Chương 108: Special Favor from a Mentor

Zelier carefully observed the entire Demonic Forest Ape tribe once again. After confirming that every single one of them was just an ordinary Demonic Forest Ape, with no unusually massive leader or mutated variants among them, he made his decision.

"Then there's nothing else to say…" Mana poured into Nightfall Rest, causing a faint glow to seep from the black wand.

"Prepare to die." Deep within the forest. The Demonic Forest Apes were enjoying their afternoon leisure. Some were grooming each other's fur, while others laughed and fought over wild fruits. A few young Demonic Forest Apes swung between the vines, letting out cheerful cries. Then— A sharp sound tore through the air.

"Whoosh!" A Demonic Forest Ape standing guard on a tree branch suddenly froze. The next moment, its furry head separated from its body, spinning through the air before crashing into the grass below. The headless corpse remained standing for a brief moment before collapsing from the branch. Blood sprayed everywhere, staining the surrounding leaves crimson. The sudden scene caused all laughter and chatter among the Demonic Forest Apes to abruptly stop.

"Skree?! Skree!" The monsters stared in shock, seemingly unable to understand what had just happened. Several seconds passed before they finally reacted. Furious screeches erupted throughout the forest. The small Demonic Forest Ape group instantly descended into chaos. They scanned their surroundings, desperately trying to find the attacker. But during that brief moment of confusion— Invisible wind blades continued cutting through the air.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!" The sharp whistles never stopped. Two more Demonic Forest Apes positioned on the outskirts were cleanly bisected or decapitated amid their terrified screams. Finally, the remaining Demonic Forest Apes located the enemy. A human holding a black magic wand stood in an open area not far away. He was the one casting those spells.

"Skreee!" The monsters' cries grew even more furious. After confirming that the enemy was completely alone, their rage intensified. How arrogant! A single human dared challenge them alone?! Zelier, however, remained completely unaffected. He continued his ranged slaughter calmly and methodically. With Nightfall Rest, his mana had been greatly enhanced. Now, casting Wind Blade only required a single second, and its power was far beyond what it had been before.

To the Demonic Forest Apes, Zelier was practically a stationary target. Once a Wind Blade locked onto them, there was no chance of dodging. One spell meant one life. Bodies torn apart by wind blades fell from the trees one after another. At the same time, the remaining Demonic Forest Apes finally organized their counterattack. These creatures were not completely mindless. They didn't charge forward recklessly as one group.

Most of them roared and grabbed crude stone axes and stone knives from their tree hollows, using the forest as cover while rapidly approaching Zelier. The others climbed onto higher branches, taking advantage of their elevated position. They raised sharpened stone spears, preparing to turn the hated human mage into a pincushion with ranged attacks. As the main group launched their charge, the rain of stone spears descended simultaneously. This was one of their deadliest techniques.

Thanks to their unique physical structure, Demonic Forest Apes possessed incredible throwing strength. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. A fully grown Demonic Forest Ape throwing a stone spear with all its power could even pierce through the thick hide of a wild boar. Now, several stone spears shot toward Zelier from every direction, sealing off almost all possible escape routes.

In their eyes, a fragile mage without a shield-bearing vanguard had no business appearing here alone. He was simply asking to die. The Demonic Forest Apes even thought their charging companions were unnecessary. They could just walk over afterward and collect the corpse. But then— Something impossible happened. Just before the stone spears struck the human mage, they seemed to collide with an invisible wall. Every single spear was redirected by some strange force.

They curved away and slid harmlessly past Zelier's body. What… What was happening?! Zelier didn't even glance at the stone spears stuck beside his feet. He simply raised Nightfall Rest again. The barrage continued. Wind Blades swept across the battlefield. Of the more than ten Demonic Forest Apes charging forward, only eight managed to reach him. And that was only because countless trees and rocks provided cover. Without those obstacles, Zelier could have eliminated all of them before they even reached him.

"Skraa!" The strongest-looking Demonic Forest Ape suddenly descended from above. Using vines hanging from the canopy, it swung directly over Zelier's head. A massive stone axe was raised high. Then it came crashing down. But— It was useless.

"Bang!" The stone axe struck the Mist Veil. The tremendous force was instantly dispersed, completely neutralized. Waiting for it was Zelier's already-drawn rapier. A precise thrust from below. The blade pierced through its lower jaw and drove straight into its brain. Blood sprayed. Demonic Forest Apes were smarter than goblins. They knew how to use tactics. The remaining seven immediately spread out, forming a semicircle around Zelier. Almost simultaneously, they attacked from different directions.

Against such a formation, any lone lower-tier adventurer would likely face certain death. But Zelier's Mist Veil was practically the natural enemy of all physical attacks. Instead of retreating, he stepped forward. A forward slash. His rapier aimed directly at the neck of the nearest Demonic Forest Ape. However, due to his lack of swordsmanship experience, the strike went slightly off target. It only carved a wound across the creature's shoulder.

The injured Demonic Forest Ape roared in pain and swung its stone knife wildly. But it was meaningless. The next instant, Zelier's second strike arrived. A clean horizontal slash. Its throat was severed. The other Demonic Forest Apes attempted to overwhelm him together. Before they could close the distance, Zelier lightly swung Nightfall Rest in his left hand. A Wind Blade erupted at point-blank range. The nearest Demonic Forest Ape was instantly cut in half. But the attack didn't stop there.

The remaining force continued forward and sliced through the unlucky creature behind it as well. At the same time, Zelier's rapier in his right hand never stopped moving. He stepped forward and thrust. The blade pierced through another Demonic Forest Ape's eye socket. A twist of the handle. Its brain was destroyed instantly. Less than a minute later, five of the eight Demonic Forest Apes that reached him were already dead. The remaining three were completely terrified.

The fearless momentum from moments ago had vanished. This human… was too terrifying. What was that mist surrounding his body?! Why couldn't their attacks break through?! Fear spread through their minds. Their feet refused to move forward. Instead, they instinctively began retreating. But they forgot one thing. Their enemy was a mage. Creating distance from a mage meant death. The three fleeing Demonic Forest Apes didn't even have time to find cover among the trees.

Zelier's follow-up Pebble Burst shattered their skulls one after another.

"Phew…" After dealing with the melee attackers, Zelier turned his gaze toward the Demonic Forest Apes that had been throwing spears from above. They were already trembling in fear. Their previous intention of charging forward to support the others had completely disappeared. This human was not someone they could fight. A single thought appeared in their minds. Escape. The Demonic Forest Apes let out terrified screams and prepared to scatter.

But before they could take more than two steps— A roar filled with malicious intent echoed through the forest.

"ROAR!!!" The roar carried powerful mental energy. It slammed directly into the already fragile minds of the Demonic Forest Apes. Against low-level monsters like these, mental magic was almost impossible to resist. Compared to Entangling Vines or Frostbite, Vicious Mockery was a far more efficient crowd-control spell. The fleeing Demonic Forest Apes froze. Then they tumbled from the branches. Several more Wind Blades flashed through the air. The battle was over.

A Demonic Forest Ape tribe numbering nearly twenty members had been completely annihilated by Zelier alone. Lv. 10 (110/325) → Lv. 10 (156/325) The experience gained was still insufficient for a level-up. The mist surrounding Zelier slowly faded away. The feeling of having enemies unable to break through his defenses was incredibly satisfying. Zelier couldn't help but smile. He checked his remaining mana.

Although Mist Veil's defensive effect was extremely powerful, maintaining it consumed a considerable amount of mana. During the battle, he had used roughly one-third of his total mana. Most of that consumption came from sustaining Mist Veil.

"I'll still need to be careful with it…" Zelier silently noted. Demonic Forest Apes had no monster cores. Their corpses had almost no useful materials either. Even their meat had become bitter and dry due to mana corruption. They were exactly the kind of monsters adventurers ignored unless the Association posted a bounty. Basically, they were a money-losing job on the same level as goblins.

"Should've checked the Adventurer Association for related commissions first…" Zelier muttered while looking at the scattered corpses. He walked toward the strange fruit trees. The Flameblood Fruits hung high above on the branches. The trees that produced them had bark with a strange reddish hue. Even touching them produced a faint warmth. Zelier cast Gale Step beneath his feet. Using the spiraling wind force, his body became light as he effortlessly leapt several meters into the air.

Repeating the process several times, he quickly climbed to the highest branches where the Flameblood Fruits grew. The fruits were only the size of fists. They resembled apples and radiated an attractive crimson glow. There were two in total. Zelier picked both. With that, Mentor Manlin's commission was successfully completed. …… Mage Guild. Zelier knocked on the familiar door. Manlin was standing beside the window, carefully trimming the branches of a potted plant.

The afternoon sunlight filtered through the glass, making her gentle profile appear even more peaceful.

"Mentor Manlin, these are the three plants you requested." Zelier placed the cloth bag on the table.

"Good." Manlin put down her scissors and walked over. After examining the contents, she nodded with satisfaction.

"The quality is excellent."

"You didn't encounter any danger on the way, did you?"

"Not really." Zelier answered casually.

"I just happened to run into a small Demonic Forest Ape group while searching for Flameblood Fruit, so I cleared them out."

"Cleared them out?" Manlin's eyes carried a fond smile.

"That's a rather confident way of putting it." She gently patted Zelier's head.

"You worked hard, little one."

"It wasn't hard." Zelier smiled.

"Besides, Mentor Manlin has helped me so much already."

"Oh, right." Manlin put away the plants.

"There's something else I need to tell you."

"What is it?"

"About a week from now, after the Autumn Harvest Festival in Blackstone Town ends, the Mage Guild will organize a monster hunt." Manlin said.

"At that time, I, Mentor Marven, and another mentor named Rhena will lead the team."

"We will enter Ashwood Forest and eliminate the monsters occupying that area."