Rustle…
rustle…
In a lush forest, the extremely noisy rustling of bushes emanated, accompanied by hurried footsteps.
Not only from humans, but also from some animals rapidly scurrying across the ground with claws and teeth.
“Ooh ooh ooh, um!”
“Ooh ooh ooh, ooh ooh ooh!!”
“Stop chasing!
Even if you catch me, I won’t give you anything, hehehe♦.
Isn’t it better if we just go our separate ways?”
In a remote mountain forest, a cat-and-mouse game was unfolding.
To be precise, the protagonists of the story were a pack of gray wolves, canines, and a blond youth who, out of necessity, had made one of their stray companions his lunch.
The blond youth’s name was Asta.
Ize Elward.
He was currently on a journey heading to the westernmost part of the continent for certain reasons.
The current situation was obvious: Asta’s Adventure had encountered a crisis; he was now being hunted by a large pack of gray wolves.
Forced to move at extreme speed through the complex terrain of the jungle, the immense physical exertion caused even Asta, who considered his physical fitness excellent, to begin panting.
Especially during his escape, he not only carried a leather backpack but also tightly gripped a two-meter-long black iron spear.
This immense physical exertion gradually made Asta’s emotions anxious.
When facing a life-or-death crisis, hardly anyone can remain calm, right?
Especially when a pack of wolves, without any martial ethics, wants to devour him alive.
It would be hell if he could calm down!
The reason he still had the presence of mind to taunt the wolves was simply a way of finding joy in suffering.
Moreover, the other party didn’t even understand what he was saying.
Every time he turned back to mock them, the wolves would chase even harder…
‘Continuing to run like this is clearly not a solution.
If nothing unexpected happens, I’ll definitely be the first to die!’
Leaping over a huge tree root during his sprint, Asta’s body soared through the air, the spear in his hand clinging to his arm like a shadow.
Although his spear was a burden in terms of weight.
As a weapon that had accompanied the youth on his journey for several months, it was undoubtedly half of Asta’s life.
Traveling through monster-infested mountains and wilderness, it was inevitable to encounter monsters.
Without a weapon, Asta would be almost defenseless.
Could he fight monsters bare-handed?
No way!
Not everyone is like Wu Song, and monsters even know how to attack in groups, just like the situation behind him now.
‘I need to find an opportunity to break free from this chase.
My physical strength is being severely depleted.
It would be best if I could lead this group of huskies into another group of monsters’ territory.
Then, when chaos erupts, I’ll have a chance to escape.’
Asta weaved through one bush after another, even sparing a thought during his escape on how to shake off the gray wolves.
Having grown up with his grandfather, a hunter, Asta, if nothing else, had reached a very high level in hunting and escaping skills.
It wasn’t as if he hadn’t been chased by wolf packs before.
In those times, Asta would often use his excellent physical fitness and experience learned from his grandfather to lead the wolves in circles.
But the current situation was different…
because the roles had changed.
The ‘Grey Wolf’ pack!
These were ‘monsters’ that were absolutely unseen in his hometown, appearing only in the Adventure notes written by bards.
Their speed, compared to ordinary wild wolf packs, left the latter completely in the dust.
And at this moment, Asta was truly playing a game of cat and mouse with them.
A game where losing meant losing his life directly.
— ‘Monsters’.
These were brutal creatures that, since ancient times, had emerged from the world-famous Dungeon and, by today, had slowly begun to run rampant on the surface.
It was said that the closer one got to the Dungeon area, the greater the likelihood of encountering monsters, as all monsters originated from the Dungeon.
For ordinary people, even the weakest Goblins or Kobolds among monsters were enough to pose a fatal threat, let alone stronger monsters.
Only Adventurers blessed by the gods could contend with them using the power of Falna.
And the ‘Grey Wolf’ pack chasing Asta, let alone ordinary people, would even give some weaker low-level Adventurers a headache.
Because wolves, as creatures, always appear in packs.
That is to say, they appear in large numbers, which is extremely troublesome.
If he hadn’t been forced, Asta wouldn’t have wanted to provoke them, but who made him encounter that stray gray wolf that wanted to eat him for lunch?
There’s a saying: ‘A friend from afar brings a thousand miles of food; courtesy demands reciprocity.’
So, with the idea of reciprocity, Asta ultimately used the seasonings he carried to turn it into a truly delicious lunch.
And then, there was no ‘then’…
Wolves are extremely vengeful and pack-dwelling creatures.
If someone harmed their kin, that person would be relentlessly hunted down by them.
Just like Asta now.
This cat-and-mouse chase continued for some time until a change occurred.
“Roar roar roar roar roar roar!!!!”
A roar that almost echoed through the Great Forest reached Asta’s ears.
This sudden roar made Asta’s eyes light up.
This is it!
The opportunity he needed to shake off the gray wolf pack!
Joy surged in his heart.
Leaping nimbly through the forest and bushes, Asta displayed a foot speed unsuited to his lean physique, accelerating rapidly.
Anyone who wasn’t a fool could tell that this roar came from some powerful creature, and that’s exactly what Asta needed.
Unlike the legendary Dungeon.
The ‘monsters’ dwelling in the wilderness, due to their territorial concepts, rarely coexist peacefully.
If ‘monsters’ of different species meet, there is a very high probability of conflict erupting.
By leading the gray wolf pack to that creature’s vicinity, he would have a chance to escape, a chance to get rid of these troublesome gray wolves.
Afterward, he would also have to find a place to wash and obscure his scent.
Preventing the possibility of being chased again.
However, Asta, caught in his joy, failed to notice.
Within that roar echoing through the Great Forest, there was a faint hint of lament.
Like the wail of a creature that has been injured and feels its life is in danger.
At the same time, on the other side of the Great Forest.
“Roar roar roar roar!!!!”
“Volley!
You!
Block the ground, don’t let it escape into the air!”
“Yes!”
The voice came from the goddess of the Artemis Familia.
The girls belonging to her Familia around her all obeyed orders like warriors.
In this vast Great Forest, stretching as far as the eye could see, arrows rained down upon the fiercely roaring dragon.
This was a dragon hunt.
All twenty members of the group were female, with Elves being particularly numerous among the many sub-human races.
Dressed in light, easy-to-move attire, primarily armed with bows and arrows, each piece of equipment bore the moon and arrow symbol representing their Familia.
The girls, with eyes as sharp as hawks, aimed at the dragon, precisely piercing the membrane of its wings, stripping the dragon of its flight capability.
Deprived of its wings for flight, the dragon could only stumble around at a low altitude, but such injuries only intensified the dragon’s ferocity.
It let out a roar as if wanting to devour someone, crashing and thrashing into the depths of the dense forest.
Just then, cutting through nearly man-high bushes, the youth encountered the charging dragon…
“Human!?”
The Familia girls who were hunting the dragon all showed looks of bewilderment.
They simply couldn’t understand why there would be human activity in the depths of this dense forest, where monsters were active.
And to suddenly appear in such a situation.
It was like driving on a street, only for someone to suddenly dart out from the roadside like a ghost, leaving them utterly perplexed.
“Youth, quickly get out of the way!”
Almost the instant she spotted the youth, the goddess with the bright blue hair issued a warning to him.
At the same time, with swift grace, she drew a new arrow from the quiver at her slender waist, nocking and releasing it in an instant.
She prayed that her arrow would kill the dragon before it could harm the youth.
Regardless of the reason for encountering danger, seeing such a situation compelled her to act without reservation to rescue him.
The goddess’s kindness was such a pure thing.
Asta saw the colossal creature, practically within arm’s reach, and a look of astonishment appeared on his face, his breathing involuntarily catching.
He came to escape, so why did it seem like he was here to die!?
Did it have to be like this?
There was no time for him to think; the dragon, eyes gleaming ferociously, was already pouncing on him.
It couldn’t deal with the archers behind it, but before it died, taking a human down with it wouldn’t be bad!
Its gaping maw opened, and the intense aura of death rushing towards him made Asta feel as if everything around him inexplicably slowed down, his vision seemingly turning gray.
This sudden sensation lasted only a split second.
As the feeling receded, in that critical moment, the instinct for survival overshadowed all other emotions, and his body reacted entirely on its own.
“Ah ah ah ah ah ah—”
The black iron spear, which Asta had clutched tightly during his escape, swept in a wide arc before him with a sharp whistling sound.
It plunged deep into the dragon’s neck, piercing its throat, just before its bloody fangs could descend upon him.
After a brief pause, the arrow shot by the goddess followed closely behind.
The arrow traced a beautiful arc, and a wisp of black vapor burst from the head of the dragon, which was roaring from the critical injury inflicted by the youth.
Then, the dragon’s body suddenly froze, finally transforming into a black crystal that fell to the ground.
Due to the sudden disappearance of his target, Asta, who had just put his full weight into the spear, also stumbled uncontrollably forward.
The last thing that registered in his vision was a tree trunk that was rapidly growing larger…
Before losing consciousness, a dazzling blue seemed to appear at the edge of Asta’s vision.