen bellowed, swinging his massive hammer with effortless, bone-crushing force, clearing the path in a single sweep.
“Gyah!”
“Your breath stinks!”
One Raptor had managed to dodge the hammer and clamped onto Glen's arm. He didn't even flinch. He simply flicked his arm like he was batting away a gnat, and the monster was sent hurtling through the air. It slammed into the trunk of a Heat-Radiating Tree and slumped to the ground, dead.
Watching him fight, I felt like I was beginning to understand the secret of his strength. As I'd suspected during our earlier test, he was using Qigong for physical strengthening. While he likely had a few tricks up his sleeve, that was his primary method. But the level of his mastery was terrifying.
Every Qi user I had encountered until now leaked at least some energy during combat. It was usually visible, rising from the body like steam, especially before a major attack. Glen, however, showed none of that. His power was undeniable, but not a single drop of Qi was wasted. It was a state of perfect efficiency.
His defense worked the same way. He didn't bother to block or evade claws and fangs that would be fatal to a normal person. There was no need against something like a Raptor, and if his armor was more fragile than his own body, there was no point in wearing it.
“Ryoma! I'm going for the big one, so I'm leaving the runts to you! If you have time to stand around and watch me, you're fine!”
Without waiting for an answer, Glen vaulted forward. He cleared several meters in a single stride, kicked off the trunk of a Heat-Radiating Tree, and zigzagged through the air. Ahead of him was the pack leader. Even the ordinary Raptors in this part of the Sea of Trees were larger and fiercer than those at the entrance, but this thing was in a league of its own. It was so massive its head peeked out over the dense foliage.
A few seconds later, a final, agonized roar echoed through the forest. The fight was over almost before it began. With their leader dead, the remaining Raptors scattered.
I gathered the carcasses of the Raptors I'd killed and caught up with him. Beside him lay the body of a Tyrant Raptor, its head crushed flat. With its thick scales and massive frame, it looked like a Tyrannosaurus from an old movie.
“I'd heard about these, but seeing one in person... it’s huge.”
“They’re easy enough to kill,” Glen said dismissively. “Stronger than the runts, sure, but they’re slow and they don’t have the regenerative properties of that snake we ran into. They’re a good payday if you’re looking to make some quick cash.”
He began dragging the massive corpse into a tiny pouch on his belt. It was clearly a storage magic tool enchanted with Space Magic, but seeing a dinosaur-sized monster disappear into a bag small enough to fit under his shirt was still a bizarre sight.
“So, did you figure out why I'm so strong?” he asked. It was a sudden question, but he clearly knew I'd been observing him. When I gave him my honest assessment, he grinned with satisfaction.
“Most people ask me for the secret of my strength. Like I owe them an explanation. It gets on my nerves when people act like I'm supposed to just hand it over. Truth is, I don't really use Qi in the way you're thinking. It's just my natural constitution.”
“Wait... you're doing it unconsciously?”
“Yeah. It's rare, apparently. Qi is just stamina and life force, right? Everyone has it, and Qigong is just the art of controlling it. My body is just permanently set to 'on.' Even as we're talking, my muscles are being reinforced.”
He explained that this constitution protected him from more than just monsters. It made him immune to the poisonous insects and leeches of the jungle; their stingers couldn't even break his skin. Even if something did manage to hurt him, his accelerated healing meant the wound was gone in moments.
But it wasn't all benefits. Qi is life force. Burning it constantly meant he was always exhausted as a child. While most people would collapse before pushing their Qi to a dangerous level, Glen’s body wouldn't let him stop. Even when he was unconscious, the drain continued.
His parents weren't wealthy, so all they could do to keep him alive was feed him massive amounts of food to replenish his energy. This made them targets of resentment in their village.
“My parents told me everyone was helpful, but I was just a brat and all I remember are the glares,” Glen said. “When the harvests were bad, they'd shout about why they had to feed a kid who was going to die anyway. They wanted me dead so they could have my share. That's why I started hunting and eating monsters. But then they started demanding I give them the meat since they'd 'raised' me.”
He paused, his expression darkening slightly. “My mom paid for every scrap of food we got, and my old man was the village blacksmith. He fixed their tools for pennies. If he'd sold his work in the city, he could've made five times as much. I don't hold a grudge—it was the transaction my parents chose. But after squeezing my family dry like that, they had the gall to talk about gratitude. It was just business. People are happy to leave you in the dirt, but the second they're in trouble, they expect you to be their savior. Doesn't that seem a bit convenient?”
“I've certainly seen my fair share of people like that,” I replied. “The ones who want the reward without the risk.”
“Right? It's irritating. Even when they don't mean it, it feels like they're picking a fight.”
He didn't seem particularly bitter; he was just stating facts, looking at it as an example of why he lived the way he did.
“Well, people are the same everywhere. The world is full of selfish bastards, so I stopped bothering to hold back. Doing what I want, when I want—it’s just easier that way. Don't you think?”
I couldn't help but feel a pang of agreement. I had retreated to the forest in my past life specifically to escape the frustrations of human society. I wasn't as radically detached as Glen, but I understood him.
“I can certainly see the appeal,” I said.
“Hah! You're more like-minded than I thought. I figured you'd be a bit more of a stick-in-the-mud.”
“I think compared to you, most people would seem like a stick-in-the-mud.”
“Gwahahaha! Fair point! I've yet to meet anyone who's less formal than I am!”
I'd intended it as a bit of a jab, but he took it in stride. Despite his erratic logic and bluntness, there was a refreshing honesty to him.
As we pushed further into the dangerous Sea of Trees, his boisterous laughter continued to echo through the canopy. It was a far noisier journey than I had planned, but perhaps traveling with such a lively companion wasn't so bad after all.