Chương 6: Challenge

The greatest difference between a monster and an ordinary beast... Was mana. Monsters were creatures twisted by supernatural forces. Their forms varied wildly, often grotesquely, and many possessed bizarre abilities that defied common sense. Some of those abilities were so deceptive they could kill an unprepared adventurer on the very first encounter. Against an unknown monster with no prior intelligence... A party's survival rate plummeted.

That was precisely why the Adventurers' Association had poured enormous resources into compiling The Adventurers' Association Universal Bestiary. Every confirmed monster was meticulously documented. Appearance. Habitat. Behavior. Special abilities. Core weaknesses. Nothing was omitted. The Bestiary even employed the latest rune-copying technology. Whenever one Association branch updated an entry... Every other branch across the continent received the revision automatically.

The Association also offered generous rewards. Anyone who discovered a previously undocumented monster would receive a bounty based on its threat rating. The smallest reward started at three gold coins. Unfortunately... The system also attracted its fair share of idiots. Some adventuring parties had confidently reported the discovery of entirely "new" monsters such as: Harpoon Goblin. Straw Hat Goblin. Goblin Wearing a Necklace. The Association staff had nearly lost their sanity dealing with those reports.

To standardize danger assessments, the Adventurers' Association divided monsters into seven tactical threat levels: [Easy] [Difficult] [Challenge] [Cruel] [Bloody] [Disaster] Above even those... Were the beings that stood at the absolute pinnacle of Candia's food chain. [Nightmare]. Of course... There was little point documenting those. Encountering one usually meant the same thing as dying. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings. The Mistwraith...

Was rated [Challenge]. Meaning it possessed the power to kill adventurers with ease. A single mistake could wipe out members of an experienced party. Victory depended on exploiting its weakness with a carefully coordinated strategy. The deep growls continued echoing through the fog. The mist thickened by the second. No one had expected this. They had accepted what was supposed to be an easy commission for some extra money... Only to stumble into a Challenge-Ranked monster.

One after another, heavy backpacks hit the ground.

"... Do we run?" Grey spoke quietly. Zelier instinctively looked around. Fog. Nothing but fog. There wasn't a recognizable landmark anywhere. Even if they fled... He didn't know the terrain. His odds of surviving alone were practically nonexistent.

"Run?" Marcus barked.

"No."

"We fight." Shield in his left hand. Battle blade in his right. His mind was already racing.

"I'll hold the front."

"Grey, support me."

"Vaelis, adapt as the situation changes." Then he turned toward Zelier.

"You're the only one here who can break its barrier."

"While we're keeping it occupied..."

"Find your opening."

"And cast."

"... Understood." Zelier nodded slowly. Dense supernatural fog. An unknown monster. Sweat began forming in his palms. This pressure was nothing like last night's wolf attack. The entire party's survival now rested on his shoulders. If he failed... Everyone died. How durable is that barrier...? What if Fireball can't break it? For the first time... He felt grateful he'd invested those four points into Spirit. At least... My Fireball should hit a little harder now. The party shifted formation.

Marcus stood at the front. Grey guarded his rear-right flank. Vaelis covered the rear-left. Zelier remained in the center. Visibility had dropped to barely five or six meters. The smell of blood clung stubbornly to the air. In the early morning mist of the Ashwood Forest... A fight to the death was about to begin. Marcus advanced one cautious step at a time. The other three matched his pace perfectly. No one broke formation. It resembled a deadly game of keeping the predator away from the vulnerable center.

According to the Bestiary... Only Marcus, with his shield, had any hope of stopping the Mistwraith's overwhelming strength. If it slipped past him... The rest of the party would be slaughtered. Suddenly— The fog ahead rippled violently. Marcus caught it instantly.

"CONTACT!" The Mistwraith emerged. The mist tore apart as the towering creature stepped into view. The stench of blood exploded through the air, so thick it was enough to make anyone gag. The moment Zelier saw it... His breathing stopped. This... This was something straight out of a horror novel. The creature stood well over two and a half meters tall. Its body resembled an enormous beast stripped entirely of its skin. And... Was it... Smiling? Blood seeped continuously from exposed flesh.

Dark gray muscle fibers twisted across its body like tangled ropes. Bulging veins writhed beneath the surface like nests of snakes. Its back was studded with countless wolf heads, crudely fused into the flesh. Their eye sockets were empty. Yet every one of them still wore the agonized expression they'd died with. Most disturbing of all... A hazy aura shimmered across the monster's body. The flowing energy barrier rippled like the surface of water, blurring its outline and making it appear unreal.

The horrific sight slammed into Zelier's mind. For a brief moment... His body refused to move.

"ZELIER!" Marcus's roar shattered the paralysis. He charged first. Snapping out of his daze, Zelier violently shook his head. Move! Don't freeze now! Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to calm down. Mana surged from his Mindscape. The Spell Matrix for Fireball rapidly assembled inside his consciousness. At that exact moment— Marcus slammed his shield directly into the charging Mistwraith. CLANG! The impact sent Marcus staggering backward several steps. His shield arm trembled violently from the collision.

The Mistwraith roared...... and charged again. Its left arm had mutated into three gigantic claws. Pale chitin covered the blades, stained with layers of dried blood. Another head-on collision. Marcus ducked low and raised his shield. RIIIP! The claws nearly shredded the outer layer of the round shield apart. Wood splintered in every direction. Even the iron rim protecting the shield's edge was peeled back. Fortunately... The blacksmith who forged it hadn't cut corners.

Otherwise, Marcus would have been blocking that strike with his own body.

"Die!" Grey burst from the creature's flank. Perfect timing. He exploited the opening created by the Mistwraith's attack, lunging forward with a thrust aimed straight at its waist. Then— Something impossible happened. The instant his sword touched the shimmering barrier... It felt as though the blade had sunk into a mountain of cotton. The force behind the thrust simply... disappeared. His sword stopped dead. Grey's pupils contracted. Danger. The Mistwraith didn't even bother turning around.

It merely swung one massive arm backward. The chitin-covered limb smashed squarely into Grey's chest. CRACK! Grey's expression froze. His hardened leather breastplate caved inward with the impact. A spray of blood burst from his mouth. His body was launched through the air like a rag doll before crashing into the ground and tumbling several times across the forest floor.