Vol 5 Chapter 42

After leaving the party, Kapros had faced all the monsters using only Superior's sword, and he was able to handle even those that would have required 4th circle magic surprisingly easily. Although he did need support spells like Blink, Haste, and Strength, it was still an incredible power.

Even monsters famous for their rapid regeneration showed significantly slower regeneration after being cut once, suggesting that there were quite a few additional benefits from the blade made of magical power.

"Haah!"

"Graaaaaah!"

As Kapros was confirming this once again while cutting off all the fingers of a dirt monster, Zephemat, whose ten fingers moved like tentacles, he suddenly felt a chilling sensation from the side. Quickly turning around, he saw a bird monster, Keret, with a small body, amazing speed, and a long, pointed beak about 30 centimeters long, flying in.

Kapros quickly extended his palm towards the Keret and shouted loudly.

"Flame Strike!"

Whoosh!

Dozens of compressed crimson flames instantly manifested and exploded, sticking to the Keret like iron filings drawn to a magnet.

Pop pop bang!

The Keret was incinerated in an instant, and seizing the opportunity, Kapros swung his sword fiercely at the Zephemat trying to regenerate its finger tentacles. The dirt mass was cleanly cut diagonally, and the stone core at its center shattered. Soon, he saw the dirt mass crumble and mix with the ground, accompanied by a terrible scream.

'It's over...'

If he had been careless even for a moment, it could have been dangerous, but fortunately, there was no such mistake.

Still, because of the suddenly appearing Keret, he had ended up using magic he hadn't intended to use.

Kapros tucked the now-shrunk Superior stick back into his waist while focusing his gaze on the edge of the forest where the terrain seemed to be changing in the distance.

'Ah... Is that finally the valley over there?'

Feeling lighthearted at the thought of having come easily, Kapros lightly stepped forward, failing to notice several shadows moving noticeably behind him. If he had paid a little more attention, he might have noticed that after he moved a bit further, the bushes behind him shook violently and became noisy, but at that moment, Kapros had nothing on his mind except heading towards De Gorka.

'Did... did you see? He used magic while using a sword!'

'How can this be...'

'No, how long are we going to follow him? What about our hunting, whether he's a swordsman or a mage?'

'Just... let's follow him a bit more. Aren't you curious why such a person came here alone?'

Standing on the edge of a valley so steep it seemed one would die instantly if they misstepped, Kapros looked down and felt a refreshing sensation as if his insides were clearing.

The valley, split downwards like a wound in the mountain, looked like a crater left after a meteorite impact magnified hundreds of times, but it was longer, more rugged, and gradually narrowing as it went down to the right. The bottom was so densely forested that it looked like a green sea.

Others might have felt chilled to the bone standing here, but Kapros was aware that even if he fell, he could use Fly to land safely while experiencing the feeling of soaring through the sky without dying. So he could leisurely appreciate the view without feeling any danger.

The merchant had said that a high-level zone had formed around here, but from this vantage point, the forest below was so dense and wide that it was impossible to tell if there were people down there. However, where Kapros needed to go was clearly visible even from here.

Down there, around the entrance of a cave-like hole at the bottom of the sheer cliff, the trees had all been cut down, making it stand out like traces of people coming and going. After carefully observing that spot, Kapros lightly launched himself into the air and chanted a spell.

"Fly."

His body, which was about to fall downwards due to gravity, stopped abruptly in mid-air and then flew quickly towards the destination according to his image. As expected, flying through this place felt great. After safely landing in front of the cave, he looked around, but only saw dense trees with no sign of people.

Before entering, just in case, Kapros tapped the stick at his waist and spoke to it.

"This seems to be the right place, what do you think?"

[ How would I know? It's my first time in a place like this. More importantly, I'd appreciate it if you didn't hit people. ]

"People?"

It seemed that because Superior was inside the stick, he now felt as if the stick was his own body.

Kapros chuckled and entered the cave. The inside of the cave, which he could see with his concentrated night vision up to where the last thin ray of light shone, was a downward slope with no visible end. The narrow, single path with not a single monster appearing just kept going down endlessly no matter how long he walked. The consistent height and surface of the cave made it look as if someone had deliberately dug it, making Kapros start to doubt if he had entered the wrong place.

Anyway, since he had come this far, thinking he should see it through to the end if only because of how far he'd come, Kapros was walking with a Fireball floating ahead of him when suddenly the cave's surface started to become bumpy, narrowing and widening, and gradually growing larger. Along with this, the floor's slope became steeper, and the air became much colder and damper, until finally, a slightly wider cavern appeared.

There was no fork in the road, so there was still only one path ahead, but what caught Kapros's eye were the strange hieroglyph-like symbols densely drawn on the wall beside the path.

As he slowly approached and lightly placed his hand over the symbols, a notification window popped up with a ding sound.

[ Ancient Magic Script ]

[ Characters that appear to be from a script used in ancient times are written here. The faint magical power felt indicates that this script possesses magical power. ]

[ Unable to read without the Ancient Script Interpretation skill! ]

'Magic script, huh...'

Somehow, it gave off a feeling that it absolutely had to be read, but being told he couldn't read it without the Ancient Script Interpretation skill made Kapros feel at a loss as he stared at it. Suddenly, the strongest red light yet burst forth from the sword at his waist, and Superior's voice rang out loudly.