1AAS 19

Chapter 19

“Oh no. I think I moved too far in one go, Lucy……”

After teleporting, Hayden leaned toward me, acting exhausted.

“I told you unnecessary physical contact is prohibited.”

Eleanor immediately yanked Hayden away from me.

“Are you okay, Lucy? You’re not dizzy, right?”

For some reason, Theodor was worrying about my motion sickness.

“Ah, I’m fine.”

And me…?

Faced with this strange combination, I briefly thought about the original story.

In the original, Hayden and Eleanor bickered all the time. Their compatibility was terrible from the start, so it was only natural.

Every time that happened, Theodor would just smile and say things like, ‘You’re right. When you put it that way, you’re right too.’

‘It’s kind of strange…’

The situation itself was similar, but it felt subtly different from the original. Probably because Lucy was involved now.

‘Well, whatever.’

The lineup itself hadn’t changed, and the overall picture was still roughly the same. Unless Eleanor and Hayden actually grabbed each other by the collar and started fighting, it wasn’t a big deal.

Anyway, after two teleports, we arrived near Crag Forest. At Eleanor’s decision that it would be better to walk from here, we decided to erase the teleportation magic circle.

“Why not just leave it?”

Hayden tried to persuade us, saying we’d need it again on the way back anyway. But Eleanor was firm.

Leaving it behind risked a malfunction that could involve other people. Since we all agreed with that reasoning, Hayden had no choice but to erase the magic circle.

“Do you know how annoying it is to draw one of these just once?!”

Hang in there, Hayden.

Later on, you’ll be zipping around without magic circles at all.

After Hayden erased the circle, we set off immediately without resting.

After all, we had to return to the academy before dorm curfew—everyone except Hayden, who had long since given up on dorm life.

“We’re almost there.”

After walking for a few minutes, I looked around at Eleanor’s words. Ahead of us stood a dark bluish forest. Even though it was still early in the day, the forest looked ominously dim.

At the forest entrance, knights were stationed around the perimeter.

“Lady Eleanor!”

One knight—clearly the highest-ranking among them—strode over and greeted us. Eleanor returned the greeting with a casual raise of her hand.

“It’s been a while, Sir Arthur.”

“We were informed that you’d be coming. But these people are……?”

The knight glanced at us politely.

“My friends…… They’ll be entering the forest with me.”

“But they’re still academy students.”

“We’re only going to the edge of the forest. Don’t worry.”

“But……”

Even after Eleanor’s reassurance, the knight hesitated. Eleanor spoke firmly.

“I’ll take full responsibility.”

At her resolute words, the knight stepped aside. Still, he handed her a signal flare, asking her to use it immediately if anything dangerous happened.

“Let’s go.”

Eleanor led the way into the forest. After checking on Theodor, I followed.

‘Ugh—!’

The moment we stepped inside, the air changed.

A heavy, eerie pressure unlike the outside. Without realizing it, I swallowed the breath I’d been exhaling.

Eleanor glanced at me. When I gestured that I was fine, she continued forward. Hayden and Theodor were following well too.

“Wait.”

Eleanor suddenly stopped.

A brief silence passed.

And only after I sensed it too did the presence finally reveal itself.

“Kiiik……”

Green skin. A small, squat body.

And a chipped blade clutched in its hand.

A Grade 4 Monster, ‘Goblin,’ has appeared.

The system even displayed a notification.

There’d been nothing like this with the One-Horned Wild Dog. It seemed to appear only when facing a real monster.

“Kik……!”
“Kiiik……”
“Kegk, kik!”

Three of them, for now.

Considering goblins usually traveled in groups, there was likely a larger pack nearby.

“What do you want to do?”

Eleanor asked without taking her eyes off the goblins. She was probably asking for my opinion.

‘If a whole group shows up, that’d be bad.’

Goblins weren’t particularly difficult monsters. They didn’t really have weaknesses—just aim for the vital spots.

But goblin packs often numbered in the dozens. Facing that alone would be terrifying.

‘But I’m not alone, am I?’

The quest condition was to defeat one monster alone. The rest could be handled by others without any problem.

Then all I had to do was deal with one easy goblin!

‘And if things really go south……’

I glanced at Hayden. He met my eyes and winked. Looks like he was fine.

‘Then I’ll tell him to bail us out with a movement skill.’

Eleanor would be fine, so I’d just need help covering Theodor and myself.

Having finished my calculations, I took out my bow. The faintly glowing white bow caught the goblins’ attention.

“Only step in if it gets really dangerous, Eleanor.”

At my request, Eleanor nodded slightly.

I swallowed.

If I moved just like I’d simulated yesterday, it would be fine. Absolutely.

“Kiiyaa—!”

Thump, thump.

My heart was pounding like crazy. This was my first time fighting a real monster—not one created by an illusion magic circle.

The monster, seen up close, was even more……

‘Disgusting!’

I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment, then opened them again.

Maybe they thought I was looking away, because all three goblins charged at me at once.

But they were still within range.

Not too close, not too far.

“Hoo……”

I calmly drew the bowstring.

And fired.

“Kieeek—!”

Thwack, thwack—

Over a dozen arrows embedded themselves into the ground. The charging goblins faltered.

‘Now!’

I dashed past those arrows, locking onto only the goblin in the center. Thanks to the suppressive fire skill, the other two couldn’t rush me yet.

So I’d end it in one go.

“Kyaak!”

As I closed the distance, the goblin I was targeting shrieked and swung the dagger in its hand. The chipped blade grazed toward my shoulder.

‘First, deflect it.’

I easily knocked the dagger aside with my bow.

Then I grabbed an arrow and aimed for the back of its neck—

“Gk—eek—!”

Huh?

The goblin disappeared.

No—more accurately, it had been slammed into a tree behind it.

‘Oh crap. Right. Lucy’s a close-combat monster.’

If she could send fellow awakened flying, a goblin—sometimes considered Grade 5 unless in a group—stood no chance.

“Kiek……”

Still, since I hadn’t meant to hit it that hard, the goblin was barely alive.

At the same time, the skill’s effect wore off, and the other two goblins started charging again.

“Damn it!”

I hurriedly fired suppressive shots again, then drove an arrow into the goblin’s neck as it struggled against the tree.

Crunch—

A pleasant notification sound rang out.

‘Goblin’ has been defeated!

[Sub Quest Completed]
You have defeated one Grade 4 monster alone!
Check your reward. (Click!)

!Important Notification!
The Level System has been activated! (Lv. 1)

A flood of notifications appeared at once.

But I didn’t have time to check them.

Thud!

I kicked one goblin charging at me, then buried an arrow into the abdomen of the last one that jumped in.

‘Goblin’ has been defeated!
‘Goblin’ has been defeated!

Level Up!

For all the tension, the fight ended anticlimactically fast.

Goblins were weaker than expected—and Lucy’s stats were surprisingly decent.

‘But leveling up already?’

Without even wiping the monster blood from my cheek, I checked my status window.

Status Window
▸ Name: Lucy Saint Lv. 2

No way. It’s real?

There was a level displayed next to Lucy’s name.

Level 2 from just three goblins! Sure, the required experience would increase later, but at low levels, this was insanely efficient.

Unable to hide my excitement, I turned around. My eyes met Eleanor’s. She still looked serious, not having relaxed her guard.

“We should move.”

“Huh?”

“A goblin pack will be coming soon.”

Eleanor gestured for me to return. She was right—goblins traveled in groups.

As I started toward her, following that train of thought, I suddenly froze.

‘Wait. A goblin pack?’

At least several dozen goblins would be heading this way.

The number of goblins I needed to level up earlier?

Just three.

Which meant……

‘This is a power-leveling opportunity, isn’t it?!’

“Kieeek—”

From afar, my precious experience points were approaching.

I turned back to the three behind me with a bright smile and took out my bow again.

“Lucy?”

Let’s level up a bit more before we go, guys.